NY Gov Hochul to ramp up oversight of NYC Mayor Adams amid pressure to remove him
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is planning to announce new state and city bills that would add oversight to the New York City mayor’s office, sources familiar with the governor’s decision told Fox News on Thursday, a move that comes amid Mayor Eric Adams’ legal woes and his recent cooperation with President Donald Trump. Instead of removing Adams from office, as the governor had reportedly considered, the sources said that Hochul would set up guardrails, which could include the addition of an independent monitor at City Hall. Hochul reportedly met with multiple New York leaders this week while considering removing Adams from his job. Senior prosecutors in New York and Washington have reportedly resigned after refusing to follow a Department of Justice (DOJ) order to drop charges against Adams. FEDERAL JUDGE WAITS TO DECIDE ABOUT DISMISSING CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAINST NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS The former police officer-turned-politician was indicted on charges linked to wire fraud, bribery, and soliciting campaign funds from foreign sources. The indictment was unsealed in September 2024, and Adams subsequently pleaded not guilty. Adams’ fellow Democrats have accused him of trying to cozy up with the Trump administration in order to get out of his criminal charges. ERIC ADAMS GETS SURPRISE GOP ALLY IN CONGRESS AS RUMORS SWIRL GOV. HOCHUL COULD OUST HIM Adams has denied accusations of any quid pro quo deals. “I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers: I never offered — nor did anyone offer on my behalf — any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case. Never,” Adams said in a statement Friday. But Hochul remains concerned about what has been happening at City Hall, according to the sources, and was waiting for U.S. District Judge Dale Ho to rule on the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case against Adams before making any announcements. Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
Social media erupts after ‘terrified’ Dem senator lashes out at Kash Patel ahead of confirmation vote
A fierce attack on FBI director nominee Kash Patel by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, drew mockery from conservatives on social media ahead of an expected vote on Patel’s nomination Thursday afternoon. “Kash Patel, mark my words, will cause evil in this building behind us, and Republicans who vote for him will rue that day,” Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday morning outside the FBI headquarters. He spoke hours before the final vote on Patel’s nomination. KASH PATEL’S CONFIRMATION AS TRUMP FBI PICK ‘WILL HAUNT YOU,’ SENATE DEMS WARN GOP AHEAD OF VOTE Whitehouse mentioned Patel’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment before a grand jury examining whether President Donald Trump mishandled national security secrets. “You are so cringe,” the Trump War Room said. “They are terrified,” White House rapid response director Greg Price said. “Did Sheldon Whitehouse come up with this pathetic line of attack at his all-white beach club?” asked conservative commentator and longtime Trump adviser Steve Cortes, referencing Whitehouse’s membership in an exclusive beach club that has a controversial history. Whitehouse’s office previously denied that the club was all-White. SUSAN COLLINS VOWS TO OPPOSE TRUMP FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE “Democrat Sen. Whitehouse seems awfully scared of Kash Patel cleaning up the FBI…,” conservative commentator Benny Johnson said. “Senator, the evil is already inside the building,” Republican digital operative Alex Sears said. Whitehouse’s comments were one of a number of comments made about Patel by Democrats on the committee. “There’s no question here he is unqualified and unprepared,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said. “The only question is whether my Republican colleagues will do the right thing.” He warned that a vote in favor of Patel’s nomination “will haunt you.” FETTERMAN LOSES TWO TOP STAFFERS AS HE MAKES WAVES BY BUCKING DEMOCRATIC PARTY “You will rue the day of this vote if it’s in favor of Kash Patel, because the American people will hold you accountable, and we will make sure that the American people know about this vote,” he concluded. According to a senior transition team official for Patel, the nominee had departed the capital the night of his hearing, flying home to Las Vegas, where he had “been sitting there waiting for the process to play out.” In addition to his trip home to Vegas, Patel has also spent time hunting away from Washington, the official said, providing photographic evidence of Patel’s activities. Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX engineers deployed to FAA to help modernize air traffic control
