Fox News Politics: Border nonstarter
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s Happening? – Senate Republicans vow to block bipartisan border bill – Court rejects Trump’s immunity on Jan. 6 charges – Nevada primary election underway After weeks of negotiations, the Senate’s much ballyhooed bipartisan border deal landed with a thunk. Conservatives in the House and Senate have come out against the deal, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell didn’t sound optimistic about the bill becoming law. “I think in the end, even though the product is approved by the the border council that adores President Trump, most of our members feel that we’re not going to be able to make a law here, and if we’re not going to be able to make a law, they’re reluctant to go forward,” McConnell said Tuesday. The border bill was tied to aide to Ukraine and other priorities that McConnell and Schumer would have to find another way to pass. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the border deal fiasco might mean it’s time for McConnell himself to step down as leader. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed that he didn’t know President Biden would start describing the border situation as a “crisis,” according to reports. “I will tell you that I am not focused on the words one uses,” Mayorkas told the Washington Post. “I am focused on what we need to do. That is my focus. It is a very serious challenge. And we are focused on it every single day.” The House is moving forward with a vote to impeach Mayorkas. NO SHOW: Biden declining Super Bowl interview makes it look like he’s ‘not in control,’ analyst says …Read more ABORTION ON DEMAND?: Biden confuses with 3 trimester abortion claim …Read more HE SEES DEAD PEOPLE: Biden torched for claiming that he recently met with a deceased world leader …Read more ‘NOTHING ELSE TO DO’: Biden responds to Trump’s challenge to ‘immediate’ debate …Read more ‘MOMENT OF TRUTH’: White House says border bill will ‘define the legacy’ of House GOP …Read more SLIDE TO THE LEFT: Speaker Johnson could be forced to seek Dem support on Israel aid bill …Read more ‘BETRAYAL’: Speaker Johnson tears into Biden for threatening to veto Israel aid …Read more ‘SUPERCHARGED’ CATCH-AND-RELEASE: Border hawks warn Congress about effects of Senate deal …Read more STANDING FIRM: Top Senate Republican will oppose bipartisan border security package …Read more WHERE’S TRUMP?: Why Donald Trump’s name is not on today’s Republican presidential primary ballot in Nevada …Read more ‘EYE ON THE BALL’: Tim Scott responds to Trump considering him for vice president …Read more LITTLE BY LITTLE: Trump crushing Biden in small dollar donations …Read more ICE CHEAT SHEET: NY Dem looking to fill George Santos seat takes heat for Facebook post on how to deal with immigration officials …Read more NO IMMUNITY: Trump not immune from prosecution in 2020 election case …Read more SPECIAL PRIVILEGES: GOP hopeful co-authored bills to provide in-state tuition, driving ‘cards’ to illegal immigrants …Read more RNC SHAKEUP?: Trump calls for changes at RNC after meeting with chair Ronna McDaniel …Read more ALABAMA GAMBLER: Alabama lawmakers consider legal casinos, education vouchers, criminal justice in 2024 …Read more RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS: Nebraska GOP lawmakers propose bills intertwining religion with public education …Read more COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: Trump prosecutors should be ‘terrified’ by public opinion of case, says legal analyst …Read more Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
House Judiciary Committee sues FBI agent for defying subpoena in government, Big Tech collusion probe
The House Judiciary Committee is suing FBI agent Elvis Chan for defying a congressional subpoena for his deposition related to the federal government’s alleged collusion with social media companies to censor speech, Fox News Digital has learned. Chan, according to the committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, served “as the primary liaison” between the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and social media companies. HOUSE JUDICIARY SUBPOENAS DOJ, FBI FOR DOCUMENTS RELATED TO ALLEGED COLLUSION WITH BIG TECH COMPANIES The committee first subpoenaed Chan in September 2023, after he refused to voluntarily appear for a transcribed interview in March 2023. The deposition, or interview, was requested and later compelled as part of the committee’s investigation into “the extent and nature” of the FBI’s involvement in alleged censorship of speech online. The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday filed a 46-page lawsuit against Chan “in his official capacity as Assistant Special