Texas budget writers prioritize school vouchers, teacher raises and border security in early drafts
Both chambers set aside $1 billion for a voucher-like education savings account program — double what was on the table two years ago — in a sign that supporters are emboldened after recent electoral gains.
‘Tip of the spear’: Trump ramps up unscripted media blitz after years of reclusive Biden ducking questions
President Donald Trump is quickly showcasing his accessibility to reporters days after returning to the White House, a stark contrast to his Democratic predecessor who frequently ducked questions and took scripted questions from reporters. “We’ll take a few questions,” the president said on Tuesday, after announcing what’s said to be a half-trillion dollar investment by top tech companies to vastly expand the nation’s artificial intelligence infrastructure. Trump then took questions for half an hour from reporters gathered at the White House. It was the second straight day the new president held an informal, off-the-cuff and freewheeling news conference with reporters. HEAD HERE FOR FOX NEWS UPDATES ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS IN THE WHITE HOUSE On Monday, hours after he was inaugurated at the U.S. Capitol, Trump took questions for 45 minutes as he sat in the Oval Office and simultaneously signed an avalanche of executive orders and actions. The back and forth with reporters was carried live by Fox News and CNN. Trump on Wednesday is taking questions from Fox News’ Sean Hannity, for his first Oval Office interview since returning to the White House. The sit-down will run at 9 p.m. ET on Fox News’ “Hannity.” FOX EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP SHARES LETTER BIDEN LEFT FOR HIM “The president is the tip of the spear and he’s been active in wanting to go out and communicate both his successes and the challenges that we have, and he’s been active in wanting to solve those,” deputy White House chief of staff for communications Taylor Budowich told Fox News. The accessibility with reporters showcases Trump’s unscripted nature, and it stands in stark contrast with former President Joe Biden, whose interactions with reporters were more limited and at times tightly stage-managed. “Did Biden ever do news conferences like this?” Trump asked on Monday, as he appeared to take a jab at the former president. TRUMP’S AVALANCHE OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS Julie Mason, the host of a national radio program, veteran White House reporter and former elected board member of the White House Correspondents Association, told Fox News “it is completely refreshing to have a president who is accessible, available.” “He’ll answer any question you throw at him. He’s not always happy with the questions he gets, but he engages with journalists. That’s the most important thing. Their job is to inform the public about what is going on at the White House and having direct access to the president is essential to that,” Mason emphasized. She added that “Biden was kept very much under wraps. Reporters rarely got a chance to ask him anything. It was a huge frustration in the press corps. This is completely different.” Trump is known for his extended interactions with reporters. He held two unconstrained news conferences at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, during his transition back to the presidency. And while for years he has accused reporters of being “fake news” and “the enemy of the people,” and while his answers to their questions keep fact-checkers busy, his exchanges with the media are often free-flowing, without any aides selecting reporters to ask questions. Budowich says Trump’s accessibility and off-the-cuff style are contributing factors to his political success. “The reason we won this election is because of Donald Trump. The reason why we are going to succeed in executing his agenda is because of Donald Trump,” he argued. And he touted that Trump “in the first two and a half days, has accomplished what most presidents fail to accomplish in their first two years.”
