Bharat Mandapam Summit Rehearsal: Delhi traffic Police issue advisory, check routes to avoid on May 19, diversions and more
The rehearsal is in preparation for the International Big Cat Alliance Summit and the India-Africa Forum Summit, scheduled at Bharat Mandapam from May 28 to June 1.
Tamil Nadu retains two-language policy, Vijay-led TVK govt to stick to state’s long-held policies
Tamil Nadu School Education Minister A. Rajmohan stated that the new Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government will keep the policy of teaching only Tamil and English in schools.
Texas American Muslim University sued by Paxton, accused of misleading would-be students
TexAM is accused of misrepresenting itself as a university and adopting branding too similar to Texas A&M. Its leaders say they were already complying with state demands.
Texas Sen. Brian Birdwell gets U.S. Senate green light for Pentagon post
The longtime state legislator, who announced in June he wasn’t seeking reelection, will serve as an assistant secretary of defense.
Chip Roy gets $2.75 million infusion from GOP megadonor Alex Fairly in attorney general runoff
Roy is the only candidate who’s “able and prepared to do the job,” Fairly said. Roy’s opponent, Mayes Middleton, has been criticized for his lack of legal experience.
Hegseth unleashes on Massie in GOP primary showdown against Trump-backed Navy SEAL vet
HEBRON, KY – Ed Gallrein, the Republican congressional candidate backed by President Donald Trump who is challenging Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky for the GOP nomination, landed extra firepower on the eve of the state’s primary. Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and Kentucky farmer, was joined on the campaign trail Monday by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Massie has long been one of Trump’s most vocal GOP critics in Congress and the Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, in the northeastern part of the state, the latest test of Trump’s immense grip over the GOP. “President Trump needs reinforcements, and that’s what war fighters do. They stand behind leaders and have their back,” Hegseth said at an event organized by America First Works, a Trump-aligned nonprofit political advocacy group. TRUMP SCORES MAJOR PRIMARY VICTORY AS CASSIDY OUSTED IN LOUSIANA Massie, a libertarian-minded lawmaker who repeatedly takes aim at the president over foreign policy, including the Iran war and unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, also successfully pushed for the release of government files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But Hegseth argued that Massie’s record is one of “too much grandstanding, too few great votes, years of acting like being difficult is the same thing as being courageous. It’s not. Real courage means stepping up when the mission matters most, when we need that tough vote to beat left-wing lunatic Democrats the most.” “President Trump does not need more people in Washington who are trying to make a point, especially from his own party. He needs people willing to help him win, to vote with him when it matters the most,” Hegseth added. Hegseth’s remarks, which came soon after a stop at nearby Fort Campbell to award medals for service members, were rare for the civilian head of the nation’s military. Defense secretaries have traditionally avoided appearing at political events. Ahead of the stop, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth would appear only “in his personal capacity” and that “no taxpayer dollars will be used to facilitate his visit.” Hegseth noted the unusual appearance. “I have to say up front, for the lawyers, that I’m here in my personal capacity as a private citizen, a fellow American, and a fellow combat veteran.” DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB But Massie, who’s locked in a competitive clash with Gallrein in what’s become the most expensive congressional primary in history, claimed in a Fox News Digital interview on Monday that Hegseth’s stop “shows that I’m up in the polls. They wouldn’t be sending the Secretary of War to my congressional district if I weren’t.” “I think it also shows I’m tougher than Iran, and I don’t even have a nuclear weapon. I mean, they are all in at this race. It’s basically a national race at this point, the most expensive race primary in congressional history, and that’s because, you know, I’m up there, I’m getting things done. I got the Epstein files released, I’m getting legislation in the farm bill, I’m getting legislation passed on the floor, and they want to shut me down,” Massie emphasized. Gallrein, speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of his event with Hegseth, charged that Massie’s “running against President Trump, and the agenda that has been put forward by the Republican Party.” Kentucky’s primary is being held two weeks after Indiana’s primary, where Trump-backed challengers ousted five sitting Republican state senators who last December teamed up with Democrats to defeat the president’s push for congressional redistricting in the GOP-dominated Midwestern state. And