Lawmakers probe SBA loans linked to Minnesota’s $9B fraud scandal: ‘Reckless decision making’
FIRST ON FOX: The House Small Business Committee sent a letter this week to the Small Business Administration demanding answers on federal pandemic relief funds that flowed from the Biden administration to entities in Minnesota possibly connected to the massive unfolding fraud scandal. In a letter sent Monday to SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, the committee said it is conducting oversight into reports of fraud and concealment involving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, both of which were created to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter cited public reporting and federal prosecutions tying Minnesota-based nonprofits and individuals to massive fraud schemes that drained hundreds of millions of dollars from federal programs under Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s watch. The letter also points out that the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future was at the center of what the Justice Department has called the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme charged in U.S. history, with 78 individuals charged as of late November in a case involving roughly $250 million in fraudulent claims as part of an overall system of fraud that prosecutors said last week could total up to $9 billion or more. SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AFTER MINNESOTA AG POSTS ABOUT CRACKING DOWN ON FRAUD: ‘YOU’RE KIDDING RIGHT?’ “The SBA’s COVID lending programs were created to keep small businesses afloat during an unprecedented crisis, not to subsidize fraud,” Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Under the Biden-Harris administration, weak oversight and reckless decision-making allowed bad actors to exploit these programs and steal hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. The Feeding Our Future case highlights the severity of these failures, and the Committee on Small Business is determined to hold those responsible accountable.” The committee’s letter requests detailed records on PPP and EIDL loans issued to dozens of individuals and businesses tied to Minnesota-based fraud investigations, including loan amounts, disbursement dates, forgiveness decisions and internal SBA communications. MEDIA ‘COMPLICITY’ BLAMED AS FEDS SAY MINNESOTA FRAUD CRISIS COULD REACH $9B: ‘SHOWN THEIR TRUE COLORS’ Lawmakers are also seeking all documents and communications between the SBA and Walz’s office or Minnesota state agencies during the Biden-Harris administration, arguing such records are necessary to determine whether warning signs were ignored or oversight failed. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Loeffler says she is looking forward to working with Congress to get to the bottom of the situation. “Earlier this month, SBA determined that numerous Somali nonprofits indicted as part of the $1 billion pandemic fraud scandal in Minnesota received PPP and EIDL Loans totaling at least $2.5 million, including Feeding Our Future,” Loeffler said. “SBA has since broadened its investigation to uncover pandemic-era fraud across the entire state of Minnesota and looks forward to working in partnership with Congressional leaders to uncover the full depth of the abuse and deliver accountability on behalf of American taxpayers.” The letter asks for the documents to be provided by Jan. 12, 2026. On Tuesday, Fox News Digital first reported that Loeffler sent a letter to Walz alerting him that her agency will “halt” more than $5.5 million in annual support to resource partners in the state “until further notice.”
Former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse reveals stage-4 cancer diagnosis: ‘It’s a death sentence’
Former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska announced on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with metastatic stage-four pancreatic cancer, candidly calling it “a death sentence.” “This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” Sasse wrote in a post on X. “Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do,” he continued. BARRY MANILOW TO UNDERGO SURGERY FOR ‘CANCEROUS SPOT’ ON LUNG, CREDITS ‘PURE LUCK’ FOR EARLY DETECTION Sasse, who is just 53 years old, noted, “I’ve got less time than I’d prefer.” But he also expressed his eternal hope, noting that he is a Christian. “As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come,” he wrote. “Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say ‘hope’ when what we mean is ‘optimism.’ To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son,” he noted. MIAMI BASKETBALL’S MARCUS ALLEN BEGINS CHEMOTHERAPY AFTER CANCER DIAGNOSIS, WILL MISS REST OF SEASON “Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city — with foundations and without cancer — is not yet,” he wrote. Sasse served in the Senate from early 2015 through early 2023, then went on to serve as president of the University of Florida. Last year he stepped down from the helm of the university, pointing to his wife’s epilepsy diagnosis. “My wife Melissa’s recent epilepsy diagnosis and a new batch of memory issues have been hard, but we’re facing it together,” he noted in explaining his move last year. “Our two wonderful daughters are in college, but our youngest is just turning 13. Gator Nation needs a president who can keep charging hard, Melissa deserves a husband who can pull his weight, and my kids need a dad who can be home many more nights. I need to step back and rebuild more stable household systems for a time.” THERE’S ‘WAY TOO LITTLE EDUCATION HAPPENING ON ELITE CAMPUSES’: BEN SASSE CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Vice President JD Vance was among those who responded to Sasse’s grim cancer announcement on Tuesday. “I’m very sorry to hear this Ben. May God bless you and your family,” Vance wrote. Sasse noted in his message, “I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape. “But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatments, but more importantly as we celebrate Christmas, we wish you peace: ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned….For to us a son is given’ (Isaiah 9),” he wrote.
