ICE nabs several migrants convicted of child molestation, one convicted murderer, in blue state suburbs
EXCLUSIVE: Baltimore ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officials on Thursday arrested eight migrants, including four convicted of child molestation and one murderer, in suburban Maryland. The arrests happened during an exclusive Fox News ride-along with the government agency. One of the migrants apprehended was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor and exposing himself in public several times. Another migrant, from the Philippines, was previously convicted of molesting a 10-year-old girl. According to ICE, the one migrant convicted of murder was living in the U.S. on a permanent visa status. MIGRANT CRIME PROBLEM ‘COURTESY’ OF BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, DEMOCRATIC PARTY: REP. PETE SESSIONS “The people we are out for are the worst of the worst,” Baltimore field office Director Matthew Elliston told Fox News’ David Spunt. “It’s not the average person who is in the country illegally. If we are targeting you, there is a reason.” The goal is simple for the Baltimore ICE Field Office: arrest and then deport as many illegal migrants with criminal records as possible. ICE agents’ goal at the start of the day was to capture eight targets, and all eight targets are now in custody. Now all eight of those migrants are behind bars and await hearings in front of immigration judges and potential deportation. FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR ON IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY IN 2025 According to ICE data obtained by the House Homeland Security Committee in September, there are at least 650,000 criminal illegal immigrants on the agency’s “non-detained docket,” meaning they are free in the U.S. interior. Of those, 14,944 are murderers and over 20,000 have been convicted of sexual assault. Although not officially a sanctuary state, Maryland, which is led by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and a majority Democratic state assembly, is considered immigrant friendly. The city of Baltimore, meanwhile, has an official policy that does not allow law enforcement to ask residents about their immigration status. ICE data indicates that Baltimore ERO arrested 570 migrants with either a criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge in fiscal year 2024.
DOJ seeks to block Jan. 6 defendants from attending Trump inauguration
Attorneys at the Department of Justice are urging federal judges to reject petitions from at least two Jan. 6 defendants who are asking that they be allowed to return to the nation’s capital for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Cindy Young, convicted of four misdemeanors for her involvement in the riot at the Capitol, and Russell Taylor, who pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge, both petitioned the courts to allow them to return to Washington, D.C., despite provisions of their sentences requiring them to stay away. “Contrary to Young’s self designation that she ‘poses no threat of danger to the community,’ Young presents a danger to the D.C. community, including the very law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” U.S. attorneys said in response to Young’s petition. The federal attorneys cited calls from Young “for retribution against those involved in January 6 prosecutions” and argued that she has failed “to recognize the seriousness of her actions.” FBI SHOULD PROBE ‘POTENTIAL’ LIZ CHENEY ‘WITNESS TAMPERING’ IN JAN 6 MATTER, HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAY A request from Taylor, who was invited to attend the inauguration by members of Utah’s congressional delegation, is also being challenged by attorneys at the Department of Justice who argue that the serious nature of his crimes should preclude him from being able to “return to the scene of the crime.” “He is asking for the Court to bless his desire to return to the scene of the crime, and the Court should not look past his criminal conduct the last time he was on Capitol grounds,” the U.S. attorneys wrote in a filing to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The attorneys added in their court filing that, while they had granted previous travel requests to other defendants involved in the Capitol siege, those approvals were to support people’s continued employment, and the requests did not involve travel to the nation’s capital. TRUMP INAUGURATION: DC POLICE CHIEF EXPECTING ‘4,000 POLICE OFFICERS TO ASSIST US’ However, another Jan. 6 defendant, Eric Peterson, who was convicted of a misdemeanor in November for his involvement in the Capitol riot but has yet to be sentenced, was given approval by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to travel to the District for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, according to Peterson’s criminal case docket. Notably, the docket did not include any responses from the Department of Justice urging Chutkan to deny Peterson’s request. There remains uncertainty around whether Trump will pardon any, some, or all of those defendants who were convicted of crimes as a result of their involvement in the U.S. Capitol siege that occurred in 2021. Trump has said at times that pardons will be reserved for those who remained peaceful on that fateful day; however, at other points he has suggested a blanket pardon for all those who were convicted. One thing that Trump has been steadfast on is that the pardons will come quickly following his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. The Department of Justice declined to comment for this story.
