Baltimore’s progressive mayor calls reporter ‘racist’ in heated exchange over luxury taxpayer vehicle
Brandon Scott, the Democratic mayor of Baltimore, is facing questions about the taxpayer funds he uses for his transportation as well as social media pushback over a press conference where he suggested racism was a factor. Scott, a progressive who has served as mayor since 2020, is facing pressure over a Fox Baltimore report showing his primary vehicle, a 2025 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, is the most expensive government-issued vehicle operated by any mayor, governor, county executive or county commissioner in the state, costing taxpayers $163,495. Scott has responded to the report, which claims his SUV costs nearly twice as much as the next most expensive taxpayer vehicle in the state, by pointing to the cost of President Donald Trump’s “Beast” vehicle, arguing that inflation is not being factored in and suggesting politics are at play. Scott, after being pressed by a reporter in a back-and-forth exchange, called the question “idiotic” and part of a “right-wing” effort to discredit him. BALTIMORE MAYOR DOUBLING DOWN ON DEI WITH ‘DEFINITELY EARNED IT’ CAMPAIGN “Just because you didn’t get the answer that you wanted in your racist slant, that’s one thing,” the mayor said. Scott has championed himself as a fighter against the “status quo” as the city faces an $85 million budget deficit and has also been an advocate against climate change despite choosing a Jeep Wagoneer, a vehicle with modest gas efficiency at 14 MPG, to get around. Scott’s exchange with the reporter made waves on social media from the mayor’s conservative critics. GOP SENATOR’S ‘FEDERAL FUMBLES’ REPORT HIGHLIGHTS $240M SPENT ON TRANSGENDER RAT TESTING “Mayor Scott could not defend using tax dollars to buy his luxury vehicle, so he called the reporter a racist,” Maryland Republican state Delegate Kathy Szeliga posted on X. “Classic deflection. His gas guzzling $165K Jeep Grand Wagoneer must be a sweet ride!” “When a reporter simply asks about the outrageous cost? Scott immediately screams ‘racism’ and accuses the station of a ‘severe right-wing effort,’” social media commentator Officer Lew posted on X. “Classic deflection. Waste money, play the race card, dodge accountability. This is what happens when identity politics runs City Hall.” “Cry racism to dodge the grift,” conservative commentator Brandon Tatum posted on X. “Unqualified virtue-signaler supreme.” “Can’t make this up,” conservative influencer account LibsofTikTok posted on X. Scott has repeatedly criticized the “old way” of Baltimore politics, which he associated with prioritizing image over substance. “For too long, corrupt and inept leaders of this city have prioritized flashy, yet unsuccessful transportation options that have done nothing to substantially improve the safety and quality of our transportation network,” Scott wrote as a mayoral candidate in 2020. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office told Fox News Digital the 2020 quote has “no relevance whatsoever” to the city’s government vehicle fleet and is “clearly a response to a question about utilizing state and federal resources for Baltimore’s public transportation system.” The spokesperson also pushed back on the Fox Baltimore report, saying the vehicle was procured in February 2025 at a normal MSRP through the normal procurement procedure, and “the supplier contract was approved without incident by the Board of Estimates on September 18, 2024.” “First, I want to clarify that the vehicle did not cost $163,495. That figure is the total project cost, which includes the cost of the vehicle and the cost of necessary safety modifications. As with any executive vehicle, which is utilized by the Baltimore Police Department’s Executive Protection Unit (EPU), the vehicle is required to be compatible with police operations. This means that the vehicle needed to be fitted with appropriate safety, security, and communications features (emergency vehicle lights, sirens, a microphone, etc.). “According to best practices for reliability and safety, the City budgets to purchase a new mayoral vehicle every four years. This vehicle replaced a previous executive vehicle originally purchased in 2016. These vehicles are scheduled to be replaced every four years because they are used far more often through their official duties than an average personal vehicle; as such, they accumulate miles quicker and require more regular maintenance and replacement. Once the vehicles are replaced, the old vehicles are either repurposed for other official duties or sold at auction to ensure cost effectiveness.” The spokesperson also pushed back on the reporting that the mayor’s vehicle is the most expensive taxpayer vehicle in the state for an executive, saying the reporting “does not actually provide the evidence to fully support that assertion.” “The story admits that they did not receive documentation from all jurisdictions in the state and utilizes comparisons to vehicles that are substantially older or from jurisdictions that work on a different vehicle replacement cycle or have different executive protection protocols. It also did not include context that the 2016 vehicle served beyond the standard replacement cycle,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson’s statement did not address Scott’s comment about a “racist slant.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt slams Big Tech for sextortion, threats to children while calling for key internet reform
