A Biden-era legal win paved the way for Trump’s Kennedy Center board firings
A Biden-era legal win that allowed the president to fire certain board members set the stage for President Donald Trump to can several people who sat on the Kennedy Center board. Former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer – one of the plaintiffs in that case, Spicer v. Biden – told Fox News Digital that, evidently enough, the suit was “about sending a message to the President of the United States.” With Trump under fire for removing multiple Kennedy Center board members earlier this month, Spicer says his loss is Trump’s win. “The idea was to make sure that the Republican Party in the future had the legal backing to do what President Trump is doing now,” Spicer said. KENNEDY CENTER SHAKE-UP WILL USHER IN ‘GOLDEN AGE OF THE ARTS’ UNDER TRUMP, RIC GRENELL PREVIEWS Upon starting his term in 2021, President Joe Biden attempted to remove Spicer, current director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought and others from their positions on the Board of Visitors for the Naval Academy. Spicer and Vought were serving statutory terms on the Naval Academy board after being appointed by Trump during his first term. Spicer’s term was set to expire in December 2021. At the time, he was also serving on the Commission of White House Fellows, to which he submitted his resignation shortly after Biden entered the Oval Office. On Sept. 8, 2021, Spicer and Vought received a letter from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, stating, “I am writing to request your resignation from the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy. If we do not receive your resignation by end of day today, you will be terminated,” according to the initial complaint. TRUMP FIRES KENNEDY CENTER BOARD MEMBERS CITING DRAG SHOWS, APPOINTS HIMSELF CHAIRMAN Spicer said he would not be resigning. America First Legal, founded by current Trump White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, approached the board members with the proposal to pursue a lawsuit against the Biden administration. “This is about sending a message to make the President of the United States go to court and argue that he had the right to fire any of these people,” Spicer said. “It was America First Legal that came up with the strategy, and we were the two appointees that agreed to be the example.” Spicer said the suit “was not about getting back on the board,” and the irony of it all was that the goal was to lose the case in the courts. “The goal was to make sure that a future Republican president had the legal backing to clean house when they came into office and to be able to point to President Biden as the reason,” Spicer said. The suit was ultimately dismissed by the district court while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in a similar case, Severino v. Biden, that a presidential appointee similar to Spicer and Vought could be removed by the president at will. ACTRESS ISSA RAE CANCELS SOLD-OUT KENNEDY CENTER SHOW AFTER TRUMP NAMED CHAIRMAN OF VENUE “I think it was sort of to acknowledge that, even though it was unprecedented because the Kennedy Center Board had always been bipartisan, there was nothing to prevent Donald Trump from doing exactly that – appointing the trustees whom he wanted, and then having those trustees vote to have him become chairman of the Kennedy Center Board,” John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. Since the start of his second term, Trump and his administration have become the targets of over 70 lawsuits over his executive orders and directives, many of which seek to delineate how much power the executive branch truly has. On Friday, the Supreme Court paused the Trump administration’s efforts to dismiss former head of the Office of Special Counsel, Hampton Dellinger, after a lower court reinstated the Biden appointee to his post. In its initial appeal to the high court, the Trump administration argued that the judiciary is attempting “to seize executive power” as courts have blocked the president from firing certain federal employees. Likewise, just several weeks back, Trump’s Justice Department penned a letter to Congress stating that it was seeking to overturn a landmark Supreme Court case in an effort to give the president greater control over independent three-letter agencies. “The idea would be [that] we have a unitary executive and all that means is in Article II of the Constitution, that vests all executive branch authority in one president,” Malcolm said. “And the idea is that if you are an executive branch official, it is implied that the Constitution gives the president the authority to keep those officials or not keep those officials so that if they are not properly implementing executive branch policies, that the buck stops with the president and he can fire people.” Amid the legal pushback toward the Trump agenda, Spicer said, in hindsight, he and AFL “took a page out of [Trump’s] book to begin with.” “I think Trump, from the day he came down the escalator at Trump Tower, basically told conservatives, ‘Stop being such wusses and learn to fight back,’” Spicer said. “So, it was Trump in 2015, 2016 that made it clear that conservatives don’t have to sit and take it anymore. We can fight back. And that was kind of the notion of this lawsuit.”
