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SNAP recipients may be barred from junk food purchases under new House GOP bill

House Republicans are eyeing new limits on food stamps driven by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s mission to “Make America Healthy Again.” Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., is leading “The Healthy SNAP Act” to bar most junk foods from being eligible for purchase under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), he first told Fox News Digital. “President Trump has been given a mandate by the majority of Americans to Make America Healthy Again, and those in his administration, like RFK Jr. and Senator Marco Rubio, have directly advocated for eliminating junk food purchases with SNAP,” Brecheen told Fox News Digital. “If someone wants to buy junk food on their own dime, that’s up to them. But what we’re saying is, don’t ask the taxpayer to pay for it and then also expect the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the resulting health consequences.” TRUMP TAPS RFK JR. TO LEAD DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Brecheen’s bill would bar the use of food stamps to buy “soft drinks, candy, ice cream, prepared desserts such as cakes, pies, cookies, or similar products,” according to legislative text obtained by Fox News Digital. Seven Republicans have backed the legislation as co-sponsors. As the Oklahoma Republican referenced, Secretary of State nominee Rubio did back efforts to reform SNAP last year. He unveiled a bipartisan bill with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., to enable the federal government to collect more data on SNAP purchases and “add improving nutrition security and diet quality to Congress’ declaration of policy for SNAP.” TRUMP-RFK JR. ALLIANCE BECOMES BEACON OF HOPE FOR ‘CRUNCHY MOMS’: ‘STANDING UP FOR OUR CHILDREN’ Rubio had also called for a crackdown on SNAP funds going toward junk food in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last year. Brecheen said of his bill, “In addition to the obvious health improvements, this bill will also result in significant savings in taxpayer funds for such programs as Medicaid, where approximately 1 in 4 Americans (79 million total) are currently enrolled.” “Federally funded healthcare for obesity and obesity-related diseases has reached $400 billion per year, according to the Senate Joint Economic Committee (JEC) 2023 report. We can’t afford to go down this road any longer as a nation,” he said. Republicans embracing a focus on nutrition and health is a notable shift from even a decade ago, when conservatives pushed back on former first lady Michelle Obama’s effort to get more nutritional meals in schools. Kennedy, who was a self-described Democrat before running for president as an Independent candidate, has driven a significant shift in the national dialogue on the issue since forging a relationship with President-elect Donald Trump. Trump tapped Kennedy to be his secretary of Health and Human Services – though his history of vaccine skepticism may make his confirmation an uphill battle.

Conservative group reveals how Trump can clean house at Department of Education, lists top bureaucrats to fire

