House Republicans move to change rules for vacating speakership 1 year after McCarthy’s ousting
Republicans are expected to change House rules and make it more difficult to oust a speaker of the House, just one year after a single GOP lawmaker initiated the first-ever removal of a member from the position. Former Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the House in January 2023 but was not elected on the first ballot. It took lawmakers four days and 15 votes to finally find consensus and back McCarthy for the position, but the infighting did not stop there. House rules currently allow for one lawmaker to have the ability to introduce a motion to vacate the speakership and initiate a vote on the floor. So, when former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a motion to vacate McCarthy from the top House post, a vote was initiated, and enough support resulted in his ousting. However, House Republicans are seeking to change this rule and make it harder to vacate the chamber’s top post in the future. WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RACE FOR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE McCarthy’s ousting led to the chamber being without an official speaker for two months in 2023, raising the question whether one lawmaker alone should be given the ability to introduce such a motion. Under the new proposed House rules package released on Wednesday, Republicans are seeking to alter the rules to require that a lawmaker obtain eight co-sponsors in order to introduce a motion to vacate the speakership. HEALTHY LIVING, PARTY UNITY, AND ‘TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES:’ CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS’ NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS According to the rule, a member and their co-sponsors must be in the “majority party,” meaning that only Republicans, who currently have the majority, hold the power to introduce a vacate motion for the next two years. The rule was blasted by Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who said that the proposed changes would “shield the Speaker from accountability to the entire chamber.” “The American people did not vote for whatever the hell this is — and you better believe that Democrats will not let Republicans turn the House of Representatives into a rubber stamp for their extremist policies,” McGovern said, according to Axios. The proposed rules package is set to be voted on once a speaker is elected and the 119th Congress is gaveled in. The first speaker vote is set to take place this Friday. Current House Speaker Mike Johnson is seeking re-election for the position. There is currently one GOP member, Rep. Thomas Massie, who said that he would not vote for Johnson. However, the speaker recently received a roaring endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.
Derrick Van Orden targets Chip Roy over speakership vote: ‘Chip is fighting to keep his brand marketable’
As House Speaker Mike Johnson aims to retain his role, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., targeted fellow Republican Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tx., who has indicated that he is “undecided” on whether he’ll vote for Johnson. President-elect Donald Trump endorsed Johnson for the job this week, but Roy noted during an appearance on Fox Business that he does not think the speaker will have the votes needed to win during the upcoming Friday vote. Van Orden asserted in a post on X that Trump “received a mandate from the American people in November,” while Roy “did not.” “It is the America First Agenda, not the Chip Roy First Agenda. It is Make America Great Again, not make Chip Roy Great. President Trump is fighting for America, Chip is fighting to keep his brand marketable,” Van Orden claimed. WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RACE FOR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE “Some people apparently need to understand that in order to be a Leader, you have to learn how to follow first. I would love to work with Chip, but he needs to understand he can be part of the Team, but there is no way in hell he is the Captain. The Captain will be moving back into the White House shortly and his 1st Lieutenant is @SpeakerJohnson,” Van Orden declared in the post. Fox News Digital reached out to a Roy spokesperson to request a comment from the congressman. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has declared that he will not vote for Johnson to remain speaker. Roy has noted that he is “undecided” on Johnson, but is demanding change. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO FAILING TO ELECT A HOUSE SPEAKER QUICKLY “@RepThomasMassie will not be voting for Hakeem Jefferies, as opposed to GOP who voted with Dems (more Dems than GOP each time) to spend some $3 trillion & give $61bb to Ukraine with no border security,” Roy said in a post on X. “The reason I am still undecided on the Speaker vote (as opposed to hard no) is it’s not ALL the fault of @SpeakerJohnson & my desire is to give him grace & @realDonaldTrump room to deliver on a strong agenda for which we were elected. But something MUST change,” he noted. Johnson’s path to victory is precarious, and he could be derailed if another Republican joins Massie in staunchly opposing Johnson’s bid to retain the speakership. REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ DEMANDS ‘ASSURANCES’ SPEAKER JOHNSON ‘WON’T SELL US OUT TO THE SWAMP’ Fox News Senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has explained, “The winning candidate must secure an outright majority of all Members voting for a candidate by name.” Pergram described a possible scenario in which just two Republicans could prevent Johnson from reaching the threshold necessary to win. “So let’s say there are 434 members and all vote for someone by name. The magic number is 218. If Johnson gets the votes of all 219 Republicans, he wins. If Johnson gets 218 votes, he also wins. But 217? No dice,” Pergram noted.
