Senator Sanders targets Trump, Musk and Democrats in wide-ranging interview ahead of rally with AOC
TEMPE, AZ – As he rallies against President Donald Trump, the world’s richest person and Trump ally Elon Musk, and other billionaires, Sen. Bernie Sanders is also taking aim at the Democratic Party. “I think what the American people see and what the polling suggests, and voter registration suggests is not a whole lot of faith in either party, Democrats or Republicans,” the progressive champion and longtime independent senator from Vermont, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, emphasized in a wide-ranging Fox News Digital interview. Sanders, who was pointing towards recent polling that indicated Democratic Party favorability at all-time lows, was interviewed on Thursday evening, ahead of a rally in front of over 11,000 people packed into an arena at Arizona State University, with a couple of thousand more in an overflow section outside. It was the second stop of the day for the 83-year-old Sanders and another rockstar of the left, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as the two politicians teamed up to kick off a three-day swing through the key western electoral states of Nevada, Arizona and Colorado as part of Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. FRIENDLY FIRE: AOC AND BERNIE SANDERS TAKE AIM AT DEMOCRATS AS WELL AS REPUBLICANS – ON WESTERN ROAD TRIP Sanders, who’s long railed against the influence of big money in politics as he’s pressed for campaign finance reforms, argued that Americans “perceive correctly that both political parties are dominated by big money interests.” The senator took aim at Musk, who was the largest single donor in last year’s presidential election, dishing out nearly $300 million of his own money to support Trump’s successful effort to win back the White House. “Then he’s awarded with the most important position in government. He’s essentially running the government,” Sanders said of Musk. “Does that make sense to people? It doesn’t.” But he added that “Democrats also have a whole lot of billionaires funding their campaigns. And you know, I think people are looking for alternatives. And I think, among other things, they also want to end this corrupt campaign finance system…which allows billionaires in both parties to buy elections.” CLASS DISMISSED: TRUMP TAKES AIM AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT WITH THE STOKE OF A PEN Trump has been on a tear since returning to the White House two months ago, flexing his political muscles to expand presidential powers as he’s upended longstanding government policy and made major cuts to the federal workforce through a flurry of executive orders and actions. And Sanders and Cortez took to the stage at their first stop, in Las Vegas, Nevada, while Trump signed an executive order to begin the longstanding conservative goal of demolishing the Department of Education at a White House ceremony. Sanders charged that Trump’s move was “outrageous.” “First of all, they don’t have the power,” Sanders said. “When I talk about moving to authoritarianism, it is usurping the power of the Congress.” “If you want to get rid of the Department of Education, fine. Come to Congress and say, here’s why. This is what you want to do. You cannot do it exclusively. You cannot cut funds exclusively,” he added. Sanders claimed the “American people are sick and tired of a government now run by billionaires.” Pointing to Musk – the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive who is steering Trump’s recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which as part of its mission to target government fraud and waste, has taken a hatchet to the federal workforce – Sanders argued, “we have the richest guy in the world going around, cutting the Veterans Administration, threatening the existence of Social Security while Republicans work on a tax bill that will give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest 1% and cut Medicaid and other programs.” Minutes later, Sanders told the crowd “we have a message for Mr. Trump and that is, we will not allow you to move this country into an oligarchy.” Sanders emphasized that “we’re not going to allow you and your friend Mr. Musk and the other billionaires to wreak havoc on this country.” But the inability of Democrats in Congress, who are out of power in the White House as well as the House and Senate, to stop the majority Republicans, is causing tensions within the party amid increasing calls for leaders to come up with a stronger strategy to resist Trump. “This isn’t just about Republicans,” Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd in Arizona. “We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us. That means each and every one of us choosing and voting for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class…I want you to look at every level of office around and support Democrats who fight, because those are the ones who can actually win against Republicans.” The Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez western road trip comes as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, is facing increasing fire from his own party for his support last week for a Republican-crafted federal funding bill that averted a government shutdown. WHAT THIS PROGRESSIVE LEADER TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT CHUCK SCHUMER Neither Ocasio-Cortez nor Sanders mentioned Schumer during their speeches in Las Vegas or Tempe. And Sanders, an independent who has long caucused with the Democrats and who is part of Schumer’s leadership team in the Senate, declined in the Fox News Digtal interview to answer whether he agreed with calls for Schumer to step down from his leadership position. “That’s kind of inside the Beltway stuff,” Sanders said. Asked a second time about Schumer, Sanders replied, “that’s not what we’re here for.” But it was on the minds of some of those attending the rally. Cindy Garman and Pat Robinson, both of Prescott, Arizona, told Fox News that they were “really disappointed” with Schumer’s move. And Amanda Ratloff of Gilbert, Arizona, said Schumer “is not the leader we need right now. We need somebody that will actually fight back and fight for the American people
‘Are bhai, nazar mein hi aatankwadi hain toh…’: Amit Shah’s ‘Kaala Chashma’ jibe at Rahul Gandhi
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday in a sharp jibe at Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on counter-terrorism operations and development in Jammu and Kashmir.
