Obama’s baseball outing with Castro reignites fury after Trump DOJ drops hammer on Cuban leader
Former Cuban President Raúl Castro was indicted Wednesday in connection with the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft that killed four people — reviving scrutiny of former President Barack Obama’s highly publicized 2016 trip to Havana. “President Obama’s approach to Cuba was not merely a policy mistake. It was a diplomatic disaster — naive at best, incompetent at worst, and deeply disrespectful to the dissidents, political prisoners and victims who suffered under the Castro regime,” former Miami mayor Francis Suarez, who is Cuban-American, told Fox News Digital. “Obama treated normalization as enlightened diplomacy. It handed legitimacy to a brutal dictatorship while asking little in return,” said the Fox News contributor. “The administration reopened relations, relaxed restrictions and gave Havana a public-relations victory, yet the Cuban people remained trapped under the same repressive system and the United States gained no meaningful security concessions.” The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed a superseding indictment charging Castro and five co-defendants over the deaths of four U.S. nationals aboard two unarmed civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile group. Cuban-American critics said the charges underscore longstanding objections to Obama’s normalization push, which they argue gave legitimacy to the Castro regime. US MOVING TO INDICT FORMER CUBAN LEADER RAÚL CASTRO: SOURCE Obama traveled to Cuba in 2016 as part of his administration’s push to normalize U.S.-Cuba relations after decades of hostility, arguing that engagement on diplomacy, the economy and human rights would be more effective than isolation. The visit also included Obama and Castro attending a baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team in Havana. “I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas,” Obama said from Havana that year. “I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people.” Photos of Obama and Castro embracing during the 2016 Havana trip quickly resurfaced online after the indictment, going viral across social media and triggering a wave of criticism from users who blasted the optics of the former president’s relationship with the communist leader. “While Raoul was harboring American terrorists like Joanne Chesimard and Guillermo Morales. Disgusting,” wrote Fox News contributor Paul Mauro on X. “Barack Obama in his element with communists and criminals,” wrote General Mike Flynn on X. OBAMA SETS INTERNET ABLAZE WITH ‘SICK’ REACTION TO THE ‘MOTIVE’ OF WHCD SHOOTER Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reposted a photo with a cringe emoji. Castro, 94, is the younger brother of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Raul Castro served as Cuba’s president from 2008 to 2018. Suarez said that Obama’s Cuba policies were not just a human rights failure but a national security failure not understanding the serious threat the regime posed. DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS CRITICIZE BIDEN ADMIN’S CUBA DETENTE’ “It did nothing to curtail Cuba’s role as a base for America’s enemies. It did nothing to confront the island’s use as an intelligence and spy platform so close to our shores. It did nothing to reduce the regime’s support for terrorism. It did nothing to confront Cuba’s narco-state behavior or its destabilizing influence throughout the hemisphere,” said Suarez. RUBIO BLASTS COMMUNIST CUBAN REGIME AS NJ TROOPER’S KILLER REMAINS FREE Obama’s trip came two decades after the 1996 incident, which became a major flashpoint in U.S.-Cuba relations, as the Trump administration adopted a more public and hardline approach toward Cuba. TRUMP DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY OVER CUBA, THREATENS TARIFFS ON NATIONS THAT SUPPLY OIL TO COMMUNIST REGIME “Raúl Castro and five co-defendants participated in a conspiracy that ended with Cuban military aircraft firing missiles at those planes and killing four Americans,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday during the indictment announcement. “Nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans. Kill them, and not face accountability.” Following the indictment, Trump said Cuba is “very important.” “A lot of people have suffered very big, very, very at levels that few people would understand. And I think the Cuban population of Miami, and certainly beyond Miami,” said Trump. “People that came there that were decimated, whose families were ruined, appreciate what the Attorney General just did today, and he’s just doing it now. He’s just watching it. We have Cuba on our mind. Very important.” Suarez said that for Cuban Americans, Obama cozying up with Castro was disrespectful. “It is about families torn apart, property confiscated, voices silenced, dissidents beaten, prisoners of conscience abandoned and generations forced to live under fear. To treat the Castro government as a normal partner without first honoring those victims was not diplomacy,” he said. Trump has previously joked the U.S. would be “taking over” Cuba “almost immediately.” “Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job,” he added this month. Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office and the White House for additional comment on the renewed criticisms of the trip.
