Recently ousted Dem senator said he’s ‘getting the f— out of here’ when asked about presidential pardon
Sen. Jon Tester is getting testy with reporters during his remaining weeks in Congress after being booted from his long-held Montana Senate seat. President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, on Sunday, absolving him of any charges for crimes he “committed or may have committed” between January 2014 and December 2024. On Monday, Tester was asked about Biden’s controversial move to pardon his son, to which the senator offered a rather blunt response. “I’m one month from getting the f— out of here,” he said with a smile, according to CNN and other outlets. “Ask somebody who counts.” NAVY SEAL TIM SHEEHY OUSTS 3-TERM SEN. JON TESTER IN MONTANA SENATE RACE The comment comes nearly one month after the three-term Montana Democrat was ousted by Republican Navy SEAL Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy in one of the most closely watched races of the 2024 cycle. MONTANA’S ROAD TO RED: HOW THE STATE SHIFTED TO ALL GOP LEADERSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER 100 YEARS While Tester did not answer the question, Democrats on Capitol Hill have been speaking out against Biden’s decision to relieve his son from facing any potential federal charges over the course of the past decade. “President Biden’s decision to pardon his son was wrong. A president’s family and allies shouldn’t get special treatment. This was an improper use of power, it erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich, wrote in a post on X. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., also said that Biden’s decision “further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.” Efforts to reach Tester’s office for comment at press time were unsuccessful.
Mar-a-Lago trumps White House as president-elect overshadows Biden on world stage
President Biden enjoyed a warm welcome from a crowd of thousands as he arrived in Angola this week, as the president made good on his long awaited first visit to sub-Saharan Africa. Biden, likely on his last overseas trip before President-elect Donald Trump takes over in the White House next month, is already being overshadowed on the world stage by his predecessor and successor. “The Oval Office has been replaced by Mar-a-Lago,” Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served at the State Department during Trump’s first term, told Fox News. Additionally, Matt Mowers, a veteran GOP national public affairs strategist and former diplomat at the State Department during Trump’s first administration, made the case that “Joe Biden’s essentially been a lame duck” for months and that “world leaders have been shifting their gaze to the next administration.” WHAT TRUMP TOLD CANADA’S LEADER BEHIND CLOSED DOORS Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and president of New England College, highlighted that “while President-elect is still weeks away from taking the oath of office, loyalties and the attention of world leaders has shifted to the incoming President and from Washington to Mar-a-lago with breathtaking speed.” While members of the Biden White House would likely disagree with such sentiments – especially after the current administration played a large role in hammering out the cease-fire that halted fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah – it is undeniable that world leaders have already started to engage directly with the incoming president and administration. TRUMP GETS READY TO MAKE A SPLASH ON THE WORLD STAGE Trump will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron after the French president invited him to attend Saturday’s star-studded VIP event for the official reopening of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after a devastating fire wrecked the Paris landmark. The president-elect’s appearance will serve as Trump’s unofficial return to the global stage, and it is another reminder that he is quickly becoming the center of the world’s attention. The trip to Paris comes a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hastily made an unannounced stop in Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump after the president-elect threatened a trade war with Canada and Mexico. Trump argued that Canada had failed to prevent large amounts of drugs and undocumented people from crossing the northern border into the U.S. and also pointed to America’s massive trade deficit with Canada. According to reporting from Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump suggested to Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state. Trump also weighed in this week in the volatile Middle East, warning in a social media post that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas does not release all the hostages held in Gaza before he is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Hours later, Trump pledged to block the purchase of U.S. Steel – a top American manufacturer – by the Japanese company Nippon Steel. “I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump said on social media. “As President, I will block this deal from happening.” Trump, who reiterated comments he made earlier this year on the presidential campaign trail, is on the same page as Biden, who has vowed that U.S. Steel will remain American-owned. Biden’s trip to Africa is putting a spotlight on his administration’s commitment to the continent, which has increasingly been courted by massive investments from China. Biden is also highlighting America’s wide-ranging effort to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa, a continent Trump never visited during his first term in the White House. However, the president’s trip will be overshadowed by Trump’s upcoming stop in France, as the president-elect is increasingly courted by world leaders. While the spotlight traditionally shifts from the outgoing to the incoming president, Mowers argued that “it is more pronounced this time because the difference in the Biden and Trump approach to foreign policy is so different.” Mowers emphasized that Trump is already aiming “to shape world events” by “being bold, not timid, in the statements he’s putting out, and the world is already reacting to that kind of American strength.” Bartlett noted that “the world is demanding leadership.” Mowers added that “world leaders that want to get something done… have to engage with Trump.” Lesperance, pointing to Biden’s swing through Africa, noted that lame duck presidents’ final weeks are “usually filled with celebratory moments and efforts to cement one’s legacy. Often the focus is on their role on the world stage on behalf of America and its allies.’ However, he argued that “Biden’s pronouncements on Ukraine, Gaza and the importance of climate change go largely ignored by world leaders. Instead, they focus on Trump’s picks for his foreign policy team and pronouncements about changes in U.S. foreign policy position. It’s pretty evident that while Biden attempts a victory tour, the world has turned the page.”
