Elon Musk’s official role at Trump’s DOGE ends, but his political impact lingers ahead of midterms
As Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, put it, his role in steering President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has come “to an end.” However, the president, in a social media post on Thursday night announcing that he and Musk would team up for a 1:30 p.m. ET White House news conference on Friday, teased that Musk would continue to help the Trump administration. “This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific!” he wrote. Musk’s political impact on national politics and on next year’s midterm elections — for better or for worse — is far from over and is likely to live on well past his official departure from the Trump administration. WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE Trump, after winning back the White House in last November’s election, created DOGE with marching orders to overhaul and downsize the federal government. Trump named Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX and Trump’s biggest political donor in the 2024 election, to steer the organization. “Elon Musk made the most serious attempt at reducing the size and scope of government in modern political history. It was at times chaotic but impactful,” veteran GOP strategist Ryan Williams told Fox News. Williams predicted that Musk’s “efforts will continue to linger as a political football, but also a guide for Republicans if they’re serious about limiting the growth of the federal government.” After returning to the White House in January, Musk and DOGE quickly swept through federal agencies, rooting out what the new administration argued was billions in wasteful federal spending. Additionally, they took a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, resulting in a massive downsizing of employees. Nothing symbolized Musk’s controversial moves more than his brandishing of a chainsaw during a February appearance at the MAGA-dominated Conservative Political Action Conference, where he touted “how easy” it was to “save billions of dollars sometimes in… an hour.” The moves by DOGE grabbed tons of national attention and triggered a slew of lawsuits in response. Many of DOGE’s cuts in government staffing were stymied or reversed by federal court orders. While DOGE was originally tasked with slashing $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget, the DOGE website earlier this week said that its efforts to date had led to roughly $175 billion in savings due to asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment cuts, in addition to other steps to eliminate costs. MUSK CRITICISM OF TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ FRUSTRATES SOME REPUBLICANS Musk’s arrival in the nation’s capital came with a bang. Thanks to a direct pipeline to the president and his powerful mouthpiece on the social media site X, Musk instantly and repeatedly made headlines with his provocative moves and the targeting of people he did not like, often to the chagrin of Trump administration officials and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Trump repeatedly praised Musk and DOGE’s efforts. “The vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate you, and this whole room can say that very strongly; you have really been a tremendous help,” the president said during a Cabinet meeting four weeks ago, when Musk announced that he would be cutting back on his time spent with DOGE and the Trump administration. However, behind the scenes, there was a lot less harmony. “People got really sick of him really quickly,” a veteran Republican strategist with ties to the administration and Capitol Hill who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News. “He was fun to begin with,” the strategist noted, before adding that “people inside and around the administration and people outside” were tired of Musk “by the end, when he’s sitting in a meeting wearing multiple hats on his head.” Additionally, Musk’s recent criticism of Trump’s sweeping “big beautiful bill,” which passed a major congressional hurdle, did not help matters. While a slew of public opinion polls, including national surveys from Fox News, indicated that Americans like the idea of downsizing the federal government, those same surveys highlighted that the public was far from thrilled with how Musk and DOGE carried out cuts to the federal bureaucracy. WHITE