AG Bondi says violent anti-Israel student protesters in US on visas ‘need to be kicked out’
Attorney General Pam Bondi said anti-Israel student protesters who are in the United States on visas and threatening American students “need to be kicked out of the country.” “All of our students deserve to be safe,” Bondi said on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington, D.C., while joining the stage with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and radio show host Ben Ferguson on a live podcast of the “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast. “First of all, these students who are here on visas, who are threatening our American students, need to be kicked out of this country.” “Amen,” Cruz responded to Bondi. Bondi, who was sworn in as the nation’s 87th attorney general Feb. 5, added that carrying out the rule of law as the nation’s top cop is “pretty basic.” VP JD VANCE SPEAKS ON ‘FUNDAMENTAL GOAL’ OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AT CPAC ADDRESS Bondi added that the anti-Israel college protests that rocked the U.S. were anything but “peaceful protests.” “When I was just a citizen, before I had this job … I’m watching these — but these aren’t peaceful protests. We all believe in peaceful protest. Oh. I’m sorry, unless you’re a liberal, and you don’t want a parent to quietly pray outside an abortion clinic, or you’re a Catholic, or a parent at a school board, they’re going to call you a domestic terrorist,” she said, adding that the anti-Israel protests were “violent.” Agitators and student protesters flooded college campuses nationwide in 2024 to protest the war in Israel, which also included spiking instances of antisemitism and Jewish students publicly speaking out that they did not feel safe on some campuses. Protesters on Columbia University’s campus in New York City, for example, took over the school’s Hamilton Hall, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard and Yale worked to clear spiraling student encampments where protesters demanded their elite schools completely divest from Israel. ELON MUSK MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT CPAC Terrorist organization Hamas launched a war in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which initially fanned the flames of antisemitism on campuses in the form of protests, menacing graffiti and students reporting that they felt as if it was “open season for Jews on our campuses.” The protests heightened to the point that Jewish students at some schools, including Columbia, were warned to leave campus for their own safety. ‘WASTEFUL AND DANGEROUS’: DOGE’S TOP FIVE MOST SHOCKING REVELATIONS Bondi added, in her conversation with Cruz and Ferguson, that after her 15 days as attorney general, the “volume of how bad” and politicized the Department of Justice had become under former President Joe Biden “concerned” her “the most.” “What concerned me the most? It’s the volume of how bad it was, and it still is. We’re working on it. It’s day by day by day, but we’ve got a team of great people. And on day one, I issued 14 executive orders. And number one is the weaponization ends. And it ends now. And that’s what we do,” she said. Overall, however, Bondi said that “a lot” of DOJ employees have remarked to her that they are grateful for her leadership, arguing that the majority of employees want “to fight crime.” “The majority of the people are great people, who went to law school, became prosecutors, became law enforcement agents to fight crime,” she said.
AG Bondi says violent anti-Israel student protesters in US on visas ‘need to be kicked out’
Attorney General Pam Bondi said anti-Israel student protesters who are in the United States on visas and threatening American students “need to be kicked out of the country.” “All of our students deserve to be safe,” Bondi said on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington, D.C., while joining the stage with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and radio show host Ben Ferguson on a live podcast of the “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast. “First of all, these students who are here on visas, who are threatening our American students, need to be kicked out of this country.” “Amen,” Cruz responded to Bondi. Bondi, who was sworn in as the nation’s 87th attorney general Feb. 5, added that carrying out the rule of law as the nation’s top cop is “pretty basic.” VP JD VANCE SPEAKS ON ‘FUNDAMENTAL GOAL’ OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AT CPAC ADDRESS Bondi added that the anti-Israel college protests that rocked the U.S. were anything but “peaceful protests.” “When I was just a citizen, before I had this job … I’m watching these — but these aren’t peaceful protests. We all believe in peaceful protest. Oh. I’m sorry, unless you’re a liberal, and you don’t want a parent to quietly pray outside an abortion clinic, or you’re a Catholic, or a parent at a school board, they’re going to call you a domestic terrorist,” she said, adding that the anti-Israel protests were “violent.” Agitators and student protesters flooded college campuses nationwide in 2024 to protest the war in Israel, which also included spiking instances of antisemitism and Jewish students publicly speaking out that they did not feel safe on some campuses. Protesters on Columbia University’s campus in New York City, for example, took over the school’s Hamilton Hall, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard and Yale worked to clear spiraling student encampments where protesters demanded their elite schools completely divest from Israel. ELON MUSK MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT CPAC Terrorist organization Hamas launched a war