DNC trolls Trump on tariffs with free ‘TACO’ truck parked outside RNC headquarters
FIRST ON FOX – The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Tuesday parked a custom-wrapped food truck in front of the Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters in Washington, D.C. The rented truck, decked out with images of President Donald Trump, served up a free mouth-watering lunch option to passers-by. However, in Washington, there is no such thing as a free lunch – and this stunt was no exception. The food truck was a taco truck, and the tacos came with a side of trolling: a policy-themed jab at Trump’s tariff record, one the DNC sees as a major vulnerability heading into 2026. The DNC’s renting and customization of the taco truck, as well as its plans to hand out free Trump-branded tacos to passers-by, was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital. It looks to seize on the acronym TACO, or “Trump Always Chickens Out,” to provoke Trump’s ire. The phrase was coined by Wall Street analysts when referring to Trump’s tariff policies – and more specifically, espousing the view among some that Trump will walk back the steep reciprocal tariffs he announced in April, which are currently playing out in federal courts. Beyond simply presenting a moral quagmire to hungry RNC employees and other Hill staffers, DNC officials told Fox News that they see the truck as an effective way to draw attention to Trump’s tariff policies, which they described as “playing games with working families’ livelihoods.” TRUMP TARIFF PLAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS COURT BATTLES INTENSIFY “Trump always chickens out – we’re just bringing the tacos to match,” DNC Chair Ken Martin told Fox News Digital of the effort. “Instead of realizing his tariff chaos is wrecking the economy, Trump continues to drag America towards more economic pain, and the rest of the world sees Trump for exactly what he is: a chicken,” he added. The food truck comes as Trump’s power to enact sweeping tariffs has come under legal scrutiny. There is also an open question of whether the administration would actually move forward with the harsh import fees. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously acknowledged that the threat of tariffs could be used as more of a negotiating tactic or an opening salvo for future trade talks, including between the U.S. and China, and described Trump’s uncertainty in the process to reporters last week as a means of “strategic uncertainty in the negotiations.” As of this writing, three separate federal courts are weighing Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to stand up the harsh import fees. The plan, which Trump announced on April 2, invokes IEEPA for both his 10% baseline tariff on most U.S. trading partners and a so-called “reciprocal tariff” against other countries. TRUMP DENOUNCES COURT’S ‘POLITICAL’ TARIFF DECISION, CALLS ON SUPREME COURT TO ACT QUICKLY The administration has appealed two lower court decisions that blocked his use of the law to either enact or threaten to enact the harsh tariffs. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed a lower court order from the U.S. Court of International Trade, allowing Trump’s tariff policy to continue for now while the court continues to investigate the merits of the case. Two other lower court challenges remain in flux. In the meantime, however, the moniker TACO has gotten under the president’s skin. Last week, Trump blasted a reporter who asked him about the phrase, describing it as a “nasty question.” “Don’t ever say what you said,” Trump told the reporter. “To me, that’s the nastiest question,” he said. “I chicken out, oh, I have never heard that,” Trump said, noting that lowering the tariffs was part of an ongoing “negotiation” with China. He continued, “You mean because I reduced China from 145% that I set down to 100 and then down to another number? I said, ‘You have to open your whole country.’” JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IT WILL NO LONGER COMPLY WITH RATINGS FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES Democrats are using the truck to seize on what they see as a clear sore spot for the president, and a way of tying Trump more directly to any market uncertainty and turmoil that has come as a result of the tariffs. It comes as the party has struggled to coalesce around a unifying message in the aftermath of the 2024 elections. The party has been criticized for failing to seize on Elon Musk’s departure from his official role in the Trump administration at the end of May, and for focusing its energy on attacking intraparty strategies and DNC board members, rather than going after the RNC more broadly. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The taco truck stunt signals a shift in strategy, as Democrats adopt a more Trump-style approach to political attacks ahead of the 2026 midterms, but some of their efforts have missed the mark. Earlier this week, conservative commentators took aim at a TikTok posted by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), in which he is filmed eating a taco in an attempt to mock Trump’s tariff strategy, with some declaring it “cringeworthy.” DNC officials did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions on whether the party plans to pursue the tariff strategy beyond the taco truck, or if it sees these issues as a way to counter Trump and his allies with red state voters in the midterms and beyond.