ICE deportations catch up to Trump-era numbers in FY 2024 as Biden admin comes to a close
Deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) caught up to levels seen during the Trump administration in Fiscal Year 2024, just as the number of illegal immigrants not in ICE detention soared to new highs. The annual ICE report released Wednesday shows that ICE deported 271,484 illegal immigrants to 192 different countries in fiscal year 2024. Of those, 32.7% had criminal histories and 237 were known or suspected terrorists. It’s a significant increase from more than 142,000 deported in FY 23, and around 72,000 in FY 2022. In FY 2020, the last year of the Trump administration and which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, there were around 185,000 deportations and in FY 2019 there were 267,000 deportations. TRUMP’S TRANSITION TEAM EYES EXPANSION OF ANKLE MONITORS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NOT IN CUSTODY However, those numbers also include removals of those encountered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the border, which typically make up the vast majority of ICE deportations. Of removals of those arrested in the interior by ICE itself, just 47,000 illegal immigrants were deported, compared to 44,255 last fiscal year and 28,204 in FY 2022. That compared to 62,739 in FY 2020 in the last full year of the Trump administration and 85,958 conducted in FY 2019, nearly double that of FY 2024. ICE says that its resources were strained by having to shift staff and attention to the southern border to help with the migrant crisis, as well as an increase in those released into the interior. “In addition, ERO detailed significant numbers of its personnel to support DHS efforts for managing irregular migration at the Southwest Border over the past several fiscal years, further straining ERO’s finite resources,” the report says. Consequently, it says the number of arrests by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) dropped in FY 2024. “In FY 2024, ERO arrested 113,431 noncitizens — a 33.5% decrease from FY 2023, when ERO conducted a total of 170,590 arrests,” the report said. “Although shifts in arrest numbers are driven by multiple complex factors, many of ERO’s resources throughout FY 2024 were concentrated on processing and removing noncitizens at the Southwest Border, limiting interior law enforcement actions. This focus on border cases impacted routine interior enforcement operations.” Both ICE arrests and the number of deportations of those arrested by ICE are expected to increase under the next administration, which has indicated it intends to drop the restrictions put on ICE during the Biden administration and launch a “historic” mass deportation campaign. ‘STANDING BY TO HELP:’ RED STATE REVEALS PLAN TO PURCHASE BORDER WALL MATERIALS TO STORE FOR TRUMP That promise was a centerpiece of Trump’s 2024 campaign and his team are already making concrete steps towards that goal. It has already drawn resistance from some Democrats, but also some support from others in cities that have been overwhelmed by the massive migrant influx that the country has seen since 2021. The scope of that challenge is emphasized by the ICE report, which shows that the number of illegal immigrants on ICE’s non-detained docket has exploded during the Biden administration to nearly 7.7 million, more than doubling what it was when Trump left office. It was at 3.2 million at the end of FY 2020. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS The non-detained docket is made up of illegal immigrants in deportation proceedings, who are not in ICE custody, but who may be in federal, state or local custody or in forms of monitoring. This includes illegal immigrants who were caught and released at the border and are waiting for their court dates, as well as illegal aliens who have already been ordered deported by a DOJ immigration judge after already having their cases heard. Fox has previously reported that there are over 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US with final orders of removal, meaning they have been ordered deported but are still in the U.S. The report revealed that ther were more than 701,000 Venezuelan illegal immigrants on ICE’s non-detained docket, but only 1,470 were in ICE detention. Meanwhile, despite a surge into the U.S. of more than 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children into the U.S. during the Biden administration, just 411 were removed in FY 2024, an increase from the 212 in FY 2023. For comparison, more than 4,000 were removed in FY 20202.
‘America first’ vs. ‘America last’: What does Trump’s return mean for US foreign policy?
