US officials delayed warning public about heart inflammation risk from COVID shot: report
U.S. health officials knew about the risks of myocarditis from COVID-19 vaccines but downplayed the concern and delayed informing the public about the risks of taking the jab — that is according to a new Senate report released by Sen. Ron Johnson Wednesday. Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has been investigating the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines. Earlier this year, he subpoenaed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records relating to COVID-19 vaccine safety data and communications about the pandemic. SEN. RON JOHNSON: THE COVID COVER-UPS HAVE TO END The interim report, spanning 55 pages, obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed that Biden administration officials “withheld crucial health information from the Subcommittee and the public.” Since 2021, Johnson has sent more than 70 oversight letters, which he says were “either completely ignored or inadequately addressed.” The report highlights the records Johnson has obtained pursuant to the subpoena from the new, Trump administration-led health agency. Specifically, the report focuses on HHS’ awareness of and response to cases of myocarditis—a type of heart inflammation—following COVID-19 vaccination. SCIENTISTS FIND CLUES ON WHY COVID VACCINE CAUSES CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS IN SOME Johnson’s report says the 2,473 pages of records he obtained “contain evidence of the Biden administration’s efforts to downplay and delay warning the public about the risks of myocarditis associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.” The report points to records from May 2021, in which health officials at HHS discussed whether to issue a formal warning about myocarditis. According to the report, the formal warning about myocarditis was initially going to be distributed nationwide as a Health Alert Network message, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is CDC’s “primary method of sharing cleared information about urgent public health incidents with public information officers; federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local public health practitioners; clinicians; and public health laboratories.” However, Johnson’s report said that health officials at CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “ultimately decided against issuing a formal HAN and, instead, posted ‘clinical considerations’ on CDC’s website about myocarditis.” “Based on the subpoenaed records the Subcommittee has received to date, as well as public FOIA documents, this interim report will highlight records and present a timeline showing U.S. health officials knew about the risk of myocarditis; those officials downplayed the health concern; and U.S. health agencies delayed informing the public about the risk of the adverse event.” FLASHBACK: GOP SENATORS INVOKE STATUTE TO FORCE HHS ANSWERS ON COVID ORIGINS: ‘FULL-FLEDGED COVER-UP’ The report also highlights the Israeli Ministry of Health notifying officials at the CDC in February 2021 of “large reports of myocarditis, particularly in young people, following the administration of the Pfizer vaccine.” The report also highlights documents showing CDC officials discussing “safety signals” for myocarditis with mRNA vaccines in April 2021 based on Defense Department and Israeli data, but “still not taking immediate steps to warn the public.” Documents obtained by Johnson also show CDC officials communicating with Moderna and Pfizer representatives about the risks. Johnson also obtained “draft meeting notes from late May 2021 exchanged between U.S. public health officials which included the question: ‘Is VAERS signaling for myopericarditis now?,’ and the answer: ‘For the age groups 16-17 years and 18-24 years, yes.’” “VAERS” is an acronym for the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. FLASHBACK: SEN. RON JOHNSON CONFRONTS HHS SECRETARY ABOUT REDACTED FAUCI EMAILS ON COVID-19 ORIGINS “Rather than provide the public and health care providers with immediate and transparent information regarding the risk of myocarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration waited until late June 2021 to announce changes to the labels for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines based on the ‘suggested increased risks’ of myocarditis and pericarditis,” the report states. “Even though CDC and FDA officials were well aware of the risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration opted to withhold issuing a formal warning to the public for months about the safety concerns, jeopardizing the health of young Americans.” The report added that the Biden administration’s decision “to downplay the COVID-19 vaccine health risks and delay warning the public about cardiac-related adverse events associated with the mRNA vaccines jeopardized the public’s health.” According to the report, as of April 25, 2025, VAERS reported 38,607 deaths and more than 1.6 million “adverse events worldwide associated with the administration of COVID-19 injections.” Of the more than 38,000 deaths, the report said 25% occurred on Day 0, 1, or 2 following injection, compared to “2,663 deaths reported to VAERS associated with the flu vaccine over a period of 35 years.” “No other reports of adverse events associated with any other drug or vaccine even come close to these statistics,” the report states. “And yet, those who oversaw the development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines continue to insist it is safe and effective, without providing the data to prove their claims.” Johnson’s report demands that the “full extent” of the Biden administration’s “failure to immediately warn the public about all COVID-19 vaccine adverse events must be completely exposed.” “The American people fund the federal health departments and agencies with their hardearned tax dollars,” the report states. “The information developed by these departments and agencies belong to the American people, and should be made fully and transparently available.” The report states that as “the roadblocks are removed and more documents that have been hidden and withheld for years become available, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will provide transparency and let the American public see what is their right to see.”