HOUSE REVEALS NEXT STEPS FOR DOGE AFTER MUSK DEPARTURE Musk, who spent nearly $300 million in support of Trump’s 2024 White House victory, quickly became a lightning rod in the handful of off-year and special elections held early this year. Through aligned political groups, Musk dished out roughly $20 million in battleground Wisconsin’s high-profile state Supreme Court race, in support of Trump-backed judge Brad Schimel, the conservative-leaning candidate in the election. Musk, in a controversial move, handed out $1 million checks at a rally in Green Bay two nights ahead of the election to two Wisconsin voters who had already cast ballots in the contest and had signed a petition to stop “activist judges.” Musk, at the rally, donned a cheesehead hat — a foam wedge which resembles a chunk of cheese — that is traditionally worn by devout Green Bay Packers football fans in Wisconsin and across the country. However, Schimel ended up losing by 10 points to the Democratic-aligned candidate in what was supposed to be a close contest. Musk ended up getting tagged with plenty of blame in a race that partially turned into a referendum on his efforts at DOGE. TOP FIVE WILDEST MOMENTS OF MUSK’S DOGE TENURE Democrats repeatedly made Musk the bogeyman in their messaging in Wisconsin’s election and in other contests, and they pledged to continue to target him heading into next year’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their razor-thin House majority and their modest Senate majority. “Top of mind for voters are the pocketbook issues. Democrats are going to win by highlighting the fact that Republicans are failing at lowering costs because they are too busy pushing tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations, while making the rest of us pay for them,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee national
Kentucky Senate Democrat switches parties to GOP in major blow to Dem Gov Andy Beshear
Kentucky state Democratic Sen. Robin Webb, who represents Kentucky’s rural 18th Senate district, is switching her party affiliation to Republican after she says the Democrat Party “left me.” “First and foremost, I’m a mother, a rancher and a lawyer with deep personal and professional roots in Kentucky’s coal country,” Webb explained. “As the Democratic Party continues its lurch to the left and its hyperfocus on policies that hurt workforce and economic development in my region, I no longer feel it represents my values.” TARIFF POLICY IS MAKING IT ‘HARDER’ ON AMERICANS, DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR SAYS “It has become untenable and counterproductive to the best interests of my constituents for me to remain a Democrat.” Webb was originally elected to the Kentucky State House after defeating Republican Ramona Gee in 1998. HOUSE REPUBLICAN ENTERS RACE FOR MITCH MCCONNELL’S SENATE SEAT, SETTING UP HIGH-STAKES GOP PRIMARY This comes as a major blow to Kentucky Democrats, who have historically held a stronghold in rural regions of the state largely due to union workers and the coal industry. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told a local Louisville news outlet that he “would consider” a run as the Democratic nominee for president in 2028, and the newly elected Democratic governor and potential presidential candidate now faces an additional challenge to mobilize his state’s party ahead of the 2026 midterms. “Like countless other Kentuckians, [Webb] has recognized that the policies and objectives of today’s Democratic Party are simply not what they once were, and do not align with the vast majority of Kentuckians,” Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Robert Benvenuti added. REPUBLICAN AGS VISIT US-MEXICO BORDER WALL AS TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ CLEARS EXPANSION FUNDING “I always respected that [Webb] approached issues in a very thoughtful and commonsense manner, and that she never failed to keenly focus on what was best for her constituents,” Benvenuti added. “It is my pleasure to welcome Sen. Robin Webb to the Republican Party.” Despite Beshear serving in the governor’s office, the attorney general’s office, secretary of state and both chambers of the state legislature have a Republican majority. “While it’s cliché, it’s true: I didn’t leave the party — the party left me,” Webb said. Fox News Digital reached out to Governor Andy Beshear’s office but did not receive a response.