Jasmine Crockett agrees during town hall that ‘Republicans want poor people to die’
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, agreed that “Republicans want poor people to die as quickly as humanly possible,” during a town hall event on Monday. The live town hall, hosted by Jim Acosta of CNN, featured actress Rosie O’Donnell, CNN contributor and former Capitol police officer Michael Fanone and former Trump administration official Olivia Troye. Crockett, dubbed a rising Democratic Party star, was the headliner. Acosta told the panel he was “astounded” by Sen. Joni Ernst’s town hall comment last week that, “We all are going to die,” when discussing Medicaid reform. “I’m thinking to myself, isn’t the point of healthcare to postpone that as long as possible, like, we don’t want that to happen, isn’t that the point?” Acosta asked. SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS OVER JASMINE CROCKETT ‘GASLIGHTING’ ABOUT CALLING ABBOTT ‘GOVERNOR HOT WHEELS’ Fanone, who gained national attention for his role defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and is now an analyst for CNN, said, “Republicans want poor people to die as quickly as humanly possible.” ABBOTT SAYS DEMS HAVE ‘NOTHING TO SELL BUT HATE’ AFTER PARTY MEMBER APPEARED TO MOCK HIM BEING IN A WHEELCHAIR “I agree,” Crockett responded. “I don’t think that is a glitch, but that’s actually part of the design.” Ernst said, “We all are going to die,” during a contentious moment at her town hall in Iowa. She was explaining that Medicaid reform will only remove people who do not qualify for benefits – illegal immigrants, able-bodied Americans who can work but choose not to, those ineligible to receive benefits who are currently receiving benefits, and duplicate enrollees in one or more states. But Ernst was interrupted by a rowdy crowd, including one attendee who shouted, “People will die!” prompting her comment that drove Acosta’s town hall conversation on Monday. “The idea that you’ve got someone who has the audacity to say to people that sent her into D.C. to work on their behalf that you’re going to die,” Crockett said Monday as the crowd erupted in cheers. “I think we all know that, but the reality is that you’ve decided that you want to be a gravedigger, and I don’t think that is who they elected you to be. They elected you to actually breathe life into it.” Crockett did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but an Ernst spokesperson dismissed Crockett’s criticism as “fearmongering.” “While Democrats fearmonger against strengthening the integrity of Medicaid, Sen. Ernst is focused on improving the lives of all Iowans. There’s only two certainties in life: death and taxes, and she’s working to ease the burden of both by fighting to keep more of Iowans’ hard-earned tax dollars in their own pockets and ensuring their benefits are protected from waste, fraud and abuse,” an Ernst spokesperson said. Crockett is considering a run to lead the House Oversight Committee, which is responsible for holding President Donald Trump accountable as leader of the executive branch. Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Crockett of “threatening lives” and said she should apologize for her rhetoric against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for saying, “All I want to see happen on my birthday is for Elon to be taken down.” Crockett would clarify that her comments were intended as “nonviolent” resistance. Crockett was also criticized this year for calling Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, who is in a wheelchair, “Governor Hot Wheels.” She walked back the comments after her remarks went viral, calling the outrage a “distraction.” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., challenged the Texas congresswoman to a fight in January after Crockett said, “child, listen” during a House Oversight Committee hearing. And Crockett dominated headlines last year when her campaign trademarked the phrase “bleach blonde, bad built, butch body,” after a verbal dispute with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., during a chaotic House hearing.
