WATCH: Trump-appointed judge chides colleagues’ ignorance on guns in unique video dissent
Judge Lawrence VanDyke of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued a unique dissenting-opinion video when his colleagues voted to uphold a California ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. In an 18-minute video uploaded to the Ninth Circuit’s YouTube channel, VanDyke argued that the other judges on the appellate court lacked “the basic familiarity with firearms to understand the inherent shortcomings and obvious inadmissibility of the test that California was proposing” when they voted by a 7-4 margin Thursday to uphold the ban. Dressed in his judicial robes, VanDyke went on to show the mechanics of his personal firearms for several minutes. SCHOOL CHOICE ACTIVISTS WARN PARENTS ABOUT BLUE STATE’S HOMESCHOOL BILL WITH JAIL-TIME PROVISION “As an appellate body, it’s obviously not our role to make factual determinations,” VanDyke said in the video. “So I share this not to supplement the factual record that we’re using to decide this case. Instead, I share this because a rudimentary understanding of how guns are made, sold, used and commonly modified makes obvious why California’s proposed tests and the one my colleagues are adopting today simply does not work.” VanDyke went on to say he could “explain all this in writing” but that it is “much more effective to simply show” what he means through demonstrating it. He also said he had “rendered inoperable all the guns and gun parts” for the video demonstration for safety purposes. In his discussion, VanDyke challenged California’s argument that a magazine holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition is merely an accessory, not an arm protected by the Second Amendment, saying this argument is inconsistent with the facts of how a gun works, as a magazine plays an essential role in the function of a firearm, just like the firearm itself. PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THIS STATE COULD SOON BE REQUIRED TO TAKE GUN SAFETY COURSES VanDyke asked California’s counsel whether the reasoning that was used to justify banning these types of magazines could also be applied to semi-automatic firearms, which hold more rounds than older weapons, like muskets. He argued that the logic behind banning magazines could extend to banning semi-automatics altogether, which he suggested would be a broader and more extreme infringement of Second Amendment rights. “I don’t think that we could ban all semi-automatic weapons,” California’s attorney for the case said in the discussion. “The point I was just making is, with respect to accessories, I think we have a difference of opinion.” “That’s important, because your argument turns on whether you can characterize accessories,” Van Dyke responded. “So, you would say that the revolver versus semi-automatic is not an accessory, but that, but that a magazine is an accessory. So, what would you think about like a red dot sight? You know, electro optics, which are, which many, many firearms are going to, electronic optics nowadays? They’re obviously an accessory, because you could have iron sights. Could you ban those?” “Your Honor, I’m not intimately familiar with that,” the counsel responded. “And I do want to answer this question and make sure that I save time for rebuttal.” The state’s attorney went on to say that at issue is whether, as an accessory, it is essential to exercising the right to self-defense. TRUMP SURROGATE CORRIN RANKIN PICKED TO LEAD BLUE STATE’S GOP: ‘MAKE CALIFORNIA GREAT AGAIN’ In her majority opinion, Clinton appointee Judge Marsha Berzon wrote that VanDyke’s video was “wildly improper” and that he “in essence appointed himself as an expert witness in this case.” In 2016, the California legislature passed Senate Bill 1446, which banned the possession of so-called “large-capacity” magazines, or those that hold more than 10 rounds, starting July 1, 2017. The bill also imposed fines for those who failed to comply with this ban. Later in 2016, Proposition 63 was approved by California voters, which incorporated the provisions of Senate Bill 1446 but also added a criminal penalty for the unlawful possession of large-capacity magazines after the July 1, 2017, deadline.