ICE agents in Boston arrest migrant murderer, child rapists as Fox News rides along
Fox News embedded exclusively with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the greater Boston area this week, when agents were carrying out the arrests of hundreds of egregious criminal migrants in what the agency said is the largest operation it has undertaken since President Donald Trump returned to office. The sweeping operation, called “Patriot,” is expected to hit 1,500 arrests and is targeting immigrants like a Salvadoran illegal immigrant convicted of child rape who went to prison and was deported in 2017. He was nabbed by ICE living right next to a children’s playground. ICE also swooped on another illegal migrant who is on El Salvador’s most wanted list and has an Interpol Red Notice for aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and robbery. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW GOAL OF 3,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS DAILY Both arrests were captured exclusively on camera by Fox News. ICE deployed 19 teams across Massachusetts this week, and the agency brought in ICE teams from other parts of the country to assist. It is in direct response to Massachusetts and Boston’s sanctuary policies, where officials do not fully enforce or assist with federal immigration laws, as border czar Tom Homan has promised to surge ICE to these areas. Fox News is told that about 70% of the arrests are criminals with convictions or pending charges. ICE TOUTS RECORD-BREAKING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS Patricia Hyde, the head of ICE Boston, said it is not uncommon to see immigrants convicted of child rape roaming public streets close to where children play. “It’s not unusual. Due to the open border policies, we are finding that plenty of people who have been previously deported and committed heinous crimes and were removed from the country are now back here, just living among us,” Hyde said. “And now that’s our job to go round them up.” Fox News also joined ICE as they arrested a Colombian illegal immigrant facing pending charges for sexual assault of a child, as well as a Dominican illegal immigrant with a drug trafficking conviction who is now facing local charges for fentanyl distribution. Meanwhile, other arrests included a Guatemalan illegal immigrant who’s facing charges in Massachusetts for aggravated child rape but was released from state custody. They also arrested a Honduran immigrant who is facing local charges for rape and was also released from local custody. ICE Boston told Fox News that local ICE activists have been interfering in their operations. For instance, on Thursday, activists tried to grab onto an immigrant who had been handcuffed by ICE. In another incident, agents were stalking out an immigrant murderer’s home, and a crowd gathered and blew their cover. Hyde said sanctuary jurisdictions are starting to escalate against ICE. “I think the lack of cooperation is getting worse and worse, and it’s putting law enforcement lives in danger,” Hyde said. Hyde said that ICE agents will continue to round up dangerous criminal illegal migrants, despite pushback from local lawmakers and activists. “We’re not going away. It might take us longer. It might be harder, but we’re not going away, we’re here,” Hyde said. “We know what the American people voted for. We understand that we work for the American people and we’re going to be here until we send everyone home.”
Supreme Court hands Trump win on revoking parole for 500K foreign nationals
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a lower court order that blocked the Trump administration from deporting roughly 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The decision is a near-term victory for President Donald Trump as he moves to crack down on border security and immigration priorities in his second term. The Supreme Court decision stays, for now, a lower court ruling that halted Trump’s plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for some migrants living in the U.S., which allows individuals to live and work in the U.S. legally if they cannot work safely in their home country due to a disaster, armed conflict or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.” Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer asked justices earlier this month to allow the administration to proceed with its decision to revoke the status for the migrants, accusing U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of improperly intruding on the executive branch’s authority over immigration policy. “The district court’s reasoning is untenable,” Sauer told the high court, adding that the program “implicates particularly discretionary, sensitive, and foreign-policy-laden judgments of the Executive Branch regarding immigration policy.”
Inside the late-night drama that led to Trump’s tax bill passing by 1 vote
It was nearly 10 p.m. on a Sunday night when House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., surprised reporters in the hallway of the Cannon House Office Building. The top House Republican was making a low-key — but high-stakes — visit to the House Budget Committee before the panel’s second meeting on President Donald Trump‘s “big, beautiful bill.” The first meeting on May 16 had blown up without resolution when four fiscal hawks balked at the legislation and voted against advancing it to the full House. “The real debate was, is when [we] voted not to approve the budget. And the reason I did that, along with the others, was we needed to make the provisions better,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. “It was our opportunity to make a bill that overall was good, better. And that was the impetus to stop the budget, and then get some concessions. And then when it reached Rules Committee, there really wasn’t that much dissension.” MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE The committee meeting continued with little fanfare, save for Democratic objections to the bill, before one more visit from Johnson, when he signaled the deal was sealed. “I think what is about to happen here is that every member, every Republican member, will give a vote that allows us to proceed forward, and we count that as a big win tonight,” Johnson said. He was right, with the legislation advancing exactly along party lines. Fox News Digital was told that conservatives were anticipating what is called a manager’s amendment, a vehicle with wide flexibility to change legislation, before the House Rules Committee’s vote to advance the bill to the full chamber. The House Rules Committee acts as the final gatekeeper to most bills before a House-wide vote. Trump himself made a rare visit to Capitol Hill the morning of