South Sudan deportations have placed migrants, and ICE officials, in danger: new court filing
Nearly a dozen ICE officials and a group of migrants deported to South Sudan by the Trump administration are currently being housed in a converted shipping container and face grave dangers to their physical health, according to a new court filing. The filing, submitted by senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Mellisa Harper, cites a combination of blistering-high heat conditions, exposure to malaria and “imminent danger” of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen as threats to both the migrants and ICE officials. It comes after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the Trump administration to keep in U.S. custody a group of eight migrants who were deported to South Sudan without due process or the ability to challenge their removals to a third country. He ordered they remain in U.S. custody until each could be given a “reasonable fear interview,” or a chance to explain to U.S. officials any fear of persecution or torture, should they be released. But the filing makes clear that the migrants, and ICE officials, face dangers in the meantime. US JUDGE ACCUSES TRUMP ADMIN OF ‘MANUFACTURING CHAOS’ IN SOUTH SUDAN DEPORTATIONS, ESCALATING FEUD According to Harper, ICE officials were not given anti-malaria medication prior to traveling to Djibouti – subjecting them to unknown levels of disease exposure in a war-torn region, where there has been an uptick in deadly clashes over resource scarcity, including cattle and access to potable water. The president of the country declared a state of emergency in certain parts of South Sudan just days ago. And even within the confines of the U.S. base, there are significant risks. According to ICE’s submission, the migrants are being housed in a converted Conex shipping container at the U.S. military base in Djibouti, the only permanent military base the U.S. currently operates in Africa. Since their arrival, daily temperatures there have exceeded 100 degrees – searing conditions that they said make detention “of any length,” especially longer term. Nearby burn pits used by Djibouti to burn off trash and human waste form a giant “smog cloud” that hangs over the base for much of the day, exposing the group to unknown hazardous materials burned off under breezeless, blistering hot skies. Some ICE officers have started to sleep in N-95 masks for additional protection, Harper noted. APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT “Within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti, the officers and detainees began to feel ill,” Harper noted, with symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, and achy joints – though they lack the testing or medication necessary for treatment. Other, more imminent risks also remain. Upon arrival, ICE officials were notified by Defense Department officials of the “imminent danger” of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen, Harper noted, though ICE officers lack body armor or other gear appropriate in the case of an attack. The new filing could add pressure on the Trump administration to relocate the detainees and ICE officials in question. JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA Murphy had stated in a previous order that migrants deported to South Sudan need not be held there, in a country where recent infighting and deadly conflict have displaced more than 150,000 people this year alone. He said then that the government had mischaracterized his order, “while at the same time manufacturing the very chaos they decry.” His order requires the Trump administration to keep the six deported migrants in South Sudan under the custody of U.S. officials for a length of time needed to carry out the so-called “reasonable fear interviews,” and make a determination over whether the migrants’ concerns are adequate. “The court never said that defendants had to convert their foreign military base into an immigration facility,” Murphy wrote in that order. “It only left that as an option, again, at defendants’ request,” he said then. It is unclear whether the government has plans to relocate the group.