Harris, Becerra covered up Biden mental decline, California Democratic candidate for governor says
Amid claims that President Joe Biden declined mentally while in office, Golden State gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa has suggested that former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Health And Human Services Secretary Xavier Beccerra were involved in a cover-up. Becerra is also running for governor, while the prospect of a potential Harris bid looms large over the field. Current California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is not eligible to run again because he’s currently serving his second term, and the state constitution stipulates that, “No Governor may serve more than 2 terms.” “What I’ve seen in news coverage and excerpts from the new book ‘Original Sin’ is deeply troubling. At the highest levels of our government, those in power were intentionally complicit or told outright lies in a systematic cover up to keep Joe Biden’s mental decline from the public,” Villaraigosa said in a statement. DEM SENATOR SAYS ‘NO DOUBT’ BIDEN DECLINED COGNITIVELY DURING PRESIDENCY “Now, we have come to learn this cover up includes two prominent California politicians who served as California Attorney General – one who is running for Governor and another who is thinking about running for Governor,” he declared. Becerra and Harris have both previously served as California state attorney general. “Those who were complicit in the cover up should take responsibility for the part they played in this debacle, hold themselves accountable, and apologize to the American people. I call on Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra to do just that – and make themselves available to voters and the free press because there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered,” Villaraigosa declared in another portion of his statement. BIDEN’S ‘LAST KNOWN’ PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING WAS OVER A DECADE AGO, AS QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER DIAGNOSIS Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Kamala Harris and the Office of Joe and Jill Biden but did not receive responses from either office by the time of publication. “It’s clear the President was getting older, but he made the mission clear: run the largest health agency in the world, expand care to millions more Americans than ever before, negotiate down the cost of prescription drugs, and pull us out of a world-wide pandemic. And we delivered,” Becerra noted in a statement, according to reports. During an appearance on “The View” earlier this month, Biden rejected the notion that he suffered significant decline in his cognitive abilities during his last year in office. BIDEN AIDE INTIMIDATED REPORTER INVESTIGATING FORMER PRESIDENT’S MENTAL DECLINE WITH ‘TACIT THREAT:’ BOOK Biden has been “diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” a statement from his personal office recently noted. Fox News’ Peter Doocy contributed to this report
DOJ begins dismissing Biden-era civil rights lawsuits against two city police departments
The Justice Department on Wednesday said it is dismissing Biden-era lawsuits against the Louisville and Minneapolis police departments and is in the process of unwinding investigations into several other police departments, describing the actions as sweeping and overly broad. Speaking to reporters on a press call Wednesday, Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said DOJ is taking all necessary steps to dismiss “with prejudice” the Louisville and Minneapolis lawsuits, and to close the investigations into the departments – describing them as expensive and overly broad. The Civil Rights Division will also be closing its investigations into, and retracting, the Biden administration’s findings of constitutional violations on the part of police departments in Phoenix, Trenton, Memphis, Mount Vernon, Oklahoma City, and Louisiana state police. “In short, these sweeping consent decrees would have imposed years of micromanagement of local police departments by federal courts and expensive independent monitors, and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of compliance costs, without a legally or factually adequate basis for doing so,” Dhilon said. “Overbroad police consent decrees divest local control of policing from communities where it belongs, turning that power over to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, often with an anti- police agenda,” she added. “Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division’s failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees.” This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