What to know about race for speaker of the House
The House of Representatives will soon vote for a speaker of the House to lead the chamber for the next two years under the incoming Republican administration. The previous race for the top House post was plagued by infighting among the GOP, who have been unable to easily find consensus on a speaker candidate in recent years. Former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted as speaker by his Republican colleagues in October 2023, and it took lawmakers several weeks to finally elect their next leader: Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La. Johnson is running to retain his position in the next Congress but has not yet received support from all of his Republican colleagues. The 2025 vote carries particularly intense pressure as the House must agree on and elect a speaker in order to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory just days later. The House is scheduled to vote on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at noon, as dictated by the Constitution. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO FAILING TO ELECT A HOUSE SPEAKER QUICKLY A speaker must be elected before the 119th Congress can be sworn in. Republicans have the majority in the House for the 119th Congress, so they are in charge of choosing a speaker. Current House Speaker Mike Johnson is running again as head of the chamber. At this point, no other candidates have thrown their hat into the ring, but in past years, alternatives have been floated during the day of the vote. Republicans currently hold a slim, four-seat majority in the chamber with 219 seats compared to the Democrats’ 215. The GOP majority is to dwindle even further when two of Trump’s Cabinet picks, Reps. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., assume their roles pending Senate confirmation, which is expected to take place several weeks after the speaker vote. A candidate for speaker must receive an outright majority to win. Given the number of seats held by the GOP, a Republican candidate would need 218 votes if all 434 members vote. GOP LAWMAKER ‘FULLY SUPPORTS’ SPEAKER JOHNSON: ‘WE DON’T NEED A PROTRACTED SPEAKERS RACE’ Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., recently told reporters he won’t vote for Johnson for speaker. Another GOP member suggested that he has not yet committed to voting for Johnson: “Right now, I think that Mike has done an admirable job under tough conditions, but I’m going to keep my options open. I want to have a conversation with Mike,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria.” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., recently said Democrats won’t bail out Johnson if he does not receive enough GOP votes. Johnson introduced a government funding bill in early December, but the first proposal failed before it even reached the House floor after opposition from Republican lawmakers and outside Trump allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. A second government funding bill was brought to the House floor, but bipartisan lawmakers voted against the legislation. Johnson introduced a third package, but many of his GOP colleagues didn’t support it. While 34 Republicans voted against Johnson’s bill, it passed in the House with unanimous Democrat support. With more than two dozen Republicans breaking with Johnson on the government funding fight, he could face potential pushback against his speaker re-election efforts. Anywhere from four to 10 Republicans could oppose Johnson in the speaker’s race, Fox News’ Chad Pergram previously reported. The vote for speaker will take place on Friday, just three days before Congress is scheduled to certify the results of the Electoral College for Trump. The House cannot proceed with any official business, such as counting the presidential election votes for Trump, until a speaker is elected and the next Congress is sworn in. In January 2023, it took House Republicans four days and 15 ballots to elect a speaker. Trump announced he would back Johnson for the position, a pivotal endorsement that could help determine the Louisiana Republican’s chances come Friday’s vote. “The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
The Speaker’s Lobby: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to electing a House Speaker
The Constitution dictates that the 119th Congress begins at noon et on Friday. And the first order of business in the House is to elect the Constitutional officer for the legislative branch of government: Speaker of the House. Only the House votes for Speaker. And the House can’t do anything – I’ll repeat that, anything – until it chooses a Speaker. It can’t swear-in Members until the House taps a Speaker and he or she is sworn-in. The Speaker then swears-in the rest of the body, en masse. Then the House must adopt a rules package to govern daily operations. Only then can the House go about debating bills, voting and constructing committees for hearings. HEALTHY LIVING, PARTY UNITY, ‘SMELLING THE ROSES’: CAPITOL HILL’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS If the House fails to elect a Speaker on the first ballot, it must proceed to a second ballot. And on and on. Consider for a moment that the House had never even taken a second vote for Speaker in a century before the donnybrook two years ago. It took four ballots to re-elect late House Speaker Frederick Gillett, R-Mass., in 1923. What is past is prologue for the House. Consider how the House consumed 15 rounds spread out over five days before electing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in January, 2023. The Speakership remained vacant – and thus, the House frozen – for 22 days after Republicans dumped McCarthy nine months later. House Republicans then tapped House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., for Speaker. Scalise withdrew his name before there was even a floor vote. House GOPers then tapped Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to become Speaker. But Jordan lost three consecutive votes for Speaker on the House floor, bleeding support on each ballot. House Republicans then anointed House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., for Speaker. Emmer