Hundreds of millions in tax money goes to contracts for DEI groups, watchdog finds: ‘Total racket’
EXCLUSIVE: Over the last several years, a few dozen diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultant groups have racked up over a hundred million dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts from K-12 schools across the country, a new report by Defending Education found. The report, shared with Fox News Digital, details how 41 DEI consultant groups garnered millions in taxpayer-funded contracts from 303 school districts and public education entities from 2021 until now. In total, the groups collected over $123 million from public schools in 40 states. The report found public school DEI contracts in both red and blue states, from Florida and Alabama to California and Washington. Erika Sanzi, a spokesperson for Defending Education, described the schools-consultants partnership as a “total racket that makes schools worse” and often takes no consideration of age-appropriateness in curricula. THE ‘GRADING FOR EQUITY’ PROPOSAL IS ABOUT LOWERING STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS, EXPERT SAYS According to the report, the biggest winner in the scheme was Amplify, a firm that provides professional development and curricula to school districts, which scored a total of over $70,500,000. The report states that in a now-scrubbed statement on its website, Amplify said its mission is to “make education, and thereby the world, more equitable and accessible” and to “help teachers support their students in constructing, questioning, expanding, and strengthening knowledge of where they come from and who they are becoming.” In response, a representative for Amplify told Fox News Digital that the group “publishes textbooks and other instructional materials that help students learn reading, math and science” and that “there is no place anywhere in Amplify’s products, or in the training programs about how to use them, for ideologies or political agendas.” The representative said “our programs help students learn how to think, not what to think.” The report highlights another consultant group, Adjusted Equity Solutions, which it says is associated with the Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute, that claims to help schools challenge “whiteness and hegemonic epistemologies in school,” use “equity audits to measure student inclusiveness, policy, and practice” and serve as “advocate and social activist for community-based causes in both the school and neighborhood community.” MAHA REPORT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT CHILDHOOD CHRONIC DISEASE This group took in over a million dollars from public schools during the study period. “Tinkering in the minds of other people’s children is big business and countless K-12 schools across the country are active participants,” Sanzi said. “They pay big bucks to enter into contracts with ideologues and activists who, in turn, gain access, directly or indirectly, to a captive audience of young minds.” Speaking with Fox News Digital via Zoom, Sanzi said that “rather than this being a focus on sort of academic interventions, it’s a lot of jargon that so far has not proven itself to be measurable. And there’s really not much evidence, if any, that any of this is helping students or helping schools or helping staff.” EDUCATION SECRETARY LINDA MCMAHON PUSHES BACK ON CLAIMS THAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ‘DOESN’T CARE ANYTHING ABOUT THE LAW’ Sanzi said that though these DEI groups couch their activities in agreeable terms like “belonging” and “empathy,” they often end up being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” “At first, you’re thinking lesson on empathy, like that’s good,” she said. “Who wouldn’t want their child to be empathetic? We want that. Until you realize that the lesson on empathy is going to be about something like a little girl in her bathroom at school, a staff member who’s trans, so biologically male, but identifies as female, comes into the restroom with her. She naturally feels uncomfortable because that’s a very natural feeling in a circumstance like that. But she’s told that she needs to have ‘empathy’ for this grownup who identifies as female, right? And that her discomfort is the problem… That feeling discomfort in that situation is wrong or makes her un-empathetic.” The Trump Department of Education has warned state education departments in all 50 states that they must remove diversity, equity and inclusion policies or risk losing federal funding. Despite this, Sanzi said many of these consultant groups have adjusted by scrubbing references to DEI on their websites and using other words to describe the same thing. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “We see a lot of renaming,” she said. “So, they might say, ‘Well, we’re getting rid of our DEI office or we’re getting rid of our equity officer.’ [But] the proof will be in the pudding because what we notice often is that you’ll see a switch, like suddenly we hear the word belonging a lot more now. And so the question becomes, ‘Are you getting rid of it? Or are you just rebranding it and shifting it somewhere else and taking it off your website?’” “What many people don’t understand is that the founders of these consultant companies and the people who run them and the practitioners are activists. They are ideologues,” she went on. “They have every right to believe that what they’re transmitting is the right thing, but in a public-school setting that is required to maintain viewpoint diversity, these really have no place, not only because of the cost, not only cause it’s public money, not only because they’re not very transparent about what they’re doing, but also because they are really trying to push an ideological agenda on other people’s children.” The Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Tulsa mayor proposes $100M reparations plan for descendants of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Tulsa’s first Black mayor proposed creating a $100 million private trust as part of a reparations plan for the impact of the Tulsa Race Massacre which took place more than 100 years ago. Mayor Monroe Nichols IV, elected mayor in November, says the trust would be used to provide scholarships and housing to the descendants of those impacted by the massacre. He clarified that the trust would not involve direct cash payments, however. “For 104 years, the Tulsa Race Massacre has been a stain on our city’s history,” Nichols said Sunday. “The massacre was hidden from history books, only to be followed by the intentional acts of redlining, a highway built to choke off economic vitality and the perpetual underinvestment of local, state and federal governments.” “Now it’s time to take the next big steps to restore,” he added. BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS The private charitable trust would be created with a goal to secure $105 million in assets, with most of the funding either secured or committed by June 1, 2026. Nichols says the City Council would have to approve the transfer of any city assets to the trust. The plan calls for the bulk of the funding, $60 million, to go toward improving buildings and revitalizing the city’s north side. ‘TIPPING THE SCALES’: HOUSE GOP LEADERS RIP ACTBLUE AFTER DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT HIT WITH SUBPOENA “The Greenwood District at its height was a center of commerce,” Nichols told the Associated Press. “So what was lost was not just something from North Tulsa or the Black community. It actually robbed Tulsa of an economic future that would have rivaled anywhere else in the world.” Nichols’ push comes just weeks after Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., announced plans to introduce the Reparations Now Resolution, which calls for the U.S. to spend trillions of dollars on reparations for Black Americans. Lee’s resolution cites U.S. slavery, Jim Crow laws, and other racially discriminatory laws and policies to justify spending trillions of dollars supporting the descendants of Black Americans in the U.S. “That’s why we recognize that the fight to restore Black folks has to be so much more substantive,” she added. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Will the Trump Cabinet undo Musk’s DOGE legacy now that he’s gone?
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s time as the face of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has come to an end following the expiration of his time as a special government employee. Since January, Musk has been heading up DOGE, which was tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and the federal workforce. But how will the Trump administration look at DOGE now that Musk is gone? So far, there are no signs that DOGE is being dismantled or that its efforts will be reversed, and former DOGE employees are infiltrating other areas of the Trump administration. Plus, President Donald Trump signaled that Musk could return in some capacity, although he did not dive into specifics. “Elon’s really not leaving,” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office. “He’s going to be back and forth … it’s his baby. And I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things. But Elon’s service to America has been without comparison in modern history.” MUSK CONFIDENT DOGE WILL SAVE $1 TRILLION AS GOVERNMENT COST CUTTING CONTINUES DOGE’s efforts to cut waste have led to roughly $175 billion in savings due to asset sales, contract cancellations, fraudulent payment cuts, in addition to other steps to eliminate costs, according to a May 26 update from DOGE’s website. That translates to roughly $1,086.96 in savings per taxpayer, according to the website. Meanwhile, Musk signaled that despite his departure as a special employee, DOGE would only continue to pick up steam and that DOGE is now an essential aspect of the federal government. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “This is not … the end of DOGE, but really the beginning. My time as a special government appointee necessarily had to end,” Musk said Friday in the Oval Office. “The DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only grow stronger. I liken it to a sort of person of Buddhism. It’s like a way of life, so it is permeating throughout the government. And I’m confident that over time, we’ll see $1 trillion of savings, and a reduction in $1 trillion of waste, fraud reduction.” UNFINISHED BUSINESS: THE BUDGET CUTS MUSK COULDN’T COMPLETE AND WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE The White House has said that DOGE leadership following Musk’s departure will continue through members of Trump’s Cabinet. “The DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president’s Cabinet and the president himself, who is wholeheartedly committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our government,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday at a White House press briefing. “The entire Cabinet understands the need to cut government waste, fraud