US spies urged to refocus efforts on America’s backyard, new House Intel chair says
The two-decade War on Terror in the Middle East has left America overlooking the security issues in its own backyard, at least according to the House’s new Intelligence Chair Rick Crawford, R-Ark. “We were so focused on the global war on terror, what that’s done is opened up opportunities for countries like China,” the Arkansas Republican told a small group of reporters as he laid out his priorities for the committee. “But even going back before China, you know, obviously the Russians have been very aggressive in the hemisphere, in particular in countries like Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and elsewhere,” Crawford added. “They’ve taken every opportunity to try to carve out a niche of influence in areas… in our backyard.” GABBARD ANNOUNCES CRACKDOWN ON INTELLIGENCE LEAKS Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has pushed a new Monroe Doctrine-like focus, most notably with Trump calling for the U.S. to take back the Panama Canal from China. That call was answered with a deal for U.S.-based BlackRock to take over two ports of entry to the canal from Hong Kong-based C.K. Hutchison. Now, Chinese authorities are threatening to thwart that deal. As China increasingly threatens U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, Crawford believes the U.S. could win a war with the Chinese if it needed to — for now. “But we don’t have a lot of time. We can’t sit back and ponder the situation much more.” China and Russia are aggressively testing offensive capabilities in space, Pentagon officials have said, while China-watchers warn the CCP is ahead of the U.S. in shipbuilding capabilities, hypersonics, anti-ship ballistic missiles, cyber and is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal. Crawford said the U.S. may need to rethink its policy from a focus that leans heavily on cybersecurity to one that considers offensive attacks. Crawford’s predecessor, former committee Chair Mike Turner, fired off an ominous public warning calling on President Joe Biden to declassify information about a threat that was later reported to be Russian anti-satellite capabilities. That warning and the public scare it caused later factored into Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to replace Turner as head of the committee in January, sources familiar with the situation have told Fox News Digital. Crawford’s views also fell closer in line with those of Trump than Turner’s. Asked if he shared Turner’s concern, Crawford said: “Everything that Russia does is a concern to me as it applies to, you know, their belligerent behavior, the potential that they have.” “The reason they punch above their weight is, I mean, they have a GDP about the size of Spain. It’s not that they’re a huge economy, it’s that they’re willing to do things that other countries aren’t, and they’re willing to be belligerent. They’re willing to invade their neighbor, and that’s a problem.” RUBIO THREATENS VENEZUELA WITH NEW SANCTIONS It’s a different message than one might expect to hear from a Trump-aligned Republican, amid a thawing in U.S.-Russia relations as Trump tries to negotiate peace between President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “[Russia’s] willingness to do things that most civilized nations wouldn’t do puts them in a unique category,” Crawford said. “So let’s engage in trying to end the hostilities in Ukraine, bring that to a peaceful end to the extent that we can. But, you know, as Reagan said, trust, but verify.” Crawford also said that the intelligence community [IC] needed a “retooling of the culture” to address recruitment and retention issues. He called the IC’s handling of the Havana Syndrome a “slap in the face” to its sufferers. The IC’s assessment that Havana Syndrome, also known as anomalous health incidents (AHI) was likely not the work of a foreign adversary “missed the mark grossly.” “If we’ve got problems with recruiting and retention because the workforce doesn’t think the seventh floor [where leadership sits] has their back, that’s a real problem for national security.” Crawford continued: “If analytic integrity or lack of is driving that, that’s something we’re going to have to pay close attention to. And we’re going to exercise rigorous oversight.” In December, Crawford’s CIA subcommittee released a report finding it “increasingly likely” a foreign adversary had been behind a number of the anomalous health incidents, and that the IC’s assessment finding just the opposite “was developed in a manner inconsistent with analytic integrity and thoroughness.” Trump officials have repeatedly stressed that this administration will put renewed attention on the Western Hemisphere, with an eye for what Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls “missed opportunities and neglected partners.” Crawford added that the U.S. needed to hold close to its relationship with Guatemala. “Guatemala is probably our best ally in the hemisphere,” he said. “They want to be a partner. There are others where we see some great opportunity — Guyana and Suriname are sort of beneficiaries of some huge mineral wealth that has developed in the last four or five years.” Venezuela, whose dictatorial leader Nicolas Maduro is backed by China, Russia and Iran, has claimed swaths of Guyanese territory as its own. The U.S., which does not recognize Maduro’s regime, removed sanctions loopholes for Venezuelan oil in January, and threatened to ramp up financial penalties even further if Maduro will not accept deported migrants. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP For the U.S.’s northern neighbor, Crawford believes the current quarrel with Canada over tariffs and Trump suggesting it become the 51st U.S. state will quiet down due to the important national security partnership. “We’re having a little family spat here,” Crawford said. “But you know, Canada is an important ally.”