Musk has ‘no business’ in Pentagon, Dems say amid report he’d get top secret China briefing
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has “no business” conducting affairs at the Pentagon, amid reports Musk would receive secret information from top military officials Friday about military contingency plans should a war break out with China. While The New York Times reported that Musk was set to receive military plans about any potential China conflict, the Pentagon and White House pushed back and said Musk’s briefing wouldn’t cover China. “Elon Musk is an unelected, self-interested billionaire with no business anywhere near the Pentagon,” Gillibrand said in an X post Friday morning with a photo of the Times story, just after Musk arrived at the Pentagon. Gillibrand is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The possibility of Musk receiving information on China raises a possible conflict of interest, given the fact that Musk has financial interests in China stemming from Tesla, and SpaceX is working with the U.S. federal government on military space capabilities. However, the Trump administration swiftly pushed back on the Times’ reporting, and Trump issued a post on social media discrediting the story as “completely untrue.” “They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China.’ How ridiculous?” China will not even be mentioned or discussed,” President Donald Trump said in a Thursday night Truth Social post. A former Obama administration official also sounded the alarm about Musk’s visit to the Pentagon. Xochitl Hinojosa, who previously served as a spokesperson for former Attorney General Eric Holder and communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said that career officials must have disclosed the information about the meeting to the press because they were concerned about what would be shared with Musk. “What is happening here, and everyone needs to be scared, is Pentagon officials are sounding the alarm,” Hinojosa said in an interview with CNN Thursday night. “This doesn’t just happen on its own. This has happened because career officials in the Pentagon are terrified. And they believe there is a conflict of interest. That is why it is in the New York Times. Because I am sure they took it to the senior most people within the White House and within the Pentagon and they didn’t do anything about it.” PENTAGON TO CUT UP TO 60K CIVILIAN JOBS, BUT FEWER THAN 21K HAVE RESIGNED VOLUNTARILY Hinojosa said that during her time at the Justice Department, career officials would sound the alarm if they became aware of any unethical behavior at the agency. “That is exactly what is happening here,” Hinojosa said. Hinojosa could not be reached for comment by Fox News Digital. The New York Times published a story Thursday evening claiming that Musk’s visit to the Pentagon would involve discussing plans in the event of a potential war with China. Specifically, the Times reported that the briefing involved a presentation with 20 to 30 slides on how the U.S. would combat China, various Chinese targets to strike and how the Pentagon would share these plans with Trump. The Times also reported the meeting would occur in the so-called Tank, a secure conference room that the Joint Chiefs utilize for meetings, along with other senior staff and visiting combatant commanders. Meanwhile, the Times report also noted that Musk may have needed to know information about plans for China as he eyes cutting the Pentagon’s budget amid his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). TRUMP GOES ON ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ PENTAGON FIRING SPREE: REPORT Pentagon war plans are highly confidential for operational security purposes. Should details regarding the U.S. military’s strategy to combat an enemy be shared or leaked in any way, it would jeopardize U.S. forces and undermine the success of the military campaign. Hegseth also weighed in on the matter, and said the meeting with Musk would primarily center around innovation. “But the fake news delivers again — this is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans.’ It’s an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production. Gonna be great!” Hegseth said in a post on X late Thursday evening. In response to Hegseth’s post, Musk responded: “Exactly. Also, I’ve been to the Pentagon many times over many years. Not my first time in the building.” Musk also said in a separate post he looks “forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. “They will be found,” he said. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fetterman takes swipe at AOC: ‘We kept our government open. Deal with it’
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., took a swipe at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in a tweet on Friday. “We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us too,” the congresswoman said during speeches on Thursday. “Fight ‘harder’—a stunt that would have harmed millions and plunged us into chaos,” Fetterman wrote when sharing a screenshot featuring a quotation of Ocasio-Cortez’s comment. “We kept our government open. Deal with it.” NETANYAHU GIFTS FETTERMAN A SILVER-PLATED BEEPER AFTER HE PRAISED ISRAEL’S LEBANON PAGER OPERATION Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office on Friday to request a comment from the congresswoman, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Fetterman and other Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — voted last week to overcome a procedural hurdle, which cleared the way for the chamber to vote on a government funding measure to avoid a partial government shutdown. FETTERMAN CALLS OUT DEMS’ ‘UNHINGED PETULANCE’ AFTER TRUMP SPEECH: ‘WE’RE BECOMING THE METAPHORICAL CAR ALARM’ But after that cloture vote, Fetterman, Schumer, and most other Democrats voted against passing the actual funding measure, which ultimately passed anyway. Ocasio-Cortez had urged senators to vote against cloture and against the measure. AOC FIRES BACK AT FETTERMAN, ACCUSES HIM OF ‘BLEAK DUNK ATTEMPT’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It should be very clear to every Senate Democrat that any vote for Cloture will also be considered a vote for the bill. People aren’t going to be tricked with procedural games. They know exactly what is going on. Defend Medicaid. Vote NO on Cloture. NO on bill,” she had declared in a tweet.
