Trump plans to meet with Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado next week
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Washington next week. During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Trump was asked if he intends to meet with Machado after the U.S. struck Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro. “Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said. This will be Trump’s first meeting with Machado, who the U.S. president stated “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to lead. According to reports, Trump’s refusal to support Machado was linked to her accepting the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump believed he deserved. But Trump later told NBC News that while he believed Machado should not have won the award, her acceptance of the prize had “nothing to do with my decision” about the prospect of her leading Venezuela.
FLASHBACK: Jill Biden visited Minnesota to tout billions in childcare spending during husband’s administration
Former first lady Jill Biden went to Minnesota in 2022 to highlight the billions of dollars in investments for childcare that were part of Democrats’ American Rescue Plan Act, where she stood next to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and praised him for his leadership helping families. “We helped states like Minnesota safely keep open childcare centers and family childcare providers and boost pay for their workers,” Biden said during a February 2022 visit to the University of Minnesota’s Child Development Laboratory School alongside Walz and then-Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “We supported high quality providers that enrich children’s lives, and we helped make them more affordable.” BESSENT SAYS MINNESOTA FRAUD RECOVERY COULD HELP FUND TRUMP’S $1.5T DEFENSE PLAN The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion COVID-era relief package, allocated nearly $40 billion for childcare after it was passed without any Republican support. Roughly 4 years after the first lady went to Minnesota to tout the Democrat-led investments in childcare, Walz and his state are facing immense blowback for allegedly failing to adequately monitor fraud within the state’s Medicaid program and its childcare sector. According to a local Fox affiliate, daycare centers in Minnesota received roughly $500 million in federal funds in 2021. “Tim, you understand that childcare is not only critical to families, it’s critical to businesses and our economy,” the first lady said as she turned to Walz standing behind her as she addressed people at the school. “And Joe and I are so grateful for your leadership and for the friendship that you and Gewn … that we’ve had for so many years. And I’m excited to hear more today about what you’ve done here in Minnesota to help families recover from the uncertainties and the losses from the pandemic.” Earlier this week, a major state audit in Minnesota conducted by the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor found widespread failures and internal control problems in the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) grant program, reaffirming concerns about massive fraud issues in the state. VANCE CALLS WALZ ‘A JOKE,’ CLAIMS MINNESOTA GOVERNOR ENABLED MASSIVE FRAUD The report, released Monday, found that between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, DHS dished out more than $425 million in grants to 830 organizations, the majority being nongovernmental, and did not show proper oversight in watching over those taxpayer funds, which in many cases were meant to help those with addiction and mental health issues. The audit found missing progress reports and discovered BHA could not show it had completed all required monitoring visits and had no documentation at all for some of them. The audit also found that when employees were surveyed, 73% of them said they did not receive the necessary training to properly administer and manage grants, with one employee saying, “Executive leadership has repetitively shown staff that they won’t take the staff’s concerns or questions seriously until something serious happens or it makes the news.” The scathing report comes as Minnesota’s government agencies and leaders face immense scrutiny amid a fraud scandal that prosecutors say could total as much as $9 billion and has already prompted Gov. Tim Walz to drop his re-election bid. Some reports have indicated a handful of Minnesota’s Democrat leaders allegedly took donations from some of those accused of committing fraud in Minnesota, while others have suggested Walz retaliated against whistleblowers who tried to sound the alarm about the fraud. Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Jill and Joe Biden but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Blue state’s billionaire exodus about to get much worse in 2026, insider warns
