Mamdani touts landmark court victory against repeat offender landlord in housing enforcement push
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday touted a Bronx Supreme Court judgment he said has already topped $2.1 million against Bronx landlord Seth Miller, portraying the case as a new template for City Hall to squeeze owners who don’t fix violations. Speaking at Bronx Borough Hall, Mamdani said the court found that “years of uncorrected code violations at 919 Prospect Avenue constitute a public nuisance,” and ordered penalties of “$1,000 a day” for violations dating back to April 21, 2019, “totaling more than $2.1 million so far,” with “fines continuing to accrue” if repairs are not made. “Since your landlord, a repeat offender on New York City’s annual Worst Landlord Watch List, purchased the property in 2011, your tenants have faced an unending stream of violations that have taken a toll on their health, safety and well-being,” he said. “We are speaking of infestations of, mice, rats and cockroaches; leaking pipes; collapsed ceilings; black mold; and lead paint. The list of abuses and failures, frankly, goes on.” “This is a landmark victory,” he said, saying it was “the first time that the court has levied the maximum civil penalties allowed on a landlord under the Nuisance Abatement Law.” IS MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST PUSH FOR RENT CONTROLS ABOUT TO WRECK THE NEW YORK CITY HOUSING MARKET? He also warned other owners: “If you do not change your ways, we now have a strong precedent to pursue the same kind of legal action against you.” Mamdani’s corporation counsel, Steven Banks, declined to spell out how the city would force compliance if the landlord attempts bankruptcy tactics. “There are multiple ways forward. I’ve always learned [that] when dealing with somebody like this particular landlord, it’s best not to telegraph exactly what we’re going to do,” Banks said. “But rest assured: we will be ready.” The mayor said the city has “allocated more than $85 million in our preliminary budget to add 200 new attorneys and 100 support staff to our Law Department,” arguing the goal is compliance, not revenue. The push escalates Mamdani’s day-one posture that targeted landlords and promised aggressive legal intervention. On Jan. 1 at his inauguration, Mamdani vowed, “We will make sure that 311 violations are resolved.” “Today is the start of a new era for New York City,” Mamdani said. “It is inauguration day. It is also the day that the rent is due.” HOURS AFTER TAKING OFFICE, NYC MAYOR MAMDANI TARGETS LANDLORDS, MOVES TO INTERVENE IN PRIVATE BANKRUPTCY CASE During his day one action plan, Mamdani announced an executive order creating a LIFT task force, or a land-inventory effort designed to leverage city-owned land and accelerate housing development. He said the task force will review city-owned properties and identify sites suitable for housing development no later than July 1. He also announced the SPEED task force, which Mamdani said stands for Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development. He said the task force will work to remove permitting barriers that slow housing construction. Both task forces will be overseen by Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Lila Joseph, he said. “These are sweeping measures, but it is just the beginning of a comprehensive effort to champion the cause of tenants,” Mamdani said. WATCH: Landlord groups have attacked Mamdani’s tenant-protection chief, Cea Weaver, a longtime housing activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), over past comments linking homeownership to “White supremacy,” calling them “racist” and evidence of hostility to property owners. Speaking about housing policy and equity in a March 2021 DSA video, Weaver said, “For centuries, we’ve really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good, and we are going to … in transitioning to treating it as a collective good and towards a model of shared equity, will require that we think about it differently.” “Families, especially White families, but some POC families who are homeowners as well, are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have,” she added. Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
Soros-backed DA sparks backlash after blaming Old Dominion shooting on pro-gun lawmakers: ‘F— right off’
The George Soros-backed district attorney in Norfolk, Virginia, where Thursday’s mass shooting at Old Dominion University took place, doubled down on his viral comments, saying community members looking to place blame on the shooting should direct it towards pro-gun lawmakers and judges. Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi was pressed by Fox News Digital to elaborate on his comments during the press conference earlier, prompting him to stand by his comments. “I absolutely stand by what I said. It is the truth, no matter how much the gun lobby wants to deny it,” Fatehi said when asked if he stood by his comments despite Thursday’s mass shooter in Virginia having a public record of supporting Islamic terrorism. The shooter, a former National Guardsman and naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, was previously sentenced in 2017 for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, but appears to have been released by the federal Bureau of Prisons in late 2024 during the Biden administration. NYC BOOSTS PATROLS AMID ‘HEIGHTENED THREAT ENVIRONMENT,’ AFTER GUNMAN RAMS TRUCK INTO MICHIGAN SYNAGOGUE “We have confirmed reports that prior to him conducting this act of terrorism, he shouted all our stated Allahu Akbar,” Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans said in a Thursday evening news conference. “No matter the ideology of an attacker, that attacker is more dangerous with a gun than without one,” Fatehi, whose top two donors include the Soros-subsidized Justice and Public Safety PAC and Democracy PAC, said. A Fox News Digital review found that the two Soros-funded PACs donated over $650,000 combined to his campaign coffers between 2021 and 2025. A conservative group that tracks nonprofit spending, The Capital Research Center, reported that across a decade, between 2012 and 2022, Soros spent $40 million on the Justice and Public Safety PAC, which is known for supporting left-wing prosecutors. Democracy PAC, a super PAC created by Soros in 2019, was given nearly $30 million during the first three months of 2020, The Capital Research Center also reported. Some of the better-known liberal prosecutors supported by these Soros-backed groups include recalled San Francisco district attorney, Chesa Boudin, former Chicago district attorney, Kim Foxx, and former Los Angeles district attorney, George Gascon, according to the Capital Research Center. On Thursday, Fatehi, who has served as the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Norfolk since 2022, walked up to the podium during a post-shooting press conference unprovoked before giving his remarks about who should be to blame – at least in part – for the shooting. “I’m constrained in what I can say about the facts of the case, but I can speak a little more freely about the bigger questions,” Fatehi said after walking up to the podium. ‘UNDER SIEGE’: INSIDE THE GROWING RADICAL ISLAM THREAT CRITICS SAY IS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IN DEEP RED TEXAS “These men work every day to make people safe,” he continued, referring to law enforcement officials. “People are as safe on the ODU campus as anywhere, arguably safer than in other parts of Norfolk. But this is not an ODU problem. This is a national sickness. We live in a country where people care more about guns than they care about 6-year-old children. They care more about guns than they care about synagogue worshipers. And they care more about guns than they do about college students.” The left-wing prosecutor went on to say that it doesn’t matter “how hard” law enforcement or the university works to ensure tragic incidents like what happened Thursday, are not repeated, adding that “somebody will be a victim eventually.” These remarks sparked backlash on social media, with several conservatives attacking him and bringing up the criminal history of the shooter. “I really try not to cuss here, but Fatehi can f— right off with this statement,” BearingArms editor Cam Edwards posted on X. “Given this lunatic is the DA, there’s like a 90% chance he’s going to charge the hero who stabbed the Islamist to death to stop the attack,” RedState writer Bonchie wrote on X. “You see, ISIS terrorists wouldn’t be terrorists if it weren’t for Republican gun culture or something,” Bonchie said in another X post. “Mind-numbing.” “I generally stop short of telling bad faith morons to go to hell because eternal damnation isn’t a trifling matter, but this level of intentional and malicious imbecility is testing my resolve,” Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, wrote on X. “Until there is the political will to break the spell of the cult of gun absolutism, you will see more incidents like this. So, if you are looking for somebody to blame, don’t look at anybody up here, look at our lawmakers who don’t have the courage to implement sensible gun control measures, look to a Supreme Court that enables them, and do something about it,” Fatehi continued. “That is the lesson – let’s mourn the people who’ve died, let’s decry what has happened, but let’s keep the focus where it belongs. It belongs on us, and having to change something so that we don’t have to suffer through this.” Multiple federal sources confirmed to Fox News that the suspected shooter at ODU was Mohamed Jalloh. The shooting occurred shortly before 10:49 a.m., the university said in an emergency alert. The gunman was later pronounced dead when responding officers arrived following a shooting near ROTC cadets, Police Chief Garrett Shelton told reporters during a news conference. Reporting from the New York Post indicated that Jalloh was targeting ROTC members on campus, before one eventually stepped in to stop the madness, stabbing and killing the suspect. Later in the day Thursday, ODU Police Chief Garrett Shelton indicated one victim died from the shooting, along with the gunman, while two others were injured. FBI Director Kash Patel also indicated Thursday that federal authorities were investigating the matter as an act of terrorism.
