Majority of Americans optimistic about Trump agenda, poll finds, despite tariff concern
A majority of Americans say they are optimistic about the polices President-elect Trump will pursue in his incoming administration, according to a new poll from Monmouth University. The poll found that 53% of Americans are either very or somewhat optimistic about Trump’s second term. That is a slight rise from the weeks prior to his first term, when just 50% of Americans said they were optimistic. The only segment of Americans who are less optimistic about Trump’s second term than they were about his first are Democrats, with just 10% saying they look forward to the next four years. “It should come as no surprise there is a stark partisan divide on the Trump agenda. The real question is how these policies will affect American families, especially among those who voted for Trump in 2024,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement. The poll also found that Trump’s least popular policy is his tariff agenda, with 47% of respondents saying they expect tariffs will hurt their family and just 23% saying they expected it to help. One of Trump’s most popular polices is his plan to eliminate income tax for certain wages, with 48% of respondents saying the plan would help their family, compared to just 15% who say it would hurt. FORMER POLLSTER ANN SELZER HITS BACK AT CRITICISMS OVER IOWA POLL: ‘THEY ARE ACCUSING ME OF A CRIME’ Monmouth conducted the poll from Dec. 5-10, surveying 1,006 U.S. adults via phone interviews and online surveys. The poll advertises a margin of error of 3.9%. The poll comes as Trump is cruising toward his second inauguration and has begun targeting perceived enemies in the media. Trump on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines register and pollster Ann Selzer. The lawsuit claims the plaintiffs committed “brazen election interference” and fraud by publishing a final 2024 presidential poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris leading him in Iowa. Trump ultimately won the state by 13 points. SHOCK POLL HAS HARRIS LEADING TRUMP IN IOWA WITH 3-POINT SHIFT TOWARD VICE PRESIDENT IN RED STATE The lawsuit was filed Monday night in Polk County, Iowa under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and related provisions. It says it seeks “accountability for brazen election interference committed by” the Des Moines Register (DMR) and Selzer “in favor of now-defeated former Democrat candidate Kamala Harris through use of a leaked and manipulated Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer and S&C and published by DMR and Gannett in the Des Moines Register on Nov. 2, 2024.” The lawsuit is also against the parent company of the Des Moines Register, Gannett, which also owns other publications, including USA Today. Trump attorneys said Selzer had “prided herself on a mainstream reputation for accuracy despite several far less publicized egregious polling misses in favor of Democrats” and said she “would have the public believe it was merely a coincidence that one of the worst polling misses of her career came just days before the most consequential election in memory, was leaked and happened to go against the Republican candidate.” “The Harris Poll was no ‘miss’ but rather an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election,” the lawsuit states, adding that “defendants and their cohorts in the Democrat Party hoped that the Harris Poll would create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 Presidential Election.” “Instead, the November 5 election was a monumental victory for President Trump in both the Electoral College and the Popular Vote, an overwhelming mandate for his America First principles, and the consignment of the radical socialist agenda to the dustbin of history.” The lawsuit notes that Selzer, after more than 35 years in the industry, “retired in disgrace from polling less than two weeks after this embarrassing rout.” Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
‘There’s always consequences’: GOP rebels plot mutiny against Johnson over government shutdown drama
House GOP hardliners are furious with how congressional leaders are handling the ongoing government funding talks, with some even suggesting they could withhold support from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to head their conference again over his handling of the matter. Negotiators are working on a short-term extension of current government funding levels known as a continuing resolution (CR). A bill must pass the House and Senate by the end of Friday, Dec. 20 to avoid a partial government shutdown just before the holidays. “The speaker definitely has some ‘no’ votes and some people considering their options,” one GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak candidly told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. That lawmaker also accused Johnson of using President-elect Donald Trump’s own support for the Louisiana Republican as cover. MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN Johnson won unanimous support to be speaker again in House Republicans’ closed-door elections earlier this year, hours after Trump told lawmakers he supported him. He needs almost the same level of support in early January, when the entire House votes to elect a new speaker. With just a slim majority, Johnson can only afford to lose a few members of the House GOP to still win the gavel. Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., was asked by Fox News on Monday night if, depending on Johnson’s handling of the CR, some Republicans could initially vote against him on Jan. 3. “I think that’s potentially a possibility,” Perry said. REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE DUO Another Republican said they would consider opposing Johnson’s speakership bid in January if it were not for Trump’s backing. “Everything’s got consequences,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said when asked if Johnson’s handling of the CR would impact the January vote. Several Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital said they felt blindsided by what they viewed as last-minute additions to the CR, which they anticipated would be relatively free of unrelated policy riders. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., was furious about health care provisions included in discussions in recent days that would lessen the power of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). He said Johnson indicated that the CR would be a “clean” funding extension without added policies. “We talked with the speaker up until this weekend, the only discussion was ‘How long is this clean CR going to be?’ And suddenly we find out – I heard rumors over the weekend – they’re negotiating with a health care package that included PBM stuff,” Burlison said. “I think it’s absolutely disgusting to bring forward a several-thousand-page bill that nobody’s read, even today, nobody’s even seen it, and then they expect us to vote on it without any debate.” DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters, “Swamp is going to swamp, right?” “Fourteen hundred pages. Still haven’t seen the text. Multiple subject matters. Important health care legislation in the context of extenders piled on the back of a three-month CR with about $110 billion unpaid for,” Roy said. “This is not the way to do business.” Roy has also spoken out against a rumored provision expanding ethanol sales. “E15 should not be in this disastrous CR/Supplemental, among most of the things being discussed – including a PBM bill that Pharma is dancing in the streets over… Call me crazy, but we should reduce the deficit and not pass stupid policies,” Roy wrote on X. The legislative text for the CR was originally expected to come out on Sunday, but as of late Tuesday morning, negotiations were close to an end but still ongoing. It is putting lawmakers perilously close to their Friday shutdown deadline. Johnson dismissed any concerns about his job during his weekly press conference Tuesday. “I’m not worried about the speaker vote,” he said. “We’re governing. Everybody knows we have difficult circumstances. We’re doing the very best we can under those circumstances.” Johnson also maintained he wanted to give lawmakers 72 hours to read the bill before a vote – meaning it would come Friday earliest if released today. However, even rank-and-file lawmakers who are not threatening Johnson’s job said there are frustrations about the situation. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., whose district has a significant agricultural sector, said some lawmakers were concerned that farm policy provisions in the CR would hinder Congress’ negotiation for a new Farm Bill, comprehensive legislation setting food and agricultural policy that is set to expire this year. The CR is expected to include a one-year extension of the current Farm Bill, plus added subsidies. “I think there are members that just wish we were being a bit more comprehensive and deliberate in passing a Farm Bill,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s been very little back-and-forth with members on specific issues.” Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
Pete Hegseth may release sexual assault accuser from confidentiality agreement, setting up public showdown
