Trump ally Ramaswamy to make major announcement about his political future
Vivek Ramaswamy will launch his 2026 campaign for Ohio governor in one week, sources confirm to Fox News. The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur, who went from long shot to contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before dropping out 13 months ago and becoming a top supporter and surrogate of now-President Donald Trump, will announce his candidacy on Feb. 24 in his hometown of Cincinnati. Ramaswamy will kick off his campaign – in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine – at CTL Aerospace just outside of Cincinnati. AP was first to report the news. Sources with knowledge say CTL Aerospace, a privately held company that specializes in aviation repair and original equipment manufacturing, symbolizes Ramaswamy’s push for a new age of growth of industry in Ohio. RAMASWAMY DONE AT DOGE AS HE HEADS BACK ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL The candidate is expected to make stops over the following two days in the Columbus, Toledo and Cleveland areas. Ramaswamy, who’s now 39 years old, launched his presidential campaign in February 2023 and quickly saw his stock rise. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON VIVEK RAMASWAMY He campaigned on what he called an “America First 2.0” agenda and was one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the field of rivals, calling Trump the “most successful president in our century.” Ramaswamy dropped his White House bid in January of last year after a distant fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and quickly endorsed Trump, becoming a staple for the former and future president on the campaign trail during the general election. Trump, in the days after his November presidential election victory, named Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, along with Ramaswamy, to steer the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, which is better known by its acronym DOGE. But late last month, as Trump was inaugurated, the new administration announced that Ramaswamy was no longer serving at DOGE. Ramaswamy’s exit appeared to clear the way for Musk, Trump’s top donor and key ally, to steer DOGE without having to share the limelight. “It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE. I’m confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government. I’ll have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio. Most importantly, we’re all-in to help President Trump make America great again!,” Ramaswamy wrote at the time. Ramaswamy and Musk sparked a firestorm among Trump’s hard core MAGA supporters over their support for H-1B temporary worker visas for highly skilled workers from foreign countries. Ramaswamy’s comments criticizing an American culture that he said “venerated mediocrity over excellence” received plenty of pushback from some leading voices on the right as well as some in Trump’s political circle. DeWine announced last month that Lt. Gov. Jon Husted would fill the U.S. Senate seat that was held by JD Vance, Trump’s 2024 running mate, until he stepped down ahead of the inauguration. Before the Senate announcement, Husted had planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine. Ramaswamy, for his part, had expressed interest in serving in the Senate. DeWine’s decision to choose Husted to fill the vacant Senate seat appeared to accelerate Ramaswamy’s move toward launching a run for governor. Top members of Vance’s political team – including advisors Andy Surabian and Jai Chabria, who played major roles in Vance’s 2022 Senate race and in his vice presidential campaign last summer and autumn – are helping Ramaswamy as he runs for governor. Tony Fabrizio, the veteran Republican pollster who worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns, as well as Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign, is also on board, as is Arthur Schwartz, a close ally to Vance and Donald Trump Jr. The race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination could be competitive. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, 68, announced last month his candidacy for governor. “This is my heart, my home,” Yost said in a press release announcing his candidacy. “I work for the people of Ohio, and I love my bosses. From the time I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night, I’m thinking about them and our future.” Yost also brought in staff from Trump’s political world, announcing that former Trump campaign official Justin Clark had joined the campaign as a general consultant. Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a well-known former Ohio State University head football coach who was sworn in last month to succeed Husted, appears to be mulling a gubernatorial run. Former Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton is currently the only Democrat in the race. Ohio, which was once a top general election battleground, has shifted red over the past decade as Republicans have dominated statewide elections. Ramaswamy was raised in Evendale, Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati by parents who emigrated from India. His father worked as an engineer at General Electric Aviation and his mother was a geriatric psychiatrist. Ramaswamy and his family currently live in suburban Columbus. The soon-to-be candidate filed paperwork on Friday with the Ohio secretary of state’s office ahead of his campaign launch.