Dem lawmaker joins Republican-led DOGE Caucus with push to remove Secret Service from DHS
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., announced on Tuesday that he would be joining the House of Representatives’ DOGE Caucus, becoming the first Democrat in the now-biparisan group. He advocated for removing the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) from the purview of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), something floated by several Republican lawmakers months ago. “Today I will join the Congressional DOGE Caucus, because I believe that streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue,” Moskowitz said in a statement. ELON MUSK SAYS THERE’S SUBSTANTIAL IGNORANCE ABOUT AMERICA’S NATIONAL DEBT The DOGE Caucus, standing for Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency, was launched by Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Aaron Bean, R-Fla., soon after President-elect Donald Trump announced a DOGE advisory panel to be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. “I’ve been clear that there are ways we can reorganize our government to make it work better for the American people. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security, while very necessary, has gotten too big,” Moskowitz said. He suggested USSS, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), should become “independent federal agencies with a direct report to the White House.” “It’s not practical to have 22 agencies under this one department. I look forward to working in a bipartisan manner with my colleagues to remove FEMA and Secret Service from DHS,” Moskowitz said. MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN AFTER TRUMP ENDORSEMENT It is a particularly notable position for the Florida Democrat to take, considering his deep familiarity with both agencies. Before coming to Congress, Moskowitz served as Florida’s director of Emergency Management under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. He has also previously pushed to decouple FEMA from DHS alongside Rep. Garret Graves, R-La. As a lawmaker, he is also a member of the bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempts against Trump. US NATIONAL DEBT HITS A NEW RECORD: $36 TRILLION The DOGE Caucus is one of several overtures by House Republicans to get in step with Musk and Ramaswamy’s new mission. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., recently announced the next Congress would see a special subcommittee on government efficiency led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Senate Democrats name top leadership positions after losing chamber majority
Senate Democrats held a closed-door election Tuesday morning to name who would fill their top leadership posts for the next two years, most notably filling the No. 3 position held by a retiring longtime lawmaker. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was unanimously re-elected to serve as Democratic leader and chair of the conference next year, per a Senate Democratic leadership source, holding on to the top position in the chamber among his Democratic colleagues. “I am honored and humbled to be chosen by my colleagues to continue leading Senate Democrats during this crucial period for our country,” Schumer said in a statement following Tuesday’s election. “We have a lot of work ahead – in the Senate and as a country – and in this upcoming Congress, our caucus will continue to fight for what’s best for America’s working class.” Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will also remain in the party’s No. 2 position as Democratic minority whip next cycle. However, the No. 3 spot in the senate will have new representation. ‘IT’S A SETBACK’: DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE BIDEN OVER HUNTER PARDON Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has served in the No. 3 position of policy and communications committee chair for several years, but the position was up for grabs after the senator did not seek re-election this cycle. SENATE CONFIRMING KASH PATEL AS FBI DIRECTOR IS A ‘BIG QUESTION MARK,’ EXPERT ARGUES Democratic senators selected Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to assume the No. 3 position after being tapped to chair the steering and policy committee. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will also take on a leadership role in the next Congress, being elevated on Tuesday to chair the strategic communications committee, the fourth-highest ranking position in the Senate minority. Other notable nominations include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as vice chair of the conference, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., as vice chair of the conference, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as chair of outreach, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., as senate Democratic conference secretary. Republican senators recently held their own leadership election for next year when they will have the majority in the chamber, electing Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to take over the role of Senate majority leader. Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Joe Wilson gifts ‘chip of the Berlin Wall’ to GOP lawmakers in bid for top committee spot