Illegal alien’s violent tussle with federal officer leads to multiple charges after suspected Biden-era entry
The Justice Department filed a criminal complaint this week against a Venezuelan national accused of assaulting a federal officer and grabbing and possessing the officer’s gun while resisting arrest outside a business earlier this month. Law enforcement officers assigned to the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Task Force, or HSTF, began surveillance near a business in Utica, Michigan, after receiving information that individuals living in the U.S. illegally were working at the site as delivery drivers. Agents observed a vehicle registered to Arnoldo Jose Marquez-Pulido, 33, who was leaving the parking lot, and they determined he was in the country illegally, according to a press release from the Justice Department. ‘YOU CAN CRY ABOUT IT’: TEMPERS FLARE IN SENATE AS DHS SHUTDOWN DEBATE ERUPTS, STALEMATE DIGS DEEPER After agents attempted a routine traffic stop, authorities say Marquez-Pulido briefly pulled over before fleeing from officers at a “high rate of speed.” He then returned to the business location, where he proceeded to flee on foot, the criminal complaint alleged. An HSTF agent proceeded to tackle Marquez-Pulido after he allegedly ignored the agent’s commands to stop and attempted to enter the business, the Justice Department said in a press release. During the struggle, Marquez-Pulido is accused of striking the agent in the face with his elbow and reaching for the agent’s service weapon, identified as a “Glock 19” pistol. Prosecutors say he was able to remove the gun from the agent’s holster and briefly wield it before losing control of it as the agent regained leverage. Additional officers responded and recovered the weapon from the ground. Authorities say Marquez-Pulido continued to resist before being restrained. The agent sustained a contusion to his elbow, abrasions to his knees and hands and a contusion to his cheek, officials said. A second agent sustained a knee contusion. Both were treated at a hospital and released. Marquez-Pulido was scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in Detroit this week, though prosecutors said they will seek to have him held in custody pending further proceedings. MINNESOTA DRAGS TRUMP’S ICE TO COURT IN EFFORT TO PAUSE IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN Marquez-Pulido is believed to have entered the U.S. at a San Ysidro, California, port of entry in 2024, without a visa or valid travel documents. Federal prosecutors said the allegations against the Venezuelan national underscore the dangers that some officers face while seeking to crack down on border security and enforce a hardline immigration enforcement agenda that President Donald Trump has prioritized during his second White House term. “Some say that enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is unfair because illegal aliens are all harmless,” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon of the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement. “Today’s allegations break that narrative. “High-speed flight from arrest, fighting federal agents and grabbing an agent’s gun are not ‘harmless,’” he added. “And what’s ‘unfair’ is the fact that Americans pay the price for dangerous illegal aliens.” The news comes as DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said assaults on officers have increased sharply and vowed to pursue individuals accused of violence against law enforcement. Senate lawmakers remain sharply divided over how to proceed with fully funding DHS and ending the shutdown that stretched into its 27th day Thursday. Immigration enforcement has emerged as a key sticking point for Democrats, in particular, as they continue to grapple over the specifics of a bill to fully fund the sprawling federal agency. KATIE BRITT BLASTS DEMOCRATS FOR PLAYING ‘POLITICAL GAMES’ WITH SHUTDOWN AMID AIRPORT CHAOS Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday he and most Democrats in the chamber were ready to fund “most of DHS,” including TSA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FEMA and the Coast Guard but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency or CBP. Schumer, for his part, has also accused Republicans in the chamber of blocking the bill due to disagreements over immigration, prompting a heated exchange with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “I assume the Democrat leader is aware of the fact that we have tried repeatedly to fund everything temporarily to allow the negotiations over the ICE budget to continue,” Thune shot back. Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.