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next month, what sort of foreign policy can Americans expect during his second stint in the Oval Office? Trump will pursue an “America first foreign policy,” J. Michael Waller, senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy, suggested during an interview with Fox News Digital, describing Biden’s approach as “America last.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is advocating for the soon-to-be commander in chief to significantly increase military spending in a bid to build up the nation’s “hard power.” The long-serving lawmaker is also warning against an isolationist approach to foreign policy, asserting in a piece on Foreign Affairs that “the response to four years of weakness must not be four years of isolation.” MCCONNELL WARNS RFK JR. TO STEER CLEAR OF THE POLIO VACCINE “Trump would be wise to build his foreign policy on the enduring cornerstone of U.S. leadership: hard power. To reverse the neglect of military strength, his administration must commit to a significant and sustained increase in defense spending, generational investments in the defense industrial base, and urgent reforms to speed the United States’ development of new capabilities and to expand allies’ and partners’ access to them,” McConnell contended. “To pretend that the United States can focus on just one threat at a time, that its credibility is divisible, or that it can afford to shrug off faraway chaos as irrelevant is to ignore its global interests and its adversaries’ global designs,” he argued. Waller, who authored the book “Big Intel,” explained that America-first foreign policy does not mean isolationism. “It means for the United States to define its national interests very strictly,” without suggesting that every crisis around the globe is “of vital, existential interest to our country,” he noted. Waller opined in Foreign Affairs that McConnell was seeking to “maintain the uniparty consensus for the United States’ present global commitments that are stretching us beyond our means … without even stepping back to reassess what is really in our national interests and how can we best marshal our resources to ensure them.” Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to request comment from McConnell, but did not receive a response. US ‘CLOSER THAN EVER’ TO REACHING HOSTAGE DEAL BECAUSE OF TRUMP, GOP REP SAYS Trump has tapped Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state, a choice Waller graded as a “really good pick.” Regarding the ongoing Ukraine–Russia conflict, Rubio has said that the U.S. is funding a “stalemate war.” Trump has called for a ceasefire. “There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse,” he declared in a post on Truth Social. FETTERMAN MEETS WITH TRUMP NOMINEES, PLEDGES ‘OPEN-MIND AND AN INFORMED OPINION’ FOR CONFIRMATION VOTES Trump has also called for the release of hostages in the Middle East, warning in a post on Truth Social that if they are not released by when he assumes office, “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America,” he declared.
Here’s what happens during a partial government shutdown
When the federal government shuts its doors, Americans get a glimpse at a long-debated question in Washington: How much government is too much? Here’s what happens during a partial government shutdown, which typically happens when Congress has failed to pass new bills authorizing spending. Federal agencies and services deemed “nonessential” can expect to halt their operations, while “essential” services continue to function. Examples of “essential” agencies include national security, Border Patrol, law enforcement, disaster response and more. What’s more, funding for certain programs, like Social Security, and some agencies such as the Postal Service, operate separately from the yearly appropriations process. HOUSE GOP LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR PLAN B AFTER TRUMP, MUSK LEAD CONSERVATIVE FURY AGAINST SPENDING BILL A shutdown lasting less than two weeks would likely have minimal impact, as federal employees would still receive their paychecks on schedule. Longer shutdowns, meanwhile, are usually accompanied by retroactive pay for government workers and congressional staff. As a result, the actual effects of a shutdown tend to be far less severe than how it’s typically described. Partial government shutdowns can also be seen as an opportunity by some lawmakers to address unsustainable federal spending. The U.S. national debt exceeds $35 trillion, and many argue that allowing the government to function indefinitely without addressing wasteful spending is irresponsible. Shutdowns can thus force Congress to make decisions about funding priorities and eliminate bloated programs. MATT GAETZ REPORT BY HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO BE RELEASED The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, requiring Congress to pass a set of appropriations bills by the end of September to fund operations. If Congress fails to act, legal safeguards prevent executive agencies from spending money without legislative approval, effectively limiting government functions. The annual congressional budget process begins in early February, when the president submits a budget proposal to Congress, offering recommendations for federal spending across all areas of government. By mid-April, Congress is expected to adopt a budget resolution that establishes overall spending limits and guidelines. Throughout late spring and summer, House and Senate Appropriations Committees work on drafting 12 bills to allocate funding for specific federal agencies and programs. These bills must be passed by Congress by Sept. 30 to prevent a partial government shutdown. The deadline to pass a continuing resolution (CR), which is a temporary funding patch, is 11:59:59 pm ET on Friday. Without one, the federal government enters a partial shutdown on Saturday, Dec. 21.