SCOOP: Jim Jordan joining Trump at NCAA men’s wrestling championships
FIRST ON FOX: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is joining President Donald Trump this weekend at the NCAA men’s wrestling championships, a source familiar with his plans tells Fox News Digital. The White House confirmed Friday that Trump would attend the event with Jordan and Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. McCormick previously confirmed that Trump would be in attendance at the event in the senator’s home state of Pennsylvania. “I’m thrilled to be in Philadelphia this weekend with [Trump] for the [NCAA Wrestling] Championship,” McCormick wrote on X. “I grew up wrestling in small towns across PA and at West Point. It taught me grit, resilience, and hard work.” ‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO Jordan himself was a noted wrestling champion during his time in high school and later at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he won the NCAA Division I men’s wrestling title twice. INJUNCTION LIFTED ON TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS SLASHING FEDERAL DEI SUPPORT He was later an assistant coach at Ohio State University’s wrestling program from 1987 to 1995. Fox News Digital emailed Jordan’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.
HHS slashes over $350M in grant funding for gender ideology, DEI research projects
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has canceled hundreds of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants—worth over $350 million—funding projects related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology, according to a department official. The cuts included slashing projects studying “multilevel and multidimensional structural racism,” “gender-affirming hormone therapy in mice” and “microaggressions,” among others. In total, there were more than 500 research grants related to DEI and progressive gender ideology that the administration terminated. TRUMP NIH APPOINTEE DEFENDS PRESIDENT’S RESEARCH FUNDING CUTS, LAYS OUT NEW VISION FOR FUTURE “HHS is taking action to terminate more than $350 million in research funding that is not aligned with NIH and HHS priorities,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement. “The terminated research grants are simply wasteful in studying things that do not pertain to American’s health to any significant degree, including DEI and gender ideology. As we begin to Make America Healthy Again, it’s important to prioritize research that directly affects the health of Americans.” One of the grants cut included nearly $1 million to scientists at the University of Maryland-Baltimore for a research project titled, “Assessing intersectional multilevel and multidimensional structural racism for English- and Spanish-speaking populations in the US.” The project included work to create an “intersectional, multilevel, and multidimensional Structural Racism Measure” in order to “eliminate health disparities and discrimination” for racial minorities. “There is an urgent public health need to collect valid and reliable data on structural racism before effective interventions to reduce structural racism can be designed,” the project’s description stated. TRUMP ADMIN PAUSES $175M IN FEDERAL FUNDING TO UPENN OVER INCLUSION OF TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS Multiple projects studying transgender medical treatments in mice were also among those cut. One of those grants provided close to $1 million to Emory University researchers to study how transgender hormone treatments impact the skeletal maturation of mice, titled, “Microbiome mediated effects of gender affirming hormone therapy in mice.” Another project worth roughly $50,000 worked to understand “how chromosomal makeup and cross-sex hormone administration” impacts wound healing in mice. A separate research project that did not use mice got nearly $1 million “to study possible genomic associations with gender identity.” Grants focused on recruiting scientists based on their race or ethnicity were also slashed by the Trump administration. A grant worth more than $5 million to researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help “achieve more racial and ethnic diversity among our scientific research faculty,” included a commitment to hire at least 18 tenure-track faculty “from minoritized racial and ethnic groups.” UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DROPS DIVERSITY STATEMENTS IN HIRING AMID THREATS OF TRUMP CUTTING FUNDING Soon after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, he directed federal agencies, including HHS, to temporarily freeze the issuance of new federal grants. The action was to ensure each agency’s funding was in compliance with Trump’s new policies and requirements, including those around getting rid of DEI and progressive gender ideology in the public sector. A judge subsequently issued an order temporarily blocking the administration’s funding freeze, and shortly thereafter, the Trump administration rescinded its memo directing the funding halt. A short time after that, the NIH resumed important meetings and travel associated with the agency’s grant-review process. In addition to reviewing NIH’s grant funding to ensure it aligns with the president’s policies, Trump also implemented a 15% cap on facilities and administrative costs included in research grant awards. The administration’s actions targeting NIH research have generated widespread backlash. Earlier this month, Trump’s pick to be the next NIH director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, was peppered with questions from Democrats during his confirmation hearing over whether he would step in to prevent the president from slashing what they deemed critically important research projects. Bhattacharya would not explicitly say he disagreed with the cuts, or that, if confirmed, he would step in to stop them. Rather, he said he would “follow the law,” while also investigating the impact of the cuts and ensuring every NIH researcher doing work that advances the health outcomes of Americans has the resources necessary to do their work. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Bhattacharya also laid out what he called a new, decentralized vision for future research at NIH that he said will be aimed at embracing dissenting ideas and transparency, while focusing on research topics that have the best chance at directly benefiting the health outcomes of Americans. Bhattacharya said that he wants to rid the agency’s research portfolio of other “frivolous” efforts that he says do little to directly benefit health outcomes.
