AOC backs rising progressive candidate in NYC Dem primary in push to defeat frontrunner Cuomo
Progressive champion Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is weighing in on New York City’s Democratic mayoral race, with a long-expected endorsement coming less than three weeks before the city’s June 24th primary. Ocasio-Cortez, the four-term lawmaker who represents a congressional district in the Bronx and Queens and New York City’s most prominent leader on the left, backed state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani for mayor on Thursday. “Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement to The New York Times, which was first to report the news. “In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that.” CUOMO DINGED BY FELLOW DEOMCRATS AT NYC MAYORAL PRIMARY DEBATE Mamdani has been rising in the most recent public opinion polls and is now a clear second to frontrunner and former New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the latest surveys. With multiple progressive candidates in the primary race, the endorsement of Mamdani by Ocasio-Cortez is seen as a move to unite fractured progressive voters towards a single candidate in an attempt to block the more moderate Cuomo from returning to power. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING, ANALYSIS, AND OPINION ON ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ The now-35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez made history in 2018 with her defeat of a longtime House Democrat and then grabbed national attention in the ensuing years as the most-visible member of a small but growing group of younger, diverse, progressive House members known as “The Squad.” And her endorsement of Mamdani seems to fit her mold. The 33-year-old assembly member from Queens is a person of color and a democratic socialist who is originally from Uganda. “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a once-in-a-generation leader who has led the fight for working people in Congress. In 2018, she shocked the world and transformed our politics,” Mamdani said in a social media post after news of the endorsement. And he predicted, “On June 24, with @AOC’s support and this movement behind us, we will do the same.” Mamdani says he wants to make riding on city buses free, freeze increases in rent on rent-stabilized apartments and open city-run grocery stores. He would pay for his platform by implementing a $10 billion tax hike on businesses and the ultra-wealthy. Four years ago, New York City’s progressives failed to unite behind a single candidate, which allowed now-Mayor Eric Adams, a moderate Democrat, to win the primary and eventually the general election. With his poll numbers plummeting, Adams announced in early April that he would run for re-election as an independent candidate rather than seek the Democratic Party nomination. Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement came nine days before early voting in the primary kicks off on June 14, and the morning after the first of two Democratic mayoral primary debates was held. Mamdani and many of his rivals for the nomination took aim at Cuomo during Wednesday night’s volatile debate. Cuomo pushed back at Mamdani, characterizing him as too far to the left and inexperienced. Cuomo, a former three-term governor who resigned from office in 2021 amid multiple scandals, is aiming for political redemption as he works to pull off a campaign comeback.
DHS says Democratic senator’s husband removed from Biden TSA watchlist despite flying with possible terrorist
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday sounded the alarm on alleged Transportation Security Administration (TSA) “corruption,” accusing a longtime Democratic senator of lobbying the Biden administration to have her husband removed from a watchlist despite him allegedly flying with a “known or suspected terrorist.” New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s husband, William “Billy” Shaheen, “traveled with a known or suspected terrorist three times in a single year,” DHS said in a statement. The Trump administration on Wednesday cited evidence “detailing the politicization of TSA’s watchlisting program under the Biden administration.” DHS says that evidence includes discovered documents, correspondence and timelines that clearly highlight the Biden administration’s “inconsistent application of Silent Partners Quiet Skies and watchlisting programs, circumventing security policies to benefit politically aligned friends and family at the expense of