Swalwell faces social media backlash for post tying Trump to Georgia small plane crash
Rep. Eric Swallwell, D-Calif., is facing backlash online after suggesting President Donald Trump is to blame for a small plane crash in Georgia this weekend. Swallwell took to social media Monday morning to declare that Trump has had “more planes crash” in his first month in office than any other U.S. president. The lawmaker made the comment in reaction to a small private plane crash that took place this weekend in Covington, Georgia, which left two people dead. Social media users began to pile on immediately, calling out Swallwell for what they saw as an unfair connection to Trump. “Are you suggesting the catalysts for those crashes were all caused by policies changed in the last month?” one user wrote. HARROWING VIDEO FROM MILITARY BASE SHOWS NEW ANGLE OF MIDAIR CRASH CATASTROPHE “You really do have TDS. Grab some coffee and take a walk,” wrote another user who goes by the name of SouthernRepublicanMomma. Swallwell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. FAA, NTSB TO BRIEF SENATORS ON WASHINGTON, DC, MIDAIR COLLISION Georgia’s crash saw a single-engine airplane take off from the Covington Municipal Airport at 11 p.m. on Saturday. Ground control lost communication with the plane roughly 20 minutes later, at which point police officers located the plane crashed near the runway. The plane’s two occupants were immediately announced dead at the scene. “On February 15, 2025, the Covington Police Department officers responded to the Covington Municipal Airport at approximately 11:21 p.m. after receiving a call from the FAA in reference to a single-engine aircraft that had taken off at approximately 11:00 p.m. There was no further communication from the aircraft after takeoff,” the Covington Police Department said in a statement. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed they are investigating the crash. The incident comes in the wake of multiple other plane crashes in recent weeks, the most dramatic being the collision of a helicopter and a commercial airliner in the skies over Washington, D.C. last month.
Trump admin aims for killing blow to independence of ‘Deep State’ agencies
President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is seeking to overturn a landmark Supreme Court case in an effort to give the president greater control over independent three-letter agencies. In a move that could allow Trump to more easily fire officials who refuse to implement his policies, the acting U.S. solicitor general sent Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin a letter on Wednesday, notifying him of the Justice Department’s plans to ask the Supreme Court to overturn a key precedent that limits the president’s power to remove independent agency members. The letter, penned by Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris, says the DOJ has determined “that certain for-cause removal provisions” that apply to certain administrative agency members are unconstitutional, and the department would “no longer defend their constitutionality.” TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ORDER TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SPARKS RESIGNATIONS Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, the case in question, is a 1935 Supreme Court case that narrowed the president’s constitutional power to remove agents of the executive branch. Harris cited a previous case, Myers v. United States, which held that the Constitution granted the president sole power to remove executive branch officials. “The exception recognized in Humphrey’s Executor thus does not fit the principal officers who head the regulatory commissions noted above,” Harris wrote in the letter. “To the extent that Humphrey’s Executor requires otherwise, the Department intends to urge the Supreme Court to overrule that decision, which prevents the President from adequately supervising principal officers in the Executive Branch who execute the laws on the President’s behalf, and which has already been severely eroded by recent Supreme Court decisions,” Harris continued. Durbin called the letter a “striking reversal of the Justice Department’s longstanding position under Republican and Democratic presidents alike,” in a statement to Fox News Digital. He added that the request is “not surprising from an administration that is only looking out for wealthy special interests – not the American people.” BONDI ANNOUNCES NEW LAWSUITS AGAINST STATES ALLEGEDLY FAILING TO COMPLY WITH IMMIGRATION ACTIONS: ‘A NEW DOJ’ However, conservative legal theorists supported the Trump administration’s move, arguing that overturning Humphrey’s Executor would move the federal government closer to the original intent of the Constitution’s framers. Trump notably posed his presidential campaign against former President Joe Biden as a contest between the “deep state” and democracy, saying at the time, “Either we have a deep state or we have a democracy. We’re going to have one or the other. And we’re right at the tipping point.” “Congress makes the laws, it’s the president’s duty to carry out and enforce those laws under the unitary executive theory,” Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. “That means that the president, since he’s the head of the executive branch, has complete control over the executive branch, and that