Canada ‘rage room’ lets visitors smash Trump, Vance, Musk portraits to release tariff angst
Canadians upset with President Donald Trump’s tariffs now have an outlet for their anger – a “rage room” business now offers the ability to “smash” the U.S. leader; kind of. Rage Room: Halifax, in the Nova Scotian capital, announced on its website that “until the tariffs come off, we understand you might have a little extra rage that you want to let out.” The “Smash the Tariffs” promotion offers customers portraits of Trump to “smash,” discounts on other “smashables.” Customers who order any package of smashables at the business, about 600 miles northeast of Boston across the Bay of Fundy, receive a Trump portrait for free, and with a $5 donation to a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, food bank, they can also smash likenesses of Vice President JD Vance and DOGE leader Elon Musk. STEVE MOORE: TARIFFS WILL BRING FREER AND FAIRER TRADE Efforts to reach Rage Room: Halifax were unsuccessful on Tuesday, as it was closed as scheduled. However, owner Terry LeBlanc told Vancouver-based national broadcaster Global News that his view is “we’re entertainment first.” “Normally, I don’t really get political. However, I feel with everything going on in the world and what’s happening these days … this is needed,” he told the network. If customers are able to relieve stress and be entertained, then it is a “win,” he said. A social media post advertising the new promotion invited Canadians “fed up with the chaos” and news cycle to come and enjoy the “perfect way to let it out.” In its report, CTV News described a 14-year-old boy placing a framed picture of Trump on a table, while bedecked in a mask for protection, as he leveled a baseball bat at the mogul’s portrait and “obliterated” it. HOW JACKSON-ERA TARIFFS ALMOST LED TO CAROLINA CONFLICT 30 YEARS BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR The boy was asked by the outlet why he wanted to smash the portrait and responded, “it’s about how he’s treating this country (Canada),” as his sister soon smashed another Trump portrait with a golf club. The girl said Trump is “not a very smart man” and that the rage room allowed her to safely release frustrations. Typical smashable packages have descriptors such as “Anger Management” and “Parental Leave,” according to CTV. Customers are also regularly asked what their top smashable was during their visit. As of late, it has been Trump’s likeness. When asked about the rage room, White House spokesman Kush Desai said, “Fortunately, Canadians won’t have to worry about President Trump’s tariffs anymore when Canada becomes our 51st state.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Secret Service, which often probes issues regarding presidential protection, did not respond to a request for comment for the purposes of this story. Canadian news coverage has shown state stores removing American bourbon and other uniquely U.S. products from their shelves in response to Trump’s tariff actions. Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in recent public remarks “there is a limit given the relative size of our economies to the extent that we should match U.S. tariffs,” adding that the U.S. economy is 10:1 larger than Canada’s – before criticizing Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre for his plans to deal with the tariff matter. On Monday, Poilievre lamented that both U.S. and Canadian workers will be hurt by the tariffs and slammed Carney and predecessor Justin Trudeau for a “lost liberal decade.” “Let’s solve this problem,” Poilievre said while gathered with blue-collar workers in L’Orignal, Ont.
