Prosecutors tied to Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases fired by Justice Department: reports
The Justice Department, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, has abruptly fired at least three federal prosecutors involved in cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, according to multiple reports. Among those dismissed were two supervisory attorneys who oversaw Capitol riot prosecutions in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., and a line prosecutor directly involved in trying several related cases, according to the Associated Press, citing sources familiar with the matter. NBC News is also reported to have independently confirmed the firings. BONDI’S DOJ DAY 1 DIRECTIVES: FIGHT WEAPONIZATION OF JUSTICE, ELIMINATE CARTELS, LIFT DEATH PENALTY BAN The prosecutors received termination letters signed by Bondi. According to both outlets, the letters provided no specific reason for the removals, citing only “Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States.” That phrase is often used in federal employment law to indicate the executive branch’s constitutional authority to appoint or remove personnel. Fox News Digital contacted the Justice Department for confirmation and comment but did not immediately receive a response. President Trump has repeatedly referred to the Jan. 6 defendants as political prisoners. On his first day back in the White House in January 2025, he pardoned or commuted the sentences of approximately 1,500 individuals who had been convicted or were incarcerated in connection with the Capitol attack. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN KEY OFFICIALS ON FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S TEAM The latest terminations follow a broader reshuffling of senior DOJ personnel. In January, the department dismissed more than a dozen officials who had worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump. Then–Acting Attorney General James McHenry justified the removals by stating those individuals could not be trusted to “faithfully implement the president’s agenda.” During his time as interim U.S. attorney in Washington, Ed Martin also demoted several prosecutors in the Capitol Siege Section, including two attorneys who had helped secure seditious conspiracy convictions against Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio. In February, Attorney General Bondi ordered a review of the federal prosecution of Donald Trump and launched a broad internal audit aimed at “realigning the Justice Department’s priorities” in line with the White House agenda. That effort included the creation of a “weaponization working group” tasked with examining perceived “politicized justice” across federal law enforcement. The group is also reportedly reviewing the actions of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought civil and criminal cases against Trump and his family. The Associated Press and Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
House GOP freshman celebrates young American’s safe homecoming amid Iran-Israel conflict
Rep. John McGuire, R-Va., welcomed 21-year-old Seth McCready home from Israel this week, as the State Department issued a security alert for U.S. citizens traveling worldwide and the conflict between Israel and Iran raged on. McCready talked to Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview at the Washington Dulles International Airport on Tuesday after he traveled from Israel to Jordan to Egypt before catching his final flight home. The Virginia native was greeted by his father and two brothers at the International Arrivals Gate, all sporting big smiles and embracing as their congressman stood by with red, white and blue balloons and an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol. “God protected me and the people I was with, and he’s protecting Israel too,” McCready said. “I 100% believe Israel’s gonna pull through, no problem.” REPUBLICANS CONGRATULATE TRUMP AMID IRAN CEASEFIRE AS DEMS HOLD BACK APPLAUSE McGuire’s office was in constant contact with McCready during his days-long journey home from Israel, according to the young American. TUGBOATS, CRUISE SHIPS AND FLIGHTS: ISRAEL BEGINS EMERGENCY EVACUATION OF CITIZENS AMID IRAN WAR When the Jewish state launched its initial attacks on Iran, which President Donald Trump has referred to as the “12-day war,” McCready was visiting family in Israel. He told Fox News Digital that he was later able to volunteer with a ministry group, preparing rooms and even delivering food to those in need as the strikes continued. “We did get a couple impacts. There was one that was like a kilometer away from me, and the whole building shook,” McCready said, describing a strike that slipped through Israel’s defenses. McGuire, who joined McCready’s family to welcome him home on Tuesday, said, “I’m just so happy for his family. You can’t always help somebody, but when you can, that’s the best part about this job.” The freshman Virginia congressman said he worked with the State Department to secure McCready’s path home. Both McCready and McGuire thanked his political director, Ramona Christian, for her vital role in getting McCready home. “It’s just a big team effort, and this is the second young person we helped get home in a week. And now we’ve got a couple of other folks that have reached