and abuse,” Leavitt said. “And each Cabinet secretary at their respective agencies is committed to that. That’s why they were working hand in hand with Elon Musk. And they’ll continue to work with their respective DOGE employees who have onboarded as political appointees at all of these agencies. So surely the mission of DOGE will continue, and many DOGE employees are now political appointees and employees of our government.” DOGE STAFFING SHAKEUP AS ELON MUSK HANGS UP HIS HAT, WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS A senior White House official previously told Fox News Digital that DOGE is now part of the “DNA” of the federal government, and that the agency will continue to function as it has done so far. “The DOGE employees at their respective agency or department will be reporting to and executing the agenda of the president through the leadership of each agency or department head,” the official said. Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Marjorie Taylor Greene slams FDA green lighting of mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccine: ‘Not MAHA at all!!!’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., slammed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s move to give the green light to Moderna’s mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccine. “Not MAHA at all!!!,” the congresswoman wrote in a post on X, using the acronym for the phrase “Make America Healthy Again,” calling the move “Unreal.” “MNEXSPIKE is approved for use in individuals who have been previously vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine and are 65 years of age and older, or 12 years through 64 years of age with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19,” an FDA letter to Moderna notes. GREENE CALLS FOR YANKING FDA APPROVAL OF COVID-19 VACCINES: ‘CAUSING PERMANENT HARM AND DEATHS’ According to a Moderna press release, CEO Stéphane Bancel said that “COVID-19 remains a serious public health threat, with more than 47,000 Americans dying from the virus last year alone.” The company describes itself as “a leader in the creation of the field of mRNA medicine.” REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE AIRS FRUSTRATIONS, WARNS THAT SHE REPRESENTS A ‘NOT HAPPY’ REPUBLICAN BASE Greene has previously spoken out against COVID-19 vaccines, saying their FDA approval should be nixed. “COVID-19 vaccines should have never received approval and they’ve known the entire time how bad the side effects are and deaths caused by them. It’s time to do the right thing. Stop the COVID-19 vaccines,” she declared in part of a tweet in March. TRUMP ALLY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE WON’T RUN FOR SENATE WHILE BLASTING DEMS AND FELLOW REPUBLICANS The congresswoman is currently serving her third term in the House of Representatives.
Trump’s 20th week in office to include White House meeting with European leader, expected call with Xi
President Donald Trump‘s 20th week in the Oval Office is expected to include a White House meeting with Germany’s chancellor, a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping and lawmakers’ ongoing efforts to pass the “big, beautiful bill” to fund the president’s agenda. Monday marks Trump’s 134th day in the White House, a period in which he has issued 150 executive orders affecting domestic policies, unveiled sweeping plans to rectify the nation’s trade deficit with foreign nations and held ongoing negotiations to end international wars. The week is slated to include a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House as war continues to rage between Ukraine and Russia and trade negotiations with the U.S. hang over Germany. TRUMP CALLS OUT PUTIN, ACCUSES CHINA OF NOT HONORING TRADE DEAL TERMS DURING 19TH WEEK IN OFFICE Merz’s office confirmed on Saturday that the chancellor will travel to Washington on Wednesday evening ahead of meeting Trump on Thursday, Politico reported. The two are slated to discuss the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and trade policies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Merz in Germany last week as the two European leaders ironed out an agreement for Germany to bolster its backing of Ukraine. The meeting on Thursday will be followed by a lunch and press conference, according to Bloomberg. Merz and Trump have previously spoken by phone but have not met face-to-face since Merz was elected Germany’s leader in May. Merz clashed with Trump officials last month when Germany designated its right-wing Alternative for Germany political party a “proven right-wing extremist organization.” “Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy–it’s tyranny in disguise,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted to X of the designation. “What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD–which took second in the recent election – but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes.” “Banning the centrist AfD, Germany’s most popular party, would be an extreme attack on democracy,” former Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk posted to X, the social media platform that he owns. Merz responded that American leaders should not weigh in on German elections and politics. “We have largely stayed out of the American election campaign in recent years, and that includes me personally,” Merz said, according to Politico. WHITE HOUSE REVEALS POSSIBLE PENALTIES ON PUTIN AMID PEACE PUSH: ‘WHATEVER IT TAKES’ “We have not taken sides with either candidate. And I ask you to