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Year: 2025

New Labour Codes: 5 key changes every employee should know about

New Labour Codes: 5 key changes every employee should know about

The changes will affect everyday employment basics such as wages, leave policy, working hours, and workplace security. The fresh framework applies to just about everyone, including those working full-time or on contract or in sector-specific roles like in the media.

Heavily redacted voting records for school superintendent nabbed by ICE spark outrage

Heavily redacted voting records for school superintendent nabbed by ICE spark outrage

A legal fight is brewing over a Maryland county board of elections’ heavy redactions to the voter registration records of an illegal immigrant who served as superintendent of Iowa’s largest school system until he was arrested by federal authorities this year, Fox News Digital has learned. “This was shocking,” Justin Riemer, CEO and president of the conservative legal group Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview on Friday. “When I saw the news reporting, and they showed screenshots of the registration applications with all this information redacted, I was just shocked.” Riemer was reacting to Prince George’s County’s Board of Elections’ recent release of voter registration documents belonging to illegal alien Ian Andre Roberts, which included blacking out Roberts’ sex, whether he checked the citizenship box, his date of birth and other information. The election attorney is representing Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections and conservative research group the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) in their efforts to receive the voter registration documents with fewer redactions.  Roberts, who is originally from Guyana and first entered the U.S. in 1994, was working as the superintendent of the Des Moines public school district when Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him in September. Roberts was not legally permitted to work in the country after an employment authorization card expired in 2020, Fox News Digital previously reported.  SCHOOL CHIEF TO SUSPECT: ICE ARREST OF DES MOINES SUPERINTENDENT EXPOSES FAKE DEGREES, DRUG CONVICTIONS The arrest of an illegal immigrant working in such a high-profile position shocked conservatives and others. Additional details surrounding his lengthy rap sheet surfaced as journalists and other investigators looked into his history. It was soon discovered that he was listed as a registered Democrat voter in Maryland, where he previously lived and that he had a conviction for reckless driving in 2012, the Department of Homeland Security reported in October.  The Maryland State Board of Elections previously said Roberts did not vote in elections.  “I’m an election law expert, not an immigration expert, but it doesn’t take one to see just how … broken the system has been,” Riemer told Fox Digital. “He has multiple criminal charges. He has worked in multiple school districts where, if they were doing the proper citizenship and work authorization checks, this should have been caught. It’s really just unbelievable how this guy has managed to jump around the country, working in school districts where he’s around children.”  FORMER DES MOINES SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT TAKEN INTO DOJ CUSTODY ON FEDERAL FIREARMS, IMMIGRATION CHARGES As concern mounted surrounding Roberts, the American Accountability Foundation filed a public records request with Prince George’s County to obtain his voter registration application. The county’s board of elections complied with the request, but redacted key information, sparking what could turn into a legal showdown.  “The American Accountability Foundation called the county out on it and said, ‘… you’re not allowed to redact this information,’” Riemer said, adding that it’s understandable for the county to redact information such as an individual’s Social Security number or driver’s license number, but not a person’s gender or whether they answered in the affirmative that they are a U.S. citizen. RITE published copies of the redacted documents, which show 18 black boxes blocking out information across just two pages’ worth of documents. Riemer explained the request was made under the National Voter Registration Act – a federal law that simplified voter registration processes when an eligible individual renews their driver’s license – which includes a provision allowing public access to such records.  Riemer sent a letter to the Prince George’s County Board of Elections on Tuesday demanding the county turn over the records to his clients with fewer redactions as allowed by law. The election attorney, who previously served as chief counsel to the Republican National Committee, gave the county board until Dec. 1 while noting legal action could be in the future if the election board fails to comply.  LAWMAKER REVEALS HOW DES MOINES SCHOOLS CHIEF REGISTERED TO VOTE DESPITE ILLEGAL STATUS “Please provide my clients with the records no later than Monday, December 1, 2025. If you redact or withhold any portion of the requested records beyond the limited exceptions above, we will immediately follow up with a written notice of your violation of 52 U.S.C. § 20507(i). If you do not remedy such violation within 90 days, my clients will sue you in Maryland federal district court and collect reasonable attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses and other costs,” Riemer’s letter to the county board of elections stated.  Riemer said he has not yet heard from the board of elections, and speculated that the county board is in the midst of speaking with the state board of elections and the state attorney general’s office about next steps.  “If they noticed that Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections was part of this effort to get this information, they should have, because we sued Maryland last year for violating the National Voter Registration Act for restricting public access to registration records just like they’re doing here and won that lawsuit in March. And so they just continuously are doing these practices is that are not transparent, they’re not what federal law requires, it’s not what the public deserves,” he added.  Fox News Digital reached out to the Prince George’s County Board of Elections for comment on the letter and redactions on Friday afternoon but did not immediately receive a reply.  DEMOCRATS SILENT ON ILLEGAL ALIEN REGISTERED TO VOTE IN BLUE STATE Riemer said that the case is one of many that show concern over non-citizens being on voter roles is not “political theater” as Democrats have claimed amid conservatives rallying around stronger voter integrity laws nationwide.  “We know it happens in the thousands. Oregon, for example, reported registering a couple thousand non-citizens through their DMV,” he said.  Roberts was taken into the U.S. Marshals’ custody following his September arrest and is set to be prosecuted, DHS said in October. The federal agency

Trump trade official says $2K tariff payments won’t fuel inflation as revenues climb

Trump trade official says K tariff payments won’t fuel inflation as revenues climb