DHS exposes crimes by migrants deported to South Sudan as judge threatens to order their return
EXCLUSIVE: A Biden-appointed federal judge could decide Wednesday morning that a plane carrying illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes to South Sudan has to return. The plane is carrying eight men – all of whom are convicted of crimes ranging from homicide to robbery, according to details exclusively provided by the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS unveiled details of the crimes after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy threatened to order the return of the migrants at a Wednesday hearing. “No country on earth wanted to accept [the migrants] because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said at a press conference Wednesday. “These heinous individuals have terrorized American streets for too long.” “While we are fully compliant with the law and court orders, it is absurd for a district judge to try to dictate the foreign policy and national security of the United States of America,” McLaughlin said. INCOMING TRUMP ADMIN, CONGRESS SHOWDOWN LOOMS WITH SOUTH AFRICA OVER SUPPORT FOR RUSSIA, US FOES Thongxay Nilakout, a Laos citizen who was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery and was sentenced to life behind bars, is also on the flight. He was arrested in January by ICE. Mexican citizen Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez is convicted of second-degree murder, and was taken into ICE custody earlier this month. Dian Peter Domach of South Sudan is convicted of a DUI, “possession of burglar’s tools and possession of defaced firearm; sentenced to 18 months confinement” and “robbery and possession of a firearm; sentenced to 8 years confinement.” He was arrested by ICE earlier this month. TRUMP ADMIN MAKES NEW MOVE TO BRING SOUTH AFRICAN REFUGEES TO US AS PRESIDENT BLASTS NATION’S RULERS AGAIN Two Burmese citizens, Kyaw Mya and Nyo Myint, are also headed to the African nation on the flight. Mya is convicted of “Lascivious Acts with a Child-Victim less than 12 years of age.” He was sentenced to 10 years behind bars, but he was paroled after four years. Myint is convicted of “first-degree sexual assault involving a victim mentally and physically incapable of resisting” and faced 12 years behind bars. He was also charged with “aggravated assault-nonfamily strongarm.” Both were arrested by ICE in February. Vietnamese citizen Tuan Thanh Phan, a citizen of Vietnam is convicted of “first-degree murder and second-degree assault.” DHS officials noted at Wednesday’s briefing that the home countries of each of the illegal immigrants refused to take them back to their home soil. The migrants remain in DHS custody, the officials added. Murphy, appointed by former President Joe Biden, ruled on Tuesday night that the Trump administration must maintain custody of the migrants in case he rules their removal unlawful, and they must be transferred back to the U.S. TRUMP ADMIN ENDS DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR MASSIVE NUMBER OF VENEZUELANS AMID ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN Lawyers for illegal immigrants from Myanmar, also called Burma, and Vietnam accused the Trump administration of illegally deporting their clients to third-party countries. They argue the deportations violated Murphy’s previous court order mandating that migrants be granted “meaningful opportunity” to establish that sending them to a third country would make them unsafe. Murphy previously found that any plans to deport people to Libya without notice would “clearly” violate his ruling regarding third-party deportations, which also applies to people who have otherwise exhausted their legal appeals.