Agent” at the FBI. “After public reporting revealed that the Executive Branch was coercing and colluding with technology companies and other intermediaries to censor online speech, the Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into how and to what extent agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were working to interfere with the marketplace of ideas and suppress the voices of the American people,” the lawsuit states. “The ultimate purpose of this investigation is to develop legislative reforms, such as new statutory limits on the Executive Branch’s ability to work with social media companies and other entities to restrict the circulation of content online and deplatform users. And to do so, the Committee must first fully understand the nature of the problem.” The lawsuit states that the committee “quickly identified Chan as a pivotal figure in its investigation,” citing publicly available information that indicated Chan “was at the heart of the FBI’s interactions with technology companies, including Facebook and Twitter.” “Indeed, Chan described himself as ‘one of the primary people with pass-through information,’ information the companies used when deciding whether to restrict online content,” the lawsuit states. HOUSE WEAPONIZATION COMMITTEE: BIDEN ADMIN ‘COLLUDED’ WITH BIG TECH, ‘FACILITATED THE CENSORSHIP OF AMERICANS’ The lawsuit goes on to explain that Chan defied his subpoena, after the Justice Department “instructed him not to appear” – a directive he complied with. “By refusing to comply with the Subpoena, Chan is frustrating the Committee’s ability to conduct oversight – a critical part of the legislative power that the Constitution vests in Congress,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit explains that DOJ’s reasoning for instructing Chan not to appear was “only because, under House Rules, agency counsel (a lawyer who represents the Executive Branch’s interests, not Chan’s) cannot attend.” “DOJ contends that a subpoena compelling testimony about an agency employee’s official duties, without agency counsel present, is unconstitutional and thus unenforceable,” the lawsuit states. HOUSE JUDICIARY SUBPOENAS ODNI’S AVRIL HAINES FOR RECORDS RELATED TO ALLEGED COLLUSION WITH BIG TECH COMPANIES The committee is asking that the court declare that Chan’s refusal to appear “lacks legal justification,” and hopes it issues an injunction ordering him to appear and testify “immediately.” The Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment. When asked if the committee would move to hold Chan in contempt of Congress, a source familiar told Fox News Digital: “Everything is on the table.” Chan was also referenced in Missouri v. Biden, and appeared for a civil deposition. The House Judiciary Committee’s investigation is ongoing. Last month, the committee subpoenaed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines for documents as part of its investigation into the Biden administration’s alleged collusion with Big Tech companies and its intermediaries to “censor speech.” Jordan said that through its investigation, the committee found that the federal government “has pressured and colluded with Big Tech and other intermediaries to censor certain viewpoints on social media in ways that undermine First Amendment principles.” Jordan, last February, as part of the investigation, subpoenaed the CEOs of Google, Amazon, Facebook and others for documents relating to the government’s alleged “collusion” with Big Tech companies to “suppress free speech.” Also last year, Jordan subpoenaed the Justice Department and the FBI for documents related to the probe. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The investigation comes after Republicans have sounded the alarm for years on Big Tech censorship and bias against conservatives. Separately, the Supreme Court agreed in October to review a court-ordered ban on certain communications between the Biden administration and Big Tech platforms after state attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana accused high-ranking government officials of working with social media companies “under the guise of combating misinformation.” They argued this ultimately led to censoring speech on topics that included Hunter Biden’s laptop, COVID-19 origins and the efficacy of face masks Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.
University of North Texas president to step down after 10 years
Under President Neal Smatresk, UNT in Denton became a Carnegie Tier One research university and a Hispanic Serving Institution.
New state law increasing sentences for human smuggling takes effect
Senate Bill 4 bumps the minimum sentence from two years to 10 years for human smuggling or operating a stash house.