Pro-energy group urges AG Bondi to probe Biden’s autopen on crucial decisions that devastated industry
FIRST ON FOX: An energy watchdog group is calling on the Trump administration to investigate whether former President Joe Biden used an autopen to sign energy-related executive orders and if such actions “were instituted with the president’s knowledge.” Power the Future, a pro-energy group, sent a letter to the attorney general’s office raising questions regarding the “propriety and legitimacy” of several major orders signed by the Democratic president during his term. “In light of the mounting evidence of significant executive actions with serious economic and national and global security implications being undertaken in President Biden’s name apparently without his knowledge by unelected officials, we respectfully request that you investigate whether former President Biden authorized the LNG pause, or whether any documentation reflecting the White House’s position was instead prepared or signed by staff,” the group wrote in a letter to Bondi, shared first with Fox News Digital. The letter comes after President Donald Trump declared Biden’s 11th hour pardons “void” over claims that they were signed by an autopen and that the former president “did not know anything about them.” TRUMP CLAIMS BIDEN PARDONS ARE ‘VOID,’ ALLEGING THEY WERE SIGNED VIA AUTOPEN Power the Future points to Biden’s January 2024 order pausing permits for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities and his ban on new drilling on 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters – both orders that Trump immediately moved to lift after assuming office. “In connection with recent revelations that many actions purportedly taken by the former president may not have been approved or signed by him, but instead promulgated over his signature using an ‘autopen,’ and especially in light of the Speaker’s public statements that Mr. Biden was not even aware of the LNG pause and the reporting that a particular White House ‘advisor’ was ‘the person behind [it,]’ it does not require a great leap to wonder whether the LNG pause was itself promulgated by an advisor with an autopen, rather than by the former President himself,” the group wrote. The letter, raising concerns over the president’s knowledge of his executive orders, refers to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who, in January, shared that Biden, during a meeting, appeared to forget that he signed an order to pause LNG exports. TRUMP UNDOES STACK OF ‘HARMFUL’ BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDERS, SHRINKS MULTIPLE AGENCIES “I cannot answer this from my constituents in Louisiana,” Johnson said he told Biden. “Sir, why did you pause LNG exports to Europe? Liquefied natural gas is in great demand by our allies. Why would you do that? Cause you understand we just talked about Ukraine, you understand you are fueling Vladimir Putin’s war machine, because they gotta get their gas from him.” Biden, according to Johnson, responded by saying, “I didn’t do that.” The letter also notes the involvement of John Podesta, the former White House senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation, in the major decision to pause LGN exports. In March 2024, a group of GOP lawmakers hand-delivered a letter to Podesta expressing concern over his “driving” the LNG pause. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office and the DOJ for comment. The presidential autopen has been in focus this week after Trump claimed on Sunday that the courts must decide whether Biden’s use of an autopen for executive orders and pardons means they are void. An autopen is a device that physically holds a pen and is programmed to replicate a person’s signature. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel determined in 2005 that the president is permitted to use an autopen to sign bills into law, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in February that said the absence of “a writing does not equate to proof that a commutation did not occur.” The majority of official documents signed by Biden allegedly used the same autopen signature, reinvigorating concerns over the former president’s mental acuity and if he “actually ordered the signature of relevant legal documents,” a recent report published by an arm of the Heritage Foundation found. Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Emma Colton contributed to this report
Education leaders say Trump dismantling key government agency ‘saved education’
