How the Justice Department carried out a $14.6B healthcare fraud takedown
The Department of Justice’s unveiling this week of sweeping charges against more than 300 defendants who allegedly defrauded Medicare and other taxpayer-funded programs came as part of the department’s annual “takedown” event. The healthcare fraud takedowns have been a practice at the DOJ for more than a decade, but officials touted this one as the largest on record. It stood out not only for its size but also because it focused on transnational criminals and broached artificial intelligence. “This takedown represents the largest healthcare fraud takedown in American history,” DOJ Criminal Division head Matthew Galeotti said. “But it’s not the end. It’s the beginning of a new era of aggressive prosecution and data-driven prevention.” This year’s operation led to 324 defendants being charged for submitting billions of dollars in allegedly fraudulent healthcare claims, including for medical care that patients never ended up receiving or that they received unnecessarily. MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR HEALTHCARE FRAUD SCHEME INCLUDED GIVING PEOPLE ‘UNNECESSARY’ SKIN GRAFTS: DOJ A DOJ official told reporters after the announcement that the work was “strategically coordinated” so that the takedown involved “all new indictments, complaints, [and] informations.” Charges were brought across 50 federal districts and, according to the official, all were brought or unsealed during a three-week period leading up to the takedown announcement. Galeotti said the intended false claims totaled $14.6 billion. The actual losses reached $2.9 billion, he said. Another DOJ official told Fox News Digital the purpose of the annual takedowns is “to raise public awareness and deter wrongdoers from engaging in this crime.” The official noted that Operation Brace Yourself, a 2019 takedown, led to an estimated reduction of $1.9 billion being charged to Medicare for certain types of orthotic braces. “Every fraudulent claim, every fake billing, every kickback scheme represents money taken directly from the pockets of American taxpayers, who fund these essential programs through their hard work and sacrifice,” Galeotti said. The charges announced this week spanned the globe, and DOJ officials said that in addition to four arrested in Estonia and another seven arrested at airports or the U.S.-Mexico border, the department was working to extradite others overseas who are accused of crimes. FEDS BUST ARMENIAN FRAUD RING ACCUSED OF STEALING $30M IN COVID, SMALL BUSINESS LOANS Those defendants were part of an alleged scheme coined “Operation Gold Rush,” which resulted in at least 20 members of a transnational criminal organization, including defendants based in Russia, being charged as part of a Medicare and money laundering operation that centered on catheters. The group behind the scheme allegedly used foreign ownership entities to buy dozens of medical supply companies and then used stolen identities and confidential health data to create and file $10.6 billion in claims with Medicare. “We are seeing a disturbing trend of transnational criminal organizations engaging in increasingly sophisticated and complex criminal schemes that defraud the American healthcare system,” Galeotti said. Two owners of Pakistani marketing organizations were among those charged in an alleged $703 million scheme in which they used artificial intelligence to create fake recordings of Medicare recipients consenting to receive medical supplies. “We are concerned about the criminals’ advancement in technology here, obviously,” Galeotti said. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator who oversees the Medicare program, was pressed by a reporter about why fraudsters were so easily able to penetrate the Medicare payment system. Oz said CMS is working to meet the moment. The agency has “already launched a model. It is designed to use artificial intelligence and other more cutting-edge tools to address the fraud that exists in healthcare,” Oz said. Investigating and prosecuting fraudsters is work that relies heavily on data. The DOJ’s healthcare fraud unit has since 2018 had its own in-house team that analyzes data, one of the DOJ officials told Fox News Digital. The team’s techniques include identifying “aberrant billing levels” and other suspicious billing patterns, as well as fraudulent practices that appear to move from one region to another. The team’s ability to spot emerging trends, such as medical care professionals using skin grafts for wound care, also helps. FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL HAILS RECORD DRUG BUST; DRUGS SEIZED COULD HAVE KILLED NEARLY 50 MILLION One set of charges in the takedown involved three defendants in Arizona who allegedly purchased these types of skin grafts, known as “amniotic wound allografts,” and unnecessarily applied them to elderly Medicare recipients, including hospice patients in their final days. The defendants allegedly reaped millions of dollars from the practice. “Patients and their families trusted these providers with their lives. Instead of receiving care, they became victims of elaborate criminal schemes,” Galeotti said. DOJ officials said they plan to use a “fusion center” as part of their healthcare fraud crackdown. The center will combine data across agencies and is designed to create a more efficient analysis process. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is also involved in healthcare fraud work. A DEA official said during the takedown announcement that the agency’s investigations included doctors, pharmacists and pharmacy owners. Fifty-eight cases involved the illegal distribution of an estimated 15 million pills of opioids and other controlled substances, he said. “These pills ended up on our streets in the hands of dealers and in the path of addiction,” the DEA official said. Overall, dozens of medical care professionals, including 25 doctors, were charged in the takedown.