Standing alongside parents who lost their children to online abuse, actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt blasted tech companies on Capitol Hill, accusing them of hiding behind Section 230 to evade accountability. Gordon-Levitt appeared alongside Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin to back the Illinois senator’s bipartisan Sunset Section 230 Act, legislation that would dismantle the decades-old legal shield protecting social media companies from liability over user content. “I just heard a couple of stories that left me trying to keep myself together,” Gordon-Levitt said, standing alongside parents who lost their children to online abuse. “These photos remind me of my kids,” added Gordon-Levitt, the father of three children under the age of 12. BIG TECH’S TOBACCO MOMENT IS HERE — AND THE TRUTH ABOUT HARMING KIDS IS OUT “The harm that was done to these kids online might have been prevented if certain Big Tech companies knew that they could be sued. But under Section 230, they cannot be. So, these amoral companies, they just keep allowing these awful things to happen on their platform, and they don’t do anything about it because they will always prioritize profits over the public good, even when it comes to kids,” he said, visibly emotional. Alongside Gordon-Levitt, parents recounted their experiences, including South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey. “I lost my 17-year-old son, Gavin Guffey, to suicide,” Guffey said. “We learned days later that he had been the victim of sextortion. It started around midnight, and by 1:40 a.m., he had taken his life. He was living his best life, there were no warning signs and I had never even heard the term ‘sextortion.’ “Days later, I received a call from an aunt who lives about an hour away. Her 14-year-old daughter, Gavin’s cousin, was being extorted by the same person who targeted my son,” he explained. “Meta removed one profile but left another active. Because that account remained online, the predator went on to extort at least 13 more children. Meta knew this was a criminal, yet the account remained online.” Other parents shared that they lost their children from cyberbullying and dangerous connections made over social media. Gordon-Levitt urged lawmakers to repeal Section 230, a provision of federal law that protects social media companies from being sued over content posted by users. “I have a message for all the other senators out there. I want to see this thing pass 100-0. There should be nobody voting to give any more impunity to these tech companies. Nobody. It’s time for a change. Let’s make it happen,” Gordon-Levitt said.
New York subway hearing erupts as MTA boss snaps ‘shut up’ amid grilling over guards letting fare jumpers walk
A joint New York State budget hearing devolved into a shouting match when a Long Island Republican challenged the MTA’s Hochul-appointed chairman over a $35 million security deal, questioning why contracted guards appear to be letting fare evaders walk amid claims the agency is rife with waste. State Sen. Mario Mattera, R-St. James, sharply questioned Janno Lieber over a $35 million contract for private security guards at subway stations as the transit authority grapples with rising fare evasion amid higher fares for paying straphangers. Mattera previously spoke out in opposition to the major contract with Allied Security Services of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, as the latest example of systemic waste from the transit agency’s coffers. Lieber initially objected to the line of questioning, saying that anyone working as a gate guard for Allied is a New Yorker: “It’s not a bunch of Pennsylvanians.” THE ROAD AHEAD FOR TRANSIT IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2026 INCLUDES FARE HIKES Mattera pointed to reports in the New York Post and elsewhere citing guards letting people essentially jump the turnstiles, including when riders have issues scanning in amid the city’s post-MetroCard era. “Why do we have people helping people avoid tolls? We have videos,” he said. Lieber became similarly angry after Mattera spoke over him: “Let me finish. Let me finish.” “You’re rambling,” Mattera said. “Why do we have this?” Lieber replied that Allied’s guards reduced fare evasion by more than one-third since the contract was signed, but the two kept shouting over each other before Lieber could be heard yelling, “shut up.” “Be quiet,” he said, before Mattera demanded — and received — an apology from the Hochul appointee. NY GOVERNOR POURS COLD WATER ON MAMDANI FREE BUS PLAN Committee Chairman J. Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, soon slammed his gavel and was also heard yelling, “shut up,” admonishing both men: “Raising voices will not be tolerated,” he was quoted by the South Shore Press amid the crosstalk. One guard interviewed by the New York Post said that a lot of people don’t want to pay their fare. “They say, ‘you’re not a cop, you can’t stop it’,” Romuald Zampou told the paper. One of New York City’s few Republicans in the state Senate — Sen. Steve Chan of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn — said in a statement before the hearing that the guards are no better than “scarecrows.” “Instead of paying outrageous salaries to people who stand around like scarecrows and do absolutely nothing to stop fare evasion, the MTA and the City must take the handcuffs off our police officers,” said Chan, who is a former cop himself. “Let them issue summonses, make arrests, and pressure district attorneys to prosecute fare evaders. We’ve done it before. We know it works.” State Sen. Bill Weber, R-Clarkstown, whose suburban commuters often rely on MTA heavy rail out of Suffern, Spring Valley and Tarrytown, said the security guard expenditure is just the latest transit boondoggle. “It’s clear the MTA needs a full audit — and now, so do its subcontractors,” Weber said in a statement.
Bernie Sanders spent over $550K in 2025 campaign funds on private jets, filings show
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who crisscrossed the country last year on a Fighting Oligarchy tour with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., spent over $550,000 in 2025 on private jet travel for himself using campaign funds, a Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings found. The majority of the spending came in the first two quarters, which cover up until July. That is also when Sanders and AOC had the majority of their tour stops across the country. In April, between stops on the tour, Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a photo of Sanders boarding a luxury Bombardier Challenger private jet at the Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California. The source also indicated seeing the New York congresswoman boarding the private jet as well. The pair were subsequently also seen in footage obtained by Fox News Digital exiting the plane in Sacramento later that evening, near where the self-identified democratic socialists hosted a second rally in one day. AOC’S CAMPAIGN POURS MASSIVE CASH INTO LUXURY PUERTO RICO HOTELS, PRICEY CATERING AND BAD BUNNY VENUE RENTAL The Bombardier Challenger private jet the pair flew on was operated by Ventura Air Services, which touts “one of the widest cabins of any business jet available today” and provides “superior cabin comfort for its passengers.” According to its website, the private jet can cost up to $15,000 an hour. In 2025, according to Sanders’ FEC filings, he spent at least $354,000 in campaign funds to pay for private jet services through Ventura Jets. The other private jet companies Sanders spent campaign funds on included N-Jet and Cirrus Aviation Services. According to N-Jet’s website, the company prides itself on its “personal touch,” adding that customers will “arrive in style with your luxury, comfort and safety always top of mind.” Sanders, who has been a vocal supporter of the Green New Deal, the aggressive climate change policy targeting carbon emissions and fossil fuel production, and has called climate change an “existential threat” to the world, was pressed about his private jet use last year, prompting him to tell Fox News’ “Special Report” host Bret Baier that “that’s the only way to get around.” “You run a campaign, and you do three or four or five rallies in a week. [It is] the only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people. You think I’m gonna be sitting on a waiting line at United … while 30,000 people are waiting?” Sanders said. “That’s the only way to get around. No apologies for that. That’s what campaign travel is about. We’ve done it in the past. We’re gonna do it in future.” SWALWELL IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER SPENDING OVER $200K IN CAMPAIGN CASH ON CHILDCARE: ‘SLIPPERY SLOPE’ Sanders has a long history of using private jets on the campaign trail. During his failed 2020 presidential campaign, the Sanders campaign spent over $1.9 million on private jets, including Apollo Jets and the Advanced Aviation Team, a Virginia-based private jet company. Private jets have faced the ire of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez’s fellow climate activists. According to the 2021 Transport and Environment report, private jets are up to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes. “For real, how many private jets do these CEOs need? It is insatiable. It is unacceptable,” Ocasio-Cortez said in 2023, in one example of the New York congresswoman herself railing against private jets. Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders’ office and his campaign for comment on the spending but did not receive a response in time for publication. “You don’t expect a socialist to fly commercial do you?” quipped conservative political communications consultant Matt Gorman. “There’s no bigger hypocrite than the liberal who chastises us for eating meat and using gas stoves, yet flies in private jets.” In addition to Sanders’ hefty private jet spending that came during his tour with AOC, the New York democratic socialist also spent big sums of campaign dollars at luxury and “boutique” hotels in states where the pair held their Fighting Oligarchy tour. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP For example, AOC’s campaign paid The Leo Kent Hotel, a boutique high-rise in Tucson, $3,165.76, around the time of a Fighting Oligarchy rally that was held there, according to an FEC filing from April 25. In 2025, AOC also spent thousands at luxury hotels like the Asher Adams Hotel in Salt Lake City, the Hotel Vermont in Burlington, The Langham-Huntington hotel in Pasadena, Calif., Hotel El Convento in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Lansdowne Resort & Spa in rural Virginia and others. Fox News Digital asked representatives for AOC if the congresswoman felt like she needed to explain her more than $53,000 in campaign spending on upscale hotels across the country in 2025 but did not receive a response. Fox News’ Deirdre Heavey and Andrew Mark Miller contributed reporting
Happy Valentine’s Day: Little love in the air as uncertainty swirls on the Hill
“We’ll have the votes,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House approached a vote to end a three-day, partial government shutdown Tuesday morning. “That was never in doubt.” Oh really? Well, Johnson was right. Republicans finally conjured up the votes to pass a retooled spending package to end the brief shutdown. Certainly better than the record 43-day shutdown in the fall. But it wasn’t necessarily easy. SHUTDOWN AVERTED FOR NOW, BUT SENATE WARNS DHS FIGHT COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER IN DAYS Passing bills in the House is a challenge for Republicans with their narrow majority. What’s increasingly becoming even more problematic is a procedural vote known as the “rule.” Adopting the rule to set the terms of debate is essential before bringing a bill to the floor. And conservatives who are upset with the GOP leadership are regularly converting what was a routine preliminary vote into a regular adventure. “That’s where you’re going to see some friction,” predicted Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on Fox. She was right. While there was drama passing the bill, the rule was a roller coaster. GROUNDHOG DAY AND FRIDAY THE 13TH Democrats said they would not help Republicans adopt the rule. They argued that the rule is the responsibility of the majority. It’s historically been that way in the House for decades. “On rare occasion, have we stepped in to deal with Republican dysfunction,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. When the vote started, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was quick to vote no for the GOP. It’s about the math. With the House at 218-214, Republicans could only adopt the rule with one defection if all Members voted. Two defections would produce a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House. Colleague Kelly Phares tracked the procedural vote from the House gallery. After a few moments, Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., became the second GOP nay. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., swooped in to converse with Rose. On X, Rose declared he wanted the GOP to attach the SAVE Act to the revised spending bill. Note that Rose is running against Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., for Tennessee governor. The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to vote. Latching such a provision to the bill would only prolong the shutdown. That’s because the House and Senate would remain out of alignment, having approved different bills. Moreover, there was no pathway to break a filibuster on the issue in the Senate. So the rule was failing with two GOP nays and four Republicans who hadn’t voted yet: Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Troy Nehls, R-Texas and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. The Republican brass would need all four nonvoters to switch to yes. Plus, they’d need Massie or Rose to change. The vote froze at 216 nays to 212 yeas. If this blew up, the partial government shutdown would continue. HOUSE SENDS BILL ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN TO TRUMP’S DESK AFTER 21 DEMS BREAK WITH JEFFRIES Donalds and Spartz then went up on the board as yeas. That made the tally 214 yeas to 216 noes. Nehls voted yea a few moments later. So 215 yeas to 216 noes. Massie and Rose remained the only Republican nays. And Ogles remained on the sidelines. But then Rose changed his vote to yes. Ogles finally voted and was a yea. Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Penn., presided over the vote. He rapped the gavel, closing the vote at 217-215. The House approved the rule, paving the way for the House to debate the spending plan and end the shutdown. Massie was the only GOP no. Things were also tight on passage of the bill. The yeas ran behind the nays for most of the allotted time before barely passing at 217-214. 