Trump criticizes Rand Paul over tax bill opposition: ‘Votes no on everything’
President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for opposing his “big, beautiful bill.” “Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming. He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything, he thinks it’s good politics, but it’s not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. The president added, “Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!” Paul is among a group of at least four Republican senators who have expressed apprehension over Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” due to the budget package’s projected increase in the national debt. STILL A NO: RAND PAUL SAYS $5T DEBT INCREASE IN ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ A DEAL-BREAKER The White House has framed the bill as a solution to four years of failures under former President Joe Biden. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida, and Mike Lee of Utah, three other Republicans in the upper chamber, have also shared concerns about the bill’s fiscal implications. Paul told Breitbart News on Monday that while he believes the left is “adrift,” most Republicans are shying away from intra-party debates on certain issues, similarly to how Democrats acted after former President Barack Obama’s re-election win. Paul reportedly said he supports “a lot” of Trump’s budget package but disagrees with “the additional $5 trillion in debt” the senator claims is attached to the bill. “That’s a hard place for me as I support much of what’s in the bill, tax cuts, spending cuts, plus more spending cuts if we can get them. But I can’t reconcile myself to adding $5 trillion in debt, raising the debt ceiling,” Paul said. The senator told Breitbart the debt is going to be $2.2 trillion this year and Republicans have largely continued Biden-era spending levels. “They’re anticipating $5 trillion in two years, and that means next year’s deficit that some people are saying it’s going to grow to over $3 trillion a year again,” Paul said. The senator separately expressed to the Associated Press that he told Trump this would be the first time in recent history that Republicans would “own” the debt ceiling if an increase of the nation’s debt limit was included in the GOP’s sweeping tax and spending package. Paul reportedly added in the Breitbart interview that his opposition to portions of the “big, beautiful bill” are meant to preserve the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s progress down the road. RAND PAUL SAYS HE WOULD SUPPORT ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ IF DEBT CEILING HIKE REMOVED “My fear is that when this bill passes that the ramifications a year out, two years out, will be, ‘My goodness, what happened to DOGE? What happened to the spending cuts? Why is the deficit so big still?’” he said. “So I am working very hard to make sure there is still at least a part of the party — and it doesn’t have to be anti-Donald Trump because I’m for him in so many ways — but it also means people still have to stand up and present their own ideas of what they’re for.” “I do support President Trump and I support most of the bill,” Rand also wrote on X, explaining his position. “I’m his biggest defender on foreign policy. But at the same time I want conservative government so I have to fight for what I believe in.” Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, met at the White House at a critical moment Monday as senators returned to begin negotiations over the president’s big tax breaks and spending cuts package. Thune said that GOP senators are “on track” to have the package approved by their July 4 deadline. But Thune also acknowledged the long road ahead as senators grind through private talks over changes to put their own stamp on the House-passed bill. Thune told the Senate floor on Monday that Republicans’ priority is “extending tax relief for hardworking Americans and strengthening our border, energy, and national security.” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., meanwhile, says Trump told him in a call he “wants to make sure” the Senate doesn’t cut Medicaid benefits, according to the AP. The Missouri Republican has been working to strip steep healthcare cuts from the House bill, beyond work requirements for some aid recipients. Hawley said Trump told him the senators could instead raise revenue by closing the so-called carried interest tax loophole used by wealthy filers. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
‘Love breaking the rules’: Red state dean ousted after admitting on hidden cam she was secretly pushing DEI