in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which initially fanned the flames of antisemitism on campuses in the form of protests, menacing graffiti and students reporting that they felt as if it was “open season for Jews on our campuses.” The protests heightened to the point that Jewish students at some schools, including Columbia, were warned to leave campus for their own safety. ‘WASTEFUL AND DANGEROUS’: DOGE’S TOP FIVE MOST SHOCKING REVELATIONS Bondi added, in her conversation with Cruz and Ferguson, that after her 15 days as attorney general, the “volume of how bad” and politicized the Department of Justice had become under former President Joe Biden “concerned” her “the most.” “What concerned me the most? It’s the volume of how bad it was, and it still is. We’re working on it. It’s day by day by day, but we’ve got a team of great people. And on day one, I issued 14 executive orders. And number one is the weaponization ends. And it ends now. And that’s what we do,” she said. Overall, however, Bondi said that “a lot” of DOJ employees have remarked to her that they are grateful for her leadership, arguing that the majority of employees want “to fight crime.” “The majority of the people are great people, who went to law school, became prosecutors, became law enforcement agents to fight crime,” she said.
Group of Venezuelans sue Trump admin for temporary immigration protections
A group of migrants is suing the Trump administration for ending a deportation shield for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the U.S., claiming that the move was illegal and driven by race. The 48-page federal suit names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. government for revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 600,000 Venezuelans. TPS grants protection from deportation and allows work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned. Then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced extensions for TPS for Venezuela, as well as El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine, for an additional 18 months in the final few days of the Biden administration. That move, if left in place, would have complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport large numbers of those nationalities. KRISTI NOEM JOINS IMMIGRATION RAID TO CATCH ‘DIRTBAGS’ IN MAJOR SANCTUARY CITY “These actions have the effect of robbing 600,000 Venezuelan TPS holders of the right to live and work in this country for the next 18 months,” the lawsuit reads. Without the protection, at least 350,000 Venezuelan TPS holders stand to lose their legal status on April 7 and their work authorization as soon as April 2, per the lawsuit. Another 257,000 will also be affected by September, according to the Miami Harald. Venezuelans were among the top nationalities coming into the U.S. at the height of the 2021-2024 border crisis, with many also coming in through a separate parole policy for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans—a program now ended by the Trump administration. The program for TPS for Venezuelans was put in place amid the severe economic and political crises ongoing in the country, which has seen millions flee. The suit takes aim at Noem and comments she made when announcing the decision to revoke the TPS. “The Secretary’s decisions also were motivated at least in part by racial animus, in contravention of the Fifth Amendment,” the suit reads. “That is clear from statements the Secretary made when announcing the decisions themselves, labeling Venezuelan TPS holders as ‘dirtbags’ —an expression of racism made by the official decisionmaker as part of her explanation for the decision.” Noem made the comments while referring to a criminal illegal alien who had been apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on kidnapping, assault and burglary charges. TRUMP ADMIN ENDS DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR MASSIVE NUMBER OF VENEZUELANS AMID ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN “Making matters worse, that statement is just one among a torrent of similar racist statements that Secretary Noem, President Trump, and members of the Trump campaign and administration have made to attack and marginalize nonwhite immigrants generally, and the Venezuelan TPS community in particular,” the suit continues. The plaintiffs accuse Noem of conflating many TPS holders as being members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) who have been terrorizing communities across the country. The plaintiffs claim that TdA’s threat to the U.S. are “overblown. They also accuse Noem of a “baseless assertion” that Venezuela emptied its mental health facilities and sent them to the United States. Additionally, they claim that she does not have the legal authority to revoke the TPS order. The plaintiffs are calling on the courts to cancel Noem’s actions and reinstate the extension. The suit was filed in San Francisco by the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network on behalf of eight Venezuelan TPS holders. The plaintiffs include two university students, a factory worker with a 12-year-old daughter and an instructional coach who’s been living in the U.S. for 12 years. The latter’s mother, father, brother, sister and nephews all live in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens, per the lawsuit. The lawsuit goes on to accuse Trump and his administration officials of embracing racist talking points, specifically White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who they accuse of supporting white nationalism and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio espoused an exaggerated depiction of TdA. “During President Trump’s first term, every federal district court to consider the question found ‘evidence that President Trump harbors an animus against non-white, non-European aliens which influenced his (and thereby the Secretary’s) decision to end the TPS designation[s]’ for El Salvador, Haiti, Sudan, and Nicaragua in 2017 and 2018,” the suit reads. “The evidence adduced in those cases further illustrates that the conduct challenged here is part of a premeditated effort to terminate TPS without regard to applicable law or standards, and to further a racist agenda.” Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Burgum says Interior Department ‘completely embracing the DOGE effort’
