‘Orwellian’ Biden-era censorship reined in; red states celebrate ‘historic’ settlement
Republican attorneys general are hailing a First Amendment victory in a censorship lawsuit against the Biden administration after two red states secured a settlement restricting federal government agencies from influencing social media companies’ moderation practices. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told Fox News Digital the settlement, a 10-year consent decree blocking several agencies from pressuring social media companies over their content, was “simply historic in nature.” “Being able to set a precedent like this will help everybody in the future be able to show that this conduct is wrong,” Murrill said in a phone interview. “It was Orwellian in nature from the beginning. It still is, and I’m grateful that the government is acknowledging that it shouldn’t have been doing it.” Missouri, Louisiana and several individual plaintiffs brought the high-profile jawboning lawsuit in 2022, alleging the Biden administration and officials in the first Trump administration inappropriately pressured social media companies to censor conservative viewpoints about COVID-19, election security and Hunter Biden’s laptop. FEDERAL JUDGE RULES PENTAGON POLICY RESTRICTING PRESS ACCESS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, HANDS VICTORY TO NEW YORK TIMES Under the settlement, the Office of the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are barred for the next decade from threatening or coercing social media companies to remove or suppress protected speech. The agreement also blocks officials from giving directions on or vetoing platforms’ content moderation decisions. “This is the first real, operational restraint on the federal censorship machine,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who brought the lawsuit when he served as his state’s attorney general. “The deep state just got checked.” Murrill and U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer helped with the case when they were solicitors general of Louisiana and Missouri, respectively. Murrill reflected on conversations she had at the time about “the line between coercion and government speech.” “It was so clear to me that what the government was doing went way beyond appropriate boundaries in terms of deliberately throttling people’s speech, taking down protected, truthful speech and forcing these corporations to bend to the White House’s will,” Murrill said. “That was a very scary precedent, and I think that’s why this agreement is so important.” GOOGLE TO REINSTATE BANNED YOUTUBE ACCOUNTS CENSORED FOR POLITICAL SPEECH The lawsuit alleged that federal government agencies and officials pressured YouTube; Twitter, now X; Facebook, now Meta; and other platforms to censor content, arguing the actions amounted to coercing the companies to remove constitutionally-protected speech. Republicans’ outrage about social media censorship gained momentum in 2020 after Twitter fully restricted and Facebook suppressed the New York Post’s bombshell report about the Biden family and Ukraine that was based on contents from Hunter Biden’s laptop. Discovery in the lawsuit and subsequent congressional investigations revealed that FBI officials during the first Trump administration met with social media companies and warned them just before the story was published of a possible Russian “hack and leak” operation designed to interfere with the 2020 election, which the companies later said influenced their decision to block the story. President Donald Trump told Fox Business in October 2020 the censorship efforts were “out of control” and intended to derail his election prospects. “It’s like a third arm, maybe a first arm, of the DNC — Twitter, and Facebook, they’re all — like really, it’s a massive campaign contribution,” Trump said at the time. An infamous open letter signed by 51 former top intelligence officials in the weeks before the election fueled the fire by alleging the New York Post’s story had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” Trump, when he took office in 2025, revoked their security clearances in an executive order and accused them of using their powerful former job titles to help discredit the story to swing the election for Joe Biden. Judge Terry Doughty, a Louisiana-based federal judge appointed by Trump, initially issued an injunction against the Biden administration in 2023, saying evidence in the case “depicts an almost dystopian scenario” in which the federal government “seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’” Biden administration officials were found, for instance, to have aggressively demanded in emails to social media companies that they remove anti-vaccine content, which they said was disinformation. One Biden White House official told Facebook that “internally, we have been considering our options on what to do about it,” while another warned Twitter to take down content “ASAP” and “immediately.” The injunction limited the government from having certain interactions with social media companies, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit narrowed that injunction, and the Supreme Court fully vacated it on appeal, finding the plaintiffs did not show they had standing. The high court punted on addressing the underlying merits of the case, leading to this week’s consent decree. GOOGLE’S DECISION TO WALK BACK BIDEN-ERA YOUTUBE ACCOUNT BANS HAILED AS ‘HUGE DEVELOPMENT’ FOR FREE SPEECH The settlement allows government officials to continue communicating with social media companies, including by flagging content or expressing disagreement, so long as the communication does not involve threats, such as implying that the companies will suffer regulatory or legal consequences. In the settlement, the federal government did not admit any wrongdoing, and the agreement noted that the government still had authority to address criminal activity or national security threats on the platforms. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway applauded the consent decree in a statement, saying her state “will NOT allow politicians to police speech.” Attorney John Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represented individuals who were named as plaintiffs in the case alongside the two states, emphasized their winding path to the consent decree. “This case began with a suspicion, that blossomed into fact, that led to congressional hearings and an executive order that government censorship of Americans’ social media posts should end,” Vecchione said. “Freedom of speech has been powerfully preserved by our clients, past and present, who initiated this suit.”