out to our office, and we’re hoping to be able to help them as well,” McGuire told Fox News Digital in an interview. McGuire celebrated McCready’s homecoming as the fragile ceasefire deal between Iran and Israel had just begun. Questions remained about whether the ceasefire would hold when Trump announced on Monday evening that “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE.” Trump said the U.S. successfully struck three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday night, but questions remain on Capitol Hill as to what degree the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program. McGuire, a Trump loyalist who secured his endorsement in 2024, said the “ability for Iran to project power has been greatly diminished.” “We had an imminent threat of a nuclear weapon in Iran, and we just couldn’t have that,” McGuire added. “That threat has been eliminated.” Israel had launched a series of coordinated attacks on Iran on June 13, which Iran retaliated against, prompting the countries to exchange strikes for 12 days. After the U.S. struck Iran, the Islamic Republic launched retaliatory attacks on a U.S. air base in Qatar. But McGuire affirmed he is “very hopeful” that the ceasefire between Israel and Iran will hold and that there will be peace in the Middle East. The Virginia Republican is a member of the House Oversight Committee and the House Armed Services, bringing his 10 years of experience as a Navy SEAL to the position.
Pompeo says Iran strike shows US is ‘back to leading the world’
EXCLUSIVE – Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the recent U.S. military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities sent a signal to the world. Pompeo, who served as CIA director and later as the top U.S. diplomat in President Donald Trump’s first administration, said in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that the attack delivered a message “that America is back leading in the world.” And regardless of the heated debate this week over the president’s claims that the attack “obliterated” Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear weapons, Pompeo said “there was sufficient damage done” and, as a result, “Americans are safer.” CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE U.S. STRIKE ON IRAN Pompeo cautioned that “there are some risks in the near term, for sure. Iranians could decide to do something clandestine, or a terror cell here or something. But make no mistake about it, what President Trump did and what the Israelis did before him, made not only the region, the Gulf and Israel, safer, they made the United States and the West safer.” Praising the Trump administration’s handling of the strike on Iran, Pompeo noted, “I think they’ve got it nearly pitch perfect. They got the messaging right. They ran an incredibly good military operation as well.” TRUMP SAYS US WOULD STRIKE AGAIN IF IRAN REBUILDS NUCLEAR PROGRAM And he said the U.S. is now closer to ridding “ourselves of this risk that you’ll have an ayatollah, a theocracy, a thug that will have the capacity to build a nuclear weapons program.” Pompeo was interviewed before delivering a speech titled “Rebuilding American Deterrence” to the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire. Pointing to the strike on Iran, Pompeo told Fox News that America’s deterrence against top adversaries across the globe “increased as a result of what happened in the Middle East. It’s undoubtedly true.” In his speech and during his interview, Pompeo also called out isolationists on the right and left for abandoning U.S. global leadership. “There are those in my own party and those on the left who don’t think American leadership matters in the world, that it’s not worth it for the United States of America to do the hard work to keep our people safe,” he argued. And Pompeo said part of his message is “that absent American leadership in the world, we’re all a lot less safe.” KEEP YOUR EYES ON THESE REPUBLICANS IN THE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL RACE TO SUCCEED TRUMP Pompeo took a hard look at running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and made multiple trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states that have traditionally voted in the GOP presidential primaries. And his return to the Granite State sparked speculation regarding a potential 2028 White House bid. Wednesday night’s event was held at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which for decades has been a must-stop in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state for those with national ambitions. “Yeah, unavoidable. The question comes out when someone who’s the former secretary of state travels to this beautiful place,” Pompeo told Fox News, as he referred to New Hampshire. Pompeo said, “I really came here because I do want to be part of the policy debate. What happens three and a half years from now is an awfully long ways off.” But at this extremely early point in the 2028 election cycle, he didn’t rule out a possible White House run, saying “we’ll see what the good Lord brings in a couple of years.” Asked if he wasn’t ruling out anything down the road when it comes to service to the nation, Pompeo told Fox News, “No, if I get a call and an opportunity for a place that I think I can make a difference, I’ll do it every time.”