includes the hiring and firing of everyone in the executive branch, most particularly, and most importantly, the heads of all the different offices and departments within the executive branch.” Von Spakovsky says the exception carved out by the Court in Humphrey’s Executor “does not apply to these federal agencies.” In her letter, Harris specifically mentioned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Earlier this month, a former NLRB member sued Trump over her termination, arguing that federal law protects her from being arbitrarily dismissed. The Trump administration has also become the target of various other lawsuits involving federal employee dismissals. PATEL CAMP DECRIES DURBIN ACCUSATIONS AS ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’ ATTEMPT TO DERAIL FBI CONFIRMATION “My take on what’s going on with the Trump agenda right now is that they’re itching to get up to the higher federal court level, including the Supreme Court, to press just this kind of question,” Ronald Pestritto, Graduate Dean and Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, told Fox News Digital. Pestritto says some of the administration’s actions “contradict existing civil service law, existing protections, for example, against removing the NLRB commissioners.” “And so, clearly, they know they’re going to lose a lot of that at the lower court level. And they want to push them up into the Supreme Court, because they think they might get a reconsideration of it,” Pestritto said. Von Spakovsky stated that independent agencies are “unaccountable” as a result of Humphrey’s Executor, saying “you make them accountable to voters by putting them back where they belong, which is under the authority of the president.” Trump’s lawyers are likely to lose in the lower court, Pestritto says, where he expects judges to apply the Supreme Court’s precedent in their own decisions. But even so, the Trump administration can appeal higher and higher to attempt to get Supreme Court review, where Humphrey’s Executor could be overturned. “[Democrats] are going to win injunctions very often, first of all, because they know it’s easy to judge-shop for sympathetic district judges. And number two, the district judges are basically going to go by the existing Supreme Court precedent,” Pestritto said. “And so the real tale of the tape will be when these initial rulings get appealed up the appellate ladder and ultimately up to the Supreme Court, which certainly has many justices who I think understand Article II of the Constitution properly and may be open to a reconsideration of Humphrey’s.”
NYC Mayor Adams refuses to resign in sermon: ‘I have a mission to finish’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told churchgoers on Sunday that he’s on a mission from God and won’t resign from office as he faces allegations of a quid pro quo with President Donald Trump’s administration. Adams made the remarks during a sermon at Maranatha Baptist Church in Queens, telling the gathering, “I am going nowhere,” the New York Post reported. “I have a mission to finish, the mission that God put me on many years ago,” Adams said, adding that “God has fortified me.” Adams told “Fox & Friends” in an interview on Friday that he plans to run for re-election as a Democrat. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS DEMOCRAT Adams, a Democrat who said he was targeted by the Biden administration, was indicted in September on charges including bribery, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, wire fraud and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The decision to drop the case against Adams came as part of Trump’s effort to overhaul the Justice Department, which he said has been weaponized against political opponents. Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the decision to drop the case, telling Fox News in an interview Friday that Adams was targeted after he criticized the Biden administration’s immigration policies. Several senior Justice Department officials resigned in protest Thursday rather than comply with an order to drop a bribery case against Adams. After the charges were dropped, Adams was accused of a quid pro quo over his willingness to work with the Trump administration crackdown to curb illegal immigration, and has faced calls to resign. “I just find it so amazing — the most sanctified among us are calling for me to step down,” Adams told the church gathering. “I’m not going to step down. I’m going to step up. NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS PROMISES TO REOPEN ICE OFFICE ON RIKERS ISLAND AFTER MEETING WITH TRUMP BORDER CZAR New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday evening that she was considering removing Adams from office amid the allegations of a quid pro quo. “The allegations are extremely concerning and serious, but I cannot as the governor of this state have a knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction like a lot of other people are saying right now,” she said. Hochul is the only state official who has the power to remove Adams from his position. Hochul further stated, “I have to do what’s smart, what’s right and I’m consulting with other leaders in government at this time.” Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Putin sending foreign minister to Saudi Arabia for talks with Trump officials