Elon Musk’s SpaceX engineers have already descended on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help modernize air traffic control under the Trump administration. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a post to X on Wednesday that the deadly Jan. 29 crash between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight landing at Reagan airport in Washington, D.C., served as “a heartbreaking wake-up call that improvements must be made.” “This is why I’ve enlisted the brightest minds, including SpaceX engineers, to help upgrade our aviation system,” Duffy wrote. “I am fully committed to transportation excellence, as well as transparency and honesty with the public.” A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation reportedly told Reuters that SpaceX engineers tapped as part of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team at the FAA are serving as special government employees and will be kept separate from the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation – which handles regulations for the company – to avoid any conflicts of interest. TRUMP ADMIN MOVES TO BLOCK NYC CONGESTION TOLL PROGRAM Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in a Wednesday email to employees that the DOGE team would be visiting more FAA facilities – including FAA headquarters – after Monday stops at the Air Traffic Control Command Center and Potomac TRACON in Warrenton, Virginia, Reuters reported. “We are asking for their help to engineer solutions while we keep the airspace open and safe,” Rocheleau wrote. “They will contribute to our goal of continuous improvement, which is the key to making sure flying continues to be the safest mode of transportation. We will learn from them, and they will learn more about aviation safety from us.” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among critics to claim Musk’s team was inappropriately gaining special access to the FAA. Duffy told Fox News that the SpaceX engineers had gone to the FAA on Monday to “just observe” and would “craft a phased approach on how we might be able to fix the American system.” He added, “It’s not just SpaceX, we’re going to ask everyone else to come in that’s smart and bright and loves America to think through the process.” DUFFY BRINGS UP CLINTON WHILE NOTING SPACEX WORKERS WILL VISIT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM COMMAND CENTER “We’re like using a rotary phone,” Duffy said. “We’re spending 90% of our money to keep the rotary phone working from back in the 1980s as opposed to thinking, well, we use cell phones today. We have such antiquated, old equipment that no one has fixed. Donald Trump has said, ‘Fix this system, make it work, keep people safe.’” Duffy said he planned on Wednesday to visit the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, but the trip was canceled due to bad weather and would be rescheduled. The secretary said he would go to the Air Traffic Control Command Center in Virginia on Wednesday to talk with FAA employees about “the critical need to upgrade our air traffic systems.” The D.C. crash, which killed all 67 people aboard both craft, happened nine days after President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president. It was the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 9/11. That crash was the first of several major North American aviation disasters within the last month. In Canada this week, a Delta flight from Minneapolis dramatically flipped upside down and burst into flames while landing at Toronto’s airport, but everyone aboard survived. In his post to X on Wednesday, Duffy rejected what he described as the “growing media narrative that there are more airplane crashes now in Trump’s presidency than under Biden.” He asserted that there were 57 aviation incidents in the U.S. during President Joe Biden’s first month in office, “compared to 35 under Trump,” adding that “the need for immediate improvement to our safety infrastructure is long overdue.”