Republican senators say leaked Iran damage report was inaccurate, politically motivated
Republican senators told Fox News Digital that after receiving a fuller intelligence report on airstrikes authorized by President Donald Trump against Iran’s nuclear facilities that they believe the initial leaked reports underestimating the damage were inaccurate and politically motivated. “I think the leaked intelligence report was not accurate, and given the 14 bunker-buster bombs that were dropped on the Iranian nuclear weapons facility, I think that the clear evidence is the damage was overwhelming,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. In response to why so many media outlets ran with the leaked story, Cruz told Fox News Digital that “clearly there was a political agenda at play.” Earlier this week, CNN, citing people familiar with the assessment, reported that the early consensus within the Defense Intelligence Agency is that the strikes on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan didn’t destroy key components of Iran’s nuclear program nor destroy its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. TRUMP TOUTS ADMINISTRATION’S PROGRESS ON PEACE DEALS, SAYS WORLD LEADERS ‘RESPECT OUR COUNTRY AGAIN’ The outlet also reported that the strike likely only set back Iran’s nuclear program by several months, not years, as touted by the Trump administration. Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth railed against the “fake news” media during a NATO summit press conference for casting doubt that the U.S. strikes on Iran obliterated the country’s nuclear program. “A statement came in from the Atomic Energy Commission of Israel,” Trump said during a Wednesday press conference from The Hague as he wrapped up his NATO summit trip in the Netherlands. “They’re very serious people, as you know.” “‘The devastating U.S. strike on Fordow destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility totally inoperable,’” Trump read from the letter. “‘It was devastated. We assessed that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities had set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons for many years to come. This achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.’” HEGSETH TEARS INTO REPORTERS, ALLEGING THEY ‘CHEER AGAINST TRUMP’ AND IRAN STRIKES Senators received a classified intelligence briefing on the strikes from top national security officials on Thursday. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that widespread reporting on the leaked report was to “try to undermine Trump, of course.” “Listen, we walked through this in the briefing, without getting into things I shouldn’t talk about. Basically, that is not an accurate picture, and it didn’t purport to be,” said Hawley. “What they were quoting was actually not a full intelligence report; it was more akin to an after-action, early assessment guess. So, without saying more, basically it was very misrepresented.” “And the thing is,” he went on, “any reporter who covers the Pentagon and covers national security, they would know that. So, I have to say, kind of bad faith, I think, by our reporter friends in the liberal media who are clearly just trying to undermine the president.” TRUMP ACCUSES AYATOLLAH OF ‘LIE’ ON IRAN STRIKE: ‘HIS COUNTRY WAS DECIMATED’ At least one Democratic senator, meanwhile, was also pleased with what was said during the briefing. “Most of my questions were answered. I think it was a good briefing,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “I think Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. Hopefully, this has set back that program dramatically. And ultimately, we will see them go to the negotiating table, because that’s the real long-term solution.” While many Democrats have called the strikes an unconstitutional move by the president, Shaheen said, “it was a limited, contained strike” and “I think if it dramatically set back Iran’s nuclear program – initial reports are that it has – that’s a good thing.” Other Democratic senators, however, were still not so mollified by the briefing. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told Fox News Digital that the briefing “has not changed” his prior assessment that the strikes were a “clear violation of our Constitution” and that “Trump is yet again betraying Americans by embroiling the United States directly in this conflict.” TRUMP WOULD STRIKE IRAN ‘WITHOUT QUESTION’ IF IT RESTARTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Fox News Digital that the briefing “didn’t change my view, but I think I’d rather just leave it there, because it’s all classified.” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., was more vague on whether his opinion had been changed. “I can’t tell you what I learned in a classified briefing. I can tell you that it was destructive,” said Coons. “We do not yet have a full and complete picture of exactly what capabilities were degraded or destroyed and what additional risks we may face or what decisions the Iranian regime may make.”
