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NYC mayor says Cuomo should ‘answer’ COVID nursing home allegations

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should “answer” for his handling of nursing homes and casualties during the coronavirus pandemic, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared Monday.  Adams made the comment when asked by a reporter if he believes “undercounting the number of COVID-related nursing home deaths disqualifies Cuomo for running for mayor.”  “I’ve met with some of the nursing home family members and advocates. There’s some things that we want to do with them. But he has to answer that question on the trail,” Adams responded. “Should that be an automatic disqualification? No, I think it needs to be answered on the trail, exactly what happened. And I think some of those family members are going to be looking forward to that.”  A report released in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller found Cuomo’s Health Department “was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes” and it “understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%” during some points of the pandemic.  FORMER GOV. ANDREW CUOMO LAUNCHES NYC MAYORAL BID  The former governor also was grilled by Republican lawmakers last year about a controversial directive his administration issued in March 2020 that initially barred nursing homes from refusing to accept patients who had tested positive for COVID-19.   More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients were released from hospitals into nursing homes under the directive, which was later rescinded amid speculation that it had accelerated outbreaks.  A state report later commissioned by Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, found that while the policies on how nursing homes should handle COVID-19 were “rushed and uncoordinated,” they were based on the best understanding of the science at the time.  Representatives for Cuomo have denied he mishandled nursing homes during the pandemic. DEMOCRAT REP. RICHIE TORRES ENDORSES CUOMO FOR MAYOR OVER ERIC ADAMS: REPORT  Cuomo ultimately resigned from office in August 2021 following sexual harassment allegations, which he denies.  Over the weekend, Cuomo announced his New York City mayoral bid, saying in a video message that “[t]he city just feels threatening, out of control and in crisis.”  When asked about the sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, Adams said Cuomo also “has to answer that on the campaign trail.” “I believe the women [who] made the allegations, respect what they stated. I believe what they said based on the investigation and he has to answer that on the trail,” Adams said.  Fox News’ Bradford Betz, Maria Paronich and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Central America steps up to house deported migrants after Trump makes clear U.S. won’t be ‘doormat’: expert

The Trump administration has made deals across Latin America to assist in the U.S. effort to deport migrants who have entered the country illegally, with migrants being shipped to and held in several Central American countries. “Trump’s no longer letting the U.S. be treated like a doormat,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital. The comments come as multiple reports over the last week have detailed President Donald Trump’s push for deportations, with the Associated Press reporting that the administration has struck deals with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela that have allowed the U.S. to move migrants away from its southern border. ANTI-ICE ACTIVISTS SOUND SIRENS, BULLHORNS TO STOP MIGRANT DEPORTATIONS IN DEM-RUN STATE The move has caused Central America to become a “dumping ground” for migrants, according to a report in the Guardian, which pointed to countries such as Panama and Costa Rica which have taken in migrants from the Middle East and Asia. The Guardian reported that in many cases, Trump has been “strong-arming” Central American nations to play by his rules, oftentimes using fear such as threats to take back the Panama Canal or impose tariffs. “It’s clear that there’s a new order of relations in this matter where things are demanded of countries that are not in a position to refuse,” said Marcela Martino, deputy director of Central America and Mexico for the Center for Justice and International Law, told the Guardian. Panama was the first country to agree to a deal with Trump in the middle of February, the report notes, and has since taken on hundreds of migrants from places such as Afghanistan, Iran, China, and Pakistan. Some of those migrants have agreed to be returned to their home countries, while 128 of the 299 migrants that Panama has received have refused. That refusal has put the migrants in a form of “legal limbo,” the Guardian reported, pointing to viral photos that showed one young Iranian migrant who scrawled “help” on the window of a Panama City hotel, where migrants were temporarily being held. TED CRUZ SLAPS BLUE STATE AUTHORITY WITH SUBPOENA OVER SHELTERING MIGRANTS AT AIRPORT: ‘RECKLESS’ While some critics have raised concerns about the legality of the deportation programs or the conditions migrants face, Ries pointed out that many of these same countries served as hosts for migrants flowing the other direction during former President Joe Biden’s term. “Many of these countries viewed the U.S. as a dumping ground as they let millions of migrants traverse their countries just to go to the U.S,” Ries said. “And you know, we’re a sovereign nation, and sovereign countries have a right to choose who comes here, how many, under what terms and when they have to leave. Migrants don’t choose that.” Ries argued that Trump’s moves to put deportation deals in place are simply an example of the president using American leverage, something not seen under the leadership of Biden. “The U.S. has leverage with other countries, and our last president didn’t use it and again, treated our country like a doormat, just let people in by the millions,” Ries argued. “The current president is choosing to use that leverage with respect to these other countries.” Another benefit of the deals, Ries noted, is they may serve as a deterrent for both migrants thinking about heading north and the countries in the last four years who have allowed them passage, arguing that these countries are also capable of defending their own borders. “They are perfectly able to and should defend their own borders,” Ries said. “Prevent the mass migration in the first place, and then prevent many of these consequences.”