Trump official freezes millions in SBA aid to Minnesota, slams Walz’s policies as breeding ‘endemic’ fraud
EXCLUSIVE: Federal Small Business (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler sent a letter Tuesday to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz alerting him that her agency will “halt” more than $5.5 million in annual support to resource partners in the state “until further notice.” The move comes as Walz and his administration grapple with billions of dollars in social services fraud. U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Thursday a “significant amount” of $18 billion worth of Medicaid funding was likely lost to fraud. “I am notifying you that effective immediately and until further notice, the SBA is halting the disbursement of federal funds to SBA resource partners operating in the state of Minnesota, totaling over $5.5 million in annual support,” Loeffler wrote Walz on Tuesday. TRUMP CABINET OFFICIAL CALLS ON WALZ TO RESIGN OVER MASSIVE FRAUD SCANDAL IN SCATHING LETTER: ‘SHAME ON YOU’ “This action is the result of a fundamental breakdown in the public trust. Under your leadership, Minnesota failed to safeguard taxpayer dollars, and SBA will not continue to place federal resources at risk in a state where oversight measures are ignored and accountability is abandoned.” Loeffler blamed Walz for making the Land of 10,000 Lakes the “epicenter” of the largest fraud scandal of the COVID-19 pandemic era, and that recent criminal convictions of Somalis and other figures prove such fraud is “endemic” to St. Paul’s vast welfare curriculum. She cited Thompson’s calculations, saying the Somali fraud network netted $1 billion in its Minneapolis-centered fraud scheme and at least half of certain Medicaid funding programs subsidized by Minnesota taxpayers have been “pocketed by criminals” – assessing the final figure to be at least $9 billion. HOW FEARS OF BEING LABELED ‘RACIST’ HELPED ‘PROVIDE COVER’ FOR THE EXPLODING MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL She noted the USDA – which facilitates SNAP and other programs – as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have launched probes into the scandals. At least $2.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds issued during the pandemic were tied to the Somali fraud scheme, the SBA said. Another $430 million in PPP subsidies – totaling 13,000 individual loans – had been flagged as fraudulent but funded anyway, including some that were among those loans altogether forgiven during the Biden administration, Loeffler wrote. INSIDE MINNESOTA’S $1B FRAUD: FAKE OFFICES, PHONY FIRMS AND A SCANDAL HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT “The volume and concentration of potential fraud is staggering, matched in its egregiousness only by your response to those who attempted to stop it,” she told Walz. “When legislators and whistleblowers raised concerns about potential abuse during the pandemic, your Administration resisted oversight, refused accountability, and allowed the misconduct to metastasize.” Loeffler faulted Walz for dismissing some criticisms of his administration’s “generosity” as “racism.” MEET MINNESOTA’S FRAUD ‘MASTERMIND’ ACCUSED OF PLAYING ‘GOD,’ WIELDING ‘FAKE’ RACISM CLAIMS IN SOMALI SCANDAL Walz previously said fraudsters in Minnesota will go to prison, and that “I don’t care what color you are [or] religion you are,” but followed up by saying that critics “demonizing an entire population” is “beneath that,” according to PBS. SBA will immediately halt $2.22 million in Small Business Development Center awards, $450,000 in women’s business center awards, $2.6 million in “microloan” awards – the entire 2025 disbursement – and about $550,000 in other disbursements. Loeffler called Minnesota’s fraud scandals the consequence of “socialist policies deliberately designed to pump out welfare funding without oversight or accountability.” “SBA’s responsibility is to taxpayers and small business owners, not to criminals or the politicians who enable them – We will continue to do what you did not: protect federal dollars on behalf of the American people,” she said. Fox News Digital reached out to Walz for any comment on general sentiments expressed in the letter about the fraud scandal and his handling of it.