DOGE Madness: ‘Sweet 16’ bracket set up as craziest federal waste competes for championship
EXCLUSIVE: Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders in the Senate will be releasing an NCAA-style bracket of the craziest items of federal waste needing to be cut, as the public will be able to actively vote for their picks in successive Elite Eight and Final Four rounds. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the leader of the upper chamber’s DOGE caucus, told Fox News Digital on Friday that while college basketball’s March Madness only lasts a month, the federal government’s “spending madness” is a year-round, debt-defying event. “The Senate DOGE Caucus is dividing and conquering to bring waste to a squealing halt,” Ernst said. “This March, we will be scoring buckets for taxpayers by increasing transparency, stopping the silly spending, and making government actually start to work for the American people it serves.” Sixteen “seeds” of waste will be posted in a bracket and put up for public polling on X to determine which eight waste items are bad enough to advance; followed by the next-worst four, and championship two. DOGE CAUCUS SENATOR PUSHES FOR END TO SLUSH FUND FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Each DOGE caucus member received or picked priority waste items for the tournament. While there may not be any major upsets, like Lehigh University’s 2012 win over #1-seed Duke, each item’s introduction to the public may cause the same surprise. Sen. Cyntha Lummis, R-Wyo., has her spot on the bracket represented by a Biden administration appropriation of $4.5 million to “combat disinformation” in Kazakhstan. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who coached Auburn’s football team for many years, will be represented in the tourney by an allocation of $168,000 for an “Anthony Fauci Exhibit” at the National Institutes of Health Museum in Maryland. A $7.9 million expenditure on teaching journalists in Sri Lanka to avoid “binary-gendered language” will be in the bracket under Sen. John Kennedy’s, R-La., name. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., picked a $45 million Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) scholarship program for Burmese people to be featured at the event. DRAIN THE SWAMP ACT SEEKS TO MOVE DC BUREAUCRACY OUT OF CRAZYTOWN, DOGE LEADER SAYS Ernst, meanwhile, will be represented by the $4 million that the Departments of Agriculture and Interior spent on setting up a farming infrastructure for insect-based food consumption for humans. Some of the other DOGE Madness bracket “teams” include billions in costs associated with the ATF illegally miscategorizing bureau employees as “law enforcement” (Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa), $690,000 to study cannabis use among “sexual-minority gender-diverse individuals” (Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.), $12 million for a Las Vegas pickleball facility (Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.) and $1.75 million for MoMA – a New York City museum with already $5 billion in assets (Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah). Additionally, Sen. James Lankford’s, R-Okla., waste bracket includes $2 billion sent to the Taliban since the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is represented by a six-figure line item for vegetable gardens in El Salvador, and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., has a $1.3 million subsidy for equity and advocacy for Long Island transgender “youth of color.” Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Johnson’s, R-Wis., bracket position is dubbed the “liberal four corners.” Johnson is represented by a $100,000 EPA grant to a major city’s teachers’ union foundation to hold a 14-day Environmental Justice Freedom School that the DOGE caucus said touches on the quartet of climate change, teachers’ unions, indoctrinating children and paid activism. Elsewhere in the Sweet 16 bracket, Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s, R-Tenn., position is represented by a $22 billion allocation from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide free housing and vehicles for illegal immigrants – and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., sought to highlight millions in wasteful spending on gender transition procedures for U.S. service members. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The final spot in the bracket is for $1.45 billion in FEMA funds for luxury hotels for illegals, an item called out by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho. Risch notably introduced legislation to end the practice, called the End FEMA Benefits for Illegal Immigrants Act. Amid the tournament’s division of varying types of government waste, the Senate DOGE caucus will also announce Friday that it is divvying up “priority areas” for groups of senators to focus on. Acquisition reform, digitizing antiquated government systems, transparency efforts, restoring “‘service’ to the civil service,” fraud, non-strategic foreign aid, and cost-efficiency are all areas of study being assigned across the DOGE caucus as the legislative year heats up, Fox News Digital has learned.