White House reveals highest-paid staffers – and 8 taking no salaries
President Donald Trump‘s administration released its annual report revealing the salaries for every staffer inside the White House on Thursday. The report shows employees’ earnings in a range of $59,070 at the lowest to $225,700 at the highest, though a few aren’t accepting salaries at all. The top-paid staffer at the White House is Jacalynne Klopp, a senior advisor and the sole staffer earning $225,700. Behind her is Edgar Mkrtchian, an associate counsel, making $203,645. Behind them comes a group of 33 staffers making $195,200, which includes many well-known names. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt takes in this level of salary, as does border czar Tom Homan, chief of staff Susan Wiles, trade advisor Peter Navarro, communications director Steven Cheung and police chief of staff and homeland security advisor Stephen Miller. ‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RELEASES DATA SHOWING FEDERAL WORKFORCE SLASHED SINCE JANUARY The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. According to the report, there are 108 employees who make between $59,000 and $80,000, while Trump’s speechwriters earn between $92,500 and $121,500. Eight employees do not receive salaries at all, though some of those are due to overlapping roles in other sections of government. ELON MUSK’S FORMER FRIEND WARNS EX-DOGE HEAD WILL DO ‘EVERYTHING’ TO DAMAGE TRUMP Secretary of State Marco Rubio is chief among these, not receiving any compensation for his White House role as national security advisor. Special envoy Steve Witkoff also receives compensation from the State Department rather than the White House. Trump’s own compensation is not listed in the report, but the pay scheme for the president is laid out in federal law. As president, Trump earns a base salary of $400,000, as well as a $50,000 expense allowance, $100,000 for travel and $19,000 for entertainment. INTERIOR CANCELS $14 MILLION ANNUAL FISHING GRANT CITED IN FOX REPORT AFTER DOGE HIGHLIGHTS DISNEY ADS, SALARIES Trump donated his salary to government agencies during his first term in office and said he will do the same during his second term. The White House did not immediately respond when asked about Trump’s compensation. READ THE FULL LIST – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:
ACLU sues to block ICE raids in Southern California, alleging constitutional violations
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demanding an immediate halt to what it describes as unlawful immigration raids across the Los Angeles area targeting migrants with “brown skin.” The non-profit accuses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of carrying out unconstitutional raids and then keeping migrants in inhumane conditions without beds and deprived of food and legal counsel. Homeland Security has denied all the claims in the lawsuit, saying that any accusations of racial profiling are “disgusting and categorically false.” ICE has carried out sweeping raids since June 6, arresting around 1,500 immigrants, including Latino day laborers, car wash workers, farmworkers and vendors – all in a bid to meet certain arrest quotas, the habeas petition states. ICE FLIPS SCRIPT ON LOS ANGELES MAYOR AFTER TELLING AUTHORITIES TO ‘GO HOME’ “The raids in this district follow a common, systematic pattern. Individuals with brown skin are approached or pulled aside by unidentified federal agents, suddenly and with a show of force and made to answer questions about who they are and where they are from,” the lawsuit reads. “If they hesitate, attempt to leave, or do not answer the questions to the satisfaction of the agents, they are detained, sometimes tackled, handcuffed, and/or taken into custody. In these interactions, agents typically have no prior information about the individual and no warrant of any kind.” The lawsuit accuses the federal government of keeping detainees at an overcrowded holding facility, referred to as “B-18,” inside windowless rooms that are extremely cramped. “In these dungeon-like facilities, conditions are deplorable and unconstitutional,” the lawsuit reads. LA MAYOR BASS CLAIMS IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT CREATING GHOST TOWN EFFECT COMPARABLE TO COVID LOCKDOWNS As well as seeking to block the raids, the suit demands that ICE refrain from using the B-18 center, as it is supposed to be a short-term ICE processing site, and that the federal government be held legally accountable for systemic racial profiling and due process violations. The defendants include Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Attorney General Pam Bondi and multiple regional ICE, CBP, and FBI officials operating in Los Angeles. The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of individual immigrants and immigrant advocacy organizations, led by the ACLU and the non-profit Public Counsel as well as other legal partners. Los Angeles has become a battleground in resisting President Donald Trump’s election promise of carrying out the largest deportation raids in U.S. history. Protests in the City of Angels last month descended into riots as masked agitators burned driverless cars, damaged other property and threw rocks at moving law enforcement vehicles. The lawsuit comes as an estimated 150 to 200 anti-ICE protesters shut down the Sixth Street Bridge in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon. The bridge links downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights early. The protesters carried signs with messages reading: “Sick of ICE!” and “Eviction moratorium now!” while others chanted “ICE out of L.A.” “This bridge has been the entry to Boyle Heights to kidnap community members and take them who knows where,” organizer Christian Alcaraz told Fox 11. The protest was one of several rallies in the county on Tuesday as part of a day of action against immigration raids. In Koreatown, another rally was held. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin refuted the claims made in the lawsuit. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Any claims that individuals have been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically false,” she told Fox 11 via a statement on Wednesday, adding that the lawsuit’s claims were “garbage.” She also denied the claims about poor conditions at ICE facilities. “Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false,” McLaughlin said. “In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.”
Trump $3.3T megabill sets House record for longest vote in history
President Donald Trump’s $3.3 trillion “big, beautiful bill” has reportedly set the House record for the longest vote in the history of the lower chamber of Congress. The procedural vote on the Senate-amended version of the bill lasted for more than seven hours. In 2021, the House spent seven hours and six minutes voting on former President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislative package. Wednesday night’s voting surpassed the previous record at 9:15 p.m. ET Wednesday by at least 15 minutes, according to Axios. Assistant House Minority Leader Joe Neguse, D-Colo., goaded House Republicans by claiming the protracted voting period Wednesday violated House rules, Axios reported. HOUSE ADVANCES TRUMP’S MASSIVE AGENDA BILL AFTER FISCAL HAWKS CAVE The extended voting period came as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrangled with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. They pushed back on the Senate’s version of the megabill over its projected increase to the federal deficit, as well as what they deemed insufficient Medicaid reforms and spending cuts. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, took issue with Senate revisions reintroducing green energy tax credits despite House efforts to roll back such programs. With the Democrats united in opposition, the future of the more than 800-page, Trump-backed legislative package depends on a handful of GOP holdouts. Following the overnight session, Johnson said Thursday he was determined to get the Senate-amended bill passed by the House and to the president’s desk by the Independence Day deadline on Friday. TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE THE SENATE’S VERSION OF TRUMP’S BILL Lawmakers voted to proceed with debate on the Trump agenda bill in the early hours of Thursday – a mechanism known as a “rule vote” – teeing up a final House-wide vote sometime later Thursday morning. Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said that beyond the House Freedom Caucus, some moderate Republicans also have final questions about how the megabill would be implemented. “Some of them wanted to talk to some of the different agencies about, you know, how they’re planning on implementing it, which obviously the agency heads have been planning for months on these changes,” Scalise said. “So they walk through those things and that was helpful to members just to at least get a good idea of what to expect once the bill becomes law. Of course, none of it happens if the bill doesn’t become law. So the focus has always been, let’s get this bill passed.” The Senate passed the “big, beautiful bill” by a razor-thin, 51-50 margin last week, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Fox News’ Liz Elkind and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
‘Disappointing’ DOGE: Federal workforce shrinking by just 1% shows bureaucracy’s entrenchment, experts say
Data indicating the federal workforce shrank by just 1% over the first few months of President Donald Trump’s second term shows a “disappointing effect of DOGE” and the level of bureaucracy’s entrenchment in America, experts told Fox News Digital. Figures released by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) show that the United States employs 2,289,472 federal workers as of March 31, which is down from 2,313,216 on September 30, 2024. The reduction of more than 23,000 positions “reflects the administration’s early efforts to streamline government and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy,” OPM said in a press release. “That’s just through the end of March. So I suspect those numbers will be higher by the end of September this year, which is when a lot of the early retirement packages– and buyouts – go into effect,” Alex Nowrasteh, the Cato Institute’s vice president for economic and social policy studies, told Fox News Digital. “Regardless of what those numbers are, this is not enough people having been terminated. It is not enough shrinkage in the federal workforce. And it is a disappointing effect of DOGE that it wasn’t able to increase the size of the decrease in the federal workforce,” he added. ‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RELEASES