Musk’s next target? Trump says DOGE will look at Department of Education, Pentagon funding
President Donald Trump has tasked SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk with scrutinizing wasteful spending at the Department of Education and the Pentagon through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Musk is leading. DOGE is tasked with eliminating government spending and waste and streamlining operations and is expected to influence White House policy on budget matters. “I’ve instructed him to go check out Education, to check out the Pentagon … and, sadly, you’ll find some things that are pretty bad. But I don’t think, proportionally, you’re going to see anything like we just saw,” Trump told reporters Friday about his plans for Musk during a press conference while hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY On Monday, Trump and DOGE launched an effort to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development, a group that works to deliver aid to impoverished countries and development assistance. The group has come under scrutiny from DOGE, and, in an X audio message, Musk said Sunday he was “in the process” of “shutting down USAID” for corrupt spending and that Trump reportedly agreed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, now acting director of the independent agency, said Monday that USAID was not “functioning” and that the organization isn’t a “global charity.” “It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S.,” Rubio said. “They’re not a global charity. These are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? “We are spending taxpayers’ money,” he said. “We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.” WHAT IS USAID AND WHY IS IT IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS? DOGE has been tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and the federal workforce. Musk has faced some backlash for his interference in governmental affairs thus far. For example, Senate Democrats have accused DOGE of conducting a “hostile takeover” after reports emerged Musk had access to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s central payment systems. The Department of Education and the Department of Defense have some of the largest budgets of government agencies. For fiscal year 2024, the Department of Education received a budget of $79.1 billion, while the Department of Defense received a budget of $841.4 billion, according to government documents. Meanwhile, Trump has signaled he’s seeking to eliminate the Department of Education through an executive order. Even so, Congress would need to pass legislation to completely disband an agency under Article II of the Constitution. MUSK’S DOGE TAKES AIM AT ‘VIPER’S NEST’ FEDERAL AGENCY WITH GLOBAL FOOTPRINT Trump told reporters Tuesday that while he has tapped Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), to lead the Department of Education, he wants her to eventually lose her job. “What I want to do is let the states run schools,” Trump said. “I believe strongly in school choice. But in addition to that, I want the states to run schools, and I want Linda to put herself out of a job.” Fox News’ Stephen Sorace and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Trump admin makes aggressive move to expand illegal immigrant detention: ‘Outside the box’
The Trump administration is using federal prisons to house illegal immigrants as part of an expansive deportation operation, Fox News Digital confirmed on Friday. In a statement, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said it is helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “by housing detainees and will continue to support our law enforcement partners to fulfill the administration’s policy objectives.” The bureau said that for privacy, safety and security reasons, it does not comment on the legal status of any individual, “nor do we specify the legal status of individuals assigned to any particular facility, including numbers and locations.” TRUMP’S ICE LIMITS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASES AMID MOVES TO SHAKE OFF BIDEN ‘HANGOVER’ The Associated Press reported that facilities in Los Angeles, Miami and Atlanta are being used for detention. The move comes as ICE has been over capacity as it has quickly ramped up the number of illegal immigrants being arrested in raids in sanctuary cities and elsewhere across the country. ICE currently has just under 42,000 beds available to it, and it has been exceeding capacity under the current administration. The administration has been pushing hard to get more beds and detention space, but sources tell Fox that it typically takes around 30 days for contractors to deliver, given the time it takes to identify buildings, hire people, conduct background checks and comply with related requirements. That help is expected soon. Fox News Digital reported on Thursday that ICE has requested an apportionment of around $575 million from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as an advance of its funding for the year in order to be able to work more quickly and get another step closer to a reported target of 100,000 beds and one million removals per year. TRUMP DOJ SLAPS ILLINOIS, CHICAGO WITH LAWSUIT OVER SANCTUARY LAWS Fox also reported that ICE is working with the BOP to identify space to house illegal immigrants, as well as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where there may be unused space in soft-sided facilities. Fox News Digital was also told that, as of this week, officials are being instructed that any release of an illegal immigrant in ICE custody must be personally signed off on by acting ICE director Caleb Vitello. Meanwhile, the administration is using Guantánamo Bay to house up to 30,000 detainees, with the second flight of migrants leaving for the facility on Thursday. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “We are looking well outside the box,” a senior ICE official told Fox News Digital. “The Biden administration cut down so many of our beds, and they canceled so many contracts. And the problem with that is you can’t just immediately turn those back on. It’s not a switch, it’s a dial,” they said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