Dems warn House Republicans will pay price at ballot box for passing Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’
EXCLUSIVE – As House GOP leaders advance President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” toward a floor vote this week, Democrats, who are in the minority, are sounding a warning. “We’re going to hold Republicans accountable and there will be a price to pay,” Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington State, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, emphasized as she pointed to next year’s midterm elections during a Fox News Digital interview. Republicans are holding onto an extremely razor-thin majority in the chamber right now, and Democrats only need a three-seat pickup to win back the House majority in the 2026 elections. Additionally, they view the sweeping and controversial GOP-crafted measure stocked full of Trump’s second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit – which is currently making its way through numerous votes and hurdles in the House – as political ammunition. INCHING CLOSER: HOUSE SPEAKER JOHNSON REACHES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH SOME HOLDOUT GOP LAWMAKERS “This is a terrible piece of legislation,” DelBene argued. Democrats from across the party are shining a spotlight on the Republicans’ restructuring of Medicaid, the nearly 60-year-old federal government program that provides health insurance for roughly 71 million adults and children with limited incomes. “Let’s be clear, all Republicans are talking about right now is how many people and how fast they’re going to take away healthcare. They have these huge cuts to Medicaid, 14 million people lose healthcare across the country, and they’re talking about how fast they can do that,” DelBene charged on Tuesday. She claimed that House Republicans are “all blindly following the president and going to blindly follow him off the cliff.” Rep. Ted Lieu of California, another member of the House Democrat leadership, argued as he took questions from reporters that the bill “has the largest cut to healthcare in U.S. history.” GOP HOLDOUTS UNMOVED BY TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ TRIP TO CAPITOL HILL The cuts to Medicaid, being drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump’s 2017 tax cut law, which is set to expire later this year, include a slew of new rules and regulatory requirements for those seeking coverage. Among them are a new set of work requirements for many of those seeking coverage. “When you go across the country and talk to folks, folks are outraged, and they’re scared. They’re scared about the cuts to healthcare, not only cutting 14 million people off of healthcare but then raising costs beyond that for everyone and things like rural hospitals closing,” DelBene argued. “This would have devastating impacts across the country. This is policy that Republicans are fighting for, cutting nutrition health programs so that families don’t even have healthy food.” House Republicans push back against the Democrats’ attacks and say what they are doing is putting an end to waste, fraud and abuse currently in the Medicaid system, so the program can work for the public in the way that it was intended. They call any talk that they are cutting aid to mothers, children, people with disabilities and the elderly a “flat out lie.” FIRST ON FOX: THESE REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS SAY THEY ‘STAND UNITED’ IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP’S ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ DelBene countered, saying, “we’re not buying the argument because what we’ve seen in committee, what they’ve written down on paper is massive cuts in healthcare and all to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest in our country. This isn’t a bill about helping working families. This bill is devastating for working families.” However, her counterparty, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital in a statement that “Republicans are ending waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid so the most vulnerable get the care they need.” Additionally, Hudson argued that “Democrats are lying to protect a broken status quo that lets illegal immigrants siphon off billions meant for American families. We’re strengthening Medicaid for future generations by protecting taxpayers and restoring integrity.” Dating back to last year’s presidential campaign, Trump has vowed not to touch Medicaid. On Tuesday, as he made a rare stop on Capitol Hill to meet behind closed doors with House Republicans in order to shore up support for the bill, Trump’s message to fiscally conservative lawmakers looking to make further cuts to Medicaid was “don’t f— around with Medicaid.” While there are divisions between Republicans over Medicaid, and a chasm between the two major parties over the longstanding entitlement program, there is one point of agreement – this issue will continue to simmer on the campaign trail in one form or another long after the legislative battles on Capitol Hill are over.