Trump admin’s push to end controversial policy extended by Biden sparks backlash ahead of crucial deadline
A handful of immigrants and advocacy organizations are asking the Trump administration to extend its March 17 deadline to end the temporary protected status (TPS) afforded to Somalis in the U.S., arguing the administration is changing the immigration designation purely along lines motivated by race. The change in designation would force roughly 1,080 Somali TPS recipients to self-deport or turn themselves in to immigration enforcement, according to a Tuesday filing before a Massachusetts district court. “President Trump has smeared the Somali community publicly, categorically, and repeatedly. He has called Somali people ‘garbage’ and ‘low IQ people.’ And he has said point blank: ‘I don’t want [Somali people] in our country,’” the challenge states, referring to remarks President Donald Trump made at a Cabinet meeting last year. “They reflect a desire to target and punish Somali nationals based on their race and national origin in violation of the U.S. Constitution.” MINNESOTA FRAUD HEARING SPARKS IMMIGRATION CLASH AS GOP LAWMAKER SPOTLIGHTS SOMALI WELFARE DATA The suit was brought by African Communities Together and the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans and lists the Department of Homeland Security as a defendant. Their challenge comes amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and his administration’s continued focus on Somali populations in states like Minnesota, where alleged fraud activity has drawn national attention. Trump has had an eye toward Somalia since his first term, when, in 2017, he included the country in a travel ban. That focus resurfaced in November 2025 amid news that a number of predominantly Somali-led fraud schemes had allegedly siphoned as much as $9 billion from Minnesota government assistance programs. The news prompted Trump’s first move against Somali TPS. “Minnesota is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity. I am, as president of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota,” Trump wrote in a November post on Truth Social. US FREEZES ALL VISA PROCESSING FOR 75 COUNTRIES, INCLUDING SOMALIA, RUSSIA, IRAN Outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem made the designation switch official in January. Asked about the TPS designation in the wake of Noem’s recent ouster from the agency earlier this month, a DHS spokesperson confirmed the plans remained unchanged. “Temporary means temporary. Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for temporary protected status. Allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. The Trump administration is putting Americans first,” an agency spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Under the Immigration Law of 1990, aliens protected by TPS are allowed to work in the United States and are shielded from removal as long as their country of origin is experiencing “temporary conditions” like war or natural disaster that would prevent their safe return. The attorney general may extend a country’s TPS status for 18 months at a time. Somalia received TPS in 1991 and has held a TPS designation for 35 years. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BLOCKED FROM ENDING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIANS Tuesday’s filing argues dangerous conditions remain in place, citing terrorist activity from groups like Al-Shabaab listed in Somalia’s latest TPS extension. “The 2024 redesignation noted that ‘Somalia continues to experience widespread insecurity due to armed conflict involving state and non-state actors’ … subjecting civilians to human rights abuses, including summary executions, indiscriminate and targeted killings, gender-based violence, child recruitment, disappearances and physical abuse,” the plaintiffs argued. DHS declined to comment on its on-the-ground assessments of Somalia’s local conditions.
Legalize prostitution effort left candidate ‘shocked’ in blue state with rampant human trafficking
Michael Allen, a Republican candidate for Colorado attorney general, said he was “shocked” by a Democratic proposal to legalize prostitution, warning it would “open the floodgates” to human trafficking in Colorado. “It’s hard for me to even decipher why they’ve decided this is the time and place to introduce a radical bill like this,” Allen said in an interview with Fox News Digital. The bill, which sponsors said would “decriminalize adult commercial sexual activity,” was introduced last month by Democratic state Sens. Nick Hinrichsen and Lisa Cutter and Reps. Lorena García and Rebekah Stewart. NEWSOM KNOCKED FOR ‘INSANE’ CALIFORNIA GAS PRICES AFTER BLAMING TRUMP FOR RISING COSTS According to Allen, the bill would go far beyond Nevada’s law allowing prostitution and would make Colorado “the leader in the entire country on legalized prostitution.” “I was shocked,” Allen admitted. “It doesn’t make any sense to me. It would not solve any issue that is happening on the ground in Colorado. It would not help with our huge budget deficit. It will not help our crime deficit,” he said. “It is, frankly, very appalling to me that we’ve got four members of the left-leaning Democrat legislature who thought it would be a good idea to just open the floodgates and let these criminal actors run free without any repercussions.” The bill sponsors did not respond to requests for comment. A current Colorado district attorney, Allen is one of two Republicans running to flip one of the state’s top offices red. If successful, Allen would be the first Republican elected attorney general in over a decade. Allen said, despite the state being dominated by Democrats, he believes that, after 10 years of “devastatingly bad criminal justice reform,” voters are ready for a Republican attorney general. Though the bill appears to have stalled for now in the state legislature, Allen said it demonstrates how the Democratic Party is “not doing the right things on behalf of the people in this state.” The only outcome he predicts will result should the prostitution bill ever pass is “continued depravity in the state of Colorado.” DEMOCRAT RISING STAR CALLED OUT FOR ‘CREEPY’ COMMENT ABOUT TRANSGENDER CHILDREN “Prostitution is a natural