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense secretary nominee ensnared in sexual assault allegations, plans to release his accuser from the confidentiality agreement he had her sign, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham. Graham, R-S.C., told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Hegseth “told me he would release her from that agreement,” adding, “I’d want to know if anybody nominated for a high-level job in Washington legitimately assaulted somebody.” Graham has said he will not take allegations from an anonymous source into consideration for Hegseth’s confirmation. Allowing Hegseth’s accuser to come forward publicly might lead to a spectacle similar to the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, during which his accuser, Christine Ford, was called to testify in the Senate about her accusations. TRUMP’S DEFENSE PICK GOES ON OFFENSE AS SUPPORT GROWS FOR HEGSETH CONFIRMATION “The Pete Hegseth I know, this is not a problem I’ve been aware of,” Graham said. “However, if people have an allegation to make, come forward and make it like they did in Kavanaugh,” he added, referring to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “We’ll decide whether or not it’s credible.” A woman alleges that in 2017, she was sexually assaulted by Hegseth in a hotel room in Monterey, California. Hegseth was not charged in the incident and insists the interaction was consensual, and the charge stemmed from a woman who regretted cheating on her husband. Police recommended the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review, but no charges were filed. At the time of the alleged assault, Hegseth, 44, was going through a divorce from his second wife, with whom he shares three children. She filed for divorce after he had a child with another woman, according to court records and social media posts. A payment was made to the woman, according to Hegseth’s attorney, as part of a confidentiality agreement because Hegseth feared the woman was preparing to file a lawsuit that could have cost him his job as a co-host on “Fox & Friends.” Earlier this month, Hegseth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, told CNN they had considered suing the woman for civil extortion before settling with a confidentiality agreement. WHAT PETE HEGSETH TOLD FOX NEWS’ SEAN HANNITY It is not yet clear whether the allegations may stand in the way of Hegseth’s confirmation. Republicans will have a 53-47 majority in the next Senate, and there is only room for Trump nominees to lose a few GOP votes, assuming no Democrats choose to back them. Hegseth does not appear to have lost any Republicans in the upper chamber at this point, including more moderate lawmakers such as Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Hegseth met with both of them last week on Capitol Hill. According to Collins, “I had a good, substantive discussion that lasted more than an hour.” “We covered a wide range of topics ranging from defense procurement reforms to the role of women in the military, sexual assault in the military. Ukraine, NATO, a wide range of issues. I obviously always wait until we have an FBI background check and one is underway in the case of Mr. Hegseth, and I wait to see the committee hearing before reaching a final decision.” Trump’s Defense secretary choice has also met twice with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. After their first meeting earlier this month, Ernst admitted on Fox News that she was not sold on Hegseth yet. However, after their second meeting this week, she released a statement, saying, “As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.” Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
Jill Biden leaves job at Virginia community college ahead of White House departure
First lady Jill Biden announced that she recently taught her last class at Northern Virginia Community College. “Last Thursday I taught my last class of the semester and my final class ever at Northern Virginia Community College,” she said. She made the remarks in a message to educators while flanked on either side by union presidents Randi Weingarten, of the American Federation of Teachers, and Becky Pringle, of the National Education Association. SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AS KIDS CORRECT JILL BIDEN’S ‘HAPPY HOLIDAYS’ WITH ‘HAPPY CHRISTMAS:’ ‘EPIC RESPONSE’ A spokesperson for the first lady indicated via email to Fox News Digital that it is not clear if the first lady will continue teaching. Jill Biden had been a professor at the institution since 2009, according to her biography on the White House website. “While serving as First Lady, Dr. Biden continued teaching English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has been a professor since 2009. She is the first presidential spouse to maintain an independent career outside of the White House,” the White House noted. ‘OF COURSE I SUPPORT THE PARDON OF MY SON,’ JILL BIDEN TELLS REPORTER First Lady Jill Biden and President Joe Biden will vacate the White House next month following the peculiar 2024 presidential election season in which the president bowed out of his re-election bid after clinching enough wins to become his party’s presumptive presidential nominee. But following a widely-panned debate performance, and amid public pressure from members of his own party to step aside, Biden dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. TRUMP FEATURES JILL BIDEN IN NEW AD FOR FRAGRANCE: ‘ENEMIES CAN’T RESIST’ President-elect Donald Trump ultimately trounced Harris in the general election, winning both the Electoral College and popular vote, becoming the second president in U.S. history ever to win two non-consecutive terms. The first was President Grover Cleveland in the 19th century.