FIRST ON FOX: A senior GOP lawmaker is getting creative with his campaign to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee next year. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is giving fellow lawmakers chips from the Berlin Wall, according to a photo provided by a source to Fox News Digital. An inscription accompanying the chip suggests Wilson got the pieces himself nearly 35 years ago, an indirect affirmation of his decades of foreign affairs work. “This symbolizes the collapse of totalitarian communism and the success of democratic capitalism,” the elaborate display reads. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ It said the chip was “secured by State Senator Joe Wilson on June 12, 1990, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.” “Sen. Wilson was returning from service as a member of the U.S. Observation Delegation of the June 10, 1990, parliamentary elections in the Republic of Bulgaria, that country’s first free elections after 59 years of Nazi and Communist dictatorship,” it said. The race for the House Foreign Affairs Committee gavel is one of the most critical happening ahead of the 119th Congress. The role will be of particular importance in U.S. relations with the rest of the globe next year, when Republicans are set to control all the main levers of power in Washington, D.C. REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA Wilson is running against fellow committee members Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif. The subcommittee chair for Oversight & Accountability, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., is also in the race. Wilson is chair of the panel’s subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Current Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is stepping aside in order to adhere to House Republicans’ internal conference rules that mandate a lawmaker serve no more than three terms in the top spot on a committee. MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN AFTER TRUMP ENDORSEMENT “It has been an honor to serve as your Chairman and leader for the last six years,” McCaul wrote to colleagues in a message obtained by Fox News Digital. “[O]ut of respect for the will of the Conference, I intend to abide by these rules and support new leadership.” “Serving as Chairman has truly been the most rewarding highlight of my career in Congress! I would like to thank all of you for your hard work and patriotism in confronting the major challenges we face across the Globe.” Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson’s office for comment.
‘Common sense’: Top red state official rallies behind governor signing ‘bathroom bill’ into law
EXCLUSIVE: Ohio’s Republican lieutenant governor is defending his state’s recent enactment of a “bathroom bill” preventing biological males from using female bathrooms and says it is part of a cultural shift in the country where Americans are uniting on the issue. “It’s a sad situation that in this time in life that we actually need to pass a law that says that boys should go to boys’ bathrooms and girls should go to girls’ bathrooms,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told Fox News Digital. “But that indeed is the case because we have colleges and some high schools where they blurred the lines. And we need to make sure that there are safe places, particularly for young women, to go to the bathroom, be in a locker room, be in a safe place,” Husted said. “And it’s truly unbelievable that we had to pass a law to guarantee that. It’s just hard to believe that there are adults in this world who think it would be OK for boys, biological boys, to be in girls’ locker rooms.” Husted was reacting to news that Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the Protect All Students Act, dubbed the “bathroom bill,” after the state Senate passed the bill 24-7 on a party-line vote. SPEAKER JOHNSON ANNOUNCES NEW CAPITOL BATHROOM POLICY IN RESPONSE TO CONTROVERSY OVER TRANS HOUSE MEMBER The bill applies to public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. It requires schools to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations “for the exclusive use” of either males and females, based on one’s gender assigned at or near birth, in both school buildings and facilities used for a school-sponsored event. Husted told Fox News Digital the bill represents “common sense.” “People really are just shocked that anyone thinks it’s OK that you would have a bathroom, that a biological male could go into a female bathroom and that you could have a locker room where a biological male could go into a female locker room,” Husted said. “It’s just common sense in most people if you go around Ohio. That’s what everybody’s going to say to you is like, how can this really be? How can a high school do this? Well, I can assure them that I know that is indeed the case because the high school that my own daughters attend has bathrooms that boys and girls are allowed to be in at the same time,” he continued. “They have non-gendered bathrooms.” ACLU VOWS TO OPPOSE TRUMP POLICIES ON LGBT ISSUES, ABORTION AND DEPORTATIONS “That was something that the community fought against, that the school board then filed lawsuits so they could get variances to the building code to build bathrooms like this. And despite all of that opposition, they still went forward with it. But now we have a new law. We have a law in the state of Ohio that will protect against those kinds of things from happening.” Ohio became the 12th state to pass an iteration of a bathroom bill and while critics like the ACLU and LGBT activist groups have voiced opposition and suggested