House Speaker Johnson captures VP JD Vance’s first visit to the Oval Office on video
House Speaker Mike Johnson channeled his inner dad energy as he excitedly recorded Vice President JD Vance’s first time in the Oval Office. The speaker not only celebrated the moment, but he noted Vance’s background, saying his story is one that could happen “only in America.” “As we gathered for our meeting at the White House yesterday, JD Vance mentioned to us that he had never before visited the Oval Office. I told him and President Trump that I HAD to capture the moment on video,” Johnson wrote in a post on X. “Only in America can a hardworking young man from Appalachia rise from his humble circumstances to enter the Oval for first time as VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. What a country!” REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS MEET WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP, VP VANCE TO ADVANCE AGENDA Vance’s background took center stage in the campaign as then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Min., made a joke about no one from his small town going to Yale, where Vance got his law degree. “Now, I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale,” Walz said during his remarks at the Democratic National Convention. The Trump campaign was quick to call out Walz’s remarks on social media, calling it a “weird flex.” WHO IS TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE JD VANCE? Before he was chosen as President Donald Trump’s running mate, Vance served as a senator from Ohio after winning the seat in 2022. However, the current vice president entered the public eye in 2016 when he published his book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” In the book, he details his challenging upbringing in Middletown, Ohio. Surrounded by poverty, and grappling with his mother’s drug addiction, Vance worked his way into a position to make change. In 2020, years after the memoir was published, it was turned into a Netflix movie, which was directed by Ron Howard and starred Glenn Close and Amy Adams. “Hillbilly Elegy” faced fierce criticism, which both Close and Adams rejected. Recently, while on “The View,” Close praised the vice president’s “very generous family.” GLENN CLOSE PRAISES ‘GENEROUS’ FAMILY OF JD VANCE DURING ‘HILLBILLY ELEGY’ FILMING, AS ‘VIEW’ HOSTS TAKE JABS Vance’s mother, Beverly Aikins, has been sober for a decade. Aikins briefly addressed the crowd at the Ohio inaugural ball, which was held in Washington, D.C., on Sunday night. She informed the crowd that she officially hit 10 years of sobriety that day and that the next day was her birthday, in addition to it being her son’s inauguration, Cincinnati.com reported. Vance returned to his hometown for a rally held at Middletown High School, from which he graduated in 2003. He told the crowd that the town was “so good to me,” and that he was “proud” to be from Middletown.
Newsom uses LA fires to criticize President Trump’s reversal of Biden-era climate emissions standards
In an apparent swipe at President Donald Trump, Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested the Los Angeles fires were the result of climate change, urging skeptics that, “If you don’t believe in science, believe your own damn eyes.” He wrote those words in a press release issued on Tuesday in response to Trump’s executive orders around the environment and paired them alongside horrifying images of the fires raging in California, which have so far killed 27 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes and structures. Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, signed several executive orders to reverse parts of former President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, including withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement – a legally binding treaty between nearly 195 parties who are committed to international cooperation on climate change. In response to Trump distancing from the climate pact, which sought to reduce emissions 61-66% by 2035, the California governor suggested that withdrawing from the global emissions agreement contributes to environmental incidents such as the West Coast fires. TRUMP ELIMINATING LNG PAUSE TO HAVE ‘QUICKEST EFFECT’ ON ENERGY INDUSTRY: RICK PERRY Several other Democratic lawmakers across the country have also tried to pin the disastrous fires on climate change, despite residents fuming at local officials after some fire hydrants were not producing water in areas impacted by the fires. “The scale of damage and loss is unimaginable. Climate change is real, not ‘a hoax.’ Donald Trump must treat this like the existential crisis it is,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a social media post in January. PRESIDENT TRUMP FOLLOWS THROUGH ON DAY ONE WITH TRADE, ENERGY, DOGE EXECUTIVE ORDERS The claims come as California officials continue to receive backlash for funding diversity, equity, and inclusion in the city, while the fire department budget was slashed by $17.6 million this year. “When you just look at water not coming out of fire hydrants and then nobody seems to know why. And then the governor says, ‘Well, I’m going to investigate it,’ it’s just kind of a sideshow in a time when we need real definitive, strong leadership,” Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital of Newsom. Actor Michael Rapaport also blasted Newsom for talking about “Trump-proofing” California ahead of his inauguration instead of focusing on “fire-proofing” the state. “If you are going to run a city or run a state, you have to take care of the basics, and that’s to make sure that your fire and your police department are well-funded,” filmmaker and former “Family Ties” star Justine Bateman told Fox News’ Jessie Watters. Newsom extended an invitation to Trump to visit the areas in California that were impacted by the fires. Trump told attendees at a pre-inauguration rally that he plans to visit southern California later this week, marking his first trip to the state since being sworn-in as president. Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Working ‘in tandem’: Republicans prep to make Trump executive orders permanent