outgrowth of human trafficking,” he said. “The links are undeniable.” He explained that, in Colorado, “You’ve got two major corridors of travel that go through the state,” which, he said, “are major arteries for human trafficking, and we see that in the Denver metro area as a huge hub for human trafficking.” Colorado is seeing record highs in human trafficking victims and is ranked among the states with the highest numbers of reports, according to data gathered by the Common Sense Institute. Further, according to the study, 79% of Colorado human trafficking crimes were for the purposes of commercial sex. The study also backs Allen’s claim that the trafficking is concentrated in the Denver area. MODERATE DEMOCRATS LOOKING PAST KAMALA HARRIS FOR 2028, SUGGESTING PARTY ‘START OVER’ As attorney general, Allen vowed to work to finally turn the tables on the rampant human trafficking in Colorado. “The attorney general’s office has the ability to use the statewide grand jury to investigate those crimes and then also prosecute those crimes and hold people accountable,” he said. He believes the upcoming midterm election in Colorado, including his race for attorney general, will be “pivotal.” “We need to have a better, stronger and more effective posture from our Colorado Attorney General’s Office to combat criminal activity that is, frankly, affecting the entire state of Colorado,” he said.
Manchin rips Cornyn for filibuster flip as Texas GOP runoff looms
Sen. John Cornyn’s reversal on scrapping the Senate filibuster is sparking backlash among some supporters of the 60-vote rule, with one leading proponent, former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., accusing the Texas Republican of ditching his long-standing position for political expediency. “When I was a U.S. Senator, there was not another person more committed to keeping the filibuster than Senator John Cornyn,” Manchin wrote in a scathing social media post Thursday. “He understood the incredible political pressure I faced from my former party to get rid of the filibuster and give Democrats complete power — and at the time, he understood why neither party should take our country past this point of no return.” “These extreme election-year politics that put party power over everything else are why Americans are sick and tired of the duopoly of the two-party system of Democrats and Republicans,” Manchin added. Cornyn, who is locked in a heated run-off election to win a fifth Senate term, called on Republicans in an op-ed Wednesday to consider ditching the filibuster Wednesday to pass a Trump-backed election bill. The measure, known as the (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) SAVE Act, is facing an uphill battle in the Senate due to expected unanimous opposition from Democrats. Under Senate rules, most legislation is subject to a 60-vote threshold to cut off debate and move on to final passage. The editorial was a notable shift for the Texas Republican, who previously defended the merits of the filibuster. “For many years, I believed that if the U.S. Senate scrapped the filibuster, Texas and our nation would stand to lose more than we would gain,” Cornyn wrote. “But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.” Cornyn is currently vying in a two-man race against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, R-Texas, and President Donald Trump’s endorsement could prove decisive. The president has repeatedly called on Senate Republicans to abolish the 60-vote requirement or pursue a rarely tried talking filibuster and send the SAVE America Act to his desk. Paxton had previously come out in support of ending the Senate filibuster. TRUMP, THUNE CLASH ON VOTER ID ULTIMATUM AS GOP REMAINS DIVIDED ON PATH FORWARD Manchin, a former Democrat-turned-Independent who passed on running for re-election in 2024, alleged that Cornyn personally reached out to him after he defeated Democrats’ gambit to nix the 60-vote rule under former President Joe Biden. In early 2022, Manchin supplied the critical vote alongside former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Republicans to tank a Democratic-led effort to abolish the filibuster and pass so-called voting rights legislation. “It’s deeply disappointing to see that Senator Cornyn is now willing to scrap the very rule he once praised and personally thanked me for defending,” Manchin wrote. At that time, Cornyn urged Democrats to preserve the filibuster while Republicans were serving in the minority. “Power is fleeting and at some point the shoe will always be on the other foot,” Cornyn said in a floor speech. “Liberal activists may like the idea of nuking the filibuster today, but they’ll soon find themselves ruing the day their party broke the Senate.” COLLINS BOOSTS REPUBLICAN VOTER ID EFFORT, BUT WON’T SCRAP FILIBUSTER Cornyn denied Manchin’s account Thursday. He has also argued that his reversal on the Senate filibuster was not aimed at winning Trump’s endorsement. “There’s no Joe Manchins left in the Democratic Party and no Kyrsten Sinemas… this is an entirely different circumstance, dealing with Democrats who will not negotiate or consider anything that President Trump or Republicans want,” the Texas Republican told reporters. “We can either accept that or we can fight back, and I think we should fight back.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who has come under significant pressure from Trump and conservative influencers to pass the SAVE America Act, indicated Wednesday that the filibuster is here to stay regardless of Cornyn’s pleas. “Senator Cornyn is one of 53 Republican senators, and the opposition to nuking the filibuster runs very, very deep in our conference,” Thune told reporters. Manchin has continued to sing the filibuster’s praises in his retirement, arguing that the 60-vote threshold protects the minority party and forces legislation to be bipartisan. “The filibuster — the soul of the Senate — has preserved the Senate’s role for nearly 250 years as the institution that cools passions, protects minority voices, and demands consensus,” Manchin said. “America was built on institutions designed to resist political convenience, not surrender to it.” Fox News Digital reached out to Cornyn’s office for comment.