Army’s historic horse-drawn funeral tradition returns from two-year hiatus after $28M overhaul
The U.S. Army’s Caisson Detachment returned to Arlington National Cemetery this week for the first time in two years. In Section 62, the ceremonial horse unit that transports veterans and service members to their final resting place, escorted the remains of Private Bernard Curran, who was killed in World War II. Curran died in 1942 after being captured by the Japanese. He was buried alongside other prisoners of war in Common Grave 723 in the Philippines. He was brought back home to the United States after his remains were identified by the U.S. military last year. The hallowed grounds of Arlington were decided to be his final resting place. The ceremony marked the return of the Caisson Detachment after a two-year suspension. The program faced a massive overhaul after two horses died within 96-hours of each other due to poor living conditions. BILL STRENGTHENING‘ SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP’ WITH UK MILITARY INTRODUCED ON D-DAY The US Army’s Caisson platoon is part of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, famously responsible for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Caisson horses have pulled the flag-draped coffins of America’s war heroes to their final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery for more than 70 years. This is a military tradition that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who served in an Armored Infantry unit in Iraq, explained dates back hundreds of years. “The Caisson units in the military go back hundreds and hundreds of years, when militaries and armies want to show respect and love for their soldiers, soldiers who have served honorably and the soldiers who died in war,” Driscoll said in an exclusive interview with Fox News. The Caisson program was halted in May 2023 while the Army investigated concerns that the horses used to pull the caisson were suffering from dangerous living conditions and neglect. ARMY SURPASSES FISCAL 2025 RECRUITING GOAL 4 MONTHS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE “We had two horses die within four days of each other,” Driscoll said. “And so we did a pause to all the operations and the Army took a hard look at what was causing that. What they found is these horses and their care had kind of fallen through the cracks.” In February 2022, two Caisson horses, Mickey and Tony, died within 96 hours of each other. Both were euthanized due to poor conditions and feeding. Tony was found to have ingested 44 pounds of gravel and sand while Mickey had a gastrointestinal illness that went untreated. Another two horses died within the year, raising concerns within the Army and denying families this ceremonial tradition. “We hadn’t done a particularly good job as an Army in all instances of making sure the training was good and that the horses were taken care of, so we took a pause. It was originally meant to be a 45-day pause that then as the government and sometimes the Army, it stretched on and on,” Driscoll said. The Caisson unit was living in stables at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia at the time. A U.S. Army report found that conditions among the aging horses at decrepit stables located at Fort Meyer, that had been built in 1908, were inadequate to house the ceremonial horses. The horses were fed low quality hay, and routinely suffered from parasites from standing in their own excrement. They ate their feed off the ground in mud lots covered in gravel and construction waste, according to the report. MEMORIAL DAY: WILD MUSTANGS HELP VETERANS HEAL THROUGH WYOMING RANCH PROGRAM Major General Trevor Bredenkamp, who serves as Commanding General of Joint Task Force National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington, took command shortly after the Caisson program was suspended. “We had to rehabilitate many of our horses and what we found is years of underinvestment. They were injured beyond the point where they could still continue the mission, and so we had to retire them, and then we had to procure new horses… we found we lacked a degree of expertise to care for these horses,” Bredenkamp said. He oversaw the complete overhaul of the unit. “It wasn’t a problem that manifested itself overnight. This was decades of under-investment. We understood that gravel impaction was a significant problem because there was feed that was on the ground. We didn’t have the appropriate matting in the stalls and so gravel could easily become mixed in with hay or with ground cover, and so we have raised all of the feed off of the ground, we’ve got feed bags hanging on the inside of the stalls. We have also put rubber matting on there again to prevent the possibility of gravel being ingested by the horses,” Bredenkamp explained. The Army set out to find the best horse trainers in the country. “We brought in these outside