Adams defends pre-paid migrant cards, part of $53M NYC pilot program: ‘Not giving people American Express’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday defended a reported $53 million pilot program to hand out pre-paid credit cards to migrant families housed in hotels despite public outcry. Appearing before a state legislative budget hearing in Albany on Tuesday, the Democrat mayor said he sought to dismiss “misinformation” about the program. “We’re not giving people American Express cards,” Adams said. “We found that the food delivery service that we set up during the emergency – we could find a better way to do it in our belief that we want to cut 20% of the migrant costs. So we have a pilot project with 500 people that we are giving them food cards, so instead of a debit card, instead of having to deliver food, and have people eat food – we were seeing wasting food – they’re now able to get their own food, that is going to be spent $12 a day.” “So we are going to save money on delivery, we’re going to save money on people wasting food, and this is a pilot project we’re going to use that is going to save us $6.7 million a year,” Adams said. “And if the pilot turns out to be successful, then we’re going to expand it not only with the migrants and asylum seekers, we’d look to do that expansion throughout the entire system – trying to find smarter, more cost-effective ways to deal with this crisis that was dropped in our lap.” NEW YORK CITY TO HAND OUT $53 MILLION IN PRE-PAID CREDIT CARDS TO MIGRANT FAMILIES: REPORT Under the pilot program, migrants will be getting 40% more than the state gives to low-income and elderly New Yorkers under SNAP benefits. Each migrant would receive about $350 a month to spend on food and baby supplies. As noted by Newsweek, that’s more than the maximum allotment that low-income New York residents receive in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. According to the state’s website, single households are eligible for up to $291 a month in SNAP benefits aimed at providing “low-income working people, senior citizens, the disabled and others” money to buy food products. The migrant pilot program also hands out more than two times the amount the state gives monthly in services for single veterans, Fox News’s Bryan Llenas reported. RAPPER 50 CENT SAYS ‘MAYBE TRUMP IS THE ANSWER’ AFTER SEEING NYC GIVE PRE-PAID CREDIT CARDS TO MIGRANTS The mayor’s explanation came during an annual hearing, known as “Tin Cup Day,” when mayors make budgetary requests before the state legislature. Adams, who testified that the Big Apple’s shelter population has tripled since he took office, asked the state to cover 50% of the costs to handle the migrant crisis in New York City. New York City’s government has projected it will spend at least $10.6 billion on migrants by summer 2025. New York state has already vowed to contribute about $2 billion in the current budget cycle to the migrant crisis, but Adams told lawmakers on Tuesday that the state pledge would only cover one-third of the city’s migrant costs. Gov. Kathy Hochul, another Democrat, has suggested the state earmark $2.4 billion to go toward migrant services in the next budget cycle, but the details have not been ironed out before the state legislature. Adams’ office said even that allocation proposed by Hochul would be $600 million short of what the city needs in its next budget cycle, the New York Daily News reported.
Sen. Roger Marshall demands southern border crisis be classified as ‘an invasion’
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., will bring a resolution to the floor Tuesday afternoon to declare the illegal migrant crisis at the southern border “an invasion,” his office told Fox News Digital exclusively. Marshall will seek unanimous consent to pass the resolution on the Senate floor, meaning that any one senator could block it. “Joe Biden has the power to secure our borders; instead, he has chosen to break the law, resulting in the worst border crisis in history,” Marshall told Fox News Digita in a statementl. “I do not know how Joe Biden sleeps at night knowing terrorists, CCP nationals, cartels, and worse are living here in the interior of our country.” The resolution comes as Texas Republicans are unifying behind Gov. Greg Abbott amid his feud with the Biden administration over defending the border from thousands of illegal migrants. GOP SENATORS RALLY AGAINST BIPARTISAN BORDER DEAL, CITING BIDEN’S POWER TO SUSPEND ‘EMERGENCY’ BILL “Since our commander in chief won’t stop this historic crisis, an invasion declaration, as defined by the U.S. Constitution, allows Congress to recognize each state’s right to secure their own borders,” Marshall said. “Where Joe Biden fails to put Americans safety first, our resolution acknowledges each state’s right to secure their borders themselves, as leaders like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have. The cartels and the CCP should not have more operational control of our borders than we do.” The resolution states that due to “President Biden’s dereliction of duty” and “failure” to enforce current border laws, citizens in all 50 states have been endangered. It contends that violent activities and smuggling carried out by drug cartels and criminal organizations, along with illegal border crossings, meet the definition of “actually invaded” under the U.S. Constitution. Marshall is expected to say that “The President has not done his constitutional duty, we’ve established that. Thus, we must invoke and concur with the governor of Texas, that an actual invasion has occurred.” “The governor of Texas, Governor Abbott, has not just a moral responsibility, but the constitutional right to invoke his power and authority to do everything in his capabilities, to protect the good people of Texas,” he is expected to say. “Governors of all 50 States possess the authority and power as Commander-in-Chief of their respective States to repel the invasion,” the resolution reads. SENATE REPUBLICANS MOBILIZE TO BLOCK BORDER BILL: ‘THIS WILL NOT PASS’ Marshall is one of more than 20 GOP senators who oppose the bipartisan border bill that was released Sunday, arguing it provides more sole powers to President Biden and does not reduce the number of illegal crossings to zero. The Senate will take up a cloture vote on Wednesday to advance the bill, which includes billions of dollars in aid to Israel and Ukraine, and will need a 60-vote majority to pass.