Student loans, Pell grants will continue despite Education Department downsizing, expert says
As President Donald Trump moves to downsize and eventually dismantle the Department of Education, an expert in contact with White House stakeholders assured that the department’s programs, including funding, student loans and civil rights protections, will continue. “They want to make sure, especially with things like Title I schools for disadvantaged students, and high poverty areas to civil rights protections for girls in sports, to race equality in education through Title Six will continue to be enforced through the federal Department of Education until and unless those burdens, those responsibilities, can be shifted to other departments, and that would take place by congressional action,” Sarah Parshall Perry, top legal expert at Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital in an interview. Trump signed a long-anticipated executive order Thursday to do away with the Education Department and directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to initiate the shutdown process and transfer key functions, such as Pell Grants and Title I funding, to other federal agencies. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SIGNIFICANTLY DISMANTLED IN NEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER Perry said Thursday’s order “is going to be the first step in a very long, consistent, labor-intensive process to be able to continue the work of downsizing.” “Which is exactly what we’ve seen the Department of Education already do, but also specifically continue enforcing civil rights and financial aid responsibility through the federal government until those particular duties are passed to other agencies,” she said. For instance, Perry said, civil rights enforcement would shift to the Department of Justice, while student loan processes would be handled by the Department of the Treasury. “They fully understand, and this is gratifying to hear that the White House has to work with Congress to offload the full responsibilities to other agencies and to ultimately unwind the Department of Education,” she added. INJUNCTION LIFTED ON TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS SLASHING FEDERAL DEI SUPPORT Perry said the initial cuts so far within the agency have been narrowly focused on slashing critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, in line with Trump’s other executive orders. “But the only two provisions in the executive order are taking legal steps to continue narrowing the agency’s focus and continuing to enforce civil rights and administer ongoing federal financial programs, because those duties cannot be offloaded to other agencies without shifting the burden by congressional action,” she said. Students attending college or private schools with student loans or Pell grants will continue to receive their federal funding under Trump’s order. Perry said there is “a misconception” that schools would be forced to close or raise taxes due to budget shortfalls caused by downsizing the department, but “federal taxpayer spending actually makes up less than 10% per pupil funding in the state, so the remaining amount is generally split between local and state taxpayers, not federal taxpayers.” Since its establishment in 1979, the Education Department’s budget has grown from approximately $14 billion to about $268 billion in Fiscal Year 2024, accounting for 4% of total federal spending, according to the Office of Management and Budget. Prior to the department’s creation, federal student loans were administered through the Guaranteed Student Loan Program, established in 1965 under the Higher Education Act. This program involved the federal government guaranteeing loans provided by banks and non-profit lenders to students attending eligible institutions. SCHOOL CHOICE ACTIVISTS WARN PARENTS ABOUT BLUE STATE’S HOMESCHOOL BILL WITH JAIL-TIME PROVISION Perry said the focus should be on strengthening education at the state and local levels, while ensuring continued federal oversight of student loans, civil rights laws, and Title One funding for underprivileged and low-income students. “So the federal government is always going to have a responsibility to enforce, apply and sort of interpret and send these particular protections and their financial associations,” Perry said. She suggested that these federal programs could be separated or “divested” from the Department of Education, meaning the department’s role in administering them can be reduced or transferred to other agencies. Trump’s executive order fulfills a major campaign promise, aiming to restore local control of education and back school choice amid the ongoing culture war.