FIRST ON FOX: Newly released undercover video shows a university administrator in North Carolina boasting about DEI efforts still taking place at the school despite state and federal efforts to roll back the policies, prompting the school to sever ties with that employee. “I mean we probably still do anyway… but you gotta keep it quiet,” UNC Asheville Dean of Students Megan Pugh tells an undercover journalist in a video released by Accuracy In Media and exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, after being praised for continuing to do “equity work” at the school. “Keep it on the down low?” the journalist responds, to which Pugh says, “Yeah.” “But, I love breaking rules,” Pugh then says. ‘BUREAUCRATIC AND WASTEFUL’: DOGE SNIFFS OUT EYE-POPPING SPENDING ON BIDEN DEI EFFORTS IN KEY AGENCY Pugh’s comments come a year after the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors voted to essentially ban DEI and focus on “institutional neutrality,” Carolina Journal reported. The Accuracy in Media video captures Pugh saying “M’hm” when asked if “breaking rules” is “why y’all kind of spread it out and stuff?” “Well, yes, and no,” Pugh clarifies. “Part of it is that, part of it is just because we don’t have a dedicated office for it anymore, it’s easier to maintain.” Pugh continues, “Until more or less they get mad at us, but they haven’t done it yet.” When asked if the school was “supportive” of the ways DEI is still being implemented, Pugh says, “M’hm” and answers in the affirmative. The undercover investigator asks Pugh about “implicit bias training” and Pugh explains that they haven’t taught that since the “spring” because the school administrators have been specifically opposed to that in a way that “I don’t enjoy.” RED STATE TREASURER REVEALS WHY STATE FINANCIAL OFFICERS HAVE ‘OBLIGATION’ TO COMBAT ESG, DEI Despite that, Pugh explains her openness and “intention” to implement that sort of training under a “broader banner.” “Just maybe being creative,” the undercover investigator says. “Yeah, exactly,” Pugh, whose profile on the school website uses the pronouns “she/her,” responds. In response to a Fox News Digital inquiry about the video, a UNC Asheville spokesperson said the school is “aware of a video in which an employee makes comments implying that the University does not comply with UNC System policies or legal requirements and supports employees disregarding such obligations.” “These remarks do not represent the practices of UNC Asheville. The University remains firmly committed to upholding all UNC System policies as well as federal and state laws, both in principle and in practice.” The university added that after a “prompt review of the matter” the “individual is no longer employed by the university.” “The University will undertake a comprehensive review to reinforce expectations and ensure all employees are aligned with applicable laws and policies.” UNIVERSITY DOCTOR RESIGNS AFTER UNEARTHED AUDIO EXPOSES HIM BOASTING ABOUT SKIRTING ANTI-DEI LAWS GOP Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, who represents North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, expressed concern about the video in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The UNC System has made a good faith effort to get rid of DEI, but obviously the word has not reached the ears of UNC Asheville’s administration,” Foxx said. “Dean Pugh is a picture-perfect example of how entrenched this caustic ideology really is within postsecondary education. It’s time to clean house at the university level and cast out personnel who believe they can act with blatant impunity.” In addition to North Carolina making moves to roll back DEI, which have seemingly been unsuccessful, the Trump administration has made efforts to roll back DEI on the federal level and tell universities that accept federal funding that they must stop promoting the agenda. “It’s abundantly clear that the Marxist principles associated with DEI are fully embedded into this university,” Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette told Fox News Digital. “Removing one employee is merely the first step toward reform.” “Resolving the institutionalized radicalism at UNC-Asheville will require new leadership at the university level and bold reform from the Board of Governors,” he continued. Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told Fox News Digital earlier this year that companies and organizations are working hard to rebrand DEI policies by giving them new names. “It is the exact same toxic nonsense under a new wrapper, and they’re just hoping to extend the grift because a lot of these people, I would say most of the people working in DEI, are useless,” Hild said.