May 20 to urge Republicans to vote for the bill. MCCAUL TOUTS MONEY IN TRUMP TAX BILL TO PAY TEXAS BACK FOR FIGHTING BIDEN BORDER POLICIES House leaders again signaled confidence late on May 21, informing Republicans that they would likely vote soon after the House Rules Committee’s meeting was over. However, that meeting alone had already dragged on for hours, from just after 1 a.m. on May 21 to finally voting on Trump’s tax bill just after 2:30 a.m. on May 22. Lawmakers and reporters alike struggled to stay awake as Democratic lawmakers forced votes on over 500 amendments, largely symbolic, in a bid to drag out the process. Meanwhile, at some point overnight, talks with GOP holdouts went south. The House Freedom Caucus held an impromptu press conference directly after Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., met with Johnson. “The leadership’s going to have to figure out where to go from here,” Harris said. “I think there is a pathway forward that we can see…I’m not sure this can be done this week. I’m pretty confident it could be done in 10 days. But that’s up to leadership to decide.” Harris also said the Freedom Caucus had struck a “deal” with the White House, something a White House official denied. “The White House presented HFC with policy options that the administration can live with, provided they can get the votes,” the official said. However, the manager’s amendment, which finally came out just after 11 p.m. on May 21, eased the concerns of at least several of the fiscal hawks. It bolstered funding to states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included additional tax relief for gun owners, and quickened the implementation of Medicaid work requirements, among other measures. Meanwhile, a small group of those House Freedom Caucus members had also been meeting with a small group of conservative senators who assured them they would seek deep spending cuts in the bill when it landed in the upper chamber, Norman said. MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE “It was our hope that the Senate would come back and even make the cuts deeper, so that the deficit could be cut,” Norman said. The moves were not enough to ease everyone’s concerns, however. Roughly three hours after the amendment’s release, Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Chip Roy, R-Texas, was the only Republican member of the House Rules Committee to miss the key vote. Fox News Digital inquired via text message why Roy missed the vote and was told he was “actually reading the bill…” Nevertheless, it passed by an 8 to 4 vote — prompting House leaders to warn their members to return for what would be an all-night series of voting and debates. Democratic leaders, recognizing they would be sidelined completely if Republicans had enough support on their side, again moved to delay the proceedings. A whip notice sent to House Democrats, obtained by Fox News Digital, warned left-wing lawmakers that “House Republicans are planning to finish debate and vote on final passage of H.R. 1 late tonight.” The notice advised that House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., would force a vote on adjourning the House and that “additional procedural votes are expected.” In a bid to keep Republicans close to the House floor for what was an hourslong night, the speaker set up a side room with snacks and coffee for lawmakers to wait out proceedings. In the House Appropriations Committee room just down the hall, more Republicans were huddled over cigars and other refreshments. The smell of tobacco smoke wafted out as increasingly haggard lawmakers shuffled between the two rooms. Fox News Digital even heard from several lawmakers inquiring when the final vote was expected to be — and wondering whether they had time for a nap themselves. Meanwhile, Fox News Digital spotted Harris and Roy walking the opposite way from the hullabaloo of the House floor, toward the much quieter Longworth House Office Building. Both said they were leaving for more conversations with White House staff before the final vote. SCOOP: HOUSE
Alleged attempt to impersonate White House chief of staff under federal investigation
Federal authorities are probing a scheme to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to individuals familiar with the issue, the Wall Street Journal reported. “The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,” a White House official noted. Senators, governors, American business executives and other people have gotten texts and calls from an individual claiming to be Wiles, individuals familiar with the messages noted, according to the outlet. WHO IS SUSIE WILES, TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF? 5 THINGS TO KNOW FBI officials informed the White House that they do not think another country is involved, some of the people noted, according to the report. Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for comment on Friday morning, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF SUSIE WILES ONCE HELPED NFL BROADCAST LEGEND FATHER PAT SUMMERALL BEAT ALCOHOLISM “The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness,” FBI Director Kash Patel declared in a statement, according to the Journal. “Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority.” The chief of staff informed associates that her phone contacts had been hacked, according to some of the people, the Journal reported. The phone is her personal device, not a government phone, the individuals noted, according to the outlet. Some calls involved a voice which sounded like the chief of staff, individuals who heard them noted, according to the report. Government officials believe the impostor utilized artificial intelligence to mimic her voice, some of the individuals noted. TRUMP NAMES SUSIE WILES AS FIRST FEMALE WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF IN HISTORY CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In some cases involving texts, individuals got requests which they at first thought were official, according to the outlet, which noted that one legislator received a request to develop a list of people who could be pardoned by Trump. But it became evident to some legislators that the asks were suspect when the impostor started posing questions about the president, for which Wiles should have been privy to the answers — and in one instance, when the impostor requested a cash transfer, some of the people noted, according to the outlet. In many instances, the impostor used broken grammar and the messages were too formal compared to how Wiles normally communicates, individuals who received the messages noted, according to the outlet. The calls and texts did not emanate from Wiles’s phone number, according to the report.