The head of Oklahoma’s public school system is backing President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the federal Department of Education, saying that Trump will “go down in history as the president that saved education.” Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced a dramatic “reduction in force” of the federal Department of Education and detailed plans to reduce the size of the agency by over 50% from around 4,133 to around 2,183 employees. Trump has previously said he wants to “close up the Department of Education” entirely and “move education back to the states.” As Democrats and media outlets sound the alarm that Trump’s changes mean doom for education in America, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is saying that Trump’s move is exactly what students, parents and the entire country need right now. “This is a historic moment,” he said. “I think President Trump is going to go down in history as the president that saved education and the future of the country.” RANDI WEINGARTEN ‘SPITTING MAD’ ABOUT ‘EVISCERATION’ OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Walters said that rather than helping to implement effective education systems, the Department of Education had long been co-opted by radical teachers’ unions like the American Federation of Teachers, which he said has been pushing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and other leftist ideologies in states, including Oklahoma. “The disruption of education was the federalization of education and the unionization of education. That’s what got us away from the concept of schools that valued the community, value the family, value the individual,” he said. “You have thousands of bureaucrats that are up there that are pushing a left-wing agenda, the most radical agenda the country has ever seen. They’re teaching kids to hate the country. They’re teaching kids to hate their faith.” “You can talk to teachers about the types of trainings the feds were requiring them to go to,” he continued. “These were not helping them drive student achievement in their classroom. It was to push a left-wing agenda on kids.” DEMOCRAT-LED STATES SUE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PURGE After taking office in January 2023, Walters said he had to immediately deal with the Biden Department of Education using federal funding as leverage to push concepts like DEI and gender ideology in classrooms. “I was very sharp in my responses of why are we talking about transgenderism in an Algebra One class? Like there’s no connection between the two, but it shows you how far they were willing to go with their woke ideology, with the strategy to undermine American society, undermine the family unit.” The result, Walters said, has shown in students’ test scores. “All the test scores have shown that they’ve all gotten worse since this disruption occurred,” he explained. “Nearly every society factor has gotten worse. You look at teenage suicide. You look at teenage drug use. You look at the disintegration of the family unit. All of these things coincided in part with the creation of the federal Department of Education and the rise of the teachers’ unions.” TEXAS PRIVATE SCHOOL INTEGRATES AI, REPORTS STUDENTS LEARNING ‘FASTER’ Walters anticipates that cutting the Education Department will free up huge sums of funds that, instead of paying bureaucrats’ salaries, will instead go straight to students’ education and teachers. He pointed to cuts he made to the Oklahoma Education Department in which he reduced the state’s bureaucracy by 150 employees, which he claimed saved millions, creating opportunities for tutoring programs and offering more competitive salaries to hire top-talent teachers. “You’re going to see that, times a thousand with the federal Department of Education,” he said. Meanwhile, Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the parents’ rights group “Moms for Liberty,” assured parents that “your children’s education will not be affected by any of these things.” ILLINOIS MOM SPEAKS OUT OVER SCHOOL’S TRANSGENDER LOCKER ROOM POLICY “Don’t believe the union talking point, fearmongering lies,” Justice said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “Abolishing the Department of Education or dismantling it, cutting back on half the staff, only means more power to the parents, which is why the unions are concerned.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Since the creation of the Department of Education, student achievement has only declined,” she said. “We’ve got a real crisis on our hands. I think the fact that the majority of American children are not learning to read is one of the biggest national security threats that we face as a nation.” “If you’re watching mainstream media or the fake news, as President Trump likes to say, you’re hearing those union fearmongering talking points. They’re saying, ‘Oh, this is going to hurt teachers. This is going to hurt services.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” she went on. “Every state has a department of education, and I think every state and every state leader should really be looking at this as an opportunity to be able to show what their vision is for education, and then to execute on that vision and really make sure that kids in their states are learning.” Nearly two dozen Democrat attorneys general are currently suing the Trump administration to stop the cuts to the Department of Education. Speaking with Fox News, Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said it is “outrageous” that the Trump administration is “set on gutting the Department of Education.” She claimed that this move amounts to “neglecting our students, and our parents, our communities and… the future of this country.”