CDC staff told to remove terms like ‘non-binary,’ ‘they/them,’ ‘pregnant people’ from public health material
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been told to remove words frequently associated with progressive gender ideology from research manuscripts that they intend to publish. A screenshot of a leaked internal email sent out to CDC staff, obtained by the newsletter Inside Medicine, showed a list of terms and phrases that must be removed from scientific manuscripts produced by the agency’s researchers and intended for publication. Those terms included: “gender,” “transgender,” “pregnant person,” “pregnant people,” “LGBT,” “transsexual,” “non-binary,” “nonbinary,” “assigned male at birth,” “assigned female at birth,” “biologically male” and “biologically female.” According to the Washington Post, the list includes about 20 terms. They indicated that the directive also ordered the removal of any use of “they/them.” LGBT ACTIVISTS MOBILIZE TO CHALLENGE TRUMP’S ‘EXTREME GENDER IDEOLOGY’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS The rule affects manuscripts under review, as well as those accepted but not yet published, no matter whether they are intended for internal circulation only or circulation outside the CDC. A CDC spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “All changes to HHS and HHS division websites/manuscripts are in accordance with President Trump’s January 20 Executive Orders.” After taking office last month, President Donald Trump signed a slew of Day One executive orders, including one that attempts to root out “gender ideology extremism” and restore “biological truth” to the federal government. Meanwhile, in line with that order, the Trump administration’s Office of Personnel Management issued a memo a little over a week later calling on all federal agencies to “take prompt actions to end all agency programs that use taxpayer money to promote or reflect gender ideology.” FEDS SPENT MILLIONS STUDYING TRANS MENSTRUATION, STRENGTHENING GAY RIGHTS IN THE BALKANS, DATABASE REVEALS In addition to the terms, CDC web pages titled “Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth | Adolescent and School Health” and “April 18 is National Transgender HIV Testing Day” have also been removed. The removal of the terms may make it hard to read surveys and research that utilizes them as demographic identifiers, The Post reported. “If you are trying to optimize society, you can’t just pretend some people aren’t in it,” executive director of the National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network, Scout, who legally goes by only one name, told The Post.
Maxine Waters, House Dems ripped for ‘unhinged’ clash with security guard at Education Dept
Conservatives on social media blasted Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., after she and other Democrats protesting President Donald Trump attempted to enter the Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., while accosting a security guard in the process. Thirty House Democrats attempted to enter the Department of Education building on Friday morning to meet with acting Education Secretary Denise L. Carter regarding Trump’s plans to significantly downsize or even eliminate the department, but they were stopped by security. Video of the Democrats attempting to convince the visibly uninterested security guard to let them in quickly spread on social media, sparking strong pushback from conservatives. Waters and other Democrats could be seen on video berating the security guard, repeatedly asking for his ID, and telling him to look at the camera, so viewers could see his face. ‘STUNNING AND BRAVE’: DEM SENATOR MOCKED AFTER HYPING ALL-NIGHTER STUNT IN PROTEST OF TRUMP NOMINEE “This is hilarious,” author Justin Hart posted on X. “The Democrats have octagenarians going around town trying to intimidate federal workers for some reason or another.” “Absolutely pathetic theater from House Democrats at the Department of Education, down to claiming the security officer is a modern day police officer in the Deep South blocking school integration,” Newsbusters managing editor Curtis Houck posted on X. “The quote at the end is my favorite,” Daily Signal investigative columnist Tony Kinnett posted on X. “Three years ago, Democrats wanted to hear NOTHING from parents concerned about their kids’ schools. They sent the FBI after parents. Now they’re claiming to represent them. Hilarious.” “I can’t stop watching this,” Congressional Leadership Fund Communications Director Torunn Sinclair posted on X. “It’s so funny. Democrats are floundering.” “Unhinged Maxine Waters is annoying AF,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung posted on X. “This