withdrew hours later. House Republicans finally nominated House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for the job. The Louisiana Republican won on the floor. But some conservatives have been disappointed in Johnson ever since. They’ve flagged how he handled multiple, interim spending bills from last November on. They didn’t like that he allowed a bill on the floor to aid Ukraine. They opposed him doing yet another interim spending bill in September. They really didn’t like how he worked with Democrats on major, must-do pieces of legislation. And then there was the misstep of the staggering, 1,500-page interim spending package which Mr. Trump and Elon Musk pulverized from afar in December. Johnson then did President-elect Trump’s bidding with another spending package – which included a debt ceiling increase. But 38 House Republicans bolted on that bill. So Johnson’s tenure has been bumpy. And that’s why he’s on the hook come Friday afternoon during the vote for Speaker. Everyone on Capitol Hill is on tenterhooks when it comes to wrapping this up expeditiously. Here’s what will happen Friday at noon: REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN CALLS ON INCOMING ADMINISTRATION TO TARGET ‘THE AXIS OF AGGRESSORS’ Acting House Clerk Kevin McCumber will preside until the House elects a Speaker. The first order of business is a “call of the House.” That’s where the House establishes how many of its Members-elect are there, simply voting “present.” The House should clock in at 434 members: 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. There should be one vacancy. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned in the fall – and said he did not “intend” to serve in the new Congress, despite having won reelection. Watch to see if there are absences in that call of the House. Fox is told that Democrats who have struggled with health issues of late – including Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., Dwight Evans, D-Penn., and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will likely be there. But the Speaker’s election is about the math. How many lawmakers report to the House chamber will dictate margins in the Speaker’s vote. Then it’s on to nominating speeches. Incoming House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., will nominate Johnson for Speaker. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., will nominate House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Anyone else can then place someone’s name in nomination. Then, the House calls the roll of Members-elect alphabetically. Each Member rises and verbally responds, calling out their choice by name. Reps. Alma Adams, D-N.C., Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., and the aforementioned Aguilar are the first names out of the block. But lawmakers can vote for anyone they want. That includes persons who aren’t House Members. That’s why there have been votes cast over the years for the late Gen. Colin Powell, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. This is what Johnson – or anyone else must do – to win the Speakership: The winning candidate must secure an outright majority of all Members voting for a candidate by name. So let’s say there are 434 members and all vote for someone by name. The magic number is 218. If Johnson gets the votes of all 219 Republicans, he wins. If Johnson gets 218 votes, he also wins. But 217? No dice. Under those circumstances Johnson would have prospectively outpolled Jeffries, 217-215 – with two votes going to other candidates. But the “most votes” doesn’t win. 217 is not an outright majority of House Members voting for someone by name. The House must take ANOTHER ballot to elect a Speaker. Fox is told there are anywhere from 12 to 17 Republicans who could vote for someone besides Johnson. And some Republicans are being cagey about their votes. BERNIE SANDERS PLANS TO SPEARHEAD LEGISLATION ON KEY TRUMP PROPOSAL Here’s something to watch: Members who vote “present.” Rather than voting for someone besides Johnson, some Republicans may protest by simply voting “present.” A “present” vote does not count against Johnson. So let’s do some hypothetical math here: Let’s say 434 Members cast ballots. Jeffries secures support from all 215 Democrats. Three Republicans vote “present.” In other words, not voting for any candidate by
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts issues warning on ‘judicial independence’ weeks before Trump inauguration
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a warning on Tuesday that the United States must maintain “judicial independence” just weeks away from President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Roberts explained his concerns in his annual report on the federal judiciary. “It is not in the nature of judicial work to make everyone happy. Most cases have a winner and a loser. Every Administration suffers defeats in the court system—sometimes in cases with major ramifications for executive or legislative power or other consequential topics,” Robert wrote in the 15-page report. “Nevertheless, for the past several decades, the decisions of the courts, popular or not, have been followed, and the Nation has avoided the standoffs that plagued the 1950s and 1960s.” “Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings,” Roberts said, without naming Trump, President Biden or any specific lawmaker. “These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected. Judicial independence is worth preserving. As my late colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, an independent judiciary is ‘essential to the rule of law in any land,’ yet it ‘is vulnerable to assault; it can be shattered if the society law exists to serve does not take care to assure its preservation.’” “I urge all Americans to appreciate this inheritance from our founding generation and cherish its endurance,” Roberts said. DEMOCRATS LAUNCHED ‘CALCULATED EFFORT’ TO UNDERMINE SCOTUS SINCE DOBBS, CBS REPORTER SAYS Roberts also quoted Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, who remarked that the three branches of government “must work in successful cooperation” to “make possible the effective functioning of the