Several Democrats to boycott Trump’s ‘pep rally’ speech to Congress

Several Democratic members are planning to boycott the first joint congressional address of President Donald Trump’s second term on Tuesday. Trump will be addressing members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening, but some Democrats are planning to skip the event, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who will instead hold a live prebuttal of the speech.  “I think that State of the Union speech is going to be a farce. I think it’s going to be a MAGA pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation,” Murphy told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “I think Donald Trump is going to spew a series of lies about his alignment with Russia, about what he’s trying to do to allow Elon Musk to essentially monetize the American government to enrich Musk and his billionaire crowd,” Murphy said. “And I’m just not going to be a part of that.” TOP WILDEST MOMENTS FROM PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES TO ENTIRE CONGRESS, FROM REAGAN TO BIDEN Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, will join Murphy for the prebuttal of the speech that will be livestreamed while Trump is speaking. At least one House Democrat, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., also said that he is going to be skipping the address.  TRUMP SHOULD ‘STEW IN HIS OWN JUICE’ DURING CONGRESSIONAL ADDRESS, PELOSI ADVISES DEMS “The notion of half my colleagues rising and standing and enormous clapping for… things that I think are terrible for the American people every couple minutes will not be funny,” Beyer said of the address, according to POLITICO. “I don’t see that I’ll contribute anything to the event.” House Democrats were asked by the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) ahead of the speech to bring guests who have been “harmed” by the Trump administration, Fox News Digital learned. “DPCC and Leader Jeffries have encouraged members to bring guests that have been harmed by Donald Trump’s threats to Medicare and SNAP, as well as his Administration’s mass firings of veterans working in our civil service — veterans like Gabe, a disabled Marine veteran and new dad who was working at the IRS as a facilities manager until he was fired last month,” a Democratic aide told Fox News Digital in a statement. Several Democratic members attending the speech are planning to bring federal workers who have been laid off in recent weeks to protest the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) recent efforts to downsize federal agencies. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., will deliver the Democrats’ rebuttal address after Trump’s speech, focusing her remarks on what actions the administration is currently taking. “The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country,” Slotkin said in a statement. “From our economic security to our national security, we’ve got to chart a way forward that actually improves people’s lives in the country we all love, and I’m looking forward to laying that out.”  At least eight Democratic lawmakers planned to boycott Trump’s State of the Union address in 2020, including members of the progressive members such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Murphy, Schatz, and Beyer for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

SCOOP: Speaker Johnson reveals guest list for Trump’s big speech Tuesday

FIRST ON FOX: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made border security a cornerstone issue of his tenure in the House of Representatives, a theme he’s continuing to keep through President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. Fox News Digital has learned that Johnson’s partial list of guests to the prime-time speech will include Tom Homan, the former Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, whom Trump has tapped to serve as his border czar. Johnson also invited Olivia Hayes, a young widow from his district who lives in Kinder, Louisiana. Her husband, Wesley Hayes, was killed by an illegal immigrant in a drunk-driving incident, the speaker’s office said. HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED DURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S 6TH WEEK IN OFFICE On another Republican priority front, Commonwealth LNG Chairman Ben Dell will also be one of Johnson’s guests on Tuesday night. The Commonwealth LNG project was the first major beneficiary of the Trump administration’s reversal of former President Joe Biden’s pause on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits. Energy has been a top issue for Republicans, particularly in resource-rich areas like Louisiana. Energy Secretary Chris Wright last month announced the permit for the project, which is also in Johnson’s home state of Louisiana. Wright said at the time that it was “one of many steps that DOE will be taking to assure our future as a reliable energy supplier to the world and resume regular order to our regulatory responsibilities over natural gas exports.” In a nod to U.S. ties to Israel, Johnson is also bringing Noa Argamani, who was taken hostage by Hamas after the terror group’s brutal Oct. 7 invasion of Israel. TUNE IN: LIVE COVERAGE OF TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS TUESDAY NIGHT ON FOX NEWS His guests will also include members of conservative media. Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh, both of The Daily Wire, are expected to attend as Johnson’s guests. Johnson is expected to sit on the dais behind Trump on Tuesday night, the Speaker of the House’s traditional position, next to the vice president during the president’s big annual speech. Because Trump has not been president for the entire past year, the speech is not called a “State of the Union,” but rather a presidential address.