Schumer swings at Hegseth over king crab meals for the troops, but Biden-era receipts show similar tab
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is facing backlash for criticizing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for the Pentagon’s spending on luxury items, including food for the miliary, despite similar expenses under former Biden administration Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin. The top Senate Democrat said Hegseth’s spending in the final month of fiscal year 2025, $93.4 billion, which included millions of dollars on steak, seafood and furniture, could have instead been used to extend the Affordable Care Act. Social media users panned Schumer online for the remarks, accusing him of cherry-picking a politically convenient area to care about spending, lambasting him for not supporting feeding high-quality meals to military members and citing similar defense spending during the Biden era. “Hegseth spent $93 billion in one month – roughly the cost of extending the ACA tax credits for THREE YEARS,” Schumer wrote. “But instead of lowering American’s healthcare costs, Hegseth used millions of taxpayer dollars on fruit baskets, Herman Miller recliners, ice cream machines, Alaskan King Crabs, and a Steinway & Sons grand piano. TRUMP SAYS HE BELIEVES HEGSETH ‘100%’ ON VENEZUELAN DRUG BOAT STRIKE DENIAL AMID ALLEGATIONS “A true grifter in every sense of the word.” During the Biden administration, Austin’s spending nearly mirrored Hegseth’s. Food expenses across administrations went toward feeding members of the military, according to the nonprofit Open the Books, which conducted the spending analyses. There is no record of Schumer scrutinizing Austin’s spending. Fox News Digital reached out to the senator’s office for comment on the matter. Defense spending is historically modest compared to past decades, representing a small fraction of the United States’ gross domestic product at 3.7%. Its share of the GDP has decreased significantly since the 1950s, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Schumer’s grievance also comes as he leads Senate Democrats’ resistance to funding the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down for about a month. Democrats have demanded changes to the department’s deportation policies, which are nonstarters for Republicans. Essential DHS components, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, remain operational at this stage, but some agencies, like the Transportation Security Administration, are facing pains as workers go unpaid. Critics slammed Schumer over the comment on social media. Fox News analyst Guy Benson called Schumer “the leader of the ‘Learing Center’ fraud party,” in reference to a viral video about welfare fraud scandals in Minnesota, saying Schumer “finally [discovered] one spending line item he’s willing to cut.” Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, said Schumer “thinks it’s bad that U.S. troops get to eat steak & lobster during deployment” and that the Affordable Care Act is a “failed” plan that makes healthcare more expensive. “Remember that Democrats would have you eating MREs,” another commenter posted, referring to military-issued “Meals Ready to Eat.” “Chuck Schumer hates the troops,” Republican communicator Steve Guest wrote. A commentary writer for the conservative Washington Examiner said, “You said nothing in 2024.” Another social media user told Schumer he “should’ve done the 30 seconds of research to find Lloyd Austin’s September 2024 expenditures before posting. Missed your outrage back then.” Hegseth’s spending in September 2025 was the highest the Pentagon has seen on grants and contracts since September 2008. Austin, however, held the record before that, spending $79.1 billion in September 2024. The last month of the fiscal year has long been notorious for spending that appears lavish as agencies face pressure to “use it or lose it” so that they can justify keeping their budget for the next year. Contract and grant payment schedules also include September due dates, which can contribute to the spending uptick. In 2024 under Austin, according to an audit by Open the Books, “the military spent $103.7 million on meat, fish and poultry in September, partially because it ordered raw lobster tail 147 times for $6.1 million. It also dropped $16.6 million on ribeye steak, $6.4 million on salmon and $407,000 on Alaskan king crab.” Similar to Austin, Hegseth spent $6.9 million on lobster tail, Open the Books found. Austin spent about $1.5 million more than Hegseth on ribeye steaks. Hegseth more than quadrupled Austin’s spending on Alaskan king crab, while Austin’s spending on salmon was roughly six times that of Hegseth’s. The food went toward feeding military personnel, the nonprofit noted. The Biden and Trump administration’s Pentagon expenses saw parallels for other line items, too. Hegseth’s $5.3 million on Apple products is comparable to Austin’s $5.1 million. Both spent more than $1 million on musical instruments. Hegseth tripled Austin’s spending on footrests at about $111,000, according to the data. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office and the Pentagon.