department of government which is designed to safeguard with judicial impartiality and independence the interests of liberty.” “Our political system and economic strength depend on the rule of law,” Roberts wrote. A landmark Supreme Court immunity decision penned by Roberts, along with another high court decision halting efforts to disqualify Trump from the ballot, were championed as major victories on the Republican nominee’s road to winning the election. The immunity decision was criticized by Democrats like Biden, who later called for term limits and an enforceable ethics code following criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. A handful of Democrats and one Republican lawmaker urged Biden to ignore a decision by a Trump-appointed judge to revoke FDA approval for the abortion drug mifepristone last year. Biden declined to take executive action to bypass the ruling, and the Supreme Court later granted the White House a stay permitting the sale of the medication to continue. The high court’s conservative majority also ruled last year that Biden’s massive student loan debt forgiveness efforts constitute an illegal use of executive power. THE BIGGEST SUPREME COURT DECISIONS OF 2024: FROM PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY TO OVERTURNING THE CHEVRON DOCTRINE Roberts and Trump clashed in 2018 when the chief justice rebuked the president for denouncing a judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.” In 2020, Roberts criticized comments made by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York while the Supreme Court was considering a high-profile abortion case. Roberts introduced his letter Tuesday by recounting a story about King George III stripping colonial judges of lifetime appointments, an order that was “not well received.” Trump is now readying for a second term as president with an ambitious conservative agenda, elements of which are likely to be legally challenged and end up before the court whose conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump during his first term. In the annual report, the chief justice wrote generally that even if court decisions are unpopular or mark a defeat for a presidential administration, other branches of government must be willing to enforce them to ensure the rule of law. Roberts pointed to the Brown v. Board of Education decision that desegrated schools in 1954 as one that needed federal enforcement in the face of resistance from southern governors. He also said “attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed.” While public officials and others have the right to criticize rulings, they should also be aware that their statements can “prompt dangerous reactions by others,” Roberts wrote. Threats targeting federal judges have more than tripled over the last decade, according to U.S. Marshals Service statistics. State court judges in Wisconsin and Maryland were killed at their homes in 2022 and 2023, Roberts wrote. “Violence, intimidation, and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable,” he wrote. Roberts also pointed to disinformation about court rulings as a threat to judges’ independence, saying that social media can magnify distortions and even be exploited by “hostile foreign state actors” to exacerbate divisions. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Healthy living, party unity, and ‘time to smell the roses’: Congressional Republicans’ New Year’s resolutions
Most Americans look at the beginning of a new year as a fresh start, and an opportunity to set goals to better themselves over the next 12 months – and members of Congress are no exception. Like millions of people across the U.S., lawmakers are setting their own New Year’s resolutions, ranging from the professional to the very personal. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who is stepping down from the top spot on the committee after being term-limited, said his resolution was to use his new role as chairman emeritus “to be a strong voice on foreign policy and national security issues.” On a more individual level, McCaul told Fox News Digital he also set a New Year’s resolution for “daily exercise and spending my time on the things most important in life, like family. And taking time to smell the roses.” DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said her New Year’s resolution involved cleaner eating. “My New Year’s resolution is to not eat anything with seed oils. It’s going to be nearly impossible because they stick them in everything,” she said. Meanwhile, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, shared a broader goal for unity in 2025 involving his fellow House Republicans – after a 118th Congress marked by historic levels of discord and infighting. “I always said that the Republican conference is a big family,” Fallon said. “We may be dysfunctional at times, but we’re still a family, and my New Year’s resolution is that we can all sing from the same sheet music enough times to make a difference for the American people.” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., said, “My New Year’s resolution is to help Make America Healthy Again by steering our nutrition policy toward promoting healthy food choices, starting with changes to the food stamp (SNAP) program.” REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY On the Senate side, lawmakers shared resolutions to forward the GOP agenda. “With a new year, new Congress, and new President, I know we can get America back on track and usher in a new golden era. My 2025 resolutions are to help secure our southern border to make our families and communities safer; return to regular order to cut wasteful spending and ensure Congress is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars; and pass pro-family tax reform that grows opportunity and prosperity across our nation,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said, “My New Year’s resolution is to become less tolerant of climate alarmism and hasten the demise of the administrative state.” The Republican will chair the energy committee in the new Congress. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., revealed his resolution is to “confirm all of Trump’s nominees and secure our borders.”