they will challenge the law in court, Husted told Fox News Digital he is confident the bill will withstand any legal challenge. “It’s on solid legal ground,” Husted said. “They went through the hearing process, went through the process of addressing all those questions before drafting the bill and passing it and sending it to the governor’s desk.” “I’m 100% confident that this will stand any legal scrutiny… I want to reiterate this. It is unfortunate that we need to pass a law because the adults in the lives of these children and young women should be clearly standing up for them. They shouldn’t, we shouldn’t have to pass a law. This is common sense,” Husted continued. Husted told Fox News Digital the bill is “about protecting the privacy of girls” and “trying to make sure that they have safe places to be” and said Americans across the United States, of both parties, are starting to unite as part of a “cultural shift” on the issue of protecting biological girls in schools and in sports. “There absolutely was,” Husted said about the cultural shift. “Look, that was part of the last election that was run and there were hundreds of millions of dollars across the country in the presidential and congressional races spent on that. Donald Trump or Republicans would stand for you and not ‘they/them.’” “We all saw the ads. We all know that they were part of the conversation this last election, that people don’t believe that biological men should play women’s sports. They don’t believe that biological men should be in women’s locker rooms or bathrooms,” Husted said. “That was clearly one of the major issues that divided Democrats and Republicans. Republicans are standing up for those protections. And I believe that you’re starting to hear even Democrats say, ‘Hey, maybe we ought to rethink this. Maybe we’re a bit out of line with this,’” he concluded. “And so I hope that in blue states that they can demonstrate that they want to protect women’s sports, they want to protect women in the privacy of bathrooms, in locker rooms. And this is exactly what I hope we’ll see across the country.” Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report
General involved in Afghanistan withdrawal has promotion confirmed by Senate
Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue – who was seen in the viral, night vision photo showing the final American soldier out of Kabul, Afghanistan – was quietly confirmed by the Senate on Monday to lead U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa. Donahue, who headed the 82nd Airborne Division during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, was tapped by President Biden for the promotion to four-star general, but the confirmation was left out of a series of a hundred other military promotions green-lighted by the Senate before Thanksgiving recess. The delay was caused by one senator holding Donahue’s confirmation, according to Politico. Several outlets reported that Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., was responsible for the procedural hold. MAJ. GEN. CHRIS DONAHUE: WHO IS THE LAST AMERICAN SOLDIER TO HAVE LEFT AFGHANISTAN? Mullin has been a vocal critic of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the botched withdrawal mired by the killing of 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians during a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate. Donahue was responsible for the 82nd Airborne as it was tasked with securing the airfield at the Kabul airport during evacuations before the country fell to the Taliban. The senator called out Donahue, as well as other officials, in an Aug. 24, 2024, statement on the three-year anniversary of the suicide bombing attack. “Three years later, not one person has been held accountable for the disaster–not Gen. Milley, Gen. McKenzie, Gen. Donahue, U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan John Pommersheim, or anyone at the State Department,” Mullin said at the time. “To this day, no one has testified before Congress as to who gave this directive. No one has been held accountable for the 13 brave American heroes who died at Abbey Gate, or the countless Americans who lost their lives trying to escape Kabul.” President-elect Trump’s former defense secretary turned Trump critic, Mark Esper, had defended Donahue’s nomination, and urged last month for the hold to be lifted. “Responsibility for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 rests with the White House, not the Defense Dept, and certainly not with the uniformed leaders who faithfully executed Pres Biden’s misbegotten decisions,” Esper wrote on X. ARMY UNIT POSTS PHOTO OF LAST US SOLDIER TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN Trump had promised on the campaign trail to fire senior officers involved in the withdrawal, though not Donahue specifically. One U.S. official told NBC News last month that the Trump transition team was compiling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers to be potentially court-martialed over the pullout. The Senate ultimately confirmed Donahue’s promotion to be the commander of US Army Europe-Africa by unanimous consent on Monday, as the hold was dropped. Mullin had not publicly commented about the hold. Donahue has headed the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, since 2022. He has also been leader of the Special Operations Joint Task Force Afghanistan and served as the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism.