Where’s Biden? Lame-duck president slammed for ‘quiet quitting’ amid major government funding battle
President Biden was blasted for “quiet quitting” and failing to lead his fellow Democrats amid the ongoing fiscal battle in Congress that could lead to a government shutdown just days before Christmas. Text of the 1,500-page funding bill needed to keep the government operating as usual was released Tuesday evening, just three days before the current funding cycle ends. However, President-elect Trump threw a wrench in lawmakers’ plans after he demanded Republicans renegotiate the bill to include an increase in the debt ceiling and a reduction in certain Democratic spending initiatives, which Trump described as “Democrat giveaways.” Biden was home in Wilmington, Delaware, attending a memorial service for his late ex-wife and baby daughter, when news of Trump’s demands came down. He will return to the nation’s capital later this afternoon. FORMER OBAMA AIDES MOCK BIDEN ‘DISAPPEARING’ IN FINAL MONTHS OF PRESIDENCY: ‘TRUMP ISN’T PRESIDENT YET’ Thus far, the lame-duck president has not commented on the ongoing spending battle in Congress, but on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement deriding Trump for “playing politics.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to inquire whether Biden expects to speak about the legislative battle, but did not receive a response. “Presidents are elected to four-year terms, but Joe Biden long ago ceded the mantle of leadership and the responsibilities of governing. While the rest of the country is busy at work in the last week before Christmas, the president is on vacation in Delaware and the country he ostensibly still oversees is careening toward a fiscal cliff,” GOP strategist Colin Reed said. Reed added that it was “not surprising” to him that Biden’s administration “is seemingly content to slink away before their term even ends.” Reed said it wasn’t surprising either that Americans “voted for a new direction last month.” Meanwhile, in addition to Republicans, former aides for former President Barack Obama, a cohort known as the “Obama bros” who run a popular liberal-leaning podcast, also slammed Biden for his absence, telling listeners of their podcast this week that it is becoming “easier and easier to forget” that Trump isn’t in the White House yet. A recent report from The New York Times also noted that Biden has been “a little older and a little slower” in the final days of his presidency. “I can’t quite figure it out. He seems to be doing some sort of ‘quiet quitting,’” GOP campaign expert David Kochel said. BIDEN ‘A LITTLE OLDER AND A LITTLE SLOWER’ IN THE FINAL DAYS OF HIS PRESIDENCY: NEW YORK TIMES REPORT Kochel pointed out that in addition to being absent amid the government spending fight, Biden was also absent at the reopening ceremony for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which dozens of heads of state attended. “For the country’s second Catholic president to skip the reopening of Notre Dame, while Trump and Jill Biden attended, one has to wonder if he’s just basically given up,” Kochel questioned. “That said, does he even possess the leadership skills and acuity at this point to have any real impact on the government funding issue? I doubt it.” Biden’s Cabinet officials seemingly feel different, however. Several of them reiterated their faith in Biden’s ability to fulfill his duties for the remainder of his lame-duck presidency this week, despite concerns over his old age and apparent diminished cognitive functioning. “Maybe it’s for the best he just fades into the woodwork. It is truly bizarre, though, how much he has disappeared. I think even Democrats are scratching their heads,” Kochel said. Michael Chamberlain, director of ethics watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust, said a lack of leadership from Biden “has essentially been the Biden-Harris administration’s MO from nearly the beginning.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “This vacuum has been evident on ethics and transparency, as well as scientific integrity, and other areas. The administration that was supposed to be a ‘return to normalcy,’ promising to be the most ethical and transparent in history, has proven to be anything but,” Chamberlain said. “Sadly, the abdication of leadership in these spaces seems to have expanded to encompass every aspect of the presidency.” Earlier this month, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients sent a memo to staff outlining the final priorities for the Biden administration during its last days before Trump takes over. “Let’s finish strong,” he said.