DATA SHOWING FEDERAL WORKFORCE SLASHED SINCE JANUARY Trump signed an executive order in February instructing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers. That order is reflected in the new data, OPM said, showing that agencies averaged 23,000 new monthly hires from April 2024 to January 2025 but dropped by nearly 70% to just 7,385 per month once the hiring freeze was fully implemented. Peter Morici, an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, told Fox News Digital that “Basically, Elon Musk poured a few teacups of ice water into the ocean to combat its rising temperature.” “It’s very hard to get rid of people unless you get rid of functions. See, he was able to decimate USAID because he took away all their money,” Morici said. “It’s very, very hard to cut down the Commerce Department unless you, for example, don’t want the numbers collected.” “It takes more than four years,” Morici also said. “Look at the problems they’re having just with Medicare reform, how all the special interests come out. Over the years, the federal bureaucracy is not just in Washington, but it’s been spread throughout the country.” “And as you talk about cutting it down, you’re talking about affecting local economies, the interests of congressmen, and so forth,” he added. ELON MUSK’S FORMER FRIEND WARNS EX-DOGE HEAD WILL DO ‘EVERYTHING’ TO DAMAGE TRUMP DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. David Hebert, an economist with the American Institute for Economic Research, said the reduction reported by OPM “is certainly a start.” “The real challenge that President Trump is facing is the fact that the federal government has taken upon itself far too many responsibilities,” he added in a statement to Fox News Digital. “If the President and Congress are serious about streamlining government, they need to move beyond ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ and look to shedding responsibilities that the federal government ought not have in the first place.” INTERIOR CANCELS $14 MILLION ANNUAL FISHING GRANT CITED IN FOX REPORT AFTER DOGE HIGHLIGHTS DISNEY ADS, SALARIES OPM said “hundreds of thousands more workers” will drop from the rolls in October 2025, when more workers depart via the Deferred Resignation Program that was offered to employees in an effort to trim the workforce. Tens of thousands of employees who are in the process of being terminated remain on the government payroll due to court orders that are currently being challenged by the administration, according to OPM. “The American people deserve a government that is lean, efficient, and focused on core priorities,” Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell said in a statement. “This data marks the first measurable step toward President Trump’s vision of a disciplined, accountable federal workforce, and it’s only the beginning.” Trump’s effort to shrink the federal workforce has faced stiff resistance from Democrats and various courts, with opponents saying that the administration is cutting critical jobs. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Rep. MTG to introduce bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote, new census that only counts citizens
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., plans to introduce a bill that would require a new census that only counts U.S. citizens, the results of which would be utilized in determining how many House seats each state is allotted. The upcoming measure, which is still being drafted, would also require proof of American citizenship to vote in federal elections, the lawmaker told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. Greene says she has spoken to President Donald Trump about her proposal and that he supports it. When the president was asked about the proposal this week, he said that he loved it. The congresswoman called the issue a “matter of national security,” asserting that Democrats “would love non-citizens to have the right to vote,” would “love amnesty for all,” and would essentially allow for a “world takeover” of the country. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE LAUNCHES PROBE INTO PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S USE OF TAXPAYER FUNDS Currently, the U.S. Census Bureau notes that unauthorized immigrants are included in decennial census population counts used in determining how many seats each state gets in the House of Representatives. “Apportionment is the process of dividing the 435 memberships, or seats, in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states based on the apportionment population counts from the decennial census,” census.gov notes. REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE AIRS FRUSTRATIONS, WARNS THAT SHE REPRESENTS A ‘NOT HAPPY’ REPUBLICAN BASE The 14th Amendment to the Constitution reads, in part, “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.” Counting only citizens in the census would likely reshape the nation’s political landscape, with some states getting fewer House seats than they currently have, and other states getting more seats. 4 STATES SUE TO BLOCK ILLEGAL MIGRANTS FROM CENSUS COUNT USED TO ASSIGN CONGRESSIONAL SEATS, ELECTORAL VOTES That would impact presidential elections, because each state’s number of Electoral College votes is determined by the total number of seats it holds in both chambers of Congress.
