Trump nominates Jan. 6 defense attorney for top prosecutor role in DC
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he would be nominating interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin to head the office. Trump announced the nomination in a Truth Social post, writing, “Since Inauguration Day, Ed has been doing a great job as Interim U.S. Attorney, fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation’s Capital Safe and Beautiful Again. He will get the job done.” “Congratulations Ed!” Trump wrote. TRUMP NOMINATES JUDGE TO SERVE AS NEXT US ATTORNEY FOR SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Martin began serving in an interim capacity shortly after Trump’s inauguration. Since taking over the position, Martin has overseen the dismissals of various Jan. 6 cases after Trump pardoned and commuted the defendants. Martin filed a motion to remove all remaining conditions imposed on several defendants with commutations, including restrictions that barred certain individuals from entering Washington, D.C., or the U.S. Capitol building. TRUMP DOJ BRINGS DOWN ‘SOVEREIGN’ DISTRICT OF NEW YORK “If a judge decided that Jim Biden, General Mark Milley, or another individual were forbidden to visit America’s capital – even after receiving a last-minute, preemptive pardon from the former President – I believe most Americans would object,” Martin said in a statement released at the time. “The individuals referenced in our motion have had their sentences commuted – period, end of sentence.” Martin had previously represented three defendants in the Jan. 6 prosecutions and participated in a pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” rally. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR VOWS TO PROTECT DOGE STAFFERS FROM ANY ‘THREATS, CONFRONTATIONS’ TARGETING MUSK TEAM Martin has also expressed that he would “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes” the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) work as it seeks to slash unnecessary government spending. Martin penned a letter on the subject shortly after being appointed, where he vowed to hold said individuals accountable. “I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE have been targeted publicly,” Martin wrote to Elon Musk in a letter, which Martin posted to his X account Monday. “At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws.” Likewise, Martin responded to Elon Musk on Monday, after Musk tweeted out on X against individuals making threats against the president. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Threats against public officials at all levels – whether it be the president or a line federal worker – must stop,” Martin wrote. “Our safe and beautiful capital city cannot be the home of such dangerous conduct from any side, at any time. We are on the case.” Martin is originally from New Jersey and earned his undergraduate degree in English and a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies from the College of the Holy Cross. After studying abroad, Martin pursued his legal and ethics degrees from the St. Louis University. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
NY judge orders Eric Adams, Trump DOJ officials to court over motion to dismiss corruption charges
A federal judge in New York City ordered Mayor Eric Adams and Trump administration Department of Justice (DOJ) officials to court over the motion to dismiss corruption charges filed under the Biden administration. In an order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho directed both parties to appear before the Lower Manhattan court on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. The judge also ordered Adams to file his “consent in writing” to the motion to dismiss to the court docket by 5 p.m. ET Tuesday. Ho said the DOJ motion cited how Adams “consented in writing,” but no such document had been submitted to the court. The DOJ motion cites one judicial opinion regarding the federal rule for dismissal, stating “the executive branch remains the absolute judge of whether a prosecution should be initiated and the first and presumptively the best judge of whether a pending prosecution should be terminated,” and “the exercise of its discretion with respect to the termination of pending prosecutions should not be judicially disturbed unless clearly contrary to manifest public interest.” CUOMO RESPONDS AFTER EX-NEW YORK OFFICIAL CALLS FOR HIM TO BE NYC MAYOR Ho, however, cited legal history, noting that a judge has independent obligations once the government has involved the judiciary by obtaining an indictment or a conviction. Additionally, he quoted from one judicial opinion that said a judge must be “satisfied that the reasons advanced for the proposed dismissal are substantial” before approving a dismissal. Adams said four of his deputy mayors resigned on Monday in the fallout from the Justice Department’s push to end the corruption case against him and ensure his cooperation with President Donald Trump’s criminal illegal immigration crackdown. Several top prosecutors in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., also have resigned since the Justice Department filed its motion Friday seeking to drop the case. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday she is weighing removing Adams from office. Her former boss, ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is among those rumored to be considering a challenge to Adams in June’s Democratic mayoral primary, though he has not officially announced his candidacy. Among the candidates already in the race against the first-term mayor is former City Comptroller Scott Stringer and current City Comptroller Brad Lander. Lander, a progressive endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., threatened to initiate a process of removing Adams without the governor’s approval. In a letter to Hochul on Tuesday, Stringer implored the governor to remove Adams, arguing the mayor “has lost the confidence of not only a growing number of other elected leaders and ordinary New Yorkers, but those in closest proximity to him – public servants he hired to aid in managing a massive workforce and budget.” The Justice Department, meanwhile, is investigating alleged “insubordination” among federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. Adams has pleaded not guilty to charges that, while in his prior role as Brooklyn borough president, he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks from a Turkish official and business leaders seeking to buy his influence. The Democratic mayor was indicted at a time when he grew critical of the Biden administration’s response to the worsening immigrant crisis in the Big Apple. NY GOV. HOCHUL TO MEET WITH ‘KEY LEADERS’ TO DISCUSS ‘PATH FORWARD’ AMID ERIC ADAMS TURMOIL With Trump back in office, Adams is cooperating with border czar Tom Homan, allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to once again continue operations at Riker’s Island jail. The upcoming mayoral primary comes at a time when a different judge, Jenny Rivera, of the New York Court of Appeals, considers a law that would allow some 800,000 noncitizens to vote in that race and other city-level contests if implemented. A former Watergate prosecutor on Monday urged the federal judge presiding over Adams’ prosecution to assign a special counsel to help decide how to handle the DOJ motion, while three ex-U.S. attorneys demanded a “searching factual inquiry.” The last week has featured a public fight between Bove, the second-in-command of the Justice Department, and two top New York federal prosecutors: interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and Hagan Scotten, an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan who led the Adams prosecution. Sassoon and Scotten resigned. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
How is a political appointee different from a career federal employee?
Under President Donald Trump’s second administration so far, significant restructuring of the federal workforce has led to widespread layoffs and policy shifts designed to align with his agenda to eliminate bureaucracy. As these changes unfold, the divide between political appointees and career employees has become more apparent. Political appointees, chosen by the president, serve at his discretion and include both Cabinet-level department heads and other senior-level officials. They are tasked with carrying out the administration’s agenda. By contrast, career employees have permanent positions with civil service protections and are tasked with executing policies set by the political appointees above them. “We moved away from the spoils system, which is where the current administration gets to hire everybody in the government, towards a career civil service, in the 1880s,” explained former Bush administration Cabinet member Tevi Troy in an interview with Fox News Digital. TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE “And the idea is that you have a permanent government or permanent bureaucracy that carries out the work of the federal government, whether it’s administering checks or doing the census, whatever it is the government does that is managed by this career bureaucracy,” Troy, also a presidential historian and a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, said. “They have civil service protection, they are not supposed to set policy. They follow policy that is laid out by the president’s administration.” Troy said there are about 2 million people in the federal workforce, and “at some point there’s a line.” He described the line as “between who is setting policy” and who is “carrying out what the mission of the federal government is supposed to be.” “And this argument is about the Trump administration feeling that at the most senior levels, there are certain career officials that were trying to set policy rather than carry out policy, and that’s where the disagreement is,” he said. JUDGE RESTORES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S BUYOUT OFFER TO FEDERAL WORKERS Trump signed an executive order Tuesday seeking departments to make “large-scale reductions in force.” As such, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been instrumental in executing mass layoffs across various federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Authority and the Departments of Education, Veterans Affairs and Energy, among others. “Although career employees enjoy significant employment protections, that does not mean that the president, who is the head of the executive branch, cannot eliminate jobs, as long as individuals are not politically targeted,” Rachel Greszler, senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation’s economic Roe Institute, told Fox News Digital. “President Clinton issued an executive order in 1993, instructing agencies to eliminate 100,000 federal positions. While the initial order called for a 4% reduction in workforce, a 10% reduction instead ensued.” TRUMP ADMIN ORDERS AGENCIES TO LAY OFF PROBATIONARY WORKERS IN LATEST PUSH TO SHRINK GOVERNMENT Trump also instructed federal agencies last week to lay off most probationary workers who have not secured civil service protection. An Office of Personnel Management spokesperson told Fox News Digital previously, “the probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment. Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the president’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people at the highest possible standard.” This isn’t the first time a president has sought to shrink the federal government. Ronald Reagan also had the same goal, and particularly cut down the workforce in regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. Bill Clinton also set out to reduce the size of the federal government, famously declaring in his 1996 State of the Union that the “era of big government is over.”
MAGA loyalists take aim at GOP senator as key Trump defense post sparks controversy: ‘Why the opposition?’