the ballot box showdown in Kentucky comes three days after Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was ousted as he sought renomination. The senator came in third in the primary, behind Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and conservative Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming. Cassidy’s political defeat came five and a half years after he voted to convict Trump after he was impeached by the House for his role in the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters who aimed to upend congressional certification of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Trump was acquitted by the Senate. Massie said he “absolutely can” overcome the Trump endorsement of Gallrein. “I’ve got the groundswell here, like my events. I’ve got 100-200 sometimes 300 people show up. My opponent had to cancel events because he couldn’t get enough people, you know, to fill up a Dairy Queen, half a Dairy Queen.” SCOOP: TRUMP-BACKED FORMER NAVY SEAL LAUNCHES GOP PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST MASSIE The race has become the most expensive in House history in terms of ad spending, with over $32 million shelled out, according to the nationally known ad tracking firm AdImpact. Much of that money has been shelled out by Trump’s allies and pro-Israel groups. “Here’s the thing, I’ve got nothing against Israel. I just have never voted for foreign aid. When I said America First, I meant it. I don’t vote for foreign aid to Egypt, to Syria, to Ukraine. I’ve got a flawless record on this, and I’m not going to ruin it by sending foreign aid to one country,” Massie said as he defended his stance on Israel. And Massie touted that while Trump’s allies and pro-Israel groups have spent tens of millions to take him out, he said, “I’ve got tens of thousands of grassroots donors who are funding me $50 at a time, $20 at a time. We’ve been able to match them to go toe to toe with them on TV using grassroots donors, and it’s really galvanized the nation.” Trump has repeatedly targeted Massie in social media posts in the closing days of the primary campaign. The president said in a video posted to Truth Social on Monday that he hoped Kentucky voters would put Massie “out of business” and that “we’re in a fight against the worst congressman in the history of our country.” And Trump praised Gallrein as “a great guy” and “a great patriot.” But Massie said
Senate Republicans confirm nearly 50 of Trump’s picks for energy, land management
Senate Republicans moved one step closer to clearing out the backlog of President Donald Trump’s nominees. The GOP confirmed 49 of Trump’s picks on Monday, a move that will have installed 60% of his civilian nominees. It’s also the fourth time Republicans have confirmed a slate of nominees in a batch since changing the Senate’s rules last year. Included in the latest batch are 20 different positions, including a dozen U.S. attorneys, several U.S. marshals, ambassadors and members of a variety of agencies, including the departments of War, Transportation, Energy, and others. GOP TRIGGERS NUCLEAR OPTION IN SENATE TO BREAK DEM BLOCKADE OF TRUMP NOMINEES Also included in the group is Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management and a former member of Congress, Stevan Pearce. Senate Democrats for much of last year had blocked most nominees from getting confirmed. Typically, civilian nominees were often confirmed without actually having to take a full vote on the Senate floor. That obstruction, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a bid to prevent Trump from molding the federal government to fit with his agenda, spurred Republicans to go nuclear and change the Senate’s rules. That move, the fourth time that lawmakers have turned to the nuclear option in the Senate, lowered the threshold for certain picks to just a simple majority rather than the typical 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster. SENATE GOP RAMS THROUGH BLUEPRINT TO BANKROLL ICE, BORDER PATROL THROUGH END OF TRUMP ERA And it has proven a successful move for Republicans. Last year, they confirmed over 400 of Trump’s picks. That leapfrogged his first term total during the first year, having only gotten 323 confirmed. And it also blew past former President Joe Biden, who during the same time period had 365 nominees confirmed. Meanwhile, Republicans are also busy wrapping up work on another element of Trump’s agenda — funding immigration enforcement for the next three-and-a-half years. SENATORS AGREE TO FORGO SHUTDOWN PAYCHECKS — BUT MANY WON’T FEEL THE PAIN Republicans are sprinting through the party-line budget reconciliation process in their bid to ram through a $72 billion funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol by June 1. Lawmakers have until the end of the week to wrap up the process, given that they’re scheduled for another recess next week for the Memorial Day holiday. But the package has hit some snags with the Senate’s rules referee, and some items, including $1 billion for security enhancements for Trump’s ballroom and funding for the Secret Service were stripped out.