Since Floyd riots culled monuments 5 years ago, leaders in ex-Confederate capital lament ‘s—t didn’t change’
Fragments of toppled Civil War monuments still lie in a lot beside Interstate 95, near the Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant—just a stone’s throw from the iconic “Marlboro Cigarette” in South Richmond, the onetime capital of the Confederacy. While Richmond’s tobacco-trading past remains symbolized by that roadside oddity at the Philip Morris plant, it and other cities across the south took swift action to erase reminders of the Civil War and slavery. A report Thursday in the Richmond Times-Dispatch looked back at what has, or moreso hasn’t, transpired as those who had sought the culling of the monuments had hoped in the heat of the George Floyd riots of five years ago this week. Virginia State Del. Mike Jones, D-Richmond, a reported opponent of the monuments, told the paper that “s—t didn’t change when they came down,” and that “real progress” was what was sought in erasing the South’s pro-slavery and secessionist past. DC TO BEGIN RECONSTRUCTING BLM PLAZA “As abhorrent as [they] are, give me life, give me real justice. You can keep your monuments.” Jones told the paper. One statue did find a new home, as Davis is now on display at the city’s Valentine Museum. It still has paint marks on it from when it was besieged by protesters in 2020. Jones told the paper that gun violence and education-related issues still plague minority communities and also took a swipe at President Donald Trump in regard to the lack of change since the Floyd riots and monumental upheaval. VA GOVERNMENT GRINDS TO A HALT AS HOSPITALS, RESIDENTS HIT BY COLOSSAL WATER PLANT FAILURE “We didn’t really get the monuments because the spirit of [them] is in the White House right now,” he told the Times-Dispatch. While monuments have either been toppled by protesters or removed by municipalities across the South, Richmond – as expected due to its past as the C.S.A. capital – had many in prominent places. The city’s tree-lined Monument Avenue was reduced to a series of traffic circles around unremarkable granite pedestals after the removal of effigies of Gens. Robert E. Lee, James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart, President Jefferson Davis, and local scientist-turned-Confederate Naval officer Matthew Maury. Then-Gov. Ralph Northam’s efforts to remove the last of the monuments, Lee’s, were briefly blocked by a court – as it was originally constructed through private donations and the help of then-Democratic Gov. Fitzhugh Lee; the general’s nephew. While efforts to rename Robert E. Lee Bridge on U.S. 301 – the major pre-I-95 crossing of the James River – have appeared to stall, signage that once greeted travelers bound for Petersburg is now muted. Fox News Digital reached out to lieutenant governor candidate Levar Stoney—who, as Richmond’s mayor, led the effort to remove the monuments—for comment on reports that the removal has brought little meaningful change. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP During his mayorship, Stoney said in a video statement that protesters attempted to take down monuments themselves while the coronavirus raged, and that in response to the risk of “serious illness, injury or death.” “It is past time, as the capital city of Virginia, we have needed to turn this page for decades,” Stoney said, adding the city and “residents of color” had been “burdened” by its historical role as CSA capital. Fox News Digital also reached out to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, as well as Republicans in the greater Richmond area, for their response to the current sentiments, but did not hear back by press time. One Republican lawmaker told Fox News Digital the situation shows the focus should have been, and should be, on directly addressing crime and pressing issues like the city’s water shortage crisis, which reemerged this week after Richmond and even the State Capitol were stopped in their tracks due to a catastrophic utility failure earlier this year.