A key Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is reportedly on the fence about one of President Donald Trump‘s Defense nominees over his stance on a nuclear Iran – a potential roadblock to his confirmation given the GOP’s slim Senate majority. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is reportedly hesitant about the nomination of former Defense official Elbridge Colby to serve as the under secretary of defense for policy, a key Defense post that remains unmanned amid the ongoing confirmation process. “Senator Cotton is focused on ensuring all defense nominees commit to supporting President Trump’s position that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and Cotton will be addressing this in meetings and hearings with the nominees,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital as they await Colby’s paperwork to proceed with the nomination process. Colby has previously suggested that the U.S. living with a nuclear Iran is more plausible than countering the country’s nuclear assets, a position that reportedly is causing concern from the key Senator whose support could determine his confirmation. MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES Cotton’s potential opposition to the Trump nominee sparked debate among prominent MAGA figures on social media. RUMP’S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATE-TURNED-VP VANCE’S GIFT OF GAB “Why the opposition to Bridge? What does he think Bridge will do?” Elon Musk wrote in a post on X of reports that Cotton was not on board with the nomination. “The effort to undermine President Trump continues in the US Senate @SenTomCotton is working behind the scenes to stop Trump’s pick, Elbridge Colby, from getting confirmed at DOD,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said on X. “Colby is one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD. Why is Tom Cotton doing this?” “Is Tom Cotton’s resistance to Bridge Colby more about IRI than anything else? As in maybe Cotton’s blocking Colby ain’t that principled. . .” American Majority CEO Ned Ryun posted on X. “Cotton has other problems that he doesn’t want exposed. He’ll support Colby,” former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn claimed on X. Vice President JD Vance expressed support for the Trump nominee, writing that “Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years.” “He was critical of the Iraq War, which made him unemployable in the 2000s era conservative movement. He built a relationship with CNAS when it was one of the few institutions that would even hire a foreign policy realist,” Vance said. Colby, who worked in the Pentagon during Trump’s first term, has also received endorsements from other members of the Senate. “.@ElbridgeColby is a fighter who will execute President Trump’s mandate to end decades of DC foreign policy failures and stop forever wars abroad—The reason the establishment fears him is because he’s 100% aligned with Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote on X. “Senate Republicans should confirm him ASAP!” Colby’s Senate confirmation hearing remains unscheduled as the chamber works to confirm more of Trump’s cabinet nominees. Fox News Digital reached out to Colby for comment.
MAGA loyalists take aim at GOP senator as key Trump defense post goes unmanned: ‘Why the opposition?’
A key Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is reportedly on the fence about one of President Donald Trump‘s Defense nominees over his stance on a nuclear Iran – a potential roadblock to his confirmation given the GOP’s slim Senate majority. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is reportedly hesitant about the nomination of former Defense official Elbridge Colby to serve as the under secretary of defense for policy, a key Defense post that remains unmanned amid the ongoing confirmation process. “Senator Cotton is focused on ensuring all defense nominees commit to supporting President Trump’s position that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and Cotton will be addressing this in meetings and hearings with the nominees,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. Colby has previously suggested that the U.S. living with a nuclear Iran is more plausible than countering the country’s nuclear assets, a position that reportedly is causing concern from the key Senator whose support could determine his confirmation. MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES Cotton’s potential opposition to the Trump nominee sparked debate among prominent MAGA figures on social media. RUMP’S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATE-TURNED-VP VANCE’S GIFT OF GAB “Why the opposition to Bridge? What does he think Bridge will do?” Elon Musk wrote in a post on X of reports that Cotton was not on board with the nomination. “The effort to undermine President Trump continues in the US Senate @SenTomCotton is working behind the scenes to stop Trump’s pick, Elbridge Colby, from getting confirmed at DOD,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said on X. “Colby is one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD. Why is Tom Cotton doing this?” “Is Tom Cotton’s resistance to Bridge Colby more about IRI than anything else? As in maybe Cotton’s blocking Colby ain’t that principled. . .” American Majority CEO Ned Ryun posted on X. “Cotton has other problems that he doesn’t want exposed. He’ll support Colby,” former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn claimed on X. Vice President JD Vance expressed support for the Trump nominee, writing that “Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years.” “He was critical of the Iraq War, which made him unemployable in the 2000s era conservative movement. He built a relationship with CNAS when it was one of the few institutions that would even hire a foreign policy realist,” Vance said. Colby, who worked in the Pentagon during Trump’s first term, has also received endorsements from other members of the Senate. “.@ElbridgeColby is a fighter who will execute President Trump’s mandate to end decades of DC foreign policy failures and stop forever wars abroad—The reason the establishment fears him is because he’s 100% aligned with Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote on X. “Senate Republicans should confirm him ASAP!” Colby’s Senate confirmation hearing remains unscheduled as the chamber works to confirm more of Trump’s cabinet nominees. Fox News Digital reached out to Colby for comment.