New border sector becomes nation’s busiest as overall encounters continue to plummet on Trump watch
The El Paso sector of the southwest border has become the busiest in the country as overall encounters at the border continue to freefall. The El Paso sector, which extends from Hudspeth County, Texas, to the New Mexico-Arizona state line, became the busiest sector on the southwest border in February, with the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data showing it recorded 2,110 encounters last month. Overall, CBP data shows 8,347 encounters at the southwest border in February, a stunning 94.1% drop from the same month last year, when 124,215 encounters were recorded. TRUMP POLICY ON BORDER JUMPERS EMPOWERS USE OF ‘MAXIMUM CONSEQUENCES,’ BORDER AGENT TELLS FOX While the El Paso sector took the crown for the busiest, the just over 2,000 encounters for the area still represented a significant year-over-year drop from the numbers recorded during February of last year, when the sector had 23,919 encounters. The February numbers in El Paso also represented a drop from last month, with the sector recording 4,870 encounters in January 2025. El Paso replaced the San Diego sector as the busiest on the southwest border in February, with San Diego recording just 1,650 encounters last month, a decline of 94.8% from the year before. The numbers for San Diego were also a dramatic drop from those recorded just last month, when the sector recorded 6,390 encounters. TRUMP PUTTING TROOPS ON BORDER WAS GAME CHANGER, SAN DIEGO SECTOR CHIEF SAYS: ‘FORCE MULTIPLIER’ CBP has nine sectors on the southwest border from the coast of California extending east to Texas and the Gulf of America. Multiple sectors along the border recorded under 200 total encounters in February, including the El Centro sector in the Imperial Valley of California and the Big Bend sector of West Texas. The El Centro sector recorded the fewest encounters in February, with CBP data showing just 102, a 91.6% reduction from the same time last year. The Big Ben sector wasn’t far behind, recording just 165 encounters in February, marking a 71% drop from the same month last year.
Vermont GOP pushes for penalties against Dems accused of disrupting ‘Detrans Awareness Day’ at Capitol
Green Mountain Republicans are pushing for the discipline or resignation of two Democrats they say “coordinated” a protest inside the State House that disrupted a meeting the Vermont Family Alliance was holding for “Detrans Awareness Day.” Vermont Republican Party Chair Paul Dame told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that state Reps. Mari Cordes of Lincoln and Jubilee McGill of Middlebury played an “active role” in the disruption that went viral across the nation – including on Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime.” Video footage from the Vermont Daily Chronicle featured by Watters and other journalists showed men dressed in women’s clothing singing loudly, while other disrupters shouted loud enough to stifle Vermont Family Alliance speaker Renee McGuiness, who had a microphone. “Intentionally recruiting people – that crosses the line for me,” Dame said. DANCING TRANSGENDER HECKLERS SHUT DOWN PARENTS’ EVENT IN BLUE STATE’S CAPITOL While some Democrats in Montpelier, who control the state House and Senate, are interested in working across the aisle with their Republican colleagues and the GOP governor, Dame said many “are not interested in governance for everyone.” In a statement, the VTGOP cited a Facebook post from a “Middlebury Pride” page that sought to congregate to “push back against transphobic bigots and their lies.” “Join us for a trans dance at the Statehouse in Montpelier on 3/12 at 12:30 to make our presence known. Trans joy is rebellious. Trans joy is irrepressible,” the post read. “Wear a mask – Trans power forever.” The disrupted meeting was intended to highlight resources available to former transgender people who had de-transitioned to their biological sex and are experiencing physical, mental or emotional aftereffects of their original transgender surgeries. On the Facebook page, McGill posted a comment under the announcement that included the official day’s schedule for the room in question. RNC FILES LAWSUIT OVER NONCITIZEN VOTING RIGHTS IN VERMONT’S LARGEST CITY “The attorney general will be meeting with the pages from 8:45-9:45. I am worried that there will be disruptions to their time together. I have seen posts all over informing people to be there at 8:45 with signs etc. and just wanted to get the word out,” she wrote. McGill and Cordes did not respond to requests for comment filed with the State House Sergeant-at-Arms office. Dame said it was “deeply regrettable to discover that instead of working on the issues Vermonters care most about” that the two women “used their positions as legislators in the State House to deliberately sabotage a peaceful informational meeting held by a group that shares a different perspective.” He called on House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, to consider disciplining the lawmakers for creating an “unnecessary debacle.” While some critics also found fault with Sergeant-at-Arms Agatha Kessler, whose office eventually cleared the room of both factions, Dame said she acted responsibly and is a “genuinely [politically] down-the-middle person.” The Democratic caucus was scheduled to use the room afterward, so by the time the enforcement office arrived, it was almost the end of the Detrans Awareness Day participants’ reservation. In a statement regarding Detrans Awareness Day and “subsequently planned counterdemonstrations,” Senate Majority Leader Kesha Ram Hinsdale and House Majority Leader Lori Houghton, both Democrats representing Chittenden, said the legislative majority jointly “reaffirms our unwavering commitment to the rights and freedoms of all Vermonters.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Personal health decisions and gender identity are deeply personal matters – not political talking points. Every individual deserves the dignity and respect to make these choices free from public scrutiny, interference, or government overreach,” the lawmakers said. Hinsdale added separately that “trans Vermonters [have a] right to access the medical care, safety, and legal protections they deserve. We reject any efforts to turn their existence into a political debate.” McGuinness later demanded an apology from Houghton and Hinsdale for publicly “mischaracterizing our event as an attack on the transgender community.” Fox News Digital also reached out to Vermont Gov. Phil Scott – a Republican – for comment, but did not receive a response by press time. Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Illinois families protest homeschool bill ‘overreach’ at Capitol, but legislation advances