EXCLUSIVE: When it comes to President Donald Trump’s mission to overhaul and downsize the federal government through his recently created Department of Government Efficiency, which is known by its acronym DOGE, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is all in. “I think that we’re off to a great start in Interior, we’re completely embracing the DOGE effort,” Burgum emphasized in a national digital exclusive interview with Fox News. Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO and former two-term North Dakota governor who ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before dropping out of the race and heavily supporting Trump, spotlighted government transparency when touting DOGE. “Part of what DOGE is bringing is just awareness to the republic, to the people that are in our country,” he said. “Great government is always transparent. And that’s what we’re doing.” FEDERAL DEPARTMENT CAFETERIA EMPTY FOR YEARS UNDER BIDEN: SOURCE Burgum also highlighted that when it comes to DOGE’s mission, “part of it is the federal government is so outdated on the technology… we have to get caught up. We’re decades behind.” Trump named Elon Musk — the world’s richest person and the chief executive of Tesla and Space X — to steer DOGE. DOGE has swept through federal agencies since Trump was inaugurated a month ago, rooting out what the White House argues was billions in wasteful federal spending. It has also taken a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, resulting in a massive downsizing of employees. The moves by DOGE have triggered a slew of lawsuits in response. WHAT THIS WELL-KNOWN REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR THINKS ABOUT DOGE And Democrats are taking aim. Gov. Ned Lamont argued on Thursday that DOGE appears to be aiming to “push costs down to the states and say, ‘You guys deal with it.’” “It has nothing to do with efficiency. It has everything to do with just cost shifting. And if that’s all they want to do, then it’s not DOGE. It ought to be called dodge, a way to just push the costs on to our people,” Lamont told reporters. The cuts by DOGE have hit Interior, which is responsible for the management and conservation of most federally held lands and natural resources. The department’s workforce has been downsized over the past week by roughly 2,000 jobs. “We’re trying to right size the full-time positions that we have,” Burgum said when asked about the job cuts at Interior. And in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” a day earlier, Burgum added that “on a personal level, of course, I’ve got great empathy for anybody that loses a job… but I think we have to realize that every American is better off if we actually stop having a $2 trillion a year deficit.” WATCH: BRET BAIER GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH DOUG BURGUM Roughly 1,000 of the cuts at Interior were newly hired National Park Service employees, who maintain and clean the parks, educate and inform visitors, and handle other duties. But Burgum said Interior is reinstating about 5,000 seasonal jobs that were originally rescinded last month. Seasonal workers are normally added during the spring and summer months to handle the more than 325 million annual visitors who visit the nation’s 428 parks, historic sites and other attractions. “We did post last week 5000 summer jobs. So, if someone is looking for one of the greatest experiences of your life and want to spend the summer working at a national park, we’re hiring,” Burgum told Fox News Digital, as he made his pitch. “And if you want to work as a wildland firefighter, we’re hiring. These are seasonal jobs. But again, an exciting way to get an experience in some of America’s most beautiful places.” ONE MONTH IN TO HIS SECOND TERM, NEW POLLS SUGGEST TRUMP’S POLL NUMBERS SLIPPING Burgum centered his short-lived presidential campaign on the economy, energy and national security. And now, as Interior Secretary, where he manages all oil and gas drilling leases on federal lands and waters, he’s a major salesman in Trump’s all-of-the-above energy agenda. “President Trump has a vision of what has been called energy dominance, but it’s really about how do we bring back the strength and the power of American energy in a way that lifts up all Americans,” he said. Burgum was interviewed minutes ahead of a Thursday appearance with the Republican Governors Association, and ahead of a Friday speech to the National Governors Association, which were both holding winter meetings in the nation’s capital. “The message to all these governors is, hey, the people in your state, regardless of which party you’re in, are all going to be happier. Because when President Trump lowers the price of energy, it lowers inflation for everyone,” he emphasized. And Burgum argued that “when we export more energy abroad to our friends and allies, that is going to help President Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, part of the way he ends these wars is we sell energy to our allies so they can stop buying it from our adversaries who are using those oil sales to fund wars against us.”