Circuit court puts final nail in the coffin for Biden’s $500M student loan forgiveness plan
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals put a final end to former President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on Tuesday. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey originally sued the Biden administration over its $500 million effort to wipe away student loans, known as the SAVE plan. The court’s Tuesday ruling found that Biden’s secretary of education had “gone well beyond this authority by designing a plan where loans are largely forgiven rather than repaid.” Bailey noted in a statement that the ruling has no active impact beyond blocking future presidents from attempting Biden’s maneuver. “Though Joe Biden is out of office, this precedent is imperative to ensuring a President cannot force working Americans to foot the bill for someone else’s Ivy League debt,” Bailey said in a statement. SENATE DEM IN KEY BATTLEGROUND RACE FLIP-FLOPPED ON STUDENT DEBT UNDER BIDEN: NO ‘MAGIC WAND’ The Supreme Court of the United States denied the Biden administration’s request to lift a block on the SAVE plan last year. A federal appeals court in Missouri had earlier blocked the entire SAVE program from being enforced while litigation over the merits continues in the lower courts. The Department of Justice, which is part of the Biden administration, most recently asked the high court for emergency relief. DEM STAFFER BLASTED FOR SPENDING HABITS AFTER GOING VIRAL FOR THANKING BIDEN FOR ERASING $8K STUDENT DEBT The Biden administration argued the court went too far when it issued a nationwide injunction, which effectively put a temporary freeze on the SAVE plan. FEDERAL COURT BACKS MISSOURI AG MOTION TO BLOCK BIDEN’S ‘ILLEGAL’ STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT PLAN “Our Administration will continue to aggressively defend the SAVE Plan – which has helped over 8 million borrowers access lower monthly payments, including 4.5 million borrowers who have had a zero dollar payment each month,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time. “And, we won’t stop fighting against Republican elected officials’ efforts to raise costs on millions of their own constituents’ student loan payments.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Biden introduced SAVE after the Supreme Court struck down his initial student loan forgiveness plan. The White House said that the SAVE plan could lower borrowers’ monthly payments to zero dollars, reduce monthly costs in half and save those who make payments at least $1,000 yearly. Additionally, borrowers with an original balance of $12,000 or less will receive forgiveness of any remaining balance after making 10 years of payments. Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Vice President JD Vance to speak at CPAC’s opening day
Vice President JD Vance is no stranger to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, better known by its acronym CPAC. But on Thursday, at the opening session at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital, Vance will address CPAC for the first time since his inauguration last month as vice president of the United States. Vance has been a regular at the conference in recent years, dating back to his successful 2022 campaign for the Senate in Ohio. And last October, as he crisscrossed the national campaign trail as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, Vance also spoke at a CPAC-hosted townhall in battleground Arizona. WATCH: JD VANCE SITS DOWN WITH FOX BUSINESS’ MARIA BARTIROMO CPAC, which dates back to 1974, is the nation’s oldest and largest annual gathering of conservative leaders and activists. In the years since Trump first won the White House in 2016, it has been dominated by legions of MAGA loyalists and America First disciples who hold immense sway over the GOP. The vice president is expected to use his address to highlight and promote the avalanche of activity – both domestically and overseas – by the Trump-Vance administration during its first month in office. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS’ REPORTING, ANALYSIS, OPINION ON VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE Vance, who served two years in the Senate before being elected vice president, has been considered a key player in helping the GOP-controlled chamber confirm Trump’s Cabinet nominees at a brisk pace. And Vance made major headlines earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, when he used his first major speech as vice president to deliver a blistering address directed at Europe’s political class. Trump’s naming last summer of Vance – a former venture capitalist and the author of the bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” before running for elective office – as his running was seen as a sign that the now 40-year-old politician was the heir apparent to Trump and his movement. Trump praised Vance in a recent interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” for “doing a fantastic job,” WATCH: VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE SITS DOWN WITH FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER ON “SPECIAL REPORT” But asked by Baier if he viewed Vance as his successor and the Republican nominee in 2028, the term-limited Trump said, “No, but he’s very capable.” “It’s too early. We’re just starting,” Trump added. Questions about 2028 may be hanging over Vance at CPAC, which has long held a closely watched GOP presidential nomination straw poll. Vance, in an interview earlier this month with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures,” was asked about the next White House race. “We’ll see what happens come 2028, but the way I think about this is the best thing for my future is actually the best thing for the American people, which is that we do a really good job over the next three and a half years,” the vice president said. Vance noted that “we’ll cross that political bridge when we come to it. I’m not thinking about running for president. I’m thinking about doing a good job for the American people and I think the best way to do that is to make sure that President Trump is a success.”