Biden Education Dept put priority on pronouns, left backlog of nearly 200 antisemitism complaints: official
Limited civil rights enforcement resources were prioritized to resolve cases related to pronoun usage and alleged book banning under the Biden administration, while hundreds of civil rights cases pertaining to antisemitism went unresolved, according to a senior Education Department official who spoke to Fox News Digital. Almost 200 antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), either in the early evaluation stages or in later investigatory stages, were left unresolved under the Biden administration, according to the official. More than 150 of those unresolved complaints, according to the official, were filed after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack that killed nearly 1,200 innocent people and sparked an Israeli military campaign in Gaza that led to an uptick in anti-Israel sentiment across the United States, especially on college campuses. “The Biden administration placed an undue burden on OCR by stretching the scope of civil rights law beyond its statutory purview,” said Julie Hartman, a Department of Education spokesperson. “The Trump OCR is cleaning that up daily. By enforcing the law as it is written, the Trump administration’s OCR is using its personnel and resources responsibly and eliminating wasteful and unfounded investigations.” DOJ LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO BLUE STATE CITY OVER ALLEGED RACE-BASED HIRING So far, the Trump administration has dismissed at least 11 complaints related to so-called “book bans” across the country, which alleged that school districts’ removal of content deemed by parents as age-inappropriate violated students’ civil rights. The Trump administration also reversed the Biden administration’s decision to include “gender identity” within the scope of Title IX and instructed educational institutions receiving federal funds to halt the continuance of what the Trump administration has called racially discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. “[The Biden administration] expanded the sex-based protections of Title IX to include gender identity, thereby creating a whole avenue of issues, such as pronoun misgendering cases, which would be pursued by OCR investigators as possibly constituting discrimination,” Hartman said. “Similarly, the previous administration’s OCR stretched Title VI to its breaking point by claiming DEI, which is often racially discriminatory, was consistent with Title VI, incentivizing educational institutions to double down on DEI programming and policies lest they risk meritless Title VI investigations.” CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICIALS PROBE 4 US MEDICAL SCHOOLS OVER ANTISEMITISM AT 2024 COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES Under Biden, civil rights officials also let a complaint against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas languish without any resolution, the senior agency official confirmed. In March 2022, Thomas became the first transgender woman swimmer to win a Division I national championship after tying a biologically female opponent, setting off a firestorm over whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order withholding federal funding from any schools allowing biological males, such as Thomas, to compete in women’s sports. Trump also signed an early executive order to combat the rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023, and established a Justice Department task force to help hold educational institutions accountable. In March, the Education Department announced it had sent letters to 60 institutions of high education warning them of potential civil rights violations if they do not adequately protect their Jewish students as required under Title VI. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the Department of Education has led critics to claim its civil rights enforcement, in particular related to students with disabilities, has tanked. But according to a senior OCR attorney, the Trump administration’s disability-related OCR resolutions have been on par with the pace of the previous administration. So far, since the Trump administration took over, more than 200 disability-related complaints have been opened, the official indicated. The administration has also closed 100 disability-related civil rights cases filed with the Education Department since Trump’s inauguration in January.
Florida Sen Moody rolls out measure to expedite removal of criminal illegal immigrants
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ashley Moody will roll out a measure on Wednesday that will expedite the removal of criminal illegal immigrants from the United States involved in gangs, foreign terrorist organizations or convicted of any felony on U.S. soil, Fox News Digital has learned. Moody, R-Fla., is expected to introduce her legislation Wednesday morning, titled “The Expedited Removal of Criminal Aliens Act.” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is co-sponsoring the legislation. EXCLUSIVE: KASH PATEL DELIVERS FIERY WARNING AFTER FBI DISRUPTS MASS SHOOTING TERROR PLOT TARGETING MILITARY Moody’s team told Fox News Digital that the legislation is “critical” to supporting the Trump administration’s immigration priorities. “Following four years of systematic dismantlement of our country’s immigration and national security structure under Joe Biden, the American people gave President Trump a mandate to clean up Biden’s mess,” Moody told Fox News Digital. “Democrats and lower-level partisan judges, however, have sought to block his efforts at every turn.” Moody told Fox News Digital that they have claimed that “dangerous criminal illegal aliens and MS-13 gang members like Kilmar Abrego Garcia are just family men living quiet lives in America, and they couldn’t be more wrong.” “Democrats have fought against the quick removal of illegal aliens who have committed atrocious crimes against children or even those that have been convicted of murder,” Moody said. “It makes no sense.” Moody’s bill authorizes the expedited removal of an immigrant who is a member of a criminal gang or organization; a member of a foreign terrorist organization or has provided material support to such an organization; or has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor. Those potential felony or misdemeanor convictions include any assault of a law enforcement officer, any sexual offense, any crime of domestic violence, any stalking offense, any crime against children or any violation of a protection order. “Today we are finally putting common-sense immigration policies first by introducing legislation to authorize the expedited removal of dangerous criminals and prevent activist-judges from keeping known terrorists, criminals and gang members on American soil and endangering our communities,” Moody told Fox News Digital. Moody’s bill comes amid a court battle over Abrego Garcia — the Salvadorian migrant and alleged MS-13 member who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March. DOJ INDICTS ALLEGED HIGH-RANKING TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBER ON TERRORISM CHARGES FOR THE FIRST TIME Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor/human trafficking, according to a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report obtained by Fox News. The report also stated that “official law enforcement investigations” revealed that Abrego Garcia was a member of the notorious gang MS-13, which Trump has designated as a terror organization. A Homeland Security Investigations report also notes that in October 2019, the Prince Georges County Police Gang Unit identified Abrego Garcia as a member of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. Abrego Garcia was also recently revealed to have a record of being a “violent” repeat wife beater, according to court records filed in a Prince George’s County, Maryland, district court by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez. The Trump administration has continued to maintain it was right to deport Abrego Garcia to CECOT, despite many Democrats suggesting he was wrongly deported, even going as far as to say he was kidnapped by the administration.