White House protector and most decorated K-9 in US history dies: ‘a very good boy’
The most decorated K-9 in U.S. history has died. Hurricane, a 15-year-old Belgian Malinois, died Tuesday after more than a decade in the Secret Service. “Hurricane was a true American hero,” the White House X account posted Wednesday. “The most decorated K-9 in U.S. history, he bravely defended the White House and spent retirement helping other working dogs through @Hurricane_K9. His legacy of courage and loyalty will live on. Rest easy, Hurricane.” Hurricane gained national prominence back in 2014, when he heroically wrestled an intruder to the ground after the man breached the White House gate. The intruder, Dominic Adesanya, scaled the White House fence and landed on the North Lawn back in October 2014 during the Obama administration. The intruder, who later pleaded guilty to trespassing, was first met by a Secret Service dog named Jordan, before Hurricane jumped into action and subdued the intruder. VETERANS WITH PTSD GET ‘SIGNIFICANT’ BENEFITS FROM SERVICE DOGS, FIRST NIH-FUNDED STUDY FINDS Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were just yards away from the incident, watching a movie in the White House theater, according to The New York Times. “He beat Hurricane really bad,” Hurricane’s handler, Marshall Mirarchi, said Tuesday of the incident that left the K-9 with swollen legs and injured hips, according to Times. “But Hurricane did not give up.” EX-SECRET SERVICE DOG CREDITED WITH SAVING OBAMA FROM WHITE HOUSE INTRUDER TO RECEIVE BRITISH AWARD Hurricane was born in 2009 and served as a special operations canine in the Secret Service from 2012 to 2016. He received the Award for Meritorious Service from the Secret Service in 2014 for his bravery, as well as the Secretary’s Award for Valor from the Department of Homeland Security in 2015. He also received the Distinguished Service Medal in 2022, according to the Secret Service. “On every shift of every day, we at the Secret Service strive to uphold five core values; Duty, Honor, Loyalty, Justice, and Courage,” Uniformed Division Assistant Chief Michael Buck said in 2022 during the Distinguished Service Medal ceremony. “They are the five points of our agency’s star, and on a dark night in October 2014, they were embodied by a very good boy named Hurricane.” UTAH SHERIFF’S OFFICE MOURNS DEATH OF ‘PORN-SNIFFING DOG’ THAT HELPED PUT PEDOPHILES BEHIND BARS Hurricane visited the White House one last time before his death this week and was able to say goodbye to his former team, Mirarchi told the Times. Hurricane retired in 2016 following the injuries he sustained during the attack and was adopted by Mirarchi. “What made Hurricane so special was that he could be so ferocious and brave, yet be so loving and kind at the same time,” Mirarchi told the Times. “He could be biting and doing apprehension all day long, and when he comes home, he was this loving, caring, kind soul.”
