First openly gay DC federal judge rakes Trump admin over military trans ban
The first openly gay federal judge in D.C. spent hours Tuesday grilling the Trump administration over its attempt to codify terms of service for transgender service members in the U.S. military, seeking to determine the extent of potential harm to transgender military personnel. At issue is a Jan. 27 executive order signed by President Donald Trump requiring the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service,” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes harshly questioned the Trump administration at length over the order, demanding to know whether it was a “transgender ban” and if the government’s position is that being transgender is an “ideology.” Civil rights groups sued earlier this month to block the order on behalf of six transgender U.S. service members, arguing that the order is both discriminatory and unconstitutional, and alleging it threatens U.S. national security, as well as years of training and financial investments made by the Department of Defense. JUDGE DENIES DEMOCRAT-LED EFFORT TO BLOCK DOGE ACCESS, CITING LACK OF PROVEN HARM Tuesday’s court hearing focused largely on how, or to what extent, the order might cause harm to transgender service members. While Trump has instructed that “radical gender ideology” be banned from all military branches, the executive order stopped short of detailing how the Pentagon should do this, prompting a flurry of questions and concerns from plaintiffs and the judge. Reyes, a Biden appointee and first openly gay member of the D.C. federal bench, spent much of the hearing Tuesday asking how the order would be implemented and whether the transgender service members named in the lawsuit would be removed from their roles or separated from their units. LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS “Can we agree that the greatest fighting force that world history has ever seen is not going to be impacted in any way by less than 1% of soldiers using a different pronoun than others might want to call them,” she asked Lynch. At another point in the hearing, she challenged lawyers for the Justice Department to find her a declarant or any commissioned officer who would get on the stand and tell the court that they’ve been harmed by the pronoun use of transgender military members. “I’ll get you a box of cigars,” Reyes told Lynch. “If you can find someone who will tell me we’re less prepared because we have to use pronouns for a few thousand people… have at it.” DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES Lych noted in response that the administration is still awaiting further guidance on the terms of the transgender executive order, which will determine its impact on personnel, including the six transgender plaintiffs named in the case. That answer did little to assuage concerns of Judge Reyes, who told Lynch the government must inform the court by Wednesday whether they can ensure that the named service members would not be removed from their roles in the military or face discrimination as a direct result of the executive order. Should they fail to do that, the judge said, the court will reconvene Friday to consider plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order. Beyond the facts of the case, Reyes did little to disguise her displeasure with the order itself. At one point during the hearing, she posed a hypothetical to the Justice Department’s attorney, asking: “If you were in a foxhole” with another service member, “you wouldn’t care about their gender ideology, right?” She went on to suggest Lynch would be happy to be next to someone with their commendations and bravery. Lynch agreed he doubted that gender identity would be on his mind in that situation.
Trump issues warning about wasteful spending, orders ‘radical transparency’ amid DOGE probes, revelations
President Donald Trump issued an unsmiling warning to bureaucrats on Tuesday, ordering that leaders of government agencies begin to be “radically transparent” about spending. The White House published a memo entitled “Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending” on Tuesday afternoon, directed at the heads of executive departments and agencies. The memo begins by arguing that the American government “spends too much money on programs, contracts, and grants that do not promote the interests of the American people.” “For too long, taxpayers have subsidized ideological projects overseas and domestic organizations engaged in actions that undermine the national interest,” the note continues. “The American people have seen their tax dollars used to fund the passion projects of unelected bureaucrats rather than to advance the national interest.” HOMAN TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CROSSINGS PLUMMET DURING TRUMP ADMIN: ‘HE IS DELIVERING’ “The American people have a right to see how the Federal Government has wasted their hard-earned wages.” Trump continued the memo by ordering that all heads of executive departments and agencies must “take all appropriate actions to make public, to the maximum extent permitted by law…the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation of Federal funds.” “Agencies shall ensure that such publication occurs in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the underlying contract, grant, or other award,” Trump continued. EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT The memo came as Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission continues to audit government agencies with a mission to reduce waste. On Monday night, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on “Hannity” to express support for DOGE’s audits. “[L]isten to the words from those Democrat politicians, you would think you are listening to President Trump, Elon Musk and our entire administration, who are saying the exact same things that Democrat politicians promised the American people they would do for decades,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is just the first president in our lifetimes to actually do it.” “And now you see the Democrat Party and the mainstream media spiraling out of control about a very simple promise: rooting out waste, fraud and abuse from our federal bureaucracy,” she continued. “This is a promise President Trump campaigned on. He is now delivering on it.”