9/11 steel beam arrives at Florida school where Bush learned America was under attack
A steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center arrived Tuesday at the Florida elementary school where President George W. Bush learned the United States was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001. The beam was brought to Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota as part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s “Steel Across America” tour commemorating the upcoming 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Former White House chief of staff Andy Card, who informed Bush that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center, attended the ceremony. Bush was visiting a second-grade classroom at the school on the morning of Sept. 11, when Card approached the president and told him what had happened. “I walked up to the president,” Card recalled during Tuesday’s ceremony. “I whispered into his ear, ‘A second plane hit the second tower, America is under attack.’” TUNNEL TO TOWERS ANNOUNCES STEEL ACROSS AMERICA TOUR TO MARK 25 YEARS SINCE 9/11 ATTACKS The moment, captured on live television, became one of the defining images of the Sept. 11 attacks and the early hours of the national crisis. Card returned to the campus Tuesday alongside former second-grade teacher Sandra Kay Daniels, whose classroom Bush was visiting when the attacks unfolded. “Just being on this campus and remembering what happened when I came and whispered in the president’s ear that America was under attack… it takes you right back to that day, the feelings, the emotion, the duty, the honor,” Card said. NEW 9/11 MUSEUM EXHIBIT AIMS TO CONNECT YOUNGER AMERICANS TO THE ATTACKS THROUGH POWERFUL ARTIFACTS Daniels said the memories of that morning have stayed with her ever since. “That day changed not only Emma E. Booker Elementary School students and staff, but it changed the world, the community,” Daniels said. “It’s an everyday thing for me,” Daniels added. “I will never get away from that. I was with the president, and he was with me. That happened here at my school.” GOP CONGRESSMAN REVEALS HOW HE LEARNED ABOUT 9/11 TERROR ATTACKS IN REMOTE ALASKA WILDERNESS Inside the school’s library, a section dedicated to Sept. 11 includes an original copy of “The Pet Goat,” the book students were reading when Bush received the news. The Sarasota stop marked the seventh destination on the nationwide remembrance tour, which is transporting a steel beam from the World Trade Center to communities across the country ahead of next year’s 25th anniversary of the attacks. The ceremony included appearances from local officials, first responders and members of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which was founded in honor of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, who died responding to the attacks in New York City. TUNNEL TO TOWERS HONORS GOLD STAR FAMILIES ON VETERANS DAY: THE UNENDING SACRIFICE Former students who were inside the classroom that morning also returned to the school Tuesday, including Natalia Jones-Pinkney, who was seated just feet away from Bush during the reading lesson. “I don’t know if I understood at that time that that was really going on,” Jones-Pinkney told FOX 13. “I was just excited that we were meeting the president.” Now an adult with a second-grade daughter of her own, Jones-Pinkney said returning to the school underscored how deeply the events of that day shaped her life. “Being there, reading to the president, shaped our lives,” she told the station. “That’s something we’ll never forget.” The steel beam was later made available for attendees to approach and reflect upon as part of the memorial event honoring the victims and first responders killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Wall Street banks helped Chinese military-linked firm raise billions despite red flags, lawmakers find
FIRST ON FOX: Congressional investigators are accusing major U.S. banks of helping a Chinese battery giant the Pentagon labeled a “Chinese military company” raise billions of dollars from global investors despite unresolved national security concerns. A new report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party alleges JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America underwrote CATL’s Hong Kong IPO — helping the company raise money from investors through stock offerings — after the Pentagon designated the company under its Section 1260H list of Chinese military-linked firms in January 2025. The report also says JPMorgan, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley later participated in a second CATL offering. The report places Wall Street at the center of a growing debate in Washington over whether American financial institutions should continue helping companies the Pentagon has identified as linked to China’s military or military-civil fusion strategy raise money from global investors, even when those activities remain legal under current U.S. law. OUR ADVERSARIES ARE EVEN USING THE US BANKING SYSTEM. HERE’S HOW THEY GET AWAY WITH IT The Pentagon’s Section 1260H list identifies companies the War Department determines are linked to China’s military or military-civil fusion strategy, though the designation itself does not broadly prohibit U.S. investment or commercial activity. The committee argues the transactions exposed a major gap in U.S. policy because the designation carried reputational consequences but did not prohibit Wall Street firms from helping the company raise capital. “To be clear, the banks broke no U.S. law and the transactions were not prohibited by U.S. law,” the report states. “But each bank made the choice to essentially disregard the U.S. government’s Chinese military company designation to make millions of dollars.” “The banks trusted CATL’s representations over the considered judgment of the U.S. government,” the report states. The report alleges JPMorgan and Bank of America accepted CATL’s assertions that it had no links to China’s military despite the Pentagon’s conclusions and despite what the committee described as incomplete