accept that in return,” he added. Trump is expected to hold a phone call with China’s Xi Jinping this week to discuss tariffs, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett revealed on Sunday. “President Trump, we expect, is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi. That’s our expectation,” Hassett said Sunday during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.” ‘NO REASON’ FOR NEW NUKES: TRUMP FLOATS DISARMAMENT TALKS WITH CHINA, RUSSIA A day for the phone call has not yet been locked down, according to Hassett. “You never know in international relations, but my expectation is that both sides have expressed a willingness to talk,” Hassett said. “And I’d like to also add that people are talking every day, so [U.S. Trade Representative] Jamieson Greer, his team and President Xi’s team in China, they’re talking every day trying to move the ball forward on this matter.” The Trump administration leveled tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods following the president’s reciprocal tariff plans in April, when China retaliated against the U.S. with tariffs of their own. China and the U.S. reached a preliminary trade agreement last month, which Trump said China violated in a Truth Social post on Friday. “I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!” he wrote. Senate lawmakers are working to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is a multitrillion-dollar piece of legislation that advances Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. House lawmakers passed the legislation last month by one vote after a handful of Republican lawmakers held out on supporting the legislation, saying it would exacerbate the nation’s debt. A handful of Republican senators have made similar remarks to their House counterparts, explaining they cannot support the legislation unless it addresses its impact on the nation’s debt. The bill is expected to add roughly $3 trillion to the national debt, Fox News Digital previously reported. SEN. RON JOHNSON PROPOSES ‘LINE-BY-LINE’ CUTS TO PASS TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ “I’m a ‘no’ unless we separate out the debt ceiling,” Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said last week. “If you take the debt ceiling off the bill, I’m pretty much a ‘yes’ on most of the rest.” “If we follow the path of the House bill, we’ll have close to, I think, $60 trillion worth of debt in 10 years. What we’ve got to do is do what every family does: We’ve got to go through every line of the budget,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said during an interview on Fox News on Thursday. INSIDE THE LATE-NIGHT DRAMA THAT LED TO TRUMP’S TAX BILL PASSING BY 1 VOTE Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on Friday that the Senate must pass the legislation or American families will pay higher taxes. “We don’t have a choice. We have to pass the bill to get the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act back in place on a permanent
Senate showdown: Fetterman and McCormick set for high-stakes Pennsylvania forum
PROGRAMMING ALERT: THE SENATE PROJECT SERIES DISCUSSION WITH SENATORS JOHN FETTERMAN AND DAVID McCORMICK MODERATED BY FOX NEWS SUNDAY HOST SHANNON BREAM WILL BE STREAMED ON FOX NATION AND FOX NEWS DIGITAL MONDAY, JUNE 2 LIVE AT 9 AM ET. Battleground Pennsylvania senators – Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dave McCormick – will face off at a Fox News co-hosted forum to debate key issues affecting Americans. The two first-term senators from the crucial northeastern swing state are taking part Monday in the sixth installment of The Senate Project series, organized by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation. The event, which will be moderated by Fox News’ Shannon Bream, anchor of “Fox News Sunday,” will take place at 9 a.m. ET in a full-sized replica of the U.S. Senate Chamber at the Kennedy Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Fox News Media is the exclusive media partner for the Senate Project and the conversation, which will be livestreamed on FOX Nation. SEN. MCCORMICK ‘OPTIMISTIC’ ABOUT WORKING WITH SEN. FETTERMAN TO FIND ‘COMMON GROUND’: ‘EMBRACING’ CHANGE The Senate Project series brings together sitting senators from opposing parties for civil dialogue about current political issues, with the goal of identifying solutions and bridging partisan divides. The series reflects the shared mission of the Kennedy Institute and Hatch Foundation to advance bipartisanship. “Vigorous and open dialogue is an essential part of our democracy and having these two senators from opposite sides of the aisle discuss important issues of the day is a valuable contribution to the public discourse,” Kennedy Institute Chairman Bruce A. Percelay said in a statement. Matt Sandgren, the Hatch Foundation’s executive director, added: “The Senate Project series continues to underscore the importance of bipartisan dialogue. This unique partnership between the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute is a model for achieving civility and solutions.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Previous installments of the series have featured GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a champion of the progressive movement; Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa; and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and then-Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who now serves as secretary of state in President Donald Trump’s second administration.