experts. We created a plan. We invested $28 million in it over the last two years,” Driscoll said. Lt. Col. Jason Crawford is a trained Army veterinarian who has been riding horses his whole life. Crawford was promoted to become the new caisson detachment commander earlier this year. REMAINS OF WWII SOLDIER KILLED NEARLY 80 YEARS AGO IN FRANCE IDENTIFIED, TO BE REBURIED AT NATIONAL CEMETERY “We’ve now had civilian trainers on our squads, on each individual squad, as well as within our leadership,” Crawford explained. It was dental day when Crawford showed the Fox News crew around the newly renovated stable. “We’ve been doing dental procedures on all these horses, and we got them on a good routine now, and that’s one of the other big changes, is really being persistent about their care,” Crawford said. The Caisson unit has to choose their horses carefully. The unit will be doing up to two funerals a day, up 10 per week on the hard pavement of Arlington National Cemetery. “Unlike some of the other smaller breed horses, they’re going to be on the concrete and the pavement. So really having strong feet for them to actually
Trump not interested in talking to Musk: ‘Elon’s totally lost it’
President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that he isn’t interested in talking to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, adding that “Elon’s totally lost it.” Trump also said to Fox News’ Bret Baier that he isn’t worried about Musk’s suggestion to form a new political party, citing favorable polls and strong support from Republicans on Capitol Hill. The comments come as Musk and Trump have been arguing over social media in recent days. The feud escalated after Musk started “wearing thin” on Trump for about a month, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy reported Friday. ELON MUSK MAY SPEAK TO TRUMP AIDES IN PUSH TO CALM FEUD A senior White House official told Fox News that Trump does not expect to speak to Musk today. However, White House aides told Doocy that Trump administration staffers might try to talk to Musk. Musk made allegations Thursday that Trump was in the Jeffrey Epstein file. HOUSE BUDGET CHAIRMAN EXPLAINS WHY THERE’S NO ‘PORK’ IN TRUMP TAX BILL AFTER ELON MUSK ATTACKS On Truth Social, Trump wrote Thursday that “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” The comments between Musk and Trump ramped up this week when Musk called the Trump-endorsed “big, beautiful bill” a “disgusting abomination.” “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” Trump also wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. “This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Fox News’ Patrick Ward, Lucas Tomlinson, Greg Wehner and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
Handful of House Democrats join Republicans in sanctuary city crackdown
A pair of bills cracking down on sanctuary cities passed the House of Representatives this week — with the support of multiple Democrats. On Thursday, the House passed a bill to withdraw Small Business Administration (SBA) services from jurisdictions that shelter illegal immigrants. The legislation passed the House in a 211 to 199 vote, with five Democrats joining the GOP: Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Laura Gillen of New York, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington. DEMS FUME OVER ‘DUE PROCESS’ FOR ABREGO GARCIA DESPITE LONG HISTORY OF PARTY BUCKING THE LEGAL PRINCIPLE That’s despite House Democratic leaders urging lawmakers to vote against the bill. SBA offices at the regional, district and local levels would be required to relocate if the administration publicly designated their locations as sanctuary jurisdictions. “House Republicans are holding these cities accountable for their refusal to follow immigration law and protect their citizens,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, told Fox News Digital of the bill. “Under President Trump, lawlessness that endangers the American people and prioritizes illegal aliens will not be rewarded with federal dollars and resources.” The second bill, which passed on Friday morning, would add explicit language banning people in the U.S. illegally from obtaining SBA loans. Eight Democrats voted for that legislation — Perez, Cuellar, Gillen and Davis all voted for the bill, along with Reps. Tom Suozzi of New York, Josh Harder of California, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan. House Democratic leaders did not appear to give their caucus guidance on how to vote for the bill. MAXINE WATERS FLOATS DEPORTING MELANIA TRUMP IN ANTI-DOGE DIATRIBE It is a sign of illegal immigration’s continued potency as a political issue, after proving key to Republicans’ victories in the House, Senate and White House last year. The former bill was introduced by Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn., and the latter by Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas.