‘GOOD RIDDANCE’: MAGA reacts to ‘RINO’ Mitch McConnell Senate exit
Many pro-Trump Republicans took to social media on Thursday to celebrate Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he would be leaving the Senate at the end of his term, with one commentator saying he has “done so much destruction” to the Republican Party. At 83 years old, McConnell has been in the Senate for 40 years. Known as a moderate conservative, he served as the leader of the Senate Republican Conference from 2007 until 2025, which makes him the longest-serving party leader in U.S. history. His seventh and final term will expire in January 2027. McConnell has at times been very critical of President Donald Trump. He recently voted against confirming some of Trump’s top Cabinet nominees, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., earning him the ire of many in the president’s sphere. He has also taken criticism for remaining in the Senate despite his advanced age and several frightening health episodes. Some conservatives have accused McConnell of being a “Republican in name only” (RINO). FBI NOMINEE KASH PATEL ADVANCES TO FINAL SENATE CONFIRMATION VOTE Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday morning, McConnell gave a heartfelt address in which he said: “Seven times my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate… Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.” In response to McConnell’s announcement, Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said, “It’s time for new blood from the great state of Kentucky” and that “exciting opportunities await” for the Republican Party. “GOOD RIDDANCE, RINO!” reacted conservative influencer Nick Sortor. “Mitch McConnell, whose birthday is today, will not be running for reelection in 2026. Good. The statement comes as McConnell has suffered multiple medical emergencies in the past few years. McConnell is 83 years old and has been a Senator in Kentucky since 1985,” said conservative media personality Collin Rugg. “Thank goodness. He has done so much destruction to this party,” he added. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER THUNE SAYS THIS IS THE REASON WHY HE AND TRUMP ARE WORKING WELL TOGETHER Another conservative influencer, Benny Johnson, who has previously criticized McConnell as being too old to remain in the Senate, described the retiring senator’s slow speech as an “absolutely brutal listen.” This prompted another political commentator, Mike Sperrazza, to suggest: “We still need term limits.” However, not everyone was so critical of McConnell. New Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., took to X to say, “McConnell’s legacy is one of remarkable service to the Senate, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and our nation.” “Over decades of tireless work, his mastery of Senate procedure, commitment to the institution, and dedication to the rule of law have shaped the course of American governance for generations to come,” said Thune. “His leadership has strengthened the Senate’s role as a deliberative body and delivered historic achievements, from advancing the judiciary to championing Kentucky’s interests.”
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Senate trying to advance Trump’s agenda
You’ll likely need a universal translator to decipher the fiscal discourse emanating from Capitol Hill this week and next. You’ll hear a lot about budget reconciliation. “One bill/two bill.” And “vote-a-rama.” Let’s break down what the House and Senate Budget Committees completed last week. That will set the table for what the full Senate addresses this week – and what the House aims to tackle next week. Congressional Republicans intend to enact President Donald Trump’s core agenda of cutting taxes and reducing federal spending. Republicans have their own problems passing such a plan in the House of Representatives because of the GOP’s slim majority. Republicans must stick together. But in the Senate, Republicans have 53 seats. That’s not enough to crack a filibuster on legislation. The bar there is 60. However, there’s a way to overcome that obstacle: use a special process called “budget reconciliation” to bypass a filibuster and pass the bill. ‘WOKE IS THEIR GOD’: EX-DEM FUNDRAISER SAYS PARTY ‘IN SHAMBLES’ AFTER 2024 ELECTION LOSSES “Budget reconciliation” isn’t a trick or scheme. It’s a time-honored parliamentary method used by both parties to enact their agenda when they can’t vault the filibuster. Democrats used budget reconciliation to clear filibuster hurdles to approve Obamacare in 2009-2010. Republicans deployed the reconciliation gambit to try to undo Obamacare in 2017. However, Republicans were more successful in approving President Trump’s tax cuts later that year via reconciliation. The issue is that you must have a budget in place in order to use reconciliation in the Senate. And, the House and Senate must approve the same budget vehicle for reconciliation. Let me say that again: it has to be the same budget vehicle for reconciliation. That lays the groundwork. Here’s what unfolded last week. House Republicans initially struggled to assemble a budget chassis for their eventual legislative plan. What they had to do first was construct and approve the legislative structure for this in the Budget Committee. That took a Herculean lift, but after six weeks of meetings, House Republicans finally advanced their plan through committee. It cuts $4.5 trillion in taxes, $2 trillion in “mandatory” spending (like entitlements) and lifts the debt limit by $4 trillion. TRUMP FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL PICKS UP SUPPORT FROM KEY GOP SENATOR Republicans specifically designed this measure to make it out of the Budget Committee and appeal to conservatives. Hold that thought for a moment about whom the committee targeted the bill for. House Republicans could no longer dither. That’s because Senate Republicans were marching ahead with their own plan. It was slimmer and didn’t focus on some of the same priorities demanded by the House. The Senate Republican package didn’t touch tax cuts. Instead, it bolstered military spending and infused the Department of Homeland Security and other related agencies with $175 billion to finish the border wall. It also increased energy production. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., long argued that voters elected President Trump and awarded Congressional Republicans the House and Senate because their message about border security resonated with them. Graham believes it’s a fool’s errand to deal with tax and spending cuts first. He says the border should be up first. Then move to other things. You’ve undoubtedly heard the debate about, “one bill, two bill.” This is the crux of the debate between the House and Senate. The House wants to do one bill, or in the vernacular of the president, a “big, beautiful bill.” However, the Senate approach of focusing first on energy and the border – and leaving tax and spending cuts for later – naturally dictates doing two pieces of legislation. This is the parliamentary problem facing Republicans. It doesn’t matter if it’s one bill, two bill, red bill, blue bill. Yes. I know this sounds like Dr. Seuss. Passing one thing is a lot easier than approving two things in Congress. And it’s far from clear that House Republicans can even pass their sole bill that just came out of committee. Graham forged ahead with his bill in committee – the day before the House Budget Committee could even meet. That created the very real possibility that the Senate could jam the House with its “one bill” because the House may never approve its own framework on the floor. But, there’s a risk involved. What happens if Republicans are stymied by infighting and can never re-up the tax cuts? The Senate began its 50-hour debate on the budget framework Tuesday night. 4 OF THE BIGGEST CLASHES BETWEEN PATEL, SENATE DEMS AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING The budget process is lengthy and arduous. It culminates in a marathon vote series – known as a vote-a-rama Thursday, through Friday and perhaps into the wee hours of Saturday morning. This onerous exercise is to craft a legislative product which enables Republicans to bypass a Senate filibuster later. However, the proposal must be fiscal in nature and not add to the deficit over a ten-year period. Here’s something important to know. The mechanics just spelled out creates nothing more than a shell. This is the legislative chassis I referred to earlier. Both the House and Senate must have this in place to eventually debate substantive and “binding” provisions of legislation down the road – be it border security or massive tax cuts. No “chassis,” then no final bill. So, this is an important phase in moving the president’s agenda. But not the end result. Remember what I said about House Republicans writing their bill to appeal to conservatives on the Budget Committee? The maneuver by the GOP brass was to specifically pry a plan out of committee. But adopting that budget proposal on the House floor – let alone the final bill – is a challenge. Some conservatives don’t think the bill cuts enough. Some moderates worry about blowing a hole in the deficit with the tax cuts. High-tax state Republicans – like those from New York and California – may be loath to support the package if it fails
Riley Gaines featured in Trump HHS website that builds on ‘two sexes’ executive order
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released guidance Wednesday to implement sex-based definitions across the federal government and partners to expand President Donald Trump’s executive order signed last month titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” HHS announced the department will also be working “to implement policies protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” as well as developing a policy for women’s sports. As such, HHS also launched a new web page for the Office of Women’s Health featuring a video of former collegiate swimmer and activist Riley Gaines discussing keeping biological men out of women’s sports. 4 KEY WOMEN’S HEALTH ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED, DOCTOR SAYS “Thank you, President Trump and HHS for courageously defending truth, common sense and women,” Gaines said in the video. “The executive order ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ ensures the next generation of girls has a fair opportunity to compete with the safety, privacy and equal opportunity they’re entitled to,” Gaines said. “The clarity and decisiveness of the Trump administration sends a strong, clear message to women and girls across the country that we matter.” Other links on the new website include “Defending Women” and “Protecting Children.” A screenshot taken by Fox News Digital shows the difference between the new HHS web page on Thursday versus February 2024, under the Biden administration, when a purple “Know Your Rights: Reproductive Health Care” ticker can be seen on the Office of Women’s Health homepage. “This administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.” TRUMP ADMIN ADMINISTRATION LAYS OUT WHO EXACTLY WAS CUT AT HHS IN FACE OF ‘DEMOCRAT HYSTERIA’ According to the guidance, “Sex” refers to a person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female. “Female” is defined as a person with a reproductive system designed to produce eggs, while “Male” refers to a person with a reproductive system designed to produce sperm. “Woman” and “Girl” represent adult and minor human females, respectively, while “Man” and “Boy” refer to adult and minor human males. The terms “Mother” and “Father” denote female and male parents, respectively. Wednesday’s announcement comes as the Trump administration has been seeking to restore “biological truth” to the public sector. The topic of gender was not included in the HHS guidance. MAHA CAUCUS MEMBER PLEDGES HEARINGS INTO ‘CORRUPTION’ OF A PUBLIC HEALTH SECTOR ‘CAPTURED BY BIG PHARMA’ Trump’s gender-related executive orders – which include banning biological men from women’s sports and transgender people from the military – have sparked legal challenges, with several lawsuits filed by progressive and LGBT advocacy groups arguing that the orders violate civil rights protections for transgender individuals.