California beach ‘Resist!’ protest pushes ‘kindness’ while calling to ‘86 47’ in anti-Trump message
Nearly 1,000 people gathered at Main Beach in Santa Cruz, California, on Saturday for a Pride Month protest aimed squarely at President Donald Trump. Participants formed a massive human banner that spelled out “Resist!” in rainbow colors as part of a demonstration organized by Indivisible Santa Cruz County. The 220-foot-wide display, with letters reaching 70 feet high, was designed by longtime left-wing activist Brad Newsham. Organizers described the event as a peaceful act of resistance and a show of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. SEATTLE MAYOR ACCUSED OF LYING AFTER BLAMING CHRISTIAN RALLY FOR PARK VIOLENCE “It’s very important, the more people [who] can show our neighbors, our politicians in the world, that nonviolent resistance is the way to express our dissatisfaction with the way our country’s going,” said event organizer Becca Moeller to Lookout Santa Cruz. But just above the colorful banner was a very different kind of message: “86 47,” a phrase many interpreted as a call to “get rid of” the 47th President of the United States. In slang, “86” typically means to cancel, eliminate, or even destroy. Combined with “47,” the number now associated with President Trump’s second term, the phrase has raised alarms among critics who say it crossed a line. Earlier this month, former FBI Chief James Comey posted a similar message in the sand, but instead of kelp, they were shells. He has since removed the post after widespread criticism and action by law enforcement. SEATTLE MAYOR BLAMES CHRISTIAN RALLY FOR INSPIRING VIOLENT ‘ANARCHISTS’ WHO ‘INFILTRATED’ COUNTER-PROTEST “We don’t need a king. We want to go back to the way we were. We want to make America kind again,” said protester Beth Basilius to Lookout Santa Cruz. While the event promoted “kindness” and inclusivity, the imagery told a more conflicted story. “They claim they want to make America ‘kind’ again, but then they spell out ‘86 47’ in the sand. That’s not kindness — that’s a coded call to eliminate someone they disagree with. It’s hypocritical,” said Mike LeLieur, chair of the Santa Cruz County Republican Party to Fox News Digital. LeLieur said local conservatives face growing hostility from the political left. “We’ve had vehicles vandalized, tires slashed, and windows broken. I was forced off the road and attacked just for having a Trump sticker. At our State of the Union watch party, we were swarmed by angry protesters. It’s been nonstop hostility — and these are the same people who call themselves the ‘Party of Peace.’” Just 8.5% of voters in the city of Santa Cruz are registered Republicans, according to the most recent data from the California Secretary of State. Despite the message written in the sand, some participants insisted the demonstration was rooted in compassion. “We want to go back to the way we were. We want to make America kind again,” said protester Beth Basilius to Lookout Santa Cruz. Supporters of the protest claimed that “86 47” was a symbolic rejection of Trump’s agenda, not a literal threat. But critics say that argument falls flat in a political climate where coded language carries real-world consequences. “In California — and especially in Santa Cruz County — the left is creating a political environment of non-acceptance and persecution,” said Daniel Enriquez, a representative of the California Republican Assembly. “It’s consistent with the goals of socialist movements throughout history.” Jenny Evans, co-leader of Indivisible Santa Cruz County, defended the event. “When a great number of people come out to do something like this, it just is one more thing to show that we’re not all saying, ‘Fine, fine. We’ll go along with whatever you want,’” she said to Lookout Santa Cruz. The event was also part of Santa Cruz’s 50th Pride celebration. Participants were instructed to dress in matching rainbow colors, coordinated with fabric laid out across the beach starting at 7 a.m. The protest was peaceful, but critics say calling for kindness while displaying “86 47” sent a message that was anything but. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Indivisible Santa Cruz County did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Rep. Nadler condemns Trump admin after staff member handcuffed during congressional office security sweep