As Google co-founder Larry Page and Oracle founder Larry Ellison become some of the latest high-profile Californians to flee, an insider is warning that the “mass migration” of billionaire business leaders out of the state is only going to speed up in 2026. Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Allison Huynh told Fox News Digital two “rage bait” tax proposals she believes Democrats are using to get voters to the polls in November could be the final nail in the coffin for California. Huynh is a startup founder, investor and former fundraiser for former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. According to Huynh, the two tax proposals, an annual wealth tax proposal and a 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, would cause a “mass migration,” starting with “not just the billionaires, but the people who are investing in new ideas, in new infrastructure, whether it’s AI, healthcare, tech, robotics.” EXTREME SPORTS STAR LASHES OUT AT NEWSOM FOR KILLING THE CALIFORNIA DREAM: ‘WHAT HAPPENED?’ Public filings reviewed by Fox News Digital from the California Secretary of State’s office show several business entities linked to the Google co-founder were moved out of the state in December, ahead of the Jan. 1, 2026 residency date tied to the proposed tax. Those filings indicate his family office, Koop LLC, and his influenza research fund, Flu Lab LLC, no longer list California, while a flying-car venture, One Aero, now lists its primary address in Florida. Ellison has taken steps that signal a potential pullback from California, though details of a reported $45 million off-market sale of his San Francisco home have not been independently confirmed by major outlets. The New York Post reported the sale and said it would mark the city’s largest real estate transaction of 2025. With these exits in mind, Huynh likened the proposed tax hikes to a restaurant about to go out of business. “Instead of lowering the price, they increase the price,” she said. “And then you go into the restaurant, and it’s like $50 for a bowl of really bad dumplings.” According to Huynh, the annual wealth tax would impose a one to 1.5% tax on anything over $50 million. “And that’s paper valuation,” she explained. “So, for example, if you have $1 million in liquid assets, that’s cash, and $49 million, say, in artwork or in a house that you inherited from your family. You would be responsible for the entire 50 million in terms of your cost basis for that 1%.” The second proposal, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, would impose a one-time 5% tax on any asset valued above $1 billion, including a business holding. “You could be a founder, you could be a tech star, and you could be worth a hundred billion dollars. But say you only have like $2 million in liquid assets because all that money is used to run your new AI company. Well, doesn’t matter. You’re going to be taxed entirely on that $100 billion. And, so, effectively, you owe the state of California one time, $5 billion.“ WASHINGTON POST CITES U-HAUL DATA IN CALIFORNIA EXODUS TO ‘PRO-GROWTH’ STATES, SAYS ‘DECLINE IS A CHOICE’ Though the impact of these proposals would be catastrophic, Huynh said she believes that California Democrats view them as “rage bait” to motivate voters to show up at ballot boxes during this year’s midterm elections. “It is the Democrats’ answer to MAGA,” she explained, saying it’s a type of “Eat the rich.” Though proposed in the California Assembly, the annual tax proposal is not on track to be added to the November ballot. Proponents of the billionaire tax, however, are gathering signatures for the proposal to be added to the ballot. According to Huynh, billionaires and business leaders are not waiting to see the final outcome. “So many people I know, including certain family members, have all of a sudden sold their house in two days in the state of California. And many of them went house shopping in Florida, in Texas and also in Puerto Rico,” she said. “These are founders, investors in robotics, in AI companies. They are controversial, but you have to admit they have created a lot of value — thousands and hundreds of thousands of jobs in California. CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION PUTS ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON BILLIONAIRES “We can’t sanction these billionaires to be in the California jurisdiction,” she said, exasperated. “So, why are we forcing bad legislation that will drive the vast majority of the investors in California businesses? And they will likely take their businesses with them, their multibillion-dollar businesses with them. We saw that with SpaceX. We saw that with Oracle. They’ll take it with them to Texas, to Tennessee, to Florida and all the thousands and thousands of jobs with it. And there’s nothing we can do, “They’re not going to want to be in California,” she said. “This is a very, very dangerous move.”