‘Promises kept’: Trump signs executive order to ‘aggressively’ make IVF more affordable and accessible
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments through the reduction of out-of-pocket costs. IVF has become unaffordable for many Americans, and Trump’s executive order directs the Domestic Policy Council to find ways to make IVF and other fertility treatments more affordable. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted about the order shortly after it was signed. “PROMISES MADE. PROMISES KEPT: President Trump just signed an Executive Order to Expand Access to IVF!” she wrote on X. “The Order directs policy recommendations to protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments.” JUDGE DENIES DEMOCRAT-LED EFFORT TO BLOCK DOGE ACCESS, CITING LACK OF PROVEN HARM Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., expressed gratitude on X after learning the president had expanded access to IVF. “Thank you, @POTUS! Yet another promise kept,” Britt wrote. “IVF is profoundly pro-family, and I’m proud to work with President Trump on ensuring more loving parents can start and grow their families.” DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES Trump pledged on the campaign trail that if he won a second term, he would mandate free in vitro fertilization treatment for women. “I’m announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for — or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for — all costs associated with IVF treatment,” Trump told the crowd at Alro Steel in Potterville, Michigan, back in August. “Because we want more babies, to put it nicely.” LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS IVF treatments are notoriously expensive and can cost tens of thousands of dollars for a single round. Many women require multiple rounds, and there is no guarantee of success. Trump’s announcement, which was short on details, came after he faced intense scrutiny from Democrats for his role in appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, sending the issue of abortion back to the states. Trump has tried to present himself as moderate on the issue, going as far as declaring himself “very strong on women’s reproductive rights.” Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
‘Rampant’ abuse in blue state migrant shelter system, says former director: ‘Colossal mess’
After being attacked by an immigrant rapist, Jon Fetherston, a former Massachusetts migrant shelter director, is blowing the whistle about the “rampant” abuse in the Massachusetts migrant shelter system, which he said is “just a big, colossal mess.” Fetherston, who served as the director of the Marlborough migrant shelter from 2023 to 2024, said that the amount of crime, domestic abuse and child neglect that takes place in the Massachusetts migrant shelter system is “mind-boggling.” In an interview with Fox News Digital, Fetherston revealed that he was grabbed and attacked by a Haitian immigrant after he was confronted about raping and impregnating his own teenage daughter. The Maine Wire first broke the story about the Haitian migrant, Ronald Joseph, 42, impregnating his then 13-year-old daughter. Joseph repeatedly raped and impregnated his daughter while staying at a government-funded migrant shelter at a Holiday Inn in Marlborough, Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS SHELTER PROGRAM THAT HOUSES MIGRANTS HAS HAD OVER 300 ‘SERIOUS INCIDENT’ REPORTS THIS YEAR A report by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities obtained by Fox News Digital says that after being informed he would lose access to his daughter, Joseph “got very agitated and started yelling” at Fetherston that “this was all his fault, and he was to blame.” Fetherston told Fox News Digital that as soon as Joseph heard he was losing custody of his daughter, he “reached across the table and grabbed me and got angry with me and started cursing and yelling and screaming and swinging at me because he realized what was happening.” “I’m going to be honest; the entire experience has shaken me to my core,” said Fetherston. MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENT CONDEMNS RIGHT-TO-SHELTER LAW TURNING BAY STATE INTO ‘DESTINATION FOR MIGRANTS’ He clarified that “it’s not so much the lunging at me and swinging” but rather the conversation that jarred him the most. “The conversation was probably the most jarring conversation I’ve ever had in my life,” he said. “His justification for having sex with his daughter was — and he did say it through an interpreter; he didn’t say it in English — that in his country — which his country of origin was Haiti — if a woman bled, meaning if she had her period, you could have sex with her and that was his justification for having sex with his daughter.” Rather than arresting Joseph immediately, Fetherston was directed by authorities to order the immigrant a Lyft ride to another shelter in Worcester County. Joseph was not arrested until eight months later when Marlborough police finally apprehended him earlier this month. “The Marlborough police came and calmed him down and actually had me transfer him to another shelter,” he explained. “I asked the Marlborough police like: ‘Why isn’t he being arrested? He admitted to this. At least why aren’t you just detaining him at the very least?’ And they’re like: ‘We’ll figure it all out.’ It took them eight months to figure it all out.” BLUE STATE FACES SPIKE IN MIGRANT SEX CRIMES AS TOP CITY PLEDGES RESISTANCE TO TRUMP DEPORTATIONS Though this case was particularly egregious, Fetherston said that “there is a lot of undocumented violence that goes on” and that rape, domestic violence, sex trafficking, drug dealing and other crimes are so commonplace in the Massachusetts shelter system that many incidents simply fall through the cracks. “I will tell you, unfortunately, that it happens a lot,” he said. “There were times when I was running the shelter that there probably should have been times when I should have done more reporting, you just didn’t have the time to do it.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “It’s just a big, colossal mess,” Fetherston added. “I’ve been in public service most of my adult life, either through elective office or volunteering. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the migrant shelters would be the chaos that it is… It’s a systematic problem, that there is chaos in these communities and the public has the right to know what is going on.” The former shelter director said that before quitting his job he brought his concerns about the widespread abuse to Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll — both Democrats — but neither gave him the time of day. Although Healey recently vowed to reform the shelter system and begin mandatory background checks on residents, Fetherston said there have yet to be any real changes. ICE ARRESTS ‘PREDATOR’ MIGRANT CONVICTED OF SECRETLY RECORDING OTHERS IN BATHROOM Despite promises of reform, the legislature renewed shelter funding at $425 million through June with no new changes. “People are frustrated from top to bottom,” he said. “The governor has spent over $3.5 billion just of the taxpayers’ money just on the migrant hotels [and]… just last week the Senate and House passed [a bill] to fund this migrant program until July of this year, zero reform, zero mandatory checks.” “The governor says that all this stuff is coming,” he concluded, “and ultimately, at the end, there was no reform put in the package. It was just the approval to fund the shelters through the end of July. So, there is no reform.”
Fox News Politics Newsletter: ‘Open the Books’ on Biden’s Billions
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Trump greenlights some pro-immigrant moves amid broader anti-migrant crackdown -Department of Education cancels another $350M in ‘woke’ spending for contracts, grants –New cartel threats against border agents: Explosives, drones and wireless tracking The Biden administration spent tens of billions of dollars on grants to migrants and refugees through one of its government agencies, including over $10 billion in just one year, according to a new watchdog report. The watchdog group Open the Books looked at grants to nonprofits awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. Its responsibilities include caring for unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the southern border illegally and refugees entering legally. The watchdog found that in FY 2021, it distributed $2.4 billion in grants to nonprofits. In FY 2022, it distributed $3.4 billion, then that number skyrocketed up to $10 billion in FY 2023 before being reduced to $4.2 billion in FY 2024…Read more DASVI-TANYA: Obama-appointed judge who became Trump rival during election interference case overseeing pivotal DOGE hearing…Read more DEEPFAKE RECKONING: Trial begins for political consultant accused of sending AI-generated robocalls mimicking Biden…Read more JUST A JOB: Musk is not DOGE employee, has no more authority than other WH staff, new filing says…Read more BIDEN TIME: Far-left activist Leonard Peltier, serving life in murders of two FBI agents, leaves prison under Biden clemency…Read more PIVOTAL MOMENT: Ruling expected as states seek restraining order against Musk, Trump quest to slash bureaucracy…Read more RELIEF REJECTED: Circuit court puts final nail in the coffin for Biden’s $500M student loan forgiveness plan…Read more VANCE AT CPAC: Vice President Vance to speak at conservative gathering’s opening day…Read more FLYING HOME: American detained in Russia released as officials work to set up potential Trump-Putin meeting…Read more ‘TRUST BUILDING’: US, Russian officials propose peace plan, lay ‘groundwork for cooperation’ in Riyadh…Read more ‘DEALT JUSTICE’: Trump congratulates US military after airstrike that killed official of Al-Qaeda affiliate…Read more TALKS ON WAR: Top Russian, US officials meet in Saudi Arabia to begin talks on Ukraine war without officials from Kyiv…Read more ‘LEGITIMATE SELF-DEFENSE’: North Korea vows to expand nuclear forces, blasts US for ‘outdated’ denuclearization plan…Read more DOGE HOUSE: Elon Musk protests to target lawmakers, Tesla dealerships as progressives decry ‘extremist cuts’…Read more CONFIRMATION WOES: MAGA loyalists take aim at GOP senator as key Trump defense post goes unmanned: ‘Why the opposition?’