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., criticized the Trump administration for “sowing chaos” in communities while announcing that a member of his staff was handcuffed and briefly detained at his New York City office last week. Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers were responding Wednesday to reports that protesters were inside Nadler’s district office in Manhattan. At the time, a protest was taking place outside an immigration courthouse in the same facility as the congressman’s office. “Based on earlier incidents in a nearby facility, FPS officers were concerned about the safety of the federal employees in the office and went to the location to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those present,” a Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital. TRUMP DHS ISSUES WARNING AFTER ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS ATTEMPT TO DISRUPT ARREST The officers were let inside and came upon four people, the spokesperson said. “Officers identified themselves and explained their intent to conduct a security check, however, one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office, the spokesperson added. “The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check. All were released without further incident.” In a video of the arrest posted online, the officers were heard saying that Nadler’s staff were “harboring rioters” and that they were conducting a check. The staff member being arrested can be heard crying during the incident. In a statement released Saturday, Nadler said the DHS officers “forcefully” entered his office before handcuffing a member of his staff. NOEM DISMISSES JEFFRIES’ WARNINGS AS DHS CONSIDERS ARRESTS OF DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS AFTER ICE FACILITY CLASH “President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner,” Nadler said. “The decision to enter a Congressional office and detain a staff member demonstrates a deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries,” he added. “If this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone–and it is happening,” Nadler said, in part. Nadler further called on Trump and DHS to halt “these dangerous tactics” and to abandon the expedited removal process, which he said denies due process for illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens. “While no arrests were made and the situation was quickly deescalated, I am alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics DHS is employing in New York City and across the country,” he said.
US can’t cut China off completely, but must defend AI and American innovation from nonstop theft: Sen Rounds
SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA – China’s rampant theft of intellectual property from American institutions and industry must be thwarted as the U.S. battles to remain the world’s economic and military leader – but America cannot completely decouple from the economic behemoth, Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. The key, according to Rounds, is maintaining China as a key trade partner without giving them access to America’s technology, including artificial intelligence and computer chips. “In doing so, maybe we’ll restrict their ability to actually be able to have a market that they can create their own stuff with. They’ll be using ours. And in using ours, they’ll be our standards,” Rounds told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library during the Reagan National Economic Forum on Friday in California. “Let’s not necessarily just totally divest. Let’s see if we can have an influence on them and the rest of the world as well when it comes to standards for AI and other technological advances in the future,” he added. Rounds was among the conference panelists who spoke on the threats China poses as President Donald Trump addresses the country’s chronic trade deficit with foreign nations, and his optimism for the future as the U.S. sprints to remain the world’s economic and military leader. SPY SURGE SPARKS TRUMP VISA CRACKDOWN ON CHINESE STUDENTS Rounds’ remarks focused on keeping the U.S. in the driver’s seat of the world’s economy, which he explained is deeply entwined in technological advances and bucking Chinese theft of intellectual property, while also acknowledging and combating how China has advanced into a “near-peer competitor” with the U.S. from a military standpoint. ‘NO REASON’ FOR NEW NUKES: TRUMP FLOATS DISARMAMENT TALKS WITH CHINA, RUSSIA “We’ve got to do a better job of protecting the intellectual properties that we’ve got. The most advanced types of technologies that we have, everything we can do to slow down their connection with that, protecting against that infiltration or de-filtration of really good information that, right now, they’re stealing from us on a regular basis,” Rounds said during a panel called “China and the U.S.: When Trading Partners are also Great Power Competitors.” He added that China has no qualms about stealing U.S. intellectual property – which is understood as intangible creations, such as patents for inventions or trade secrets such as tech algorithms. Rounds recalled a recent conversation with an ambassador to China who told him their culture does not understand “how someone can own an idea.