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dispatched a group of senior officials to Saudi Arabia for meetings with the U.S. about a potential peace deal for Ukraine, the Kremlin announced Monday. The officials, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, will meet with U.S. counterparts on Tuesday. The groups plan to discuss a restoration of diplomatic ties between Washington and Moscow, as well as a Ukrainian peace deal and a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Putin. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the U.S. delegation, accompanied by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz, the state department confirmed Monday. The meeting comes just days after Trump revealed he had spoken to Putin in a phone call last week. Trump said he and Putin “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” TRUMP SAYS RUSSIA AGREES TO ‘IMMEDIATELY’ BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS TO END WAR IN UKRAINE Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met the effort with skepticism, urging Trump not to trust Putin in a separate call last week. “I said that [Putin] is a liar,” Zelenskyy recounted of his phone call to Trump. “And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’” PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS Zelenskyy nevertheless said he believes Putin is a “little bit scared” of Trump. Trump’s representatives have declined to offer details about the negotiations, such as whether the U.S. would support a deal where Ukraine is forced to give up a sizable amount of its pre-war territory. FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL LANDS IN US AFTER YEARS IN RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY “Those are details, and I’m not dismissive of the details, they’re important. But I think the beginning here is trust-building. It’s getting everybody to understand that this war does not belong continuing, that it should end. That’s what the president has directed us to do,” Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday. Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer has confirmed that he is willing to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine to ensure its security as part of a peace deal. “I do not say that lightly,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.” “But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country,” he added. Zelenskyy added in his interview that he will not accept any negotiation hashed out by just the U.S. and Russia. “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never.… The war in Ukraine is against us, and it is our human losses. And we are thankful for all the support, unity between U.S.A. – in U.S.A. around Ukraine support, bipartisan unity, bipartisan support, we’re thankful for all of this. But there is no… leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us,” he said.
Duffy brings up Clinton while noting SpaceX workers will visit Air Traffic Control System Command Center
SpaceX workers will visit the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted in a Sunday post on X, in which he also mentioned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with whom he recently engaged in a social media spat. “America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Duffy declared, noting that he’d welcome assistance from American developers or businesses. “To do that, I need advice from the brightest minds in America. I’m asking for help from any high-tech American developer or company that is willing to give back to our country. SEAN DUFFY TELLS HILLARY CLINTON TO ‘SIT THIS ONE OUT’ AFTER SHE CHIMES IN ON HIS DOGE ANNOUNCEMENT “Tomorrow, members of @elonmusk’s SpaceX team will be visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in VA to get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.” He then brought up Clinton. “Because I know the media (and Hillary Clinton) will claim Elon’s team is getting special access, let me make clear that the @FAANews regularly gives tours of the command center to both media and companies.” SENATE CONFIRMS TRUMP PICK SEAN DUFFY FOR TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY In the post on Sunday, Duffy also said that he will visit the FAA Academy this week. “Later in the week, I will travel to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma to meet with air traffic controller instructors and students to learn more about their education and how we can ensure that only the very best guide our aircrafts,” he noted. “My door at @USDOT is open to any and all patriotic developers or companies who want to help our country in this incredible, game-changing mission. I hope to hear from any company committed to ushering in America’s golden age of travel!” President Donald Trump tapped business magnate Elon Musk to spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to uncover federal government waste, fraud, and abuse. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY REASSURES PUBLIC ABOUT AIR TRAVEL SAFETY AFTER DEADLY CRASH: ‘SAFEST FORM OF TRAVEL’ “The safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter. SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer,” Musk wrote in response to Duffy’s tweet. Earlier this month, Clinton and Duffy engaged in a back and forth on X after Duffy noted that the DOGE team would help upgrade the aviation system.