Frustration at Elon Musk spills over after closed-door House GOP meeting: ‘Fed to the wolves’
EXCLUSIVE: Some House Republicans are increasingly frustrated with Elon Musk’s handling of his role in the federal government – frustrations that flared during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., raised concerns about Republican lawmakers not being on the “same page” as the White House and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), three people in the room told Fox News Digital. He is not the only GOP lawmaker who feels that way, either. “He wants to see better communication between DOGE, the president, and the House, because we’re getting fed to the wolves, while Elon’s just tweeting,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital. BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS A second GOP lawmaker said, “I’m going to echo Austin’s comments about, you know, it would be nice to have some heads up. There’s a lot of questions.” “Words matter, right? So let’s make sure we’re putting out accurate information that’s correct,” the second lawmaker said. Two House Republicans said Scott warned that DOGE needed to “measure twice, cut once” in its audits of the federal government. Two others, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and another lawmaker, said Scott took issue with Musk re-posting a meme on X that referred to people on federal benefits as the “parasite class.” “What Elon was talking about is those who are gaming the system are parasites. But Austin looks at it differently, which is fine, Austin means right. But he said his people took offense to that,” Norman said. Scott told Fox News Digital he supported DOGE’s goals but reaffirmed his frustration. “DOGE’s recent requests for federal employees should have been coordinated with the agencies before they were issued. I fully support those agencies working with DOGE to improve efficiency and eliminate tax dollar waste,” Scott said in a written statement. “With that being said, referring to Americans who may need government assistance as ‘parasites’ is unacceptable in any circumstance.” House lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday after a week in their home districts, during which more than half a dozen Republicans were confronted by constituents who were searching for more answers on DOGE. Several demonstrations were facilitated by progressive groups. GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital all said they support the goal of cutting government waste but had issues with Musk’s methods – several raised specific issues with his directive that federal employees email five bullet points on the work they did last week. While the email from the Office of Personnel Management did not mention job status, Musk posted on X that employees who failed to comply could be terminated. GOP LAWMAKER CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARING OVER DC PLANE CRASH “It’s not how most normal good bosses would lay off somebody,” a third House Republican told Fox News Digital. “Some of them may be bad, but most of them are good. Treat them like Americans.” A fourth House Republican, a member of the House DOGE Caucus, told Fox News Digital that Musk’s comments were not “helpful.” Another person took issue with Musk’s suggestion of stimulus checks for Americans using DOGE savings. “I think it’s childish,” that person said. “Now we want to take the money for waste, fraud, and abuse that was collected by the federal government and give everyone $5,000…or we could just pay off the national debt, or we could use that for the next round of appropriations we have to pay for here in Congress.” Others were public with their frustration, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who posted on X, “Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it.” Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said it was up to the executive branch to deal with its personnel. “Reductions in force are up to the executive branch agencies and the executive branch, which is run by President Trump. So if President Trump wants to make cuts to the executive branch agencies, that’s his prerogative,” Rutherford said. Additionally, the vast majority of Republicans are still backing Musk, at least publicly. “I would say that I think the vast majority, the American people, understand and applaud and appreciate the DOGE effort, the goal to scale down the size and scope of government,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “The reason we’re excited about what Elon Musk and the team at DOGE are doing, the end result of that is going to be achieving the goal that we’ve always had, and that is to make government more efficient.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House’s DOGE spokesperson for comment.