Claim Trump nixed top Musk ally from NASA post over Dem donations belied by ex-Dems on team
Claims that President Donald Trump dropped his well-regarded NASA nominee over Democratic donations don’t hold up, given his track record of appointing officials from across the political spectrum. “Trump Is Said to Have Known About NASA Nominee’s Donations Before Picking Him,” read the latest headline from the New York Times about the president’s decision to pull Jared Isaacman’s nomination – as the firestorm continues over the spacewalking billionaire’s close ally Elon Musk’s coinciding break with the president. Trump had known about many of his circle’s Democratic ties before Isaacson came on the scene, including his own history. Until the Obama administration, Trump reliably donated to Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, then-Rep. Anthony Weiner, Hillary Clinton – all of New York – Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, and then-Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. YOU’RE HIRED, HERE’S WHO PASSED CONGRESS’ TRUMP CABINET TEST AND HOW STORMY THEIR HEARINGS WERE Since then, however, Trump has taken an adversarial tack toward Obama and Democrats associated with him, including Hillary Clinton – though he still reserves kind words for former President Bill Clinton. While many of Trump’s cabinet picks are former congressional Republicans, like Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins of Georgia and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Florida, many also hail from the left or are known to donate to leftist causes. Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is the most notable example, given his surname and namesake. Kennedy, whose father was a New York senator, attorney general and a 1968 presidential candidate until his assassination, was a noted Democrat invested in environmentalism and other liberal causes. His sister, Kerry, was first lady of New York during her marriage to Andrew Cuomo, while another sister, Kathleen, was lieutenant governor of Maryland under Gov. Parris Glendening – and his uncles, John and Edward, were two of the most famous Democrats in U.S. history. GABBARD SPEAKS OUT AFTER LEAVING ‘WOKE’ DEMOCRATIC PARTY But Kennedy and his supporters forged a political bond with Trump and propelled him into the presidency, finding common ground on vaccine risk awareness, dangerous aspects of America’s food processing and transparency of government officials, particularly in the health care sector. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who later left her party after repeated barbs from its thought-leaders like Clinton – who accused her of being a Kremlin asset. And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remains in office and has been widely praised by fiscal conservatives for his decisions so far, while also having a history of Democratic donations. Bessent donated to Obama, Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, and was also head of Soros Fund Management’s United Kingdom office in the early 1990s. The company, led by George Soros and his son Alex, is often considered the most powerful financial force on the far left. Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick – one of the lead negotiators of Trump’s tariff and trade agenda – was also a Democratic donor while head of the financial firm Cantor-Fitzgerald. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Lutnick’s donations have trended toward the GOP in recent years, and he has maintained a longtime friendship with Trump. On the Democratic side of the ledger, Lutnick historically supported the late Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, as well as Schumer and Clinton. Lutnick has preferred pro-business and anti-regulation candidates and issues moreso than coming from a purely political point of view. Isaacman, a New Jersey billionaire credited as the first private citizen to spacewalk, saw his May 31 nomination pulled this week after what Trump called “a thorough review of his prior associations,” which many, including in the media, believed referenced his history of Democratic donations. Isaacman has donated to fellow Garden State-born astronaut Mark Kelly – now the senior Democratic senator in Arizona – as well as former Sen. Bob Casey, Jr., D-Pa., and a SuperPAC aligned with Schumer. He also supported Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., a former NASA chief of staff and congressional freshman who upset a GOP-held swing district north of Los Angeles in 2024.
Trump’s border wall expansion moves forward in several critical areas: ‘Crisis is not yet over’
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cleared waivers allowing for 36 more miles of border wall construction in Arizona and New Mexico. The waivers curb environmental regulations that the construction would be subjected to legally build more quickly. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital in a statement that “DHS has been working at a neck-breaking speed to secure our border” and remove “criminal illegal aliens out of our country.” The waivers cover several projects, including filling gaps in the Yuma Sector and making developments on the wall in the El Paso Sector, according to a news release. In addition, 24 miles will be part of the Tucson Sonoita Project. REPUBLICAN AGS VISIT US-MEXICO BORDER WALL AS TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ CLEARS EXPANSION FUNDING These projects already had funds allocated in 2020-21 appropriations for Customs and Border Protection, the release from CBP added. “Today’s news is welcome here in Yuma, Arizona, where our community is still grappling with the consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s four years of open-border policies,” Jonathan Lines, a Yuma County Supervisor and Chairman of the Border Security Alliance, stated. “We applaud President Trump’s commitment to border security, and we look forward to the completion of the wall across the entire southern border. The border crisis is not yet over, and our federal government must continue to equip the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents with the tools, technologies, and resources necessary to provide adequate national security to keep America safe,” Lines added. TRUMP ADMIN SHARES BORDER PLANS FOR 2025 AND BEYOND: ‘AS MUCH WALL AS WE NEED’ Another waiver was granted in April to build more of the wall in California. With only a few small exceptions, border wall construction was largely halted during the Biden administration as millions of people crossed illegally, including through gaps. The gaps between barriers are also known to be used for cartel activity. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “Our border has never been safer or more secure, and we have the Trump Administration to thank for that,” Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Finishing the wall is exactly what Arizonans voted for, and I’m pleased Secretary Noem is quickly carrying out President Trump’s mission to protect our citizens and strengthen our national security. Sanity and the rule of law are being restored in our nation.” Critics of further wall construction have largely cited environmental concerns. BORDER COMMUNITY REVEALS WHAT TRUMP ADMIN STILL NEEDS TO ACCOMPLISH AS CRISIS CALMS DOWN: ‘UNDUE BURDENS’ “Waiving environmental, cultural preservation, and good governance laws that protect clean air and clean water, safeguard precious cultural resources, and preserve vibrant ecosystems and biodiversity will only cause further harm to border communities and ecosystems,” Earthjustice Associate Legislative Representative Cameron Walkup said in a statement in April after the California waiver. “Rather than rushing to spend tens of billions of dollars to help President Trump build even more wasteful border wall through a budget reconciliation package, Congress should focus on rescinding these waivers and remediating the significant damage that has already been caused by the wall,” Walkup added.