Kathy Hochul does apparent about-face on natural gas as NYC utility signals major rate hikes
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has approved permits to expand capacity on a major bi-state pipeline despite years of pushing green policies like bans on natural gas use in new construction. The Hochul administration signed off on permits to expand capacity in the Iroquois Pipeline – a crucial 414-mile route from St. Lawrence County — near the border with Cornwall, Ontario, – running down the Adirondacks, through western Connecticut, under Long Island Sound and forking toward Commack, Long Island, or Hunts Point, Bronx. That move comes as the state Department of Environmental Conservation admitted the approvals are “inconsistent with” statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits imposed in recent years, according to the New York Post. Hochul said this week that just as she is trying to institute $500 “inflation refunds” for middle-to-low income families, that money is going “right out the door” to Consolidated Edison (ConED). REPUBLICANS RIP HOCHUL’S INFLATION REFUNDS: BRIBE TO MAKE NYERS LIKE HER ConEd, the main utility provider in New York City and Long Island, is planning to implement 11.5% increases in electric rates and 13% increases in gas rates – amounting to about $500 per year – unless the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) steps in, according to FOX-5. The PSC is already under pressure from Hochul to audit the salaries of ConED executives amid chatter about the rate hikes. Hochul’s actions come after years of crackdowns on fossil fuel production and consumption by New York Democrats. In 2019, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act from then-Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Long Beach, which moved the state away from fossil fuels and established a net-zero goal by 2040. Two years later, the state shuttered the massive Indian Point nuclear energy production facility on the Hudson River opposite Haverstraw. Cuomo said at the time that he had been concerned for years about the safety of the plant. “It does not belong on the Hudson River and in close proximity to the most densely populated area in the country… This is a victory for the health and safety of New Yorkers, and moves us a big step closer to reaching our aggressive clean energy goals.” Albany Democrats, led by Hochul, have since banned furnaces and gas heating in new construction. The governor also announced a “cap and invest” program to force Big Oil to invest in green energy by paying for emissions. According to the Post, a report from the PSC also indicated ConED and fellow utility National Grid were also “barely able to provide adequate [energy] supply” during a recent Arctic storm that brought temperatures near 0 degrees Fahrenheit to the Empire State. HOCHUL’S CHRISTMASTIME BOAST OF SAFER SUBWAYS CAME AMID STRING OF VIOLENT ATTACKS As for Hochul’s efforts to audit ConED, Republicans agreed the rate hikes are and have been outrageous, but that particular move would not help. “Natural gas is a proven, reliable source of energy and vital for consumers in the Northeast,” said State Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay. “The green dreams of environmental extremists are meaningless if people can’t heat their homes in mid-February. It’s incredible to see radical liberals protest a necessary measure that allows New Yorkers to stay warm in the winter. But reliability, affordability, and common sense have never been priorities of New York’s climate cult.” Additionally, the state’s natural-gas-rich Southern Tier – a 200-mile area roughly running from Jamestown to Hancock along the Pennsylvania border – has been affected by a statewide ban on fracking, which state lawmakers representing the area have fought yet-unsuccessfully to undo. This, even as communities just a few miles southward in Pennsylvania continue to extract natural gas from the same Marcellus Shale Range on their side of the line. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Hochul added to the ban by further prohibiting a new, safer form of fracking using carbon dioxide instead of liquids. While former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf enacted a moratorium on state parkland fracking, there has been no fracking activity to speak of along the NY-17 corridor for many years. After then-Gov. David Paterson announced the state’s original fracking moratorium in 2008 – later becoming an outright ban under Cuomo – some Southern Tier villages whose economies depended on energy production considered trying to “secede” to Pennsylvania. Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul and ConED for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Red state lawmakers look to punish local governments defying Trump’s immigration crackdown