HHS ends Biden-era COVID-19 testing program that bled taxpayers years after pandemic
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Health and Human Services announced it is shuttering a nationwide program that offered free COVID-19 tests to community organizations, citing it bled taxpayer funds despite the pandemic’s end. “With COVID-19 behaving more like the seasonal flu — rising and falling through the year — and tests widely available at retail stores nationwide, continued federal distribution is a significant waste of taxpayers’ dollars,” HHS told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “The COVID-19 pandemic is over and HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address the chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.” The government had spent more than $1 billion on the program since it was established in 2021 under the Biden administration, Fox News Digital learned. The program deployed government-purchased COVID-19 tests to community partners across the country to deliver tests at no cost to the patient. HHS cited that testing for COVID-19 now mimics seasonal flu cases, with retail shops across the country stocking their shelves with COVID tests, meaning “continued federal distribution is a significant waste of taxpayers’ dollars.” DOCTORS WARN OF ‘TRIFECTA’ OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES PLAGUING AMERICANS AFTER MAHA REPORT Americans who ordered tests through community partnership by 5 p.m. May 30 will still receive their order, according to HHS. HHS is in the midst of purchasing one million newer tests that are able to differentiate between the COVID-19 virus versus the flu, which will be deployed if there are any shortfalls or emergencies with the COVID testing, Fox Digital learned. State or local health departments, as well as community organizations that have a stockpile of tests and various local health centers may still provide free tests to Americans as the program shutters, according to HHS. The COVID-19 pandemic, which tore across the country in 2020, officially ended years ago. Then-President Joe Biden declared the pandemic was “over” back in 2022, while the World Health Organization determined the pandemic officially ended by 2023. The announcement comes as the Trump administration’s top health department re-focuses its direction to addressing the nation’s spiraling chronic health issues, which come in the form of health issues such as rampant obesity, spikes in autism diagnoses and teenage depression. RFK JR’S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED MAHA REPORT PAINTS DISMAL STATE OF CHILD HEALTH, NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS President Donald Trump‘s Make America Healthy Again Commission, which is chaired by HHS chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr, released its anticipated report assessing chronic diseases that have gripped U.S. youth in recent years May 22. The report’s findings include teenage depression nearly doubling from 2009 to 2019, more than one-in-five children over the age of six being considered obese, one-in-31 children diagnosed with autism by age 8 and childhood cancer spiking by 40% since 1975. TRUMP AND A HEALTHIER AMERICA WELCOMED BY DOCTORS: ‘NEW GOLDEN AGE’ “Over 40% of the roughly 73 million children (aged 0-17) in the United States have at least one chronic health condition, according to the CDC, such as asthma, allergies, obesity, autoimmune diseases, or behavioral disorders,” the report stated. “Although estimates vary depending on the conditions included, all studies show an alarming increase over time.” Chronic diseases have a chilling effect on national security, commission members said in a Thursday morning phone call with the media. Roughly 75% of America’s youth aged 17–24 do not qualify to serve in the military due to obesity, asthma, allergies, autoimmune diseases or behavioral disorders, they said. “We now have the most obese, depressed, disabled, medicated population in the history of the world, and we cannot keep going down the same road,” Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary said in the phone call with the media. “So this is an amazing day. I hope this marks the grand pivot from a system that is entirely reactionary to a system that will now be proactive.” The MAHA report will be followed by a policy recommendation report for the federal government later this summer.
Election investigation uncovers alleged noncitizen voter registration, double voters in multiple states
FIRST ON FOX: Ohio’s secretary of state referred dozens of registered noncitizens and double voters for potential prosecution in eight states and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The official, Frank LaRose, says his office uncovered evidence of 30 non-U.S. citizens who were registered to vote in Ohio. Likewise, the investigation uncovered eleven individuals from Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, and South Carolina who appeared to have voted in multiple jurisdictions. “We must send a clear message that election fraud won’t be tolerated,” LaRose said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “The only way to maintain Ohio’s high standard of election integrity is to enforce the law whenever it’s broken.” Ohio’s Election Integrity Unit conducted the investigation by reviewing Ohio’s voter registry and comparing it with federal and state data. LaRose sent letters to the attorneys general of all states involved in the investigation and referred the individuals for prosecution. FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS NC TO CERTIFY SUPREME COURT ELECTION RESULTS WITH DEMOCRAT LEADING “Critics of Ohio’s election integrity efforts may try to minimize the significance of these referrals, as though some small amount of election crime is acceptable,” LaRose wrote to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. “Even one illegal vote can spoil the outcome of an election for the citizenry at large, whether it be a school levy, majority control of a legislative chamber, or even a statewide election contest.” “Just this last election, a single vote in Licking County decided the outcome of a local levy after the final certified count,” LaRose noted. Yost’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. FEDERAL JUDGE KICKS BATTLE OVER NC SUPREME COURT ELECTION BACK TO STATE COURT Ohio’s move comes just days after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department sued the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Board of Elections last week for allegedly failing to maintain an accurate voter list. The Trump administration claims the Tar Heel State is in violation of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that did not make clear whether an applicant must provide a driver’s license number, or if the applicant does not have a driver’s license, the last four digits of the applicant’s social security number. If an applicant has neither, the law says the state must assign a special identifying number. The lawsuit claims that a “significant number” of North Carolina voters who did not fill out voter registration forms in compliance with HAVA were “nonetheless registered by their election officials.” A previous edition of the state elections board, which had a Democratic majority, acknowledged the problem in late 2023 after a voter complained. The board updated the voter registration form but declined to contact people who had registered to vote since 2004 in time for the 2024 elections so they could fill in the missing numbers. Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
AK lawmakers claim ‘victory’ as feds begin reversal of ‘illegal’ Biden rule restricting ANWR oil and gas
Alaska’s congressional delegation praised President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for starting the process of rescinding a Biden-era rule that restricted oil and gas exploration in the resource-rich Section 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Sen. Dan Sullivan said Burgum announced the move at a town hall in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) at the northern tip of the vast state, where local natives applauded because they “understand better than anyone” why responsible oil production is key to their communities’ livelihood. Sullivan called the Biden-era rule “illegal” and said it turned vast swaths of an area originally intended for domestic energy production into “de facto wilderness.” “Responsible resource development has transformed the lives of the Iñupiat people, supporting the construction of clinics, gymnasiums, water infrastructure—basic amenities most Americans take for granted,” Sullivan said. ALASKA SENATOR LITERALLY TEARS UP BIDEN’S ENERGY ORDERS, BOOSTS WH EFFORTS TO LEVERAGE ARCTIC LNG ASIA TRADE Burgum said his agency determined the 2024 rule exceeded the federal government’s bounds under a 1976 petroleum reserve law and also creates “unnecessary barriers to responsible energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.” “Congress was clear: the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska was set aside to support America’s energy security through responsible development,” he said, adding the prior rule “prioritized obstruction over production.” Rep. Nick Begich III called the decision a “major victory” and said that he will work with Trump to ensure responsible resource development. ALASKA OUTRAGED AT FEDERAL OIL LEASE SALE SETUP AS A ‘FITTING FINALE’ FOR FOSSIL FUEL-AVERSE BIDEN PRESIDENCY “This is a victory not only for those who support responsible development, but also those who believe in the rule of law,” added Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “The 2024 management rule clearly violated the law, establishing restrictions and a presumption against development as part of the last administration’s effort to turn the North Slope into one giant tract of federal wilderness,” she continued. “Repealing the rule will not weaken our world-class environmental standards, but it will enable Alaska to produce more energy as Congress intended. The result will be good jobs for Alaskans, more affordable energy for America, and significant new revenues for government.” In January, Gov. Mike Dunleavy told Fox News Digital that a final, congressionally-mandated sale of land for development in ANWR was set up to fail – characterizing it as a parting shot by the last administration toward the Last Frontier. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “These leases should be executed in good faith along the established historical processes. And obviously, the Biden administration in the past four years has just been brutal on Alaska,” he said at the time, envisioning that the Trump administration would do just as Burgum announced this week. At the time, Murkowski also said that a now-former Interior official “openly admitted” during a working group that the process with which the restrictions were set upon ANWR was done in a way to intentionally circumvent the Congressional Review Act. That law was what allowed other Senate Republicans to undo several Biden-era EPA actions last month with a simple floor vote.