Trump-Musk feud: Who deserves the most credit for president’s resounding 2024 White House win?
As the war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk rages, it’s sparked a new debate over how decisive the world’s richest person was in helping Trump recapture the White House in the 2024 election. The president, speaking with reporters, argued, “I think I would have won” even without Musk’s help on the campaign trail last year. Musk, firing back, argued that “without me, Trump would have lost the election.” While the once-strong alliance between Trump and Musk rapidly disintegrated on Thursday as the two traded barbs over the president’s “big, beautiful” tax cuts and spending bill, the zingers also extended to other topics, including last year’s presidential election. MUSK MAY SPEAK WITH TRUMP AIDES IN PUSH TO END FEUD WITH PRESIDENT Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, went all in for Trump last summer and autumn. He endorsed the GOP presidential nominee in July right after the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS STAND FIRM AGAINST MUSK’S ‘KILL THE BILL’ ASSAULT ON TRUMP’S AGENDA Musk became the top donor of the 2024 election cycle, dishing out nearly $300 million in support of Trump’s bid through America PAC, a Trump-aligned super PAC. Much of the money was used for get-out-the-vote efforts and ads in the crucial battleground states as Trump and Kamala Harris faced off for the presidency. Musk concentrated much of his efforts on Pennsylvania. He joined Trump for the first time on the campaign trail at an Oct. 5 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, then held five town halls in the Keystone State later in October. And Musk set up a war room of sorts in Pittsburgh. Trump, mentioning how Musk campaigned for him in Pennsylvania, pointed to his White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who was co-chair of Trump’s 2024 campaign. The president noted that “Susie would say I would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway.” MUSK’S FISCAL CONSERVATIVE EVOLUTION PUTS HIM AT ODDS WITH TRUMP Musk, apparently watching Trump’s comments in real time, quickly fired back on X, which Musk renamed after buying Twitter. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote. “Such ingratitude.” Veteran Republican strategist John Brabender, who served as a media consultant to the 2024 Trump campaign, told Fox News Digital that “Elon and many others played an important role in helping the president win states all across America.” “But the bottom line is there’s only one constant and one person who is most responsible, by far, and that’s President Trump. That’s who people voted for,” Brabender added. Longtime Republican consultant Dave Carney, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns over the past few decades, said the president and Musk are both right. Carney, who steered Preserve America, another top-spending Trump-aligned super PAC, told Fox News that Trump “might have won without the help, but you can’t underestimate how important that help was.” Pointing to Preserve America, Musk’s America PAC and MAGA Inc, which was the main Trump-aligned super PAC, Carney said they all deserved “a tremendous amount of credit” and “just made it easier” for Trump to sweep all seven battleground states and win the White House. Carney also highlighted the Musk-aligned super PAC’s “unprecedented field effort, mail and other communications … to turn out these low-propensity Trump voters.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Tom Eddy, the GOP chairman in Erie County, a longtime crucial swing county in the northwestern corner of battleground Pennsylvania, told Fox News that Musk “helped Trump significantly. I really think so. He had money, and he had a name.” But Eddy added that “my gut feeling would be that Trump is basically saying, ‘Look. I won the election. These people helped me, but I won.’ That’s what he’s trying to bring across.” In battleground Michigan, veteran Republican strategist Dennis Lennox pointed to Musk’s comments and told Fox News “it’s incredibly arrogant to say that, but it’s probably true.”