‘America First’ group says its voter-targeting made a difference as Trump picks several leaders for WH
The hard work and vision of a top policy and advocacy group in the America First movement helped make the difference in the 2024 presidential election, as several of its chairmen prepare to join the new Trump administration, a top official said. America First Works executive director Ashley Hayek told Fox News in a Monday interview that her group has succeeded in focusing on popular policies from the first Trump administration and bringing those to state governments. As the 2024 race heated up, Hayek said, America First Works turned to voter turnout as its plan to continue the prevalence of the political movement’s message. “How do we educate people on these policies even more and mobilize voters?” she recalled asking. “So we did a major study and analysis of the over 3,100 counties across the country, and we identified 21 key counties that we knew would be really important to be successful. And keep in mind that these are states that some were blue, some were red, some were purple, but some of the states were called in favor of Joe Biden in 2020 by only a 10,000 vote advantage,” she said. MCCORMICK-CASEY RECOUNT TOPS $1 MILLION The initiative, nicknamed “Project 19” after the original 19 counties it targeted, sought to bring out to the polls low- and no-propensity voters. The latter is largely unique in the campaigning realm: seeking out voters technically considered “active” on state rolls but who have not voted in the past four cycles. It not only targeted counties in swing states or reliably conservative states, but also in blue states like New York and New Jersey. In the latter, Trump came within four points of flipping it red for the first time this century, while a majority of New York’s counties voted for the Republican but were outweighed by the five boroughs, Erie County (Buffalo) and a couple others. “I think it’s kind of no secret when you look at any of the major media markets and the counties that those touch – look at Phoenix – that’s Maricopa County, Las Vegas, it’s Clark County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, these are major urban areas, but they all have collar counties as well that become battlegrounds for both parties.” “And when we were on the ground, we would see, from time to time, Kamala Harris door-knockers, not as often as we thought we would,” Hayek said. The group’s election integrity work led them to target voters in places like Bucks County, Pennsylvania – where the RNC had launched a lawsuit after early voters were turned away from the Doylestown elections office. “We were able to message directly to voters saying, ‘Hey, stay in line, don’t get out of line,’” she said. “We would call ahead to find out how long the line was for some of our elderly folks who couldn’t wait in line that long.” “Those are the types of tactics just making it more accessible to vote. That’s what conservatives want to do. We want to make it easier to vote, harder to cheat. That’s been our mantra the entire time.” FIVE KEY PA COUNTIES THIS ELECTION Through its voter outreach operations, Hayek said her group’s canvassers noticed a shift in pro-Harris activity from the Sun Belt to the Rust Belt – noting the latter had been President Biden’s strategy. Hayek suggested Harris shifted to shoring up areas that had been in Biden’s pocket because her lack of “strategic messaging” was not resonating in those places as his once did. A California native, Hayek said her group is also very involved in the Golden State despite its blue bent. “I do think you’re seeing more of a cultural shift. I do think that we’re going to have to do things at a more local level in the state of California, and we’re going to have to start working together in a lot better ways,” she said. With crime and taxation continuing to plague the elector-rich state, Hayek said she hopes to see America First Works’ work there continue to make inroads, similar to how former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., got relatively close to unseating Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York by focusing on issues and eschewing hyper-partisanship. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP America First Works’ partner group, America First Policy Institute, has since seen at least four of its leaders tapped for roles in the new administration, including Zeldin. Co-founders Brooke Rollins and Linda McMahon are agriculture and education secretary-designates, respectively, while Zeldin and fellow co-chairman ex-Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., are also primed for White House roles in 2025. “I think this is a really exciting time not just for America First Works, but for all Americans,” Hayek said. “And one of the things that was really important to us was having conversations with voters… so we made sure to collect information about what policies people cared about the most: is it the economy, is it the border, is it education? So to be able to continue those conversations throughout 2025, 2026 and beyond is going to be really important for this movement.” Fox News Digital’s Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.
House GOP lawmaker rejects committee assignments to dedicate time to DOGE
A Republican lawmaker is declaring that she will forgo many of the traditional day-to-day obligations of the House GOP Conference, suggesting she will dedicate more of her time to aiding the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., said she plans to reject any House committee assignments she is given and will refuse to attend the House GOP’s weekly conference meetings. “I will stay as a registered Republican but will not sit on committees or participate in the caucus until I see that Republican leadership in Congress is governing,” Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., wrote on X on Monday evening. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ “I do not need to be involved in circuses. I would rather spend more of my time helping [DOGE]… to save our Republic, as was mandated by the American people.” Spartz did not elaborate on how she would focus her efforts on DOGE. She has bucked House GOP leadership several times during the 118th Congress, chiefly on issues of government spending and the national debt. She is currently a member of the House Judiciary Committee. DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER DOGE is a nonbinding advisory panel commissioned by President-elect Donald Trump to recommend areas for cutting spending and improving the efficiency of the federal government. He tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead it, and the push has been met with enthusiasm among House Republicans. REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY Spartz’s comments came the day before the Congressional DOGE Caucus readies to have its first lawmaker meeting on Tuesday. Fox News Digital reached out to the Indiana Republican to ask whether she would consider joining the caucus.