responses during due diligence reviews. CHINA CONTROLS OVER 80% OF BATTERY MATERIALS CRUCIAL TO US DEFENSE EQUIPMENT, UNSETTLING REPORT REVEALS CATL allegedly provided identical responses to multiple JPMorgan questions concerning ties to the People’s Liberation Army, dual-use technologies and military-linked entities, according to documents cited in the report. The committee also cited what it described as publicly available evidence linking CATL to Chinese military-industrial entities, including relationships with companies on U.S. restriction lists and research collaborations involving defense-linked institutions. “My committee’s investigation calls for serious policy changes to ensure what JPMorgan and Bank of America did never happens again,” said Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich. “American banks must not help Chinese military companies raise money, because in doing so, they provide not only access to funding, but also legitimacy and credibility to companies that are helping our adversary build up its military.” JPMorgan and Bank of America defended their involvement, arguing CATL is not sanctioned by the U.S. government and remains deeply integrated into Western manufacturing supply chains. “Based on available information and our own due diligence, CATL has lawfully partnered with American companies — including major auto manufacturers — to provide essential battery technology that will strengthen U.S. manufacturing and enhance American competitiveness,” a JPMorgan spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We complied with the law and U.S. government sanctions policies,” a Bank of America spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We conducted the appropriate due diligence on this transaction, and we shared significant detail about our process with the committee. CATL is not sanctioned by the US government and conducts significant business with U.S. companies.” JPMorgan additionally argued the Pentagon designation applies primarily to War Department procurement and does not prohibit private-sector business relationships involving CATL. CATL has other partnerships with major Western automakers including Ford, Tesla, Stellantis, BMW and Volkswagen. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon previously defended the bank’s work involving CATL in a Bloomberg Television interview in May 2025. “If we thought it was wrong, we wouldn’t do it,” Dimon said. “The government did not sanction CATL.” The debate underscores growing tension between U.S. national security concerns surrounding China and the reality that major American and European manufacturers remain heavily reliant on Chinese battery technology and supply chains. Ford is currently building a $3 billion battery plant in Michigan using CATL technology through a licensing arrangement designed to avoid Chinese ownership of the facility, according to a recent Bloomberg report. Ford has argued the partnership helps strengthen domestic manufacturing and improve U.S. competitiveness in electric vehicle production. The committee’s report argues current U.S. law is insufficient to stop American financial institutions from financing companies tied to China’s military-industrial base because Section 1260H restrictions primarily affect War Department procurement rather than broader commercial activity. “The deals were legal, so the banks proceeded,” the report states. The committee recommends legislation that would prohibit U.S. financial institutions from underwriting offerings for blacklisted Chinese entities and urges the Treasury Department to impose stronger sanctions authorities against CATL. Fox News Digital has also reached out to Morgan Stanley, CATL and the Pentagon for comment.
Republicans recoil as Trump’s billion-dollar DOJ ‘slush fund’ for allies threatens ICE, Border Patrol plan
Senate Republicans are breaking with President Donald Trump on his new, nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as concerns over where the money comes from and who gets it ripple through the Capitol. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the $1.78 billion fund earlier this week in a deal struck between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to drop his $10 billion lawsuit. Shortly after, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was grilled by senators on the subject. “This is an outrageous, unprecedented slush fund that you have set up,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said. “Simple question, will individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers be eligible for this fund?” TRUMP DEMANDS SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN’S OUSTER FOR AXING BALLROOM SECURITY FUNDING “Anybody in this country will be eligible to apply,” Blanche said. That concern has driven several Senate Republicans to criticize the fund, given that several people convicted of assaulting police on the Hill, or who have tried to harm the president, could get access to taxpayer dollars. “Imagine that,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said. ”A fund that is set up to compensate people who assaulted Capitol Police officers and other responding agencies, right? People that had pled guilty to physical acts against the president may actually be able to get compensated. How absurd does that sound coming out of my mouth?” Senate Republicans are currently trying to ram through a multibillion-dollar package that will fund immigration operations for the remainder of Trump’s presidency and are already grappling with a $1 billion funding request that will go toward security enhancements for his colossal ballroom. That funding, which was already stripped out by the Senate rules referee, and whether to add restrictions to the DOJ fund, are gumming up the process in the upper chamber. SENATE REPUBLICAN THREATENS TO DERAIL ICE, BORDER PATROL PACKAGE OVER TRUMP’S BILLION-DOLLAR REQUEST Few Republicans are actively supporting the “anti-weaponization” fund. Lawmakers are set to meet with Blanche Thursday morning behind closed doors to learn more about how it works. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., previously said that he was “not a big fan” of the fund and questioned its purpose. “Our members have very legitimate questions about it, and we’ve had some conversations about, if it’s going to be a feature going forward, what it might look like and how we might make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately,” Thune said ahead of the meeting. Officers who protected the Hill on Jan. 6 sued to block the fund on Wednesday, but it hasn’t sated the concerns that Republicans have. Some want Congress to get involved. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who Trump successfully worked to oust during his primary election over the weekend, argued that the fund was adding to the nation’s staggering national debt, and that “if there needs to be a settlement, the administration should bring it to Congress to decide.” SENATE REPUBLICANS, DEMS BLOCK DUELING ATTEMPTS TO REPEAL CONTROVERSIAL ARCTIC FROST PROVISION “People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the president and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,” Cassidy said on X. But it’s not a unanimous issue shared throughout the Senate GOP. Some, like Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., believe that there have been people “really harmed by the federal government,” and had no issue with setting up a fund to compensate them. Johnson and a handful of his colleagues were the targets of former special counsel Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost probe and had their phone records subpoenaed without notice as part of the investigation. That spurred now-defunct legislation that would have allowed senators targeted in the probe to sue for up to $500,000. Johnson believed that the five-member panel that would process the claims would prevent criminals and others from getting a piece of the fund. “I’m assuming they’re not going to provide that type of funding for criminals. I mean, people who really should have been prosecuted, people who committed violence, that type of thing,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “But, I mean, for the grandma and grandpas that just showed up and you’ve got the DOJ or FBI doing SWAT raids on their farms? Yeah, those people should be compensated.”
Caught on camera: Squad Dem squirms when pressed on Vance DOJ fraud probe
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., forcefully denied Vice President JD Vance’s claim that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating her for alleged fraud and immigration violations, dismissing the remarks as politically motivated. “That is not something that is happening. That man is delusional,” Omar told Fox News Digital. Vance claimed on Tuesday that the DOJ is looking into allegations involving Omar’s immigration history and financial disclosures, including long-standing accusations that she married a man claimed to be her brother — part of her scheme to obtain citizenship in the U.S. He claimed the administration’s anti-fraud task force is focusing its resources on probing Omar. ILHAN OMAR LASHES OUT AT ‘SICK’ REPUBLICANS FOR INVESTIGATING HER ALLEGED MARRIAGE TO BROTHER “I don’t think they are using any resources,” she said. “They’re just saying stupid s—.” The claims surrounding an investigation intensified after Omar’s amended financial disclosure forms caught national attention last month — with her reported net worth dropping from somewhere between $6 million and $30 million to a sharp reduction ranging from $18,004 to $95,000. Omar’s steep drop in reported net worth drew criticism from the GOP House Oversight Committee, who earlier this year requested business records from her husband Tim Mynett’s company. Omar also rejected suggestions that House Republicans are formally investigating her finances, accusing them of promoting these allegations to get interviews with news outlets. WINERY BELONGING TO ILHAN OMAR’S HUSBAND SHUT DOWN AMID FINANCIAL SPOTLIGHT “There’s nobody looking into anything,” she said when asked about House Republicans looking into her net worth. “They’re just saying those things to get interviews with you guys. There’s nothing really happening.” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., publicly raised concerns over Omar’s finances on “Hannity” after the vast discrepancy between her initial and revised filings. “Comer hasn’t investigated anything,” she said when asked about Comer’s comments regarding her wealth. “He hasn’t done anything. He hasn’t referred me to anybody. He’s just saying that so he can get TV interviews because you guys will only talk to them if they say something about me.” Omar said they’re “absolutely not” going to find anything if a DOJ probe opens into her alleged fraud schemes. She told Fox News Digital that she has not been informed of any formal investigation being pursued against her. COMER VOWS MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE WILL EXPAND TO OTHER STATES AMID MOUNTING SCRUTINY “No,” she said when asked if she was made aware of any investigation. “Because there’s nothing to investigate.” Claims surrounding Omar’s past marriage and alleged immigration violations have remained central to ongoing attacks against her. Omar’s family was granted asylum after arriving in the U.S. from Somalia in 1995, and she became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000. It was reported that Omar was in a religious marriage with Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in 2002. Despite maintaining her religious union with Hirsi, she legally married a British citizen named Ahmed Elmi — who is alleged to be her brother — in 2009. Omar and Elmi legally divorced in 2017, but had been separated since 2011. In 2020, she married Mynett. Any potential investigation would likely look into both the fraud allegations that come as a result of her financial filings and claimed immigration violations relating to her earlier marriages and U.S. citizenship. “If we think that there’s a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime,” he said. “And that’s something the Department of Justice is looking at right now.”