Department of Education probing some Virginia school districts over gender identity policies
The U.S. Department of Education is launching an investigation into several school districts in northern Virginia over allegations of refusing to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order banning gender identity policies. The department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an enforcement investigation into the school districts, according to Fox 5 DC. The districts include Arlington County Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools and Prince William County Public Schools. This comes after the conservative nonprofit America First Legal filed a complaint accusing several schools in Virginia of keeping policies promoting gender identity in place in violation of the president’s mandate. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WARNS THAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST REMOVE DEI POLICIES OR LOSE FEDERAL FUNDING The complaint argues that the districts are violating Title IX of the higher education act of 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and Trump’s executive order titled “Ending Racial Indoctrination in K-12 Schools,” which called on some federal agencies to develop a plan to eliminate the “instruction, advancement or promotion of gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology” in K-12 schools receiving federal funding. America First Legal stresses that the federal government prohibits “instruction, advancement or promotion of gender ideology” — as mentioned in Trump’s order — and argues that allowing biological boys to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms is covered in this language. TRUMP EDUCATION NOMINEE LINDA MCMAHON SAYS SHUTTING DOWN DOE WOULD ‘REQUIRE CONGRESSIONAL ACTION’ The group described the districts named in the complaint as radical and lawless and that the districts would rather “deny biology than teach it and one family agrees.” Arlington Public Schools said it stands firmly behind its non-discrimination policies and remains committed to providing safe and welcoming schools for all students, according to Fox 5 DC. The district said it follows all federal laws with respect to Title IX. Prince William County Public Schools said it will “cooperate with the investigation and remains committed to providing a welcoming, nurturing learning environment where all of our students feel safe and supported mentally, physically, and emotionally.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Alexandria City Public Schools said it “will respond to this investigation in accordance with applicable law.” Loudoun County Public Schools made a similar statement. Fairfax County Public Schools said its policies “align with state and federal anti-discrimination laws and binding court precedent.”
Expert reveals what should happen next with Biden DOJ’s lingering ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ election lawsuit
As President Donald Trump’s administration continues to form and top officials are confirmed, questions remain about the future of a highly publicized and pending Biden administration lawsuit against Georgia’s election laws that then-President Joe Biden famously referred to as “Jim Crow 2.0.” The Biden administration sued Georgia in 2021 over its election integrity laws, arguing that it contains “racially discriminatory provisions” that were “adopted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race” and “particularly” harmed Black voters. “The right of all eligible citizens to vote is the central pillar of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press release at the time. “This lawsuit is the first step of many we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote; that all lawful votes are counted; and that every voter has access to accurate information.” LAWMAKERS DEMAND BONDI’S DOJ INVESTIGATE BIDEN’S POST-ELECTION DAY DISMISSAL OF GREEN ENERGY FRAUD LAWSUIT In October 2021, Biden described the law as “Jim Crow in the 21st Century” and later repeated that claim by calling the law “Jim Crow 2.0.” Since that lawsuit, which court filings show is currently on appeal in the 11th Circuit, Georgia has experienced record voter registration and turnout in several elections. “The Trump administration should immediately dismiss this lawsuit,” the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital. “It had no merit and there was no evidence justifying its filing. Events since then, including record registration and turnout in the 2022 and 2024 elections, with all of the reforms in place that DOJ was attacking, prove what a sham this lawsuit is. DOJ filed it for political reasons because Joe Biden was calling the commonsense Georgia reforms ‘Jim Crow 2.0,’ an outrageous claim that was clearly wrong and simply made to try to scare voters.” FEDERAL APPEALS COURT DISMISSES CLASSIFIED RECORDS CASE AGAINST FORMER TRUMP CO-DEFENDANTS Last week, Georgia’s secretary of state called for the lawsuit to be dropped. “The Biden Administration and Stacey Abrams created a false narrative regarding Georgia’s elections,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a press release. “The DOJ should never be leveraged for political purposes, and I hope Attorney General Bondi will join us in ending this frivolous lawsuit against the state of Georgia, and release documents exposing the coordination between the Biden DOJ and the liberal left.” Raffensperger’s press release came days before Trump’s Justice Department dropped another high-profile Biden-era investigation into New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Justice Department declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. Democrat criticism of the law from Biden, former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and others resulted in a negative economic effect on Georgia residents after Major League Baseball announced it was moving its the All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to the law. That move cost the majority-Black city an estimated $70 million or more in revenue, Fox Business previously reported. Major League Baseball later decided to hold the game in Atlanta in 2025 where the election law remains the same as when the game was pulled. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Opponents of SB 202 previously called for economic boycotts against Georgia, most notably the relocation of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game following advocacy efforts led by Stacey Abrams,” Raffensperger’s press release stated. “Despite these efforts, Georgia’s voting laws remain unchanged, and the 2025 MLB All-Star Game is set to return to Atlanta.” “Recent data underscores the effectiveness of Georgia’s election reforms. A 2022 University of Georgia poll found that 99% of voters reported no issues casting their ballots, and a follow-up poll in 2024 reflected a similarly high satisfaction rate, with 98% of voters experiencing no problems at the polls.”