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last Wednesday that the U.S. will begin “aggressively” revoking visas of Chinese students, most notably those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party who are trained at U.S. schools, but return to China or feed U.S. information to China. Rounds said the country needed a pause on admitting Chinese nationals with CCP ties into elite U.S. schools until an enforceable agreement is in place protecting intellectual property and processes from Chinese capture. “We have Chinese students that come in here, and then they [maintain] ties back home. And even if they want to stay here, one of the challenges we have is that their family may very well be coerced into requiring them to come back home again. And if that’s the case, any of the knowledge that we’ve helped them to develop here goes back home with them,” Rounds said. “Until such time as we’re able to address that, and until such time as we’re able to be assured that the information that they’re getting here, the data that they are catching here, the knowledge that they gain here isn’t going to be used against our young men and women in the future, we want to slow this down a little bit. Let’s just take a break. Let’s not be bringing in these Chinese students that have ties with the Chinese Communist Party, until we have some kind of agreement in place that is enforceable,” he said. Rounds explained during the Reagan library forum that protecting U.S. intellectual property from Chinese theft has a ripple effect on U.S. efforts to remain the world’s military leader as China seeks parity with America. STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT WILL ‘AGGRESSIVELY REVOKE’ VISAS OF CHINESE STUDENTS “[China is] a strategic challenger for us on the military side. They are a near-peer competitor. And they have an advantage over us in one particular way: They are unified in terms of when Xi Jinping wants to move, it’s not just the government that moves, but the entire rest of their economic activity is required to move the way that he wants them to move. We don’t have that here. And so for us, we have to recognize that challenge. Now, I’m not suggesting we go the direction that they go, but we have to recognize their ability to move very, very quickly,” he said. The Trump administration leveled tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods in April, and China retaliated against the president’s “Liberation Day” policies with tariffs of its own. China and the U.S. reached a preliminary trade agreement last month, which Trump said China violated in a Truth Social post on Friday. TRUMP CALLS OUT PUTIN, ACCUSES CHINA OF NOT HONORING TRADE DEAL TERMS DURING 19TH WEEK IN OFFICE “I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!” he wrote. Rounds explained that the U.S. is in the midst of reaching a favorable trade deal while also acknowledging China has stolen billions of dollars in intellectual property for
Rand Paul says he would support ‘big, beautiful bill’ if debt ceiling hike removed
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said on Sunday that he would support President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” if the debt ceiling hike was removed. Paul told CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan that he and three other Republican senators will hold out against the bill unless it is modified. “I think there are four of us at this point, and I would be very surprised if the bill at least is not modified in a good direction,” Paul said. “I want the tax cuts to be permanent. But at the same time, I don’t wanna raise the debt ceiling five trillion,” he continued, adding, “The GOP will own the debt once they vote for this.” SENATE REPUBLICANS EYE CHANGES TO TRUMP’S MEGABILL AFTER HOUSE WIN Trump on Saturday warned Paul would be “playing right into the hands of the Democrats” if he votes against the bill. “If Senator Rand Paul votes against our Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for, along with the Radical Left Democrats, a 68% Tax Increase and, perhaps even more importantly, a first time ever default on U.S. Debt,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday afternoon. TRUMP WARNS RAND PAUL HE’S PLAYING INTO ‘HANDS OF THE DEMOCRATS’ WITH ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ OPPOSITION “Rand will be playing right into the hands of the Democrats, and the GREAT people of Kentucky will never forgive him! The GROWTH we are experiencing, plus some cost cutting later on, will solve ALL problems. America will be greater than ever before!” Next week, Senate Republicans will get their turn to parse through the colossal package and are eying changes that could be a hard sell for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who can only afford to lose three votes. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Congressional Republicans are in a dead sprint to get the megabill — filled with Trump’s policy desires on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt — onto the president’s desk by early July. Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson and Alex Miller contributed to this report.