NASA should dump DC for the Sunshine State, DeSantis and other Florida Republicans suggest
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others are advocating relocating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the Sunshine State. The governor, who expressed support for the idea last month, has continued to do so, saying in comments last week that he thinks relocating the headquarters to Florida would “probably save about a billion dollars, quite frankly.” Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., who DeSantis selected to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, is also pushing the idea — Rubio left the Senate in order to serve as Secretary of State in President Donald Trump’s cabinet. DESANTIS DECLINES TO ENDORSE TRUMP PICK BYRON DONALDS FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR, TOUTS WIFE CASEY DESANTIS “We need to move @NASA’s headquarters to Florida’s Space Coast. The move would save taxpayers money, encourage collaboration with private space companies, and tap into Florida’s talented workforce in the aerospace industry to spur further innovation,” she said in a Monday post on X. “This is a no-brainer for @DOGE,” DeSantis declared when replying to Moody’s post in a tweet on Tuesday. “Right now the Feds are planning on a building a new, expensive headquarters in DC for NASA — even though very few NASA employees have showed up to the current DC office over the past four years!” A November post on NASA’s website noted, “The current NASA Headquarters lease expires in August 2028, and the agency already has evaluated multiple options including leasing or purchasing within the District of Columbia.” DESANTIS ANNOUNCES FLORIDA ‘DOGE TASK FORCE’ A NASA spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Tuesday, “The NASA Headquarters building lease is up in 2028, and the agency continues to work through options.” Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., chair of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, responded to Moody’s post with several emojis, including the thumbs-up, rocket, and American flag, adding in his tweet on Monday, “Florida is the place for space in America!” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., issued a letter to Trump last month advocating moving the NASA headquarters to her state. CASEY DESANTIS FAVORED IN FLORIDA GOVERNOR’S RACE, POLL FINDS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “While Washington, D.C., has historically been the home of NASA’s headquarters, the rapidly evolving space landscape demands a more integrated and efficient approach to space policy. Florida’s Space Coast, home to key facilities like the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is uniquely positioned to support this transformation and strengthen America’s leadership in space exploration,” she said in the letter.
Meet the far-left groups funding anti-DOGE protests at GOP offices across the country
The left-wing groups backing the anti-DOGE protests across the country have been funding a variety of progressive causes in recent years, including defunding the police, pushing socialism, anti-Israel protests and opposing President Donald Trump’s agenda in general. In a press release earlier this month, MoveOn.org announced that it was mobilizing resources as part of a “Congress Works for Us, Not Musk” initiative “aimed at pressuring lawmakers to fight back against the Trump-Musk agenda.” MoveOn.org has taken millions of dollars from George Soros and his Open Society Policy Center in recent years. Soros is one of the most prominent backers in the United States of left-wing issues, including backing progressive district attorneys that set out to “reimagine policing” in the United States. Additionally, Fox News Digital has previously reported on the Soros network’s ties to the anti-Israel protests that swept the country on college campuses last year. ‘OVERWHELMINGLY POPULAR’: ELON MUSK TOUTS AMERICANS’ DOGE SUPPORT Elon Musk has ramped up his criticism of Soros in recent months, particularly after former President Joe Biden awarded Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom. MoveOn.org has also taken money from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which Fox News Digital previously reported has poured tens of millions of dollars into progressive causes in recent years and is bankrolled in part by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. On June 5, 2020, MoveOn was calling for the defunding of police for the “defense of Black life,” and the group has been a vocal opponent of U.S. Immigration and Customes Enforcement (ICE) while promoting individuals who want to abolish the outfit and sharing a letter in February 2021 claiming that “ICE and CBP were built to terrorize Black and brown communities.” “It’s no surprise the Biden Administration’s favorite billionaires are paying far-left activist groups to hold events designed to villainize Republicans,” Congressional Leadership Fund spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair told Fox News Digital. “Democrats will do anything and everything they possibly can to stop President Trump and House Republicans from accomplishing the work the American people elected them to do.” VOCAL OPPOSITION TO ELON MUSK’S DOGE CUTS IS A ‘TERRIBLE’ STRATEGY, WARNS EX-DEMOCRAT ADVISOR Another group getting involved in the protests against Musk’s DOGE efforts has long been a major player in progressive politics. “Constituents braved the bitter cold at recess actions organized by the Working Families Party,” a press release from the Working Families Party (WFP) said earlier this month, touting the group’s efforts to organize protests in multiple states at the offices of Republican officials. “The actions took place in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Rally speakers called attention to Donald Trump and the GOP’s plan to gut Medicaid, Medicare, and abolish the Department of Education.” The WFP, which self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders once said is the “closest thing there is to a political party that believes in my vision of democratic socialism”, is a vocal supporter of the progressive “Squad” in Congress and has frequently advocated for defunding the police and