WATCH: Mamdani bashed for going ‘full deranged marxist’ with rip on famous Ronald Reagan line
New York City’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is facing backlash for criticizing a famous quote from former President Ronald Reagan, who cautioned about the dangers of big government. Mamdani, a democratic socialist and New York’s first Muslim mayor, voiced his disagreement with the beloved conservative president as he launched the first of his long-promised city-run grocery stores in the Bronx. “Standing here this morning, I cannot help but think of the words of our 40th president, Ronald Reagan. He famously said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help,’” he said. “It’s a good quote, but I disagree.” Instead, Mamdani said, “I think nine more terrifying words are actually, ‘I worked all day and can’t feed my family.’” He went on to promise, “We are going to use the power of government to lower prices and make it easier for New Yorkers to put food on the table,” adding, “When government understands its purpose as serving the very working people that it has left behind, time and again, it can make a difference in the most pressing struggles facing our city today.” BISHOP BARRON SLAMS ‘BORDERLINE COMMUNISTS’ SANDERS, MAMDANI AHEAD OF TRUMP PRAYER EVENT: ‘ECONOMY THAT KILLS’ “It’s not just that government can help, it’s that government must help, and our government will help,” he continued. Mamdani made his promise of opening affordable, government-run grocery stores throughout the city a central tenet of his campaign. He said on Monday that the first location, a 20,000-square-foot store in the Bronx, will open at some point in 2027. This is the second of the five promised stores to be officially announced. Mamdani previously announced an East Harlem location for the city’s 9,000-square-foot Manhattan flagship store, but that location will be built from the ground up and is slated to open in 2029. Mamdani said the Bronx location, along with the planned mixed-use development dubbed the “Peninsula,” “will serve as physical proof of our conviction that government can be a force for good, that government can drive change that improves people’s lives.” SOCIALIST MAMDANI TOUTS GOVERNMENT-RUN GROCERY PLAN AS ‘GRAND EXPERIMENT’’ AT GROCERY NEW SITE Though cheered by the crowd at his announcement, Mamdani’s dig at Reagan earned him scorn from conservatives online. Conservative commentator Eric Daugherty posted on X: “What a FREAKING DISASTER! He REALLY thinks this will work.” Daugherty accused the mayor of going “FULL DERANGED MARXIST,” telling New Yorkers to be “prepared for utter failure.” Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet posted on X that Mamdani had “flipped Ronald Reagan’s warning upside down,” writing that “his answer is government-run grocery stores that will use taxpayer advantages to undercut private competition.” Jennifer Harrison, founder of the Victims Rights Reform Council, pointed to ongoing public transportation woes in New York City amid widespread strikes, writing on X, “Bc everything government run, like the MTA, is working out so well for Nyers.” DEM WHO WELCOMED SOCIALIST MAYOR’S ‘CHANGE’ NOW SOUNDING ALARM OVER BILLIONAIRE EXODUS: ‘GRAVELY CONCERNED’ Meanwhile, the official X account for the GOP simply reposted the clip, labeling Mamdani a “communist.” Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment.
Skid Row election scheme allegedly fueled by pocket-change payoffs busted by Trump DOJ
The Department of Justice charged a California woman with paying people — including homeless individuals on Los Angeles’ Skid Row — to register to vote while she worked as a paid ballot-petition signature collector, according to federal prosecutors. “False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a press release Monday. “This Justice Department is committed to ensuring that all U.S. elections are fair and free from illegal meddling – so that all Americans can accept the results with confidence,” Dhillon added. MARYLAND BALLOT BLUNDER TRIGGERS GOP PUSH FOR FEDERAL REVIEW OF BLUE STATE’S VOTER ROLLS Marina del Rey resident “Anika” Brenda Lee Armstrong, 64, solicited signatures for official ballot initiatives, including in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles, often paying people between $2 and $3, according to DOJ. She was charged with one felony count of paying another person to register to vote and agreed to plead guilty, according to the DOJ. Armstrong made her initial court appearance Monday. CALIFORNIA WOMAN FACING FELONY CHARGES FOR REGISTERING HER DOG TO VOTE, CASTING 2 BALLOTS Armstrong worked as a “petition circulator” for approximately 20 years, and would receive payment for each registered voter’s signature, according to her plea agreement. The amount she was paid varied depending on the specific ballot initiative. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ to clarify which initiatives and groups Armstrong was soliciting for and how much she was paid. The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom directed Fox News Digital to a post on X when asked for comment.“As we said when this was first discovered, anyone caught engaging in this activity should be investigated and prosecuted,” the Governor’s press office wrote. Many members of Skid Row’s homeless population were not registered to vote, so prosecutors said Armstrong brought voter registration forms with her and began offering payment to people to complete them. Prosecutors said Armstrong sometimes provided homeless individuals with her former Los Angeles address to list on voter registration forms, which registered them to vote in both California and federal elections. CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS LAUNCH VOTER ID BALLOT PUSH, NEED 875K SIGNATURES BY DEADLINE California automatically sends vote-by-mail ballots to every registered voter, with prosecutors saying ballots in some individuals’ names could potentially have been sent to Armstrong’s former residence, where those individuals did not live or collect mail. Armstrong was charged with a felony count of paring another person to register to vote, in which she could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Investigative reporter James O’Keefe took a victory lap over the indictment, citing O’Keefe Media Group first captured footage of the alleged scheme on Skid Row. Homeless people are eligible to register to vote so long as they have a location where mail can be received and “be properly assigned to a voting precinct,” according to the California Secretary of State. Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of the California governor and state attorney general for additional comment on the matter on Monday.