Fox News Poll: Sour voters say Washington is out of touch
Voters are not only dissatisfied with the direction of the country but also pessimistic about the economic outlook, financially strained in their own lives and unconvinced Washington leaders are in touch or will offer solutions. That’s according to a new Fox News national survey released Thursday. Nearly two-thirds, 64%, are dissatisfied with how things are going in the U.S. While that’s the highest dissatisfaction rating of President Trump’s second term, it’s also a small improvement from the 68% who were unhappy at the end of the Biden administration in December 2024. FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS OPPOSE ACTION IN IRAN BUT GIVE US MILITARY POSITIVE MARKS At the same time, majorities say national leaders are out of touch with people like them. Six in 10 voters say the White House is out of touch (60%), and similar shares say the same about congressional Republicans (61%) and congressional Democrats (58%). A quarter of both Democrats and Republicans think their respective party’s lawmakers are out of touch. Half of non-MAGA Republicans say the White House is out of touch. FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS EXPECT AI TO TRANSFORM OUR LIVES — BUT TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY Trump receives negative marks across issues. His worst numbers are on inflation, with a new low of 28% approving. That’s down 7 points since January and 12 points since March 2025. His 34% approval for the economy is another new low, down 6 points since January and 9 points from a year ago. Other ratings are also well underwater: healthcare (36 approve, 64 disapprove), Iran (36-64), taxes (36-64), foreign policy (38-62), and immigration (44-56). His best issue is border security (50-50), where equal numbers approve and disapprove. The president’s overall job rating stands at 41% approve and 59% disapprove. Former President Obama had similar ratings at a comparable point in his second term, 40%-53% in March 2014. Trump’s 59% disapproval is the highest of either term. Last month, 43% approved and 57% disapproved. A year ago, views were nearly evenly divided, 49-51%. Current approval of Trump among Republicans is 84%, a second-term low (down from 92% last March), while disapproval has reached a high of 16%. Approval among non-MAGA Republicans dropped 11 points over the past year (70% to 59%). MAGA Republicans remain nearly unanimous with 97% approval, little changed from 98% a year ago. Fully 95% of Democrats disapprove, tying a record high this term. Independents are also negative, 75% disapprove. The economy remains central to dissatisfaction. Large numbers of Democrats (91%) and independents (90%) rate it negatively, as do more than half of Republicans (52%). Overall, 75% of voters say the economy is in bad shape, up 4 points since last month (71%). The number giving the economy negative marks has ranged from 67% to 79% since Trump took office in January 2025. Personal financial assessments are similarly downbeat, with nearly half, 46%, saying they are falling behind. That’s up from 44% in December and just one point below the record high of 47% in June 2022. That strain is reflected by 61% saying they could not miss more than two paychecks and still pay their bills. That’s up from 54% in both 2023 and 2019. Two years ago, 17% lived paycheck-to-paycheck. Now, 27% say they couldn’t miss even one payday. That number climbs to 37% for those with annual household income below $50,000. Neither major party has convinced voters it has a clear plan to address costs. Some 68% say the Democratic Party lacks a clear plan for bringing prices down, while 70% say the same about the GOP. More than 4 in 10 say neither party has a plan. Equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, 59%, say their respective party has a clear plan. “The issue environment in 2026 has almost completely flipped from 2022 and 2024,” says Daron Shaw, a Republican who conducts the survey with Democrat Chris Anderson. “Voters don’t think either side has a plan, of course, but since the GOP is in charge, they shoulder the blame.” To top things off, voters don’t see the economy getting better anytime soon. A 53% majority anticipates economic conditions will worsen in the next year, up from 45% in January and more than double the share who see improvement (25%). Republicans are alone in their optimism, expecting the economy to improve by a 19-point margin. Both independents (by 44 points) and Democrats (by 68 points) see the economy declining next year by wide margins. Concerns about the economy — day-to-day costs in particular — top the list of what worries voters most. A large majority of 86% is concerned about inflation and high prices, including 57% who are extremely concerned. Around 8 in 10 express concerns about healthcare (81%), gas prices (80%), and political divisions in the country (80%). Seven in ten or more are worried about unemployment (73%), potential attacks in the United States (73% by Islamic terrorists and 70% non-Islamic terrorists) and their ability to pay their bills (70%). Concern also extends to gun violence (69%), Iran obtaining nukes (66%), AI technology (66%), antisemitism (63%) and detentions and deportations by ICE (62%). Inflation is the top concern for Democrats, Republicans and independents. Healthcare is second for Democrats and independents, while Islamic terrorist attacks are second for Republicans. There is a consensus that political divisions within the country are a problem, with most Democrats (85%), Republicans (80%), and independents (70%) expressing concern. Worry about gas prices is widespread, with about 8 in 10 across all income levels — including $100,000 and above — saying they are concerned. CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE Poll-pourri Sixty-nine percent of voters support birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. That’s up from 67% in 2025 and from 45% when Fox News first asked the question in 2006. Current support stands at 91% among Democrats, 75% among independents and 44% among Republicans. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a birthright citizenship case April 1. Conducted March 20-23, 2026, under the direction