Trump admin asks Supreme Court to lift injunction blocking dismantling of Education Department
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that is keeping it from restructuring the Department of Education. “That injunction effectively appoints the district court to a Cabinet role and bars the Executive Branch from terminating anyone, even though respondents conceded that some other [reductions in force] would plainly be proper,” the SCOTUS filing reads. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court declined to lift a judge’s order blocking President Donald Trump from carrying out his executive order that would shut down the department, according to Reuters. In the executive order, which was issued in March, Trump asserted that “closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them.” FEDERAL APPEALS COURT THROWS ROADBLOCK AT TRUMP’S EDUCATION REFORM AGENDA U.S. District Judge Myong Joun initially blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle the DOE in May. The ruling stopped a mass firing at the DOE that was announced in March and ordered the reinstatement of those who have been fired. The DOE quickly rejected Joun’s ruling, with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the DOE’s Office of Communications and Outreach Madi Biedermann saying, “President Trump and the Senate-confirmed Secretary of Education clearly have the authority to make decisions about agency reorganization efforts, not an unelected Judge with a political axe to grind. This ruling is not in the best interest of American students or families. We will immediately challenge this on an emergency basis.” Trump made it clear that he would seek to restructure and even dismantle the DOE during his second term in office. In fact, when he nominated Education Secretary Linda McMahon, he said her goal should be to “put herself out of a job.” The president cited poor performance as one of his reasons for seeking to shut down the DOE. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DESIGNATES JUNE AS ‘TITLE IX MONTH’ AMID TRANSGENDER ATHLETE DEBATE The Nation’s Report Card, which assesses how American students are performing in various subjects, showed seven out of 10 fourth graders are not proficient readers, which is a worse score than the last report card in 2022. The report card noted that reading scores showed “no significant change” since 1992. The administration has faced both political and legal pushback on its quest to get rid of the department. In February, several Democrats attempted to enter the Department of Education building in D.C., but were blocked by an employee. During the incident in February, Democrats repeatedly slammed the Trump administration and accused it of lacking transparency. Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
House Budget chairman explains why there’s no ‘pork’ in Trump tax bill after Elon Musk attacks
FIRST ON FOX: The chairman of the House Budget Committee is pushing back on Elon Musk’s claim that President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is full of “pork.” Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital it was not possible for “pork barrel spending” to be included in the legislation, called a budget reconciliation bill, because the reconciliation process was simply not the mechanism for such federal funds. “Reconciliation does not have anything to do with discretionary spending – earmarks, and all of that,” Arrington said. “And quite frankly, the [Department of Government Efficiency] findings were, I think, almost entirely an issue for . . . annual appropriations.” “Discretionary spending” refers to the annual dollars allocated by Congress each year through the appropriations process – also known as “spending bills.” HOUSE GOP TARGETS ANOTHER DEM OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF BLOCKING ICE AMID DELANEY HALL FALLOUT It’s a process that’s historically known to be rife with “pork barrel spending” from both Republicans and Democrats – funding for pet projects or other specific initiatives benefiting a certain member of Congress’ district. But reconciliation deals with the government’s “mandatory spending” – largely government welfare programs that can only be amended by changing the law. “We’re dealing with mandatory spending programs – entitlements, health care, welfare and the tax code,” Arrington said. “We did a responsible bill. There’s no pork in it. The question, I think, for some folks and the objective of mine and my budget committee members was, whatever we’re doing on tax or security to unleash growth and to buy greater security for the American people, we wanted it to be done in a fiscally responsible way.” Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller echoed that sentiment on X: “The reconciliation bill cuts taxes, seals the border and reforms welfare. It is not a spending bill. There is no ‘pork.’ It is the campaign agenda codified.” MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE The vast majority of the trillions of dollars in the bill are aimed at Trump’s tax policies – extending his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) while implementing new priorities like eliminating taxes on tips and overtime wages. There’s also $4 trillion in House Republicans’ versions of the bill aimed at raising the debt limit. The legislation is also aimed at amending current laws to enable new funding for border security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – projected to boost those priorities by billions of dollars. To offset those costs, House GOP leaders are seeking stricter work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps, while shifting more of the cost burden for both programs to the states. Republicans are also looking to roll back green energy tax subsidies in former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). But Musk and other fiscal hawks’ main concern has been that the legislation does not go far enough with those spending cuts. They’ve also raised concerns about the overall bill adding to the national debt – which is currently nearing $37 trillion. As part of his social media campaign against the bill, Musk called for both eliminating the tax cuts and removing the debt limit increase from the final legislation. Musk reposted another X user who wrote, “Drop the tax cuts, cut some pork, get the bill through.” He’s also shown support on X for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and his call to strip the debt limit provision out of the bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that the bill would cut taxes by $3.7 trillion while raising deficits by $2.4 trillion over a decade.
Risch urges ‘top to bottom’ USAID spending review after waste, fraud exposed
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said a thorough review of spending from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is warranted, following the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul the agency. USAID was an independent agency to provide impoverished countries aid and offer development assistance, but the agency was upended since February when President Donald Trump installed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to oversee the organization amid concerns that USAID did not advance U.S. core interests. Since then, the agency has faced layoffs and is being absorbed into the State Department. This increased scrutiny on USAID spending is valid, according to Risch. “The amount of money that we’re spending on that has to be reviewed top to bottom,” Risch said during an event Wednesday at the Washington-based think tank the Hudson Institute. ‘FIRED ME ILLEGALLY’: EMOTIONAL EX-USAID EMPLOYEES LEAVE BUILDING WITH BELONGINGS AFTER MASS LAYOFFS Risch said that several weeks into the Trump administration, he and others, including Rubio, evaluated a list of programs that detailed $3 million in funding for “promotion of democracy in Lower Slobovia.” According to Risch, the description didn’t provide enough information and items like these are totaling up to billions of dollars that must undergo review. “Lower Slobovia” is a fictional place and a term used by Americans to describe an underdeveloped foreign country. “We can do so much better, not only in how, how much money we spend, but how we spend it,” Risch said. “So, if you say, well, we’re eliminating this program, be careful you don’t say, ‘Oh, that means we’re walking away from human rights.’ Look, America is human rights. If America leads the way on human rights. We are the world standard on human rights. We have no intention of giving that position up.” The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted USAID in its push to eliminate wasteful spending. The agency came under fire for many funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities” and a $70,000 program for a “DEI musical” in Ireland. ‘HYSTERIA’: WHITE HOUSE SHUTS DOWN CONCERNS OVER USAID DOCUMENT PURGE As a result, Rubio announced on March 11 that the State Department completed a six-week review and would cancel more than 80% of USAID programs — cutting roughly 5,200 of USAID’s 6,200 programs. Fox News Digital was the first to report later in March that the State Department planned to absorb the remaining operations and programs USAID runs so it would no longer function as an independent agency. The move means eliminating thousands of staff members in an attempt to enhance the existing, “life-saving” foreign assistance programs, according to a State Department memo that Fox News Digital obtained. NEXT US NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR? HERE’S WHOM TRUMP MIGHT PICK TO REPLACE WALTZ “Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies,” Rubio said in a March statement to Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high.” “We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens,” Rubio said. “We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country.” Meanwhile, Democrats slammed the restructuring of the agency, labeling the move “illegal.” “Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s destruction and dismantling of USAID is not only disastrous foreign policy and counter to our national security interests; it is plainly illegal,” the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said in a statement in March. “Congress wrote a law establishing USAID as an independent agency with its own appropriation, and only Congress can eliminate it.”