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.
Rand Paul suggests replacing Mike Johnson with Elon Musk as Speaker of the House
The chaotic collapse of the continuing resolution spending bill is putting House Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership under the spotlight and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has floated the idea of replacing him with Elon Musk, President-elect Trump’s pick to co-chair his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Paul took to Musk’s X Thursday morning to pitch the idea of the tech billionaire taking the House Speaker’s gavel, noting that the Speaker does not need to be a sitting member of Congress. “The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress… Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk… think about it… nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds),” wrote Paul, a staunchly libertarian conservative on fiscal matters. HOUSE GOP LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR PLAN B AFTER TRUMP, MUSK LEAD CONSERVATIVE FURY AGAINST SPENDING BILL Musk, an outspoken critic of government waste, has weighed in on the spending bill debate and led a conservative revolt against the latest plan due to its bloated spending provisions – calling for lawmakers who supported the bill to lose their seats. “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote on X. The legislation has angered conservatives, including President-elect Trump who also called for it to be scrapped. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., confirmed to reporters that the deal was dead while leaving the Capitol on Wednesday night. It came after GOP critics of the spending bill spent much of the day attacking Johnson’s handling of the issue. It’s unclear if Paul was serious in his suggestion or if the post was made with tongue-in-cheek. Democratic political strategist Jimmy Williams balked at the idea. “Senators should stick to Senating and House Members should stick to their Chamber,” Williams wrote on X. “No House Member gives a damn what a Senator thinks about who should be Speaker.” However, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., backed the idea. “I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House,” Greene wrote on X replying to Paul. “DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way.” Johnson ascended to the speakership after former House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted late last year in a move initiated by eight Republican rebels, becoming the first House speaker to be voted out of the position in U.S. history. ‘SHELL SHOCKED’ KEVIN MCCARTHY WILL NOT RUN FOR HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN FOLLOWING REMOVAL House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D- N.Y., said last week that no Democrats will vote for Johnson’s bill, scheduled for Jan. 3. With Republicans set to hold a four–seat majority, Johnson retaining the gavel is not guaranteed. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Wednesday that he won’t vote for Johnson, barring a “Christmas miracle.” Earlier this year, Massie supported Greene in pushing to remove Johnson from the speakership, but the vast majority of members in both parties ultimately voted to spike the ouster effort. With Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., saying she will no longer caucus with Republicans while remaining a registered Republican, that may reduce Johnson’s support to a single vote. Paul is not the only senator to weigh in on Johnson’s leadership. On Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, took aim at the House Speaker for the chaotic situation playing out on Capitol Hill and suggested change. “It’s ridiculous. It’s a horrible plan. I can’t believe that Republican leadership ever cooked it up,” Hawley told Hannity. “Clearly, they didn’t talk to Trump about it, and I tell you what, we need to have a serious look at who’s leading this Congress because if this is the best they could do, I mean, it’s just it’s total incompetence, this is a disaster.” Hawley said the latest plan would saddle the incoming administration with a “terrible spending bill” and it would need to be revisited again in March. “Under this bill, they’d shut the government down again, have to do this all over again, have to raise the debt ceiling again later, the same year.” “This bill right here would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit, and the worst part is, it is all for Dem priorities.” Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
Dems complain ‘President Musk’ running the show on GOP spending drama
House Democrats fumed Thursday over the spending bill drama and what they characterized as the outsize influence of Elon Musk and others in President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit, after a bipartisan plan brokered by House Speaker Mike Johnson collapsed just hours earlier. Speaking to reporters outside a leadership meeting on Thursday, House Democrats expressed disappointment in Republicans for walking away from the negotiated argument, and many accused them of appearing to take clues from Elon Musk. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., labeled the billionaire X owner “President Musk” while speaking to reporters Thursday. “For the Republicans, for President Musk to come in at the last moment and blow up the deal is just intolerable,” Nadler said. “You have to negotiate, and you have to be able to enforce what you’re negotiating, and what was negotiated was a very good deal for the American people.” JOHNSON HIT WITH POSSIBLE SPEAKERSHIP RIVALS AS CONSERVATIVES REBEL OVER GOVERNMENT FUNDING PLAN Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said their caucus is “disappointed” in House Speaker Johnson, saying it appeared as though Musk is “president” and Trump “vice president.” This was echoed by Rep. Greg Casar, D-Tex. “My main question is just if Elon Musk is kind of cosplaying co-president here, I don’t know why Trump doesn’t just hand him the Oval Office.” “Speaker Johnson should maybe just hand Elon Musk the gavel if they just want that billionaire to run the country,” Casar told reporters outside a House Democrat leadership meeting. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INTERIM SPENDING BILL House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., was emotional as she expressed her frustration with the protracted negotiation and a changed debt ceiling agreement, saying that in her view, Republicans “need to do the right thing for once.” She noted that she has “thousands of neighbors” and others in her district who are waiting for disaster aid or for a Small Business Administration loan. “”Those are the loans that help people repair their homes. Those are the loans that help small businesses get back on their feet.” She noted that Republicans did not replenish those funds when they did the last spending bill, so in the meantime, these people “have been left out in the lurch.” “I just wanted to point out that this kind of chaos and dysfunction has real world impacts on hardworking people, and it’s irresponsible and wrong,” she said. Musk’s team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for a response to the comments on his role in the spending bill negotiations.