the American people.” DHS claims Sen. Shaheen “directly lobbied” former TSA administrator David Pekoske. Pekoske afterward allegedly “gave repeated, explicit direction” to exclude the senator’s husband from the Silent Partner Quiet Skies list. Fox News Digital reached out to Sen. Shaheen’s office, but they did not immediately provide a response to the allegations. GABBARD SLAMS ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’ SURVEILLANCE AS EFFORT TO ‘INTIMIDATE’ HER FOLLOWING CRITICISM OF HARRIS “Pekoske granted Billy Shaheen a blanket Silent Partners Quiet Skies exemption despite Shaheen flying with a Known or Suspected Terrorist on three occasions,” DHS said Wednesday. “All the while, Tulsi Gabbard, and many other Americans, were placed on the Silent Partners’ Quiet Skies list with little to no visibility, awareness, explanation or oversight.” President Donald Trump tapped Gabbard as his director of national intelligence during his second term. The Trump administration claims Billy Shaheen “was hardly the only high-profile individual that was placed on this exclusion list,” which also allegedly included members of foreign royal families, political elites, professional athletes, and journalists. DHS said Billy Shaheen’s “blanket exemption has since been revoked.” “It is clear that this program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration – weaponized against its political foes and to benefit their well-heeled friends,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “This program should have been about the equal application of security, instead it was corrupted to be about political targeting. The Trump Administration will restore the integrity, privacy, and equal application of the law for all Americans, including aviation screening.” FEDERAL AIR MARSHALS SURVEILLED TRUMP CABINET MEMBER GABBARD IN 2024, RAND PAUL SAYS DHS said the program has for far too long “yielded little to no measurable security impact and lay at the expense of the American traveler.” According to DHS’s timeline of events, Billy Shaheen was a “TSA Random Selectee” on his flights from Boston Logan International Airport to Washington-Reagan International Airport and then from Washington Dulles International Airport back to Boston on July 20, 2023. “Billy Shaheen was flagged for the first time as Co-Traveler with a Known or Suspected Terrorist (KST),” DHS said. Shortly after his trip, Sen. Shaheen’s office “made an inquiry to TSA about the senator’s husband receiving enhanced screening on these two flights,” DHS said. He was flagged a second time as a co-traveler of a known or suspected terrorist again on Oct. 18, 2023, and Sen. Shaheen afterward met with Pekoske about her husband “being on a watchlist,” according to DHS. “TSA did not disclose any information on watchlisting,” DHS noted. On Oct. 20, 2023, Nancy Nykamp, then-assistant administrator for intelligence and analysis, approved Billy Shaheen to be added to the “Secure Flight Exclusion List.” That means he was “excluded from any future TSA Random Selectee designation, and Rules-based Selectee designation, such as Quiet Skies, Association Based Rule Selectee designation, or Silent Partner Selectee designation,” according to the Trump administration. Nykamp notably departed TSA in March 2025. DHS said TSA Legislative Affairs communicated with Nykamp on Oct. 24, 2023, and referred to the action taken to add Shaheen to the Secure Flight Exclusion List. Billy Shaheen stayed on the Secure Flight Exclusion List for 18 months until current TSA leadership removed him. Shaheen, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced in March that she is not seeking re-election in 2026, but her daughter, Stefany Shaheen, just last week announced that she’s running for a key House seat. Stefany Shaheen addressed the allegations against her father during a New Hampshire local radio interview Thursday. “It clearly had to be a misunderstanding,” Stefany Shaheen told WGIR. “My father is a patriot. Everyone who knows him knows how patriotic he is. He is a former Army captain, he was a U.S. Attorney, he’s been a judge for 17 years, he’s been a lawyer for his entire professional life, so there was clearly a misunderstanding here, and I think the question was just how to get to the bottom of how the misunderstanding started.” “I don’t think there was anything inappropriate here,” she added, again emphasizing that her father is a “longstanding lawyer” and a veteran. “There was certainly just an attempt to get to the bottom of where this misunderstanding started.”