Texas lawmaker reveals which ‘threatening’ migration efforts he would like to slash: ‘Our own destruction’

FIRST ON FOX: A Texas congressman is moving forward with a push to bar funding to United Nations organizations dealing with mass migration amid a separate push by the Trump administration to crack down on international funding. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, is reintroducing the No Tax Dollars for the United Nation’s Immigration Invasion Act, which bars federal funding from going to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) It also requires a study be conducted identifying all funding grants to the U.N. agencies, and nongovernmental organizations that received funding under those programs. It would also require the report to identify any funds that should be repaid to the U.S. government. HOUSE, SENATE LAWMAKERS MOVE TO SLAP LIMITS ON NGOS AIDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AMID FUNDING CRACKDOWN  “It’s time to stop subsidizing our own destruction,” Gooden said in a statement. “The United Nations is running a taxpayer-funded operation to funnel illegal immigrants into our country, threatening our sovereignty, security, and the very fabric of our nation. I am working with the Trump administration to end this immediately.” Gooden has been sounding the alarm for years about funding to the U.N. and nonprofits that he believes encourage mass migration to the U.S. It’s an appeal that is being echoed by the Trump administration. President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, ordered a 90-day funding freeze for foreign aid assistance. Meanwhile, there have been deep cuts made to USAID, which has come under fire from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. The migration focus comes after a historic border crisis that spanned nearly the entirety of the Biden administration. The Trump administration has deployed the military to the border, cut down the ability of migrants to claim asylum, ended parole policies and launched a mass deportation campaign. USAID WORKERS SEND MESSAGE TO TRUMP ON BOXES WHILE LEAVING OFFICE FOR LAST TIME Gooden’s bill comes after he introduced a related bill last month, which would prevent federal contracts and grants being awarded to NGOs unless they certified to the Office of Management and Budget that they are not involved in human trafficking or smuggling. It also would yank tax-exempt status from organizations who knowingly violate federal law. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Ahead of Trump speech to Congress, flashback to 2017 address asking ‘What will America look like’ at 250

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night, revisiting his 2017 congressional address shows both striking parallels and differences to the current political climate, and a prophetic question about what America will become as it rings in its 250th birthday in 2026.  During Trump’s address in 2017, with Vice President Mike Pence and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan behind him, Trump opened by acknowledging “threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries” before transitioning to a call for “a renewal of the American spirit.” “In nine years, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding – 250 years since the day we declared our independence,” said Trump,who was elected to his first term in November 2016. “It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world. But what will America look like as we reach our 250th year? What kind of country will we leave for our children?” HOW TO WATCH AND WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S TUESDAY ADDRESS TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS In one of his first executive actions this year kicking off his second non-consecutive term, Trump signed “Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday,” which will “provide a grand celebration worthy of the momentous occasion of the 250th anniversary of American Independence on July 4, 2026.” In 2017, Trump continued his first address to the nation after the Obama administration by promising to crack down on illegal immigration, implement an America-first agenda and restore the economy. Noticeably, however, there was no mention of Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) nor “radical” gender ideology.  “These are kind of common themes when he speaks today, and those are gone,” Tevi Troy, presidential historian and former HHS secretary under the George W. Bush administration, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Those are not there. But that aside, there are a lot of similarities, and at first I was reading and wondering if it could be given in this administration, because there’s a lot of the same stuff.” “He talks about borders in there, for example, and he talks about unleashing the American economy,” Troy said. “And so the themes are the same, but some of the circumstances have changed.” VA DEM SLAMS DOGE FANS; COMPARES JOB CUTS TO HOLOCAUST: ‘FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE JEWS…’ While joint addresses to Congress and State of the Union speeches are typically written well in advance, Trump is known for speaking off the cuff. Troy said Trump may bring up the explosive Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. “I could see that coming as an improv moment, but it’s probably not in the speech’s written,” he said. In addition, inflation is going to be on peoples’ minds come Tuesday night. “No one’s going to blame Trump for DEI or woke or the problems of Biden,” Troy said. “He is in danger at some point in being blamed for inflation. So he’s got to handle that one a little bit more carefully.” Trump’s 2017 address did not include inflation, but he does mention restarting “the engine of the American economy – making it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much, much harder for companies to leave our country.”  TUNE IN: LIVE COVERAGE OF TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS TUESDAY NIGHT ON FOX NEWS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP So far this year, Trump has signed a slew of executive orders, many aimed at bolstering American manufacturing and the domestic economy as well as removing the U.S. from worldwide climate change commitments. 