Vanderbilt Med Center ‘hiding’ DEI resources behind password-protected web pages: report
FIRST ON FOX: While some medical schools have taken steps to scrub their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments from their websites, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has been found to be hiding some of theirs behind password-protected web pages. The conservative nonprofit organization Consumers Research unveiled a campaign Tuesday titled, “What Is Vanderbilt University Medical Center Hiding?” after finding that VUMC was not just deleting some of its references to DEI commitments and resources, but also keeping some and hiding them from public view. The campaign includes a website, complete with screenshots and archived web links, showing the various web pages tied to DEI and climate activism that are now password-protected. The Consumers’ Research campaign also includes a mobile billboard that the nonprofit has deployed at the university to raise awareness about VUMC’s actions. UNIVERSITY DOCTOR BOASTS ABOUT FINDING LOOPHOLES TO SKIRT ANTI-DEI LAWS: ‘THAT’S WHAT WE DO’ “Vanderbilt University Medical Center is frantically trying to conceal its radical policies by password-protecting and deleting webpages highlighting its commitment to DEI and climate activism,” Will Hild, Consumers’ Research executive director, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Until recently, VUMC proudly touted its woke ideology, showcasing DEI policies and an activist climate agenda prominently throughout its website. But now, the health system is scrambling to hide the evidence. This seemingly nefarious behavior begs the question, what is Vanderbilt University Medical Center hiding?” While VUMC deleted several web pages related to DEI resources and programs that it offers within specific departments, VUMC’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion website allegedly remains active, only to be accessed with a username and password, according to the nonprofit. A VUMC Department of Medicine web page touting its commitment to recruit “a diverse resident and fellow population” and laying out resources for those “underrepresented in medicine” is now hidden as well. UNIVERSITIES FACING ‘IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION’ AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CRACKS DOWN ON DEI: REPORT Other web pages about prioritizing “climate care as health care” and other left-wing climate change initiatives have also become password-protected, Consumers’ Research found. In a statement to Fox News Digital, VUMC spokesperson John Howser said that in light of President Donald Trump’s recent executive actions mandating an end to DEI programs, particularly in educational institutions, VUMC “is undertaking a thorough review” of its programs to figure out “where revisions may be required to remain in compliance, including updating information on websites and other public platforms.” “While we undertake that review, we have elected to take down related websites to ensure current, accurate, and factual information,” Howser added. “VUMC remains committed to maintaining an environment in which all our employees, patients and visitors feel equally welcome, respected and valued.” UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON’S EX-DIVERSITY OFFICER SCRUTINIZED OVER SPENDING, JUDGMENT AMID DEI CRACKDOWN Included in the Consumers’ Research campaign is a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling on HHS and the Department of Government Efficiency to investigate VUMC. “VUMC, a top research hospital in the United States, relies heavily on federal dollars,” the letter states. “Taxpayer dollars should be used to prioritize patient care, not political activism. Consumers’ Research stands ready to assist as needed to ensure accountability and protect consumers.” VUMC was investigated by Tennessee’s Attorney General’s Office in 2023 amid allegations that a doctor at VUMC was manipulating medical billing codes to evade insurance coverage-limitations for transgender treatments. The investigation followed a video released in 2022, which allegedly showed a VUMC doctor touting transgender surgeries for minors as “huge money makers” and telling anyone with a religious objection to providing them should quit.
Alleged MS-13 leader on FBI most wanted list being extradited to US, Patel says
An alleged MS-13 senior gang leader on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list is being extradited to the U.S. after his arrest in Mexico, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday. Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales was arrested on Monday in the mountains of the Gulf coast state of Veracruz by Mexican soldiers and federal agents. The FBI was offering a $250,000 reward for information on Bardales prior to his arrest. “I can now confirm that last night, working with the Justice Department and other interagency partners, the FBI has extradited one of our ‘Ten Most Wanted’ from Mexico — one we believe to be a key senior leader of MS-13, Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales,” Patel announced in a statement. “He was arrested in Mexico and is being transported within the U.S. as we speak, where he will face American justice. This is a major victory both for our law enforcement partners and for a safer America. Thank you to our brave personnel for executing the mission. And thank you to Mexico’s SSPC and FGE teams for their support of the FBI in this investigation and arrest,” he added. TRUMP STATE DEPARTMENT DECLARES TREN DE ARAGUA, MS-13, MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS The FBI said Bardales faces charges in the Eastern District of New York relating to “several offenses for his alleged role in ordering numerous acts of violence against civilians and rival gang members, as well as his role in drug distribution and extortion schemes in the United States and El Salvador.” The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was one of eight Latin American criminal organizations declared foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration last month. Bardales’ transfer comes nearly a month after Mexican authorities extradited another drug cartel member to the U.S. in late February. Jesus