GOP lawmaker unveils WALZ Act after billions lost in Minnesota fraud scandal
FIRST ON FOX: A Republican lawmaker has reacted to the massive unfolding fraud scandal in Minnesota with legislation aimed at preventing more taxpayer dollars from being wasted at the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has introduced the Welfare Abuse and Laundering Zillions Act, or the “WALZ Act,” which would require HHS’ Office of Inspector General to open investigations into any program that sees a 10% or greater increase in total payments over any six-month period within a fiscal year. Under the bill, HHS would no longer have discretion to ignore sudden billing increases that critics say often signal fraud schemes, particularly in large entitlement programs. The bill comes amid revelations in recent months that Minnesota’s federally funded health and nutrition programs were rife with fraud to the tune of potentially up to $9 billion, federal prosecutors said last week. OMAR ACCUSED BY GOP OPPONENT OF OPENING UP THE DOOR TO MASSIVE MINNEAPOLIS FRAUD: ‘DEEP, DEEP TIES’ Critics have made Walz the face of the scandal, given the fact that concerns over the fraud date back to 2019, when he took office and the inability of the state, which he serves as the top executive, to tackle the problem over the last five years. “This is on my watch,” Walz told reporters on Friday. “I am accountable for this. And more importantly, I am the one that will fix it.” MEDIA ‘COMPLICITY’ BLAMED AS FEDS SAY MINNESOTA FRAUD CRISIS COULD REACH $9B: ‘SHOWN THEIR TRUE COLORS’ Miller-Meeks told Fox News Digital the situation in Minnesota represents a “jaw-dropping failure of leadership.” “This is what happens when soft-on-crime Democrats run the show: zero accountability, zero oversight and taxpayers left holding the bag,” the Iowa Republican continued. “The WALZ Act is named for a reason, to ensure this level of negligence can never be repeated anywhere else in America. This bill puts hard safeguards in place to protect taxpayer dollars, shut the door on scam artists and bring real accountability back to government programs.” On Monday, a group of 98 Minnesota mayors raised concerns with state leaders and Walz in a letter about their state’s fiscal policies, saying they have impacted their cities and residents, noting a disappearing $18 billion surplus and a projected $2.9 billion to $3 billion deficit for the 2028-29 biennium. Former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab, who briefly worked on the Feeding Our Future aspect of the fraud investigation, recently told Fox News Digital the fraud scheme was notable not only for its size, but for how easy it was to carry out. “Honestly how easy this fraud was to do,” Teirab said. “These fraudsters were just saying that they were spending all this money on feeding kids… and they were just making up these PDFs, putting false names into Excel sheets.” Teirab said oversight failures within the Minnesota Department of Education and other agencies played a significant role. He argued that officials had incentives to avoid scrutiny, citing political sensitivities surrounding Minnesota’s Somali community. “There were huge incentives to just turn the other way,” Teirab said. “There’s a sense of, ‘If we say something, are they going to call us racist?’ And that’s exactly what happened.” Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum and Louis Casiano contributed to this report
Rand Paul’s ‘Festivus Report’ calls out cocaine dogs, COVID influencers and a mountain of debt
Congress’ top fiscal hawk is back with his yearly government waste report card, this time uncovering over $1.6 trillion in spending on cocaine experiments on dogs, COVID-19 vaccine influencer campaigns and staggering yearly debt payments. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., unveiled his 11th annual “Festivus Report” on Tuesday, detailing the wonky ways that the federal government dumps taxpayer dollars into pet projects. Paul has long been against Congress’ spending habits, routinely voting against appropriations bills and spending packages for not trying to tackle the nation’s growing debt problem. His report highlights that even with several lawmakers pounding their chests on Washington’s spending problem, Congress can’t help but spend more. DEMOCRATS’ LAST-MINUTE MOVE TO BLOCK GOP FUNDING PLAN SENDS LAWMAKERS HOME EARLY “No matter how much taxpayer money Washington burns through, politicians can’t help but demand more,” Paul said. “Fiscal responsibility may not be the most crowded road, but it’s one I’ve walked year after year — and this holiday season will be no different. So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (Spending) Grievances.” He lauded moves taken