Day-to-day: A tragic death further stretches the GOP’s razor-thin House majority
It was 1991. The Chicago Cubs were in Chavez Ravine for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully was at the mic. Cubs outfielder and former National League MVP Andre Dawson was out of the lineup. “Andre Dawson has a bruised knee,” the golden-throated Scully declared to his radio congregation, tuning in from Pasadena to the San Fernando Valley. “He is listed as day-to-day.” Then Scully paused for a moment. It was as though Scully was in deep reflection. Perhaps seized by the spirit of the national pastime in one of baseball’s most hallowed cathedrals, Dodger Stadium. HOUSE GOP REP DOUG LAMALFA DEAD AT 65 “Then again, aren’t we all?” added Scully. Aren’t we all. You. Me. Andre Dawson and his knee. The late Vin Scully. Even late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif. REP LAMALFA’S DEATH FURTHER SHRINKS REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY He died this week at age 65 during emergency surgery after an aortic aneurysm. “It really shook us,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., of LaMalfa’s sudden death. The speaker said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., whose northern California district borders LaMalfa’s, called the late congressman “the kindest man I ever knew.” Johnson noted that McClintock didn’t say “one of the kindest.” But the kindest. Seven House members have died since April 2024. The previous six were Democrats. LaMalfa is the first Republican to die since then. In fact, there’s a runoff between two Democrats — Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards — in a special election to succeed late Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas. Turner died in March after only two months in office. House Republicans have had a tenuous hold on their majority for a while now. LaMalfa’s death — coupled with Monday’s resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — squeezes the GOP even further. It’s about the math. Counting LaMalfa and Greene, the GOP margin shrivels to 218-213 with 431 members and four vacancies. The Republican majority thins again when either Menefee or Edwards wins the Texas special election later this month. It’s then 218-214 with 432 members and three vacancies. The margin is four. But, on the floor, Republicans can only lose one vote and still pass something on their own without Democratic assistance. Losing two votes produces a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House. Word of LaMalfa’s death came as we learned that 80-year-old Rep. Jim Baird R-Ind., was in the hospital after a car accident. Baird is fine but not on Capitol Hill to vote this week. Just how fragile is the GOP’s grip on power in the House? “We are one flu season away from losing the majority,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. By the way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the U.S. is experiencing its worst flu season since 1997-98. The CDC just announced a new flu variant this week. GEORGIA CALLS SPECIAL ELECTION IN MARCH TO FILL MTG VACANCY AFTER TRUMP RUPTURE AND RESIGNATION A couple of points. The Constitution prohibits governors from appointing someone to the House. That only works in the Senate. Voters must elect House members. And control of the House of Representatives has never flipped in the middle of the Congress. The Senate has. But not the House. It’s about the math. “We’ve been working with a razor-thin majority since I became speaker. And, as you know, at many points in the last year, we had a one- or two-vote majority at any given moment,” said Johnson. “But this is the group that has demonstrated over and over and over and over that we defy expectations and make history.” Conjecture still abounds around the Capitol that a few disgruntled House Republicans could resign. I asked Johnson about Burchett’s remark. The speaker was philosophical. “None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. None of us. We don’t know what’s going to happen. The Bible says you don’t worry about tomorrow. You focus on today,” replied Johnson. “I’m not worried about the numbers. I don’t get up in apprehension or anxiety in any day. I get up every day with hope.” We’re all day-to-day. So too is the House Republican majority. Things are day-to-day. As stated earlier, the House has never flipped in the middle of a Congress. Frankly, it’s a lot harder than the Senate. It has more people. For the House to switch control, the GOP must lose two more seats. But those seats must also be filled immediately. That doesn’t happen. Special elections take months, depending on the state. But even at a prospective nadir of 218-214, it takes a lot to change control of the House in the middle of a Congress. Even if Republicans lost three more members, they’d still hold a 215-214 majority. Things could become very interesting if the split went to 214-214. And don’t forget, these numbers will evolve in the coming months. There’s a special election to succeed Greene March 10. There will likely be a special election to succeed LaMalfa in the spring or summer. There’s also a special election in the spring to fulfill the term of Democratic New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who resigned from the House last year. So, don’t count on the House switching any time soon. HEALTHCARE, ECONOMY AND THE ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS But there is a historical anomaly. Lawmakers are sworn in to begin the new Congress Jan. 3 of odd years of the election in November of the prior even year. However, the ratification of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution moved the swearing-in of the President to Jan. 20. Previously it was March 4. In those days, new Congresses began Dec. 7. Not a month after the election. But an astonishing 13 MONTHS AFTER the election. In other words, you would have an election in November of an even year. But the institution wouldn’t seat the new Congress until December of the FOLLOWING ODD year. And they complain about a two-month lame duck Congress now. The 1930 midterms