ending cash bail in the past. Maurice Mitchell, national director for WFP, hosted a “Progressives for Harris” video call in August 2024 – calling on his “comrades” to find “solidarity” in the fight against “Trumpism” and “American authoritarianism.” A year before that, the WFP was actively criticizing Israel on social media over its immediate response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack carried out by Hamas that killed over 1,400 people. “We call on President Biden, Secretary Blinken and the administration to do everything in their power to push for de-escalation, a cease-fire, & adherence to international law,” WFP posted on X days after the terrorist attack. “And we renew our call for the occupation to end as the necessary condition for any lasting peace.” ‘DOGE BOYS’: DEMS FUME OVER SPENDING CUT SPREE AT RALLY OUTSIDE TRUMP’S NEXT POTENTIAL TARGET Financial disclosures show that WFP gave money to several progressive candidates during the 2024 cycle, including former Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, in addition to Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Pramila Jayapal. Indivisible, a grassroots progressive organization, put out a memo encouraging activists to use last week’s recess to protest House lawmakers at their home offices amid the left’s backlash against Musk’s DOGE efforts, Fox News Digital previously reported. “Recess is when Members of Congress go back home to host town halls, meet with constituents, and try to paint themselves as responsive to the people who elected them. It is also when MoCs think they can avoid public scrutiny — especially Republicans who want to dodge tough questions about their complicity in Trump and Musk’s coup,” the group’s site said. Indivisible’s website states that it was originally “brought together by a practical guide to resist the Trump agenda” and has previously supported defunding the police along with ending cash bail. Indivisible has also been involved in protests calling to “abolish” ICE. “The Democrat Party has sold themselves out to the far-left crazies and their mega-donors who are funding these clown shows,” NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital. “This isn’t grassroots — it’s manufactured outrage to distract from their failed and out of touch record.” Fox News Digital reached out to MoveOn, WFP, Indivisible, Open Society Foundations and the Wyss Foundation for comment. Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report
More than 1 million federal employees complied with Musk’s ‘what did you do last week’ email: WH
More than one million federal workers participated in the Elon Musk and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directive to provide a bullet-point list of their work accomplishments from the previous week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday in a press briefing. “I can announce that we’ve had more than one million workers who have chosen to participate in this very simple task of, again, sending five bullet points to your direct supervisor or manager and CC’ing OPM,” Leavitt told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich when asked about the directive during Tuesday’s briefing. “I actually participated in it myself. It took me about a minute and a half to think of five things I did last week. I do five things in about ten minutes, and all federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working and moving.” “We have a country to save, and we want this federal government to be responsive to the needs of the American people who reelected this president to have historic, massive reform. And that’s what the intention of this idea is,” she said. TRUMP OFFICIALS LIST 5 WEEKLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AHEAD OF MUSK MIDNIGHT DEADLINE Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish. Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk’s directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management. Musk added to X on Monday evening that, “subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” FLASHBACK: MUSK USED HIS ‘WHAT DID YOU GET DONE THIS WEEK’ DIRECTIVE BEFORE GUTTING TWITTER “The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” he wrote in a separate post. “Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?” When asked Tuesday about the “actual deadline” for federal employees to comply with the directive following Musk’s X post that employees will “be given another chance,” Leavitt explained that “agency heads will determine the best practices for their employees at their specific agency.” “This was an idea that Elon [came] up with. DOGE worked with OPM to actually implement the idea. And the secretaries are responsible for their specific workforce. And this is true of the hirings and the firings that have taken place. And we advise federal workers, unless your agency has dictated you not to, to respond to this email,” she said. The White House told Fox News Digital earlier Tuesday that individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week “Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity,” a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken.” A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a “friendly” rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis. FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email. “That was done in a friendly manner,” Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. “Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they’re working on confidential things. And they don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week.” MUSK’S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: ‘MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE’ Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital. Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, “Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth,” while a caption over the arrow reads, “What did you get done last week?” Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren’t actually carrying out tasks. “There was a lot of genius in sending it,” Trump said Monday from the White House. “We’re trying to find out if people are working. And so we’re sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.”