Republican demands info from State Department on delayed Afghanistan flights
FIRST ON FOX: A Republican congressman is disputing Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s insistence that the State Department did not block citizens from leaving Mazar-i-Sharif Airbase in Afghanistan during the frenzied withdrawal. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, wrote a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, demanding to know how many planes the State Department blocked from leaving the airbase, who made the call on whether to clear flights for takeoff, what the criteria for blocking delaying flights was and whether there had been communication with the Taliban. Following the withdrawal, reports emerged that 1,000 people, including Americans, were stuck at Mazar-i-Sharif Airport awaiting clearance for their charter flights to leave. Many had made the 400-mile trek from Kabul to be able to get out more quickly at the airport in northern Afghanistan. HOUSE GOP RELEASES SCATHING REPORT ON BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN One flight organizer told Reuters the State Department had failed to tell the Taliban of its approval for flight departures in Mazar-i-Sharif or validate a landing site. Davidson said in the letter that when he was in talks with the State Department, an official asked him “which tail number” he was referring to, insinuating more than one flight had not received authorization to take off and been delayed. Col. Francis Hoang, who worked on Afghanistan evacuations with his group Allied Airlift 21, told the Foreign Affairs Committee, “We spent three weeks hiding these nearly 400 people from the Taliban, keeping them alive and fed using funds from American donors.” During a hearing last week, Davidson asked Blinken, “Did the State Department block American citizens from departing from the airfield in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan?” “Absolutely not,” said Blinken. “You know they were blocked!” said Davidson. MAST BLASTS BLINKEN OVER ‘TENS OF BILLIONS’ OF US TAXPAYER DOLLARS SENT TO TALIBAN POST-AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL “I’d be happy to look at any information you have on that. I’m not aware of any American citizens who were blocked.” “I have the emails. I have the photographs of American, blue passport-holding American citizens who were on the airfield awaiting departure that got clearance for safe third countries to depart to, and the order came down from the United States government. Was it the State Department?” Davidson asked. Blinken’s testimony came three months after the committee voted along party lines to recommend he be held in contempt of Congress, when he refused to appear to testify again about the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. Republicans released a lengthy report in September highlighting how State Department officials had no plan for getting Americans and allies out while there were still troops there to protect them. The report claimed that Ross Wilson, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan at the time, grew the embassy’s footprint instead of sending personnel home despite warnings from military officials that a Taliban takeover was imminent. “You ignored warnings of collapse from your own personnel,” Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul told Blinken. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Blinken defended the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal, saying every American who wanted to leave had been given the opportunity to do so and thousands of Afghans have been resettled internationally. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to ask for the resignation of every senior official “who touched the Afghanistan calamity.” Democrats, meanwhile, insist the blame for the 20-year war’s acrimonious end lies with a deal Trump negotiated with the Taliban for U.S. withdrawal.