by the Trump administration to slash government spending, like the nearly $9 billion rescissions package that slashed funding for public broadcasting and some foreign aid, Paul said that while the action was “a good start, it’s just a drop in the bucket.” Paul noted that in the last year, the federal debt has skyrocketed to nearly $40 trillion, up from roughly $36 trillion. RAND PAUL’S ‘FESTIVUS REPORT’ EXPOSES $900B IN GOVERNMENT SQUANDER “The Congressional Budget Office predicts we will add an average of $23.9 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. The U.S. government will add over $6.53 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years,” Paul said. “We borrow over $272 million every hour, we borrow $4.54 million every minute, and we borrow over $75,000 every second.” “This year, I’m spotlighting a jaw-dropping amount of government waste — the kind that makes you wonder if anyone in Washington has ever heard the word ‘priorities,’” he continued. “A grand total of $1,639,135,969,608, which includes $1.22 trillion in interest payments on the debt.” And several programs highlighted in the report that funneled taxpayer dollars to celebrities, drug experiments, diversity, equity and inclusion programs and several other obscure projects contributed to that staggering figure. KENNEDY URGES GOP TO RESTART SPENDING BATTLE AMID SOARING COST OF LIVING, WARNS AGAINST WASTING MAJORITY Among the highlights are over $40 million to social media influencers to promote getting the COVID-19 vaccine to racial and ethnic minority groups, over $5 million to dose dogs with cocaine, over $1 million to teach “teenage ferrets to binge-drink alcohol,” over $14 million to teach monkeys to play a “Price is Right”-inspired game and roughly $13 million to continue experiments on beagles. There’s also the over $7 billion previously allocated by Congress to build electric vehicle charging stations nationwide — only 68 have been built so far, he noted — and schools receiving nearly $200 billion in COVID-19 relief funds that has been spent on “rooms at Caesars Palace, renting out MLB stadiums, and ice cream trucks.” The report highlighted several other programs, including over $1 million to hire celebrity influencers for anti-drug campaigns targeting “Latinx” communities, nearly $5 million total for studies looking at the effect of screen time on toddlers and mobile-phone obesity intervention for toddlers, and over $2 million for researchers to take saliva swabs at electronic dance music festivals in New York City.
Cornyn torches Democratic field, says party now ‘ruled by socialists’
Republican Sen. John Cornyn says that Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s campaign launch in Texas’ high-stakes 2026 Senate race is proof that “the Democratic Party has become the captive of the left wing.” Cornyn, the longtime senator from Texas who’s facing arguably the toughest re-election of his political career, charged in a Fox News Digital interview that the bid by Crockett, a progressive champion and vocal critic and foil of President Donald Trump, shows that “even people like Chuck Schumer,” the top Democrat in the Senate, “have been hijacked by the Bernie Sanders and AOC wing of the Democratic Party.” Crockett, a two-term lawmaker who represents a Dallas-area district, launched her bid earlier this month hours after former Rep. Colin Allred, a more moderate Democrat running a second straight time for the Senate in right-leaning Texas, ended his campaign. Crockett will now face off in her party’s March 3 primary with state Rep. James Talarico, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who is also seen as a rising Democrat. The general election showdown in Texas is one of a handful of midterm races that may determine if the GOP holds its Senate majority. WHAT THE SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR MAKES A 2026 PREDICTION Cornyn embraces Crockett’s entry into the race. “I think she is unelectable in a general election in Texas. Texas is still a conservative red state,” Cornyn claimed. “She can’t win, so I’m really happy she’s decided to run.” While Crockett and Talarico face off for the Democratic nomination, Cornyn is battling Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a competitive and combustible Republican primary. THE GOP’S TAKE ON HIGH-PROFILE SENATE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES: ‘THEY’RE IN SHAMBLES’ And unlike the Democratic primary, where Crockett and Talarico are the only major candidates, the three-way Republican race may be headed towards a May runoff, which would be triggered if no candidate tops 50% in the March primary. But Cornyn said that a GOP runoff won’t “really change our chances of winning in November.” Cornyn