Newsom lashes out at Trump over ‘carnival of chaos’ amid Minnesota ICE shooting furor
With the national spotlight firmly on a fatal shooting in Minnesota involving an ICE agent, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California used a high-profile speech to target President Donald Trump over “citizens shot” and what the likely Democratic presidential contender claimed was “using American cities as training grounds for the United States military.” Newsom’s comments Thursday in his final State of the State address as governor of the nation’s most populous state came in the wake of the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good after she confronted ICE agents from inside her car in Minneapolis. Video of the incident has gone viral, and while Democrats have heavily criticized the shooting, the Trump administration is vocally defending the actions of the ICE agent. “The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense,” Trump said in a social media post. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE ICE SHOOTING IN MINNESOTA And the president argued “the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis.” Vice President JD Vance at a White House briefing Thursday claimed Good was “brainwashed” and suggested she was connected to a “broader, left-wing network.” Hours after the incident, Newsom alleged it was “state-sponsored terrorism.” PHOTOS RELEASED OF RENEE NICOLE GOOD, THE US CITIZEN KILLED BY ICE IN MINNESOTA A day later, in his address to the California legislature, the governor took aim at the president and his unprecedented moves during his first year back in the White House. “The president believes that might makes right, that the courts are simply speed bumps, not stops. That democracy is a nuisance to be circumvented. Secret police, businesses being raided, windows smashed, citizens detained, citizens shot, masked men snatching, people in broad daylight, people disappearing,” Newsom charged. And the governor, arguably the most vocal and visible Democrat leading the resistance to Trump, accused the president of governing through fear by instigating “purposeful chaos emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” And he criticized what he called “a carnival of chaos” as he pointed to the Trump administration’s National Guard deployments to Democrat-governed cities, including Los Angeles, as well as cuts in key federal funding. “None of this is normal,” Newsom emphasized. Newsom said California must stand up to Trump’s “assault on our values,” while warning that democracy is at stake. Newsom and the president have repeatedly clashed in the first year of Trump’s second administration, from the National Guard deployment to Los Angeles to the federal government’s push to block California’s fuel standards and efforts to eventually ban new gas-powered cars. And the two politicians have also taken aim at each other over the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires that killed over 30 people and destroyed neighborhoods. Wednesday was the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of those wildfires. Officially, Newsom’s State of the State address was designed to showcase his accomplishments as governor and lay out his agenda for his final year in office. “You’ve seen double-digit decreases in crime overall in the state of California,” the governor touted. California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin, responding in a statement, claimed, “Governor Newsom told Californians that homelessness is down, crime is at record lows, schools are improving and Los Angeles is recovering after the Palisades fires. Governor Newsom painted a picture of a California that exists in his imagination.” Unofficially, the speech was an opportunity for Newsom to portray himself as a national leader of the Democratic Party ahead of what many expect will be a 2028 White House run. And the governor didn’t waste the opportunity. Newsom, who led the fight against Trump’s redistricting push ahead of November’s midterm elections, said, “We’re not retreating.” And he described California as “a beacon” that is “providing a different narrative and operational model of policy for others to follow.”
Duffy exposes 54% of North Carolina truck licenses issued illegally to ‘dangerous drivers’
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday revealed that 54% of North Carolina’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued to foreign nationals reviewed by federal officials were issued illegally. The discovery came amid the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) ongoing nationwide audit of the state’s truck licensing systems. If North Carolina does not revoke all illegally issued licenses, the Department of Transportation (DOT) will withhold nearly $50 million in federal funding. “North Carolina’s failure to follow the rules isn’t just shameful — it’s dangerous. I’m calling on state leadership to immediately remove these dangerous drivers from our roads and clean up their system,” Duffy wrote in a statement. “President [Donald] Trump and I are committed to keeping you and your family safe on our roads.” ICE ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER FROM UZBEKISTAN OVER ALLEGED TERROR TIES In a letter to North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and state Department of Public Safety Commissioner Paul Tine, the FMCSA said the state illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs to drivers who were ineligible, those whose licenses were valid long after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired and those whose lawful status in the U.S. was not verified by North Carolina. FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said the level of noncompliance in North Carolina is “egregious.” To retain its federal funding, North Carolina will be required to immediately pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations and revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the federal requirements. DUFFY THREATENS TO YANK NEW YORK FEDERAL FUNDS OVER ILLEGALLY ISSUED COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSES The state must also conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify all procedural and programming errors, training and quality assurance problems, insufficient policies and practices and other issues that have resulted in the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs that did not meet federal rules. Duffy set his focus on CDL issues in early 2025 after an Indian national who held a California-issued CDL allegedly killed a car full of people on Florida’s turnpike. California has since revoked 17,000 problematic non-domiciled CDL licenses as DOT conducts a nationwide audit initiated by President Donald Trump’s executive order on truck driver roadway safety. Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
Newsom touts California’s numerous legal fights with Trump administration in final State of the State address
California Gov. Gavin Newsom used his final State of the State address Thursday to spotlight the state’s court fights with the federal government, saying the state has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration. The Democrat framed the legal battles as a dispute over presidential authority, telling lawmakers and attendees that “no one, particularly the president of the United States, stands above the law.” “We’ve gone to court and, of course, protect our people, pushing back against this executive overreach,” Newsom said. The governor pointed to litigation filed during a special session and tied the legal efforts to what he described as federal actions that harmed Californians. NEWSOM INVOKES SCRIPTURE IN ATTACK ON GOP OVER SHUTDOWN AFFECTING FOOD ASSISTANCE: ‘CRUELTY IS THE POLICY’ “Fifty-two lawsuits have been filed, funded by you, by the way, in this special session that all of you led,” Newsom said, adding that the cases involved “about $168 billion in illegally frozen federal resources that belong to our schools, that belong to our hospitals, that belong to our seniors.” Newsom said the court strategy has already produced results. “We have won the request for emergency relief,” he said, adding that California has “affirmed the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of the land.” NEWSOM SAYS TRUMP IS ONE OF THE ‘MOST DESTRUCTIVE’ PRESIDENTS OF HIS LIFETIME: ‘THIS GUY IS RECKLESS’ Addressing President Donald Trump, Newsom said, “You can’t cut off critical food assistance for millions of people,” adding, “You can’t send the military into American cities without justification, and you cannot cruelly and illegally cut off funding for medical research, homeland security, or disaster response.” Newsom’s emphasis on legal challenges comes as the Trump administration has launched a federal probe into alleged fraud tied to California programs, including homelessness spending, with a top federal prosecutor publicly criticizing the state’s oversight. Newsom’s office has rejected those accusations, saying the governor has blocked fraud and protected taxpayers. Later in the address, Newsom turned to homelessness and urged counties to take a more aggressive approach. TRUMP ADMIN SUES OVER CALIFORNIA LAW BANNING ICE FROM WEARING FACE MASKS TO SHIELD IDENTITIES “So I say this with love and respect to the counties — no more excuses. It’s time to bring people off the streets and out of encampments,” he said. Newsom defended California’s high-speed rail project as well, calling it “the nation’s first high speed rail system.” “Full environmental clearance is done,” Newsom said, while claiming “more than 60 miles of guideway have been completed ready for immediate track lane in the Central Valley.” On housing, Newsom criticized large investors, warning about “institutional investors that are snatching up homes by the hundreds and thousands at a time.” “These investors are crushing the dream of homeownership,” he said, adding, “I think it’s shameful that we allow private equity firms… become some of the biggest landlords here in our cities.” Republican leaders responded critically to Newsom’s remarks. California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones called the address an “airbrushed spin job,” accusing the governor of “working hard to pull the wool over the eyes of the nation.” Assemblyman James Gallagher likewise dismissed the speech as “more of the same,” arguing it was time for what he described as a “third wave politics” of both parties working together to solve California’s problems. The statewide election to replace term-limited Gov. Newsom is scheduled for November 2026. Newsom’s office did not provide additional comment beyond clarifying the lawsuit figure to Fox News Digital regarding Thursday’s State of the State address. Fox News Digital’s Madison Colombo contributed to this story.