Noem makes aggressive new move to ramp up arrests, deportations of illegal immigrants
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem signed a memo this week deputizing up to 600 State Department officials as immigration officers, as part of a government-wide push to ramp up deportations and secure the border. Noem signed an order that deputized up to 600 special agents in the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service to help with the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants. “Under President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security will use every tool and resource available to secure our border and get criminal illegal aliens out of our country,” Noem said in a statement. “The safety of American citizens comes first.” TRUMP’S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY LOOKING TO DEPUTIZE IRS AGENTS FOR IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT The move is the latest effort by the department to expand the number of officials involved in immigration enforcement, amid a push by the Trump administration to aggressively increase the arrests and deportation of illegal immigrants. DHS has deputized IRS employees, law enforcement components of the Justice Department and law enforcement officials with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. “It is DHS’s understanding that the Department of Treasury has qualified law enforcement personnel available to assist with immigration enforcement, especially in light of recent increases to the Internal Revenue Service’s work force and budget,” Noem said last week. Fox News Digital reported last week that interior arrests have skyrocketed compared to the same period in 2024, while numbers of crossings of illegal immigrants at the border have continued to trend downward. According to Department of Homeland Security data, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan. 20 to Feb. 8, compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That is a 137% increase. The administration has said it is trying to target the “worst of the worst,” focusing on criminal illegal immigrants and gang members but has also stressed that it is not ruling anyone out of contention. TRUMP FLOATS GUTTING THE IRS, MOVING AGENTS TO THE BORDER ARMED WITH GUNS Meanwhile, the administration has secured additional cooperation at the border from Mexico and Canada, as well as agreements from Venezuela and Colombia to take back their nationals. DHS has also moved to shut down Biden-era parole programs and the use of Temporary Protected Status to allow migrants to avoid deportation. The administration is also tapping into the resources of the Pentagon by deploying the military to the border and is also using Guantanamo Bay to house illegal immigrants. Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
California school district informs parents period products are in bathrooms for ‘any student who menstruates’
A California school district contacted parents via email on Thursday to let them know that all public schools containing grades 3 through 12 will have menstrual products in girls’ bathrooms, all-gender bathrooms and at least one boys’ bathroom. California law previously required the same thing of all public schools that teach grades 6 through 12, but that order now extends to include schools with grades 3 through 5. An email allegedly sent from the Long Beach Unified School District to parents, guardians and caregivers said the system is “committed to reducing barriers to learning and fostering a supportive environment for all students.” The availability of period products in girls’ bathrooms and at least one boys’ bathroom is to “ensure that any student who menstruates-including transgender boys and nonbinary students-can access these necessary products with dignity and discretion,” per the email. CALIFORNIA REQUIRES MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS Long Beach USD asked for patience as dispensers are “currently being installed in restrooms across our school sites.” It also encouraged families to discuss “appropriate and safe” use of period products with their children. The email concluded with, “Thank you for your support in fostering a healthy, equitable and inclusive learning environment for all students.” EMERSON COLLEGE ADDS PERIOD PRODUCTS TO MEN’S RESTROOMS, MEETING GROUP’S DEMAND FOR ‘MENSTRUAL EQUALITY’ The “Menstrual Equality for All Act,” which was passed in October 2023, said the changes must be enacted on or before the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The following text was added to the state’s education code when the bill was passed: “On or before the start of the 2024–25 school year, a public school, including a school operated by a school district, county office of education, or charter school, maintaining any combination of classes from grades 3 to 12, inclusive, shall stock the school’s restrooms at all times with an adequate supply of menstrual products, available and accessible, free of cost, in all women’s restrooms and all-gender restrooms, and in at least one men’s restroom.” Menstrual products were defined in the bill as pads and tampons specifically “for use in connection with the menstrual cycle.” The bill also said it is the state legislature’s intent “to promote period equity through adequate access to menstrual products in schools also serving grades 3 to 5, inclusive.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Long Beach Unified School District for comment.