Ricardo Patron Sanchez, 39, faces charges relating to drug trafficking in New York City for the H-2 cartel, according to federal prosecutors. The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said last year that the U.S. is facing the “most dangerous and deadly drug crisis” in its history with fentanyl and methamphetamine flowing across the border — and that the “Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels are at the heart of this crisis.” POLICE LEAD TREN DE ARAGUA CRACKDOWNS AS EXCLUSIVE FOX NATION RIDE-ALONG EXPOSES VENEZUELA’S DEADLIEST GANG Prosecutors allege that under the direction of Sanchez, H-2 transported cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine into the U.S. on a monthly basis from June 2013 to December 2016. The cartel used multiple distribution cells throughout the country, including New York, Las Vegas, North Carolina, Ohio and Los Angeles, to traffic “large quantities” of drugs, officials said. “As alleged in the indictment and court filings, Sanchez was one of the principal leaders of the H-2 Drug Trafficking Organization, a brutally violent transnational criminal organization that flooded American streets with dangerous drugs and protected its operations through murder and corruption,” U.S. Attorney John Durham said. Sanchez also directed members of the cartel to kill members of other drug trafficking organizations and additional perceived rivals, according to prosecutors. Monday’s arrest and swift handover came just weeks after Mexico handed over 29 drug cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was allegedly behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985. Mexico has also stepped up operations against the Sinaloa Cartel, a main trafficker of fentanyl to the United States. President Claudia Sheinbaum has worked to show President Donald Trump that Mexico is a reliable partner on security and immigration. The results have so far kept most of Trump’s tariffs at bay. The Trump administration sent two other top members of MS-13 to El Salvador over the weekend, along with hundreds of Venezuelans. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Vance knocks globalization’s ‘cheap labor’ and lauds ‘America’s great industrial comeback’ at AI summit
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance knocked recent globalization efforts that use “cheap labor as a crutch” while simultaneously hampering innovation on the global scale during a Tuesday tech and artificial intelligence speech. “Our workers, the populists, on the one hand, the tech optimists on the other, have been failed by this government,” he said. “Not just the government of the last administration, but the government in some ways of the last 40 years, because there were two conceits that our leadership class had when it came to globalization.” Vance explained that recent globalization efforts falsely assumed that world leaders could “separate the making of things from the design of things,” citing the belief was that poorer nations would create goods such as cellphones, while wealthier nations would move “further up the value change.” “Now, we assume that other nations will always trail us in the value chain, but it turns out that as they got better at the low end of the value chain, they also started catching up on the higher end. We were squeezed from both ends. Now, that was the first conceit of globalization,” he said. ‘DEREGULATORY FLAVOR’: JD VANCE LAYS OUT VISION IN PARIS FOR THE FUTURE OF AI UNDER TRUMP Vance said the efforts have led to an addiction to cheap labor that has halted innovation. “Cheap labor is fundamentally a crutch, and it’s a crutch that inhibits innovation,” he said. “I might even say that it’s a drug that too many American firms got addicted to. Now, if you can make a product more cheaply, it’s far too easy to do that rather than to innovate. And whether we were offshoring factories to cheap labor economies or importing cheap labor through our immigration system, cheap labor became the drug of Western economies. “And I’d say that if you look in nearly every country, from Canada to the UK that imported large amounts of cheap labor, you’ve seen productivity stagnate,” he said. “And I don’t think that’s that’s not a total happenstance. I think that the connection is very direct.” Vance argued that “innovation is key to winning the worldwide manufacturing competition, to giving our workers a fair deal and to reclaiming our heritage via America’s great industrial comeback.” The American Dynamism Summit is an annual tech summit hosted by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The event, which is in its third year, acts as a bridge between California’s Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Vance headlined the event at the Waldorf Astoria and was joined by other notable speakers during the summit, such as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, General Bryan P. Fenton, who serves as U.S. Special Operations Command commander, and Democratic New York Rep. Ritchie Torres. AMERICAN AI FREEDOM STILL UNDER THREAT FROM BIDEN’S LEFTOVER DIRECTIVES Vance also spoke out against industry and world leaders who are championing strict regulations on AI due to concerns over the tech, saying their worries are based “on a faulty premise.” “This idea that tech-forward people and the populists are somehow inevitably going to come to a loggerheads is wrong,” he said. “I think the reality is that in any dynamic society, technology is going to advance.” The vice president compared the rise of AI to the proliferation of ATMs in the 1970s, which sparked concern that bank tellers would be obliterated, similarly to how some workers are concerned AI could push them out of their jobs. “I think there’s too much fear that AI will simply replace jobs rather than augmenting so many of the things that we do now,” he said. “In the 1970s, if you go back a little ways, many feared that the automated teller machine, what we call the ATM, would replace bank tellers. In reality, the advent of the ATM made bank tellers more productive, and you have more people today working in customer service in the financial sector than you had when the ATM was created.” ELON MUSK AND TECH LEADER SAM ALTMAN GET INTO WAR OF WORDS OVER AI INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT “Now they’re doing slightly different jobs, of course. Yes, they’re doing more interesting tasks also,” he continued. “And importantly, they’re making more money than they were in the 1970s.” Vance attended a separate tech summit in February in Paris, called the AI Action Summit, where he railed against Europe’s “trepidation” of artificial intelligence, and regulation of it as hampering the future of innovation and jobs. “Now, at this moment, we face the extraordinary prospect of a new industrial revolution, one on par with the invention of the steam engine or Bessemer steel,” he said in the Paris speech. “But it will never come to pass if overregulation deters innovators from taking the risks necessary to advance the ball, nor will it occur if we allow AI to become dominated by massive players looking to use the tech to censor or control users’ thoughts. “And as AI creates new jobs and industries, our government, businesses and labor organizations have an obligation to work together to empower the workers not just of the United States but … all over the world,” he added. “To that end, for all major AI policy decisions coming from the federal government, the Trump Administration will guarantee American workers a seat at the table, and we’re very proud of that.” VANCE TELLS WORLD LEADERS AI MUST BE ‘FREE FROM IDEOLOGICAL BIAS,’ AMERICAN TECH WON’T BE CENSORSHIP TOOL President Donald Trump announced a massive artificial intelligence infrastructure plan on his second day in office in January, explaining that tech firms Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle joined forces for a project called Stargate, which is working to build U.S.-based data centers to power artificial intelligence. There was an initial $100 billion investment in the project, with plans to expand to $500 billion across the next four years. Trump additionally signed an executive order on his third day in office called, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” The executive order rescinded previous Biden-era AI
Newsom asks for nearly another $3B for state health program overwhelmed by illegal immigrants
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is requesting an additional $2.8 billion loan to address a bloated deficit in the state’s Medicaid program, which has surpassed budget expectations largely due to coverage for illegal immigrants. The new request comes after the Democratic governor asked lawmakers last week for a $3.4 billion loan from the general fund to cover outstanding costs for Medi-Cal, one of the state’s primary healthcare programs that takes both federal and state taxpayer dollars. “With tough fiscal choices ahead, Governor Newsom, jointly with Pro Tem McGuire and Speaker Rivas, will evaluate proposals to rein in long-term spending — including in Medi-Cal — while working to protect the core health and social services Californians rely on,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon told Fox News Digital in a statement Tuesday. TRUMP SURROGATE CORRIN RANKIN PICKED TO LEAD BLUE STATE’S GOP: ‘MAKE CALIFORNIA GREAT AGAIN’ The additional $2.8 billion would keep the health care program afloat through June. Newsom’s office pushed back on the skyrocketing healthcare costs being solely due to illegal immigrants on the programs. Instead, they attribute the increases to higher overall enrollment for all populations and pharmaceutical costs. The administration also pointed to other states, Pennsylvania and Indiana, which are also facing budget shortfalls in their Medicaid programs. However, Republicans in the legislature, who have been hounding against increased spending in the state for years, blame the state’s policies as the culprit for the under-projection. “That’s a staggering $6.2 billion over budget…and the costs keep climbing with no end in sight,” California Senate Republican Minority Leader, Brian Jones, wrote in a post on X on Monday. “Californians should not be forced to shoulder the burden of radical Democrats’ reckless financial mismanagement.” “Even Jerry Brown refused to expand Medi-Cal to all illegal immigrants because he knew it was fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable,” Jones wrote. “Now under Newsom, legal residents are paying the price both financially and in reduced access to healthcare. The public deserves answers: Why are the costs so much higher than what Newsom promised? What is Newsom’s plan to fix the financial disaster he created?” NEWSOM’S ‘UNFAIR’ REMARK ON GIRLS’ SPORTS BELIES RECORD AS GOVERNOR: ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘ Last year, California expanded Medi-Cal to cover all low-income adults ages 26 through 49, regardless of immigration status, making it the first state to do so. Roughly 1.6 million illegal immigrants are enrolled in the state’s healthcare program, according to state data, and 15 million California residents are enrolled. “Both lawfully present and not lawfully present individuals can apply through Covered California to see if they are eligible for a health plan through Covered California or Medi-Cal,” the state’s healthcare marketplace, Covered California, says on its website. “There is no ‘waiting period’ or ‘five-year bar.’” The state initially estimated the program would cost just under $6 billion in FY 2024 to 2025. However, one year into the program, that budget has ballooned. In response, House Republicans recently advanced a proposal to cut $880 billion from a group of programs, mainly Medicaid, over the next 10 years. ‘NEEDS TO RESIGN’: BLUE STATE BLASTED FOR ASKING FOR LOAN AMID SKYROCKETING IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE COSTS Newsom’s latest budget proposal projects that California will spend $8.4 billion to cover illegal immigrants in Medi-Cal for 2024-2025, followed by $7.4 billion in 2025-2026. During a budget hearing with legislators, Michelle Bass, director of the Department of Health Care Services – which manages Medi-Cal – the state significantly underestimated the number of illegal immigrant enrollees last year. Bass said during the hearing the department had just one month of data on the new “unprecedented” policies before it had to make projections for the budget signed by Newsom, “and all happened at once.”