6 top winners and losers who emerged in politics in 2024
Several “winners” and “losers” emerged in 2024 as the year comes to a close after Republicans took control of Congress in the November election and several prominent Democrats ended up on the losing side. WINNER – President-elect Donald Trump Pundits in the media largely wrote Trump off after he left office and argued his political career was over in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and House impeachments. That critique intensified after he found himself facing indictments in several different jurisdictions and battling with several prominent Republicans during the GOP primary. However, Trump weathered the political storm while surviving two assassination attempts and won back the White House in November in what many described as the greatest political comeback in American political history. TOP POLITICAL GAFFES OF 2024 Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20 for a term that will be bolstered by Republican control of the House and Senate for at least the next two years. LOSER – VP Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz President Biden made history this summer when he dropped out of the presidential race amid pressure from many within his own party and essentially handed the reins to his vice president despite calls to hold an open primary process. After several months of campaigning along with a spending blitz of $1 billion, Harris ultimately failed to make the case to voters that the Biden-Harris administration policies should be continued with four years of a Harris presidency. Harris lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College to Trump, and Republicans down the ballot secured enough seats to keep control of the House and retake control of the Senate. 2024’S MOST ANNOYING PEOPLE. LEFT AND RIGHT CAN AGREE ON AT LEAST 2 Harris was widely criticized for her decision to select Walz as her running mate, with many political experts making the case that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was the optimal choice. Walz had been labeled by many media outlets as a personable and popular governor who brought “Midwestern charm” to the ticket but also consistently brought negative attention to the campaign with a series of gaffes and controversial statements about his past military service. “Historically, vice presidents have little impact on a presidential candidate’s fate,” Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of the Daily Signal, told Fox News Digital last month. “But in the case of Tim Walz, it proved to be a disastrous decision that doomed Kamala Harris from the moment she made it. Not only was Walz ill-prepared for the national spotlight and media scrutiny, but Harris passed over several better options. Given how little Americans knew about Harris or her policy positions, they were right to question her judgment on this big decision.” WINNER – Elon Musk The Tesla and SpaceX CEO officially threw his support behind Trump shortly after the former president survived being shot during a failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. Musk quickly became a fixture on the campaign trail and spoke at a rally at the site of the assassination attempt. “As you can see, I am not just MAGA. I am Dark MAGA,” Musk joked at the rally in October, a nod to the Dark Brandon meme. He called the upcoming Nov. 5 election “the most important election of our lifetime.” Over the past few months, Musk has positioned himself as a key voice in the Trump administration and has been seen at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida several times – some outlets have reported that he is living on the property – and his influence has grown to the point that liberal pundits are accusing him of being the “co-president.” Musk, along with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, was appointed by Trump to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which has already made waves in Washington, D.C., with elected officials on both sides of the aisle supporting the agency’s stated goal of slashing government waste. LOSER – George Soros 2024: THE YEAR PRO-TRUMP CELEBRITIES BECAME MAINSTREAM The Soros money machine that has propped up progressive lawmakers and district attorneys across the country suffered significant losses in blue California on election night as voters overwhelmingly rejected progressives on the issue of crime. California voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of Prop 36 that rolled back key provisions of Proposition 47, which was advertised by Democrats in the state as progressive crime reforms that would make the state safer. When Proposition 47 passed in 2014, it downgraded most thefts from felonies to misdemeanors if the amount stolen was under $950, “unless the defendant had prior convictions of murder, rape, certain sex offenses, or certain gun crimes.” Progressives suffered another major loss in Los Angeles, where District Attorney George Gascón, who co-authored Prop 47 and was backed by Soros, was defeated by former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman as crime was seen as a top issue of the election cycle. In