FIRST ON FOX – The American Accountability Foundation, a conservative government research nonprofit, assembled a “watch-list” of top bureaucrats at the Department of Education who it recommends President-elect Donald Trump should fire.  The nonprofit, which is funded by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, published the list on its website. The AAF assembled 19 “dossiers” naming “America’s Most Subversive Education Bureaucrats.”  AAF President Tom Jones, a former Republican congressional staffer, told Fox News Digital that the “public-facing” list was not compiled at the behest of the Trump transition team, but rather because the conservative organization believes it’s important that the American people “understand that there’s a lot of civil servants within the federal government, and particularly within the Department of Education, who are not impartial technicians executing on the agenda of the president, but rather are ideologues who have an agenda that they’re willing to implement despite the clear direction from the voters in November.”  “At the end of the day, it’s fundamentally undemocratic. What you get is a group of people who don’t reflect the will of the American people implementing their agenda over that of what the American people said was their will in November. At the end of the day, what it means is you get a left-wing approach to education, particularly higher education,” Jones told Fox News Digital. “The higher education system in America is broken. I think the events of last summer, where you saw left-wing pro-terrorist groups take over American campuses, and the faculty and administration support them, really should have been a wake-up call for all Americans. And I think this could be a wake-up call for this administration.”  Jones said those on the list include individuals who are “serial donors” to Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and President Biden, as well as other “hard core ideologues” who will prioritize their own progressive agendas, such as promoting Biden’s student loan “bailouts,” increasing regulations on successful online class partnerships, and conducting a “witch hunt” against Christian and career colleges through the Student Financial Aid Office of Enforcement.  NEW GOP BILL SEEKS TO HOLD PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES TO SAME TAX STANDARD AS CORPORATIONS: ‘ON NOTICE’ Jones identified one individual at the Office of Enforcement who “had spent his career at the Maryland Attorney General’s Office investigating career colleges and Christian colleges.” He pointed to another person who stated that he would work to turn the DOE into a “mini-CFPB,” a reference to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Jones described as “essentially just a witch hunt factory that’s used to investigate organizations of people that the administration doesn’t like.” The nonprofit described one general attorney for the DOE included on the list as “a leading legal advocate for transgender rights in the debate over religious exemptions for certain universities.”   “These people are not going to say, you know what, ‘I hated Trump last week, but on January 22nd, I’m going to be super excited about implementing his education agenda.’ Unless these folks are moved out of their positions within the Department of Education, they’re going to continue to work behind the scenes to attack alternatives to traditional four-year institutions,” Jones said.  Others named on the list include a civilian employee within the DOE Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) who the nonprofit says spearheaded a “$6.1 billion student loan forgiveness scheme to art institute students.”  “They call it relief, but it’s really a huge giveaway to people who pursue college degrees that are just unaffordable,” Jones told Fox News Digital. “And look, that’s completely unacceptable to essentially have the federal government repaying the student loans for someone and putting that burden on the back of a plumber or a welder, you know, a teacher who is taking care of their education or who didn’t go on to college, they’ve now got to pay for some guy who’s got a feminist studies degree from Columbia and $150,000 in debt. That’s just simply, fundamentally unfair and wrong. But look, if you want to go get that degree, you should be prepared to pay for it.”  The list includes another DOE employee who the nonprofit says helped the Biden administration “weaponize federal student aid policies against faith-based higher education.”  TRUMP TAPS FORMER WWE CEO LINDA MCMAHON TO SERVE AS EDUCATION SECRETARY The nonprofit accuses the person of playing a key role in the DOE levying a $37.7 million fine against Grand Canyon University, the nation’s largest Christian college, for alleged misrepresentation of the cost of its doctoral degree programs, accusing the Biden administration of effectively having “bullied” the college into wiping out student debt for them. Everyone named on the list is making six figures, Jones said, adding that some are even earning an annual salary of more than $200,000, while the average American teacher’s salary sits at around $50,000 to $60,000.  “These woke bureaucrats at the Department of Education are pulling down $200,000 to attack alternatives to education,” Jones said. “The Office of Enforcement is attacking things like career colleges and Christian colleges, and they’re getting rich doing it. And that’s just shameful. So I’m hopeful that the administration says, look, this is, you know, paying people $200,000 a year to attack opportunities for, you know, welders, nurses and folks like that to get a higher education. It’s just unacceptable.”  “At the end of the day, American people need to understand that the people we’re talking about here are not technicians,” Jones said. “This isn’t plumbing that they’re doing. This is policy work. This is fundamentally ideological work. And at the end of the day, these people are just like the political appointees that can be fired at the beginning of the administration.”  “I’m hopeful that the administration really takes the opportunity to treat them like political appointees and ask them to move on, because if they don’t, they’re going to get left-wing political ideology in the administration for the next four years,” he added. “And unfortunately, we saw some of that happen in the first administration.

‘Rings hollow’: Biden ripped for warning of oligarchy ‘taking shape’ in US despite deep ties to billionaires