is backed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in the GOP primary. NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott predicts Cornyn will be the GOP’s nominee, emphasizing in a Fox News Digital interview last week that “we are confident that Texas will be red, ruby red, with John Cornyn as our candidate.” Paxton, who has been battered over the past decade by a slew of scandals and legal problems and who is now dealing with a messy divorce, is a longtime MAGA champion and ally of Trump, who remains neutral in the Senate GOP primary race. GOP SENATE CAMPAIGN CHIEF AIMS TO EXPAND 2026 MAP IN THIS BLUE-LEANING STATE Cornyn, highlighting his Trump credentials, noted that “I get along well with the President. I’ve supported him during his first term, and now in his second term, I think the figure we came up with was 99.3% of the time. So I want the president to be successful and look forward to continuing to support him and his policies.” But he acknowledged that “I don’t think he’s [Trump] in a big hurry to endorse. He says that both the attorney general and I are friends of his, and I don’t think he wants to disappoint some of his friends who support one or the other of us, if he…goes to support one and not the other.” The Republican primary in Texas has become explosive, with charges flying from all sides. But Cornyn, remaining more diplomatic than incendiary, merely touted that he would be the most effective general election candidate. And he pointed to Paxton and Hunt and argued, “They’re probably not going to be able to win, certainly by the same margin, and they might not be able to win at all because they’re flawed candidates.” 4 KEY SENATE SEATS REPUBLICANS AIM TO FLIP IN 2026 MIDTERMS TO EXPAND THEIR MAJORITY “I’ve been through a lot of races before. This is nothing new for me, and we look forward to a good primary on March the third and probably a runoff that will finish the race off in May, and then we’ll get ready for whoever the Democrats decide to nominate for November,” he added. Paxton campaign spokesman Nick Maddux, pushing back against Cornyn, told Fox News Digital, “Everyone knows that Jasmine Crockett, who said Hispanic Trump voters have a ‘slave mentality,’ is going to lose the general election miserably after winning the Democratic nomination. Cornyn’s reciting this tired talking point about the general election because his sad campaign has nothing else to talk about it.” “Ken Paxton won his last statewide general election by nearly double digits, despite tens of millions in negative spending against him, and he’ll do exactly that again in 2026,” Maddux predicted. Cornyn, who is running for a fifth six-year term representing Texas in the Senate, announced his re-election campaign in early March, with Paxton launching his primary challenge a month later. Hunt, a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters during his Army service and a rising MAGA star who is in his second term representing a solidly Republican district in the Houston-area, jumped into the race in October. As he declared his candidacy, Hunt showcased his own Trump credentials, saying, “I was the first person in the nation to endorse President Trump, and I have remained steadfast in my commitment to the people of Texas.” Hunt had been mulling a Senate run for months and sources confirmed to Fox News earlier this year that the congressman made his case to Trump’s political team that he’s the only person who could win both a GOP primary and a general election. Asked about Hunt, Cornyn claimed that “he can’t win the primary. He can force a runoff.” And Cornyn said Hunt was “pretty headstrong and is determined to run, which is his right… but he also has a right to lose, which is what’s going to happen.” The 44-year-old Hunt, responding to the 73-year-old
House GOP tensions erupt after moderate Republicans’ Obamacare ‘betrayal’
Tensions are once again boiling in the House GOP after four moderate Republicans joined Democrats in a bid to force a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s a betrayal to the Republican Party,” House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said. “It basically turned the agenda over to the Democrats.” “This is not what people voted for when they voted for a Republican majority,” he said. A Democrat-led Congress voted to broaden who can get federally subsidized healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, later voting to extend those subsidies through 2025 the following year. HOUSE REPUBLICANS TURN ON EACH OTHER HEADING INTO YEAR’S END Congress has now left D.C. until the new year with no plan in place to extend or replace those subsidies, and millions of Americans are now facing heightened healthcare costs