Academic unions plan demonstrations outside HHS building, at med schools, to protest Trump research cuts
The science community is clapping back at President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut facilities and administrative costs that go out to institutions when the federal government disperses money for publicly funded research projects. A cohort of academic unions around the country has called on scientists, researchers, clinicians, academics and “allies” to protest in front of the Health and Human Services Department building and at different universities across the country on Wednesday, calling it a “National Day of Action.” The Feb. 19 event follows protests outside the HHS building Friday, during which demonstrators locked arms in front of the building and chanted, “We are not leaving!” Trump’s move to cap these costs at 15% has garnered criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, who argue the spending limit will severely impact the country’s world-leading research apparatus. But, while much of that criticism has been online and in the media, it is starting to spill over into the streets. INDEPENDENT VOTERS SHOW SIGNIFICANT DISAPPROVAL OF DEMOCRATIC ANTICS AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP “We are joining academic unions across the country in a National Day of Action,” the RSVP form for the event reads. “We are demanding the administration stop the attack on science, medicine, and public health research by rescinding the cuts and restrictions.” The form says that Trump’s directive is “restrict[ing] and censor[ing]” critical research and subsequently preventing “potential treatments and cures” from coming to fruition, while also reducing the nation’s global competitiveness when it comes to “scientific world power.” Union members from Johns Hopkins, George Washington University and the University of Maryland are slated to attend, according to the RSVP form. A separate online advertisement for the event indicated that additional protests would take place on Wednesday at Rutgers, the University of Washington, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Illinois – Chicago, and other places. Fox News Digital reached out to organizers of the Feb. 19 demonstrations to glean more details about expected numbers, but did not receive a response. TRUMP NOMINEES DEBUT NEW SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL AIMED AT SPURRING SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE, INCREASING TRANSPARENCY A “Feb. 19 toolkit,” included with the second online advertisement, also implored interested demonstrators to protest outside congressional offices and at public meetings where legislators are present. It included messaging prompts on how demonstrators should respond to push back as well, and implored them to take a lot of pictures and videos. Fox News Digital reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department to determine whether any safety or security measures would be put in place, but the department declined to share specifics regarding operations, tactics or staffing. The department did iterate that it recognizes the importance of “upholding the First Amendment rights of individuals to peacefully express their views” and is committed to facilitating these events while also protecting public safety. The department added that there was no known threat to the D.C. area at that time. A federal judge last week put a temporary restraining order on Trump’s directive, halting it nationwide. An in-person hearing date is scheduled for later this month. JUDGE ORDERS TEMPORARY REVERSAL OF TRUMP ADMIN’S FREEZE ON FOREIGN AID Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed as HHS secretary by the Senate last week, shared a NIH social media post explaining how much will be saved under Trump’s new spending limit, signaling that he potentially supports Trump’s cap on indirect facilities and administrative costs going to research institutions from the NIH. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In addition to the protests on Wednesday, a “Stand Up For Science 2025” protest is also being planned for early March. Furthermore, a nationwide protest movement against Trump’s actions has also been attempting to organize protesters to show up at every major state capital on Presidents Day. A recent survey of Independent voters showed the unaffiliated group is largely getting tired of the Democratic Party’s sometimes profanity-laced attacks on the president.