National security advisor Michael Waltz says Ukraine should ‘tone down’ Trump criticism
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News that Ukraine needs to “tone down” its criticism of President Donald Trump and to sign an economic deal he believes would be the “best security guarantee they could ever hope for.” Waltz spoke on “Fox & Friends” a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Trump is in a “disinformation space” regarding peace talks with Russia. Trump responded by calling Zelenskyy “A Dictator without Elections,” writing in a Truth Social post that “Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.” “Why we are getting this pushback and certainly this kind of – as the vice president said, badmouthing in the press — for all the administration has done in his first term as well and all the United States has done for Ukraine is just unacceptable. They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal,” Waltz said about Ukraine on Thursday. “There is obviously a lot of frustration here,” he added. “Vice President Vance was very frustrated leaving [last week’s] Munich Security Conference. Our Secretary of Treasury who traveled all the way to Kyiv is also frustrated, all on top of the president, obviously, who makes his frustration well known and that is because we presented the Ukrainians really an incredible and historic opportunity to have the United States of America co-invest in Ukraine, invest in its economy, invest in its natural resources, and really become a partner in Ukraine’s future in a way that is sustainable, but also would be I think the best security guarantee they could ever hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition.” TRUMP CALLS UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY A ‘DICTATOR WITHOUT ELECTIONS’ AS RIFT WIDENS The United States has sent billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly three years ago. The Trump administration is now seeking to recoup the cost of aid sent to the war-torn country by gaining access to rare earth minerals like titanium, iron and uranium. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Zelenskyy a document when they met last week that reportedly proposed the United States being granted 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. REPUBLICAN SENATORS BACK TRUMP’S DEMAND FOR UKRAINE ELECTIONS, BUT WON’T CALL ZELENSKYY ‘DICTATOR’ However, Zelenskyy declined to sign the proposed agreement, telling the Associated Press in Munich that it didn’t provide enough security guarantees for his country. “The president also said how much he loves the Ukrainian people,” Waltz said Thursday. “He was the first to arm them back in his first term, we have done a lot for the security of Ukraine and to say that we are going to change the nature of our aid going forward, I don’t think should offend anyone.” Zelenskyy said Thursday that he had a “productive meeting” with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Russia and Ukraine, in Kyiv. “I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that “We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees.” Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
Rand Paul endorses Trump 3 months after Election Day, admits ‘I was wrong’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., endorsed President Donald Trump in a Wednesday post on X, making the unorthodox announcement more than three months after Election Day 2024. When making the announcement, Paul pointed to Trump’s cabinet picks and a Truth Social post in which the commander in chief blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “A few people may have noticed that I resisted an enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump during the election. But now, I’m amazed by the Trump cabinet (many of whom I would have picked). I love his message to the Ukrainian warmongers, and along with his DOGE initiative shows I was wrong to withhold my endorsement,” Paul declared in the tweet. RAND PAUL RECOILS AT TRUMP’S GAZA TAKEOVER PLANS: ‘I THOUGHT WE VOTED FOR AMERICA FIRST’ “So today, admittedly a little tardy, I give Donald Trump my enthusiastic endorsement! (Too little too late some will say, but, you know, it is sincere, there is that.),” he added. “Don’t expect this endorsement to be fawning. I still think tariffs are a terrible idea, but Dios Mio, what courage, what tenacity. Go @realDonaldTrump Go!” The senator enthusiastically supported Trump’s choice to tap former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. RAND PAUL OPPOSES PRESIDENT TRUMP’S LABOR SECRETARY PICK LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER But Paul has indicated that he will not support Trump’s pick for Labor Department secretary, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Paul issued an anti-endorsement of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley ahead of the Iowa Republican caucuses last year. PRO-UNION TRUMP NOMINEE FACES SENATE GRILLING AS AT LEAST ONE REPUBLICAN VOWS TO OPPOSE HER While he stopped short of endorsing Trump ahead of the 2024 contest, he noted during an interview last year on “Honestly with Bari Weiss” that he would vote for Trump over then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