Trump touts success of Iran strikes and attack’s initial damage assessments during 23rd week in office
President Donald Trump continued to brag about the success of the U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and visited the Netherlands for the NATO summit this week. The U.S. launched strikes late Saturday targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities, which involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters Sunday. Following the strikes, Trump said in an address to the nation that the mission left the nuclear sites “completely and totally obliterated.” But days later, a leaked report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, published by CNN and the New York Times, cast doubt on those claims, saying that the strikes had only set back Iran’s nuclear program by several months. TRUMP WOULD STRIKE IRAN ‘WITHOUT QUESTION’ IF IT RESTARTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM Meanwhile, the U.S., Israel and Iran’s Foreign Ministry have all said the three nuclear sites that U.S. forces struck have encountered massive damage. Still, Trump has said he won’t hesitate to launch additional strikes against Iran – should Tehran seek to beef up its nuclear program again. Here’s also what happened this week: Trump attended the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian leader said in a post on X on Wednesday that the two “covered all the truly important issues” as the U.S. has sought to broker a peace deal to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. TRUMP PRAISED FOR GETTING NATO ALLIES TO BOLSTER DEFENSE SPENDING: ‘REALLY STAGGERING’ NATO allies – all but Spain – agreed Wednesday to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Trump has long advocated for NATO allies to ramp up defense spending to between 2% and 5% GDP – and has made it clear that European nations need to shoulder greater responsibility for the security of their continent. Trump pressed lawmakers to get his sweeping tax and domestic policy bill to the finish line on Thursday, labeling the measure the “single-most important piece of border legislation ever to cross the floor of Congress.” TRUMP SAYS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ BILL ‘MUST’ MEET DEADLINE AS SOME REPUBLICANS WAVER “This is the ultimate codification of our agenda to – very simply, a phrase that’s been used pretty well by me over the past 10 years, but maybe even before that – make America great again,” Trump said at a “One, Big, Beautiful Event” at the White House on Thursday. Meanwhile, Republicans are scrambling to reform and pass the measure ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline, following Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s determination Thursday that several Medicaid reforms in the sweeping tax passage did not follow Senate rules and must be removed.
Final day of SCOTUS decisions brings wave of history-making rulings
The Supreme Court had a banner day on Friday, the last decision day of the high court’s term, involving the justices reining in judicial power and serving up a victory for parents in the ongoing culture wars. The high court’s more controversial decisions were split along ideological lines. Liberal justices sometimes dissented with bitter rebukes, while the Trump administration celebrated what it viewed as landmark wins. In the most high-profile case of the day, the Supreme Court ended the practice of judges issuing sweeping injunctions that cover the whole country and not just parties involved in a case. SCOTUS RULES ON TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS The injunctions, often known as “nationwide injunctions,” have been a source of frustration for President Donald Trump as judges side with plaintiffs and block key parts of the president’s agenda. The case arose from several judges issuing injunctions that blocked Trump from carrying out his birthright citizenship plan. Rather than ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the merits of the plan, which has been uniformly rejected in courts, Trump asked the high court to put a stop to the injunction practice. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision left open the possibility that judges and plaintiffs could use other avenues, such as class action lawsuits, to seek broad relief now that the high court has curtailed nationwide injunctions. The Supreme Court decided 6-3 in Mahmoud v. Taylor that parents can opt their children out of a Maryland public school system’s lessons when they contain themes about homosexuality and transgenderism if they feel the content conflicts with their religious beliefs. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said the government “burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses ‘a very real threat of undermining’ the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill.” SUPREME COURT DECIDES WHETHER TO SHIELD PARENTS FROM LGBTQ BOOKS The Trump administration celebrated the ruling as a victory for “parental rights,” while Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a scathing dissent that the high court’s decision would open floodgates for students to opt out of a wider range of lessons. The Supreme Court allowed Texas to require age verification for users of pornographic websites, dealing a win to those aiming to block children from accessing explicit material online. A trade association for the porn industry brought the lawsuit, alleging the age requirement meant the state was unconstitutionally regulating free speech on the internet. “This is a major victory for children, parents, and the ability of states to protect minors from the damaging effects of online pornography,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “Companies have no right to expose children to pornography and must institute reasonable age verification measures.” The Supreme Court punted its case about Louisiana’s congressional maps, indicating it needed a few more questions answered during oral arguments in the fall. The delay means that Louisiana’s map of voting districts, including majority-Black districts, would not see any changes until the 2028 election cycle or later. The Supreme Court is now set to wind down in anticipation of its summer recess, though it is still expected to hand down some straggling decisions before its next term begins in October.