in a matter of days. The majority of Republican lawmakers are opposed to extending those subsidies, calling them a pandemic-era initiative that’s part of an overall broken system. But several GOP lawmakers have warned that a failure to extend the subsidies, preferably with reforms, would negatively impact people across the country — as well as Republicans headed into a tough re-election year. Several GOP plans have emerged for another short-term extension to give Congress an off-ramp while they work on a new healthcare plan, but leaders in the House and Senate showed no appetite for taking them up. The four House Republicans who joined Democrats’ push for a three-year extension — Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Robert Bresnahan, R-Pa., and Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa. — have argued that their own leaders left them with no choice but to tack onto a pathway they did not want to support to extend the subsidies. “Ultimately, the failure to bring a vote left us with little choice,” Lawler told reporters last week. MODERATE REPUBLICAN ERUPTS ON HOUSE GOP LEADERS, SAYS NOT HOLDING OBAMACARE VOTE IS ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘ But it’s inflamed tensions with conservatives, threatening an already-unsteady peace in the House GOP’s razor-thin majority. “For any Republican to be supportive of Obamacare is really gross and a betrayal to everything that we’ve ever promised voters,” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said. “I mean, this is the Democrats’ fault. They are the ones who made insurance, health insurance, unaffordable and unreliable.” She noted that House Republicans did pass a bill with some modest healthcare reforms before they left Washington, but conceded “we need to do a lot more.” Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital, “I think it’s disappointing — why people would want to bail out Obamacare, I don’t understand.” “That discharge petition forces our children to go into greater debt,” Fine said. “We should be focused on destroying Obamacare, not bailing it out.” A discharge petition is a mechanism for forcing a vote on legislation over the wishes of House leaders, provided it gets support from more than half of the lawmakers in the chamber. HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS ON THE HILL: ‘FIGHTING’ IN THE HOUSE REPUBLICAN ‘FAMILY’ In this case, the four moderates helped House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., clinch a majority of signatures on his petition, setting up a vote early next month. Lawler criticized Jeffries as “not interested in actually solving the problem” in his comments to reporters last week, however. “He wants it to fail so he can use the issue. Otherwise, you would get the bipartisan discharge to move. And that’s the unfortunate thing,” Lawler said. “But my view is, doing nothing is the worst thing. And that’s why Brian Fitzpatrick, myself, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie signed the discharge.” Meanwhile, Mackenzie said he spoke directly with one of his fellow House Republicans who was critical of their move. “I went to him directly and said, ‘I would like to talk to you about your comments.’ I said, ‘I need to explain to you why I voted this way.’ Here’s an anecdote from my district about an individual, a small business owner, a restaurateur. For him and his family, without the premium tax credits, he goes from $3.99 a month up to $9.31 a month, and what that meant for him was that he was going to de-enroll and hope that nothing happened to his family,” Mackenzie told reporters last week. “I said, that is not a great outcome for that individual, so we’re looking for some kind of relief or reform. And when ultimately we had that long conversation with the individual … we came to a much better resolution. We both were more understanding of each other.” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., did not appear as frustrated as some of his colleagues but predicted “it will die in the Senate.” The House GOP’s healthcare plan, which did not include an extension of the subsidies, passed last week with support from all Republicans, save for Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. It got no Democratic “yes” votes. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that enacting the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $35.6 billion for a 10-year period through 2035. If the bill became law, it would also decrease the number of people with health insurance by an average of 100,000 per year between 2027–2035 and lower gross benchmark premium costs by an average 11% through 2035, CBO said. However, it’s not immediately clear whether it will be taken up by the Senate.