VP JD Vance speaks on ‘fundamental goal’ of Trump administration at CPAC address
Speaking at the opening session of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) on Thursday morning, Vice President JD Vance touted the Trump administration’s success in its first month of restoring “safety and prosperity” to the American people, which he said is the president’s “fundamental goal.” A week after his fiery speech to European political leaders in Munich, Germany, Vance spoke before a packed house at National Harbor, Maryland, in a conversation-style address with a CPAC organizer. He said Trump recognizes that “we have a historical mandate on a few issues,” which he said were cracking down on illegal immigration, restoring American energy dominance and cutting the rampant waste of taxpayer dollars through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He quipped that in his first 30 days in office, President Donald Trump signed “more executive orders than CNN has viewers.” ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO REPORT FLOW OF MIGRANTS HAS ‘ENORMOUSLY DECREASED’ ONE MONTH INTO TRUMP ADMIN Addressing the migrant crisis, Vance said: “We have to secure the southern border and thanks to [Trump’s] actions, border crossings are down well over 90% and we’re just getting started.” On the heels of the administration designating several migrant criminal groups – including Tren de Aragua and MS-13 – as foreign terrorist organizations, Vance said Trump’s message to migrant criminals is “get the hell out of our country because your free ride is over… you’re not welcome.” Regarding American energy and the economy, Vance said Trump “recognizes that we have to really unlock the engine of American growth.” “We’ve got to get back to having a growing economy that creates good jobs and high wages for the American people and a lot of that goes back to ‘drill, baby, drill,’” he said as the crowd broke into applause. TRUMP EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION PUTS EMPLOYERS ‘ON NOTICE’ TO STOP ‘ANTI-AMERICAN BIAS’ The vice president also criticized wasteful government spending under the Biden administration. “Why are we spending money on progressive, modern art projects centered around toilets in Afghanistan? That’s actually something that your tax dollars were funding until very recently,” he said. “And I think all of us are sitting around and asking, ‘What the hell are we doing with the American people’s money for the last four years?’” “It is easy, unfortunately, to burn the house down. It takes a little bit of time to build it back up and that’s what we have to do,” he continued. “Look, the fundamental goal of our immigration policy, of our border policy, of DOGE saving taxpayer money, the fundamental goal is we want your children and grandchildren to be able to raise a family in security and comfort in the country that we all love,” he explained. “That is the whole goal of President Trump’s agenda.” PRESIDENT TRUMP: FOUNDING FATHERS ‘SPINNING IN THEIR GRAVES’ BECAUSE OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ABUSE Vance received a massive standing ovation after the CPAC organizer mentioned his Munich speech, in which he spoke about the need for Europe to follow Trump’s example of restricting illegal immigration and restoring free speech. “We cannot rebuild Western civilization; we cannot rebuild the United States of America or Europe by letting millions and millions of unvetted illegal migrants come into our country. It has to stop. Thank God it stopped here. But it’s got to stop there,” he said. “The Biden administration did more to destroy free speech, not just in the United States, but also in Europe, than any administration in American history,” he went on. “I’m not even blaming the Europeans. I’m actually saying you followed the lead of Joe Biden into censorship and mass migration. Follow the lead of Donald J. Trump and that’s free speech, borders and sovereignty. That is the future for our shared civilization.”