NAACP handing out ‘justice’ awards to school board members who defy Trump’s anti-DEI rules: leaked video
FIRST ON FOX: A top NAACP official in Cleveland was captured on video explaining how her organization will be giving “justice” awards to school board members in the state who openly defy the Trump administration’s federal push to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in schools. “We have some school board members all over the country, but especially in Ohio, we have school board members who understand what their job is and that’s to put students first and so some school board members in Ohio have defied that, what I call, an immoral suggestion from the president, to sign anti-DEI, anti Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion directives,” Meryl Johnson, NAACP Cleveland education committee chair, said during a Teach Truth Day of Action briefing earlier this month in Zoom footage obtained by Ohio.news. “And so at our Teach Truth Day of Action, we’re calling it a finding joy teach-in, we are going to be giving what we call Guardian of Justice Awards to school board members who stood up and said no, we’re not signing that. Who believe that their students are the most important thing and that they are going to look out for their students because that’s their job.” Several school districts in Ohio have joined districts across the country in signing a statement to the federal government stating that they are not complying with “illegal DEI practices,” Fox News Digital previously reported, likely assuring them they are not at risk of losing federal funding as part of President Donald Trump’s executive orders prohibiting DEI. Other districts have not and are being praised by the NAACP for that action. HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN TAX MONEY GOES TO CONTRACTS FOR DEI GROUPS, WATCHDOG FINDS: ‘TOTAL RACKET’ The NAACP will host, along with the Zinn Education Project, its Teach Truth Day of Action on June 7 and, as part of its promotion of the event, has advertised the award given to “Ohio school board members who refused to sign the anti-DEI pledge.” “So, I’m wearing the pin now,” Johnson said on the Zoom call. “I hope you can see it, it’s the Guardian of Justice award. We’re going to be giving awards to school board members along with a certificate. So long we have three districts that are going to be showing up, including Cincinnati, Shaker Heights school district, and the Cleveland Heights, University Heights district. They are going to come to our event on June 7, and we’re going to hold onto the awards and as we continue to hear from more school board members we will mail them their Guardian of Justice Awards and certificates.” “We want to encourage people, don’t be intimidated, don’t be afraid, okay? We have a democracy to protect and it’s our job to do that.” Fox News Digital reached out to the NAACP and Zinn Education Project for comment. “As a mother, an attorney, and Ohioan, I am appalled by this disturbing new video showing Meryl Johnson, a representative of the NAACP Cleveland, openly encouraging school board members to defy a binding executive order aimed at eliminating divisive DEI mandates from our classrooms,” attorney Mehek Cooke told Fox News Digital. ‘LOVE BREAKING RULES’: RED STATE DEAN OUSTED AFTER ADMITTING ON HIDDEN CAM SHE WAS SECRETLY PUSHING DEI “This is not just reckless—it’s a direct attack on our children’s future.” The Trump Department of Education has warned state education departments in all 50 states that they must remove DEI policies or risk losing federal funding if not in compliance with Trump’s previous executive orders. In January, Trump issued the “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” executive order, which prohibits K-12 schools from teaching materials considered anti-American or promoting “gender ideology” and critical race theory. The order mandates that law enforcement investigate educational institutions suspected of promoting such content and criminally prosecute educators who assist in the social transition of minors. “Defying federal law puts critical funding—like Title I for disadvantaged students and IDEA for children with disabilities—at serious risk,” Cooke told Fox News Digital. “That money isn’t political, it’s essential. It keeps the lights on in struggling schools, pays for reading intervention, and supports the very students DEI ideologues claim to protect. Pulling that rug out just to virtue signal is sheer negligence in my book.” “This isn’t about equity—it’s about control. And playing politics with children’s education is a guaranteed path to generational failure. It’s time to hold every defiant district accountable: strip their funding, notify parents, and demand a return to academics—not activism—in our schools.”
Trump admin seeking to pull funding from local governments slapped with judge’s preliminary injunction
A federal judge in Washington state on Tuesday granted Denver and other local governments a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s threats to withhold federal funding for transportation programs. Denver and dozens of other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in May, claiming that the Trump administration’s threats to withhold an estimated $4 billion in critical federal grants exceed the Executive Branch’s authority and were thereby “unlawful and politically motivated funding conditions,” according to the injunction order. The judge ruled that the Trump administration likely violated the Separation of Powers doctrine, and that its threats to cut funding constitute harm. “It is this looming risk itself that is the injury, and one that Plaintiffs are already suffering,” the order stated. “Courts evaluating similar circumstances have recognized that this injury of acute budgetary uncertainty is irreparable.” FEDERAL APPEALS COURT THROWS ROADBLOCK AT TRUMP’S EDUCATION REFORM AGENDA The lawsuit was filed after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a memo in April that warned recipients of federal funding that they could lose grants if they did not adhere to the Trump administration’s stance on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Duffy’s memo further stated that failure to help enforce federal immigration policy could also lead to loss of funding. FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST TRUMP ORDER HALTING SEX CHANGE PROCEDURES IN PRISONS Denver Mayor Mike Johnston praised the judge’s decision on Wednesday. “Denver follows all laws — federal, state, and local — and it should not be so much to ask the White House to do the same,” Johnston said in a statement. “We appreciate the court’s swift and precise ruling protecting the federal funding that Denverites deserve.”