White House says no to Catholic bishops’ call for Christmas pause in immigration enforcement
Florida’s Catholic bishops made an appeal on Monday for a pause in immigration enforcement for the Christmas holidays, but the White House said operations will continue. The appeal to President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was issued by Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski and signed by seven other members of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The border has been secured,” Wenski wrote. “The initial work of identifying and removing dangerous criminals has been accomplished to a great degree. Over half a million people have been deported this year, and nearly two million more have voluntarily self-deported.” “At this point, the maximum enforcement approach of treating irregular immigrants en masse means that now many of these arrest operations inevitably sweep up numbers of people who are not criminals but just here to work,” he continued. “It should be noted that a significant majority of those detained in Alligator Alcatraz have no criminal background.” US CATHOLIC BISHOPS PRESIDENT SAYS DEPORTATIONS INSTILLING ‘FEAR’ IN ‘WIDESPREAD MANNER’: ‘CONCERNS US ALL’ He noted that migrant sweeps sometimes include people with legal authorization to be in the U.S. and that surveys show Americans believe immigration enforcement operations are going too far. “Eventually these cases may be resolved, but this takes many months causing great sorrow for their families … A climate of fear and anxiety is infecting not only the irregular migrant but also family members and neighbors who are legally in the country,” Wenski said. “Since these effects are part of enforcement operations, we request that the government pause apprehension and round-up activities during the Christmas season,” he said. “Such a pause would show a decent regard for the humanity of these families. Now is not the time to be callous toward the suffering caused by immigration enforcement.” The White House did not directly address the appeal for a holiday pause, but did say that enforcement activities would be business as usual. “President Trump was elected based on his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens. And he’s keeping that promise,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Associated Press. Wenski, like many other Catholic leaders, has been an outspoken advocate for treating illegal immigrants humanely. DHS PACKAGES LATEST ICE ARRESTS AS ‘CHRISTMAS GIFT TO AMERICANS’ In September, he joined other Catholic leaders on a panel at Georgetown University criticizing the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown for splitting up families, inciting fear and upending church life. Wenski also cited the contributions illegal immigrants make to the U.S. economy. “If you ask people in agriculture, you ask in the service industry, you ask people in health care, you ask the people in the construction field, and they’ll tell you that some of their best workers are immigrants,” Wenski said. “Enforcement is always going to be part of any immigration policy, but we have to rationalize it and humanize it.” Wenski has joined the “Knights on Bikes” ministry, an initiative led by the Knights of Columbus that brings attention to the spiritual needs of migrants held at immigration detention centers, including “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades. He recalled praying a rosary in the scorching heat outside its walls before receiving permission just days later to celebrate Mass inside the facility. “The fact that we invite these detainees to pray, even in this very dehumanizing situation, is a way of emphasizing and invoking their dignity,” he said. Last month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted a “special message” in which they slammed Trump’s mass deportation agenda and the “vilification” of illegal immigrants, expressing concern over the fear and anxiety immigration raids are stoking in communities, as well as the denial of pastoral care in detention centers. CHARLOTTE CHURCH DEPICTS ICE ARRESTING HOLY FAMILY IN TRUMP-ERA NATIVITY SCENE The special message was endorsed by Pope Leo XIV and Bishop Ronald Hicks, who the pontiff recently named as the next archbishop of New York, replacing conservative Cardinal Timothy Dolan as the leader of the country’s second-largest Catholic diocese. Dolan announced earlier this year he would resign upon turning 75, which is required by Catholic law. “I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have,” Leo said last month. “If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice.” The pope has previously urged local bishops to speak out on social justice concerns and has suggested that people who support the “inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States” may not be pro-life. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FCC announces ban on new Chinese-made drones over national security concerns
The Federal Communications Commission announced on Monday that it would ban new foreign-made drones, citing national security concerns. The FCC said it was adding uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and their critical components made in China and other foreign countries to its “covered list” that features equipment that has been determined to pose an “unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security and the safety of Americans. Specific drones or components would be exempt if the Pentagon or Department of Homeland Security determined they did not pose such risks. The distinction prohibits the products from being sold or imported in the U.S. The order does not apply to technology that has already been sold in the U.S. The agency said that allowing foreign-made UAS and component parts to be sold in the U.S. “undermines the resiliency of our UAS industrial base, increases the risk to our national airspace, and creates a potential for large-scale attacks during large gatherings,” citing upcoming events such as the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. FLORIDA TO USE HUNDREDS OF CONFISCATED CHINESE-MANUFACTURED