President Biden was widely panned by conservatives on social media after warning in his final speech to the nation of an “oligarchy taking shape in America.” “That’s why my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern,” Biden said in his farewell speech on Wednesday night. “And this is a dangerous — and that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.” “We see the consequences all across America. And we’ve seen it before.” Conservatives on social media quickly reacted to that comment with criticism pointing to the billionaires that Biden has associated with over the years, including liberal megadonor George Soros, who he recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 6 DEM-SUPPORTING BILLIONAIRES BIDEN DIDN’T MENTION WHILE CALLING OUT POLITICAL ‘OLIGARCHY’ Fox News Digital previously reported on several billionaires who donated to President Biden’s re-election campaign last year, including Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, and Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. “Joe Biden didn’t call out Iran, China, or the wars he helped create in his farewell speech—but he attacked American citizens, calling them ‘oligarchs’ and ‘a threat to democracy,’” GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace posted on X. “A fitting end to a presidency defined by blame and failure.” Mace added in another post, “Joe Biden discussing democracy, a free press, institutions and the abuse of power in his final farewell speech is rich.” ‘WORST FAREWELL SPEECH IN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY’: BIDEN’S OVAL OFFICE GOODBYE PANNED AS ‘DARK’ “Joe Biden, who just awarded the Medal of Freedom to George Soros and gave his own son a free pass for any and all federal crimes he committed over the course of a decade, now wants you to know that oligarchies are bad,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted on X. “Yes, Biden, opponent of the wealthy and powerful…who just gave the nation’s highest civilian honor to…George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Ralph Lauren (net worth $11 billion), and Magic Johnson (net worth $1.6 billion)” American Compass managing editor Drew Holden posted on X.  “Biden’s oligarchy warning, while with merit, rings hollow from the leader of a party fueled by billionaires,” former White House correspondent Ron Fournier posted on X. “Truth is, the monied class rules both halves of the corrupt duopoly.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “INCREDIBLY RICH for Biden to warn about ‘power concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy people’ when their entire political apparatus has been fueled by Arabella Advisors and George Soros for decades,” Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

DNA TV Show: Is attack on actor Saif Ali Khan inside his residence an insider’s job or a part of bigger conspiracy?

The attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan at his Bandra West-based apartment in Mumbai led to a massive uproar across the country.

Red state illegal immigration crackdown produces nearly 50K criminal arrests

According to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, the state’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and Tren de Aragua (TdA) migrant gang activity have reduced illegal crossings by nearly 90% and resulted in close to 50,000 criminal arrests. Abbott’s office said that the Texas-led campaign called “Operation Lonestar,” which was first launched in March 2021 and has seen the participation of over a dozen other Republican states, has led to 530,400 illegal immigrant apprehensions and over 49,900 criminal arrests, with more than 42,900 felony charges. During this operation, Texas also became the first state to build a border wall on its own, continuing border wall construction at strategic points despite President Biden putting a stop to it in the early days of his administration. US BORDER PATROL REPORTEDLY CAPTURES RUSSIAN MERCENARY CARRYING DRONE, 2 PASSPORTS AND $4K “Our top priority is the safety and security of Texans, including against the growing threat of Tren de Aragua,” Abbott said on X. “We will not allow this gang to operate or gain a foothold in Texas.” The governor’s office also said that during Operation Lonestar, Texas law enforcement seized over 620 million lethal doses of fentanyl, which they said is “enough to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States, Mexico, and Canada combined.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The office noted that Abbott designated TdA, whose violent crime has been sweeping across the nation, a foreign terrorist organization and launched a strike team to target, identify and arrest members of the group. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested four TdA members crossing the border on New Year’s Eve, one of whom was identified as a possible high-ranking member of the gang. TREN DE ARAGUA BELIEVED TO BE BEHIND MURDER OF IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL NEAR BORDER The statement also said that Texas has transported a total of 119,400 migrants to Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles, all of which have migrant sanctuary policies in place. Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, told Fox News Digital that Operation Lone Star has cost Texas more than $11 billion, all of which was spent on efforts to secure the border, including deploying thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers, transporting migrants to sanctuary cities, installing strategic barriers, cracking down against violent gangs like TdA, and building new border wall. “Because of these efforts, Texas has decreased illegal crossings into the state by 87%,” said Mahaleris. “Texas has held the line against the Biden-Harris border crisis for the past four years, and Governor Abbott looks forward to continuing to work closely with President Trump and his incoming administration to protect our state and the nation.” 