West Virginia senator wants NCAA to make clear ‘a women’s locker room is for women only’

EXCLUSIVE: West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice and more than half a dozen GOP senators are seeking clarification from the NCAA on its policy allowing biological males in women’s locker rooms, telling Fox News Digital that the organization needs to make clear that “a women’s locker room is for women only.”  Justice, R-W.Va., penned a letter to National Collegiate Athletic Association President Charlie Baker Monday, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.  FEMALE ATHLETES CALL OUT NCAA OVER NEW TRANS-INCLUSION POLICY: ‘WE DEMAND FAIR SPORTS’ Justice, who is a women’s basketball coach at Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia, and has coached both boys and girls basketball since he was governor of West Virginia, explained to Fox News Digital that he will “always” work to ensure female athletes are protected.  “I’m a coach, and I know the last thing any athlete needs is to be distracted or concerned with their own safety or privacy while in a locker room,” Justice told Fox News Digital. “I really believe the NCAA has made the right move following President Trump’s order, but let’s be clear across the board that a women’s locker room is for women only.”  Justice added: “I’ll always work to make sure women athletes, like those I coach back in West Virginia, feel safe while changing in locker rooms and competing in athletic events.”  The letter Justice sent Monday also was signed by Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Jim Banks, R-Ind., James Risch, R-Idaho, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and James Lankford, R-Okla.  “On February 5, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order–Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports to strengthen Title IX and protect opportunities for biological female athletes to compete in safe and fair sports.’ After the Biden-Harris administration’s assault on Title IX in its efforts to allow biologically male athletes who identify as female to compete in women’s sports, this order came as a sigh of relief to millions of female athletes across the country who desire equal opportunity to engage in competitive athletic,” Justice wrote.  Justice said that the NCAA responded to Trump’s order by updating its student-athlete participation policy to block biological male students from participating in women’s sports— a move he and his Senate colleagues “commend,” but is further encouraging the organization to “take additional steps to protect the safety and privacy of female athletes nationwide.”  CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM “The NCAA’s new policy makes clear that biological male student-athletes may not compete on a women’s team. We could not be more supportive of this essential policy change,” Justice said. “The NCAA’s policy guarantees that biological male athletes who practice with female athletes will ‘receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes who are otherwise eligible for practice.’”  Fox News Digital reached out to the NCAA for comment and did not immediately receive a response.  Justice said the NCAA has “an opportunity to clarify that these guarantees do not include access to facilities that would undermine the privacy and safety of female athletes- -such as women’s locker rooms or other female-only spaces which the President’s order made clear should be protected.’” Justice is asking that the NCAA “consider adding language to its policy that explicitly bars biological male athletes from female-only spaces and to consider adopting additional privacy protections for women and girls in sports.”  NCAA’S NEW TRANS-PARTICIPATION POLICY IS ‘AS CLEAR AS MUD,’ RILEY GAINES SAYS Justice, though, applauded the NCAA’s policy defining “*sex assigned at birth” as the male or female designation that doctors assign to infants at birth, which is marked on birth records.  “Publicly, the NCAA has affirmed that biological male athletes may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or by other documentary means,” Justice wrote. “The NCAA’s public stance on this issue is commendable, and its policy could go a step further and explicitly state that amended birth certificates are prohibited.”  “We stand in support of President Trump’s unparallel actions to protect the safety and privacy of female athletes across the country,” the letter states. “The NCAA’s efforts are likewise respectable, and we look forward to working with you to ensure women and girls have equal opportunity in athletics.” 