Trump’s NATO Turnaround: From threatening to pull US out to ‘daddy’ of the alliance
President Donald Trump delivered a resounding endorsement of NATO this week, marking a sharp turnaround in his years-long, often contentious relationship with the alliance. Once known for blasting allies over defense spending and even threatening to pull out of NATO altogether, Trump now appears to have had a change of heart. “I left here differently. I left here saying that these people really love their countries,” Trump said after the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague. The pivot comes as NATO nations more than doubled their collective defense spending target – raising the bar from 2% to 5% of GDP. WORLD LEADERS FLOCK TO MEET WITH TRUMP AT NATO SUMMIT The president’s renewed embrace of the alliance follows years of friction, high-profile clashes with world leaders and controversial comments. Yet at this year’s summit, the tone was strikingly different. Trump was welcomed by Dutch royals, praised by the NATO secretary-general – who even referred to him as “daddy” – and returned home lauding European allies for their patriotism. “It’s not a rip-off, and we’re here to help them,” Trump told reporters. The transformation is as dramatic as it is unexpected. Trump arrived at the NATO summit on a high note, following U.S. strikes that crippled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. According to American and allied intelligence sources, the operation set back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by several years. The strike was widely seen as both a show of strength and a strategic warning – not just to Iran but to NATO adversaries like Russia and China. WORLD LEADERS FLOCK TO MEET WITH TRUMP AT NATO SUMMIT “He really came in from this power move,” said Giedrimas Jeglinskas, a former NATO official and current chairman of Lithuania’s national security committee. “Among some, definitely Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Nordic Europe, this attack, the use of those really sophisticated weapons and bombers, was the rebuilding of the deterrence narrative of the West, not just of America.” Trump repeatedly called NATO “obsolete,” questioning its relevance and slamming allies for failing to pay their “fair share.” “It’s costing us too much money… We’re paying disproportionately. It’s too much,” he said in March 2016. He criticized NATO for lacking focus on terrorism, later taking credit when it created a chief intelligence post. Trump softened his tone after becoming president. “We strongly support NATO,” he said after visiting Central Command. “We only ask that all members make their full and proper financial contribution.” He continued to push for members to meet the 2% target by 2024. Trump privately threatened to pull the U.S. from NATO unless allies increased spending. “Now we are in World War III protecting a country that wasn’t paying its bills,” he warned. Despite the posturing, he called NATO a “fine-tuned machine” after extracting new spending commitments. He also accused Germany of being a “captive of Russia” over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. TRUMP HEADS TO NATO SUMMIT AS EUROPE AGREES TO HEED HIS DEFENSE SPENDING DEMANDS The drama continued, this time with French President Emmanuel Macron calling NATO “brain-dead.” “NATO serves a great purpose. I think that’s very insulting,” Trump responded. He also clashed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – calling him “two-faced” after Trudeau was caught mocking Trump on camera. Trump ordered 12,000 U.S. troops out of Germany, citing Berlin’s defense shortfalls. Trump ignited backlash after suggesting he’d let Russia “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that failed to meet spending obligations. The remark sparked urgent contingency talks among European leaders about the future of the alliance if the U.S. did not step up to its defense. The 2025 summit in The Hague unfolded with surprising calm. Trump’s hosts rolled out the red carpet. “He’s the man of the hour and the most important man in the world,” Jeglinskas said. Jeglinskas credited Trump’s blunt diplomacy – however unorthodox – for helping drive real reform “He’s brought in tectonic change to the alliance’s capabilities by… being himself,” he added. “It’s a gift for the alliance.” Experts agree NATO’s recent revitalization stems from two major catalysts: Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Trump’s relentless pressure on allies to boost defense. “President Trump is riding high this week with two major foreign policy victories,” said Matthew Kroenig, vice president at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center, referencing NATO and the recent U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program. “It’s terrific. I hope he can keep it up.” He added, “Every president since Eisenhower has complained that NATO allies aren’t doing their fair share.” Now, Trump was the one who finally got them to listen, he said.