Trump’s remittance tax aims to slow illegal immigration by targeting the money flow
The Senate’s version of the “one big, beautiful bill” includes a tiny, 1% tax on international cash transfers — called a remittance tax — which, according to experts, will have a major impact on immigrants working in the U.S. A remittance is a money transfer to another country outside the U.S., which is a common practice among immigrant workers who send part of their wages back to family in their native countries. Tens of billions of dollars in remittances are sent to other countries from the U.S. every year. Earlier versions of the bill included higher tax rates and specifically targeted illegal immigrants sending money outside the U.S. The current version of the “big, beautiful bill,” however, imposes a 1% fee only on cash transfers, not electronic transfers, sent to other countries. U.S. citizens who want to send cash to other countries will also be subject to the 1% tax. The tax is expected to generate $10 billion in extra revenue for the federal government, according to an estimate done by Politico. TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ CLEARS FINAL HURDLE BEFORE HOUSE-WIDE VOTE Besides generating extra revenue, Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that the remittance tax has the potential to discourage illegal immigration into the U.S. by making it harder to send money back home. “Illegal aliens generally want five things when coming to the U.S.: to enter, to remain here, work, send money home (remittances), and bring family and/or have children here,” she explained. “Prevent those five things, and you prevent illegal immigration and encourage self-deportation.” The administration has been pushing hard for illegal immigrants to self-deport, incentivizing them by offering to front the cost of commercial flights and providing a $1,000 stipend to those who opt to self-deport. Ries said the remittance tax could be another effective strategy besides ICE raids that could help to crack down on illegal immigration into the country and reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. TRUMP TO BEGIN ENFORCING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS EARLY AS THIS MONTH, DOJ SAYS Ries said, however, that the 1% needs to be much higher to be effective. “A 1% tax only on cash transfers does very little. The tax should be much higher and cover all types of money transfers,” she said. “Until now, the U.S. government has not touched the annual billions of dollars going out of the country, not benefiting the U.S. economy,” she went on. “Remittances should be taxed to discourage unauthorized employment and its earnings.” ELON MUSK’S ATTACKS ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ HAVE ‘NO BASIS,’ SAYS NO 2 HOUSE REPUBLICAN Meanwhile, Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital that though he believes the remittance tax will have a significant impact, it may not be in the way the Trump administration hopes. He argued that discouraging remittances to countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras — where such payments account for more than 20% of the GDP — could actually drive more migration from those nations. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “If you’re Honduras, if you’re El Salvador and Guatemala, even a 1% tax, if it decreases the remittances, could actually be a significant toll in the development of those countries,” he said. “If the remains were actually to decrease significantly, that could potentially backfire on President Trump’s agenda to reduce irregular migration because he could actually make circumstances, economic circumstances in these countries more difficult and spur new irregular immigration in the future.” The House of Representatives is currently considering the Senate’s version of the “big, beautiful bill.”