Dems vote to keep DHS closed despite airport chaos, Iranian sleeper cell threat
Senate Republicans are accusing Senate Democrats of trying to rip apart the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) piece by piece after again blocking a bid to reopen the agency. Little has changed in the stalemate over the last 27 days of the partial shutdown, and communication breakdowns are dominating what could be opportunities for negotiations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are still demanding stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Senate Republicans are dug in against their top demands. ‘YOU CAN CRY ABOUT IT’: TEMPERS FLARE IN SENATE AS DHS SHUTDOWN DEBATE ERUPTS, STALEMATE DIGS DEEPER Throughout the day, Senate Democrats tried to offer individual bills to fund pieces and parts of DHS. A fired-up Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., accused Senate Democrats of trying to rip the agency apart at a moment it was designed for, as the war in Iran has spurred threats of retaliation in the U.S. by sleeper cells. “And that’s at a time when our homeland is under attack, all warning lights are flashing red, and they want to peel apart, piece by piece, the Department of Homeland Security, the comprehensive department of our government to protect the American people, because they want to stand with illegal immigrant criminals,” Barrasso said. Schumer declared that Senate Democrats would continue to provide piecemeal funding bills to reopen certain portions of the agency, like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while negotiations continued. Both sides are far apart from finding a compromise, as many lawmakers have acknowledged in the ongoing fight to reopen the agency, but Democrats believe that carving out ICE funding could be a palatable option for Republicans, given that immigration operations were funded with President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” KATIE BRITT BLASTS DEMOCRATS FOR PLAYING ‘POLITICAL GAMES’ WITH SHUTDOWN AMID AIRPORT CHAOS “We don’t have to tie that disagreement up and use people at the airports and American citizens as hostages,” Schumer said. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., argued that doing so would effectively return Congress to the “defund the police” era and drew a sharp red line against any kind of carveout proposal from Senate Democrats. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who has offered a DHS funding bill without ICE or Customs and Border Patrol, told Fox News Digital that criticism was “not true.” “It was funded by the [‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’] and we have told them they’re not going to fund ICE until there are reforms to ICE,” Murray said. “We have made that clear. We put them out there, and they are pretending to just ignore that.” KRISTI NOEM’S FIRING FAILS TO SWAY DEMOCRATS AS DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., shot back that Republicans have tried on several occasions to temporarily fund the agency with short-term, two-week continuing resolutions (CRs) that Democrats have blocked. “I assume the Democrat leader is aware of the fact that we have tried repeatedly to fund everything temporarily to allow the negotiations over the ICE budget to continue,” Thune said. While several attempts from both sides were made to either fund the agency in chunks or reopen it temporarily, each was blocked. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who tried to force a vote on a standalone funding bill for TSA as lines at airports around the country swell while security agents go without pay, told Fox News Digital that Republicans’ move to block her bill showed they “don’t care about their constituents, the traveling public, and the folks who work there who are not part of this discussion or this argument.” “It says the Republican priorities are just for Donald Trump and no one else,” Rosen said.