Federal agencies control fates of employees who bucked Musk ‘what did you do last week’ email
Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week, a White House official told Fox News Digital. “Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity,” a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken.” Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish. Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk’s directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management. TRUMP OFFICIALS LIST 5 WEEKLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AHEAD OF MUSK MIDNIGHT DEADLINE “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote on X Saturday. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” “To be clear, the bar is very low here,” Musk wrote. “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write.” Musk added to X on Monday evening that, “subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” FLASHBACK: MUSK USED HIS ‘WHAT DID YOU GET DONE THIS WEEK’ DIRECTIVE BEFORE GUTTING TWITTER “The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” he wrote in a separate post. “Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?” A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a “friendly” rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis. FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email. “That was done in a friendly manner,” Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. “Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they’re working on confidential things. And they don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week.” MUSK’S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: ‘MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE’ Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital. Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, “Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth,” while a caption over the arrow reads, “What did you get done last week?” Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren’t actually carrying out tasks. “There was a lot of genius in sending it,” Trump said Monday from the White House. “We’re trying to find out if people are working. And so we’re sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.”
Federal agencies control fates of employees who bucked Musk ‘what did you do last week’ email
Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week, a White House official told Fox News Digital. “Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity,” a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken.” Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish. Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk’s directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management. TRUMP OFFICIALS LIST 5 WEEKLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AHEAD OF MUSK MIDNIGHT DEADLINE “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote on X Saturday. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” “To be clear, the bar is very low here,” Musk wrote. “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write.” Musk added to X on Monday evening that, “subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” FLASHBACK: MUSK USED HIS ‘WHAT DID YOU GET DONE THIS WEEK’ DIRECTIVE BEFORE GUTTING TWITTER “The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” he wrote in a separate post. “Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?” A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a “friendly” rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis. FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email. “That was done in a friendly manner,” Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. “Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they’re working on confidential things. And they don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week.” MUSK’S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: ‘MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE’ Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital. Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, “Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth,” while a caption over the arrow reads, “What did you get done last week?” Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren’t actually carrying out tasks. “There was a lot of genius in sending it,” Trump said Monday from the White House. “We’re trying to find out if people are working. And so we’re sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.”
‘Duly owed to us’: Blue state governor says $2.1B in federal funding restored after suing Trump admin
Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Monday that $2.1 billion in federal funds had been unfrozen and restored to Pennsylvania, as Democratic governors rely on the courts to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive actions. Shapiro sued the Trump administration on Feb. 13, joining the initial 22 states and the District of Columbia with lawsuits challenging Trump’s allegedly “illegal” federal funding freeze. Shapiro said legal action was necessary to restore Pennsylvania’s federal funding. Shapiro, who was in Washington for the National Governors Association (NGA) last week, said he urged senior members of the Trump administration to unfreeze the federal funds. “When I was at the White House on Friday, I again raised the issue of our frozen federal funding to President Trump’s senior team and members of his Cabinet,” Shapiro told reporters Monday. “I urged them to follow the law and to honor their agreements with Pennsylvania. As a result of that direct engagement last week, our funding is unfrozen. They are now following the law, and we will continue to press our case.” SHAPIRO LATEST DEMOCRAT SUING ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’ TRUMP ADMIN Shapiro said his directness earned Pennsylvania access to the funds “duly owed to us.” “I was very direct with them. They were very responsive to me. And as a result, Pennsylvania now has what is duly owed to us,” Shapiro added. The White House Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to halt federal funding on Jan. 27 in compliance with Trump’s executive orders. Federal judges had issued a temporary restraining order to block the funding