Trump turns to Supreme Court in fight to oust Biden-era consumer safety officials
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking to overturn lower court rulings that blocked the administration from firing three Biden-appointed regulators. The emergency appeal asks the High Court to allow the Trump administration to fire three members of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a five-member independent regulatory board that sets standards and oversees safety for thousands of consumer products. The appeal comes after the Supreme Court, in May, granted a separate emergency appeal request from the Trump administration pertaining to the firing of two Biden-appointed agency officials from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). “It’s outrageous that we must once again seek Supreme Court intervention because rogue leftist judges in lower courts continue to defy the high court’s clear rulings,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields. SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TERMINATION OF INDEPENDENT AGENCY BOARD MEMBERS FOR NOW “The Supreme Court decisively upheld the president’s constitutional authority to fire and remove executive officers exercising his power, yet this ongoing assault by activist judges undermines that victory,” he continued. “President Trump remains committed to fulfilling the American people’s mandate by effectively leading the executive branch, despite these relentless obstructions.” Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. were appointed to serve seven-year terms on the independent government agency by former President Joe Biden. Their positions have historically been protected from retribution, as they can only be terminated for neglect or malfeasance. After Trump attempted to fire the three Democratic regulators, they sued, arguing the president sought to remove them without due cause. Eventually, a federal judge in Maryland agreed with them, and this week an appeals court upheld that ruling. However, according to the emergency appeal from the Trump administration, submitted to the High Court on Wednesday morning, the three regulators in question have shown “hostility to the President’s agenda” and taken actions that have “thrown the agency into chaos.” OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP ORDER PREVENTING ASYLUM REQUESTS, PROTECTIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The emergency appeal to the Supreme Court added that “none of this should be possible” after the High Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s decision to fire two executive branch labor relations officials. “None of this should be possible after Wilcox, which squarely controls this case. Like the NLRB and MSPB in Wilcox, the CPSC exercises ‘considerable executive power,’ 145 S. Ct. at 1415—for instance, by issuing rules, adjudicating administrative proceedings, issuing subpoenas, bringing enforcement suits seeking civil penalties, and (with the concurrence of the Attorney General) even prosecuting criminal cases,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in the emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. The request, according to Politico, will go to Chief Justice John Roberts, who is in charge of emergency appeals stemming from the appeals court that upheld the previous Maryland court ruling blocking the Trump administration’s firings.
Biden-appointed judge halts Trump HHS overhaul after Democrat-led lawsuit
A Biden-appointed federal judge on Tuesday stepped in to halt the Trump administration’s efforts to dramatically reorganize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued to stop the reforms. HHS announced in March it would be laying off around 20,000 full-time agency employees, while also reducing the number of regional offices across the country and consolidating several HHS divisions. A fact sheet from HHS about the cuts said the reforms were aimed at making the agency more efficient, saving money and ensuring Americans’ most critical health needs are adequately met. In response, 19 Democratic state attorneys general sued to block the Trump administration’s reforms. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted a temporary injunction in their favor. ‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’: TRUMP ADMIN RELEASES DATA SHOWING FEDERAL WORKFORCE SLASHED SINCE JANUARY DuBose’s ruling Tuesday temporarily blocks the Trump administration from enforcing its proposed workforce reduction or sub-agency restructuring, and HHS was also ordered to file a status report by July 11. “We stand by our original decision to realign this organization with its core mission and refocus a sprawling bureaucracy that, over time, had become wasteful, inefficient and resistant to change,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in response to the ruling. “The reorganization was designed to restore the department around bold, measurable public health goals like reversing the chronic disease epidemic and advancing U.S. leadership in biomedical research. While we strongly disagree with the decision by a Biden-appointed district court judge, HHS remains committed to modernizing a health workforce that for too long prioritized institutional preservation over meaningful public health impact.” RUBIO OFFICIALLY KILLS USAID, REVEALS FUTURE HOME FOR FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Nixon added that HHS is reviewing the decision and considering next steps. Last month, the Supreme Court limited the use of nationwide injunctions to halt President Donald Trump’s executive actions. However, the ruling did not shut the door on legal challenges to Trump’s executive orders. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT THROWS ROADBLOCK AT TRUMP’S EDUCATION REFORM AGENDA In DuBose’s ruling Tuesday, she asked both parties to address how that ruling affects the scope of her order, if at all, by July 11. “HHS is the backbone of our nation’s public health and social safety net – from cancer screenings and maternal health to early childhood education and domestic violence prevention,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the 19 state attorneys general who sued to stop the Trump administration’s reduction in force at HHS. “Today’s order guarantees these programs and services will remain accessible and halts the administration’s attempt to sabotage our nation’s healthcare system. My office will continue fighting to stop this unlawful dismantling and defend the essential services that protect our most vulnerable communities.” Since the Trump administration began its restructuring at HHS, some employees who were let go have been brought back. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP During a CBS News interview in April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, in some instances, personnel were cut that should not have been. “We’re reinstating them. And that was always the plan. Part of the — at DOGE, we talked about this from the beginning, is we’re going to do 80% cuts, but 20% of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we’ll make mistakes,” Kennedy said in April.