Bipartisan bill seeks to stop pharmacy middlemen from driving up drug costs for financial gain
FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to reform the incentive structure for Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), arguing that it drives up patient costs by encouraging them to favor higher-priced drugs while withholding potential savings. Led by physician and GOP Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the group introduced the “Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act” on Tuesday, requiring that PBMs in the commercial market only charge a flat fee for their services related to a specific prescription drug, versus letting them continue to charge a percentage of the drug price. PBMs are third-party intermediaries between insurance companies, drug manufacturers and pharmacies that serve to control drug prices and access. The current incentive structure for PBMs, according to the DRUG Act’s sponsors, encourages them to drive up the list price of drugs to increase profits. “Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have excessive influence over the prices patients pay at the pharmacy counter,” said Miller-Meeks. “Local Iowa pharmacies are closing due to greedy PBM practices, impacting proximity and access to medications for Iowans. The DRUG Act will put downward pressure on prescription drug prices and insurance premiums by removing the incentive for PBMs to drive up the list price of medications.” I’M A HEALTHCARE CEO WHO HAS FOUGHT MEDICATION MIDDLEMEN. THEN MY DAUGHTER’S CONDITION MADE IT PERSONAL. According to the Iowa Pharmacy Association, PBMs have been using opaque reimbursement models that often pay back pharmacies less than the list cost of a drug and the services provided to dispense it. As a result of these practices, pharmacies in Iowa and across the country have been forced to close, the association said in a January report. Twenty-nine Iowa pharmacies and 2,300 pharmacies nationwide closed their doors in 2024, according to the association. While PBMs have played important roles in making drugs more widely available, through decades of mergers and acquisitions, the three largest PBMs now manage nearly 80% of all prescriptions filled in the U.S., according to a 2024 report from the Federal Trade Commission. CALIFORNIA EXPLOITING MEDICAID ‘LOOPHOLE’ TO PAY BILLIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTHCARE, STUDY SAYS The DRUG Act’s reforms serve to address this anti-competitiveness, which the bill’s sponsors say will also help lower costs. “Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) contribute to high drug costs because they are incentivized to steer patients towards drugs that are more profitable for PBMs, but may be less clinically effective for consumers,” said Rep. Nannette Barragán, D-Calif., one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “This broken system disproportionately harms low-income individuals, seniors, and those with chronic illnesses who rely on life-saving prescriptions to manage their health.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., another co-sponsor of the DRUG Act, said families in his district “are crying out for relief from high prescription drug prices.” “Americans deserve access to quality health care and affordable prescription drugs,” Norcross said. “The DRUG Act reins in prescription drug prices by removing the incentive for pharmacy benefit managers to drive up costs, increasing transparency and prioritizing patients over profits.”