Alex Soros and Huma Abedin hold star-studded engagement party at Anna Wintour’s home: Photos
FIRST ON FOX: Several celebrities and media figures turned out in New York City on Wednesday night for liberal mega donor Alex Soros and former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s engagement party. Fox News Digital obtained photos of guests leaving the engagement party, which took place at the SoHo home of Vogue executive Anna Wintour, showing former President Bill Clinton and Hillary attending the party along with MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Also in attendance were Hollywood couple Adrian Brody and Georgina Chapman, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg and her husband, media mogul Barry Diller. Soros and Abedin announced their engagement on social media over the summer, with Soros sharing a photo of himself down on one knee. ELON MUSK WANTS TO MEET ALEX SOROS — AND SOROS SAYS HE’S OPEN TO IT “This happened…we couldn’t be happier, more grateful, or more in love,” Soros wrote in an Instagram post. Abedin, the 48-year-old longtime aide to former Secretary of State Clinton, revealed to the public earlier this year that she was getting romantic with the 38-year-old Soros in a Valentine’s Day post on Instagram, showing the pair cozying up behind a table full of roses at a restaurant booth in Paris. EX-CLINTON AIDE HUMA ABEDIN ENGAGED TO GEORGE SOROS’ SON The engagement of the progressive power couple comes seven years after she separated from her first husband, disgraced Democratic politician Anthony Weiner. She filed for divorce in 2017, although it was not finalized until years later. Abedin has been a staunch Clinton ally since she began interning for the former first lady in the White House back in 1996. She went on to work for her as a top aide in the State Department, the Clinton Foundation, as well as Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. She joined MSNBC in 2022. Soros, 39, has been making headlines ever since he took control of his father’s mammoth multibillion-dollar Open Society Foundations in June 2023. Since then, he has been jet-setting around and meeting with top Democratic officials, former President Clinton and even attending meetings with Pope Francis. Soros has also visited President Biden’s White House at least 20 times, records show. Soros has posted dozens of photos of himself and leading House and Senate Democrats since 2018. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California appear the most often on his social media feeds. He also posted a photo with Vice President Kamala Harris, writing, “Great to recently catch up with Madame Vice President, [Kamala Harris]!” Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Emma Woodhead contributed to this report
Trump cheers disqualification of ‘corrupt’ Fani Willis, says case is ‘entirely dead’
EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Trump reacted to the Georgia Court of Appeals decision to disqualify “corrupt” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team, telling Fox News Digital that the case “is entirely dead” and that the “wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years” should “receive an apology.” The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday disqualified Willis and her team from prosecuting Trump and co-defendants in her election interference case. The court did not toss the indictment but declared that Willis and her team now have “no authority to proceed.” In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said the “whole case has been a disgrace to justice.” “It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” he said, “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.” Trump said the case “should not be allowed to go any further.” “There is no way such corrupt people can lead a case, and then it gets taken over by somebody else,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “It was a corrupt case, so how could it be taken over by someone else?” “The case has to be thrown out because it was started corruptly by an incompetent prosecutor who received millions of dollars through her boyfriend – who received it from her – and then they went on cruises all the time,” Trump said, referring to Willis’ relationship with a former special prosecutor on her team, Nathan Wade. Willis hired Wade, her alleged partner, to prosecute Trump and benefited financially from the relationship in the form of vacations the two took using funds that his law firm received for working the case. “Therefore, the case is entirely dead,” Trump said. “Everybody should receive an apology, including those wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years.” Willis’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that “in granting President Trump an overwhelming mandate, the American people have demanded an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all the Witch Hunts against him.” “We look forward to uniting our country as President Trump Makes America Great Again,” Cheung said. Willis charged Trump out of her investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Trump was charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. And on Thursday, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court “erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office.” “The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring,” the decision states. The court said while it recognizes that “an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.” “Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of the appellants’ motion to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the filing states. “As we conclude that the elected district attorney is wholly disqualified from this case, ‘the assistant district attorneys – whose only power to prosecute a case is derived from the constitutional authority of the district attorney who appointed them – have no authority to proceed,’” the decision states.
Georgia appeals court disqualifies DA Fani Willis from Trump election interference case
A Georgia court of appeals disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting President-elect Trump in his election interference case on Thursday. The court did not go all the way to throw out Trump’s indictment, but Willis and the assistant DAs working in her office now have “no authority to proceed.” This is a breaking story. Check back soon for updates.