The Indiana House Judiciary Committee voted to advance a bill that gives the governor authority to punish local governments that fail to comply with federal immigration authorities. Indiana House Bill 1531, which allows local law enforcement agencies the ability to carry out federal immigration laws and threatens to withhold funding from local governments who fail to comply with federal immigration laws, passed through the committee on a party line vote after hours of tense testimony and now moves to the full House, according to a report from the Indy Star Monday. The bill would also allow the state’s attorney general to impose civil penalties if a local government agency fails to comply with a federal immigration detention request, requires state judges to report any non-U.S. citizen convicted of a crime to federal authorities, prohibits employers from recruiting or hiring illegal immigrants, and grants immunity to government bodies or employees for action taken on immigration detainer requests. RED STATE AG PROMISES LEGAL FIGHT WITH ICE-RESISTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS “We’ve been doing as much as we can with existing authority under labor trafficking laws to go after this issue of illegal aliens being employed in the state,” Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Blake Lanning told the Indy Star. “But in many ways, Indiana law was not designed for this problem, to address this problem.” Lanning said the attorney general’s office worked closely with the state’s GOP legislature to craft the bill, which comes after Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita threatened to sue local jurisdictions who do not comply with federal immigration orders. “Now that’s a problem in Indiana, particularly because there’s an Indiana state statute that I enforce that says what you have got to give, whatever level of cooperation is allowed by federal law, you shall give it as a state or local law enforcement official,” Rokita told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday. “And, so, that’s what’s happening here. That defiance I need to look into now.” ‘CLAWED BACK’: DHS CHIEF NOEM SECURES EYE-POPPING SUM SENT TO NYC FOR MIGRANT HOTELS DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS The push comes as President Donald Trump has intensified efforts to both secure the border and deport immigrants already in the country illegally. However, some of those efforts have been hindered by so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, which ban local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Indiana’s legislation faces stiff opposition from Democrats and outside groups, who question the constitutionality of the bill. “This is unprecedented to have this many anti-immigrant bills in one legislative session for Indiana. So it really is kind of a race to be the most racist. Any argument against that is just disingenuous,” Carolina Castoreno, the co-founder of the Alliance for Latino Migrant Advocacy, told the Indy Star after testifying against the bill. “The rhetoric that they are continuing to use in these rooms — the mentioning of cartels, the mentioning of Hispanic men, talking about the Spanish speaking language,” Castoreno added. “They’re not talking about Ukrainian immigrants. They’re not talking about immigrants from any other part of the world, except for Latin America.” However, efforts to defeat the legislation face an uphill battle in Indiana, where Republicans enjoy supermajorities in both the state House of Representatives and Senate as well as control the governor’s office.
Ed Department cuts $600M in taxpayer-funded grants pushing ‘divisive ideologies’
The Department of Education (DOED) is pulling the plug on the use of taxpayer dollars to fund “divisive” and “inappropriate” training programs for educators, announcing hundreds of millions in cuts as the Trump administration cleans house on “wasteful” spending within the federal government. On Monday, the DOED announced the cancelation of $600 million dollars in grants funding programs that teach educators “divisive ideologies” such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the “instruction on White privilege and White supremacy.” The latest spending cut comes just days after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk to cut government spending, announced the slashing of over $370 million in DEI training programs from the Education Department. The grants that were terminated included funding for training programs “requiring practitioners to take personal and institutional responsibility for systemic inequities (e.g., racism) and critically reassess their own practices,” according to the DOED. DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS Also slashed in the cost-cutting sweep was funding to one program that provided “spaces for critical reflection to help educators confront biases and have transformative conversations about equity,” and another that worked on “building historical and sociopolitical understandings of race and racism to interrupt racial marginalization and oppression of students in planning, instruction, relationship building, discipline and assessment.” DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PROBING SOME VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS OVER GENDER IDENTITY POLICIES “Less money on DEI nonsense means more money to make sure teachers know how to teach students to read! #MakeAmericaLiterateAgain,” Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice said in a post on X. The move also received a thumbs up from Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, who expressed her support on social media. According to the DOED, many of the grants also included teacher and staff recruiting strategies that were “implicitly and explicitly based on race.” “The Department of Education has canceled $600 million in ‘teacher training grants,’ which do little more than promote left-wing race and gender ideologies,” Chris Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said of the announcement. “It’s time to shut it all down.” President Donald Trump‘s administration has made axing DEI programs in education a focal point of their efforts to reform the department, ordering all 50 state education departments last week to remove DEI policies within 14 days or risk losing federal funding. The president has signaled his intention to eventually abolish the department during his term to allow individual states to make decisions about their own education departments.