Trump crackdown on transgender athletes in girls’ sports gets GOP backup in House bill
FIRST ON FOX: A House GOP lawmaker is looking to make President Donald Trump’s Title IX changes permanent. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., is introducing legislation later this month to codify Trump’s executive order aimed at keeping biological males out of female-only spaces, Miller told Fox News Digital. That would include locker rooms, bathrooms, school sports teams and any other extension of academia that receives funding under Title IX federal code, by threatening that funding if schools run afoul of the prospective law. HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE “The innocence, privacy, and safety of young girls should never be up for debate,” Miller said in a written statement. “Any public school that refuses to follow President Trump’s orders to protect female-only spaces has no right to receive a single dime of taxpayer funding.” The bill is being circulated to other House GOP offices for possible co-sponsors and is expected to be introduced next week. It is likely to garner a significant amount of interest among Republicans, given that similar legislation by Miller introduced in the 118th Congress got sign-on from 72 House lawmakers. GOP LAWMAKER URGES TRUMP TO PULL FUNDING FOR SCHOOL ACCUSED OF MAKING GIRLS CHANGE IN FRONT OF TRANS STUDENT In the last Congress, however, her bill was aimed at reversing Biden administration-era policies expanding permissions for transgender students. With Trump back in office now, Miller is one of several House Republicans working to codify his reversals of Biden administration policies into federal law. A vote on such a bill could put moderate Democrats in a tough spot – particularly after a few left-wing figures have been heckled by the progressive left for not fully embracing medical and school sports participation for transgender youths. The legislation, previewed by Fox News Digital, is a brief two pages. It stated that “locker room facilities in active use in connection with an education program or activity may be in use only by individuals of the same sex as determined solely on each individual’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” “It shall be unlawful under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972…for an individual of one sex (as determined solely on reproductive biology and genetics at birth) to use a locker room while such room is in active use by individuals of a different sex in connection with an education program or activity,” it said.
Court order halting deportation flights ‘unconstitutionally impedes’ on executive branch, Trump allies argue
FIRST ON FOX: America First Legal (AFL) and Texas GOP Rep. Brandon Gill are supporting President Donald Trump‘s invocation of a 1798 wartime law, arguing a previous order blocking Trump’s deportation plans “unconstitutionally impedes” his presidential authority. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg came under fire this past week after blocking the Trump administration on Saturday from invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), for 14 days. In his order, Boasberg ordered any flights in the air to return to U.S. soil immediately. ‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO “This law was passed by Congress in 1798,” America First Legal Senior Counsel James Rogers said in a statement released. “Until now — for more than 226 years — courts have universally held that they do not have the power to interfere with the President’s authority as Commander in Chief to decide when to invoke the Act and expel aliens under its terms.” In its amicus filing, AFL states that Gill “believes that Tren de Aragua poses a clear and present danger to the United States,” saying he supports the president’s efforts to “neutralize this threat quickly and efficiently.” “He sees the President’s use of the Enemy Aliens Act as vital to ensuring the safety of his constituents,” the filing reads. SCOOP: IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES HIT JUDGE WHO ORDERED TRUMP TO STOP TREN DE ARAGUA DEPORTATION FLIGHTS AFL argues that the AEA “confers on the President the power to invoke the Act’s provisions in cases of invasion or predatory incursion,” saying such authority is not reviewable by the courts. The filing notes the president’s commander in chief post, as vested by the Constitution, saying that the AEA “statutorily grants the President wartime powers,” and courts cannot appropriately “second-guess” the president’s decisions and discretion over the AEA’s implementation. “At best, the Plaintiffs seek to use the federal courts to deliver a political victory,” the filing reads. “There is no dispute that the Plaintiffs are here illegally. Enjoining implementation of the TdA Proclamation unconstitutionally impedes the President’s ability to respond to national security threats.” On Thursday, Boasberg said the administration had missed a previously-set court deadline to disclose information on the deportation flights to El Salvador. Boasberg noted in an order issued that day that the government “again evaded its obligations” to submit the requested information even after he had allowed them to submit it under seal. WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS? The filing they submitted hours after the deadline failed to answer his questions. Boasberg said the court had received a six-paragraph declaration from a regional ICE office director in Harlingen, Texas, that stated Cabinet secretaries are “actively considering whether to invoke the state secrets [act] privileges over the other facts requested by the Court’s order.” “This is woefully insufficient,” Boasberg said. Following Boasberg’s Saturday emergency order siding with the plaintiffs, Democracy Forward and the ACLU, Fox News Digital was first to learn that Gill had filed impeachment articles against Boasberg, saying at the time, “This is another example of a rogue judge overstepping his…authority.” “For the past several weeks, we’ve seen several rogue activist judges try to impede the president from exercising, not only the mandate voters gave him, but his democratic and constitutional authority to keep the American people safe,” Gill told Fox News Digital. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Gill’s resolution accuses Boasberg of abusing his power in levying an emergency pause on the Trump administration’s deportation plans. The resolution text says the order “jeopardizes the safety of the nation, represents an abuse of judicial power, and is detrimental to the orderly functioning of the judiciary. Using the powers of his office, Chief Judge Boasberg has attempted to seize power from the Executive Branch and interfere with the will of the American people.” Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Musk PAC steps deeper into Wisconsin Supreme Court election with $100 offer to voters