Liberal Supreme Court justice makes ‘cringe’ cameo performance on Broadway
Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is receiving mixed reviews after making a surprise cameo performance as “Queen Mab” in the Broadway musical “& Juliet.” While some social media users called Jackson’s performance “humanizing,” others called it “cringe,” “embarrassing” and unbefitting for a sitting member of the nation’s highest court. Written by contemporary playwright David West Read, “& Juliet” is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that explores an alternate scenario when Juliet does not commit suicide and instead explores life as an independent young woman. The musical includes a character named May, who is Juliet’s best friend and identifies as nonbinary. Jackson joined a cast, which includes TikTok star Charli D’Amelio and other Broadway performers, for a one-time performance at New York’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Saturday night, becoming the first Supreme Court justice to perform on Broadway. KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, BIDEN’S SUPREME COURT PICK, REFUSES TO DEFINE THE WORD ‘WOMAN’ She wore jeans and an all-blue costume with a corset and a flowery hat. In one clip of the performance, her character excitedly exclaims, “Female empowerment, sick!,” and in another, she sings the Backstreet Boys’ “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely.” The “& Juliet” marketing team said in an Instagram post announcing the cameo that Jackson’s performance fulfilled a lifelong fantasy of her “becoming the first Black, female Supreme Court justice to appear on a Broadway stage.” However, her decision to take the stage was not well received by many members of the public. Conservative influencer Arynne Wexler reacted on X, saying, “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson not only appeared in a Broadway show The show is a ‘queer musical knockoff’ of Romeo and Juliet. Of course Max cringe, max DEI.” “This is a sitting SCOTUS Justice. A lifetime appointment,” reacted conservative influencer account Gunther Eagleman. “I’m at a loss for words.” LEFT-LEANING JUSTICES COMPARE SEX CHANGES FOR KIDS TO TAKING ASPIRIN DURING SCOTUS ARGUMENTS Conservative commentator Liz Wheeler said “Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson performs in the Broadway show ‘& Juliet’ which is a ‘queer’ rendition of Romeo & Juliet … So no, when Ketanji Brown Jackson refused to define ‘what is a woman’ during her Senate confirmation hearing, she wasn’t being a brilliant legal mind. She was, and is, a radical leftist DEI hire propagating harmful, Neo-Marxist, anti-woman transgender ideology.” “I’d rather our country not be run by the weird theater kids,” influencer Colin Rugg reacted. “This is so embarrassing,” posted LibsofTikTok. Meanwhile, Elon Musk jokingly suggested Jackson “should sing her verdicts.” DEMOCRATS ATTACK CONSERVATIVE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES BUT HAVE LONG IGNORED LIBERAL JUSTICES’ ETHICAL ISSUES Jackson’s performance was not universally mocked, however. Former New York Congressman George Santos reacted by saying, “I love this! Humanizing the one part of the government that’s never been humanized! Good on this partnership!” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Former Kamala Harris campaign writer Victor Shi called the performance “the most epic video I’ve watched in so long.” “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson performed on Broadway, while some of her Republican colleagues would’ve spent this time flying with billionaires,” he went on. “So cool. So refreshing. Justice Jackson is the best.” Jackson has been a consistent liberal vote on the Supreme Court since she was appointed by President Biden in 2022.
Biden’s clemency for doc in chemotherapy fraud scheme contrasts with longtime ‘Cancer Moonshot’ advocacy
A doctor in federal prison for chemotherapy fraud was among the recent recipients of clemency from President Biden, a stark contrast given the president’s longtime advocacy for cancer patients and survivors. Biden’s sweeping clemency actions last week included sentence commutations of nearly 1,.500 prisoners, including Meera Sachdeva, a Mississippi oncologist who was senteced to two decades in prison after she pleaded guilty to chemotherapy fraud. Sachdeva gave her patients only partial doses of their prescribed cancer treatment while billing them for the full amount. Sachdeva pleaded guilty in 2012 to the federal charges, which included defrauding health insurance providers and Medicare by submitting false claims on behalf of the patients she was treating. In addition to the prison time, she was also ordered to pay nearly $8.2 million in restitution. U.S. prosecutors said that between 2007 and 2011, Sachdeva’s patients believed that they were receiving an amount of chemotherapy equal to the amount being billed to their respective health care benefit programs, but that patients were instead receiving reduced dosages, lower than the prescribed and billed amount of chemotherapy drugs. A U.S. district court judge in Jackson, Mississippi, said he was “appalled” by Sachdeva’s treatment of her patients at a vulnerable time in their lives. BIDEN SETS RECORD WITH FIRST-TERM CLEMENCY GRANTS, HERE’S HOW OTHERS PRESIDENTS RANK “It’s a very small thing to send this woman to jail for the next 20 years when you compare it