‘Death of DEI’: GOP senator expected to take victory lap against ‘wokeness’ in CPAC speech
EXCLUSIVE: Indiana Republican Sen. Jim Banks is set to deliver a speech to conservatives on Thursday declaring victory over “wokeness” and making the case that the “Golden Age of America” ushered in by President Trump will mean the “death” of DEI. “Despite how extensively DEI polluted our institutions, President Trump, with the swipe of his pen, dismantled this Marxist ideology from the halls of our government,” Banks, who founded the Anti-Woke Caucus during his time in the House, is expected to tell the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Thursday, Fox News Digital has learned. “DEI is the biggest threat to the American Dream, but the Golden Age of America means the death of DEI.” Banks’ speech states that Democrats in the United States have attempted to “sabotage” institutions with “wokeness” as their “primary weapon” meant to “nuke” American culture while eroding society. STATE TAKES ON ‘WOKE’ LANGUAGE, INTRODUCES BILL TO BAN TERMS SUCH AS ‘PREGNANT PERSON’ AND ‘CHESTFEEDING’ “Putting up a fight against this kind of poison requires courageous action,” Banks will say. “That’s exactly what President Trump has done.” Since taking office, Trump has acted to fulfill campaign promise to remove DEI policies from the federal government that critics for several years have argued shift the focus away from meritocracy and, as a result, make the country less safe and less effective. ‘WOKE IS THEIR GOD’: EX-DEM FUNDRAISER SAYS PARTY ‘IN SHAMBLES’ AFTER 2024 ELECTION LOSSES Included in those actions were executive orders in the early days of Trump’s presidency banning “radical gender ideology” and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives from all branches of the U.S. military. In an executive order dubbed “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” Trump stated that DEI programs have undermined “leadership, merit and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness” and have “violated Americans’ consciences by engaging in invidious race and sex discrimination.” “Maybe most importantly, DEI has been uprooted from our military,” Banks will tell the crowd at CPAC. “Under Biden, our armed forces were wasting precious time and taxpayer resources running social experiments. Do you think China’s military is worried about filling diversity quotas and making sure everyone’s pronouns and delusions are respected?” “No. As an Afghanistan veteran, I can tell you that diversity, in and of itself, provides no strategic advantage. In fact, holding up diversity as some sort of moral virtue is a deadly distraction. Under President Trump, we’re rightfully refocusing our military on lethality. Because that’s what keeps us safe.” Additionally, Trump’s partnership with Tesla CEO Elon Musk to slash waste with DOGE has resulted in DEI-related cuts in the federal government, including the Department of Education, which said last week it canceled nearly $350 million in “woke” spending. The agency canceled 10 contracts with Regional Educational Laboratories (REL), totaling $336 million, after a review of the contracts uncovered “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers,” a news release stated. “The Education Department under President Trump has given schools 14 days to end any practice that treats students differently because of their race or lose federal funding,” Banks will say. “A huge blow to DEI and a massive win for our kids.” While Banks believes that Trump has “put his foot on the neck of woke and driven a stake through the heart of those who hate America,” he warns in his speech that Congress still has work to do on the issue and specifically railed against “weak Republicans on our side.” “Congress needs to do its job and reinforce the successes that President Trump and his administration have accomplished,” Banks said. “We need legislation to codify and extend his transformative executive orders.” “We have no time for wimpy Republicans. The New Right merges true conservatism with the interests of the people. President Trump and his administration boldly embody this new party.” Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report