Justice Department tells federal judge it might invoke state secrets act on high-profile deportation case
The Justice Department said Friday it is considering invoking the state secrets privilege in its ongoing court battle over the Trump administration’s deportation flights to El Salvador, a tool that could allow them to withhold certain information for national security purposes. In a declaration filed Friday morning, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg that he is aware of the Cabinet-level discussions invoking state secrets privilege. Invoking that privilege “is a serious matter that requires careful consideration of national security and foreign relations, and it cannot properly be taken in just 24 hours,” Blanche said. The declaration came after Boasberg had issued a Thursday deadline for the court to file information about deportation flights that sent Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador over the weekend, around the same time he issued an emergency court order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from doing so. ‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO Boasberg said in a blistering order Thursday evening that the Trump administration both failed to comply with the noon deadline for information – even after he gave the administration the option to file the information under seal – and noted that the court was instead sent only a six-paragraph declaration from a regional ICE officer in Texas, who said that the Trump administration is considering invoking the “state secrets privilege” in the case. Boasberg decried that declaration as “woefully insufficient,” noting Thursday that regional ICE officers cannot be talked to inform the court of high-level Cabinet discussions and suggested someone higher up in the federal government should do so. Blanche’s filing comes just hours before government attorneys are due in court Friday afternoon to testify before Boasberg in a hearing over their motion to vacate the case. Boasberg noted in a blistering order Thursday that the government had “again evaded its obligations” in failing to submit materials he requested about the flights, even after he extended the deadline for them to do so and said they could file the materials under seal. WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS? At issue is whether the government failed to comply with his emergency restraining order Saturday, which blocked the Trump administration from using a 1798 wartime law to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua, for a period of 14 days. Boasberg also ordered any flights in the air to return to U.S. soil immediately. Hours later, however, a plane carrying hundreds of U.S. migrants, including Venezuelan nationals removed under the law in question, arrived in El Salvador. In the days since, government lawyers have refused to share information in court about the deportation flights, and whether the plane (or planes) of migrants knowingly departed U.S. soil after the judge ordered them not to do so, citing national security protections. Boasberg previously asked government lawyers to submit information on how many planes departed the U.S. on Saturday carrying people deported “solely on the basis” of that proclamation, how many individuals were on each plane, where the planes landed, what time each plane took off from the U.S. and from where. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He previously warned the Trump administration of consequences this week if it were to violate his order. The Trump administration, for its part, is challenging his order in appellate court Monday. Still, at least one plane with deported migrants touched down later that evening in El Salvador. “Oopsie, too late,” Salvador President Nayib Bukele said in a post on X.
Senator Sanders targets Trump, Musk and Democrats in wide-ranging interview ahead of rally with AOC
TEMPE, AZ – As he rallies against President Donald Trump, the world’s richest person and Trump ally Elon Musk, and other billionaires, Sen. Bernie Sanders is also taking aim at the Democratic Party. “I think what the American people see and what the polling suggests, and voter registration suggests is not a whole lot of faith in either party, Democrats or Republicans,” the progressive champion and longtime independent senator from Vermont, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, emphasized in a wide-ranging Fox News Digital interview. Sanders, who was pointing towards recent polling that indicated Democratic Party favorability at all-time lows, was interviewed on Thursday evening, ahead of a rally in front of over 11,000 people packed into an arena at Arizona State University, with a couple of thousand more in an overflow section outside. It was the second stop of the day for the 83-year-old Sanders and another rockstar of the left, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as the two politicians teamed up to kick off a three-day swing through the key western electoral states of Nevada, Arizona and Colorado as part of Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. FRIENDLY FIRE: AOC AND BERNIE SANDERS TAKE AIM AT DEMOCRATS AS WELL AS REPUBLICANS – ON WESTERN ROAD TRIP Sanders, who’s long railed against the influence of big money in politics as he’s pressed for campaign finance reforms, argued that Americans “perceive correctly that both political parties are dominated by big money interests.” The senator took aim at Musk, who was the largest single donor in last year’s presidential election, dishing out nearly $300 million of his own money to support Trump’s successful effort to win back the White House. “Then he’s awarded with the most important position in government. He’s essentially running the government,” Sanders said of Musk. “Does that make sense to people? It doesn’t.” But he added that “Democrats also have a whole lot of billionaires funding their campaigns. And you know, I think people