With a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat on the line in a state election, Elon Musk’s America PAC is offering registered state voters $100 to sign a petition to express “Opposition to Activist Judges.” Registered Wisconsin voters can also score $100 for referring registered state voters to sign. “Wisconsin registered voters receive $100 for signing the petition & $100 for each signer they refer,” a tweet on the PAC’s X account states. Signers must provide their name, email address, phone number, and mailing address. “Judges should interpret laws as written, not rewrite them to fit their personal or political agendas,” the petition reads. “By signing below, I’m rejecting the actions of activist judges who impose their own views and demanding a judiciary that respects its role—interpreting, not legislating.” SOROS-BACKED JUDGE DEFENDS REDUCED SENTENCE FOR REPEAT CHILD MOLESTER AT DEBATE IN STATE SUPREME COURT RACE Early voting ahead of the April 1 election is already underway in the state. While reports indicate that the Wisconsin race is technically nonpartisan, there is a clear partisan divide in the contest. The state’s former GOP attorney general, Brad Schimel, is running for the seat against Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, who is backed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. LIBERAL JUDGE RECRUITS SANCTUARY SHERIFFS WHO DEFIED ICE FOR AD TOUTING CRIME RECORD IN PIVOTAL RACE Even before the petition signing offer, America PAC had already spent millions ahead of the state’s Supreme Court contest, a filing available on the Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System website shows. Liberal megadonor George Soros donated $1 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in January, according to a filing — the Democratic Party of Wisconsin gave $2 million to Crawford’s campaign in January, according to another filing. “Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Musk tweeted in January. DON JR. CAMPAIGNS IN WI FOR GOP-BACKED SUPREME COURT CANDIDATE AS EARLY VOTING BEGINS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The @america X account states, “PAC Founded by @ElonMusk to support candidates who champion Secure Borders, Sensible Spending, Safe Cities, Fair Justice System, Free Speech and Self-Protection.”
From Sonia Gandhi, Jaya Bachchan, to Sudha Murthy, PT Usha: Leaders across parties unite at IUML’s Iftar gathering amid Ramzan celebrations
Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha who also attended the Iftar party by IUML said, “I am happy that they invited me. I am happy to celebrate with them.”
Chennai street to be renamed after this former star India cricketer
The Greater Chennai Corporation’s recent decision to rename a street in the city after the former Indian off-spinner is a fitting tribute to his achievements.
Who is responsible for abuses, slang, expletives used by Elon Musk’s X AI chatbot Grok?
When the writer of this article asked Grok why it uses Hindi slangs and abuses, it replied in its own way, that also explains its role. Know what AI chatbot used by Elon Musk-owned social media platform said.
GOP bill would ban use of autopen to sign pardons after Trump deems Biden’s ‘void’
FIRST ON FOX: A House Republican is launching an effort to ban the “irresponsible” use of the autopen to sign presidential pardons, just days after President Donald Trump declared former President Joe Biden’s pardons “void” after they were allegedly signed via a mechanical device. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., will introduce the Signature Integrity for Granting National Pardons (SIGN) Act on Friday, shared first with Fox News Digital, to require that a sitting president personally sign any pardon or reprieve, prohibiting the use of a mechanical-signed signature, such as the autopen. “Biden’s use of an autopen should automatically void his presidential pardons,” Carter told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The SIGN Pardons Act will restore the integrity of this important role in our justice system, ensuring that all pardons are physically signed by the Commander-in-Chief.” The Republican-led legislation comes just days after Trump declared Biden’s 11th-hour presidential pardons “vacant” after allegedly being signed via autopen, a mechanical device that can replicate signatures. WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONS “This irresponsible use of technology raises questions about who was really running the country during Biden’s term,” Carter added. “If Biden outsourced this constitutional duty to staff and machines, what other major decisions was he absent for?” A report published by an arm of the Heritage Foundation claimed that the majority of official documents signed by Biden allegedly an autopen signature. Trump, in a Truth Social post on Sunday night, claimed that Biden was unaware of the pardons signed in the final days of his term, which included pardoning members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. “The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. PRO-ENERGY GROUP URGES AG BONDI TO PROBE BIDEN’S AUTOPEN ON CRUCIAL DECISION THAT DEVASTATED INDUSTRY “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” the president added. Trump does not use an autopen to sign legally binding documents such as pardons, according to the White House. Fox News Digital learned this week that an energy watchdog group, Power the Future, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi calling on her to investigate whether Biden also signed energy-related executive orders via autopen and if such actions “were instituted with the president’s knowledge.” The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel determined in 2005 that the president is permitted to use an autopen to sign bills into law, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in February that said the absence of “a writing does not equate to proof that a commutation did not occur.” Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News’ Diana Stancy, Andrew Mark Miller and Emma Colton contributed to this report.