China accuses US of ‘turning space into a warzone’ with Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense project
China is concerned by President Donald Trump‘s proposal for a new U.S. missile defense system, called the Golden Dome, which is designed to protect against adversarial attacks on America. Golden Dome has a “strong offensive nature and violates the principle of peaceful use in the Outer Space Treaty,” Chinese Foreign Minister Mao Ning said Wednesday. “The project will heighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system,” Mao said. “We urge the U.S. to give up developing and deploying global anti-missile system.” Both China and Russia have placed offensive weapons in space, like anti-satellite capabilities that could potentially be used to try to take the U.S. offline, American intelligence officials have warned. ‘MIND-BOGGLING’: SPACE FORCE CHIEF FIRES OFF DIRE WARNING ABOUT CHINESE CAPABILITY TO KNOCK OUT US SATELLITES However, China said it was the U.S. that was “obsessed” with offensive space dominance. “The U.S., by putting itself first, and being obsessed with pursuing absolute security, violates the principle of, and diminishes, the security for all and undermines the global strategic balance and stability,” Mao said. “China is gravely concerned about this,” she added. “We urge the U.S. to give up developing and deploying the global anti-missile system at an early date and take concrete actions to enhance strategic mutual trust between major countries and safeguard global strategic stability.” Trump laid out a broad overview of the Golden Dome plan from the White House on Tuesday, projecting the cost figure at $125 billion. The current government funding bill working its way through Congress includes an initial $25 billion to kick off the project. Trump also offered an ambitious timeline for the project to be completed before he leaves office. LASERS, SPACE RADARS, MISSILE INTERCEPTORS: DEFENSE LEADERS LAY OUT VISION FOR TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN DOME’ PROJECT Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment on China’s reaction. The Kremlin, meanwhile, said the Golden Dome project could prompt talks on strategic arms control between Russia and the U.S. The U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019 and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, citing Russian violations which Moscow denied. “Now that the legal framework in this area has been destroyed, and the validity period has expired, or deliberately, let’s say, a number of documents have ceased to be valid, this base must be recreated both in the interests of our two countries and in the interests of security throughout the planet,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. China’s space-based targeting capabilities have “grown most impressively” in recent years, according to Space Force Vice Chief Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, with hundreds of satellites now dedicated to tracking U.S. assets in orbit. He called China’s rapid advances “mind-boggling” during a hearing on Capitol Hill last month and said the U.S. was at risk of losing its dominance in orbit. Weeks before that, Space Force Vice Chief of Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein revealed that China has been practicing satellite “dogfighting,” a sign of its growing ability to conduct complex operations in orbit. Space Force has observed “five different objects in space maneuvering in and out and around each other in synchronicity and in control,” he said. “That’s what we call dogfighting in space,” Guetlein said. “They are practicing tactics, techniques and procedures to conduct on-orbit operations from one satellite to another.”