deranged behavior is like a scene ripped straight out of Flowers in the Attic.” EXPERTS REVEAL HOW TRUMP CAN KEEP CAMPAIGN PLEDGE TO ELIMINATE DEPT OF EDUCATION: ‘SCALING DOWN ITS SIZE’ “Trump has completely broken the Democrat party,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X. “They are in total shambles.” Fox News Digital reached out to Waters’ office for comment. An aide made it inside the building and explained to security that lawmakers were there. Members then tried to go inside the building, and at that point, the doors were locked, Fox News was told. The Nation’s Report Card, which assesses how American students are performing in various subjects, showed seven out of 10 fourth graders are not proficient readers, which is a worse score than the last report card in 2022. The report card noted that reading scores showed “no significant change” since 1992. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who served in Trump’s first administration, slammed the department and called for a revamp in an opinion piece. “A complete reset begins with ending the failed experiment resident in the Department of Education. The bureaucrats have focused on mandating DEI, when students needed the focus to be on ABC and 123,” DeVos wrote. “President Trump and Congress should take their corrosive power away and instead block grant all necessary education funding directly to the states.” On the campaign trail, Trump suggested several times that eliminating the department entirely was on the table. “One thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., and sending all education and education work it needs back to the states,” Trump said in a 2023 campaign video. Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
Sotomayor criticizes presidential immunity case as putting the high court’s legitimacy on the line
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized the Court’s 2024 presidential immunity case in her first public appearance since the start of the second Trump term, saying it places the Court’s legitimacy on the line. Sotomayor made the comments during an appearance in Louisville, Kentucky, during which she was asked a range of questions, including the public’s perception of the high court, according to the Associated Press. Sotomayor’s comments are her first in public since President Donald Trump took office last month. “If we as a court go so much further ahead of people, our legitimacy is going to be questioned,” Sotomayor said during the Louisville event. “I think the immunity case is one of those situations. I don’t think that Americans have accepted that anyone should be above the law in America. Our equality as people was the foundation of our society and of our Constitution.” ‘INTEGRITY OF THE COURT’: CRUZ REINTRODUCES AMENDMENT TO COMBAT COURT EXPANSION EFFORTS In a 6-3 decision in July 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts. The case stemmed from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal election interference case in which he charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the U.S.; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Sotomayor notably wrote the dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, saying the decision “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.” JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS SWEARING IN MULTIPLE TRUMP CABINET OFFICIALS RAISES EYEBROWS AT CNN “Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law,” the dissent continued. “Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity. If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop. With fear for our democracy, I dissent.” During her Louisville appearance, Sotomayor shared that she “had a hard time with the immunity case,” saying the Constitution contains provisions “not exempting the president from criminal activity after an impeachment.” Sotomayor warned that if the Court were to continue down the same path, the Court’s legitimacy would ultimately be at risk. SUPREME COURT DENIES TRUMP ATTEMPT TO STOP SENTENCING IN NEW YORK V. TRUMP “And if we continue going in directions that the public is going to find hard to understand, we’re placing the court at risk,” Sotomayor said. When asked for comment, a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “This historic 6-3 ruling speaks for itself.” The justice suggested that one way to resolve the public’s distrust in the Court would be to slow down in overturning precedent. The Court has, in recent years, overturned various landmark decisions, including Roe v. Wade in 2022, and striking down affirmative action in college admissions in 2023 and the Chevron doctrine in 2024. “I think that creates instability in the society, in people’s perception of law and people’s perception of whether we’re doing things because of legal analysis or because of partisan views,” Sotomayor said. “Whether those views are accurate or not, I don’t accuse my colleagues of being partisan.” Sotomayor made similar comments in 2023, saying she had a “a sense of despair” about the Court’s direction following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe. Sotomayor did not name the case specifically. However, the justice said she did not have the luxury to dwell on those feelings. “It’s not an option to fall into despair,” Sotomayor said. “I have to get up and keep fighting.” Fox News Digital’s Ronn Blitzer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