GOP senators call for McConnell to step down, declare border bill ‘unadulterated bulls—‘
A group of Senate Republicans is growing weary of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s leadership and called for him to step down as they aired their grievances over what they called a “dead” bipartisan border bill slated for the first floor procedural vote on Wednesday. Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told reporters Tuesday afternoon in a press conference that McConnell, R-Ky, should have “walked away” from the border agreement, which they argue expands President Biden’s power and does not fully close the border. “We’re not committing ourselves to voting for this thing just because we entered the negotiation, and you hear this from some of our leadership – and hopefully they will stop – the idea that we committed to supporting whatever came out of this negotiation is pure, unadulterated bulls—,” Vance, one of Congress’ loudest critics against Ukraine assistance, said. He added, “We supported a negotiation to bring commonsense border security to this country. We did not agree to a border fig leaf to send another $61 billion to Ukraine.” Cruz, a staunch critic of McConnell since 2013, said the long-standing leader offered no response when he asked him, “Is there anything we are willing to fight on?” regarding the closed-door border negotiations that began in December, which Republicans are now determined to tarnish. “Everyone here also supported a leadership challenge to Mitch McConnell in November,” Cruz said. “I think a Republican leader should actually lead this conference and should advance the priorities of Republicans.” GOP SENATORS DEMAND ‘ADEQUATE TIME’ TO REVIEW BORDER SECURITY BILL Fox News Digital has reached out to McConnell’s office for comment. Following the GOP luncheon on Tuesday, McConnell told reporters, “I think we can all agree that Sen. Cruz is not a fan.” Sen. James Lankford, of Oklahoma, the lead Republican negotiator, has been facing pushback from the caucus over the deal that was struck with Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Biden administration officials. More than 20 Republicans have already vowed to strike down the bill on Wednesday, arguing they need “adequate time” for amendments and further analysis. Meanwhile, Republicans are also hanging onto a post Murphy posted on X on Sunday after the text was released, which read: “The border never closes, but claims must be processed at the ports.” Cruz contended the Biden administration already has the ability to shut down the border and turn migrants away under the current immigration laws. “His first week in as president, he halted construction on the border wall, he reinstated the disastrous policy of ‘catch and release’ and he pulled out of the unbelievably successful remain in Mexico agreement that caused this explosion,” Cruz said. “It also means Joe Biden could solve it tomorrow, by reversing those three decisions.” The only way, Cruz said, the border bill would make it across the finish line in the national supplemental package is if the Senate passed H.R.2 – the GOP-led House’s immigration bill passed last year – which includes Trump-era style expulsions and security measures. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., already deemed the bill a “nonstarter” in the Senate. Meanwhile, the House has repeatedly called the Senate’s border bill “dead on arrival” – making it a near-impossible scenario that a border security bill gets passed. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., an unsuccessful contender against McConnell in the last election, said “a few people negotiated” the border, when it should have been open to the entire GOP conference to offer amendments. “McConnell decided we’re not going to have something that forced a lawless administration to secure the border, and so this is where we are,” he said. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., another “no” vote on Wednesday, told reporters McConnell was “fatally flawed” when he “entered into this secret negotiation with Schumer.” Vance added that Lankford was at a disadvantage in the negotiations because the White House “It normalizes thousands of people a day,” Johnson said. “It probably undermines the future president’s ability to secure the border by having things like a discretionary threshold.” Other Republicans during Tuesday’s press conference, including Sens. Roger Marshall, of Kansas and Mike Lee, of Utah, also spoke out against the bill they argued has a “whole lot of loopholes.” “Loopholes through which you could drive a Mack truck, a 747, and an Airbus A-380 simultaneously through them, and that’s concerning,” said Lee, who was among the first to criticize the deal. Marshall defended Lankford and said not even “Henry Kissinger could have negotiated a better deal with the cards that he was dealt.” “This is not on the back of James Lankford,” he said. “I’m not going to speak for James, I think his hope was that we could take this bill and amend it and make it better. But I’m afraid it’s not close enough to do anything but stop the life support and pronounce it dead.” SENATE RELEASES LONG-AWAITED BORDER LEGISLATION, MAJOR ASYLUM CHANGES The proposed legislation, released Sunday evening after months of negotiations, will total just over $118 billion, with 50,000 new visas. Biden’s original request amounted to around $106 billion. On Tuesday, Biden said the border package “doesn’t address everything” he would have liked, such as creating a pathway for citizenship for illegal immigrants who are already living in the U.S. However, he called it the ‘toughest, fairest law that has ever been proposed relative to the border.” “I’m calling on Congress to pass this bill, get it to my desk immediately,” Biden said. “But if the bill fails… every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.” During negotiations, Trump urged senators over his platform Truth Social to reject a deal “unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people.” Republicans are concerned the bill does not flatly reduce the number of border crossings to zero. The bill’s provisions come into effect when