New book exposes Biden’s ‘scripted’ Cabinet meetings amid alleged cognitive decline cover-up
Former President Joe Biden‘s Cabinet meetings were overly “scripted,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson reveal in their book, “Original Sin,” an outline of Biden’s cognitive decline and his administration’s alleged cover-up. “The Cabinet meetings were terrible and at times uncomfortable – and they were from the beginning,” a Cabinet member told the authors. “I don’t recall a great Cabinet meeting in terms of his presence. They were so scripted.” The White House’s speechwriters shortened Biden’s remarks and shrank his vocabulary to adapt to “Biden’s diminished capabilities,” according to Tapper and Thompson. During his one-term presidency, Biden’s aides told the journalists that he became increasingly reliant on teleprompters and note cards, even for private conversations and in Cabinet meetings. Four Cabinet members who spoke with Tapper and Thompson described Biden’s meetings as overly scripted. One Cabinet secretary said he hated “the scripts” for Cabinet meetings, while another doubted in 2022 that he could run for re-election. CREDIBILITY CRISIS: WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS SPEAK OUT ON WHETHER BIDEN’S MENTAL DECLINE WAS DELIBERATELY HIDDEN “You want people to tell you the truth and have a real dialogue, and those meetings were not that,” a Cabinet member told Tapper and Thompson. NEW BOOK REVEALS BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE WORRIED ABOUT HIS AGE YEARS BEFORE BOTCHED DEBATE PERFORMANCE However, as Biden’s bad speeches and reliance on note cards became common practice, a speechwriter told Tapper and Thompson that over time, “they just got used to it.” The story behind closed doors was inconsistent with the White House’s narrative, according to “Original Sin.” In January 2024, the White House convened a meeting with Biden, his national security advisers and congressional leadership to urge Congress to continue financially supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described Biden as “incredibly strong, forceful, and decisive,” and the official White House readout said Biden was “clear” about protecting national security and “underscored the importance of Congress ensuring Ukraine has the resources it needs.” However, a House Democrat who attended the meeting said, “That’s not true,” Tapper and Thompson wrote. A second House Democrat described the meeting as a “disaster,” and a “s—show.” “For the first twenty minutes of the meeting, the president listlessly read bullet points out of a binder. For many at the table, he was difficult to hear. He stumbled over words; he started sentences and then stopped abruptly; he trailed off,” Tapper and Thompson said. A House Democrat said he was “not capable of making a strong, forceful argument,” and deferred to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Intelligence Director Avril Haines to answer questions, as outlined in “Original Sin.” Tapper and Thompson described a concerning event for senior administration officials on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. After reading a “weak, slurry” speech from a teleprompter, Biden confused Alabama with Texas and then his own Cabinet members, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “I blame his inner circle, and I blame him,” an official who found the event “crazy” told the authors a year later. As Cabinet members observed concerning practices that accompanied Biden’s day-to-day meetings, Tapper and Thompson described how the president’s circle grew smaller and smaller in 2023 and 2024. “Access dropped off considerably in 2024, and I didn’t interact with him as much,” a Cabinet secretary told the authors. “I didn’t get an explanation.” The Cabinet secretary said they briefed senior White House aides who would then communicate the information to the president themselves. They questioned if it was the White House’s way of filtering information to shape his decisions. “I think the people around him had their own agenda, and they didn’t want more people around him,” another Cabinet member told Tapper and Thompson. The Cabinet members who spoke to Tapper and Thompson described a “weird period” when they didn’t have any access to Biden for months between 2023 and 2024. They described it as a “deliberate strategy by the White House to have him meet with as few people as necessary.” When they did see him, they said they were shocked at how “disoriented” and “out of it” he seemed, mumbling and “not making much sense.” Fox News Digital has written extensively dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign about Biden’s cognitive decline and his inner circle’s alleged role in covering it up. A Biden spokesperson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Move over, Black Hawk: Army unveils the MV-75, tiltrotor aircraft to replace iconic assault chopper