Pentagon estimates Iran war cost $11.3B in the first six days in closed-door congressional hearing: report
Pentagon officials on Tuesday told legislators during a closed-door briefing that they estimated that the cost of the Iran war was more than $11.3 billion during the initial six days of the conflict, the New York Times reported, citing three unnamed individuals familiar with the briefing. That estimate did not encompass many expenses tied to the effort, such as buildup of military assets and personnel prior to the first strikes, the outlet added. Other reports indicate that the briefing involved senators. A Senate Armed Services Committee staffer, who noted that he could only speak for the minority staff and Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., referred Fox News Digital to a March 10 letter that the senator sent to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, pressing for information about the costs of the war. US DESTROYS AGING IRANIAN WARPLANES, VIDEO SHOWS “Since the initial strikes on February 28, 2026, how much has the Department spent on these operations? How much are the daily costs of these operations? What are the costs to readiness? How much funding does the Department need to replenish munitions and aircraft combat losses?” Reed asked in part of the letter. No comment was provided by the GOP side of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Department of War and the House Armed Services Committee Republican communications office on Thursday. The war-related outlays come as the ever-expanding U.S. national debt nears the $39 trillion mark. And while President Donald Trump has been waging the costly war in conjunction with Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, Americans have been seeing a significant surge in gas prices at home. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!” Trump said in a Thursday Truth Social post.
Trump-backed affordable housing overhaul clears Senate, while House GOP raises red flags
A massive bipartisan swell advanced a Trump-backed affordable housing package out of the Senate on Thursday, but its fate in the House is up in the air. The bill, renamed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to incorporate a previous Senate housing bill that stalled last year, easily sailed through the upper chamber, given that many lawmakers support the wide-ranging slate of measures designed to increase the supply of affordable housing. In its original form, the legislation was primarily intended to help first-time homebuyers and lower-income Americans enter the housing market or gain access to more affordable housing options. BIPARTISAN HOUSING PUSH ADVANCES, BUT TRUMP-BACKED INVESTOR BAN FACES RESISTANCE The Senate tweaked the legislation, adding a ban on institutional investors sought by President Donald Trump, who earlier this year signed an executive order barring the practice. During his State of the Union address last month, Trump urged Congress to codify the ban and said, “We want homes for people, not for corporations.” That provision gave some heartburn, notably to Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and several industry groups, who warned that the way it was designed — forcing owners of 350 or more units to sell after seven years — would kneecap the build-to-rent market and harm the supply of rentals throughout the country. That was not enough to slow the bill down in the Senate, but Trump’s declaration that he wouldn’t sign any bills unless the Senate passed voter ID legislation, along with House Republicans grumbling over changes to the bill, could spell trouble ahead. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., co-lead of the House’s version of the bill, told Fox News Digital, “It seems to me that there are outstanding concerns with the Senate’s housing bill as currently drafted.” HOUSE PASSES BIPARTISAN HOUSING BILL AS TRUMP ZEROES IN ON AFFORDABILITY CRISIS He echoed Schatz’s concern about the build-to-rent supply consequences and added that the bill was “intended to cut costs, but the Senate removed important bipartisan House provisions that would have slashed barriers to building more homes.” “Their process is still ongoing, and I am holding out hope for some fixes, but time runs short,” Flood said. “Given the bill’s current state, I think a conference may be the most viable path forward.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he believes that once the bill makes it through the Senate, “the White House will be wanting to work with our House counterparts to try and get it passed over there and get it on the President’s desk.” BIPARTISAN PLAN AIMS TO MAKE THE AMERICAN DREAM AFFORDABLE AGAIN FOR MILLIONS OF FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS “We know we’ve added some things to the bill here in the Senate that were designed to make it more palatable to the House. I know there are other issues they would like to address in it, some of the banking issues too, but I think this is, by and large, a housing bill.” “So, we think we have really put together a strong bill,” Thune continued. “It’s something that hasn’t been done in over a decade.” It’s a product of negotiations between Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., its top Democrat. The pair argued that the changes made should make the legislation more palatable to their House counterparts. “The package includes the vast majority of the Senate’s unanimously supported ROAD to Housing Act, incorporates bipartisan ideas from the House, and takes a good first step to rein in corporate landlords that are squeezing families out of homeownership,” Warren said earlier this month. “Congress should pass this package and continue working on further legislation to combat our nation’s housing crisis.”