Texas AG’s lawsuit sets up a red versus blue state abortion battle
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a New York-based abortionist for violating Texas law by shipping abortion drugs into the state. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, however, is pushing back, saying a recently passed “shield law” protects abortion providers from prosecution by other states, setting the stage for what some call an abortion “civil war” scenario. Paxton released a statement saying the out-of-state doctor “caused serious harm” to the Texas woman and explained he was launching the suit because, “in Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.” The lawsuit, filed in the federal District Court for Collin County, posits that New York abortionist Dr. Margaret Carpenter violated Texas law and endangered a 20-year-old Texas woman by illegally shipping drugs into the state without first conducting an in-person examination of the woman to determine the gestational age of her baby. PRO-LIFE GROUPS SOUND OFF AFTER TRUMP SAYS HE WILL NOT RESTRICT ABORTION PILLS: ‘SERIOUS AND GROWING THREAT’ Chemical abortions, which now account for more than 60% of all U.S. abortions, are known to present a risk of severe complications and infection in some cases. Despite this, the Biden administration further rolled back restrictions on chemical abortion, permanently allowing the drugs to be prescribed via telemedicine, shipped through mail and obtained at retail pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens. Some states, however, including Texas, continue to restrict chemical abortion from being distributed through the mail or without a doctor’s consultation. The 20-year-old Texas woman who obtained the abortion pills from Carpenter ended up being admitted to a local hospital because of a hemorrhage or severe bleeding as a result of the drugs, according to the Paxton lawsuit. “Carpenter provided abortion-inducing drugs to the pregnant Collin County woman, which caused an adverse event or abortion complication and resulted in a medical abortion,” the suit claims. “Carpenter’s knowing and continuing violations of Texas law places women and unborn children in Texas at risk.” HOSPITAL THAT DELAYED EMERGENCY ABORTION BEARS BLAME FOR GEORGIA WOMAN’S DEATH, FAMILY’S LAWYER CLAIMS The suit requests civil penalties and a permanent block on Carpenter from sending more abortion drugs to Texas women. However, New York state has a so-called “shield” law that explicitly protects abortion providers from prosecution for prescribing abortion pills to patients in states where it is illegal. This is the first legal challenge to be launched by a state pitting one set of abortion laws against that of another. Hochul responded to the Texas lawsuit by saying, “I will do everything in my power to enforce the laws of New York State.” “No doctor should be punished for providing necessary care to their patients,” she said, adding, “As Texas attempts to limit women’s rights, I’m committed to maintaining New York’s status as a safe harbor for all who seek abortion care, and protecting the reproductive freedom of all New Yorkers.” JUDGE BLOCKS NY AG LETITIA JAMES FROM TRYING TO SILENCE PREGNANCY CENTERS THAT PROMOTE ABORTION PILL REVERSAL Experts believe the Texas challenge could eventually be bound for the Supreme Court. Kristi Hamrick, vice president of media and policy for the pro-life group Students for Life Action, told Fox News Digital that she is hopeful the Texas lawsuit makes its way to the Supreme Court so that it could re-examine the question of national safeguards on abortion pills. Hamrick said that though the Supreme Court ruled against re-implementing abortion pill restrictions in a case called AHM v. FDA earlier this year, the court made it clear they were not shutting the door on restoring the safeguards through another case. “The Supreme Court did not say that everything with the pills was great, they could be sold as they were [and] there were no problems with the pills,” she explained. “What the Supreme Court said is you need to go back and start again, you’ve come to us with the wrong victims, they didn’t have what the court called ‘standing.’” BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PRESSURING AFRICAN COUNTRY TO ADOPT LAX ABORTION LAWS IN EXCHANGE FOR FOREIGN AID: REPORT “So, the three states have already joined in saying we have standing, we are a victim because we are paying higher emergency room bills because of these pills,” she went on. “The state has a right to defend its laws. So, the state, on the face of it, has a right to defend itself and its laws and the laws of its citizens and its duly elected representatives. So, yeah, they have standing.” Students for Life Action recently launched its own challenge against abortion pills in the form of what is called a “citizen petition.” The petition demands the FDA delay its plans to broaden the use of abortion drugs once again, this time to treat miscarriages, until the agency re-examines how the pills are contaminating the nation’s water supply. “The Biden-Harris administration during COVID essentially created a de facto right to pollute and that pathological medical waste [from abortion pills] is going into the water supply across America, no one is checking on that,” she said. “Abortion and miscarriage are not the same. But if you’re going to conflate that and then hand out even more of these drugs without any environmental assessment, without any sense of the health and safety risks, that is reckless and dangerous and that is federal.”