The U.S. Army is preparing to retire its iconic Black Hawk helicopters — the workhorses of its air assault fleet for nearly five decades — in favor of a faster, more versatile aircraft built for the challenges of 21st-century warfare. Bell Aircraft’s V-280 Valor, a cutting-edge tiltrotor aircraft, has been selected to begin phasing out the Black Hawk by the 2030s. Once fully deployed, it will be designated the MV-75, though a common nickname has yet to emerge. The Valor combines the vertical lift capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane, cruising at 320 mph — nearly double the Black Hawk’s top speed of 175 mph. This hybrid design, enabled by tiltrotor technology, allows the MV-75 to hover, land vertically in tight spaces, and then shift into high-speed horizontal flight. It’s tailor-made for operations in the Indo-Pacific region, where U.S. forces must be able to travel long distances over the ocean and conduct rapid insertions into constrained environments, such as jungle clearings or island terrain without runways. Fox News Digital recently took a tour of Bell’s Advanced Vertical Lift Center in Crystal City, Virginia. BILLIONS SPENT, WARFIGHTERS WAIT: INSIDE THE PENTAGON’S BROKEN BUYING SYSTEM AND THE PLAN TO FIX IT “The Army recognized that the battlefield has changed,” Rob Freeland, Bell’s director of government relations and public affairs, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “The enemy now has long-range fires, advanced sensors, and robust networks. You have to move faster and strike before they do.” Speed and range are at the heart of this transformation. As Freeland put it: “If you can move at twice the speed and range of your adversary, you can change the outcome before they can react.” The MV-75 is designed to carry up to 14 troops and haul payloads of 10,000 pounds, making it ideal for rapid troop deployments, heavy resupply and surprise assault missions. It will also feature autonomous and semi-autonomous capabilities, a leap forward in reducing pilot workload and enabling future unmanned operations. The V-280 Valor beat out a proposed joint Sikorsky-Boeing compound helicopter platform dubbed the SB-1 Defiant-X in 2019 for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. The Army has contracted Texas-based aerospace company Bell to build six prototypes, conduct the first test flight by 2026 and begin full-scale production by 2028, with delivery targeted for 2030. However, leadership has expressed interest in accelerating that schedule under the Army Transformation Initiative. “We’re not waiting for a distant out-year to make this thing real,” said Gen. James Mingus, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, speaking at the Mission Solutions Summit earlier this month. “We are driving to get this aircraft online years ahead of schedule.” HEGSETH ORDERS SWEEPING ARMY OVERHAUL AND CONSOLIDATION AIMED AT COUNTERING CHINA AND GOLDEN DOME CAPABILITIES The “MV” designation reflects the aircraft’s multi-mission and vertical takeoff capabilities. It’s built for a broad range of missions, including air assault, maritime interdiction, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), combat search and rescue, and tactical resupply. The first unit to receive the MV-75 will be the 101st Airborne Division, the Army’s elite air assault force. One of the Army’s priorities in selecting a replacement was reliability. After years of dealing with aging helicopters requiring frequent maintenance, the Army is demanding aircraft that can stay in the fight with minimal downtime. “Because it’s inherently reliable, you don’t need a mountain of gear next to you just to keep the aircraft flying,” said Freeland. The MV-75 program is part of a broader Pentagon push to modernize U.S. military capabilities in an era defined by strategic competition with China. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Since entering service in the late 1970s, the UH-60 Black Hawk has been the backbone of Army aviation. It has flown in nearly every major U.S. military operation over the past 40 years, from evacuating wounded troops in Grenada and Panama, to supporting combat and logistics missions in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Black Hawk was infamously involved in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, and became a household name through its depiction in the 1999 book and 2001 movie “Black Hawk Down.” Its versatility, durability and ability to perform under fire made it a symbol of American air power — but after decades of use, its replacement will need to adapt to the evolving battlefield.