Colorado Republicans sound off on impact of migrant surge on citizens: ‘Their souls are crushed’
Colorado Republicans are sounding off on “out-of-touch” Democrats after Denver Mayor Mike Johnston vowed to station police to block ICE agents from carrying out deportations and a report showed that the city has spent over $356 million in taxpayer dollars on services for migrants. The sum, which amounts to $7,900 per foreign national in the city and equates to 8% of the city’s total 2025 budget, was revealed by an updated analysis last week by the Common Sense Institute. Rose Pugliese, leader of the Republican caucus in the Colorado State Assembly, told Fox News Digital that the massive influx of migrants in the state has resulted in heavier burdens on both local and state resources. She said the Democrat-controlled legislature has spent an estimated $563 million on illegal immigrants since 2021, with $352 million of that on education spending alone. “Without question, illegal immigration in Colorado has cost the state a significant amount of money that could have been spent supporting our constituents, roads, public safety, and other state services,” she said. CNN HOST VISIBLY STUNNED BY INCOMING BORDER CZAR SAYING HE’LL ‘JAIL’ DENVER MAYOR FOR REFUSING DEPORTATIONS Pugliese called Mayor Johnston “out of touch on this issue,” saying that the results of the 2024 election “mandated illegal immigration as a top concern throughout America.” “Removing and deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes against our citizens is a reasonable position,” she said. “Unfortunately, there is no public estimate by the state regarding illegal immigrants in Colorado. This is due to policy decisions by the majority in the state legislature over the last ten years.” “Preventing an accurate accounting only aggravates the issue for local and state budgets when planning,” she continued, adding that “if you don’t know the numbers, you can never be right.” DENVER MIGRANT ADVOCATES SAY SIX MONTHS OF FREE RENT, FOOD NOT ENOUGH: ‘A SLAP IN THE FACE’ AND ‘OFFENSIVE’ Meanwhile, Roger Hudson, a city councilman for Castle Pines, a small town just south of Denver, told Fox News Digital that “there’s nothing kind, there’s nothing hopeful” about what Democrats have done to the city. According to Hudson, Denver has accepted over 45,000 migrants since 2022. He said that these migrants have taken up much of the funding meant for important services in the city, including public schools and parks. “Now they’re not mowing the grass in parks, the fountains are down, rec centers are closed, the homeless problem is completely out of control,” he said. “What they’ve done to Denver is horrific.” He also called out Democrats for shipping migrants to communities around the city, such as Aurora, where members of the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua” terrorized an entire apartment building. VENEZUELAN MIGRANT GANG TREN DE ARAGUA NOW OPERATING IN 16 STATES: REPORT CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “These migrants are preying on each other, they are abusing women, elderly women, elderly individuals, people who are disabled, they are robbing, they are causing a drug problem that wasn’t here before in our state.” “What the Democrats and what our liberals and progressives have done in our state is obscene, and it shows, and our residents are tired of it,” he went on. “In the past, it had been filled with hope. I mean, you have the Rocky Mountains in the background where there’s nothing but hope and aspiration. Now, when you look down, and you look at the streets, they are filled with people begging not for food, but for their next fix or for a bottle of alcohol, and their souls are crushed.” A representative for the Denver City Council declined to comment on the $356 million spent on migrant services. Instead, the representative told Fox News Digital: “The Denver City Council is the legislative branch of the city government and isn’t involved in the day to day operations of these services.”