Child predators, gang members, human traffickers deported in major Texas city ICE roundup
Child predators, gang members and human traffickers were among the 142 criminal illegals deported to Mexico by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officials in the Houston area in just the last two weeks. According to an ICE statement on Tuesday, the criminal immigrants were deported between May 19 and May 30. Those deported had been convicted of a total of 473 criminal offenses and had illegally entered the country a combined 480 times. The statement said that among those deported, 11 of the illegals were convicted child predators, eight were “documented gang members” and one had illegally entered the country 21 times. Additionally, among the deported illegals were 43 aggravated assault and domestic violence-related convictions, 48 drug trafficking or drug possession convictions, 22 human trafficking or human smuggling convictions and one conviction for making terroristic threats. LARGEST EVER ICE OPERATION RESULTS IN NEARLY 1,500 ILLEGALS ARRESTED IN BLUE STATE One of the illegals, Alejandro Aguilar Vazquez, a 45-year-old Mexican national, had been convicted three times of cruelty towards a child, according to ICE. Another, Luis Angel Garcia-Contreras, a 40-year-old criminal immigrant from Mexico and documented member of the Surenos 13 gang, has illegally entered the U.S. 21 times and has been convicted of illegal entry four times. Benito Charqueno Zavala, a 60-year-old Mexican national, was convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child. In the statement, Bret Bradford, ICE ERO Houston Field Office director, said, “Unfortunately, this is not an anomaly.” MS-13, TREN DE ARAGUA TARGETED FOR DEATH BLOW IN NEW GOP BILL AIMED AT MIGRANT CRIME “For the past few years, there was virtually no deterrent to illegally entering the country,” he said. “As a result, millions of illegal aliens poured into the country including violent criminal aliens, child predators, transnational gang members and foreign fugitives.” As a state that comprises over 60% of the U.S.-Mexico border, Texas was among the states most heavily impacted by the immigration crisis in the last several years. Bradford said that “many of these dangerous criminal aliens went on to prey on law-abiding residents in local communities right here in Southeast Texas.” “This is just a small snapshot of those efforts as it only focuses on deportations to one country over the course of a two-week period, but it gives you an idea of how big this problem really is,” he explained. HOMAN BLASTS BLUE STATE AS REPORT SHOWS IT RELEASING ILLEGALS CHARGED WITH ‘HORRIFIC’ CRIMES ON LOW BAILS Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, explained the scale of the still-ongoing crisis in Texas and across the nation. He told Fox News Digital that the deportation of the 142 criminal illegal immigrants in Houston “reveals a far deeper crisis unfolding across our nation—one that poses a direct threat to public safety, national security, and the rule of law.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE He said the 142 represents “only a sliver of the 650,000 criminal aliens currently on ICE’s Non-Detained Docket, free to move through American communities with impunity.” “Texas has become the front line in this crisis, not just geographically, but constitutionally,” he added, explaining that “nearly 100 counties in Texas have issued disaster declarations or formally declared an invasion, not for political theater, but because cartel operations, weaponized mass migration, and the release of violent offenders have made every community in Texas vulnerable.” “This is not a policy disagreement. It is a public safety emergency,” he added. SANCTUARY POLICIES IN DEEP-BLUE COLORADO LED TO TERROR ATTACK, SAYS LOCAL DA Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, told Fox News Digital that President Donald Trump is “stepping up where Joe Biden failed.” While many other states are resisting ICE operations, Mahaleris said that Texas “will continue to assist the Trump Administration in arresting, detaining, and deporting illegal immigrants.” “President Trump’s deportation efforts are making Texas safer,” he said. “Governor Abbott is grateful to finally have an administration upholding the rule of law in our country.”