Reporter’s Notebook: House vote on ‘big, beautiful bill’ could come as early as today
We are now in the range where the House could potentially debate and vote on the “big, beautiful bill.” A vote could come as early as later today or tonight. That may still be a little optimistic, but when things are ready, the House could vote at any time of the day or night between now and Sunday. The goal of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is to vote on the plan before Memorial Day. Fox is told that slamming this up against the holiday recess actually helps the GOP get votes, because members really want to get away for events, graduations and Memorial Day parades. SPEAKER JOHNSON REACHES TENTATIVE DEAL WITH BLUE STATE REPUBLICANS TO BOOST CAP ON ‘SALT’ DEDUCTION The House Rules Committee – which serves as the gateway to the House floor for legislation – began its meeting at 1 a.m. ET. It could go all day, but what we’re waiting for is a final “manager’s amendment” from Johnson to make all of the fixes to court the votes of skeptical Republicans. The key to that amendment is to repair things – and not break something else. REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS SAY THEY ‘STAND UNITED’ IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP’S ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ There appears to be an agreement to raise the SALT cap (state and local taxes) for high-tax states.
Virginia Democratic Rep Gerry Connolly dead at 75
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., has passed away following a bitter cancer battle, his family announced on Wednesday. The lawmaker announced his initial diagnosis with esophageal cancer more than six months ago. He was 75 years old and had stepped back from his roles in Congress at the end of April. “It is with immense sadness that we share that our devoted and loving father, husband, brother, friend, and public servant, Congressman Gerald E. Connolly, passed away peacefully at his home this morning surrounded by family,” his family announced in a statement. “Gerry lived his life to give back to others and make our community better. He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” the family added. “He was a skilled statesman on the international stage, an accomplished legislator in Congress, a visionary executive on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a fierce defender of democracy, an environmental champion, and a mentor to so many.” BIDEN SPEAKS OUT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE CANCER DIAGNOSIS Connolly’s colleagues mourned the congressman’s passing in statements soon after news of his death was made public. “I am heartbroken by the passing of my friend and colleague, Congressman Gerry Connolly. Gerry was a devoted public servant who spent over three decades serving the people of Virginia and our nation with unmatched dedication and purpose,” Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said in a statement. “Gerry’s legacy is one of intellect, integrity, and relentless dedication to the people of Virginia’s 11th District and to our allies abroad. His absence will be deeply felt, both in Congress and on the international stage,” Turner added. Sen. Mark Warner, a fellow Virginia Democrat, also shared his condolences with the Connolly family, saying he had known the lawmaker for more than 35 years. “Gerry was a fighter. His sharp mind, boundless energy, and deep commitment to the people of Northern Virginia made him a force to be reckoned with, whether on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors or in Congress. He met every challenge with tenacity and purpose, including his final battle with cancer, which he faced with courage, grace, and quiet dignity,” Warner said. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., paused a House Rules Committee meeting for a moment of prayer upon learning of Connolly’s death. The longtime congressman’s death comes amid a heated battle in Congress over President Donald Trump‘s “big, beautiful bill.” His death means Democrats have one less vote with which to block the legislation. DEMS FUME OVER ‘DUE PROCESS’ FOR ABREGO GARCIA DESPITE LONG HISTORY OF PARTY BUCKING THE LEGAL PRINCIPLE Connolly had stepped back from his leadership roles in Congress and announced he would not run for re-election after revealing that his cancer had returned at the end of April. He served as ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. Connolly was serving his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s 11th District, according to his online biography. His district is centered in Fairfax County and includes the wealthy suburbs outside the nation’s capital. Connolly won his latest term by defeating Republican Mike Van Meter, a Navy veteran and former FBI agent. Connolly has been a fixture in northern Virginia politics for roughly 30 years. He was first elected as a Fairfax County supervisor in 1995. In Congress, he has played a leading role in oversight investigations. Fox News’ Pilar Arias and Liz Elkind contributed to this report.