University of Virginia president resigns amid pressure from Trump admin over DEI initiatives
The University of Virginia president stepped down on Friday after facing intense pressure from the Trump administration over the institution’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. James E. Ryan, who had led the school since 2018, said he had already decided that next year would be his last and decided not to “fight the federal government in order to save my own job” until then. To make a long story short, I am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University,” Ryan wrote to the UVA community on Friday. “But I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job. To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld.” “This is especially true because I had decided that next year would be my last, for reasons entirely separate from this episode—including the fact that we concluded our capital campaign and have implemented nearly all of the major initiatives in our strategic plan,” he continued. TRUMP’S DOJ PRESSURING UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA TO AXE ITS PRESIDENT OVER DEI PROGRAMS: REPORT Robert D. Hardie, leader of the University of Virginia’s governing board, said in a statement he accepted Ryan’s resignation with “profound sadness,” adding that he had been an “extraordinary president,” led the institution to “unprecedented heights” and that the university “has forever been changed for the better as a result of Jim’s exceptional leadership.” This comes after the Trump administration had privately demanded that the university remove Ryan to help resolve a Justice Department probe into the institution’s DEI practices, according to The New York Times. The Justice Department argued that Ryan had failed to dismantle the school’s DEI programs and misrepresented the steps taken to eliminate them, amid the administration’s efforts to root out DEI in higher education, the newspaper reported. The federal government’s moves targeting higher education include pulling billions of dollars from elite universities such as Harvard, which has been the subject of investigations by various agencies over issues such as DEI initiatives, admissions practices and alleged antisemitism on campus. But this was the first time the administration had pressured a university to remove its president. “That sham virtue signaling of DEI has no place in our country, and the Trump administration is working tirelessly to erase this divisive, backward, and unjust practice from our society,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital. “Any university president willingly breaking federal civil rights laws will be met with the full force of the federal government, and it would behoove every school in America to prioritize the civil rights of every student and end DEI once and for all,” he continued. Ryan had focused on increasing diversity at the university, bringing in more first-generation students and encouraging community service. These efforts had ruffled the feathers of conservative alumni and Republican board members who argued he was “too woke” and wanted to impose his beliefs on students. Before his time as the university’s president, Ryan served as the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he received recognition for his commitment to DEI programs. In a joint statement, Virginia’s Democratic senators said it was “outrageous” that the administration would demand Ryan’s resignation over “‘culture war’ traps.” “Decisions about UVA’s leadership belong solely to its Board of Visitors, in keeping with Virginia’s well-established and respected system of higher education governance,” Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said. “This is a mistake that hurts Virginia’s future.” Conservative groups have lambasted Ryan for what they regard as insufficient steps toward compliance with the administration’s plans to eliminate DEI. America First Legal, a nonprofit launched by Trump advisor Stephen Miller, accused the University of Virginia last month of rebranding DEI programs to skirt Trump’s executive orders aimed at ending diversity initiatives. HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS AFTER TRUMP CUTS BILLIONS IN FUNDING “Rebranding discrimination does not make it legal, and changing a label doesn’t change the substance,” Megan Redshaw, an attorney at America First Legal, said in a statement at the time. “UVA’s use of sanitized language and recycled job titles is a deliberate attempt to sidestep the law.” The group took direct aim at Ryan, noting that he joined hundreds of other college presidents in signing a public statement condemning the administration’s “overreach and political interference.” On Friday, the group vowed to continue to use every available tool to root out DEI. “This week’s developments make clear: public universities that accept federal funds do not have a license to violate the Constitution,” Redshaw said in a statement to The Associated Press. “They do not get to impose ideological loyalty tests, enforce race and sex-based preferences, or defy lawful executive authority.”