‘He’s not a big factor’: Trump’s Senate allies dismiss Elon Musk’s calls to ‘kill the bill’
Elon Musk’s diatribe against President Donald Trump‘s “one big, beautiful bill” continued Wednesday as Senate Republicans embarked on their own course to tweak and reshape the gargantuan legislative package. The former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rehashed a similar talking point from his takedown of a previous House GOP government funding bill in December, which, after his input, was gutted and reworked. The nation’s debt sits at over $36 trillion, according to FOX Business’ National Debt Tracker. GOP SENATORS EXPRESS ‘CONCERNS,’ ‘SKEPTICISM’ OVER TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL AFTER MUSK RANT “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman,” Musk said among a flurry of posts on X. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.” Though Musk’s continued tirade against the bill sent House Republicans into a tizzy, on the other side of the Capitol, senators were busy hashing out the finer points of the legislation. This time around, Musk, who just ended his four-month tenure as a special government employee rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, may not have the same level of impact, given that senators want their chance to shape the bill. “I mean, if Elon was going to give me advice on how to get to the moon, I’d listen,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “You know, if he was going to give me advice on how to raise several billion dollars from other billionaires, I’d listen.” “But… he doesn’t govern, you know, and so, to be honest, Elon, he’s not that big a factor,” he continued. “I know he’s a glamorous sort of celebrity, but he’s not a big factor.” ELON MUSK WARPATH AGAINST TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ RATTLES HOUSE GOP Cramer’s comments came after Senate Republicans heard from the chairs of the Senate Banking, Armed Services and Commerce committees on how they would approach their respective portions of the megabill in a closed-door meeting. After that meeting, members of the Senate Finance Committee, which will handle the tax portion of the package, met with Trump later to shore up support for the tax package. Sen. Roger Marshall, R.-Kan., said that the president’s main message during the meeting was to “pass the damn bill” with as few changes as possible. When asked if Trump seemed concerned about Musk’s impact on the bill’s fate, the lawmaker said “absolutely not.” “It was almost laugh— more of a laughing conversation for 30 seconds,” he said. “It was very much in jest and laughing, and I think he said something positive about Elon, appreciating what he did for the country.” ELON MUSK POSTS ‘KILL BILL’ MEME IN LATEST PUSH TO NIX TRUMP’S BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL Congressional Republicans intend to use the budget reconciliation process to skirt the Senate filibuster, meaning they do not need Senate Democrats to pass the package. However, they do need at least 51 Senate Republicans to get on board. The Senate’s shot at tinkering with the reconciliation package comes after months of deliberations and negotiations in the House that culminated in a package that Trump has thrown his full support behind. Some lawmakers want higher spending cuts to the tune of $2 trillion, others want a full rollback to pre-pandemic spending. Then there are pockets of resistance solidifying around cuts to Medicaid and green energy tax credit provisions baked into the House’s offering. Among the green energy provisions on the chopping block are electric vehicle tax credits. Speculation has swirled that their proposed demise could be the driving force, in part, behind Musk’s anger toward the bill. “Any senator with a brain sees Elon’s comments for what they are, a CEO worried about losing business,” a Senate Republican source told Fox News Digital. “The only reason he’s causing a fuss is because we’re getting rid of pork that benefits his electric car company.” Musk had been pushing for deeper spending cuts until his new demand that the bill be nuked. Currently, the House GOP’s offering sets a goal of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade that, coupled with expected growth, would help offset the roughly $4 trillion price tag of making the president’s first-term tax cuts permanent. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, engaged with some of Musk’s posts on Tuesday and appeared to agree with the tech billionaire’s position that the bill had to go further to cut spending. “I think most of what he’s saying is he would like it to do more and be more aggressive to try to address the debt and deficit problem,” Lee said. However, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found in its latest report that the bill would only cut $1.3 trillion, reduce revenues by roughly $3.7 trillion and add in the neighborhood of $2.4 trillion to the deficit. Some lawmakers who had found common ground with Musk’s earlier anger with the “big, beautiful bill” still found a common ally on the second day of his rant. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., reiterated to Fox News Digital that he shared Musk’s “skepticism” of the bill. He would not say whether he agreed that congressional Republicans should start from scratch, but noted that his main objection to the bill was a plan to increase the nation’s debt limit by $5 trillion. “My main goal is to say, take the debt ceiling and make it a separate vote, and then vote on a separate bill, and then there’s still a need for less spending,” he said. “But I would be very open to supporting the bill if we had more spending cuts and the debt ceiling was a separate vote.”