Who is Elissa Slotkin, and why did Dems choose her for the party’s rebuttal to Trump speech?

Democrats picked freshman Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who represents a swing state, to give the party’s official response to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.  “BIG: I’m announcing @SenatorSlotkin will deliver our Democratic response to Trump’s Joint Address. Nothing short of a rising star in our party – she’s dedicated her life to our country. She will layout the fight to tackle the deep challenges we face and chart a path forward,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed on X recently.  Slotkin was elected to an open Senate seat in Michigan, which was also won by Trump in the same election. She wrote on X, “I’m looking forward to speaking directly to the American people next week. The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country.” ‘UTTER DISASTER’: LINDSEY GRAHAM CALLS FOR ZELENSKYY RESIGNATION AFTER WHITE HOUSE THROWDOWN “From our economic security to our national security, we’ve got to chart a way forward that improves people’s lives in the country we all love, I look forward to laying that out. Tune in,” she previewed.  The senator received a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University and a master’s degree from Columbia University. Slotkin spent much of her career in the national security space, serving three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst alongside the U.S. military. After that, she worked in multiple roles in the Pentagon and White House under two different presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In 2014, Obama nominated Slotkin to serve at the Pentagon as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. SEE THE STAR-STUDDED LIST OF TRUMP ALLIES DESCENDING ON DC TO CHART FURTHER 100-DAY WINS She then chose to run for Congress in 2018 in Michigan, where she grew up.  Slotkin managed to defeat a Republican incumbent in a key Michigan swing district. She served several terms as a member of the House of Representatives before choosing to run for Senate to replace former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. Despite Trump winning the battleground state in 2024, Slotkin pulled out her own win for Democrats, beating the GOP contender Mike Rogers by less than a percentage point.  Since coming to the Senate, she’s offered some stark criticism of her party, urging Democrats to get away from identity politics.  FURIOUS DEMS ATTACK TRUMP, VANCE AFTER EXPLOSIVE OVAL OFFICE MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY: ‘SIDING WITH DICTATORS’ “As a moderate Democrat, I think she was an excellent choice,” Jim Manley, former senior communications advisor and spokesman for former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus, told Fox News Digital. He said the choice of Slotkin would be “especially” good if “Trump just throws red meat to the base while using the kind of unhinged rhetoric that will turn off swing voters.”  However, “based on years of experience dealing with these when [I was] working for Sen. Reid, they are usually much more of a hassle than they are ever worth,” he added.  Jim Kessler, former senior aide to Schumer, told Fox News Digital he was a fan of Slotkin for the response. “She’s tough, smart and unafraid to ruffle feathers,” he said.  GABBARD SAYS BIDEN ADMIN IGNORED ‘HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE’ CHATS HAPPENING AT NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCIES “She also comes from the centrist wing of the Democratic Party and that’s important as a signal to voters. I expect she’ll focus on bread and butter issues, because right now the middle class is starting to lose confidence in Trump’s handling of the economy,” he continued.  According to Michigan Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe, Slotkin is “one of the better options Democrats have.” The more “centrist” senator’s response comes at a time when Democrats are “in absolute disarray,” he said.  “You are seeing, I think, a real tug of war between the more progressive elements of the party and the more traditional elements of the party,” Roe added.  Slotkin’s office declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

Anti-Israel protesters who wave flags linked to terror groups could be jailed if NY law passes