21 Republicans voted nay. But 21 Democrats voted yea, making up the difference. Had one more Member voted no, the tally would have been 216-215. The bill would have failed had an additional two Members voted no. But with that, the second government shutdown since autumn ended. “We have fully 96% of the federal government funded. So that’s a that’s a good win,” bragged Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., more than four months after Congress was supposed to have funded everything. But that remaining four percent is the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats demand changes at ICE before funding expires – on Valentine’s Day. How do I love thee? Let me count the appropriations bills. 11 of the 12 are done. And unless lawmakers can craft an agreement, another shutdown looms, albeit just for DHS. “A shutdown of Homeland Security. I’m okay with that,” declared Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn. A DHS-centric shutdown means no pay for TSA. And more volatility at ICE – even though its operations are funded through the Big, Beautiful Bill. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, had a message for DHS employees. “You will be paid because this continues your pay. But the uncertainty – until we get this resolved – you must live with,” warned Case. PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENDS AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT CONTINUES Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. He’s one of 193 Democrats who opposed the bill. “This is an opportunity to demonstrate your opposition,” said Thompson. But former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was one of those 21 Democrats who voted to re-open the government. He represents thousands of sidelined federal workers in his district not far from the nation’s capital. “Today is a time to fund the majority of government for the American people,” said Hoyer. But negotiating an agreement on such a nettlesome issue in a week-and-a-half is nearly impossible in Congress. House and Senate Democrats will release their concrete demands Thursday. Republicans have their requests, too. “I’m not willing to just give them every reform they ask for. Or even some without getting some reforms ourselves,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. Some Republicans want an end to sanctuary cities. Others want to include the SAVE Act. Republicans are
Russia, China squeeze US Arctic defense zone as Trump eyes Greenland
EXCLUSIVE: After U.S. officials detected a sharp rise in Russian and Chinese military incursions near Alaska — including a growing number of joint operations — Sen. Dan Sullivan is warning that the Arctic has become an active security front. And he’s pushing Congress to accelerate icebreaker construction, reopen Cold War–era bases and bolster U.S. defenses in the region. Sullivan’s warning comes as new data show foreign military traffic near Alaska climbing sharply, a trend he says has gone largely unnoticed outside the region even as Moscow and Beijing coordinate more closely. He argues the activity has exposed how thin U.S. Arctic capabilities have become and why Washington is now scrambling to catch up. “Let’s just say the world’s largest fleet of oceanographic survey ships wasn’t off the coast of Alaska to ‘save the whales,’” Sullivan told Fox News Digital in an interview. President Donald Trump’s ongoing friction with Denmark over Greenland reflects the growing importance of the Arctic for the administration, Sullivan said. As melting ice opens new shipping lanes, energy access and military routes, Alaska is becoming a front line in the contest for economic and strategic dominance. TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND’S DEFENSE IS ‘TWO DOG SLEDS’ AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY Plans to reboot far-flung military operations off Russia’s back door — recently revisited in Tom Cruise’s latest “Mission: Impossible” installment — along with crucial new port infrastructure and a major cash infusion to the U.S. Coast Guard are all efforts to demonstrate the only thing America’s adversaries respect, Sullivan said: “Power.” Sullivan, R-Alaska, recently chaired a Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing examining the U.S. Coast Guard’s Arctic presence and discussed a new U.S.-Finnish deal to secure crucial new icebreaker craft and funding from the recent tax-cut law funding for at least three USCG Arctic security cutters amid a record $25 billion total investment in Coast Guard prowess. The U.S. currently has two, one of which is out of service, while the Russians have 54 icebreaker craft, “nuclear-powered and weaponized,” he said. Sullivan shared data with Fox News Digital showing a sharp rise in Russian, Chinese and joint Sino-Russian military aircraft and maritime incursions into the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ, a security buffer stretching beyond 12-nautical-mile sovereign U.S. airspace where foreign craft are required to identify themselves. Since 2019, there have been more than 100 Russian aircraft, four Chinese vessels and, most alarmingly, more than a dozen joint operations that have entered the ADIZ, Sullivan said. Trump’s recent focus on Greenland underscored the urgency of Arctic national security, Sullivan said, echoing warnings from NATO commander USAF Gen. Alexus Grynkewich that China’s expanding “research” presence in the region is becoming increasingly aggressive. NATO CHIEF PRAISES TRUMP AT DAVOS, SAYS HE FORCED