are looking for alternatives. And I think, among other things, they also want to end this corrupt campaign finance system…which allows billionaires in both parties to buy elections.” CLASS DISMISSED: TRUMP TAKES AIM AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT WITH THE STOKE OF A PEN Trump has been on a tear since returning to the White House two months ago, flexing his political muscles to expand presidential powers as he’s upended longstanding government policy and made major cuts to the federal workforce through a flurry of executive orders and actions. And Sanders and Cortez took to the stage at their first stop, in Las Vegas, Nevada, while Trump signed an executive order to begin the longstanding conservative goal of demolishing the Department of Education at a White House ceremony. Sanders charged that Trump’s move was “outrageous.” “First of all, they don’t have the power,” Sanders said. “When I talk about moving to authoritarianism, it is usurping the power of the Congress.” “If you want to get rid of the Department of Education, fine. Come to Congress and say, here’s why. This is what you want to do. You cannot do it exclusively. You cannot cut funds exclusively,” he added. Sanders claimed the “American people are sick and tired of a government now run by billionaires.” Pointing to Musk – the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive who is steering Trump’s recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which as part of its mission to target government fraud and waste, has taken a hatchet to the federal workforce – Sanders argued, “we have the richest guy in the world going around, cutting the Veterans Administration, threatening the existence of Social Security while Republicans work on a tax bill that will give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest 1% and cut Medicaid and other programs.” Minutes later, Sanders told the crowd “we have a message for Mr. Trump and that is, we will not allow you to move this country into an oligarchy.” Sanders emphasized that “we’re not going to allow you and your friend Mr. Musk and the other billionaires to wreak havoc on this country.” But the inability of Democrats in Congress, who are out of power in the White House as well as the House and Senate, to stop the majority Republicans, is causing tensions within the party amid increasing calls for leaders to come up with a stronger strategy to resist Trump. “This isn’t just about Republicans,” Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd in Arizona. “We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us. That means each and every one of us choosing and voting for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class…I want you to look at every level of office around and support Democrats who fight, because those are the ones who can actually win against Republicans.” The Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez western road trip comes as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, is facing increasing fire from his own party for his support last week for a Republican-crafted federal funding bill that averted a government shutdown. WHAT THIS PROGRESSIVE LEADER TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT CHUCK SCHUMER Neither Ocasio-Cortez nor Sanders mentioned Schumer during their speeches in Las Vegas or Tempe. And Sanders, an independent who has long caucused with the Democrats and who is part of Schumer’s leadership team in the Senate, declined in the Fox News Digtal interview to answer whether he agreed with calls for Schumer to step down from his leadership position. “That’s kind of inside the Beltway stuff,” Sanders said. Asked a second time about Schumer, Sanders replied, “that’s not what we’re here for.” But it was on the minds of some of those attending the rally. Cindy Garman and Pat Robinson, both of Prescott, Arizona, told Fox News that they were “really disappointed” with Schumer’s move. And Amanda Ratloff of Gilbert, Arizona, said Schumer “is not the leader we need right now. We need somebody that will actually fight back and fight for the American people
DOGE Madness: ‘Sweet 16’ bracket set up as craziest federal waste competes for championship
EXCLUSIVE: Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders in the Senate will be releasing an NCAA-style bracket of the craziest items of federal waste needing to be cut, as the public will be able to actively vote for their picks in successive Elite Eight and Final Four rounds. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the leader of the upper chamber’s DOGE caucus, told Fox News Digital on Friday that while college basketball’s March Madness only lasts a month, the federal government’s “spending madness” is a year-round, debt-defying event. “The Senate DOGE Caucus is dividing and conquering to bring waste to a squealing halt,” Ernst said. “This March, we will be scoring buckets for taxpayers by increasing transparency, stopping the silly spending, and making government actually start to work for the American people it serves.” Sixteen “seeds” of waste will be posted in a bracket and put up for public polling on X to determine which eight waste items are bad enough to advance; followed by the next-worst four, and championship two. DOGE CAUCUS SENATOR PUSHES FOR END TO SLUSH FUND FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Each DOGE caucus member received or picked priority waste items for the tournament. While there may not be any major upsets, like Lehigh University’s 2012 win over #1-seed Duke, each item’s introduction to the public may cause the same surprise. Sen. Cyntha Lummis, R-Wyo., has her spot on the bracket represented by a Biden administration appropriation of $4.5 million to “combat disinformation” in Kazakhstan. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who coached Auburn’s football team for many years, will be represented in the tourney by an allocation of $168,000 for an “Anthony Fauci Exhibit” at the National Institutes of Health Museum in Maryland. A $7.9 million expenditure on teaching journalists in Sri Lanka to avoid “binary-gendered language” will be in the bracket under Sen. John Kennedy’s, R-La., name. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., picked a $45 million Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) scholarship program for Burmese people to be featured at the event. DRAIN THE SWAMP ACT SEEKS TO MOVE DC BUREAUCRACY OUT OF CRAZYTOWN, DOGE LEADER SAYS Ernst, meanwhile, will be represented by the $4 million that the Departments of Agriculture and Interior spent on setting up a farming infrastructure for insect-based food consumption for humans. Some of the other DOGE Madness bracket “teams” include billions in costs associated with the ATF illegally miscategorizing bureau employees as “law enforcement” (Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa), $690,000 to study cannabis use among “sexual-minority gender-diverse individuals” (Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.), $12 million for a Las Vegas pickleball facility (Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.) and $1.75 million for MoMA – a New York City museum with already $5 billion in assets (Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah). Additionally, Sen. James Lankford’s, R-Okla., waste bracket includes $2 billion sent to the Taliban since the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is represented by a six-figure line item for vegetable gardens in El Salvador, and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., has a $1.3 million subsidy for equity and advocacy for Long Island transgender “youth of color.” Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Johnson’s, R-Wis., bracket position is dubbed the “liberal four corners.” Johnson is represented by a $100,000 EPA grant to a major city’s teachers’ union foundation to hold a 14-day Environmental Justice Freedom School that the DOGE caucus said touches on the quartet of climate change, teachers’ unions, indoctrinating children and paid activism. Elsewhere in the Sweet 16 bracket, Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s, R-Tenn., position is represented by a $22 billion allocation from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide free housing and vehicles for illegal immigrants – and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., sought to highlight millions in wasteful spending on gender transition procedures for U.S. service members. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The final spot in the bracket is for $1.45 billion in FEMA funds for luxury hotels for illegals, an item called out by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho. Risch notably introduced legislation to end the practice, called the End FEMA Benefits for Illegal Immigrants Act. Amid the tournament’s division of varying types of government waste, the Senate DOGE caucus will also announce Friday that it is divvying up “priority areas” for groups of senators to focus on. Acquisition reform, digitizing antiquated government systems, transparency efforts, restoring “‘service’ to the civil service,” fraud, non-strategic foreign aid, and cost-efficiency are all areas of study being assigned across the DOGE caucus as the legislative year heats up, Fox News Digital has learned.
Trump crackdown on transgender athletes in girls’ sports gets GOP backup in House bill
FIRST ON FOX: A House GOP lawmaker is looking to make President Donald Trump’s Title IX changes permanent. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., is introducing legislation later this month to codify Trump’s executive order aimed at keeping biological males out of female-only spaces, Miller told Fox News Digital. That would include locker rooms, bathrooms, school sports teams and any other extension of academia that receives funding under Title IX federal code, by threatening that funding if schools run afoul of the prospective law. HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE “The innocence, privacy, and safety of young girls should never be up for debate,” Miller said in a written statement. “Any public school that refuses to follow President Trump’s orders to protect female-only spaces has no right to receive a single dime of taxpayer funding.” The bill is being circulated to other House GOP offices for possible co-sponsors and is expected to be introduced next week. It is likely to garner a significant amount of interest among Republicans, given that similar legislation by Miller introduced in the 118th Congress got sign-on from 72 House lawmakers. GOP LAWMAKER URGES TRUMP TO PULL FUNDING FOR SCHOOL ACCUSED OF MAKING GIRLS CHANGE IN FRONT OF TRANS STUDENT In the last Congress, however, her bill was aimed at reversing Biden administration-era policies expanding permissions for transgender students. With Trump back in office now, Miller is one of several House Republicans working to codify his reversals of Biden administration policies into federal law. A vote on such a bill could put moderate Democrats in a tough spot – particularly after a few left-wing figures have been heckled by the progressive left for not fully embracing medical and school sports participation for transgender youths. The legislation, previewed by Fox News Digital, is a brief two pages. It stated that “locker room facilities in active use in connection with an education program or activity may be in use only by individuals of the same sex as determined solely on each individual’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” “It shall be unlawful under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972…for an individual of one sex (as determined solely on reproductive biology and genetics at birth) to use a locker room while such room is in active use by individuals of a different sex in connection with an education program or activity,” it said.