Democrats release 2024 election autopsy that chair says ‘does not meet my standards’
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is publicly disowning his party’s own 2024 election “autopsy,” calling the long-delayed report a product that “does not meet my standards” after Democrats suffered what he described as a “painful and consequential” defeat to President Donald Trump. The blunt admission came as Martin described former Vice President Kamala Harris‘ 2024 defeat as a “punch to the gut” and acknowledged the Democratic Party’s “brand is in trouble and needs repair.” “I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin said of the report, adding that he could not “in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it.” Martin emphasized that he was releasing the report for the sake of transparency “as I received it – in its entirety, unedited and unabridged – with annotations for claims that couldn’t be verified.” DEMS DEMAND RELEASE OF HIDDEN DNC AUTOPSY AFTER 2024 COLLAPSE: ‘WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKED’ The report argues Democrats weakened their own political infrastructure through cuts to state party support, declining voter registration efforts and reduced grassroots organizing, while also failing to listen to key voting blocs — mistakes it says allowed Republicans to make gains with voters Democrats have increasingly struggled to reach, particularly in middle America. Annotations that appear in the report, however, pick apart certain claims for lacking evidence. In one such section, the report claims that “the Harris campaign appears to have relied on Trump being unacceptable rather than building an affirmative case for Harris,” to which an annotation reads, “No evidence provided for this claim.” Following the Democrats’ sweeping losses in the 2024 election cycle, the DNC launched an internal autopsy investigating where the party fell short in securing a win in both the presidential election and the majority in Congress. Democratic Party officials interviewed over 300 Democrats from all 50 states for the report, which Martin promised would examine the party’s mistakes in 2024 and offer a roadmap to victory going forward. DEMOCRATS’ MIDTERM PUSH CLOUDED BY INFIGHTING OVER PARTY KEEPING 2024 AUTOPSY UNDER WRAPS There was controversy surrounding the report as it was being compiled, after reports last summer said the autopsy would skip analyzing whether then-President Joe Biden should have run for re-election in 2024 and would pass on judging key decisions made by Harris and her team, after she replaced Biden as the party’s nominee with just over three months to go until the 2024 election. Despite facing growing calls from Democrats to release the report, DNC officials had argued it was being withheld ahead of the midterms to keep the party focused on retaking the House and Senate in November. Martin said in a statement at the time that if releasing the autopsy will not help Democrats win in the midterms, then it is purely a “distraction.” Other Democrats argued publicly releasing the autopsy before the midterms would improve transparency and help the party regroup ahead of November’s elections. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Leo Briceno and Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Phantom employees’ scandal spurs GOP crackdown on $36B incentive for companies to bypass Americans
FIRST ON FOX: The discovery of 10,000 “phantom employees” exploiting a federal work program has helped spur Republicans to tackle the financial incentives behind a foreign worker pipeline costing Americans hundreds of thousands of jobs per year. Under current federal law, hundreds of thousands of foreign students and employers participating in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) extension program are exempt from paying Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, which companies are required to pay for domestic workers. This has led to the creation of a “significant financial incentive” for employers to hire foreign OPT workers over Americans. Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin introduced a bill Thursday, titled the “OPT Fair Tax Act,” that eliminates that incentive by requiring employers to pay the same Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes paid for American workers. By closing the loophole, Grothman believes the bill “helps create a more level playing field for American graduates entering the workforce.” The congressman told Fox News Digital that “Americans should not be put at a disadvantage because Washington created a loophole that favors hiring foreign workers over qualified U.S. citizens.” He added that “too many young Americans graduating from our colleges and universities are forced to compete against a system that tilts the playing field against them.” DOJ CALLS FOR TIPS ON EMPLOYERS FAVORING FOREIGN WORKERS IN HIRING PRACTICES Grothman’s bill is the House companion to a Senate bill introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in September. Though Cotton’s bill has not passed, OPT has faced increased scrutiny after Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons announced federal investigators uncovered more than 10,000 foreign students connected to “suspect employers” as part of a massive fraud scheme involving the program. Lyons said that OPT, which lets international students on F-1 visas work temporarily in the country in jobs related to their field of study, had “ballooned into an uncontrolled guest worker pipeline with hundreds of thousands of foreign students working in the United States.” He said that “as the program size exploded, so has the fraud.” “Today, we are announcing we have identified over 10,000 foreign students who claim to be working for highly suspect employers, and that’s just among the top 25 OPT employers. This is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said. The ICE director also said