Cuomo hit by fellow Dems for dodging questions about sexual harassment during time as NY governor
Andrew Cuomo dodged questions throughout Wednesday evening’s New York City mayoral debate regarding sexual harassment allegations against him, which the former New York governor insisted were false. “Every woman watching tonight should listen right now,” said Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman from the Bronx who is running against Cuomo. “Andrew Cuomo would not respond when had a chance about sexual harassment – every woman watching tonight – he was just given a chance to actually address the clear claims that were stated, and he ignored it.” Cuomo was accused of multiple incidents of sexual harassment that ultimately led to his resignation as governor in 2021. A subsequent report from New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed Cuomo “sexually harassed multiple women from 2013 through 2020,” while in January 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had reached a nearly $500,000 settlement with Cuomo’s executive office over one of the claims. However, no criminal charges were ever filed against Cuomo, with some district attorneys citing insufficient evidence. SCANDAL-SCARRED FORMER GOV ANDREW CUOMO IS THE FRONTRUNNER IN NYC MAYORAL RACE “The people who don’t feel safe are young women, mothers and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo,” Blake added in his criticism of Cuomo during the Wednesday night debate. “That’s the greatest threat to public safety in New York City.” Cuomo was given multiple opportunities to address the allegations, but he frequently dodged questions on the matter by pivoting to other issues, like public safety. However, Cuomo’s opponents and the moderators would not let him get away without engaging with the question. NEW YORK GOVERNOR DECLINES TO SAY WHETHER ANDREW CUOMO IS FIT TO SERVE AS MAYOR “Mr. Cuomo. I’m sorry. I’m sure that people at home must be wondering about your answer to this question, because we speak to voters throughout the city and quite a few of them will say, I’m not sure exactly what happened with those sexual harassment cases,” one of the moderators told Cuomo amid questions about whether the candidates had any regrets regarding their past political tenures. “What do you say to voters now looking ahead to your potential mayoralty? Are you doing anything differently? And why should they believe that that same situation won’t happen again?” In response, Cuomo addressed the question, but insisted the allegations against him were “political” and “false.” “Let’s just make sure we have the facts,” Cuomo shot back. “A report was done four years ago making certain allegations. I said at the time, that it was political and it was false. Five district attorneys, Democratic, Republican, short, tall, looked at it all across the state, found absolutely nothing. One case has been resolved. I was dropped from that case. I said at the time that if I offended anyone, it was unintentional. But I apologize.”
Biden insists ‘I made the decisions’ as Republicans investigate White House autopen use
Former President Joe Biden doubled down on his use of an autopen on Wednesday, insisting that he was in control of the White House during his term in office. President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into Biden’s administration, alleging that top officials used autopen signatures to cover up the former president’s cognitive decline. “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden said in a statement. “This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations,” he added. EXCLUSIVE: COMER HAILS DOJ’S BIDEN PROBE AS HOUSE INVESTIGATION HEATS UP Trump called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to open investigations into top Biden officials on Wednesday, arguing they may have conspired to deceive the public about his mental state and exercised presidential authority through use of the autopen. TRUMP SAYS BIDEN DIDN’T FAVOR HIS ADMIN’S LAX BORDER SECURITY POLICY, SUGGESTS AUTOPEN PLAYED A ROLE Trump wrote in a Wednesday memo that the U.S. president has a tremendous amount of power and responsibility through his signature. Not only can the signature turn words into laws of the land, but it also appoints individuals to some of the highest positions in government, creates or eliminates national policies and allows prisoners to go free. “In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority,” Trump wrote. “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history. The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.” “Given clear indications that President Biden lacked the capacity to exercise his Presidential authority, if his advisors secretly used the mechanical signature pen to conceal this incapacity, while taking radical executive actions all in his name, that would constitute an unconstitutional wielding of the power of the Presidency, a circumstance that would have implications for the legality and validity of numerous executive actions undertaken in Biden’s name,” he added. House Republicans, led by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, launched an investigation earlier last month aimed at determining whether Biden, who was in declining health during the final months of his presidency, was mentally fit to authorize the use of the autopen. Comer said last week he was “open” to dragging Biden before the House to answer questions about the matter if necessary. Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Musk agrees with Massie that bill is ‘debt bomb ticking’ and ‘missed opportunity’ for conservatives