A state bill protested by hundreds of homeschooling families at the Illinois state Capitol advanced out of committee on Wednesday and will head to the state House floor for a vote, likely sometime next week, Fox News has learned. House Bill 2827, known as the Homeschool Act, passed out of the Education Policy Committee by a vote of 8-4. If it passes a House floor vote, the bill will then go to the full House for a vote, followed by the Senate and then onto the desk of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Pritzker, a Democrat, has not publicly taken any position on the bill. Fox News reached out to his office multiple times asking if he supports the bill and if he plans to sign it if it reaches his desk but has not received a response so far. The bill would establish requirements for parents to meet to homeschool their children and if they do not comply, they could face up to a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail. Hundreds of homeschooling families gathered inside the state Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, earlier Wednesday, condemning the bill as an overreach by lawmakers. Will Estrada, senior counsel for the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, told Fox News that the bill’s language was left “open-ended for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to be able to write different sections of regulations.” “If this bill is passed into law, it’s going to be expanded in future years to put even more restrictions on homeschool and private school families,” Estrada said after testifying at Wednesday’s hearing. “The record of homeschoolers shows that we do well academically, socially, emotionally and so why are we messing with them? That’s the question. This bill is a solution in search of a problem.” ILLINOIS PARENTS, LAWMAKERS SOUND ALARM OVER PROPOSED HOMESCHOOLING BILL: ‘DIRECT ASSAULT ON FAMILIES’ “We became homeschoolers in 2020 upon seeing all the government overreach, so the fact that they are now coming for us again with government overreach, I feel like it’s an attack on parental rights,” one homeschooling mother who showed up to the state Capitol protest, Michelle Langworthy, told Fox News. “There’s a part of the bill that says the school will be the one that will get to determine where the child’s records go that the parent no longer has that right.” “That is a such a gross overreach of what the state should be allowed to do. And they also say that the student should be educated to serve the state. That’s absurd,” Langworthy said. “I don’t align with the state. I don’t want what the state prioritizes to be the priority of my family. We have a different value system. We are not ownership of the state.” “We’re fine. We’re scoring high. We’re doing great. We’re involved in the community,” she said, condemning sexual abuse and harassment allegations within the Chicago Public Schools system. “They have no right coming to our side of the lane.” Another homeschooling parent, Luke Schurter, told Fox News at the state Capitol Wednesday that the bill is “taking a step back for homeschool freedom, not a step forward.” CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, TEACHERS UNION REAFFIRM BEING A ‘SANCTUARY SPACE’ AHEAD OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION “We want to choose what we teach our kids, how we raise our kids, how we instruct them, so we’re concerned that this is cracking that door open and then the next thing is going to be more requirements on ‘hey, we need to look and see, we need to dictate what the subjects you are teaching are, we need to dictate how much time you’re spending,’” the father of three said. “This would circumvent those efforts and bring them back under the authority and the watchful eye of the public school system.” The bill would require the State Board of Education to create a “Homeschool Declaration Form,” which a homeschooling parent must submit to essentially register their child in the nearest public school. The children of parents who do not submit the form would be “considered truant, with penalties applying,” according to a synopsis of the bill. A regional office of education or a school district could also request that homeschooling parents hand over an “education portfolio,” or a set of their child’s records, including writing samples, workbooks, worksheets or other logs of curricular materials. The portfolio would serve “as evidence that the homeschool administrator’s homeschool program provides a course of instruction that is sufficient to satisfy the education requirements set forth in Sections 26-1 and Section 27-1 of the School Code that is at least commensurate with the standards prescribed for public schools,” according to the bill text. Section 26-1 sets the compulsory school age at between 7 and 17 unless the child has already graduated from high school, while Section 27-1 is intended to ensure the areas of education taught in public schools do not discriminate on account of the sex of the student. The bill would also require homeschooling parents of children who participate in public school activities on or off school grounds to “submit proof that the child has received all required immunizations and health examinations or a signed Certificate of Religious Exemption.” Fox News’ Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.