DRONES AS TARGET PRACTICE FOR US MILITARY “Criminals, terrorists, and hostile foreign actors have intensified their weaponization of these technologies, creating new and serious threats to our homeland,” the FCC said in its notice. The announcement comes a year after a defense bill was adopted that raised national security concerns about Chinese-made drones, which have been used in farming, mapping, law enforcement and filmmaking. The bill called for stopping two Chinese companies — DJI and Autel — from selling new drones in the U.S. if a review found they posed a risk to U.S. national security. A spokesperson for DJI said in a statement that it is “disappointed” by the FCC’s decision and that “no information has been released regarding what information was used” in the government’s determination to add its drones and component parts to the covered list. “Concerns about DJI’s data security have not been grounded in evidence and instead reflect protectionism, contrary to the principles of an open market,” the statement said. The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party praised the FCC’s move, saying it “strongly supports” the decision. HEGSETH TEARS UP RED TAPE, ORDERS PENTAGON TO BEGIN DRONE SURGE AT TRUMP’S COMMAND “It will help safeguard our national security, protect the American people, and wind down the unacceptable national security threat posed by DJI and other Chinese drones,” the committee wrote on X. “Taken together with the Administration’s recent executive actions to accelerate domestic drone commercialization, this sends an unmistakable signal to American industry: The U.S. is open for drone innovation—and American manufacturing will be rewarded,” it added. Arthur Erickson, chief executive officer and co-founder of the Texas-based drone-making company Hylio, told The Associated Press that the departure of DJI would provide more opportunity for American companies like his to grow. He said new investments are coming in to help him boost production of spray drones, which farmers use to fertilize their fields, and it will bring down prices. But Erickson also called it “crazy” and “unexpected” that the FCC would expand the restrictions to all foreign-made drones and their components. “The way it’s written is a blanket statement,” Erickson said. “There’s a global-allied supply chain. I hope they will clarify that.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
20% of NYC mayor-elect Mamdani transition appointees have anti-Zionist ties: ADL
At least 20 percent of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s administrative appointees are connected to groups characterized as anti-Zionist, according to a Monday report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The report found that more than 80 individuals among Mamdani’s 400-plus transition and administrative appointees either have ties to such groups or a “documented history of making anti-Israel statements.” The organization said Mamdani’s Transition Committee appointees have been linked to groups including Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian college activism network; Jewish Voice for Peace, an American Jewish anti-Zionist organization; and Within Our Lifetime, a New York City-based anti-Zionist group “known for leading protests outside synagogues.” For example, the ADL said at least four appointees have ties to Louis Farrakhan, the antisemitic leader of the Nation of Islam. One appointee, Jacques Léandre, was cited for reportedly attending a conference at which Farrakhan denounced “the Jews and their power.” ADL CHIEF WARNS NYC MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI POSES A ‘CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER’ TO JEWISH COMMUNITY Several other appointees were also cited for statements that appear to support or justify violence against Israel and the Oct. 7 attacks. According to the ADL, Kazi Fouzia posted on Facebook hours after the attacks that “Resistance are [sic] Justified when people are occupied” with video footage from an anti-Israel protest happening that day in Manhattan. The report continued to identify other appointees who publicly expressed hostility toward Zionism. Examples included Fahd Ahmed, who allegedly stated “Zionism is racism“; Ruha Benjamin, who reportedly signed a statement saying Israel was “ideologically founded on Jewish supremacy”; Lisa Ohta, who was accused of referring to “Zionism’s genocidal ideology”; and Mohammed Karim Chowdhury, who shared a post allegedly claiming “Zionists are worse than … Nazis.” MAMDANI’S FATHER SAYS COLUMBIA ‘TARGETED’ ANTI-ISRAEL STUDENTS WITH ANTISEMITISM CRACKDOWN The organization also identified Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, who was cited for allegedly posting a photo of herself at an encampment in front of a banner displaying an inverted red triangle, a symbol associated with Hamas, alongside the text “LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE.” The report also states that at least 12 appointees publicly expressed support for anti-Israel campus encampments during the spring of 2024, with at least five attending the protests in person. The ADL highlighted Gianpaolo Baiocchi, who was reportedly arrested at the NYU encampment and later asserted that no hate speech was present. The ADL disputes that claim, citing flyers distributed at the encampment that called for “Death to Israeli Real Estate” and “Death to America.” Mamdani, who takes office on Jan. 1, has previously and repeatedly emphasized that he stands against antisemitism. The ADL noted that many appointees did not raise concerns and emphasized that at least 25 individuals expressed support for the Jewish community, including Rabbi Joe Potasnik, Félix Matos Rodríguez, Wayne Ho, John King, and Jerry Goldfeder. However, the organization said it remains concerned about Mamdani’s team overall. “Many of Mayor-elect Mamdani’s Transition Committee appointments are inconsistent with his campaign commitments to prioritize the safety of New York’s Jewish community,” the ADL wrote in the report. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for more comment.