another loss for Soros-backed prosecutors in the Golden State, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was recalled, less than two years after taking office, after backlash for her alleged soft-on-crime approach. Oakland Democrat Mayor Sheng Thao, who faced heat from her constituents amid rising crime, was also ousted from office after her recall effort passed with 65% of the vote. In San Francisco, where crime has been a major concern with voters, Democrat Mayor London Breed lost her re-election campaign. “I think that this is broader than just a message from people who care about crime,” Cully Stimson, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and co-author of the book “Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America’s Communities,” told Fox News Digital. “This is a massive mandate and cry for help from the general population that we want our state back, we want our counties back, and we want our cities back and that our failed social experiments have had enough time, and they’re an absolute, abysmal failure.” WINNER – Vice President-elect JD Vance TRUMP’S CONVINCING 2024 VICTORY SETS HOUSE
The top 5 political stories of 2024
Politics in 2024 was nothing short of unprecedented. Now that the U.S. has put a bow on the year, Fox News Digital looks back on the biggest political news stories that turned Washington, D.C., on its head. The year kicked off with President Biden in the driver’s seat of the Democratic Party as he keyed up a re-election effort in what was shaping up to be a second matchup against now-President-elect Donald Trump. In February, however, Biden’s 81 years of age and mental acuity fell under public scrutiny after years of conservatives questioning the commander-in-chief’s mental fitness. Special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents as vice president, announced he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The report renewed scrutiny over Biden’s mental acuity, which rose to a fever pitch in June after the president’s first and only presidential debate against Trump. Biden faced backlash for a handful of gaffes and miscues in the days leading up to his debate against Trump, including former President Obama taking Biden’s wrist and appearing to lead him off a stage during a swank fundraiser, and also abroad when Italian Prime Minister Giogia Meloni guided Biden back to a group of world leaders when he appeared to wander off to give a thumbs-up to a parachutist during the G-7 summit. When the big debate day arrived, Biden missed his marks repeatedly, tripping over his responses and appearing to lose his train of thought as he squared up against Trump. The disastrous debate performance led to an outpouring of both conservatives and traditional Democrat allies calling on the president to bow out of the race in favor of a younger generation. CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA The White House for weeks defiantly insisted that Biden would “absolutely not” drop out of the race, with his communications team and campaign daily combating the claims and speculation. On July 21, Biden issued a tweet that Sunday afternoon announcing he would bow out of the race. Biden endorsed Vice President Harris to pick up the mantle shortly after dropping out of the race in a separate social media post published on X, formerly Twitter. Biden’s exit from the race, when there were only about 100 days left before Nov. 5, was the first time the presumptive nominee of a major political party withdrew from the election after winning primaries. Harris soon launched her truncated campaign, flanked by staffers from the Obama administration and campaigns and also a handful of holdovers from Biden’s campaign. Harris earned the nomination of the party despite not running in the primaries, sparking some calls, including from Democrats, that the process was “undemocratic.” High-profile Democrats from the Obamas to the Clintons threw their support behind Harris, while former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Harris’ nomination was fair by arguing the nomination process was “open” and Harris “won it.” “We do not live in a dictatorship,” left-wing group Black Lives Matter declared over the summer. “Delegates are not oligarchs. Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites.” Harris previously ran for the White House during the 2020 election cycle, but she dropped out in early December 2019, two months before the 2020 Iowa caucuses. BLACK LIVES MATTER SAYS DEMS ARE ‘PARTY OF HYPOCRITES’ FOR ‘INSTALLING’ HARRIS SANS ‘PUBLIC VOTING PROCESS’ Before Trump was elected president, he faced two assassination attempts in July and September that rocked voters and the election cycle. Trump took the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 for what was intended to be a rally in the crucial swing state. Then shots rang out. Trump was seen dropping to the ground during the rally before he quickly stood up, a bloodied ear apparent, while surrounded by Secret Service agents. “Fight, fight, fight,” Trump was seen shouting to the crowd with a raised fist as he was escorted off the stage. One man, Corey Comperatore, lost his life while