Judges blocking Trump’s executive orders are acting ‘erroneously,’ White House says
The judicial branch has been behaving “erroneously,” according to White House press secretary, after several judges have blocked various executive orders from President Donald Trump. “I would like to point out that the judges in this country are acting erroneously,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Wednesday news briefing. “We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench.” On Saturday, Judge James Boasberg with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants allegedly part of the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing. However, flights carrying the migrants continued to El Salvador, and Leavitt said Sunday the order had “no lawful basis” since Boasberg issued it after the flights departed from U.S. airspace. THESE ARE THE JUDGES GOING TOE TO TOE AGAINST TRUMP’S AGENDA Meanwhile, Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment in a social media post Tuesday, prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement condemning Trump’s remarks. Specifically, Roberts said that “it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision” for more than two centuries. In response, Leavitt said Wednesday that the Supreme Court needs to “reign in” judges who are behaving as “partisan activists” and are “undermining” the judicial branch, while also asserting that Trump does respect Robert. Efforts to oust Boasberg also have been launched in Congress. For example, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, unveiled an impeachment resolution against Boasberg Tuesday, claiming that Boasberg was “guilty of high crimes” in a post on social media. WHITE HOUSE BLASTS JUDGE FOR ATTEMPTING TO HALT DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO EL SALVADOR: ‘NO LAWFUL BASIS’ “It’s incredibly apparent that there is a concerted effort by the far left to judge shop, to pick judges who are clearly acting as partisan activists from the bench in an attempt to derail this president’s agenda,” Leavitt said. “We will not allow that to happen.” Leavitt said that while flights to deport illegal immigrants to El Salvador are currently not scheduled, the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign will continue as litigation continues on this case. “We don’t have any flights planned specifically, but we will continue with the mass deportations,” Leavitt said. “And I would just like to point out that the judge in this case is essentially trying to say that the President doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists…That is an egregious abuse of the bench.” Boasberg has requested the Trump administration provide more details regarding the timing of the flights departing U.S. soil, when they left U.S. airspace, when they landed in El Salvador, among other things. The Trump administration has until Thursday to respond. Trump has signed more than 90 executive orders since returning to the White House in January, spurring more than 125 lawsuits against his administration. Additionally, the odds of impeaching a judge are slim, as it would require 67 senators to vote for a conviction. Currently, Republicans only have a majority of 53 lawmakers in the upper chamber. Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview Tuesday that he has never defied a court order — and wouldn’t — but that the judicial system is full of “crooked” judges. “No, you can’t do that,” Trump said about defying court orders. “However, we have bad judges. We have very bad judges. These are judges that shouldn’t be allowed. I think at a certain point, you have to look at what do you do when you have a rogue judge.” Other recent legal losses for the Trump administration include Judge Ana Reyes blocking Trump’s executive order to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military. Reyes wrote in her 79-page opinion released Tuesday that the ban “is soaked in animus.” The injunction takes effect on Friday, providing a window for the Trump administration to appeal the order. Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Top Arizona election official eyes bid for border congressional seat after House Democrat dies
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, may run for late Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s seat in Congress after Grijalva died last week. The decision could lead to a major shakeup in the state’s politics. It’s a seat Grijalva, a Democrat, had held since 2003 until his lung cancer-related death earlier this month at 77. “I have long admired Congressman Grijalva. We should all be grateful for his years of service,” Fontes said in a statement Tuesday. DEMOCRATIC REP. RAUL GRIJALVA DEAD AT 77 “I am strongly considering a run to represent AZ-07, a place where I was born and raised, served my country in the Marine Corps, and protected democracy. I will have more to say in the days ahead. “Right now, we must remember and appreciate the life and legacy of the late Congressman Grijalva.” As part of the state’s “resign to run” law, Fontes would need to leave his role, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would need to appoint his replacement. The next regular election for the Secretary of State’s office is in 2026. When the governor leaves the state, the secretary of state becomes the acting governor. If the governor steps down, the secretary of state ascends to governor. This most notably happened when former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano resigned to serve as the Homeland Security Secretary for the Obama administration, which resulted in Republican Jan Brewer taking over. An office of the lieutenant governor will be created in 2027, which will make the lieutenant governor next in line for governor. BORDER STATE LAWMAKER REVEALS WHAT ‘DRASTIC’ CHANGES CAN BE SOLIDIFIED WITH MAJOR CONGRESSIONAL ACTION The move is a public pivot away from prior reports that Fontes was mulling a primary bid against Hobbs in the 2026 election, which is expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the country. Grijalva’s daughter, Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, said she may also dive into the race but is waiting until after her father’s funeral before announcing a decision. SOUTHERN BORDER STATE GOVERNOR TAKES ON CARTELS AND SECURITY WITH SIGNING OF EXECUTIVE ORDER “Many have asked me if I would consider running to continue my father’s legacy. In between tears and hugs, my family and I are processing our profound loss as well as that of our community, state, and nation,” she said in a statement. The special primary election for the seat will be July 15, and the general election will be Sept. 23. Grijalva won the November election with over 63% of the vote. As for other Democratic candidates in the field, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and state Rep. Alma Hernandez opted not to run in the special election. Geographically, the vast majority of the district falls along Arizona’s southern border, which has become a national flash point in recent years due to the migrant and drug crisis.