House Republican introduces transgender lawmaker as ‘the gentleman … Mr. McBride’ for floor speech
Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., referred to Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del. — who identifies as a transgender woman — as “Mr. McBride.” “The chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBride, for five minutes,” Miller said in the House chamber on Thursday. “Thank you, Madam Speaker,” McBride replied, before proceeding to deliver a speech. While McBride did not respond to Miller’s comment, when Miller next recognized Rep. Nanette Barragán, D- Calif., to deliver a speech, Barragán began by saying, “Thank you, Mr. Speaker.” TRANSGENDER CONGRESS MEMBER ‘MYSTIFIED’ THAT GOP ‘PRIORITIZES’ TRANS ATHLETE BANS IN GIRLS SPORTS Fox News Digital reached out to McBride’s office to request a comment from the lawmaker on Friday — a spokesperson pointed to McBride’s full floor speech, which is featured in a post on the @Rep_McBride X account. “This morning, I delivered my first speech on the floor of the house,” the Feb. 6 tweet begins. During the speech, the Democrat declared, “Piece by piece, department by department, the Trump administration is defunding critical federal services, purging employees, consolidating power, and cutting and gutting programs that Delawareans rely on. They are trying to decimate the federal government and sell it for parts to line the pockets of donors at the expense of working people.” SPEAKER JOHNSON MAKES CLARIFICATION AFTER STATEMENT REGARDING TRANSGENDER HOUSE MEMBER “They do not want to make government more efficient. They want to prove that government can’t work, by making it not work,” McBride asserted. Miller, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, declared in a post on X that she had “refused to deny biological reality” on the chamber floor. FIRST OPENLY TRANS REP-ELECT CLAIMS GOP SPOTLIGHTING TRANSGENDER ISSUES AN ‘ATTEMPT TO DISTRACT’ VOTERS “President Trump restored biological truth in the federal government, and I refuse to perpetuate the lie that gender is open to our interpretation. It is not,” the Republican added.
Baltimore sues Trump for ditching DEI: ‘Attacks anyone who dares to celebrate diversity’
Baltimore and its Democratic mayor have teamed up with progressive groups to file a lawsuit aimed at stopping President Donald Trump’s executive orders that dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion “programs and preferencing” as the president described in one of his directives. Baltimore’s Mayor Brandon Scott – along with the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, American Association of University Professors, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United – filed suit in Maryland federal court this week against Trump and several cabinet heads. Scott did not respond to a request for comment but said in a statement that Trump’s order goes beyond attacking DEI but “aims to establish the legal framework to attack anyone or any place who dares to celebrate our diversity.” “Baltimore citizens risk losing vital federal funding due to this executive order, putting jobs and livelihoods at stake,” the mayor added. The city council is also listed as a plaintiff. LAWMAKERS FROM STATE WITH MOST FEDERAL WORKERS PER CAPITAL BALK AT TRUMP’S BUYOUT BID Baltimore, the nation’s 30th largest city, is 60% Black, 27% White, 8% Hispanic and 2% Asian, according to the Census Bureau. Trump’s order seeks to erase roles within the bureaucracy that include diversity officers as well as “equity”-related endeavors. Paulette Granberry Russell, the CEO of the diversity officers’ association, said in a statement that Trump’s orders will undermine the ability for higher education to open “opportunity, innovation and progress for people across the nation.” “As the nation’s leading association for diversity officers and professionals in higher education, we will use all tools available, including the legal process, to block these harmful orders,” Granberry Russell said. An official for the restaurant industry group said that eateries rely on workers of all ethnic backgrounds and that diversity is what sets the food service sector apart from others. “President Trump wishes to see the end of all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs of any kind whatsoever – and we will not stand for it,” its interim president, Teofilo Reyes, said in a statement. A spokesperson for the White House disagreed with Baltimore’s assertions. SCHUMER MOCKED FOR CORONA-AVOCADO CLIP WARNING TRUMP TARIFFS WILL HURT SUPERBOWL PARTIES “Minorities in America have recognized the Democrat Party’s empty promises and failed policies. That’s why President Trump earned historic support from Black, Latino, Asian, and Arab Americans by prioritizing secure borders, economic opportunity, and an America First foreign policy,” Trump’s Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital. Fields said the left’s “divisive focus” on DEI has undermined decades of progress toward true equality and that Trump and his administration reject such “backward thinking.” “[The White House] will pursue an agenda that lifts everyone up with the chance to achieve the American Dream,” Fields said. Fox News Digital also reached out to Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., who represents most of Baltimore City in Congress. Mfume did not ultimately offer a response to the inquiry. The legal filing opens with a quotation from West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnett – a 1943 Supreme Court case brought by a Jehovah’s Witness family that ruled students cannot be compelled to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation it is that no official … can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matter of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein,” Justice Robert Jackson, an FDR appointee, wrote in his ruling. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The filing itself alleges that if “lawful DEI programs are suddenly deemed unlawful by presidential fiat, plaintiffs must either risk prosecution for making a false claim or censor promotion of their values.” “Our Constitution does not tolerate that result.” It goes on to allege that Trump’s “goal is to punish those who recognize or choose to speak out about this country’s history on issues of enslavement, racial exclusion, health disparities, gender inequality, treatment of individuals with disabilities, and discrimination.” The lawsuit was reportedly assisted or organized in part by Democracy Forward, a nonprofit organization founded during the first Trump administration that claimed to have identified a number of severe “threats to democracy, social progress and rule of law” that Trump represented after his 2016 win. Democracy Forward boasted on its website that it has sued the Trump administration more than 100 times thus far. The group’s president, Skye Perryman, said in a statement on the Baltimore lawsuit that the Constitution protects all Americans regardless of occupation and that Trump’s anti-DEI orders “offend these protections and others.” “The coalition bringing this suit represents people of diverse professions and backgrounds who are all harmed by these unlawful orders, which have chilled their activities and provision of essential services,” Perryman said.
Trump to sign executive order establishing White House faith office
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order establishing a White House Faith Office on Friday. The new office will “empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to better serve families and communities,” according to a fact sheet obtained by Fox News. The office will be housed under the Domestic Policy Council and will consult experts in the faith community on policy changes to “better align with American values.” TRUMP ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING TASK FORCE TO ‘ERADICATE ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS’ The office plans to coordinate with other agencies on training for religious liberty and on elevating grant opportunities for non-profit faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship. It will also collaborate with the Department of Justice on identifying constitutional religious liberty protections. WHITE HOUSE CALLS DEMOCRAT CRITICISM OF DOGE ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ AND ‘INCREDIBLY ALARMING’ The order will come one day after Trump signed an order to create a task force to identify “anti-Christian bias.” The White House said this “Task Force to End the War on Christians” will comprise members of the president’s Cabinet and key government agencies, and the order seeks to “end the anti-Christian weaponization of government.” It came after nearly two dozen pro-life Christians were charged and sentenced for demonstrating outside abortion facilities during the Biden administration. Trump pardoned 23 pro-life protesters in his first week on the job.
UT-Dallas students launch alternative newspaper after clash with administration
Students at the university created their own news organization — The Retrograde — after they reached an impasse with administrators regarding oversight and the firing of the campus newspaper’s editor-in-chief.
Trump plans to meet with Zelenskyy as he looks to end Ukraine war
President Donald Trump may soon meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “He may meet next week, yeah. Whenever he would like. I’m here,” Trump told reporters while hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday. Trump said that the meeting would likely be held in Washington, D.C., because he would not go to Ukraine. Trump also said there was a possibility he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting that the two have always had a “very good relationship.” TRUMP AND ‘NO ONE ELSE’ CAN END THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR, US ALLY SAYS “That’s why it is so sad that this happened,” Trump said, appearing to reference Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “This never would have happened if I were president.” Trump, who met with Zelenskyy in New York in September 2024, urged Putin to cease the war — or face sanctions — in a post on Truth Social on Jan. 22. “Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE,” Trump said. If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said he backed issuing harsher sanctions on Russia during his confirmation hearing Jan. 16 to expedite the end of the war. TRUMP’S ‘RARE’ PRICE FOR US MILITARY AID TO UKRAINE CALLED ‘FAIR’ BY ZELENSKYY According to retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Trump is the only person who could end the conflict. “The only person that Putin will really want to talk to — because he’s kind of denigrated other leaders that are out there — is President Trump, and President Trump’s the only one who can bring this to a conclusion,” Kellogg told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.