Effort in ‘red’ swath of Oregon to join Idaho gets new life, as political secession has had mixed results
During the anti-police riots of 2020, Oregon was front-and-center as protesters vandalized Portland and made a dayslong violent stand in front of the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse. But in the eastern two-thirds of Oregon, the conservative geographic majority of the state did not ideologically align with their urban brethren. Over the past several years, the Greater Idaho movement has tried to create the conditions needed for about 13 counties to join the conservative Gem State next door. Greater Idaho began putting such measures up for votes in various counties in 2020 and this month saw Republican lawmakers file a bill in the state legislature that would create a task force to study “moving” the border. State Rep. Mark Owens, R-Malheur, put forward HB 3844, a measure that creates and directs a task force to document the impacts of relocating the Idaho border and requires a report be presented to lawmakers in Salem. GREATER IDAHO MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM Owens did not respond when reached for requests for comment. Greater Idaho president Mike McCarter said in a statement: “We are encouraged to see the representatives of Eastern Oregon coming together to advocate for their voters by bringing these bills to the Legislature. The people of Eastern Oregon have made clear they want to explore moving the border and joining Idaho. “This movement has always been about the people of Eastern Oregon, getting their voice heard and helping those communities get the kind of state-level governance they actually want.” “If the Oregon Legislature truly believes in democracy, they will honor those voters’ wishes and move forward on making a border change happen,” executive director Matt McCaw told Fox News Digital. “Both bills have been moved into committee and are awaiting further action there.” By shifting the border, proponents believe both states have a “win-win” – in that the people living in each would better reflect the established political majority and lower political tension. NY LAWMAKER CALLS FOR STATEN ISLAND TO SECEDE A report in the Central Oregonian noted an “interstate compact” is part of what is required to move the line, and cited other border-shifting bills in other states. One would forward the cause of adding several rural Illinois counties that don’t see eye-to-eye with Springfield or Chicago to more closely aligned Indiana. Another in Iowa would allow the same movement for counties in the Land of Lincoln that are closer to the Hawkeye State line. Idaho GOP Gov. Brad Little and Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek did not respond to requests for comment. So far, only a few such movements regarding either secession or redrawing of state lines have been successful. The now-55 counties of West Virginia voted to secede from the then-Confederate Virginia and independently ratified the U.S. Constitution on June 20, 1863. A Washington Post story on the matter said Mountaineers split from Virginia as a way of “defending the ‘United States’… rather than the ‘seceded states’.” In New York City’s Staten Island – the “forgotten borough” as many locals call it – there has been a movement afoot for decades seeking to break from the Big Apple. Already geographically distant on the “New Jersey side” of the Hudson River, the borough is also separated from the Garden State by the Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill. Efforts to reestablish the reliably-red borough as the city of Richmond (after its coterminous county) or other names began with a favor from then-Gov. Mario Cuomo in the 1980s. Cuomo enraged city leaders but endeared himself to the working-class voters on the island by approving state Sen. John J. Marchi’s push for a secession referendum. Marchi, who died in 2006 and now has a Staten Island Ferry named in his honor, saw his borough vote nearly 2-1 to secede in 1993 – only to have their desires quashed by Albany’s Democratic majority. And while the 1995 election of Mayor Rudy Giuliani calmed secession tensions, the drumbeat began anew in recent months. “I think it’s time to secede,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told The New York Post as Gov. Kathy Hochul was touting her congestion-priced driving fee that now double-taxes Staten Island commuters. “There’s no real value in being part of this city or the state. We didn’t vote for this mayor; we didn’t vote for this governor; and we didn’t vote for this president, but we’re always the ones getting screwed,” she said.