EUROPE TO ‘STEP UP’ ON DEFENSE While the Russians identify with the Arctic, China’s self-moniker of a “near-Arctic power” is confounding and concerning, he added, pointing to its actual location on the globe. Sullivan said the situation is reminiscent of Vladimir Lenin’s mantra that when you probe an enemy with a bayonet, “if you find mush, you push. If you find steel, you withdraw.” The U.S., he said, must steel itself against these threats, and Congress must be on the front lines, ensuring the resources and defenses are ready and in service. WHY TRUMP ZEROED IN ON GREENLAND AND WHY IT MATTERS IN 3 MAPS “The only thing authoritarian regimes that are our adversaries understand is power. That’s U.S. energy security, Coast Guard, military assets and infrastructure.” As the chairman of the Senate Commerce Coast Guard subcommittee, Sullivan said he is working hard to ensure that is what Moscow and Beijing will see, noting the new Storis icebreaker vessel received funding to home port in Juneau, along with 16 more icebreakers and $4.5 billion in shorefront infrastructure. In addition, a World War II-era base on far-flung Adak in the Aleutian Chain is on track to be reopened, Sullivan revealed. AMERICA DOESN’T NEED TO OWN GREENLAND — THERE’S A BETTER, MORE PEACEFUL WAY The base, somewhat dramatized in “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning,” which featured a counter-Soviet listening post on nearby St. Matthew Island, was key to Allied defenses as Japan bombed present-day crabbing port Dutch Harbor and invaded Attu and Kiska islands, events less remembered than the Axis’ other Pacific attack at Pearl Harbor. Adak’s Base largely closed down in 1994 after the end of the Cold War. Sullivan revealed he secured $115 million to begin rebuilding Adak, paired with $500 million to establish a deepwater port in Nome, one of the closest cities to both Russia and the Arctic Ocean. NATO CHIEF WARNS EUROPE CAN’T DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT US AS TENSIONS RISE OVER GREENLAND The state of Alaska matched that Nome investment and put $30 million of its own funds toward the new Adak project, Sullivan said. Gov. Mike Dunleavy separately told Fox News Digital that enhancing Alaska’s icebreaking capabilities and expanding the Coast Guard’s presence to safeguard the state’s coastline are key. “[Further,] supporting life-saving missions and countering foreign influence in the Arctic are vital not only to our state but to the nation as a whole. Alaska stands ready to receive these icebreakers and leverage our geostrategic position to advance Trump’s America First agenda,” Dunleavy said. Brent Sadler, a naval warfare expert and veteran at the Heritage Foundation, said the Arctic — and Antarctic — are also critical for space-based sensors detecting long-range missile attacks. US COMMANDER SAYS RUSSIA AND CHINA’S ARCTIC PATROLS ARE ‘NOT FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES’ “China and Russia have impacted our fishermen’s livelihoods with military exercises in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) … (and) should be viewed as a threat. It needs to be deterred and pushed back on appropriately with an increased Coast Guard presence,” Sadler said. Many of Russia’s incursions lately have originated in Anadyr, directly across the Bering Strait from Nome, and Adak sits just a few hundred miles east of Kamchatka, Russia. Paired with Trump’s Golden Dome security initiative, Sullivan said now is the
Greg Abbott threatens arrests for violent student protesters, funding cuts for schools allowing walkouts
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott fired back at anti-immigration enforcement student protesters on Tuesday, claiming they should be arrested if school walkouts turn violent. Abbott shared a video of law enforcement arresting one of two students charged after a school walkout demonstration Monday in Kyle, Texas. “It’s about time students like this were arrested. Harming someone is a crime—even for students,” Abbott wrote in the post. “Disruptive walkouts allowed by schools lead to just this kind of chaos.” Roughly 500 students participated in anti-ICE walkouts from five different schools within the Hays Consolidated Independent School District on Monday, walking to the downtown area, according to a statement from the Kyle Police Department. GUN-WIELDING ICE AGENTS BRUSH BACK MINNEAPOLIS AGITATORS Authorities said officers were present to monitor traffic and pedestrian safety. During the demonstration, a student was caught with alcohol, leading to two arrests. Police said one of the students is charged with assault on a public servant, resisting arrest, interfering with public duties, and consumption and possession of alcohol by a minor. BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE The other student is charged with resisting arrest and interfering with public duties. Additional charges may be forthcoming, officials said. “We are aware of concerns that these arrests were related to the walkout activity; however, we would like to clarify that they are unrelated,” the department wrote in the statement. Abbott doubled down in his post, claiming that schools and staff who allow criminal behavior “should be treated as co-conspirators and should not be immune.” He added his office is also looking into stripping the funding of schools that “abandon their duty to teach our kids the curriculum required by law.” It is unclear if the warning refers to schools hosting anti-ICE walkouts. Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The protests come after the fatal shootings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents last month. The shootings spurred nationwide protests, with state and local leaders calling for immigration authorities to end operations in their jurisdictions. The First Amendment does not consider walkouts protected speech, and students can be disciplined for unexcused absences or disrupting school functions, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Noem vows criminal prosecution after catching alleged DHS ‘prolific leaker’
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday said another “prolific leaker” who disclosed information that put federal law enforcement officers at risk has been caught. Noem announced the revelation in a post on X. “I plan to refer this individual to @TheJusticeDept for criminal prosecution,” Noem wrote. “We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment, or status as a career civil servant—we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.” NOEM SAYS SHE GRIEVES FOR FAMILY AFTER CBP-RELATED SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS, VOWS THOROUGH INVESTIGATION Noem has made the prosecutions of leakers within her agency a top priority as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration. Weeks after President Trump took office last year, she announced that two people in the Department of Homeland Security have been accused of disclosing DHS operations. DHS SLAMS DEMS FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT IMMIGRATION LAW: ‘IT IS QUITE LITERALLY THEIR JOB TO CHANGE IT’ “We have identified two leakers of information here at the Department of Homeland Security who have been telling individuals about our operations and putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy,” Noem said in a video at the time. “We plan to prosecute these two individuals and hold them accountable for what they’ve done.” “We’re going to continue to do all that we can to keep America safe,” she added. Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS. Noem has said the leaks endanger DHS law enforcement officers, who face an 8,000% increase in death threats against them.
House GOP moves to block DC from stopping Trump tax cuts for tipped, overtime workers
The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at stopping the Washington, D.C., local government from blocking parts of President Donald Trump’s new tax law. D.C.’s progressive city council passed a local measure to stop certain parts of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act from going into effect due to their expected effect of cutting city revenues. Policies that would have been blocked include Trump’s elimination of taxes on tipped and overtime wages, as well as certain tax cuts aimed at businesses. The legislation was led by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who told Fox News Digital he did not expect any Democrats to support his bill. It passed the House entirely along party lines in a 215 – 210 vote. GOP UNVEILS PLAN TO CUT DEFICIT BY $1 TRILLION WITH SECOND ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ “Republicans want more money to be in the hands and in the pockets of working-class families, and Democrats want that money to be in the hands of government,” Gill said. The D.C. government generally conforms with large swaths of the federal tax code, as a federal territory itself. But according to local officials, including non-voting Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., enacting the full Trump tax bill would amount to a $600 million revenue loss for the city. TRUMP SIGNS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ BILL IN SWEEPING VICTORY FOR SECOND TERM AGENDA, OVERCOMING DEMS AND GOP REBELS “This resolution is nothing short of unprecedented and deliberate administrative and fiscal sabotage of D.C.,” Norton said in a statement. But Republicans, including Gill, argue that the capital’s progressive officials are blocking Trump’s signature legislation for political reasons at the cost of working-class residents. “Whenever we passed that tax law, we expected Washington, D.C., to conform to those tax provisions. And unfortunately, they decided that they were going to try to separate from them,” Gill said. “So to give you a few examples, you have no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime pay, a variety of pro-growth, pro-business tax provisions that they decided they wanted to decouple from. So what we’re saying is, we think that that’s bad policy on D.C.’s part, and we’re gonna stop them.” Congress has the ability to overturn most local laws set by D.C. thanks to the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973. If passed by both the House and Senate, however, Republicans’ bill could complicate the tax season for D.C. residents who have already begun filing for their annual returns.