WATCH: Eye-popping illegal immigration stat prompts senator’s demand to ‘redouble’ deportations
Testimony from a policy analyst at a libertarian think tank was unexpectedly highlighted by immigration hawks after he delivered an opening statement at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing featuring controversial Fairfax County prosecutor Stephen Descano. The hearing, chaired by Rep. Thomas McClintock, R-Calif., examined several examples of allegedly lax prosecutions by Descano involving illegal immigrants with prior rap sheets — including a Sierra Leone national accused of murdering a young woman at a bus stop on U.S. 1. In his opening remarks, Cato Institute immigration expert David Bier testified that the “way to fix Fairfax” is not to continue the “mass deportation” agenda of President Donald Trump. “The first step would be to give up on the mass deportation fantasy,” Bier said. SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR SET FOR CAPITOL HILL GRILLING AS SANCTUARY POLICIES FACE RECKONING “About 1-in-5 Fairfax residents is someone who could be deported or who lives with them — It would destroy neighborhoods, rip Americans away from their spouses, parents, friends, families, customers, employees, employers, nurses, nannies, and teachers.” While Bier later added that he believes noncitizens who harm Americans should be deported, his earlier statement drew the attention of several immigration hawks, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Lee borrowed Bier’s logic to prove immigration hardliners’ point that mass deportation is the right solution: “On the contrary: 20% of a wealthy DC suburb being illegal immigrants means we should redouble our efforts to deport them all,” Lee said. Bier responded to Lee’s comments in a lengthy statement to Fox News Digital, arguing the Utah Republican failed to explain why mass deportation would benefit Americans in Fairfax County. “What was the senator’s explanation for [his] statement? The senator never says why it would benefit the country to harm Fairfax County and the Americans who live there, so there’s nothing to rebut,” Bier said. FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS VIEW LEGAL IMMIGRATION AS HELPFUL, FAVOR DEPORTING THOSE WHO ARE HERE ILLEGALLY “The senator is wrong to characterize the 20% as all illegal immigrants since half of them are just people who live with illegal immigrants, which is precisely my point.” “Mass deportation would harm those Americans and many others by ripping them away from their spouses, parents, children, friends, family, employees, employers, customers, nurses, nannies, and teachers,” the immigration expert added. Bier said mass deportation becomes more expensive and impractical as the population of illegal immigrants grows, meaning continuing on the current course will harm Americans. “I would ask the senator: how many Americans would have to be hurt by mass deportation before he would reconsider his views?” Reached for additional comment, Lee spokesman Billy Gribbin told Fox News Digital that the Utahn “believes in enforcing US law and deporting illegal immigrants — not making excuses for criminals who hurt Americans.” Fox News Digital also asked DHS about the apparent statistical admission, and an agency spokesperson blamed Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s “reckless sanctuary policies” for making Fairfax and the rest of the Old Dominion a “hotbed for illegal alien criminals.” “The stories of the victims and facts speak for themselves. The sanctuary politicians of Fairfax County have blood on their hands,” the spokesperson said. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin added separately that half the murders recorded recently in Fairfax were allegedly perpetrated by “illegals who shouldn’t have been in our country to begin with.” “We have politicians who want to protect the criminals, President Trump is still protecting all of our neighborhoods,” Mullin said. Bier’s 1-in-5 statistic was also cited in a CATO document footnoted to the K Street firm Migration Policy Institute. MPI’s data showed an estimated 102,000-person “unauthorized” population in Fairfax — which has a census count of about 1.2 million as of 2020. The top “countries-of-birth” on MPI’s list in that regard were El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia and Peru, while only 4% combined was recorded from Canada, Europe and Oceania.