SCOOP: Impeachment articles hit judge who ordered Trump to stop Tren de Aragua deportation flights
FIRST ON FOX: A House GOP lawmaker has filed impeachment articles against the federal judge who ordered the Trump administration to stop deportation flights being conducted under the Alien Enemies Act. “For the past several weeks, we’ve seen several rogue activist judges try to impede the president from exercising, not only the mandate voters gave him, but his democratic and constitutional authority to keep the American people safe,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “This is another example of a rogue judge overstepping his…authority.” Gill’s resolution, first obtained by Fox News Digital, accused U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg of abusing his power in levying an emergency pause on the Trump administration’s plans to deport illegal immigrants under a wartime authority first issued in 1798, which President Donald Trump recently invoked to get members of the criminal Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua out of the U.S. “Chief Judge Boasberg required President Trump to turn around planes midair that had aliens associated with Tren De Aragua, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the resolution said. “This conduct jeopardizes the safety of the nation, represents an abuse of judicial power, and is detrimental to the orderly functioning of the judiciary. Using the powers of his office, Chief Judge Boasberg has attempted to seize power from the Executive Branch and interfere with the will of the American people.” TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW BAN ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP In a brief interview with Fox News Digital shortly before filing his resolution, Gill suggested he wanted the matter to go through the House in traditional form – which would first put the resolution in front of the House Judiciary Committee, where Gill is a member. “I’ll be talking to [Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio] about it,” Gill said. “I think the best way to do this…is to go through the judiciary committee, which is where impeachment of judges runs through. I think the more we can stick with that plan, the better.” A legal firestorm is brewing after Boasberg verbally issued a 14-day restraining order Saturday night to immediately halt the Trump administration’s Tren De Aragua deportation plan. It comes in response to human rights groups arguing that Venezuelan nationals with legitimate asylum claims are in danger of being swept up in the deportations, despite having no known connection to the notorious gang. The Texas Republican, who is class president for first-term members in the 119th Congress, first threatened to file impeachment articles against Boasberg on Sunday. Trump backed the move on Tuesday morning in a fiery post on his Truth Social account. Trump called him a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator,” adding, “HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY.” “I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump wrote. Gill accused Boasberg of knowingly “tying the president’s hands so that Trump and his team, instead of executing on the mandate the voters gave him, are litigating every single action that the president is taking.” He said it was “unconstitutional” and a “usurpation of executive authority.” The Trump administration has pointed out that the judge’s written order was issued after two planes carrying alleged gang members were already in the air, arguing it was too late to turn the planes around at that point. A third plane that took off after the first two was not carrying any Alien Enemies Act deportees, the administration said. “All of the planes that were subject to the written order, the judge’s written order, took off before the order was entered in the courtroom on Saturday,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. She said the administration did not run afoul of any court order. However, Boasberg pushed back in a court hearing later that day, according to The Associated Press, saying at one point to the Trump administration’s lawyer, “I’m just asking how you think my equitable powers do not attach to a plane that has departed the U.S., even if it’s in international airspace.” RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AGENDA The standoff could make it all the way to the Supreme Court and could have seismic repercussions on the bounds of lower-level federal judges’ authority. Gill’s move also comes after similar threats by other Trump allies in the House. Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., have all vowed to file impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer for blocking Department of Government Efficiency efforts. The court declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Gill’s resolution.
Thousands of new JFK assassination files set to be released after Trump announcement
A new batch of approximately 80,000 unredacted files on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) is set to be released Tuesday after President Donald Trump made the long-awaited announcement just one day earlier. “So, people have been waiting for decades for this, and I’ve instructed my people… lots of different people, [director of national intelligence] Tulsi Gabbard, that they must be released tomorrow,” Trump said during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. “You got a lot of reading. I don’t believe we’re going to redact anything. I said, ‘just don’t redact, you can’t redact.’” TRUMP ANNOUNCES HE WILL RELEASE 80,000 JFK ASSASSINATION FILES ON TUESDAY, GOING TO BE ‘VERY INTERESTING’ Trump also commented that the files would be “very interesting.” Back in January, Trump signed an executive order to declassify files on the assassinations of JFK, his brother Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) and civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK). The order requested that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the attorney general submit a proposed plan for the JFK files release by February 7. Both offices, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, had until the end of the day to submit their proposed plan. DNI and other officials were expected to submit their proposed release plans for the RFK and MLK files on March 9. WEEKS AFTER EPSTEIN FILE FALLOUT, A NEW DEADLINE LOOMS IN THE RELEASE OF THE RFK AND MLK FILES The JFK files release comes just a few weeks after the Justice Department revealed a batch of Jeffrey Epstein files in late February. Many of the documents publicized then had already been released during the federal criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former lover and convicted accomplice. The lack of new material prompted an outcry and criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files – and questions about what the RFK and MLK documents could hold upon their release. The FBI previously said in a February statement that it had conducted a new records search in light of Trump’s executive order, saying at the time, “The search resulted in approximately 2400 newly inventoried and digitized records that were previously unrecognized as related to the JFK assassination case file.” FBI UNCOVERS THOUSANDS OF UNDISCLOSED RECORDS CONNECTED TO JFK’S ASSASSINATION The promise of a JFK files release has been reiterated over the last several administrations, with Trump promising on the campaign trail to declassify the documents upon entering his second term. “When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents. It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the truth,” he said at the time. Trump had also promised to release the last batch of documents during his first term, but such efforts ultimately dissipated. Trump blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination following several CIA and FBI appeals. Former President Joe Biden also released batches of documents during his term. In 2021, he postponed the planned release of several JFK documents, citing the delay to the coronavirus pandemic.