SCOOP: Thousands of violent illegal immigrants arrested in Minnesota as admin vows ‘we will not back down’
EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that federal law enforcement officials have arrested more than 4,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota since launching Operation Metro Surge in late 2025. “President Trump’s commonsense immigration enforcement policies are delivering the public safety results the American people demanded, with more than 4,000 dangerous criminal illegal aliens already arrested in Minnesota since Operation Metro began,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital on Wednesday in response to DHS’ announcement. “Democrats opened our borders and allowed vicious criminals, including murderers, rapists, gang members, and terrorists, to invade our communities. President Trump is reversing that horrific damage and removing these threats from our country,” she continued. Operation Metro Surge is an ongoing immigration crackdown operation that focused on the Twin Cities, as well as Minnesota at large, as part of the administration’s ongoing mission to deport illegal immigrants, most notably violent offenders. GUN-WIELDING ICE AGENTS BRUSH BACK MINNEAPOLIS AGITATORS DHS shared a handful of arrests made on Tuesday alone, including: a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador with a criminal history of sexual conduct with a minor and domestic assault; a criminal illegal alien from Honduras convicted of domestic abuse, disorderly conduct and driving while intoxicated; a criminal illegal alien from Mexico arrested for assault/domestic battery, larceny, driving under the influence and possession of drugs; and a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador convicted of trespassing. “Despite coordinated attacks of violence against our law enforcement, our officers have made more than 4,000 arrests of illegal aliens including murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and terrorists in Minnesota since Operation Metro Surge began,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “We need sanctuary politicians to cooperate with us by notifying us before releasing public safety threats back onto the streets to commit more crimes and create more victims. We will not back down from our mission to remove criminal illegal aliens from American neighborhoods.” Federal law enforcement converged on Minnesota in late 2025 and early 2026 as massive welfare and social services fraud schemes came to light. The schemes have led to dozens of arrests, most of whom are from the state’s large Somali population. CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY RAMS ICE VEHICLE IN MINNESOTA AS ATTACKS ON AGENTS SURGE The immigration crackdown in the state sparked agitators and protesters to take to the streets, which included chaotic confrontations, including agitators storming into a church in the Twin Cities and disturbing Sunday services. Two Americans have been fatally shot amid protests by federal law enforcement in two separate cases in the Twin Cities, heightening criticisms against the Trump administration that the federal government allegedly had blood on its hands. President Donald Trump deployed border czar Tom Homan to the Twin Cities in January, following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, to continue the operation. The border czar announced Wednesday that 700 law enforcement officers would depart the city as he works for a “complete drawdown” of federal presence while local officials increasingly work with the administration. Most notably, local jails are communicating with federal officials regarding illegal immigrants currently in custody, allowing for speedy arrests at the jail as opposed to within communities. WEEKEND ROUNDUP: CONVICTED MURDERERS, CHILD SEX ABUSERS AMONG ILLEGAL ALIENS NABBED BY ICE ACROSS US “We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets. Unprecedented cooperation,” Homan said Wednesday. “I’ll say it again: This is efficient, and it requires only one or two officers to assume custody of a criminal alien target, rather than eight or 10 officers going into the community and arresting that public safety threat.” Leavitt told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Homan’s drawdown plan follows the operation’s success in arresting the more than 4,000 illegal aliens from Minnesota. “At President Trump’s direction, Tom Homan’s commitment to draw down forces in Minneapolis today follows these achievements and the new, unprecedented cooperation from state and local officials in Minnesota. Commitments like these from elected officials to work with the president and federal law enforcement produce tremendous outcomes that help keep Americans safe,” Leavitt said.