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ faces Republican family feud as Senate reveals its final text
Senate Republicans unveiled their long-awaited version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” but its survival is not guaranteed. Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., revealed the stitched-together text of the colossal bill late Firday night. The final product from the upper chamber is the culmination of a roughly month-long sprint to take the House GOP’s version of the bill and mold and change it. The colossal package includes separate pieces and parts from 10 Senate committees. With the introduction of the bill, a simple procedural hurdle must be passed in order to begin the countdown to final passage. When that comes remains an open question. Senate Republicans left their daily lunch on Friday under the assumption that a vote could be teed up as early as noon on Saturday. HOUSE CONSERVATIVES GO TO WAR WITH SENATE OVER TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital that he had “strongly encouraged” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to put the bill on the floor for a vote Saturday afternoon. “If you’re unhappy with that, you’re welcome to fill out a hurt feelings report, and we will review it carefully later,” Kennedy said. “But in the meantime, it’s time to start voting.” But Senate Republicans’ desire to impose their will on the package and make changes to already divisive policy tweaks in the House GOP’s offering could doom the bill and derail Thune’s ambitious timeline to get it on Trump’s desk by the July 4 deadline. However, Thune has remained firm that lawmakers would stay on course and deliver the bill to Trump by Independence Day. When asked if he had the vote to move the package forward, Thune said “we’ll find out tomorrow.” TOP TRUMP HEALTH OFFICIAL SLAMS DEMOCRATS FOR ‘MISLEADING’ CLAIMS ABOUT MEDICAID REFORM But it wasn’t just lawmakers who nearly derailed the bill. The Senate parliamentarian, the true final arbiter of the bill, ruled that numerous GOP-authored provisions did not pass muster with Senate rules. Any item in the “big, beautiful bill” must comport with the Byrd Rule, which governs the budget reconciliation process and allows for a party in power to ram legislation through the Senate while skirting the 60-vote filibuster threshold. That sent lawmakers back to the drawing board on a slew of policy tweaks, including the Senate’s changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate, cost-sharing for food benefits and others. Republican leaders, the White House and disparate factions within the Senate and House GOP have been meeting to find middle ground on other pain points, like tweaking the caps on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. While the controversial Medicaid provider tax rate change remained largely the same, a $25 billion rural hospital stabilization fund was included in the bill to help attract possible holdouts that have raised concerns that the rate change would shutter rural hospitals throughout the country. On the SALT front, there appeared to be a breakthrough on Friday. A source told Fox News that the White House and House were on board with a new plan that would keep the $40,000 cap from the House’s bill and have it reduced back down to $10,000 after five years. But Senate Republicans are the ones that must accept it at this stage. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., has acted as the mediator in those negotiations, and said that he was unsure if any of his colleagues “love it.” “But I think, as I’ve said before, I want to make sure we have enough that people can vote for than to vote against,” he said. Still, a laundry list of other pocket issues and concerns over just how deep spending cuts in the bill go have conservatives and moderates in the House GOP and Senate pounding their chests and vowing to vote against the bill. Republican leaders remain adamant that they will finish the mammoth package and are gambling that some lawmakers standing against the bill will buckle under the pressure from the White House and the desire to leave Washington for a short break. Once a motion to proceed is passed, which only requires a simple majority, then begins 20 hours of debate evenly divided between both sides of the aisle. ‘BABY STEPS’: LEADER THUNE DETAILS HIS WORK TO CORRAL REPUBLICANS BEHIND TRUMP’S LEGISLATIVE VISION Democratic lawmakers are expected to spend the entirety of their 10 allotted hours, while Republicans will likely clock in well below their limit. From there starts the “vote-a-rama” process, when lawmakers can submit a near-endless number of amendments to the bill. Democrats will likely try to extract as much pain as possible with messaging amendments that won’t actually pass but will add more and more time to the process. Once that is complete, lawmakers will move to a final vote. If successful, the “big, beautiful bill” will again make its way back to the House, where House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will again have to corral dissidents to support the legislation. It barely advanced last month, squeaking by on a one-vote margin. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hammered on the importance of passing Trump’s bill on time. He met with Senate Republicans during their closed-door lunch and spread the message that advancing the colossal tax package would go a long way to giving businesses more certainty in the wake of the president’s tariffs. “We need certainty,” he said. “With so much uncertainty, and having the bill on the president’s desk by July 4 will give us great tax certainty, and I believe, accelerate the economy in the third quarter of the year.”