SCOOP: Liberal city mayor hit with ethics complaint over alleged lavish gifts
FIRST ON FOX: A nonpartisan government watchdog filed an ethics complaint against Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday morning. The complaint by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) requests the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability investigate Bowser for allegedly accepting illegal travel and hospitality gifts on high-profile trips to Doha, Qatar, for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, and trips to Dubai, Las Vegas, Miami and Mar-a-Lago. “The basic standard for elected officials is honest transparency, which means following all disclosure laws and willingly answering the public’s questions. The mayor’s unwillingness to provide basic information about numerous high-profile trips is unacceptable,” Kendra Arnold, executive director of FACT, shared first with Fox News Digital. FACT cited WJLA’s investigation into missing records from Bowser’s prominent trips, in which they discovered Qatar paid Bowser and four staff members $61,930 to fly to the Middle East in 2023. SCHUMER MOVES TO BLOCK TRUMP DOJ NOMINEES AS HE SEEKS ANSWERS ON QATARI JET TO DEFENSE DEPARTMENT “It is not simply the Qatar trip, but a troubling pattern from Mar-A-Lago to Doha to Augusta National – the District has no record of who paid for these trips or what public purpose they served, if there was one at all,” Arnold said. “The ethics rules exist to protect against corruption, and when they are ignored, the public’s trust erodes. I urge the Board to investigate and enforce the law without delay.” SANCTUARY CITY MAYORS TO TESTIFY AT HOUSE OVERSIGHT AFTER AG BONDI CUTS THEM OFF FROM FEDERAL FUNDS While the Middle East trip should have been disclosed in order to be accepted as a legal donation to the District of Columbia, FACT said in the complaint that there is no record of who paid for the trip. “When questioned by the press, initially the mayor’s office said the trip was paid for by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber said that was not true. Then, the mayor’s office said the trip was paid for by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. That was also false,” FACT claimed. Then, in February 2025, the mayor’s office requested the trip’s expense breakdown, labeled it an “in-kind donation” and sought a “retroactive donation agreement,” despite the two years that passed, according to FACT. “Yet, unbelievably, it wasn’t until a reporter’s Freedom of Information Act request in March 2025 that this information was publicly revealed—more specifically that Qatar paid more than $61,930 for the trip the mayor’s office was now attempting to retroactively describe as an ‘in-kind donation.’ As of May 2025, the District still does not have a record of Qatar paying for Bowser’s 2023 trip,” according to the complaint. Again, citing WJLA’s investigative reporting, FACT said the District of Columbia has no expense records for several more trips, including to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, and trips to Las Vegas, Miami and Mar-a-Lago. FACT accused Bowser of violating a “fundamental ethics principle” that prevents corruption and discourages elected officials from accepting bribes and donations. Under Washington, D.C., law, government officials cannot accept certain gifts, including trips, lodging and transportation. The law allows donations to the district itself if the government entity “uses the gift or donation to carry out its authorized functions or duties.” In that case, detailed and accurate records must be available for “audit and public inspection.” Those donations to the district must be “recorded and approved before the donation is used.” “Clearly Mayor Bowser’s trip to Qatar qualifies as a gift, and one that elected officials are personally prohibited from accepting. Additionally, this gift would not qualify as a donation made to the District because the donation was not recorded and approved before the donation was used. The District still does not even have a record of it,” FACT concluded in the complaint.
Trump DOJ investigating Biden-era pardons amid concerns over state of mind
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is reviewing the list of people that were granted pardons by former President Joe Biden, amid new concerns about his use of an AutoPen to automatically sign documents, as well as concerns about his state of mind in his final months in office. Fox News was told Tuesday that Justice Department Pardon Attorney Ed Martin is reviewing a list of Biden-era pardons granted by the president during his final weeks in office. It is unclear what individual pardons are being reviewed by Martin’s office, though Reuters reported this week that the office is planning to look at the preemptive pardons that Biden granted to his son, Hunter Biden, as well as more than 35 death row inmates whose sentences were changed to life in prison during Biden’s final days in office. DOJ officials did not respond to Fox News’s requests for comments on the email or the exact nature of the review BIDEN CLEMENCY ANNOUNCEMENT GETS MIXED REVIEWS ON CAPITOL HILL: ‘WHERE’S THE BAR?’ Former President Joe Biden used his final weeks as commander-in-chief to grant clemency and pardon more than 1,500 individuals, in what the White House described at the time as the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president. But critics took umbrage at the long list of names, noting that it included persons convicted of defrauding U.S. taxpayers of tens of millions of dollars. Many took aim at his use of preemptive pardons to family members and others in Biden’s inner circle. This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.