investigators uncovered what he referred to as “phantom employees,” who he said are foreign students who obtained work authorization through OPT but never actually showed up for work at the sites they claimed to work out of. TRUMP-BACKED HOUSING BILL CLEARS HOUSE AFTER GOP DEFIES SENATE PRESSURE CAMPAIGN Grothman told Fox News Digital that these findings “point to serious vulnerabilities within the OPT program.” He said that “reports that thousands of foreign students in the OPT program were tied to phantom employees and suspicious employers should alarm every American,” adding, “Right now, the federal government has created a financial incentive to hire foreign workers over Americans.” Grothman said the scale of the tax preference has been significant. He pointed to data gathered by the technology and industry think tank Institute for Progress, which found that between fiscal years 2017 and 2022, an average of approximately 330,000 students participated in OPT annually. The think tank also estimated that eliminating the tax exemption would increase federal revenue by between $27 billion and $36 billion over a 10-year period. GOP BILL TARGETS BLUE STATE FOR BILLIONS IN COVID-ERA UNEMPLOYMENT DEBT DUMPED ON BUSINESSES “Congress should be focused on opening doors for young Americans, helping U.S. graduates find good-paying jobs and ensuring employers are encouraged to hire Americans first. Not creating incentives for companies to bypass American talent,” he emphasized. “The American people deserve to know how so many questionable employers were able to operate within the system for so long,” he continued. “Congress should be prioritizing American workers and restoring integrity to programs that have become increasingly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.”
Democrats vow to vote ‘every single day’ to expel fellow Dem from Congress if she wins midterm
Two Democratic lawmakers are threatening to force repeated votes to expel a fellow Democrat from Congress if Texas voters send her to Washington this November. Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., say they will force repeated votes to remove Texas Democrat Maureen Galindo from the House over comments calling for the jailing of “American Zionists.” Galindo, a sex therapist running in a Republican-leaning district, has not backed away from a campaign proposal to turn a local ICE processing center into a “prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.” She also claimed in a social media post that many Zionists — broadly defined as those who support the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland — are pedophiles who should be castrated. “I don’t care if she gets sent here. I will vote to expel her and force a vote to expel her every single day,” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital in an interview. FETTERMAN WARNS DEMOCRATS MUST CONFRONT ‘RISING ANTISEMITISM PROBLEM’ AFTER CLASHES OUTSIDE NYC SYNAGOGUES “My grandmother was part of the Kindertransport out of Germany. Her parents were killed in Auschwitz. My kids are never going to concentration camps,” he added. The Galindo campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Galindo’s flurry of antisemitic comments comes as she is vying in a May 26 runoff election after winning the most votes in the Democratic primary for the San Antonio-based district. Republicans redrew the district lines earlier this year to boost the GOP’s chances of flipping the seat, though Democrats could still make the race competitive. She has accused her runoff opponent, Johnny Garcia, a sheriff’s deputy in Bexar County, of being paid by “Zionist terrorism and trafficking.” “When Maureen gets into Congress, she’ll write legislation so that all Zionism and support of Zionism is undoubtedly Anti-Semitic, since it’s Zionists harming the Semites,” Galindo’s campaign wrote on social media last week. Moskowitz said Democrats should do whatever they can to ensure Galindo does not get that chance. FOX NEWS ‘ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED’ NEWSLETTER: WHO IS HASAN PIKER, AND WHY CAN’T DEMOCRATS CONDEMN HIM? “The Democratic Party can’t get to power because we’ve expanded our tent so big to include this sort of insane behavior,” the Florida lawmaker told Fox News Digital. “It’s gone from the super extreme side to now almost mainstream,” he continued, referring to antisemitism. “We’ve crossed the Rubicon with the stuff.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Galindo’s comments are “disqualifying” and accused GOP groups of seeking to prop up her candidacy. “Texans will not be fooled and will reject her at the ballot box next week,” Jeffries said in a joint statement with Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairwoman Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. Both Moskowitz and Gottheimer suggested Galindo’s comments reflect a broader rise in antisemitism in the political sphere. “Both parties: There should be zero tolerance for antisemitic-driven hatred that we’re seeing right now,” Gottheimer told Fox News, adding that Republicans should uniformly condemn podcaster Candace Owens, who frequently traffics in antisemitic conspiracy theories. Gottheimer penned an op-ed in The New York Times earlier in May criticizing some members of his party for cozying up to the far-left streamer, Hasan Piker. Piker has doubled down on his claim that Hamas is “a thousand times better” than Israel, referred to some Orthodox Jews as “inbred,” and downplayed the sexual violence that occurred during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, among other controversial statements. Still, Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed are among the prominent Democrats who have chosen to associate themselves with Piker. Asked whether Democrats are doing enough to combat antisemitism within the party, Moskowitz did not hesitate to respond. “No. We are not doing enough,” he said.