freeze ahead of Shapiro’s lawsuit, but only states with litigation against the Trump administration were able to access the unfrozen funds. JUDICIAL PUSHBACK ON TRUMP ‘HURTING AMERICAN PEOPLE,’ SAYS GOP REP LEADING IMPEACHMENT CHARGE “As a result of our lawsuit and our continued pressure and engagement with the Trump administration, in which we demanded that the administration comply with the legal injunctions currently in place, we made clear that we were ready to seek immediate relief from the courts. Every dollar that we identified at the filing of our lawsuit is currently unfrozen and, once again, accessible to all Pennsylvania state agencies,” Shapiro said. The $2.1 billion in federal funding restores what Shapiro described as “critical programs and infrastructure projects that have been jeopardized by this illegal freeze.” Those programs include plugging abandoned wells, cleaning waterways, protecting farmers from runoff water, repairing mines and delivering clean water to Pennsylvanians, Shapiro said. He said several projects that were halted have been restored and dozens of federal employees are now back to work. Shapiro said it is his responsibility as governor to take legal action against the federal government when necessary to deliver for Pennsylvania. “It is my job to protect Pennsylvania’s interests, and I will use every tool at my disposal, from legal action to my direct engagement, to make sure that Pennsylvanians are protected, and that the funds Pennsylvanians rely on every day, the funds that Pennsylvanians pay in federal taxes make their way back to our Commonwealth, and we receive every federal dollar that we are owed,” Shapiro said. The legal dance of Trump’s executive actions is on full display in Shapiro’s litigation as the governor said suing the Trump administration was the only way to unfreeze Pennsylvania’s federal funds. Shapiro’s legal win is the latest in ongoing litigation between the state and federal governments. During the Governor’s Working Session at the White House on Friday, when Shapiro told senior Trump officials to restore his state’s federal funding, Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, was telling Trump, “We’ll see you in court.” Trump told Mills, in a moment NGA Vice Chairman Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., described as “uncomfortable,” that Maine would not receive any federal funding if she did not comply with his executive order to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. Mills said in a statement that Maine would “not be intimidated by the president’s threats.” “If the president attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of federal funding, my administration and the attorney general will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides,” Mills added. As Trump continues to implement part of his agenda through executive action, Democrats are relying on federal litigation to challenge the Trump administration’s executive authority, that many call a “constitutional crisis.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pennsylvania’s unfrozen federal funds.
GOP lawmakers push Trump to recognize West Bank as Israeli territory
FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers is turning up the heat on President Donald Trump to recognize the West Bank as Israeli territory after the president suggested he was looking into such a change. A new letter to Trump, led by Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., frames the fraught territory, occupied by both Palestinians and Israelis, as the heartland of the U.S. and Israel’s “shared Judeo-Christian heritage.” “This region is the heart of our shared Judeo-Christian heritage and recognition of the right of Israel to declare sovereignty over this region would build upon your previous recognition of the importance of this heritage,” the letter reads. “In anticipation of a potential policy announcement regarding Judea and Samaria in the next few weeks, we want to express our strong support for recognizing Israel’s right to declare sovereignty over this historically and biblically significant region. We also wish to express our strong opposition to the recognition of any hostile Arab state in Judea and Samaria that supports terrorism and fails to recognize Israel.” ISRAEL MOVES TANKS INTO WEST BANK FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2002 The letter also applauds Trump for lifting sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank, imposed under the Biden administration. The order was meant to punish Israeli settlers accused of perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. Five other members of the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus signed on to the letter: Reps. Mary Miller, R-Ill., Randy Weber, R-Texas, Andy Harris, R-Md., Barry Moore, R-Ala., and Nick LaLota, R-N.Y. Trump teased a new announcement on West Bank policy earlier this month. HAMAS RELEASES MORE HOSTAGES IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE THAN 600 PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AS PART OF CEASEFIRE DEAL “We’re discussing that with many of your representatives,” he said. “People do like the idea, but we haven’t taken a position on it yet. But we will be making an announcement on that very specific topic in the next four weeks.” Trump is expected to have a far more permissive view of Israeli expansion into the West Bank than the Biden administration. He reversed long-standing U.S. policy during his first administration that deemed Israeli settlements in the West Bank a violation of law. For the first time in two decades, Israel moved tanks into the West Bank, turning its attention to militants hiding there after the signing of the ceasefire in Gaza. Palestinians see the effort as Israel setting up an effort to retake the areas currently run by the Palestinian Authority. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces would stay in the West Bank “as long as needed.” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said troops would be in urban areas of the West Bank at least “for the coming year” and the 40,000 Palestinians who fled would not be able to return to their homes. “We will not allow the return of residents, and we will not allow terrorism to return and grow,” he said.