Major Republican rumored for gubernatorial run, hits back against Dem: ‘Worst governor in America’
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a key Trump ally who is rumored to be planning a gubernatorial run in 2026, hit back hard against New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, calling her the “worst governor in America” after the Democrat dinged her over Medicaid cuts. In a Friday post on social media, Hochul accused Stefanik of voting “to put five hospitals in her district on the chopping block, endangering her own constituents’ lives, health, and jobs—all to serve Donald Trump.” “I won’t stand for it. I’m fighting like hell to save New Yorkers’ health care,” said Hochul. In response, Stefanik posted on X, “Hi @KathyHochul! Welcome to the fight.” GOP ADVISOR EXPLAINS HOW REPUBLICANS CAN ‘CAPITALIZE’ ON ‘RADICAL’ CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI “You didn’t get exposed enough during our last round when you testified and were totally exposed for your dangerous and failed sanctuary state policies ?? Let’s do Medicaid now,” she wrote. Stefanik slammed Hochul for giving Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants, “putting New Yorkers most vulnerable LAST.” “NY’s Medicaid program is rampant with tens of billions of waste, fraud, and abuse under Kathy’s watch,” she wrote. “Kathy Hochul, the Worst Governor in America oversees the worst run Medicaid program in the country harming NYers. Medicaid is an incredibly important program that I have worked to strengthen for New Yorkers.” The New York congresswoman then added, “Oh and Kathy, your numbers in rural NY are plummeting” and “I have been nationally recognized as the TOP advocate to deliver results for rural hospitals due to my work for hospitals in my district.” HOCHUL FAILS TO RECALL ILLEGAL ALIENS CHARGED IN HIGH-PROFILE CRIMINAL CASES, INCLUDING WOMAN’S SUBWAY BURNING In another post, Stefanik said, “Oh Kathy. I’m glad I set your schedule these days – from setting your Tweet schedule by forcing you to tweet on the Communist Mayor who just won in your Democrat Party in NYC. To you now scrambling to go to Saranac Lake because of news articles. When I have an announcement to make, believe me you’ll know.” This comes after Stefanik pressured Hochul to say whether she supported the new Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has made controversial statements criticizing Israel and promoting Palestine and who identifies as a Democratic Socialist. Hochul has since said she plans to meet with Mamdani to discuss his ideas for the city but has not yet issued a full endorsement. Stefanik has said that as the leader of the New York Democratic Party, Hochul “fully embraced the antisemitic, Communist nominee,” adding, “she owns this catastrophe.” COULD THIS TOP TRUMP ALLY BREAK REPUBLICAN’S 2-DECADE LOSING STREAK IN THIS KEY STATE? Earlier this month, Stefanik told a Republican crowd in Staten Island she was “strongly considering” entering the race for governor. She unveiled a new state political action committee, Save New York, which appears aimed at further cementing her status as a heavyweight in Empire State GOP politics.