FLASHBACK: US lawmakers, officials warned about terrorist attacks from foreign nationals long before Boulder
Lawmakers and intelligence experts have been sounding the alarm about potential terrorism threats stemming from those in the U.S. illegally long before Sunday’s terrorist attack injured eight people in Boulder, Colorado. Fox News first reported that the suspect involved in the attack originally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration and had overstayed his visa. But various officials have long cautioned about the risk of terrorism due to lax border security. For example, then-chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., raised concerns in August 2024 after a report from House Judiciary Committee Republicans found that the Biden administration released nearly 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. SHOOTING AT CAPITAL JEWISH MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS RISING WAVE OF ANTI-JEWISH HATE CRIMES “Since the Biden-Harris Administration’s failed open border policies have welcomed potential terrorists into our nation, we’re working to combat these threats and safeguard Americans in their own backyards,” Turner and Green said in a joint statement in August 2024 in response to the report. Meanwhile, the FBI has previously issued similar concerns about foreign terrorists entering the U.S. and conducting attacks against American citizens. “I have warned for some time now about the threat that foreign terrorists may seek to exploit our southwest border or some other port of entry to advance a plot against Americans,” former FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Judiciary Committee in April 2024. “Just last month, for instance, the Bureau and our joint terrorism task forces worked with ICE in multiple cities across the country as several individuals with suspected international terrorist ties were arrested using ICE’s immigration authorities.” Wray said in 2024 that those arrests involved hundreds of FBI employees to properly identify dangerous individuals. But the use of false documents from those crossing the border amplifies concerns related terrorism threats, and makes it even more challenging for FBI employees to track down, Wray said. BIDEN DHS REVEALS 50 MIGRANTS STILL AT LARGE AS ISIS-AFFILIATED SMUGGLING NETWORK BRINGS HUNDREDS TO US “As concerning as the known or suspected terrorists encountered at the border are, perhaps even more concerning are those we do not yet know about because they provided fake documents or because we didn’t have information connecting them to terrorism at the time they arrived in the United States,” Wray said. Meanwhile, Democrats have claimed that U.S. citizens are primarily responsible for conducting terrorist activity in the U.S. For example, House Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., pointed to a study from the Cato Institute that found that no people were murdered by a foreign-born terrorist who entered the U.S. illegally between 1975 and 2022. “Most terrorist activity is conducted by U.S. citizens,” Correa said in September 2024. “Again, zero Americans have been injured or killed by terrorist attacks perpetrated by undocumented immigrants who entered through the southwest border. However, DHS and the FBI regularly tell us that one of the greatest terrorist threats to our homeland is domestic terrorism.” Law enforcement officials said that Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, yelled “Free Palestine” and used a makeshift flamethrower to attack those attending an event in Boulder, Colorado, organized by “Run for Their Lives,” a grassroots group that holds events urging the release of Israeli hostages. Soliman was in the U.S. illegally after his visa expired, three Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sources told Fox News. Soliman entered the U.S. in 2022 on a nonimmigrant visa, and eventually obtained work authorization — but that expired in March. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said FBI officials are coordinating with local law enforcement to investigate the attack. “We are investigating this incident as an act of terror, and targeted violence,” Bongino said in a post on X on Sunday. COLORADO TERROR ATTACK TOOK PLACE AT ‘RUN FOR THEIR LIVES’ EVENT CALLING FOR RELEASE OF ALL HOSTAGES IN GAZA Meanwhile, the Trump administration has chastised the Biden administration for its immigration policies that facilitated Soliman’s entry to the U.S. “A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on X. “He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed.” Meanwhile, Green described the attack as a “wake-up call” regarding growing terror threats jeopardizing safety in the U.S. “This is another wake-up call to the heightened terror threat facing the United States — and to the fact that the enemies of freedom are persistent,” Green said in a statement Sunday. “I am requesting a briefing from DHS for House Homeland Security Committee members as soon as department officials are available to provide one.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.