Senate border budget triumphs after all-night session while Trump-backed House bill lags
Senate Republicans scored a win over their House counterparts in the early morning hours of Friday, officially passing their preferred budget resolution to tackle some of President Trump’s priorities, such as securing the southern border. After hours of back-to-back voting on Democratic amendments, the bill to fund border security, energy and defense finally got its vote on the chamber floor. “[T]his particular budget resolution… addresses the president’s priority, top priority, which is securing the border and implementing and putting in place his immigration policies, rebuilding our military, and creating energy dominance for this country,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Wednesday, previewing the eventual vote. The leader and Republicans in the upper chamber started to move forward with the all-important budget reconciliation process earlier this month, pushing their preferred plan through a key committee and clearing a procedural hurdle. EXCLUSIVE: DEMS TO FORCE VOTES ON MEDICAID AS IT BECOMES SORE POINT IN SENATE BUDGET FIGHT The move came despite House Republicans being expected to take the lead on passing a budget bill first. Thune and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also pressed on even after Trump came out in support of the House’s proposal, endorsing it earlier this week on Truth Social. The decision to move forward with the Senate’s alternative budget plan, which is two-pronged as opposed to the House’s effort to pass one large bill, was blessed by Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, a source told Fox News Digital. Trump himself did not seem bothered by their effort either, posting on Truth Social, “Thank you to Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Senate, for working so hard on funding the Trump Border Agenda. We are setting records, the likes of which have never been seen before, on stopping criminal illegals aliens from entering our Country. Put simply, we are delivering for the American People, far faster and, more successfully, than anyone thought possible. Your work on funding this effort is greatly appreciated!” SCOOP: REPUBLICAN DANIEL CAMERON BLASTED BY LIKELY GOP OPPONENT AS MCCONNELL SUCCESSOR FIGHT BEGINS The Senate’s procedural vote earlier in the week triggered a 50-hour debate clock that ended on Thursday night. Then, a marathon of votes, known as a “Vote-a-Rama,” began. Senators were able to introduce an unlimited number of amendments, of which many received floor votes. The process forced Republicans to take many potentially uncomfortable votes teed up by their Democratic counterparts. “Tonight, one amendment at a time, Democrats exposed Republicans’ true colors here on the Senate floor. For the first time this year, Senate Republicans were forced to go on record and defend their plans to cut taxes for Donald Trump’s billionaire friends. What happened tonight was only the beginning. This debate is going to go on for weeks and maybe months. Democrats will be ready to come back and do this over and over again, because Americans deserve to know the truth,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement following the budget resolution’s passage. “Again and again and again, Republicans sent a clear and consistent message from the Senate floor: under their agenda, billionaires win, and American families lose. If Republicans continue with this reckless plan to help their billionaire buddies at the expense of American families, Democrats will make sure the American people know the truth at every opportunity,” the Democratic leader continued. In the Senate Republicans’ budget plan, the first reconciliation bill includes Trump’s priorities for border security, fossil fuel energy and national defense. The second bill, to be drawn up later in the year, would focus on extending Trump’s tax policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The cuts begin to expire at the end of 2025. SUSAN COLLINS VOWS TO OPPOSE TRUMP FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE By lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, reconciliation allows the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda – provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold. The process is crucial for Republicans, who have a trifecta in Washington, to get key Trump goals accomplished. KASH PATEL’S CONFIRMATION AS TRUMP FBI PICK ‘WILL HAUNT YOU,’ SENATE DEMS WARN GOP AHEAD OF VOTE House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has claimed that the Senate’s first budget bill, along with its two-pronged approach, would be dead on arrival in the lower chamber. He has remained committed to including tax cuts in the bill with border security and other priorities. The House has managed to move their version through the appropriate committee, but a floor vote has yet to be scheduled.