House Republicans have no plans to allow President Donald Trump’s key executive orders to expire at the end of his four-year term. Trump marked his first day in office Monday with dozens of new executive orders, and signaled that he is aiming to use the commander in chief’s unilateral power to enact policy when possible. Executive orders, however, can be easily rescinded when a new administration enters the White House. They can also be subject to legal challenges that argue they run afoul of existing U.S. law, as is the current case with Trump’s order limiting birthright citizenship. But several House GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital are signaling they intend to stop that from happening for at least several of Trump’s key policies. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST DAY IN OFFICE “I see him doing things by executive action as a necessity to signal… but they’re not the best way to do things,” former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital. “The best way to do things is the legislative process with a signature on a bill.” Perry suggested starting with Trump’s orders on the border and energy. Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., confirmed at his weekly press conference that Trump’s orders will be a roadmap for the House. “This is an America First agenda that takes both of those branches of government to work in tandem,” Johnson said. “And so what he’s doing is kickstarting what will ultimately be our legislative agenda.” Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., a close ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital, “I think the executive orders are easy because it requires one person.” “Equally important in our discussions with him is the legislative piece, that we permanently enshrine some of these things or that we correct mistakes in the law that maybe have been abused in the past,” Fry said. Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., suggested enshrining Trump’s rollback of Biden administration energy policies into law. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s border subcommittee, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., said he wanted Congress to back up Trump’s immigration executive orders. “We need to codify what President Trump has put in place by executive orders – Remain in Mexico, doing away with the CBP One app,” Guest said. “When President Trump leaves office in four years, those executive orders can be undone.” FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP VOWS OVER 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY 1 Some have already taken steps to do just that. House Science Committee Chair Brian Babin, R-Texas, introduced a bill this week to limit birthright citizenship the day after Trump’s order. Freshman Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, released a bill earlier this month to reinstate Trump’s Remain In Mexico policy. “I think the border crisis is so egregious and so harmful to American citizens that everybody can see it, whether you’re a Republican or Democrat,” Gill told Fox News Digital. Former President Joe Biden rolled back several of Trump’s key executive orders on his first day in office and ended enforcement of Remain In Mexico – though that was challenged in court.
Biden’s letter to Trump revealed: ‘May God bless you and guide you’
President Donald Trump revealed the contents of the letter that President Joe Biden left him upon leaving the Oval Office earlier this week exclusively to Fox News on Wednesday. The letter, which Trump found inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with a little help from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, is addressed “Dear President Trump” and reads as follows: “As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation. “May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.” BIDEN LEFT TRUMP ‘INSPIRATIONAL’ MESSAGE IN ‘VERY NICE’ LETTER, NEW PRESIDENT SAYS The letter was signed “Joe Biden” and dated Jan. 20, 2025. This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
House Speaker Johnson calls Biden’s last-minute pardons ‘shocking’ and ‘disgusting’
House Speaker Mike Johnson says former President Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons of his family members were “shocking” and “disgusting.” “It was shocking. I mean, it was shocking what President Biden did on the way out, pardoning his family for more than a decade of whatever activity, any nonviolent offenses. It was breathtaking to us,” Johnson said Wednesday during the House Republican leadership’s weekly press conference. “I don’t think that’s anything like that’s ever been anticipated. And by the way, go look at the tape. You know, four years ago when it was just implied that President Trump might do something similar, they were apoplectic. Joe Biden himself, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, roll the tape. They all said that would be crazy and unconscionable. And now they’re cheering it along,” Johnson continued. “To us, it is disgusting. To us, it probably proves the point. The suspicion that, you know, they call it the Biden crime family. If they weren’t the crime family, why do they need pardons? Right?” Johnson also said. “Look, there’s a lot of attention that’s going to be paid to this. And I think that is appropriate. And we will be looking at it as well.” 4 TRUMP RIVALS THAT BIDEN DIDN’T PARDON