Biden admin officials noticed stamina issues in president’s first few months in office: report
Members of President Biden’s staff noticed his fading stamina and increasing confusion within the first few months of him entering office, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The Journal based its report on interviews with nearly 50 people, including current and former White House staffers who interacted directly with the president, as well as lawmakers. One former aide recalled a national security official explaining why a meeting in the spring of 2021 was canceled altogether. “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” he recalled the official saying. Democratic lawmakers in Congress reported that Biden was less available than past presidents. He had few meetings with members of Congress, and those meetings were often brief, they said. BIDEN IS SAYING ‘SCREW YOU’ TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, BEN FERGUSON ARGUES “The Biden White House was more insulated than most,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told the Journal. “I spoke with Barack Obama on a number of occasions when he was president and I wasn’t even chairman of the committee.” “I really had no personal contact with this president. I had more personal contact with Obama, which is sort of strange because I was a lot more junior,” Rep Jim Himes, D-Conn., echoed. BIDEN’S PRESIDENCY WILL BE REMEMBERED AS THE ‘MAN THAT WAS TOO OLD,’ SAYS BYRON YORK Even members of Biden’s own Cabinet soon stopped requesting calls with the president, perceiving from interactions with staff that calls were unwelcome, WSJ reported. A source familiar with the Journal’s reporting said the outlet had on-record interviews with a number of Cabinet members who rejected claims that Biden lacks mental acuity. Those Cabinet members included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and EPA Administrator Michael Regan and others, the source said. The Journal did not include their comments in its report. Biden held fewer than half as many full Cabinet meetings as his most recent predecessors. President-elect Trump held 25 such meetings and former President Obama held 19 in their first terms, but Biden had just eight. The White House pushed back on the substance of the Journal’s report in a statement provided to Fox News Digital, saying Biden’s policy accomplishments provide “indisputable proof” of his qualifications and leadership. “President Biden speaks with members of his Cabinet daily, and with most members multiple times a week, staying in close touch with them about implementation of key laws and strengthening our national security. During every presidency, there are inevitably some in Washington who do not receive as much time with whomever the president is as they would prefer; but that never means that the president isn’t engaging thoroughly with others, as this president does,” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates. “Cabinet meetings are an important tradition, but the contemporary work environment means they can be fewer and far between. As academics who study the presidency have emphasized, every member of the Cabinet – to say nothing of the President – are busy principals and more can be accomplished on behalf of the American people speaking with the President one-on-one or in smaller settings with officials who have related portfolios,” he added. Fox News Digital reached out to Cabinet officials and their departments, asking them if they believed Biden was fit to serve this week, and if they stood by past statements of confidence in his ability to continue. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a statement in September, said that he has “full confidence in President Biden’s ability to carry out his job. BIDEN’S AGE MUCH MORE OF A LIABILITY THAN TRUMP’S, POLL FINDS AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE “As I’ve said before, I come fully prepared for my meetings with President Biden, knowing his questions will be detail-oriented, probing, and exacting. In our exchanges, the President always draws upon our prior conversations and past events in analyzing the issues and reaching his conclusions,” he said. On Monday, DHS said that the secretary stands by those comments. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has called Biden “one of the most accomplished presidents in American history and continues to effectively lead our country with a steady hand.” “As someone who is actually in the room when the President meets with the Cabinet and foreign leaders, I can tell you he is an incisive and extraordinary leader,” Raimondo said. A spokesperson said this week that Raimondo stands by those comments. Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, told Fox in September: “As Secretary Austin has said before, he has watched President Biden make tough national security decisions and seen his commitment to keeping our troops safe – he has nothing but total confidence in our Commander-in-Chief.” This week, Singh said those comments still stand.