Anti-Israel protesters who wave flags of terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah could face jail time in New York should lawmakers pass a proposed bill. The office of New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is a Democrat, confirmed to Fox News that the lawmaker is introducing the bill, known as the Stand Against Flags of Enemy Terrorists Act. The proposed bill, which the New York Post first reported on, would expand the definition of aggravated harassment in the first degree to include cases where someone displays a symbol of a foreign terrorist organization with the intent to harass, annoy or threaten another person. Those found guilty could face up to four years in jail. ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS AT BARNARD COLLEGE ARRESTED AFTER MOB TURNS VIOLENT Hoylman-Sigal is introducing the bill along with New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is also a Democrat. New York City Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola, a Republican, told “Fox & Friends First” that she hopes the fact that two Democrats are introducing the bill will help persuade liberal lawmakers to vote for the bill. “We’ve already criminalized burning crosses, swastikas and nooses,” Ariola said. “Why not this new wave of how to threaten and terrorize people of a certain religion or ethnicity?” ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST IN NYC DEVOLVES INTO VIOLENCE AND MAYHEM Ariola said that while groups like the American Civil Liberties Union may challenge the proposed bill on free speech grounds, the flags of terrorist organizations “are messages of hate.” Anti-Israel protests have popped up throughout the U.S. amid Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks, which killed around 1,200 people. Last month, anti-Israel protesters were arrested at New York City’s Barnard College after agitators took over a building on campus. A week earlier, violent clashes broke out in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in New York City, where agitators chanted, “Zionists go to hell.” Fox News’ Kitty Le Claire contributed to this report.

‘Delivering accountability’: GOP reps launch judicial task force to expose ‘judicial activism’

FIRST ON FOX: Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde, of Georgia, and Eli Crane, of Arizona, are launching a judicial task force “to unite members in exposing judicial activism” and target “rogue, activist judges” amid a flurry of legal challenges to the Trump agenda. “I’m excited to lead this critical effort with my friend and fellow patriot, Congressman Eli Crane. Our Judicial Activism Accountability Task Force aims to unite members in exposing judicial activism, with the ultimate goal of impeaching rogue, activist judges,” Clyde said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Clyde notably announced in February he was drafting impeachment articles against Rhode Island-based District Judge John McConnell, who is overseeing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump. McConnell, at the time, filed a motion ordering the Trump administration to comply with a previous restraining order. The order temporarily blocked the administration’s efforts to pause federal grants and loans.  JONATHAN TURLEY: JUDGE’S SPECIAL COUNSEL RULING MAY BE THE SETBACK TRUMP ADMIN WAS LOOKING FOR Crane and other representatives have since followed Clyde’s lead, announcing impeachment articles against other judges presiding over Trump-related lawsuits.  Clyde said he encourages other members of Congress to join the task force who “are passionate about ending abusive judicial overreach, upholding the separation of powers, and defending the U.S. Constitution,” saying they “look forward to delivering accountability for the American people.” Crane, who announced he was drafting impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, told Fox News Digital in a statement that, in recent years, “leftists weaponized the judicial branch.”  The Arizona Republican said, “If these activist judges want to be politicians, they should resign and run for public office.” JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S MASS DISMISSALS OF PROBATIONARY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES “The American people delivered President Trump a mandate to disrupt the administrative state,” Crane said. “These judges are violating the will of the people, and Congress has constitutional authority to impeach and convict these partisans.” Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles also announced he was drafting impeachment articles of his own following Clyde and Crane’s efforts. Ogles announced he had introduced impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge Amir Ali late last month. Ali, a D.C.-based Biden appointee, recently ordered the Trump administration to pay around $2 billion in foreign aid funds to contractors with a midnight deadline. JUDICIAL PUSHBACK ON TRUMP ‘HURTING AMERICAN PEOPLE,’ SAYS GOP REP LEADING IMPEACHMENT CHARGE Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts paused Ali’s order after the Trump administration said it had created “an untenable payment plan at odds with the President’s obligations under Article II to protect the integrity of the federal fisc and make appropriate judgements(sic) about foreign aid – clear forms of irreparable harm.” Clyde and Crane’s task force comes as the administration has become the target of more than 90 lawsuits aimed at President Donald Trump’s executive orders and directives. The legal challenges cover Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to slash unnecessary government spending, and Trump’s removal of various federal employees.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Clyde spoke with Fox News Digital shortly after announcing his impeachment articles against McConnell, saying the real victims of judicial pushback against Trump’s policies are the American people.  “You’re not just hurting the president,” Clyde said. “You’re hurting the American people because they’re the ones who elected him, and they’re the ones who want him to do this – to exercise these specific authorities. And these judges are really denying the American people their rights.” Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.