Trump admin guts Institute of Peace of ‘rogue bureaucrats’ after DOGE standoff in government office
The Trump administration gutted the Institute of Peace of “rogue bureaucrats” who held a tense standoff with a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team Monday that required police intervention, according to the White House. “Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “The Trump administration will enforce the president’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.” The Institute of Peace is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February regarding reducing the “scope of federal bureaucracy,” which included specifically targeting the size of the Institute of Peace, as well as other government programs, such as the U.S. African Development Foundation and the Inter-American Foundation. That executive order followed one on Jan. 20 that established DOGE and directed agency leaders to establish their own DOGE teams within their respective agencies as part of the administration’s work to slim down the federal government. WHITE HOUSE UNLEASHES ON ‘ROGUE BUREAUCRATS’ AFTER AGENCY HEAD REFUSES DOGE ENTRY TO HEADQUARTERS The Institute of Peace, however, did not comply with the February executive order to reduce its size to the statutory minimum, leading to the Trump administration to fire 11 of its 14 board members last week, Fox Digital learned. “President Trump signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum,” Kelly said. “After noncompliance, 11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president.” The remaining board members include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin, who on Friday fired acting president and CEO of the institute, George Moose. THE UNELECTED POWER IS THE ROGUE BUREAUCRACY, STEPHEN MILLER SAYS Moose is a Clinton-era diplomat who served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The board replaced Moose with Kenneth Jackson, a State Department official, as acting president. Jackson attempted to enter the Institute of Peace’s building in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, but was denied access by employees of the institute, an administration official told Fox News Digital. The standoff hit a fever pitch Monday when Jackson and the DOGE team attempted again to gain entry to the building, while Moose, who already had been fired, accused them of breaking into the building and vowed to file a lawsuit. An administration official told Fox Digital that Moose “basically barricaded himself” in his former office after he was fired. “Our statute is very clear about the status of this building and this institute,” Moose told reporters Monday, according to the New York Times. “So what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation.” Jackson and the DOGE team held conversations with local police Monday, Fox Digital learned, as they worked to gain entry to the building. The Metropolitan Police Department reported that they received a call from the United States Attorney’s Office at about 4 p.m. that day regarding an ongoing incident at the institute, and reported to the scene. “MPD members met with the acting USIP President, and he provided the MPD members with documentation that he was the acting USIP President, with all powers delegated by the USIP Board of Directors to that role,” the police department said in a news release of Monday’s incident. “The acting USIP President advised MPD members that there were unauthorized individuals inside of the building that were refusing to leave and refusing to provide him access to the facility.” TRUMP ORDERS THE DISMANTLING OF GOVERNMENT-FUNDED, ‘PROPAGANDA’-PEDDLING MEDIA OUTLET “MPD members went to the USIP building and contacted an individual who allowed MPD members inside of the building,” the release stated. “Once inside of the building, the acting USIP President requested that all the unauthorized individuals inside of the building leave.” Jackson was able to enter the building upon police intervention. Moose left the building without incident and no arrests were made, police said. “Mr. Moose denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board) @DCPoliceDept arrived onsite and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building. The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP’s private security team when said security team went to give access to Mr. Jackson,” DOGE’s X account said of the incident Monday. MUSK AND DOGE HAVE ANOTHER PERFECT TARGET: MORE TAXPAYER-FUNDED, ANTI-AMERICAN MEDIA An administration official told Fox Digital that the incident is a prime example of “rogue bureaucrats who have been (in government) for years and decades, who want to basically continue to dole out tax dollars unilaterally, with no oversight.” The Institute of Peace filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday in the D.C. District Court, calling for “the immediate intervention of this Court to stop Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution work as tasked by Congress.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Wednesday’s news conference that staffers physically barricaded themselves in the building. “There was a concerted effort amongst the rogue bureaucrats at the United States Institute of Peace to actually physically barricade themselves essentially inside of the building to prevent political appointees of this administration who work at the direction of the president of the United States to get into the building,” she said. “They barricaded the doors. They also disabled telephone lines, internet connections and other IT infrastructure within the building. They distributed fliers internally, encouraging each other to basically prevent these individuals from accessing the building,” Leavitt continued. “It’s a resistance from bureaucrats who don’t want to see change in this city. President Trump was elected on an overwhelming mandate to seek change and implement change.