Who is Ashley Moody? Meet the Senate’s newest member from Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C., to fill Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate.  Rubio is in the midst of the confirmation process to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state.  A 49-year-old mother of two, Moody has served as the state’s top prosecutor since 2019, having previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and a circuit court judge. The Republican state attorney general has supported lawsuits to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, and pushed against restoring voting rights for felons and marijuana legalization.   Her husband, Justin Duralia, serves as the deputy chief of the Plant City Police Department in Hillsborough County.  As a senator, Moody promised to work to undo regulations instituted by government agencies and shrink the federal budget. “The only way to return this country to the people, the people who govern it, is to make sure we have a strong Congress doing its job, passing laws and actually approving the regulations that these unelected bureaucrats are trying to cram down on the American people,” she said.  DESANTIS ORDERS FLAGS AT FULL-STAFF FOR TRUMP’S INAUGURATION DESPITE 30-DAY MOURNING PERIOD FOR JIMMY CARTER “I’ve got the backs of the American people,” Moody went on. “I am driven by many things in life. I will bring the influence of many things, in my life, my experiences certainly, but I am driven by my faith in God. First and foremost. I am driven by the fact that I am a mother and I still have a kid in school … I’m a trained accountant, so I can shrink the bloat of the federal government.” Initially, Trump and Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., endorsed Trump’s daughter-in-law and former RNC co-Chair Lara Trump to succeed Rubio. However, last month, she said she withdrew her name from consideration.  Moody will have to run to keep the seat in a 2026 special election, and House Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., has already said he will run for the seat.  ‘THANK YOU RON’: TRUMP PRAISES DESANTIS OVER FLORIDA IMMIGRATION PUSH Moody has worked in tandem with DeSantis to promote his agenda. Most recently she filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice for what she claimed was a federal government effort to block Florida’s investigation into the second Trump assassination attempt, which occurred at his Mar-a-Lago golf course.  Last year, she sued the Biden administration for a rule she argued would force doctors to provide gender transition care.  In 2024, she also petitioned the Supreme Court to disqualify a Florida ballot measure to expand abortion access by arguing its language could mislead voters. 

Nancy Pelosi to skip Trump inauguration ceremony: report

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, plans to skip President-elect Trump’s inauguration next week, her office told ABC News on Thursday. Pelosi has attended 11 inauguration ceremonies, including Trump’s first in 2017. Her office has not provided an explanation for her absence, but she has a history of dramatic displays of opposition to the president-elect. Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Trump has also made no attempts to play nice with the former speaker, frequently calling her out as an “enemy” at his campaign rallies. “She’s a crooked person. She’s a bad person, evil. She’s an evil, sick, crazy,” Trump said before appearing to mouth the word “b*tch,” at a campaign rally in Michigan. “Oh no. It starts with a B– but I won’t say it. I want to say it. I want to say it.” MICHELLE OBAMA, DICK CHENEY AMONG NOTABLE ABSENCES AT CARTER FUNERAL Pelosi infamously tore apart a copy of Trump’s State of the Union address while standing just behind him on the floor of Congress in 2020. TRUMP, OBAMA CHATTING AND LAUGHING AT CARTER FUNERAL LIGHTS UP SOCIAL MEDIA Former first lady Michelle Obama also plans to skip Trump’s inauguration, though her husband, the former president, plans to attend. Michelle was also absent from the funeral for President Jimmy Carter last week, where Trump was also present. Former presidents Trump, Bush and Clinton and their spouses all attended Carter’s funeral on Jan. 9 at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., as did former President Barack Obama. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband also attended, along with former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife. Former President Bill Clinton will attend next week’s swearing-in ceremony, a person familiar with the former president’s schedule confirmed to the AP. Former first lady Hillary Clinton will also attend, a spokesperson said. The Office of George W. Bush said he and former first lady Laura Bush are attending. All three former presidents and their wives attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, including Hillary Clinton, after she lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump. Carter also attended. President-elect Trump and former first lady Melania Trump did not attend President Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Trump transition team asks 3 State Department officials to resign: report