SCOOP: Top congressional committees launch probe into Nashville mayor accused of blocking ICE
FIRST ON FOX: Two powerful committees in the House of Representatives are opening an investigation into another Democratic official accused of blocking federal immigration authorities. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., is leading a probe into Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell alongside Nashville-area Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn, Fox News Digital learned Friday. Ogles had been petitioning leaders for weeks to look into O’Connell after the Democratic leader publicly denounced Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in his city and signed an executive order aimed at tracking ICE movements in the area. The probe is being supported by the House Judiciary Committee, which is led by Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., chair of the subcommittee for immigration enforcement. SCOOP: HOUSE GOP MEMO HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN WINS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ “The Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Homeland Security of the U.S. House of Representatives are conducting oversight of state and local jurisdictions that endanger American communities through efforts aimed at thwarting the work of federal immigration officials,” the four leaders wrote in a letter to O’Connell. “While the state of Tennessee has outlawed sanctuary policies, recent actions from your office threaten to chill immigration enforcement in the City of Nashville and Davidson County. Accordingly, we write to request information about how your recent actions, including a directive to Nashville and Davidson County employees to disclose their communications with federal immigration officials, affects the robust enforcement of immigration law.” The lawmakers said O’Connell’s executive order, which mandated that government employees report interactions with federal immigration authorities, “could have a chilling effect on the ability of local law enforcement to communicate freely and candidly with federal immigration employees.” “In fact, your chief lawyer recently admitted that it was an ‘open question’ whether an individual could legally ‘announce in advance that there’s an impending enforcement activity,’” they wrote. MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE “This statement, when viewed in context of your order requiring all Metro law-enforcement officers to report about communications with ICE personnel, raises the prospect that Metro employees may use nonpublic information to warn criminal aliens of planned ICE enforcement operations. In other words, there is the real potential that your Executive Order could have the effect of diminishing ICE enforcement operations.” It comes after ICE agents working with the Tennessee Highway Patrol arrested nearly 200 people the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said were illegal immigrants – many of them criminals with gang affiliations or other sordid pasts. The DHS news release targeted O’Connell by name over comments he made in early May. “What’s clear today is that people who do not share our values of safety and community have the authority to cause deep community harm.” MCCAUL TOUTS MONEY IN TRUMP TAX BILL TO PAY TEXAS BACK FOR FIGHTING BIDEN BORDER POLICIES After the arrests, O’Connell signed an executive order aimed at tracking peoples’ interactions with federal immigration authorities, according to WSMV4. He said of ICE’s work in his city, “It’s important for us to get this right, and it’s very frustrating to see a failure in the process.” O’Connell also helped launch the Nashville government’s nonprofit, “The Belonging Fund,” to help illegal immigrants pay for urgent care needs. The fund’s website states that “donations to the fund are made possible solely by individual donors and private organizations – no government dollars are included. That means no taxpayer dollars are being used in the administration or distribution of this fund.” Republicans, however, have questioned whether that is true. “The recipients of these funds are untraceable, and the purpose seems crystal clear: help illegal foreigners evade the law,” Ogles told Fox News Digital. “I refuse to sit back while our communities are overrun — while our neighborhoods are destroyed and our daughters are assaulted. And I doubly refuse to stay silent while blue city mayors aid and abet this invasion.” O’Connell is now one of several Democratic leaders locked in an immigration fight with the Trump administration. House Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was charged by the Justice Department with assaulting an officer after she and two other House Democrats forced their way into a Newark ICE detention center, charges McIver has dismissed as political. Fox News Digital reached out to the Nashville mayor’s office for comment on the letter.