White House pushes back on report claiming some canceled DOGE contracts won’t save taxpayers money
The White House is pushing back against a report from the Associated Press claiming that nearly 40% of the federal contracts that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) canceled aren’t expected to save the government any money. The AP first reported that 40% figure on Tuesday, saying it was derived from the Trump administration’s own data. DOGE, run by Elon Musk, published an initial list last week of 1,125 contracts that President Donald Trump’s signature cost-saving program terminated in recent weeks across the federal government. The AP said the data published on DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts” shows that more than one-third of the contract cancelations, 417 in all, are expected to yield no savings. The publication assesses that, in most cases, that’s because the total value of the contracts has already been fully obligated, meaning the government has a legal requirement to spend the funds for the goods or services it purchased and in many cases has already done so. FEDERAL AGENCY TELLS STAFF RESPONSES TO MUSK’S DOGE PRODUCTIVITY EMAIL MAY BE READ BY ‘MALIGN FOREIGN ACTORS’ A White House official told Fox News Digital, however, that many of the contracts were on auto-renewal, suggesting DOGE would still be saving taxpayers money in the long run by canceling the contracts it deems wasteful. “DOGE is identifying waste that most Americans never knew existed. That is a good thing,” the official said. “Also, many of these contracts were also on auto-renew – so DOGE is preventing tax dollars from being wasted on these scams in the future.” The AP cited an unnamed administration official as saying on condition of anonymity that it made sense to cancel contracts that are seen as potential dead weight, even if the moves do not yield any savings. A government contracting law expert was more critical. “It’s like confiscating used ammunition after it’s been shot when there’s nothing left in it. It doesn’t accomplish any policy objective,” Charles Tiefer, a retired University of Baltimore law professor, told the AP. “Their terminating so many contracts pointlessly obviously doesn’t accomplish anything for saving money.” “It’s too late for the government to change its mind on many of these contracts and walk away from its payment obligation,” added Tiefer, who served on the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tiefer told the AP that DOGE appeared to be taking a “slash and burn” approach to cutting contracts, which he said could damage the performance of government agencies. He said savings could be made instead by working with agency contracting officers and inspectors general to find efficiencies, an approach the administration has not taken. HOW MUCH DOGE HAS SAVED THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER SO FAR AND MORE TOP HEADLINES It’s not the first time the White House has clashed with the AP in recent weeks. A federal judge on Monday declined to immediately order the White House to restore the AP’s access to presidential events. U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden allowed to stand the two-week ban implemented over the AP continuing to refer to the “Gulf of America” as the “Gulf of Mexico” despite Trump’s executive order renaming the body of water. The judge did warn government attorneys the law was not on the administration’s side in the long term. Of the listed contracts canceled by DOGE, dozens were for already-paid subscriptions to the AP, Politico and other media services that the administration said it would discontinue. The AP assessed that other canceled contracts “were for research studies that have been awarded, training that has taken place, software that has been purchased and interns that have come and gone.” In all, DOGE data says the 417 contracts in question had a total value of $478 million. The AP said dozens of other canceled contracts are expected to yield little if any savings. The canceled contracts were to purchase a wide range of goods and services. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a contract in September to purchase and install office furniture at various branches. While the contract does not expire until later this year, federal records show the agency had already agreed to spend the maximum $567,809 with a furniture company, according to the AP. The U.S. Agency for International Development negotiated a $145,549 contract last year to clean the carpet at its headquarters in Washington. But the full amount had already been obligated to a firm that is owned by a Native American tribe based in Michigan. Another already-spent $249,600 contract went to a Washington, D.C., firm to help prepare the Department of Transportation for the recent transition from the Biden to the Trump administration. Some of the canceled contracts were intended to modernize and improve the way the government works, according to the AP. One of the largest, for instance, went to a consulting firm to help carry out a reorganization at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, which led the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum $13.6 million had already been obligated to Deloitte Consulting LLP for help with the restructuring, which included closing several research offices. DOGE has estimated that the overall contract cancelations are expected to save more than $7 billion so far – a figure that some critics have challenged. The Associated Press contributed to this report.