Trump’s transition team has reportedly asked three senior career diplomats to step down from their roles, according to Reuters. Dereck Hogan, Marcia Bernicat and Alaina Teplitz, the career diplomats who were allegedly asked to leave their roles, oversee the State Department’s workforce and internal coordination. This request could signal the Trump team’s desire to implement major changes within the department. “There’s a little bit of a concern that this might be setting the stage for something worse,” a U.S. official familiar with the matter told Reuters. All three of the career diplomats named in the report have worked under Democratic and Republican administrations, Reuters noted. Unlike political appointees, diplomats do not typically resign when a president leaves office. RUBIO TO PITCH FOREIGN POLICY CREDENTIALS TO SENATE AS HE VIES TO BECOME AMERICA’S TOP DIPLOMAT Throughout his political career, Trump has gone after the “deep state,” and this move could be seen as part of his efforts to fundamentally change the government on a bureaucratic level. “It is entirely appropriate for the transition to seek officials who share President Trump’s vision for putting our nation and America’s working men and women first. We have a lot of failures to fix and that requires a committed team focused on the same goals,” Trump’s team told Reuters in response to a request for comment. WHO IS DONALD TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY STEVE WITKOFF? This report comes as the world sees itself in the middle of a chaotic period with wars between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Hamas raging. While there are those who are skeptical at best when it comes to Trump’s foreign policy plans, others see shifts on the world stage as early signs of success. JOHN KIRBY SAYS BIDEN, TRUMP WORKED AS ‘ONE TEAM’ IN SECURING CEASE-FIRE DEAL One of the hallmark foreign policy moves of Trump’s first term was the Abraham Accords, which saw peace break out in the Middle East. After more than a year of fighting, Israel and Hamas have come close to ending their war. In fact, Biden White House national security communications adviser John Kirby recognized Trump’s incoming Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff as a key figure in brokering the potential deal. “The president made it clear to us on the national security team that we needed to make sure that the Trump team, in particular Mr. Witkoff, were part and parcel and fully invested in everything we were doing because they were going to own it when we left office,” Kirby told “Your World” on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Blackmailed by uncle over private photos, 24-year-old techie dies by suicide at Bengaluru hotel

A 24-year-old techie died by suicide after setting herself ablaze in a hotel room based in Karnataka’s Bengaluru, NDTV reported.

145 House Dems vote against bill to deport migrants who commit sexual assault

More than 140 Democrats voted against a House bill to deport illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes on Thursday. The legislation passed along bipartisan lines in a 274 to 145 vote. All present Republicans supported the bill, while the opposition was all made up of Democratic lawmakers.  The bill was first introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., in the 118th Congress but was not taken up by the formerly Democrat-controlled Senate. At the time, 158 Democrats voted against the bill. “Our country has been ravaged by a horror of illegal immigrants…violently raping American women and girls,” Mace said during debate on the bill. “I know the lifelong scars, the irreversible scars, these heinous crimes leave behind.” Elon Musk has notably been among the bill’s most ardent supporters, even calling for lawmakers who voted against it to lose their House seats. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON TRUMP’S RETURN TO THE WHITE HOUSE “There is no excuse. Please post the list of people who opposed this law and want to keep illegals who are convicted sex offenders in America,” Musk wrote on X in response to a conservative influencer discussing the bill. “They all need to be voted out of office. Every one of them.” In addition to deporting immigrants convicted of sex crimes, the legislation would also deem illegal immigrants who admit to domestic violence or sex-related charges — or are convicted of them — to be inadmissible in the U.S. However, Democrats argued the bill would harm domestic abuse victims who fight back against their partners and broaden the definition of domestic violence to the detriment of survivors. GOP REVIVES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DETENTION BILL NAMED AFTER 12-YEAR-OLD MURDER VICTIM  During debate on the bill Thursday morning, progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said the bill “does absolutely nothing to address the needs of the American people” and “widens the highway to Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans.” Jayapal said it would “create a chilling effect for reporting future crimes” and “empower abusers to go after immigrant women and children.” Mace wrote on X during debate on the bill, “The Left justifying why they are against deporting r*pists, p*deophiles, and m*rderers who are here ILLEGALLY, never ceases to amaze me.” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the No. 3 House Republican, also criticized Democrats who voted against the bill. “House Democrats’ votes against H.R. 30 should be seen for what they are: Prioritizing criminal illegal immigrants over the safety and well-being of their constituents. It’s unconscionable that we have to pass legislation like this, much less have members oppose it,” Emmer told Fox News Digital. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, one of the Republicans who voted for the bill, argued the Biden administration’s border policies made the bill necessary and said the legislation would “ensure that any illegal immigrant who commits a sex crime or domestic violence offense is swiftly detained and deported.”