Denver mayor criticized by hometown paper over vow to resist Trump deportations
Democratic Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was scolded by his hometown newspaper for “amping up violent rhetoric” with his vow to resist President-elect Trump’s deportation of illegal immigrants. The editorial board at the Denver Post on Monday published an editorial with the headline, “Denver’s mayor was wrong to threaten armed conflict to protect immigrants,” referring to Johnston’s recent suggestion of using the Denver Police to resist federal immigration officials attempting to carry out their job. “We are not surprised Johnston recklessly elevated the rhetoric around protecting Coloradans without legal immigration status. But that doesn’t make it OK,” the editorial said. The newspaper said the mayor “must choose his words carefully” rather than joining “Trump’s arms race of amping up violent rhetoric around illegal immigration.” MD MAYOR UNDER FIRE FOR PUSHING IMMIGRANT ‘LEGAL ADVOCACY FUND’ TO REBUFF TRUMP-HOMAN AGENDA “Johnston should keep his remarks far away from violent conflict and focus on peaceful resistance,” the editorial said. Johnston said during a recent interview with Denverite that he was prepared to protest against anything he believes is “illegal or immoral or un-American” in the city – predicting the use of city police against federal officers and a “Tiananmen Square moment.” The mayor was then asked if he was prepared to go to jail for standing in the way of policies enacted by the administration. NYC HOME TO NEARLY 60K ‘CRIMINAL’ MIGRANTS: REPORT “Yeah, I’m not afraid of that, and I’m also not seeking that,” Johnston said. “I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people [on] how to solve hard problems.” Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” designate, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week that he would jail Johnston if he broke the law in shielding illegal migrants. “All he has to do is look at Arizona v. U.S., and he would see he’s breaking the law. But, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.” Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
McConnell criticizes federal judges for reversing retirement decisions as ‘open partisanship’
The Senate GOP leader on Monday slammed decisions by two federal judges to reverse their announced retirements after Republican former President Trump won re-election in November. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized the pair of “partisan Democrat district judges” after they announced plans to “unretire” after “the American people voted to fire Democrats last month.” “Looking to history, only two judges have ever unretired after a presidential election. One Democrat in 2004 and one Republican in 2009. But now, in just a matter of weeks, Democrats have already met that all-time record. It’s hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship,” McConnell said in remarks delivered on the Senate floor. In mid-November, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley of Ohio informed President Biden of his intention to stay on the bench after Biden had failed to nominate a replacement for him. DEMOCRATS ADVANCE 5 MORE BIDEN JUDICIAL NOMINEES Marbley, who was appointed by President Clinton, said that because a successor had not been confirmed, “I have therefore decided to remain on active status and carry out the full duties and obligations of the office.” Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn of North Carolina, who was appointed by President Obama, has also withdrawn plans to retire, Reuters reported. Both Marbley and Cogburn had announced plans to take senior status before the election, which would have allowed them to take reduced caseloads until the president appoints a successor. McConnell said their decisions to rescind their retirements after Trump won points to “a political finger on the scale.” He urged the incoming Trump administration to “explore all available recusal options with these judges.” FEDERAL JUDGE IN OHIO RESCINDS RETIREMENT AFTER TRUMP VICTORY, WITH BIDEN YET TO NOMINATE A SUCCESSOR He also warned two sitting circuit court judges, who have announced retirements and have vacancies currently pending before the senate, against making similar decisions to “unretire.” “Never before has a circuit judge unretired after a presidential election. It’s literally unprecedented. And to create such a precedent would fly in the face of a rare bipartisan compromise on the disposition of these vacancies,” McConnell said. He was referring to a bipartisan agreement on judicial nominations last month that secured Trump’s ability to appoint four crucial appellate court judges after he assumes office in January. JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR FACES PRESSURE TO RETIRE AHEAD OF TRUMP TAKING OFFICE: REPORT Republicans agreed to halt procedural delay tactics and permit Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to vote on cloture on nine of Biden’s district court judges before Thanksgiving and vote to confirm them when they return after the holiday. In exchange, Democrats would pull four circuit court nominees who lack the votes to get confirmed, allowing Trump to fill those vacancies next year. However, a Democratic source familiar told Fox News Digital that only two of the circuit court vacancies are certain, and the other two may ultimately decide against taking senior judge status. McConnell threatened that “significant ethics complaints” would follow swiftly if any retiring judge reversed their decision to take senior status because Trump won. “As I repeatedly warned the judiciary in other matters, if you play political games, expect political prizes. So let’s hope these judges do the right thing and enjoy their well-earned retirement and leave the politics to the political branches.” Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Kelly Phares contributed to this report.