Trump pauses Iran energy plant strikes for 10 days as talks ‘going very well’
President Donald Trump said Thursday he is pausing planned strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for 10 days as negotiations continue, setting a new deadline of April 6. “As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The president added that “talks are ongoing” and claimed they are progressing positively “despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others.” TRUMP LASHES OUT AT ‘SICK’ IRANIAN LEADERS, CONFIRMS ESTIMATED TIMELINE FOR ENDING WAR Trump wrote the talks are “going very well” as the new deadline approaches. The U.S. previously set a deadline of five days amid ongoing peace talks. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
House Democrats vote to keep DHS shuttered as funding lapse hits day 40
House Democrats largely voted in lockstep to continue the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown Thursday despite growing fallout over air travel nationwide. Democrats’ opposition to ending the funding lapse — the second-longest in history — comes as lawmakers could leave for recess before striking a deal. The DHS funding measure still passed the House largely along party lines in a vote of 218-206. It was the third time House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has held a vote on the legislation since the funding lapse began Feb. 14. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., would fund the department through the end of September. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, D-Wash., and Don Davis, D-N.C., were the only Democrats to vote “yes” after previously supporting the DHS funding measure earlier in March. SEE IT: TRAVELERS SOUND OFF AS ICE AGENTS DEPLOYED TO AIRPORTS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS PAST 40 DAYS Still, the measure is likely dead on arrival in the Senate, where both parties continue to negotiate an end to the stalemate. Democrats have remained dug in against providing funding to DHS sub-agencies executing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Top Democratic leaders continue to demand sweeping reforms — including requiring the use of judicial warrants — that Republicans have charged could impede law enforcement efforts. The funding standoff has caused major travel disruptions nationwide as a shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents has resulted in hours-long wait times at security checkpoints. More than 50,000 TSA personnel are set to miss their second full paycheck on Friday, leading to nearly 500 agents quitting and a surge in callouts. “They’re using TSA agents, Coast Guardsmen and other DHS employees as pawns in their political game,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “They’re just demonstrating a real willingness to hold hostage the American public.” Members of the conservative RSC held a news conference Tuesday at Washington’s Reagan National Airport to spotlight the financial difficulties TSA officers are facing. Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl said some personnel, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, are sleeping in their cars and selling blood plasma to make ends meet. “The Democrats know their plan is not working,” Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., told reporters. “They know Americans are hurting, and they are still doing it anyway.” FLASHBACK: JEFFRIES CALLED FAILING TO FULLY FUND DHS AN ‘ABDICATION OF RESPONSIBILITY’ House Democrats, however, have sought to blame Republicans for the funding stalemate and have signaled reluctance to walk away from their ICE reform demands. “We want ICE to be compelled to conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Wednesday. “Immigration enforcement should be fair, just and humane—that’s not what’s happening right now. ICE is out of control, and taxpayer dollars are being used in unacceptable ways.” Republicans have fired back that it is essential to fund ICE, invoking the murder of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, who was killed by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in Chicago last week. The foreign national, Jose Medina-Medina, was taken into custody by federal law enforcement in May 2023 but released into the United States under the Biden administration. “Democrats in the House are demanding a DHS bill that would eliminate funding for the exact agencies that are tasked with preventing a tragedy like this,” Speaker Johnson said Wednesday during a House GOP leadership press conference. “They tell you what they prioritize. And it is the welfare of criminal illegal aliens over American citizens. We ought to believe what they say, the words in action.” When asked about Gorman’s murder by an illegal immigrant Wednesday, Jeffries told Fox News he would look into the case without commenting further.