Biden pardoned his siblings just minutes before leaving office on Monday. The pardon applied to James Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John Owens, and Francis Biden, the White House announced. The president argued that his family could be subject to “politically motivated investigations” after he leaves office. “I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,” Biden said in a statement. “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances,” Biden added. The pardons have been widely criticized, with Trump-Vance transition senior adviser Jason Miller describing them to Fox News as “nonsense.” “I think for Joe Biden to do that, I thought that was nonsense,” he said. ‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOST SLAMS BIDEN’S LAST-SECOND PREEMPTIVE PARDONS, SAYS HIS LEGACY IS TARNISHED Former Biden White House communications director Kate Bedingfield also called them a “disappointing move.” Biden issued another wave of pre-emptive pardons earlier Monday morning, those going to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and people associated with the House select committee investigation on January 6. Since taking office, President Donald Trump signed off on releasing more than 1,500 charged with crimes stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. “The President has made his decision,” Johnson said Wednesday when asked about those pardons. Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Anders Hagstrom, Diana Stancy and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
Bureau of Prisons director out as Trump’s Justice Department reforms take shape
The director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has resigned from her position, while a Biden-era executive order that sought to phase out the use of private prisons has been repealed amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to implement drastic reforms to the Justice Department. Colette Peters, who has led the BOP since August 2022, is out as director of the beleaguered agency, and she has been replaced by William Lothrop, who had been serving as deputy director of the BOP. Peters was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 and touted as a reform-minded outsider tasked with rebuilding an agency plagued for years by staff shortages, widespread corruption, misconduct and abuse. DOJ TO INVESTIGATE STATE OR LOCAL OFFICIALS WHO OBSTRUCT IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: MEMO The agency has nearly 36,000 employees and is responsible for more than 155,000 federal inmates. Lothrop, who says he has more than 30 years’ experience working in the BOP, announced the change via a statement on Tuesday, the day after President Trump was sworn into office. The BOP director is not subject to confirmation by the Senate, per the legal news service Law 360. “On Jan. 20, 2025, Director Peters separated from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and I will be serving as the Acting Director,” Lothrop said. “As we face ongoing challenges, including staffing shortages and operational issues, I am committed to working alongside you to find real solutions that strengthen our facilities. We will continue collaborating with our law enforcement partners and stakeholders to maintain robust programming and support services for inmates.” “Our mission remains clear: to provide a safe, secure and humane environment, ensure public safety, and prepare those in our custody for successful reentry into society,” his statement added. CAREER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS REASSIGNED TO DIFFERENT POSITIONS: REPORTS Soon after Trump was elected, Peters announced the closure of six male federal prison camps and one female facility, including the scandal-hit Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, per Forbes. FCI Dublin had garnered the nickname “rape club” after the Justice Department in December was ordered to pay almost $116 million to 103 women who say they were abused there. The prison’s former warden, Ray Garcia, and at least seven other employees are now in prison themselves for sexually abusing inmates. During her Peters, she appeared before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and spoke about the challenges the BOP faced, but she had trouble getting results. In September 2023, Peters was scolded by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, who said Peters forced them to wait more than a year for answers to written follow-up questions they sent her after she first appeared before the committee in September 2022, leaving them without information critical to fully understanding how the agency runs. Peters also irked senators by claiming she couldn’t answer even the most basic questions about agency operations — like how many correctional officers are on staff — and by referring to notes and talking points on a tablet computer in front of her. In 2024, then President Biden signed the Federal Prison Oversight Law, which allowed the Office of Inspector General to conduct more unannounced prison inspections, per Forbes. Of the inspections OIG has done over the years, it found significant shortages of staff, poor medical care for prisoners, rotten food and dirty living conditions. Peters said she welcomed the law, but that it had not yet been funded. Trump reversed Executive Order 14006, which had eliminated Justice Department contracts with private prisons. The reversal now allows for new contracts between private prison corporations and the U.S. Marshals Service. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump revokes Biden order allowing transgender troops in bid to rid DEI from military