…Read more INSPIRED TO ACT: RFK Jr’s health agenda gains popularity among state lawmakers…Read more EVIL NEXT DOOR: Sinaloa Cartel takes root in American neighborhoods: Where are they?…Read more ‘HUNT YOU DOWN’: Noem sends message to those considering entering US illegally…Read more DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS: Acting head of Social Security quits after clash with DOGE over data…Read more NO SMOKING ZONE: South Carolina bill would ban smoking inside cars while children are passengers…Read more ‘FAILED FOR FOUR YEARS’: Duffy blasts Buttigieg, accusing Biden-era official of ‘mismanagement’…Read more PEDAL TO THE METAL: Leader behind migrant flight to Martha’s Vineyard tapped to head red state’s new immigration board…Read more ‘DEI NONSENSE’: Ed Department cuts $600M in taxpayer-funded grants pushing ‘divisive ideologies’…Read more ‘NO KINGS DAY’: ‘Not My President’s Day’ protests erupt across the country…Read more DOGE FIGHT: Musk team welcomed at the Pentagon but some remain skeptical…Read more NEW ERA: Pro-life movement to shake up messaging with big investment from these key players…Read more NATGAS PIVOT?: Kathy Hochul does apparent about-face on natural gas as NYC utility signals major rate hikes…Read more ‘DEPOLITICIZE MEDICINE’: Louisiana surgeon general wants to ‘depoliticize medicine’ by ending statewide mass vaccinations…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Trump admin reveals list of cartels and gangs to be designated terrorist organizations
The Trump administration sent a list of over half a dozen drug cartels to Congress last week that it plans to designate as foreign terrorist organizations, Fox News confirmed on Tuesday. The list sent to Congress includes the international Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua – Spanish for “Train from Aragua” – that has ties to the socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and has been terrorizing U.S. cities in recent months. Other groups included in the Trump administration’s list are the Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha – also known as MS-13 – as well as several Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa, Jalisco, Zetas, the Gulf Cartels, Cartel Unidos and “La Nueva Familia Michoacana.” ‘WEAPONIZED MIGRATION’: US FACES DEADLY CONSEQUENCES WITH MADURO IN POWER, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION WARNS The New York Times reported last week that the State Department has already informed several congressional committees of the organizations it plans to designate as terror groups. This comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to direct the State Department and other executive agencies to move to designate cartels and other criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations. The order specifically mentioned Tren de Aragua – which is also known as “TdA” – as well MS-13 as groups needing to be designated as terror organizations. It gave Secretary of State Marco Rubio 14 days to make policy recommendations – in consultation with the secretaries of the Treasury and Homeland Security as well as the U.S. attorney general and director of national intelligence – to make a recommendation regarding the designation of criminal groups to be designated as terrorist organizations. ‘ON NOTICE’: EX-VENEZUELAN MILITARY OFFICIAL APPLAUDS TRUMP’S ‘FIRST GOOD STEP’ TARGETING BLOODTHIRSTY GANG A foreign terrorist designation expands the government’s ability to crack down on criminal groups operating in the U.S., allowing all government agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, to target that group from every angle. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The order states that these groups “present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” and invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEP) to declare a national emergency to “deal with those threats.” “It is the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures, thereby protecting the American people and the territorial integrity of the United States,” reads the order. TRUMP GREENLIGHTS SOME PRO-IMMIGRANT MOVES AMID BROADER ANTI-MIGRANT CRACKDOWN At the time, Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society, who in 2024 authored a report on how to dismantle TdA, explained to Fox News Digital that designating these groups as foreign terrorist organizations places them “at the highest level” of U.S. national security interest, meaning their funding and any organizations enabling them can be targeted as well. “Trump just put all of them on notice,” said Humire. “This said: ‘We know you’re here; we know you’re up to no good and we’re going to come after you.’”