Checks and balances: Trump, supporters seek to push back against ‘activist’ judges
As the lawsuits filed against President Donald Trump have climbed well past the triple-digit mark less than three months into his presidency, some supporters are questioning what actions – if any – can either members of Congress or the White House take to check the power of the courts. Trump’s supporters have criticized so-called “activist” judges who have ruled against Trump. Notably, some have labeled U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, as such after she sided with Chief Justice John Roberts and left-leaning justices to uphold a lower court decision that forced the Trump administration to unfreeze USAID payments previously authorized by Congress. More recently, the White House contested a federal judge’s order blocking the administration from using a 1798 wartime law to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua. When U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to turn around any plane carrying deported foreign nationals, the administration sent hundreds of deportees to El Salvador anyway, seemingly in defiance of the judge. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News later that the plane in question had already “left U.S. airspace” and later added that the administration should not need to comply with the judge’s order. WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS? “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,” Leavitt said, adding, “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.” Boasberg ordered the parties back to court Monday for a hearing over the matter and set a Tuesday deadline for the Justice Department to provide the court with more information about what happened. However, Trump’s apparent defiance of the court demonstrates how the executive branch is looking to push back against judges whose opinions it does not respect, while supporters in Congress cheer on. “Judges targeting President Trump are political hacks and their decisions belong in my SHREDDER,” Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., wrote on X last week, sharing a video that criticized another judge, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali. Ogles called Ali a “Biden-appointed, woke judicial activist” after the judge, following the Supreme Court’s guidance, ordered the government to pay nearly $2 billion in “unlawfully” restricted USAID funds. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a frequent critic of the courts, shared Ogles’ post and wrote, “Judges aren’t presidents.” Lee, in recent weeks, suggested that some judges handing down defeats for the Trump administration “might warrant removal.” FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO PAY ‘UNLAWFULLY’ RESTRICTED USAID FUNDS Congress indeed has the power to impeach and remove federal judges for misconduct, corruption or other offenses – Trump has called for Congress to do so – but two-thirds of the Senate would need to vote in favor of removal, and Democrats are unlikely to join Republicans in any such effort. Many judges, for their part, have taken umbrage at the sweeping nature of Trump’s executive orders, which have called for the gutting of government personnel, halted billions in foreign aid – including funds approved by Congress – and attempted to unilaterally end birthright citizenship, among other actions. “An American President is not a king – not even an ‘elected’ one – and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute,” U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell said earlier this month in a court order reinstating a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Constitutional scholars say these separation of powers conflicts long predate Trump and are somewhat expected because of the recent lack of action from the United States Congress. Article I empowers Congress to “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” for the executive branch to function. However, when lawmakers focus more on their re-election campaigns or partisan fighting than enacting law, there is a vacuum that is filled by executive action – which faces tough scrutiny from the courts. HERE’S WHY DOZENS OF LAWSUITS SEEKING TO QUASH TRUMP’S EARLY ACTIONS AS PRESIDENT ARE FAILING Congress passed slightly fewer than 150 bills during the 118th session, according to data compiled by the firm Quorum and reported by Axios – making that session, which ended in December, the most unproductive since at least the 1980s. Recent presidents, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have responded with a flurry of executive orders and actions to enact their agenda, analysts explained to Fox News Digital in an interview. According to the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register, a president’s executive order can be revoked or modified only by the president or via the legislative branch, if the president was acting on authority that had been granted by Congress. In the Trump era, lawsuits have alleged that Trump has acted without authorization from Congress. In the absence of clearly written laws, judges wield enormous power to interpret the lawfulness of the executive’s action and have done so. Critics of the judiciary have advocated for Congress to curtail this power by either changing the size or structure of certain lower courts or taking similar action. Harvard Law professor Adrian Vermeule opined in a social media post Thursday that Congress, with its Republican majorities in the House and Senate, could simply move to cut off funding for judicial law clerks and other essential legal personnel, making the legislative branch’s “power of the purse” painfully clear. “If Congress simply refused to fund judicial law clerks, secretaries, or computers, one suspects that the TROs would come out more slowly – and perhaps even that the judiciary would gain a renewed appreciation for the limits of its role,” Vermeule wrote on X. However, given Congress’s difficulty in passing legislation, including days of infighting that have delayed the passage of recent stopgap spending bills, it is unclear how effective lawmakers of either party