Bush teams up with notorious Trump foes to trash ‘colossal mistake’ shuttering USAID
Former President George W. Bush joined up with former President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono to comfort United States Agency for International Development employees Monday, while also taking shots at President Donald Trump and his administration for shuttering the agency plagued by accusations of fraud and abuse. “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama said in a video that was shown to departing USAID employees Monday, according to the Associated Press. “Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.” Obama summed up the decision to shutter the agency as “a colossal mistake,” and added that “sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.” Bush, Obama and Bono spoke to departing USAID employees Monday in a videoconference as the agency officially was shuttered following the Trump administration’s reporting that it was overrun with alleged corruption and mismanagement. The videoconference did not include members of the media, with the Associated Press reviewing and reporting on clips of the conference later that day. RUBIO OFFICIALLY KILLS USAID, REVEALS FUTURE HOME FOR FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS USAID is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations. It was one of the first agencies investigated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in early February for alleged mismanagement and government overspending, with DOGE’s then-leader Elon Musk slamming the agency as “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.” USAID officially was absorbed by the State Department Tuesday. Bush, who overwhelmingly has shied away from publicly criticizing Trump, lamented in his recorded message to the staffers that the end of USAID marks an end to his administration’s work rolling out an AIDS and HIV program that is credited with saving 25 million people nationwide. FOUR PLEAD GUILTY IN MASSIVE BRIBERY SCHEME AT AGENCY DEMOCRATS FOUGHT TO PROTECT FROM DOGE “You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart,’’ Bush told USAID staffers, according to the Associated Press. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.” Bono of U2 fame recited a poem he wrote reflecting on USAID’s closure and his claims that millions around the world will likely now die, according to the Associated Press. “They called you crooks. When you were the best of us,” Bono said. Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s and Bush’s respective offices Wednesday morning for additional comment, but did not receive responses. Other longtime Trump foes, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, thanked foreign service officers for their work before USAID’s closure. “In all my years of service, I found that foreign service officers and development professionals were among the most dedicated public servants I encountered,” Clinton posted to X Tuesday. “Their work saves lives and makes the world safer. Today, and every day, I stand with them.” Obama and Bush overwhelmingly have remained tight-lipped on their views of Trump under his second administration, with both former presidents attending Trump’s inauguration and not weighing in on the majority of Trump’s policies. Obama has taken issue with Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which is clearing its final hurdles to passage and will fund Trump’s agenda on social media, while Bush has consistently shied away from public rebukes of Trump in recent history. Bono previously has claimed that cuts to USAID would kill hundreds of thousands of people, and had slammed Trump in 2016 as “potentially the worst idea that ever happened to America.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was serving as acting administrator of USAID, announced the State Department absorbed USAID’s foreign assistance programs Tuesday after decades of failing to ensure the programs it funded actually supported America’s interests. “Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War,” Rubio wrote in his announcement. “Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown.” RISCH URGES ‘TOP TO BOTTOM’ USAID SPENDING REVIEW AFTER WASTE, FRAUD EXPOSED “This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end,” he continued. “Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies—and which advance American interests—will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.” The shuttering comes after DOGE gutted USAID as part of Trump’s effort to remove waste, fraud and abuse from the federal government earlier in 2025. BONO’S ‘300,000 DEAD’ CLAIM OVER USAID CUTS GETS SMACKED DOWN BY ROGAN, MUSK: ‘LIAR/IDIOT’ Trump repeatedly had touted DOGE’s work uncovering fraud and mismanagement within the federal government, including in his March address before Congress celebrating that DOGE identified $22 billion in government “waste,” including at USAID. “Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,” Trump said as he rattled off various examples of federal waste. “Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.”