Some House Republicans privately furious at Musk, Ramaswamy after government shutdown talks implode
Some House Republicans are privately fuming after Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy got involved in congressional talks on government funding, leading the charge to tank a bipartisan deal. Several GOP lawmakers granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive situation were either frustrated about the pair getting involved or believe they exacerbated long-standing weaknesses within the House Republican Conference. “Musk and Vivek should not have jumped in at the 11th hour and should have handled it directly with the speaker. Folks on the same side shouldn’t act like these two,” one House Republican said. “They’re more about the clicks and bright lights than getting the job done. I’ll have nothing to do with them after watching them publicly trash the speaker.” A second GOP lawmaker said, “If Elon and Vivek are freelancing and shooting off the hip without coordination with [President-elect Trump], they are getting dangerously close to undermining the actual 47th President of the United States.” CAPITOL HILL BRACES FOR HIGH-STAKES SHOWDOWN OVER $36T US DEBT CRISIS A third lawmaker accused Ramaswamy of distorting facts. “He didn’t read the entire [continuing resolution] and the vast majority of what he was talking about is misinformation,” they said. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was gearing up to hold a vote on a bipartisan, 1,547-page deal to extend current government funding levels through March 14 – known as a continuing resolution (CR). The goal was to give congressional negotiators more time to cobble together an agreement on how to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025, while also kicking the fight into a term where Republicans control the House, Senate and White House. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INTERIM SPENDING BILL But GOP hardliners were furious about what they saw as unrelated measures and policy riders being added to the bill at the last minute. In addition to averting a partial government shutdown through March 14, the bill also includes provisions on health care and ethanol fuel, plus more than $100 billion in disaster aid funding, measures to fund the rebuilding of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and the first pay raise for lawmakers since 2009. Musk and Ramaswamy soon joined the opposition, with Musk even threatening to back primary challengers to Republicans who supported the CR. Less than 24 hours after the legislation was released, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters the bill was dead. House GOP leaders have been working toward a plan B, but it’s unclear they’ll get much, if any, Democratic support. A fourth House Republican who spoke with Fox News Digital said of Musk’s involvement, “I think he influenced weak members who didn’t have direction until he tweeted.” “He’s just highlighting bad governance and indirectly a weak legislative branch,” they said. JOHNSON HIT WITH POSSIBLE SPEAKERSHIP RIVALS AS CONSERVATIVES REBEL OVER GOVERNMENT FUNDING PLAN Trump, meanwhile, threatened to primary Republicans who supported a “clean” CR without an increase of the debt limit – which expires January 2025. The issue threw a wrench into negotiations on Wednesday night, given the months-long and politically brutal talks that normally accompany a debt limit increase or suspension. One Republican bristled at his threat: “Trump threatening to ‘primary’ us also reduces his standing with many of us. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
Here’s what’s in the spending bill that’s drawing the ire of Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy
Congressional leadership unveiled legislation Wednesday to punt the government funding deadline down the road, but that bill was pronounced dead only hours after it was revealed. It led to the intervention of Trump-allied conservatives like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, with Musk threatening to support a primary challenge to any Republican member of Congress who voted for the bill. It even prompted President-elect Trump to say he is “totally against” the legislation and insist any spending deal raise the debt ceiling before he gets into office, saving his administration the headache of doing so. The continuing resolution, or CR, was meant to kick the government funding deadline down the road by continuing spending at 2024 levels until March and buy more time for Congress to hash out a longer-term budget plan for fiscal year 2025. But it included 1,500 pages worth of policy and funding riders. With a national