Allowing judges to impede Trump on immigration poses national security threat: expert
Federal judges who have attempted to put up roadblocks to President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts could endanger national security, according to one expert. “It’s incredible that basically a rogue judge is putting our national security at risk when they block this enforcement action without any legal basis,” Alfonso Aguilar, a former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship and the director of Hispanic engagement at the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital. “Swift enforcement of the law is essential to dissuade foreign actors from trying to engage in criminal behavior in our country.” The comments come after Judge James Boasberg, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued an order Saturday halting one of Trump’s rapid deportation flights of alleged Venezuelan gang members. However, the order was not followed by the administration, who argued that the flight was already in the air before it got word of the judge’s order, prompting Boasberg to hold a hearing Monday that set a one-day deadline for the administration to provide more information on the flight, such as how many people it was carrying and how many of those were removed “solely on the basis” of Trump’s interpretation of the 1798 wartime-era Alien Enemies Act. WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS? The act, which was last invoked during World War II, provides the president broad powers to imprison or deport foreign nationals during a time of war. A proclamation signed by Trump on Saturday claimed that gang members belonging to the Venezuelan-based gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) were “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States,” a follow-up to Trump’s move last month to designate several drug cartels, including TdA, as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations.” That move prompted a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, eventually resulting in Boasberg’s decision to issue a 14-day restraining order halting deportations under the act. However, Aguilar believes the lawsuits are part of a broader strategy by opponents of the president to bog down his administration, arguing that left-wing groups have engaged in “forum shopping” for judges who they believe will be politically sympathetic to resisting Trump. “We’ve seen it since the beginning of the administration, on every single executive order, certainly on immigration enforcement actions, is to go forum shopping, they look for a federal district judge that they know is going to be sympathetic to try to block an order or action from the administration,” Aguilar said. William Jacobson, a Cornell University law professor and founder of the Equal Protection Project, told Fox News Digital that the trend of judges blocking Trump’s orders does raise serious legal questions. TRUMP POLICY ON BORDER JUMPERS EMPOWERS USE OF ‘MAXIMUM CONSEQUENCES,’ BORDER AGENT TELLS FOX “This has been an issue since the start of the Trump second administration,” Jacobson said. “There was a very highly organized effort to drown the administration in lawfare and tie it up and essentially freeze the executive branch.” Jacobson argued that there have already been a “number of rulings” that potentially “overstepped the boundaries of separation of powers,” something he noted has already caught the attention of four justices on the Supreme Court. “The courts are not supposed to rule on political issues,” Jacobson said. “The courts are supposed to rule on legal rights. And I think the administration’s argument is, and they make this argument in the DC Circuit, in the emergency state that’s being briefed right now, that if a judge can interfere in something like this, can a judge order the government not to issue drone strikes on terrorists abroad? Where is the limit in that the federal courts have no ability to interfere in the conduct of foreign policy, in the conduct of military action?” Jacobson believes that the only way to rectify the situation for the administration will be for the Supreme Court to step in, issuing clear guidance to lower court judges on what they can and cannot rule on. Aguilar also believes the Supreme Court will need to intervene, though he stressed that delays in the meantime could continue to spell trouble for national security. “If you send a clear message to these individuals that if you’re coming here to commit crime or engage in terrorism, we will detain you. We will remove you immediately,” he said. “That serves as a powerful form to dissuade this type of behavior. So it does have an impact on the administration’s efforts to protect the security of our country.” Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.