to the damage she has done,” U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III said in court. “The health care fraud perpetrated by these defendants was an abuse of public trust motivated by greed,” U.S. attorney Gregory K. Davis said in a statement announcing the original prison sentence for Sachdeva in response to her guilty plea. “We remain committed to protect the integrity of our health care system and will continue to strictly enforce our federal health care laws.” The news comes as certain names on Biden’s clemency list have come under heightened scrutiny. Among those whose sentences were commuted or pardoned are Toyosi Alatishe, who abused his position as patient caretaker for individuals with severe mental deficiencies and physical disabilities by using their personal information to file fraudulent tax returns, and former Pennsylvania judge Michael Conahan, who was convicted in 2011 for his role in a “Kids-for-Cash” scheme, in which children were sent to for-profit detention centers in return for millions of dollars of kickbacks from the private prisons. BIDEN CLEMENCY ANNOUNCEMENT GETS MIXED REVIEWS ON CAPITOL HILL: ‘WHERE’S THE BAR?’ Biden’s clemency in Sachdeva’s case stands out in part from his history of advocacy on behalf of cancer patients. In 2016, then-Vice President Biden launched the Cancer Moonshot, aimed at bringing together cancer researchers and accelerating scientific discovery in cancer research. The initiative was announced shortly after Biden’s son, Beau Biden, died from a rare form of brain cancer. In a statement last week announcing the new clemency actions, Biden said America “was built on the promise of possibility and second chances.” “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for nonviolent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses,” Biden said.
House AI task force says ‘unreasonable’ to expect immediate congressional action on AI in 250-page report
The House task force on artificial intelligence (AI) is urging the U.S. government to aim for “a flexible sectoral regulatory framework” for the technology in a nearly 300-page report released Tuesday morning. The report held up a light-touch approach to regulation, as well as “a thriving innovation ecosystem” as pillars that help keep the U.S. a leader in AI. “If maintained, these strengths will help our country remain the world’s undisputed leader in the responsible design, development, and deployment of AI,” the report read. The task force is led by California Reps. Jay Obernolte, a Republican, and Ted Lieu, a Democrat, and was commissioned by House leaders as Congress scrambles to get ahead of rapidly advancing AI technology. However, the new report cautioned lawmakers to remain fluid to keep up with AI’s evolving nature while making several recommendations on how to approach a “carefully designed, durable policy framework.” DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER “It is unreasonable to expect Congress to enact legislation this year that could serve as its last word on AI policy,” the report read. “Policy will likely need to adapt and evolve in tandem with advances in AI.” The task force also encouraged existing “sector-specific regulators within federal agencies” to “use their existing authority to respond to AI use within their individual domains of expertise and the context of the AI’s use.” While encouraging innovation, however, the report also cautions AI regulators to “focus on human impact and human freedom,” keeping people at the center of their decision-making. More specific recommendations on government use encourage federal offices to use AI to streamline administration and other everyday tasks – but urge them to “be wary of algorithm-informed decision-making.” It also called for more transparency in government use of AI and the adoption of standards for government AI use. The report also acknowledged the harm AI poses to society, particularly in the arena of civil rights. REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY “Improper use of AI can violate laws and deprive Americans of our most important rights,” the report read. “Understanding the possible flaws and shortcomings of AI models can mitigate potentially harmful uses of AI.” It called on the government to explore guardrails for mitigating flaws in decision-making involving AI, and for agencies to be prepared to identify and protect against “discriminatory decision-making.” The task force also encouraged more education on AI literacy in kindergarten through high school to prepare American youth for a world where AI permeates nearly every facet of society. For young adults, it called for the government to help facilitate public-private partnerships in the AI jobs sector. MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN Other recommendations touched on the realms of health care, data privacy, and national security – a testament to AI’s ubiquity. “While the House AI Task Force has engaged in a robust process of interviews, meetings, and stakeholder roundtables, many issues of significant relevance to AI were not fully explored by the Task Force or this report. The House AI Task Force encourages members, committees of jurisdiction, and future congresses to continue to investigate opportunities and challenges related to AI,” the closing pages read. Among those issues are export controls, election integrity, law enforcement, and transportation.