Stefanik grills University of Michigan leader on lack of audit after string of Chinese national arrests
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., continued her relentless cross examinations of college administrators Thursday – this time pressing Michigan’s interim president Domenico Grasso on Chinese student spies at the university. Stefanik wanted to know why Chinese nationals in Michigan were accused of spying on America and his university is not auditing potential national security vulnerabilities in research there. “Last year, facing congressional pressure, Michigan ended its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University after five Chinese students were caught spying at night and taking illegal photos of U.S. military drills and equipment on the remote Michigan installation Camp Grayling,” Stefanik said. “These students lied and misled U.S. law enforcement about their motives and later conspired on the CCP-controlled messaging app WeChat to clear their phones and cameras of photos and evidence.” “Has the university conducted a full audit to determine what intellectual property or federally funded research was compromised?” the congresswoman asked. CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDENTS CHARGED AFTER ALLEGEDLY SPYING ON MILITARY BASE Without an audit, Grasso responded, “we are unaware of any research that was compromised by these individual students,” noting the alleged spying occurred “miles and miles away from campus.” But Stefanik was nonplussed by the answer. “I understand Camp Grayling is off campus, but was there an audit conducted?” TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON PLAN FOR 600,000 CHINESE STUDENT VISAS DESPITE MAGA BACKLASH Grasso admitted Michigan did not. “Well, they were not researchers,” he said, doubting “they did something nefarious.” “They were undergraduate students. So, we did not do an audit.” And, adding, “they did not have any access to any of our research.” FOREIGN-BACKED INFLUENCE IN SCHOOLS TO BE EXPOSED UNDER GOP ‘TRACE ACT’ GIVING PARENTS ACCESS TO CURRICULUM But Stefanik noted they were accused of spying. “Well, they did do something nefarious off campus,” she said. “I think it would be important for the university to ensure that there is a full audit conducted to make sure that no research, that they didn’t take any nefarious acts there.” Grasso admitted he does “not know what all of our researchers are involved in,” but doubted the Department of War would clear them for access to U.S. secrets on campus. “Congresswoman, we have improved, and we’re continuing to improve our background checks for all of our researchers and students that come into the country, but we also have to partner more closely with our federal intelligence community to make sure that these students are vetted before they’re allowed to get visas to enter our country as well,” he concluded.
Russian officials meet US counterparts as Moscow denies aiding Iran
Kremlin spokesperson says talks are part of ‘necessary dialogue’ with Washington as war in Ukraine continues for a fifth year. Published On 26 Mar 202626 Mar 2026 A delegation of Russian officials has arrived in the United States for meetings with their American counterparts. The visit, which began on Thursday, marks the first such trip since relations strained over Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We hope that these first tentative steps will, of course, make their contribution to the further revival of our bilateral engagement.” He said President Vladimir Putin had set the “main directives” for the trip and would be “thoroughly briefed” on the meeting. The visit comes as US-brokered talks seeking a deal to end the war in Ukraine are in effect frozen. Several rounds of negotiations since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year have failed to break the deadlock, with the Kremlin ruling out compromises to halt its years-long offensive. Russia, a close ally of Iran, has also been cited by Western intelligence officials as one of the backers of the Iranian government, as Tehran fights a war launched by the US and Israel. A report in the United Kingdom-based Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday alleged that Russia was close to completing a shipment of drones to Iran. Responding to questions about the report, Peskov said, “There are so many lies being spread by the media … Do not pay attention to them.” Russia this week carried out one of the largest aerial attacks since the start of its war on Ukraine, launching 948 drones in 24 hours as it moved troops and equipment to the front line. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a new appeal for allies to supply Kyiv with air defence munitions, warning that Kyiv, which relies on the US for air defence systems against ballistic missiles, will face a deficit of missiles while Washington is focused on the US-Israeli war on Iran. Advertisement Talks between Ukraine and the US that opened in the US state of Florida on Saturday again failed to produce a security guarantee that Kyiv has long sought from Washington. Adblock test (Why?)
WTO says world experiencing worst trade disruption in 80 years
WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says the global trade order has ‘irrevocably changed’, warning the system is facing its worst disruption in 80 years and the multilateral system will not return, as she calls on countries to reform global trade rules. Published On 26 Mar 202626 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Pakistan says it is mediating US-Iran talks
NewsFeed Pakistan says it is mediating indirect talks between the US and Iran aimed at ending the war, with officials confirming negotiations are underway. Published On 26 Mar 202626 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Dehradun: 26-year-old medical student found dead in car, family alleges abetment, probe underway
A 26-year-old medical student in Dehradun was found dead inside a car under suspicious circumstances.
Sonia Gandhi Health Update: Congress chairperson responding well to treatment says Delhi hospital; Know what exactly happened to 79-year-old leader
According to Dr. Ajay Swaroop, Chairman of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Gandhi is receiving antibiotics under a team of doctors and is responding to the treatment.