debt of $36 trillion and a deficit of $1.8 trillion deficit, conservatives are leery of CRs that don’t cut government spending to begin with. But they’ve argued only a “clean” CR without any riders attached could earn their vote. But others – Democrats and some Republicans – wanted policy and funding riders attached to get something done beyond the status quo. Here’s a look at all the provisions that prompted Musk and Ramaswamy to step in and insist Republicans kill the CR: A nearly 4% pay raise would line the pockets of lawmakers if the legislation were to pass: $6,600 extra per year on top of their $174,000 salary. That salary hasn’t been increased since 2009, but Congress created a program in 2022 allowing members of Congress to expense their food and lodging in Washington, D.C., while conducting official business. Some members have been pushing for a pay raise for years, arguing that if members aren’t paid more it means that only independently wealthy people will run for Congress. Others are worried about the optics of a pay raise with voters. Still, others just don’t think lawmakers deserve it. “The worst part of the CR was the pay raise for members. That money should be earned and right now it is just being taken,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., on X. The legislation also includes a provision stipulating that members of Congress do not have to participate in the health care system they wrote into law – the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. It would allow members to opt out of the program and instead participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The lawmaker mandate was a contentious debate during the passage of ObamaCare in 2009 and 2010, and for years Republicans tried to overturn the health care bill entirely. While the CR would exempt members from having to buy health care on the ObamaCare exchange, it would still require their staff to participate in it. CONGRESS UNVEILS BILL TO AVERT FRIDAY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WITH OVER $100B IN DISASTER AID House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., whose job has come under renewed threat due to anger over the CR, has said he started with a “clean” CR plan but needed to add disaster relief for victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the southeastern part of the country. Some $100 billion for disaster relief was included, but some conservatives argue it should be paid for by cutting funding in other areas. The CR includes $8 billion for rebuilding the Baltimore area bridge, which collapsed earlier this year. Some conservatives don’t believe the federal government should be on the hook entirely for the bridge. “Guess what, folks? Even though the Francis Scott Key Bridge is privately owned, insured, and collects tolls, you still have the honor of footing 100% of the bill to have it repaired. Oh, and it will continue to collect tolls once it’s fixed,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., wrote on X. The plan would allow year-round sales of gasoline with ethanol up to 15%, a major win for the corn and ethanol lobbies. Currently, sales of E15 are blocked from June through September due to the high level of emissions it produces. Opposition to the E15 mandate is seemingly a more regional debate than ideological – southern Republicans from oil-producing states want to protect pure gasoline. Agricultural states want to protect farmers and their subsidies. DEMS COMPLAIN ‘PRESIDENT MUSK’ RUNNING THE SHOW ON GOP SPENDING DRAMA A State Department agency that Republicans accuse of adding Americans and news outlets to a blacklist for things like speculating the COVID-19 virus was a Chinese-engineered bioweapon would get a reauthorization under the bill. Musk previously described the Global Engagement Center (GEC) as being the “worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation.” “They are a threat to our democracy,” Musk wrote in a subsequent post. Although the bill doesn’t specify its budget allocation, a previous Inspector General report showed the agency’s FY 2020 budget totaled $74.26 million, of which $60 million was appropriated by Congress. The legislation reauthorizes the farm bill for a year, offering $21 billion in disaster relief to farmers and another $10 billion in economic aid. Most conservatives say they aren’t necessarily against this, but think it should get a standalone vote and not be attached to the CR. Other seemingly unrelated riders are sprinkled throughout, such as a bill to establish data collection and reporting requirements concerning composting and recycling programs, and a bill related to transparency of hotel fees.