protecting his family from the attack, and two other people were seriously injured. The would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper. TRUMP SAYS HE ‘PROBABLY TOOK A BULLET TO THE HEAD’ DUE TO DEM RHETORIC The attack unfolded just days before the Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee. Despite initial speculation the RNC would be upended by the attempt, Trump appeared throughout the week with a patch over his injured right ear before formally accepting the nomination in a speech. “The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark and I would not be here tonight. We would not be together,” Trump said in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. “Bullets were flying over us, yet I felt serene. But now the Secret Service agents were putting themselves in peril. They were in very dangerous territory,” Trump continued. “Bullets were flying right over them, missing them by a very small amount of inches. And then it all stopped. Our Secret Service sniper, from a much greater distance and with only one bullet used, took the assassin’s life, took him out.” Weeks later, on Sept. 15, Trump faced an assassination attempt while golfing at his Trump International Golf Club in Florida. Trump was safely escorted from the green at his golf club in West Palm Beach that Sunday afternoon after suspect Ryan Routh allegedly pointed a rifle toward the 45th president just outside the perimeter of the club. Routh fled the scene but was apprehended shortly thereafter on I-95. Routh allegedly waited in the bushes near Trump’s
US prepares to deorbit International Space Station amid China competition
Before the International Space Station was launched into orbit in 1998, the U.S. signed a document with several other countries to agree to the peaceful use of the orbital laboratory. The agreement included Russia, Japan, Canada and 11 European countries. China was left out of the plan. Nearly a decade later, China expressed interest in joining those on board the space station. The European Space Agency signaled support for the addition, along with South Korea. The final decision was ultimately opposed by the United States. “I think you’ll have to understand that Congress gave us very clear direction in 2011,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said. “Any bilateral cooperation with China had to be certified as not sharing any information that would give China some kind of an advantage.” In 2011, Congress included in a spending bill direction to prohibit collaboration between NASA and China when it comes to some scientific research, including in space. Lawmakers argued China’s program was secretive and too closely tied to its military. NASA FINALIZES STRATEGY FOR HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE “I think there’s no question they’re an economic competitor and they’re also a competitor for leadership geopolitically,” Melroy said. China began developing its own space station. It launched and deorbited a pair of short-term space labs between 2011 and 2018. It launched the first part of its Tiangong Space Station, which translates to Heavenly Palace, in 2011. “We’re laser-focused on China now. China is a threat. We’re in a new space race,” said President of International and Space Stations at Voyager Space Jeffrey Manber. Voyager is one of three companies contracted by NASA that is working to develop a new space station. Voyager says it is on pace to launch its Starlab in 2028. There are some fears that NASA will face funding cuts. If there are delays for the companies designing the next space stations, NASA will deorbit the space station without a replacement ready to go. Melroy insists the agency will not let China be the sole operator of a space station in orbit, but the storyline resonates with that of the space shuttle program. The American-made space shuttle was the world’s first reusable aircraft. It launched like a rocket and landed like an airplane. In 2004, then-President George W. Bush announced a new space initiative, which included retiring the shuttle by 2010 and conducting the first manned mission on a new spacecraft no later than 2014. NASA FINALIZES STRATEGY FOR HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE “The Crew Exploration Vehicle will be capable of ferrying astronauts and scientists to the space station after the shuttle is retired,” Bush said in 2004. The government considered several contractors to develop the vehicle under the constellation program. Over the next several years, program delays and funding issues led the Obama administration to eliminate the program from its 2011 budget. “Pursuing this new strategy will require that we revise the old strategy. In part, this is because the old strategy, including the Constellation program, was not fulfilling its promise in many ways,” then-President Barack Obama said in April 2010. The administration instead directed more than $6 billion to support commercial companies building spacecraft. The shuttle program came to an end a year later. American-made rockets were still not yet available. The U.S. was forced to rely on Russia for continued space travel. “It was tough times. I think