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday that potential one-time payments of $2,000 from tariff revenues would not fuel inflation and could provide welcome relief to families. “This is real money that’s coming in, and we get to decide what to do with it,” Greer told “Fox & Friends Weekend.” “The $2,000, that’s one option,” Greer said, adding that President Donald Trump is “eager to discuss and explore more” proposals. TRUMP CALLS TARIFF OPPONENTS ‘FOOLS,’ PROMISES $2K DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS Greer dismissed concerns that the move would stoke rising prices, noting that “this is not some kind of ongoing new welfare program or something that would exacerbate inflation.” He added that he expects American families to welcome the checks. “But I don’t think it would change the overall macroeconomic picture,” Greer said. Trump vowed earlier this month that revenue generated from duties could fund a $2,000 dividend for low- and middle-income Americans. TRUMP SAYS TARIFF-FUNDED DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS WILL BEGIN NEXT YEAR The president first floated the idea on Nov. 9 and has since suggested that any remaining funds could be used to help pay down the nation’s soaring $38 trillion debt. Last week, Trump said Americans could see payment checks as soon as next year. “We’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff money. We’re going to be issuing dividends probably by the middle of next year, maybe a little bit later than that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. TRUMP SAYS TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND $2K CHECKS FOR AMERICANS, LOWER NATION’S $38T DEBT Since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, tariff revenues have climbed sharply from $23.9 billion in May to $28 billion in June and $29 billion in July.  Total duty revenue reached $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Treasury Department’s “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” report.  So far in fiscal year 2026, which began on Oct. 1, the U.S. has collected $40.4 billion, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department. The proposal comes at a pivotal moment, with tariff receipts climbing and the Supreme Court reviewing the legality of Trump’s trade measures, a case that could determine the future of his broader trade agenda.

Obama wanted shutdown pain to be felt by Americans, while Trump kept focus on Washington, experts argue

Obama wanted shutdown pain to be felt by Americans, while Trump kept focus on Washington, experts argue

President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama are polar opposites in many ways, but, as with anyone who has sat behind the Resolute Desk, they do share some similarities. One thing both have in common is overseeing government shutdowns — one under Obama and two under Trump. And even in that sparse similarity, both men operated differently, particularly in the most recent, 43-day closure. While both congressional battles were centered on Obamacare, Obama put his shutdown at the center of attention, while Trump kept it at more of an arm’s length. HOW CLOSED-DOOR NEGOTIATIONS AND A GUARANTEE ENDED LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ON RECORD Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, told Fox News Digital that a major difference in the Obama and Trump administrations’ approaches to their respective shutdowns was that in 2013, Obama wanted the pain of shutdown to be felt by Americans, while Trump kept the focus centered on Washington, D.C. “During the Obama shutdown, it was more to make it extremely visible, shut down beloved functions — even if you didn’t have to — that affect average Americans,” she said. Boccia at the time worked for the conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation and recalled the barricades that were swiftly erected around Washington, D.C.’s many national parks. Those barricades, both concrete and human, spilled out beyond the nation’s capital and were placed around the hundreds of national parks across America as a stark reminder that the government was closed. Boccia noted that a direct comparison of the two shutdowns would be difficult given the differing lengths, but that the Trump administration, at least early on, sought to inflict direct pain on congressional Democrats and the federal government. GOP UNITY SHATTERED BY CONTROVERSIAL MEASURE IN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BILL That was carried out largely by the Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who ordered mass firings of furloughed workers and withheld or canceled billions in federal funding to blue cities and states. “It’s not that this wasn’t a shutdown, it’s just that the choices the administration made were an attempt to focus the impacts of the shutdown this round on the government itself,” Brittany Madni, executive vice president of the Economic Policy Innovation Center, told Fox News Digital. “This was showmanship from President Obama,” Madni continued. “And if you look at what happened over the last 40 something days, it was the exact same playbook by congressional Democrats.” Madni argued that discussions and debate during the 2013 shutdown were centered largely in Washington, D.C. The latest closure saw some of that, but it also saw Trump continuing to work on trade deals, particularly during his high-profile visit to Asia, which was a point of contention for Democrats on the Hill. “He was doing his job,” Madni said. “He was doing his job. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats, quite simply, were not.” Still, there was a shared thread in both shutdowns: Obamacare. In 2013, congressional Republicans wanted to dismantle Obama’s signature piece of legislation. Fast-forward, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., led his caucus to push extensions to enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Boccia said that played a large part in why Obama was at the vanguard during his shutdown. “He was front and center in the media talking about the shutdown, and because it was over his legacy achievement,” she said. SENATE REACHES TEMPORARY TRUCE TO END RECORD SHUTDOWN, BUT JANUARY BATTLE LOOMS It was because his key legislative achievement was under fire that Obama took such a central role in the shutdown, Boccia argued, but for Trump, who tried during his first administration to gut and replace Obamacare, it wasn’t a priority. “The fact that it was over the Obamacare COVID credits, I think, made the president less necessary and perhaps interested in being the face of the shutdown,” she said. “It was really a congressional battle.” Madni disagreed that the latest shutdown wasn’t a direct bid by congressional Democrats to go after one of his legislative achievements. Before the climactic failed vote in the Senate in late September that ushered in the longest shutdown in history, Democrats offered a counter-proposal that would have stripped several provisions from Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which has so far been the crowning legislative achievement of his second term. “It’s really important that everyone remembers the subsidy request was one request in a laundry list of radical, incredibly expensive ideas that added up to $1.5 trillion,” Madni said. “Another item in that list was dismantling key portions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” “If this was really about the subsidies, then the Democrats would have been willing at any point during the last 43 days to adjust their asks and just make it about subsidies,” she continued. “Not once did they.”