President Donald Trump has revoked a Biden-era order allowing transgender people to serve in the military. After taking the oath of office on Monday, the new president signed an order revoking former President Joe Biden’s order known as Enabling All Qualified Americans To Serve Their Country in Uniform, which was signed in 2021. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to reinstate the ban on transgender troops he imposed during his first term. In his inauguration speech, he said he would formally recognize that there are only two genders: male and female. There are an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender service members. The new executive order was part of a rapid-fire succession of moves Trump has taken to undo Biden’s policies. In a statement, the White House called out diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government that “has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy.” TRUMP ORDER PUTS THOUSANDS OF AFGHAN ALLIES WAITING FOR US RESETTLEMENT IN LIMBO The move comes as part of a campaign taken up by Trump and his Defense Department secretary nominee Pete Hegseth to weed out any DEI practices across U.S. forces. Last week, Trump tapped Matthew Lohmeier to be the Air Force’s next undersecretary. In 2021, Lohmeier, a Space Force lieutenant colonel, was fired after calling out the military’s diversity programs and alleging “Marxism” within its ranks. Lohmeier has self-published a book, “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest and the Unmaking of the American Military” and appeared on podcasts claiming the military was being weakened by Marxism, diversity efforts and critical race theory. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, praised the move, “is already restoring the focus of our military on lethality by putting an end to woke DEI programs.” 2 AMERICANS RELEASED IN EXCHANGE FOR TALIBAN PRISONER Monday’s actions are part of a wider Republican crackdown on transgenderism within the military. GOP lawmakers successfully included an amendment in their 2025 defense policy bill that bans irreversible transgender care for minors in the military healthcare system. An order requiring the federal government to only recognize two genders has prohibited the use of taxpayer money for “transgender services” following reports that some inmates were receiving transgender care funded by the government. Medicaid, in some states, currently covers such treatments. Also, under that order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants and rape victims are to be segregated by biological sex. It would block requirements at government facilities and at workplaces that transgender people be referred to using pronouns that align with their gender. Trump’s team says those requirements violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and religion. The order does not issue a nationwide mandate on which bathrooms transgender people can use or which sports competitions they can participate in, though many states have passed laws in those areas. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
State Department blocks pride, BLM flags from embassies, outposts with ‘one flag policy’
The U.S. State Department has adopted a new policy under the Trump administration that effectively blocks U.S. embassies and outposts from flying Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, a report said Tuesday. The Washington Free Beacon first reported that it obtained a copy of the “One Flag Policy” order, which permits only the American flag to be flown at U.S. facilities at home and abroad, with two notable exceptions: the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) emblem and the Wrongful Detainees Flag. “Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content,” the memo states, according to the outlet. “The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy. These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department for confirmation about the “One Flag Policy,” but did not immediately hear back. NEW SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO PAUSES REFUGEE OPERATIONS, RAMPS UP VISA VETTING The policy comes after the Biden administration courted controversy over the last four years over flying such flags, igniting lengthy debates between Democrats and Republicans. Former President Joe Biden caught flack for flying the Pride flag outside the White House during a Pride Month celebration in 2023, and in 2021 for a leaked State Department memo that encouraged U.S. embassies to display Black Lives Matter flags on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. FLASHBACK: WHITE HOUSE ACCUSED OF US FLAG CODE VIOLATION OVER PRIDE MONTH DISPLAY The controversies led GOP lawmakers in 2023 to introduce a bill known as the One Flag for All Act, which proposed to make it illegal to fly, drape or display any flag other than the American flag on federal buildings or properties, with limited exceptions. Pride flags were first flown at U.S. embassies during former President Barack Obama’s administration, according to Forbes, prior to being banned by the Trump administration in 2019. The ability was reinstated by the Biden administration in 2021, Forbes reports. Pride flags were later banned from being flown outside U.S. embassies in March 2024 as part of a $1.2 trillion spending package Biden signed. President Donald Trump vowed to immediately shake up the State Department upon taking office, with one source familiar with the situation telling Fox News that the new Trump administration will immediately move new officials into key operational roles at the State Department to ensure the department is carrying out the Trump foreign policy agenda from day one. Trump’s Secretary of State nominee, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, was unanimously confirmed to the Cabinet post on Tuesday. Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias contributed to this report.