EXCLUSIVE: Red state governor says DOGE aligns with GOP’s ‘fiscal sanity’
EXCLUSIVE: Governors from across the country are descending upon Washington, D.C., this week for the National Governors Association’s winter meeting. Among them is Gov. Tate Reeves, R-Miss., who said the Department of Government Efficiency has renewed Republican governors’ optimism in the federal government. Reeves, who was elected governor of Mississippi in 2019 and re-elected in 2023, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview at the Republican Governors Association that DOGE aligns with Republican governors’ “fiscal sanity.” “There’s no doubt that Republican governors lead the nation in fiscal responsibility and, quite frankly, in fiscal sanity. Part of that is because, as governors, we have to balance our budgets back home. For us to see the efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency, by Elon Musk and his team with the support of President Trump, it gives us great reason for optimism, because we think that there are literally billions and billions of dollars in spending in the federal government that should not be spent, that are for waste, fraud and abuse,” Reeves said. The second-term governor said most Americans appreciate DOGE’s audit and Republicans won’t allow the federal government to spend American taxpayer dollars on “some of the crazy things that have been identified in the last several weeks.” SURPRISING NEW POLL NUMBERS RELEASED ON TRUMP’S PERFORMANCE SO FAR IN THE WHITE HOUSE “We believe that we ought to treat the taxpayers’ money exactly the way we would treat our own money. We’re not going to allow our own money to be spent on things that don’t make sense. We don’t think we ought to use the taxpayers’ money, spending them on things like what has been found in the last couple of three weeks,” Reeves added. MUSK WEIGHS A ‘DOGE DIVIDEND’ TO SEND AMERICANS CHECKS USING SAVED FUNDS Meanwhile, Reeves can’t wrap his head around Democrats’ rejection of government efficiency. “I’m really perplexed as to why Democrats have not actually supported these efforts,” Reeves said. “There was a time in America where all politicians of reasonable stripes would say we ought to try to make government more efficient. We ought to ensure that government money is being spent in the right way.” Reeves questioned who benefited from the misuse of taxpayer dollars during President Joe Biden’s administration. “The Democrats’ opposition to these audits is really beyond my ability to comprehend. The reality is that they are fighting for waste, fraud and abuse in government. It’s almost as if they want that waste, fraud and abuse. It drives you to the question of who’s benefiting from the way in which the Biden administration spent these dollars in the last four years.” Democrats have called DOGE’s ongoing layoffs and President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders a “constitutional crisis.” Reeves said Trump is doing exactly what he was elected to do. “When you talk about their claims of a constitutional crisis, a duly elected president managing the executive branch of government is not a constitutional crisis. In fact, it is exactly what the duly elected executive is supposed to do. President Trump is doing exactly what he got the mandate to do when he was elected overwhelmingly in the election in November. He got that mandate in large part because the Democrats have gone so far to the left that most people in the middle don’t even recognize the Democrat Party of today, and they’re just continuing down that path in deciding that government efficiency is not something they want to support,” Reeves said. Reeves added Trump’s return to the White House has empowered governors’ voices on both sides of the political aisle, drawing a stark contrast between President Joe Biden’s and Trump’s presidencies. “Having President Trump in office is a big plus, not only for me or for our Republican governors, but really for all governors,” Reeves said. “The first thing I would say about President Trump is that it is just completely different than what we saw during the Biden years, regardless of politics, regardless of policy views. President Trump respects and wants to hear from governors. He wants to know what other chief executives are doing in the states. We have a voice and that’s incredibly important.” Reeves said, unlike what he saw during Biden’s administration, Trump genuinely values all governors’ opinions, and having access to the president again is encouraging. “I think even some of those governors on the other side of the political aisle will recognize that it’s certainly something that President Trump values is our opinion. That’s something that we’re going to see over the next few days, having multiple opportunities to sit down and visit with the president, so that’s encouraging.” Reeves said Trump’s return to Washington is building on Mississippi’s momentum in education, artificial intelligence and manufacturing. “We want to work with President Trump in his efforts to onshore more manufacturing. That’s something that’s important to Mississippi’s economy. Many states across the country gave up on manufacturing 20 years ago. Mississippi never gave up on manufacturing. And that’s the reason we have a workforce that is ready for tremendous economic growth and prosperity. We’re going to take advantage of that,” Reeves said.