it was the right decision. The shuttle’s time had come to an end. We needed to make a strategic investment in our own industry to develop the capability to take humans to space,” Melroy said. “There were a lot of people who thought we’d canceled the space program.” NASA would finally launch an American-made rocket that could carry humans to the space station, nine years after the shuttle’s retirement. It was a delay of six years from Bush’s initial projection. The 2020 SpaceX launch also marked the first of a commercial rocket on U.S. soil. ELON MUSK MOVES TO MAKE STARBASE, TEXAS, THE OFFICIAL ‘GATEWAY TO MARS’ As NASA faces the same prospect once again, officials insist they have a different strategy for competition in space with China. “I think it’s different in the sense that we are still the leader. We intend to remain the leader. We intend to remain the partner of choice. We work very well with our international partners, and they want to continue to work with us,” Melroy said. Only Chinese Taikonauts have visited the Tiangong Space Station. The country has expressed openness to hosting astronauts from other countries. Beijing has increased cooperation with Sweden, Russia and Italy. In recent months, China’s first International Payload launched on a Chinese commercial rocket. It included Oman’s first satellite, which is equipped with artificial intelligence for urban planning, forestry monitoring and disaster management. If China becomes the only permanent presence in space, international partners could be forced to rely on Taikonauts for long-term needs in low Earth orbit. Commercial companies could also be forced to do the same. “We do have to be somewhat careful about technology transfer and how do we actually connect with international firms to make sure that we’re not sort of giving away things associated with it,” Arkisys CEO Dave Barnhart said. California-based Arkisys is working on a robotic servicing port for companies to use while in orbit. “We can provide either the cargo, the supplies, the robotic manipulation capability, the fuel, whatever’s required to support a servicing architecture,” Barnhart said. Barnhart added the port could help keep the U.S. competitive in space if a commercial station is not ready to go when the space station is decommissioned. While the port would be robotic and not have humans onboard, it would still give the U.S. a form of permanent presence. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “We actually hope that we will be a bridge between when the [space station] is decommissioned and when the new commercial space stations are up there,” Barnhart said. “We are autonomous, we can move much
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Change of Heart Towards Trump
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. **NOTE: The Fox News Politics Newsletter will take a break tomorrow for the New Year’s Day holiday. We will return Thursday, Jan. 2. From all of us at Fox News Politics, Happy New Year!** Here’s what’s happening… – Learning Curve: The new players in Congress – How border security dominated US politics and 2024, and sealed an election – 10 rising stars in Democratic, Republican parties expected to emerge in 2025 Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that she and President-elect Trump “had a great meeting to discuss our shared priorities” for his upcoming term, despite their previously contentious relationship that hit a fever pitch in 2020 during the George Floyd riots. “President Trump and I both want Washington, DC to be the best, most beautiful city in the world and we want the capital city to reflect the strength of our nation,” Bowser said. The Democratic mayor said she and Trump “discussed areas for the collaboration between local and federal government, especially around our federal workforce, underutilized federal buildings, parks and green spaces, and infrastructure.”…Read more RUBY MOUNTAINS: Biden moving to ban oil and gas leases for 20 years in Nevada region, just weeks before Trump inauguration…Read more UNDER FIRE: Dems urge Biden to extend controversial immigrant program; Trump says he’ll cut it…Read more CHILL THROUGH EU: Ukraine receives US natural gas shipment for the first time amid fresh supply fears…Read more VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: Trump gives Johnson ‘complete and total endorsement’ ahead of Speakership fight…Read more DEBT DILEMMA: Bernie Sanders plans to spearhead legislation on key Trump proposal…Read more VERDICT IS IN: North Dakota senator’s son to serve 28 years in prison for crash that killed deputy…Read more ON ICE: ICE shuts down programs offering services to illegal immigrants, citing ‘immense’ costs…Read more ‘LAWFARE…MUST END’: Georgia AG urges state Supreme Court to reject DA Willis’ appeal in Trump case…Read more PENTAGON: The Pentagon chief loses bid to reject 9/11 plea deals…Read more 9/11 PLEA DEALS STAND: Military Appeals Court rules Defense Sec Austin cannot rescind 9/11 plea deals…Read more ‘COUNTERPRODUCTIVE’: Hochul’s polluters pay bill could result in regressive costs for working families: economists…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.