Legal expert unleashes on Spanberger’s new executive order targeting ICE: ‘Political theater’
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is directing state employees to demand proof of legal authority from federal immigration agents operating on state property, prompting pushback from a legal expert. Specifically, in an executive order signed on Tuesday, Spanberger is asking state employees to get federal agents to produce a valid warrant on “property of the Commonwealth” and instructs them to “not permit” federal agents from using those areas as staging or processing locations. The order would include polling sites. Spanberger’s move continues Democratic efforts to test the boundaries between state and federal power, exploring what roadblocks they can legally create to taper Trump’s immigration crackdown methods. SPANBERGER REFUSES TO HONOR ICE DETAINER IN MURDER CASE, ESCALATING SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP DHS Hans von Spakovsky, a constitutional scholar with Advancing American Freedom, believes Spanberger’s order is for show, and that she knows it’s an overreaching attempt to create requirements for agencies she has no power over. “This is political theater,” Spakovsky said. “First of all, no warrant is required under federal immigration law to detain individuals.” “And it is a completely unnecessary provision. There’s actually a provision in federal law that bans an officer of the Army or Navy or any other person in the civil service of the U.S. to be at polling places unless they’re there to cast a vote,” Spakovsky added. He pointed to restrictions under 18 U.S.C. 592. Spanberger first announced her executive order on Monday when she was asked about concerns over how Trump might use federal agents in upcoming elections. “How concerned are you that he will send either the military or the National Guard or even ICE to polling places, and what can you do, if anything, to stop him?” Spanberger was asked at an event hosted by MS Now. SLOTKIN PRESSES DHS PICK ON ICE AT POLLS, SAYS SHE CAN’T TRUST TRUMP TO ALLOW ‘FREE AND FAIR’ ELECTION “The reality is, throughout history, we have seen efforts at intimidating voters. My worry is we will continue to see those heightened,” Spanberger replied. “I’ll be issuing guidance across public spaces, including polling places, of how Virginia state employees can react to federal agents who might be appearing at a location where the worry is that they’re principally there to intimidate or scare people,” Spanberger said. Notably, Spanberger vetoed a separate bill that would have outright banned ICE from making detentions in hospitals, schools, courthouses and polling places without a judicial warrant or subpoena, stating that such a ban would likely invite a legal challenge. “I veto House Bill 650, which would create unavoidable legal liability for security personnel and local law enforcement officers when assessing federal immigration enforcement activities in certain protected areas,” Spanberger wrote. Spanberger’s new executive order follows on the heels of states like New York and California that have pushed more direct state-level attempts to restrict federal immigration activity. In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is asking lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban ICE from entering schools, libraries, polling locations and homes without a judicial warrant. Massachusetts tried something similar. There, Gov. Maura Healey asked lawmakers in January to consider legislation that would keep ICE from entering courthouses, schools, childcare programs, hospitals and churches. CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL PROHIBITING LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM WEARING FACE MASKS TO SHIELD IDENTITIES Those state-level requirements lack the power to bind federal agencies or their operations. Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin slammed Spanberger’s executive order on Wednesday in a statement to Fox News Digital. “No surprise: Governor Spanberger continues to put illegal alien criminals over her own constituents,” Mullin said.