Elon Musk, who is vociferously decrying the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cleared the House of Representatives last month, agreed with Rep. Thomas Massie, who declared in a post on X that the measure “is a debt bomb ticking” and that it marks a major “missed opportunity” for conservatives. “The Big Beautiful Bill is a debt bomb ticking. It’s also the biggest missed opportunity conservatives have ever had to put our country back on a track of fiscal sanity. If we defeat this bill, a better one can be offered that won’t bankrupt our country,” Massie declared in a post on X. “Absolutely,” Musk wrote when retweeting Massie’s comments. MASSIE CALLS ON ELON MUSK TO FUND PRIMARY CHALLENGES AGAINST REPUBLICANS WHO BACKED TRUMP TAX BILL Massie, who was one of the two House Republicans who voted against the measure, made the comments when retweeting a post in which Musk had urged people to call their lawmakers about the proposal. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” Musk declared in the post. In another tweet on Wednesday, Musk asserted, “No one who actually reads the bill should be able to stomach it.” MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SOUNDS ALARM OVER AI PROVISION IN ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT: ‘I WOULD HAVE VOTED NO IF I HAD KNOWN’ America’s national debt is more than $36 trillion. Musk is sounding the alarm about the country’s debt problem and profligate spending. “America is in the fast lane to debt slavery,” he warned in a post on X. ELON MUSK WARNS EXCESSIVE SPENDING WILL PLUNGE US ‘INTO DEBT SLAVERY’ Massie, a serious fiscal hawk, draws attention to the nation’s fiscal fecklessness by wearing a small debt clock.
GOP hopeful Earle-Sears unveils ‘Axe the Tax’ plan in Virginia governor’s race
EXCLUSIVE: Smarter, not harder, is the theme Congress should follow to pass tax relief in its budget efforts, according to the top Republican running in one of only two gubernatorial races this year. Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, seeking to succeed term-limited Gov. Glenn Youngkin, unveiled her “Axe the Tax” framework, identifying consensus areas where people across the political spectrum can support it. Her plan would end taxes on tips in Virginia, mirroring President Donald Trump’s policy proposal and seeking to give a break to residents in a state known for its nightlife and tourist meccas like Alexandria, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach and Roanoke. Food service workers, personal service workers, hospitality and other gratuity-based industry employees would pay 0% statewide under her plan, which she said gives working families a break they’re clamoring for on both the state and federal levels. WINSOME EARLE-SEARS ANNOUNCES VA GOV BID TO BUILD ON YOUNGKIN RECORD: IT’S ‘ALL ABOUT BUSINESS’ It also repeals the automobile tax and vehicle-based property taxes, which residents of 27 out of the 50 states pay. “The ‘Axe the Tax’ plan is rooted in a simple truth: Working Americans shouldn’t be punished for earning a living or driving to work,” Sears told Fox News Digital in exclusive remarks. “Conservatives in Congress get that, and they should follow Virginia’s lead. … Real working families deserve to keep more money in their pockets, and, as governor, I’ll make sure they do.” TOP DEMS CLAIM 51K PEOPLE WILL DIE ANNUALLY FROM ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ Sears said ending taxes on tips on a national and state level recognizes that a tip is a “recognition of great service,” not another avenue for the government to take its share. With most middle-class people either working service industry jobs and/or owning a car, Sears said her initial tax plan is evidence that a surgical approach is what is needed to properly address what the people are asking for, rather than trying to do too much at once. “Virginia’s economy is powered by a thriving service sector and thousands of hardworking commuters made up of families like mine,” Sears said. “Tip earners are stretched to the limit. Working parents depend on their cars, not a METRO line, to get through the day. This isn’t just Virginia’s story. It’s the reality for families across the country.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Respecting the political process and “actually listen[ing] to people” and responding in kind is how a politician should lead, she said. Like Congress, where Republicans hold narrow majorities in both chambers and have often seen similarly closely split governance, the “Axe the Tax” plan includes provisions that “prove you can work within a divided chamber and still put taxpayers first,” Earle-Sears said. “Virginia is leading the way.”