Prince Harry’s immigration docs paint ‘clear picture’ into how he was allowed into US: report
Documents related to Prince Harry’s immigration record were released Tuesday and paint a “clear picture” of how the British royal was allowed to move to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released court declarations from agents in the immigration case of Prince Harry, while a closed-door hearing transcript of a lawsuit filed by the Heritage Foundation into the royal’s immigration case was also released, with one expert claiming the British royal likely lied on his application despite the documents being heavily redacted. “The key information may be at State,” Heritage Foundation lawyer Samuel Dewey said in a report in the New York Post on the new documents, noting the heavy mentions of the State Department in the documents that point “pretty clear picture” of how Harry was able to navigate the U.S. immigration process. While Harry’s immigration records were not released and the documents were heavily redacted, Dewey believes there are plenty of hints in what was released in federal court Tuesday after a deadline set by Judge Carl Nichols. MEGHAN MARKLE BLAMED BY PRINCE HARRY’S PALS FOR MAKING HIM ‘TOO WOKE’ BEFORE ROYAL EXIT: AUTHOR Dewey told the New York Post that the documents point to the possibility that Harry lied and failed to divulge his history of drug use on what was likely a 0-1 visa application, which are typically filed with the State Department for people “of exceptional talent or ability.” The Heritage Foundation lawyer argued that if Harry had admitted to taking drugs, the information would have gone into a DS-160 file and been sent to DHS in its entirety, but would not have ended up with DHS if he was dishonest about his prior drug use. Dewey believes that the documents are proof that the State Department and DHS were still withholding information from Heritage and the court, noting an excerpt from the closed-door hearing that was released Tuesday. “While I have some of the ‘true set of facts’ right now, I don’t have all of them,” Judge Nichols said at the April 30, 2024, hearing. “And I well understand that some of this information that we’ve been talking about today is not at DHS.” MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY SLAMMED BY JUSTINE BATEMAN FOR THEIR ‘AGGRESSIVE VICTIM OLYMPICS CAMPAIGN’ The judge would make a second reference to Harry’s case being split between DHS and State, noting at one point that “all of the relevant information was at DHS” and that if the case “didn’t have State off to the side,” it would be easier “to weigh the public’s interest in knowing that against the privacy concerns.” The Heritage Foundation initially made a Freedom of Information Act request for Harry’s immigration records in 2023, arguing that the British royal may have received special treatment when allowed to move to the U.S. in 2020. The case arose after Harry admitted to his prior drug use in his 2023 memoir, “Spare,” calling into question his honesty on his immigration paperwork a few years prior. “Of course I had been taking cocaine at that time,” Harry wrote in the book, referencing a time when he was 17 years old and sought to “feel different.” “At someone’s house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more,” he continued. Noting the admission, the Heritage Foundation has argued that it is in the public’s interest to see the immigration records to determine whether the British royal was honest or received preferential treatment on his 2020 visa application. “Time for Prince Harry to go home. Every partial answer raises three new questions. We now believe he has committed a felony by lying on an 0-1 visa and on form DS-160,” Mike Howell, Oversight Project executive director at the Heritage Foundation, told the New York Post. “The Garland Justice Department and Prince Harry conspired to hide the truth and waste a massive amount of public resources to defend someone who hates their own country and is hell-bent on tearing down this one too,” he added. “Prince Harry should self-deport now. He can use his Royal status to drink at the Netflix liberal grift machine and bash the results of the 2024 Presidential Election back in the UK on their taxpayer dime.”