GOP lawmaker calls for hearing on ‘disturbing’ efforts to allow foreign ownership of public lands
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is calling for House Republican leadership to hold a hearing to assess recent efforts to open federal property up for public and foreign ownership. Banks penned a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., requesting the panel schedule a hearing on so-called natural asset companies (NACs). Though a federal proposal to publicly list NACs was recently withdrawn, proponents are reportedly committed to pushing the new corporate taxonomy. An NAC is a type of company chartered to “protect, restore and grow the natural assets under their management to foster healthy ecosystems.” “The environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement, while ostensibly focused on financial markets, is now using NACs to bring its partisan and progressive influence onto public land management,” Banks wrote to McHenry in the letter shared with Fox News Digital. “This is a disturbing development that should be addressed by the Committee. BIDEN ADMIN FAILING TO TRACK CHINESE OWNERSHIP OF US FARMLAND: GOVT WATCHDOG “The Committee should demand the SEC deliver a more intelligible explanation of the alleged benefits of listing NACs in an open hearing,” he continued. “Additionally, just like ESG, investment into NACs will be most detrimental to the average American’s portfolio. Serious financial questions exist about whether they will generate investor returns at all.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, Banks said House Republicans must defend property rights in the U.S. “Natural asset companies are one of the most frightening and anti-American ideas to come out of the ESG movement, which says a lot. Republicans in Congress must fight back against this attack on Americans’ private property rights,” the Indiana lawmaker said. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) states that NACs “capture the intrinsic and productive value of nature and provide a store of value based on the vital assets that underpin our entire economy and make life on earth possible.” The NYSE says natural assets that could be grouped into a NAC include forests, wetlands and coral reefs, as well as working lands such as farms. TIKTOK ACTIVIST SAYS HE ADVISED WHITE HOUSE ON BIDEN’S NEW NATURAL GAS MORATORIUM In 2023, the NYSE proposed a rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would have allowed for NACs to be listed on the exchange. The NYSE collaborated on the proposal with financial services firm Intrinsic Exchange Group, which first floated the idea of listing NACs as a free market solution to climate change. But in January, after receiving widespread criticism from Republican state financial officers and attorneys general, and later Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee, the SEC announced in a filing that NYSE had rescinded the proposal. “It is hard to overstate the danger that so-called ‘natural asset companies’ pose to the livelihood of millions of Americans,” Will Hild, the executive director of watchdog group Consumers’ Research, previously told Fox News Digital. “Big woke corporations including BlackRock and foreign companies from hostile nations such as China would be handed free rein to buy up millions of acres of public land. “Ranching, farming, energy production and many other critical industries would be denied shared access to public land, eliminating their productive use,” Hild added. “Even people who use public lands for recreation and hunting could suddenly find their access taken away.” UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION IS QUIETLY FUELING CLIMATE POLICY, FUNDING STAFF IN DEM STATES Still, Banks said in his letter to McHenry that while the NYSE proposal was withdrawn, the possibility of listing NACs in the future still exists. Douglas Eger, chairman and CEO of the Intrinsic Exchange Group, recently told the media outlet Agri-Pulse his firm remained “committed” to pushing NACs. “We will come to the private markets, and we’ll find an appropriate outlet to the public markets — domestically or internationally,” Eger said. McHenry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
US ‘deeply troubled’ by photo of injured Palestinian
NewsFeed The US State Department says a photo of an Israeli soldier standing over a stripped and wounded Palestinian in Gaza is ‘deeply troubling’. Published On 6 Feb 20246 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Who should step in to end the humanitarian crisis in Sudan?
War has forced millions from their homes and to the brink of starvation. The war in Sudan has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. More than nine months of fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has pushed almost five million people to the brink of starvation. The World Food Programme says the number of Sudanese going hungry has doubled since the violence began in April. Insecurity and restricted access have made aid agencies’ operations nearly impossible. Humanitarian organisations are appealing to the international community to increase their funding – and not forget about Sudan as other wars dominate the world’s attention. So, what can be done to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people? Presenter: Tom McRrae Guests: Hajooj Kuka – Spokesperson for Emergency Response Rooms, a youth-led volunteer network delivering aid in Sudan. Raga Makawi – Editor of African Arguments, a pan-African online news platform. William Carter – Sudan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Adblock test (Why?)