New law clamps down on homeless as blue city advocate admits the ‘frustration’ is justified
A blue California city voted last week to impose a strict ban on camping on public property, including penalties such as fines or jail time for those “causing, permitting, aiding, abetting, or concealing” homeless encampments. While activists argue the ordinance “criminalizes” homelessness, one advocate — who himself once struggled with drug addiction and a period of homelessness — tells Fox News Digital that the Fremont City Council’s actions reflect a growing “frustration” with the escalating crisis affecting cities across the state. “This entire ordinance was born out of frustration regarding their inability to mitigate the homeless issue, and because politicians are afraid or lack political will, in many cases, to make the hard choices that need to be made,” Tom Wolf, founder of the San Francisco Bay-area nonprofit Pacific Alliance for Prevention and Recovery, told Fox News Digital in an interview. Wolf, who himself was homeless for six months while addicted to fentanyl and heroin in 2018, said that Fremont’s ordinance is “not criminalizing homelessness,” but rather it is “criminalizing the behaviors that are exhibited by people who happen to be experiencing homelessness and are also struggling with drug addiction.” CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY ALARMED BY HOMELESS CAMPS FOUND IN UNDERGROUND CAVES: ‘HUGE SAFETY HAZARD’ “It’s not as controversial as people and the media are blowing it up to be controversial, because it’s a departure from the approach that we’ve been taking for the last eight to 10 years in California, which is, ‘Oh, everyone just needs a home,’ Wolf said, referring to the state’s “Housing First” model adopted several years ago, which prioritizes providing shelter and temporary housing units to homeless without requiring sobriety or wraparound drug addiction services to people. The Fremont City Council voted 6-1 last week in a lengthy session in favor of banning camping on any public property “including any street, sidewalk, park, open space, waterway, or banks of a waterway or any private property not designated and equipped for such camping” as well as “any land designated as a high fire risk area.” Fremont is roughly 40 miles south of San Francisco. The new ordinance states that anyone “causing, permitting, aiding, abetting or concealing” encampments shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subjected to either a $1000 fine or up to six months in jail. Violators may also be subjected to a temporary seizure of personal property. CALIFORNIA CITY PASSES SWEEPING HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT BAN ON ALL PUBLIC PROPERTY “Fremont is not a conservative city,” conservative think tank California Policy Center expert Edward Ring told Fox News Digital. “It’s part of one of the most liberal regions in the country. So, the fact that they’re doing this, it’s not a reflection of some sort of harsh conservative mentality.” “It’s a bipartisan conclusion, a non-partisan conclusion, that the city council has come to, and they’ve apparently decided that just a ban isn’t going to be sufficient, because there are so many groups associated with the homeless nowadays that call themselves advocates for the homeless,” Ring added. “But what they’re basically doing by aggressively protecting the right of people to camp in public spaces, for example, is perpetuating homelessness,” he said. These groups include nonprofits and homeless outreach workers who offer services to homeless people. These services include optional substance abuse treatment, housing, temporary shelter, tents, and even “safe” supplies for drug use, in line with the state-sanctioned “Harm Reduction” model, which focuses on preventing overdoses and infections rather than stopping drug use altogether. Wolf said he takes issue with much of the Harm Reduction’s strategy because “people are going to still continue to use because they’re out there on the street addicted to drugs.” As of the 2024 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, which provides a snapshot of homelessness on a single night completed annually, Fremont reported 612 homeless individuals, marking a 21% decrease from the previous count in 2022. California’s homeless population was estimated at approximately 187,000 after last year’s PIT count, making it the highest in the nation for unsheltered homeless people. The 2025 count is currently underway across the state’s cities. CALIFORNIA PLANS TO CONTINUE ALLOWING TRANS ATHLETES TO COMPETE IN GIRLS’ SPORTS DESPITE TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER “The purpose of this chapter is to maintain streets, parks and other public and private areas within the city in a clean, sanitary and accessible condition and to adequately protect the health, safety and public welfare of the community, while recognizing that, subject to reasonable conditions, camping and camp facilities associated with special events can be beneficial to the cultural and educational climate in the city,” the ordinance reads. It continued, “The use of streets and public areas within the city for camping purposes or for storage of personal property interferes with the rights of the public to use these areas for which they were intended. Such activity can constitute a public health and safety hazard that adversely impacts residential neighborhoods and commercial areas. Camping without the consent of the owner and proper sanitary measures adversely affects private property rights, public health, safety, and welfare of the city. Nothing in this chapter is intended to interfere with otherwise lawful and ordinary uses of public or private property.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Beyond California, cities like Washougal, Washington, have also adopted anti-camping restrictions, though Fremont’s is unique due to its penalties. The anti-camping law comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that local governments have the authority to ban camping on public property, allowing cities to clear homeless encampments. The decision came after the Court declined to review a lower court ruling that upheld Boise, Idaho’s ban on camping, effectively setting a precedent for other municipalities to follow. Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.