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Jeffries slams Noem over Minneapolis shooting response
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… -National security experts sound alarm over CCP-linked land ownership near US military bases: ‘Unthinkable’ -Mamdani adviser, Warren in the hot seat as collapse of Roomba maker shifts data to China -Trump backs ICE agent, reviews video with NYT reporters after Minneapolis shooting Democratic leaders in Congress condemned the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Thursday, calling for immediate investigations and dismissing the narrative of the shooting provided by President Donald Trump’s administration. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made the statement joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during a Thursday morning press conference. Jeffries condemned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as a “stone-cold liar,” while Schumer said he doesn’t trust the current administration to adequately investigate the shooting. “Let me first say that the killing of Renee Nicole Good was an abomination, a disgrace. And blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who have been pushing an extreme policy that has nothing to do with immigration enforcement connected to removing violent felons from this country,” Jeffries said…READ MORE. HOLIDAY ROUNDUP: DHS nabs sexual abusers, drug dealers in worst-of-the-worst Christmastime operation POLITICAL PILE-ON: Vance rips Walz after Civil War remarks following ICE shooting, claims governor ‘enabled fraud’ NATIONAL CRACKDOWN: JD Vance announces multi-state fraud task force in wake of Minnesota scandal ‘SIMPLE QUESTION’: Vance demand Democrats answer whether ICE officer in Minneapolis shooting was ‘wrong in defending his life’ RED LINE: AG Pam Bondi warns Minnesota protesters after ICE shooting: ‘Do not test our resolve’ LEVY LIMITS: Trump’s tariff boom hits record highs as Supreme Court showdown looms BIG BUILDUP: Trump calls for $1.5T defense budget to build ‘dream military’ GOP MUTINY: Dozens of House Republicans defy Trump, join Democrats in failed veto override effort SHUTDOWN CLOCK: House passes nearly $180B funding package after conservative rebellion over Minnesota fraud fears RULE OF LAW: House Dem introduces bill after Venezuela operation to block presidents from bypassing Congress GOP MUTINY: Trump blasts GOP war powers defectors, says they ‘should never be elected to office again’ $9 BILLION GONE: Senate Republicans eye reconciliation to address Minnesota fraud scandal DEM EXODUS: Hoyer won’t seek re-election, says House has strayed from founders’ vision ‘NO RETREAT’: Top Republican with ‘army’ of supporters makes major announcement as Shapiro launches re-elect campaign ‘UNCLEAN’ WALZ: Blagojevich tells Walz if he didn’t do it, ‘go down fighting’ in fraud case: ‘He’s quitting/Makes me think his hands are unclean’ BILLION DOLLAR BIAS: Legal experts warn of ‘biggest scandal in litigation’ if SCOTUS doesn’t end ‘hometowning’ of lawsuits against US oil NOT ‘LAWFUL’: Federal judge disqualifies US attorney, tosses subpoenas targeting NY AG Letitia James Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Supreme Court tariff ruling has Trump administration, US businesses bracing for impact
The Supreme Court could rule as early as Friday on President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency law to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, a closely watched case with major implications for businesses and the president himself. At issue is the president’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose two sweeping sets of tariffs, including the 10% global tariffs and the higher, so-called “reciprocal” tariffs in early April. Lower courts had ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in using IEEPA as a means of quickly enacting those import fees, prompting the Supreme Court to take up the case on an expedited basis last year. A decision is expected by June at the latest. US COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE SIDES WITH TRUMP IN TARIFF CASE But justices on the high court, including Trump’s own appointees, appeared skeptical of the administration’s claim during oral arguments that the IEEPA gives a sitting president the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, leaving open the question of what might happen if the high court rules against the president. Trump, for his part, has described the matter as “life and death,” and senior administration officials have warned for months of dire economic consequences if the high court were to undo the tariffs enacted by Trump, which have remained in place as the courts considered the case on its merits. But the short answer, experts told Fox News Digital, is that not much would change immediately, and it would almost certainly involve more litigation. In the months since the high court reviewed the consolidated case, Learning Resources, Inc, and V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, hundreds of businesses have filed new cases against the Trump administration over IEEPA, aimed at clawing back the higher import duties they’ve shouldered since his tariffs took force. The U.S. collected more than $133 billion in IEEPA tariff duties as of mid-December, according to data published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency last month. And, assuming the Supreme Court does not specifically outline a remedy portion of its ruling for the executive branch to follow, the cases will be punted back to the lower courts to chart a path forward, lawyers for the new plaintiffs said. “There’s a group of us working with the Department of Justice on getting a case management plan implemented,” Erik Smithweiss, a trade lawyer representing some of the companies that have filed the new tariff lawsuits, told Fox News Digital in an interview. SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH TRUMP TARIFF POWERS IN BLOCKBUSTER CASE “In the event the tariffs are found to be unlawful, the Court of International Trade (CIT) is going to manage these thousands of lawsuits and many more that may be coming.” Trump, for his part, has