Russia, Ukraine take ‘significant first step toward peace’ after Rubio-led negotiations, White House insists
Initial discussions between Trump administration officials and Russia in Saudi Arabia Tuesday marked a “significant milestone” in securing peace between Russia and Ukraine, according to the White House press secretary. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met in Riyadh with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. Ukraine was absent from the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to provide specifics about the discussions, but she said the Trump administration was committed to brokering a peace deal to end the conflict between the two countries. “What I will tell you is that today, sitting down at the table was a significant first step toward peace,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. ‘MAKE NATO GREAT AGAIN’: HEGSETH PUSHES EUROPEAN ALLIES TO STEP UP DEFENSE EFFORTS Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday that an invitation to the talks wasn’t extended to Ukraine and that he was postponing a scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia until March. Zelenskyy has stressed that Ukraine must be involved in negotiations, and said Sunday that Ukraine wouldn’t accept a peace deal if his country were absent from negotiations. But Leavitt said that everyone would have a seat at the negotiating table — including other European allies — as the Trump administration seeks to advance a peace deal. “We’re ensuring that all parties are heard,” Leavitt said in an interview with Fox New’s “America Reports” Tuesday. “But you have to speak to both sides of the war in order to truly negotiate a deal and problem-solve. And this is a significant first step toward peace.” TOP RUSSIAN, US OFFICIALS MEET IN SAUDI ARABIA TO BEGIN TALKS ON UKRAINE WAR WITHOUT OFFICIALS FROM KYIV Leavitt said that President Donald Trump was in correspondence with Zelenskyy, and spoke with other European allies like French President Emmanuel Macron Monday. Additionally, she said that Trump will meet with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House next week. Trump and Zelenskky also spoke over the phone Wednesday about the negotiations, and Zelenskyy said he relayed that he believes Putin isn’t interested in peace with Ukraine. “I said that [Putin] is a liar,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. “And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’” While Zelenskyy voiced gratitude for U.S. support, he said there is no “leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us, about us.” “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on “Meet the Press.” PUTIN’S A ‘LITTLE BIT SCARED’ OF TRUMP AS NATIONS BEGIN PEACE TALKS, ZELENSKYY SAYS But Trump has offered reassurances that Zelenskyy would be involved in peace conversations, and told reporters Sunday on the tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, that Ukraine would get a seat at the negotiating table. The first action the U.S. plans to take following the meetings with Russian officials is to “reestablish the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and in Moscow,” Rubio told reporters from The Associated Press and CNN. “For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally,” Rubio said, according to a State Department transcript. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again. Fox News’ Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
Zelenskyy faces perilous re-election odds as US, Russia push Ukraine to go to the polls as part of peace deal
Nearly one year past the expiration of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first five-year term, the U.S. and Russia are in agreement that Ukrainians must go to the polls and decide whether to keep their head of state. Russia has insisted it will not sign a peace agreement until Ukraine agrees to hold elections, and the U.S. is now “floating” the idea of a three-stage plan: ceasefire, then Ukrainian elections, then inking of a peace deal. Zelenskyy’s term in office was supposed to end last May, with elections originally slated for April 2024. But the president’s aides have said elections will not be held until six months after the end of martial law. The Ukrainian constitution prohibits holding elections under martial law. With his popularity having plummeted nearly 40% since the war’s outbreak, Zelenskyy’s future could be in jeopardy if peace is reached and elections are triggered. US, RUSSIAN OFFICIALS PROPOSE PEACE PLAN, LAY ‘GROUNDWORK FOR COOPERATION’ IN RIYADH Earlier this month, Trump’s envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Washington wants Kyiv to hold elections, possibly by the end of the year, as soon as a peace deal is brokered. Zelenskyy shot back that Ukrainians were alarmed by such statements. “It is very important for Kellogg to come to Ukraine. Then he would understand the people and all our circumstances,” Zelenskyy said, in comments to The Guardian. Other U.S. politicians called for Ukraine to have its elections on schedule last year. AMERICAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA RELEASED AS OFFICIALS WORK TO SET UP POTENTIAL TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING Ukraine advocates say post-war elections would be a far better option, but elections offer Russia an opportunity to sow chaos. “The only person that benefits from elections before there’s a durable peace deal is Putin,” said Andrew D’Anieri, fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. “The Kremlin loves elections, not in their own country, but elsewhere, because it provides an opportunity to destabilize things.” Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko also claimed that Ukrainian authorities would have an election before the end of the year. “Write it down – Oct. 26 this year,” he said in a recent interview. But Davyd Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, denied Poroshenko’s claim in a Telegram post. “During martial law, elections are impossible to hold […] The leaders of all parties have agreed that elections will not be held until at least six months after the end of martial law,” Arakhamia said. Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president from 2014 to 2019 who amassed his fortunes in the confectionary business, lost out to Zelenskyy in his bid for a second term. Seen as a possible contender for a rematch, Poroshenko previously opposed holding elections before the war’s conclusion, arguing Putin would use propaganda to undermine them. But some have begun to question whether Zelenskyy could survive a re-election campaign. Zelenskyy saw approval rates soar to 90% at the onset of the war in 2022, but took a dip to around 50%, according to a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll of 2,000 respondents in December. “Zelenskyy’s prospects to win the elections are contingent upon the exact terms of the ceasefire, namely, the public perception of them as a ‘victory,’ ‘honorable draw’ or ‘defeat,’” said Ivan Gomza, public policy professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. “The cessation of hostilities are hardly plausible in 2025. Moreover, elections require preparations… elections are very unlikely until at least 2026. “Zelensky is unlikely to win the elections, if they were to be held in Ukraine, because his popularity dropped significantly at the end of 2024,” said Russian-born U.S. intelligence expert Rebekah Koffler. “Ukrainians are exhausted by the war and many have come to the realization that it’s unwinnable for Ukraine.” “The Russians, in turn, will almost certainly run clandestine operations to influence the elections in order to elect a pro-Russian candidate,” Koffler added. Zelenskyy has also lost his main benefactor from the first election, Ihor Kolomoyski, who was indicted in both the U.S. and Ukraine on charges of money laundering and bank fraud. Zelenskyy’s main opponent is expected to be Valerii Zaluzhnyi, a four-star general and the current ambassador to the United Kingdom. Zelenskyy fired Zaluzhnyi as head of the armed forces last year in a major – and politically unpopular – shakeup. Zaluzhny had claimed the war with Russia had reached a stalemate in late 2023. PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS Russia, though it insists on elections as part of negotiations, is not likely to win a more favorable, pro-Russia Ukrainian government in any outcome of an election. “All the frontrunners in the election will be pro-Western, pro-European candidates who want to defend the country against Russia and probably agree on most matters, including on foreign affairs and defense, but have their own kind of domestic political issues where they differ,” said D’Anieri. “The only people that come anywhere close to Zelenskyy in the polls are people like General Zaluzhnyi, with really established, patriotic credentials in Ukraine,” said Henry Hale, professor at George Washington University who specializes in public opinion in Ukraine. “Any of the pro-Russian forces don’t really have much standing there.” Zelenskyy banned 11 political parties over ties to Russia in 2022. Many of the nation’s pro-Russia lawmakers have fled over the border – and four MPs were stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship over ties to Russia in 2023. Some lawmakers who belonged to the outlawed political groups simply switched party affiliations. And faced with a dwindling coalition without elections to replace members of parliament who switch jobs or join the military, Zelenskyy has since been forced to rely on members of parliament who were previously part of the now-banned pro-Russia parties for votes. Hale predicted that if an election were held before a peace deal had been inked, it would boost Zelenskyy’s chances of re-election. “Even though there are a lot of people in Ukraine who don’t think that he’s done the best job managing the
TribCast: The ins and outs of the debate over school choice and vouchers
In this week’s episode, we discuss the details of the plan to let parents use state funds to pay for their children’s private schooling.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stepping down amid US Postal Service financial turmoil
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday announced that he would be stepping down as the U.S. Postal Service tries to recover from hundreds of billions of dollars in predicted losses within the next decade. DeJoy, who was appointed during President Donald Trump‘s first term, notified the Postal Service Board of Governors that it was time to find a suitable successor. “While there remains much critical work to be done to ensure that the Postal Service can be financially viable as we continue to serve the nation in our essential public service mission, I have decided it is time to start the process of identifying my successor and of preparing the Postal Service for this change,” DeJoy said in a statement. CONGRESS ADDRESSES UPTICK IN POSTAL CARRIER ROBBERIES THROUGH NEW LEGISLATION TARGETING SAFETY “After four and half years leading one of America’s greatest public institutions through dramatic change during unusual times, it is time for me to start thinking about the next phase of my life, while also ensuring that the Postal Service is fully prepared for the future,” he added. DeJoy said a timely and methodic approach is needed to find someone to lead the organization, followed by a “period of dedicated focus” to position the Postal Service for financial success. “I am extremely proud of the 640,000 men and women of the United States Postal Service who live, work and serve in every American community,” he said. “Despite being victimized by a legislative and regulatory business model that produced almost two decades of devastation to their organization and workplaces, they have persevered and embraced the changes we are making in order to better serve their fellow citizens.” MASSACHUSETTS USPS LETTER CARRIER ROBBED WHILE DELIVERING MAIL IN NEIGHBORHOOD, TEENS ARRESTED DeJoy was tapped to lead the agency in 2020, during a time of “tremendous operational and financial crisis” for the Postal Service, a news release said. The USPS is implementing a 10-year restructuring plan intended to eliminate $200 billion in predicted losses over the next decade. In 2023, the USPS reported a $6.5 billion net loss for that fiscal year. At the time, operating revenue fell $321 million, or 0.4%, to $78.2 billion compared to the same period in 2022, as first-class mail fell to the lowest volume since 1968.