Former White House envoy has warning for Trump on how not to get played by Iran
Former Trump envoy Morgan Ortagus warned Wednesday that Iran may be using ongoing nuclear negotiations to “buy time” as President Donald Trump pauses planned military strikes and extends a fragile ceasefire to allow more room for diplomacy. Speaking with Fox News Digital at the Middle East Forum’s 2026 policy conference in Washington, Ortagus said Iran has long used drawn-out negotiations as a strategy to delay pressure while preserving leverage. “It’s the tactic of the regime to stall, to draw negotiations, to buy time,” Ortagus said of Iran. “I would encourage the president not to fall into the trap that the Iranians like to do … which is to drag things out to buy time.” Trump recently paused planned strikes and extended diplomatic talks with Iran following pressure from Gulf allies seeking more time for negotiations, even as the administration continues pressing Iran over its nuclear program and regional proxy network. GEN JACK KEANE ‘SKEPTICAL’ THAT IRAN CEASEFIRE WILL HOLD, WARNS TEHRAN WILL ‘DELAY AND OBFUSCATE’ Ortagus, who served as State Department spokeswoman during Trump’s first term and later worked on Middle East negotiations during his second administration, argued the White House now has more leverage than previous administrations in dealing with Iran. Critics of past Iran negotiations, including many Trump administration officials, have long argued Iran used diplomacy to prolong talks while continuing to advance aspects of its nuclear program. Trump withdrew from the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, in 2018, calling it a “disastrous” agreement that failed to permanently curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Ortagus said she remains confident in Trump’s negotiating approach and emphasized that the president ultimately has final authority over any military or diplomatic decisions. “I’m always hopeful in President Trump’s ability to give his negotiating team leverage,” Ortagus said. “I think this negotiating team has more leverage in their negotiations with Iran than any negotiating teams that preceded them.” PRESIDENT TRUMP’S NEGOTIATING TEAM PRAISED BY NUCLEAR EXPERTS FOR WALKING AWAY FROM PAKISTAN TALKS “The president has seriously degraded them in a way that no one has since the Islamic Republic’s founding,” she added. Iranian officials have rejected demands for “zero enrichment,” arguing Tehran has a sovereign right to maintain a civilian nuclear program under international law. Iranian leaders have also accused Washington of using military threats to pressure Tehran during negotiations. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is intended for peaceful energy purposes, though Western governments and the International Atomic Energy Agency have raised concerns about Iran’s uranium enrichment levels and lack of transparency. The Iranian embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. With the current Iran conflict, some America First conservatives have warned the administration risks deeper military entanglement in the Middle East and argue U.S. resources should instead focus on domestic priorities. Ortagus said the current Iran conflict is different from “forever wars” in the Middle East in years past. “I think there’s an in-between,” she said. “A very careful, thoughtful use of force when necessary, always preferring to negotiate … but also being willing to use American firepower if necessary.” “I totally respect the office of the presidency and that he’s the one that has to make the final decisions on these,” she added. She described the ongoing Republican foreign policy debate as “healthy,” arguing the party is openly wrestling with how aggressively the U.S. should confront Iran and its regional proxies. The Iran negotiations come as the U.S. is also trying to stabilize the Israel-Lebanon front, where Hezbollah and Israeli forces have continued exchanging strikes despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire extension reached during talks in Washington last week. The talks are aimed at stabilizing the Israel-Lebanon border and addressing Hezbollah’s armed presence in southern Lebanon. Ortagus, who previously led Israel-Lebanon negotiations, framed Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon as part of the broader challenge posed by Iran’s regional proxy network, which she argued must be addressed alongside Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. “The big dispute comes with Hezbollah, which is an Iranian proxy that has, of course, been a cancer to the state of Lebanon and has in many ways occupied that country,” Ortagus said. She argued the Lebanese and Israeli governments ultimately share an interest in avoiding a broader conflict, but said Hezbollah repeatedly undermines that possibility by operating independently of the Lebanese state. “The Lebanese government didn’t decide,” she said of the current conflict. “Hezbollah decided for the country of Lebanon.” Ortagus said she believes Israel and Lebanon could eventually move toward a more stable relationship if Hezbollah’s influence were diminished. US CHAMPIONS LEBANON’S RESPONSE TO HEZBOLLAH DISARMAMENT, HINTS AT ABRAHAM ACCORDS OPPORTUNITY “I actually think the goals for the Lebanese government and the Israeli government are very similar,” she said. “There’s not territorial claims from Israel into Lebanon,” Ortagus added. “The big dispute comes with Hezbollah.” Her comments echoed remarks delivered earlier in the evening by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, who said Israel has “no territorial claims” in Lebanon and suggested the countries could eventually move toward broader normalization if Hezbollah were removed from the equation. But negotiations remain complicated by continued tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese officials have accused Israel of violating the ceasefire through ongoing military operations and troop presence in parts of southern Lebanon, while Israeli officials argue previous agreements failed because Hezbollah was allowed to rebuild and operate near the border unchecked. “There’s nothing stopping normalization,” Leiter said during his keynote address at the policy conference, “It would all be fine, but Hezbollah is holding Lebanon hostage.”