railed against that outcome, which he described in a Truth Social post as a “National Security catastrophe.” Lawyers for the Trump administration argued in court that the IEEPA law in question allows a president to act in response to “unusual and extraordinary threats” and in cases where a national emergency has been declared. Trump has claimed that deep and “sustained” trade deficits amount to a national emergency, allowing him, in the lawyers’ view, to invoke IEEPA. Plaintiffs counter that, in the 50 years since its passage, the law has never been used by a president to impose tariffs. They argue that permitting Trump to use the law to enact tariffs would drastically expand his powers at the expense of other branches of government. Others were more cautious about the possible impact. TRUMP WARNS SUPREME COURT TARIFF SHOWDOWN IS ‘LIFE OR DEATH’ FOR AMERICA “It’s a fascinating situation because it’s super important. But, in the short run, economically, this doesn’t matter a huge deal,” Philip Luck, the director of the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Fox News Digital in an interview. “It matters in the sense that, yes, if this comes down, some goods will become cheaper,” Luck said when asked what would happen if the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s use of IEEPA to impose his tariffs. “Some exporters will be able to export to the United States more cheaply.” On its own, though, the ruling is unlikely to stop the Trump administration from imposing the tariffs via other mechanisms at its disposal, including Section 232, by which the administration can enact industry-wide tariffs for a set period of time, or under Section 301, which allows the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to enact tariffs at a president’s direction in response to countries that are determined to have “discriminatory” trade practices towards U.S. businesses. “More broadly, so long as this administration is intent on raising barriers to a broad set of important goods, they will be able to do that again,” Luck said. “A few sectoral tariffs onto very broad sectors and a few country-level tariffs — if you levy tariffs on our large trading partners — cover some 90% of our trade.”
17 Republicans rebel against House GOP leaders, join Dems to pass Obamacare extension
The House of Representatives passed a bill to revive and extend COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies in a major victory for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Seventeen House Republicans broke ranks with GOP leaders to support the legislation after Democrats were successful in forcing a vote via a mechanism called a privileged resolution. The bill passed 230-196. A discharge petition is a mechanism for getting legislation considered on the House floor even if the majority’s leadership is opposed to it, provided the petition gets a majority of House lawmakers’ signatures. CONGRESS FAILS TO SAVE OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES AFTER SHUTDOWN FIGHT, PREMIUMS SET TO SURGE Jeffries filed a discharge petition late last year, which was then signed by four House Republicans — helping it clinch the critical majority threshold. Five more House Republicans joined Democrats in a vote Wednesday evening to advance the legislation for final consideration Thursday. The 17 Republicans who voted for the legislation were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.; Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa.; Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa.; Mike Carey, R-Ohio; Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas; Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y.; Jeff Hurd, R-Colo.; Dave Joyce, R-Ohio; Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., Max Miller, R-Ohio; Zach Nunn, R-Iowa; Maria Salazar, R-Fla.; Dave Valadao, R-Calif.; Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.; and Rob Wittman, R-Va. It underscores the perilously slim margins Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is governing with. House Republicans hold just a two-vote majority with full attendance on both sides, numbers that could easily shift when lawmakers are absent for personal or health reasons. As Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., put to reporters on Wednesday morning, “We are one flu season away from losing the majority.” The successful vote on Thursday is a blow for Johnson, who argued for weeks that the majority of House Republicans were opposed to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax subsidies. But a significant number of GOP moderates were frustrated that their party leaders in the House and Senate had done little to avert a price hike for millions of Americans’ insurance premiums. A Democrat-controlled Congress voted twice, in 2020 and in 2021, to enhance Obamacare subsidies to give more people access to federal healthcare during the pandemic. SEN JIM JUSTICE SAYS REPUBLICANS ARE ‘LOUSY’ AT KNOWING WHAT EVERYDAY AMERICANS THINK ABOUT HEALTHCARE Those subsidies were only extended through 2025, however. The vast majority of Republicans believe the subsidies are a COVID-era relic of a long-broken federal healthcare system. Conservatives argued that the relatively small percentage of Americans who rely on Obamacare meant that an extension would do little to ease rising health costs that people across the country are experiencing. But a core group of moderates has been arguing that a failure to extend a reformed version of them would force millions of Americans to grapple with skyrocketing healthcare costs this year. Those moderates were also frustrated with Jeffries for not working with Republicans on a bipartisan solution to the subsidies but felt they were left with little choice but to support Democrats’ bid in the end. House Republicans passed a healthcare bill in mid-December aimed at lowering those costs for a broader swath of Americans, but that legislation has not been taken up in the Senate. There’s also little chance the three-year extension will pass the upper chamber, however. Similar legislation led by Senate Democrats failed to reach the necessary 60-vote threshold to advance in December.