GOP to grill blue state governors on sanctuary policies in high-profile hearing
Three blue state governors are being summoned to Washington, D.C., to testify on their sanctuary policies before the Republican-run House Oversight Committee. Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is announcing a hearing set for next month, June 12, featuring three Democratic leaders – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “Sanctuary policies only provide sanctuaries for criminal illegal aliens. Former President Biden created the worst border crisis in U.S. history and allowed criminal illegal aliens to flood our communities,” Comer said in a statement. SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING ‘BIG ABORTION’ LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL “The Trump administration is taking decisive action to deport criminal illegal aliens from our nation but reckless sanctuary states like Illinois, Minnesota and New York are actively seeking to obstruct federal immigration enforcement,” he continued. “The governors of these states must explain why they are prioritizing the protection of criminal illegal aliens over the safety of U.S. citizens, and they must be held accountable.” It’s likely to be a contentious hearing, with Hochul, Walz and Pritzker all serving as past boogeymen on the left. Republicans have blamed blue state governors for continuing to fuel the border crisis by resisting the Trump administration’s stringent crackdown on illegal immigration. Walz will be particularly notable to watch. A former House member himself, it’s one of the Democrat’s first appearances back in Washington since losing the 2024 presidential election as ex-Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Both Walz and Pritzker have also been floated as potential 2028 presidential contenders. MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE The hearing is set to come after a similar event in March, when the House Oversight Committee heard from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Comer sent each of the three governors requests for information on their sanctuary policies in April. Fox News Digital reached out to the three governors for comment.
Dems grill Pentagon nominee Tata over past inflammatory remarks, calling Obama ‘terrorist leader’
Retired Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, President Trump’s pick for a top Pentagon post, came under fire at his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday for past inflammatory remarks, including calling former President Barack Obama a “terrorist leader” and suggesting ex-CIA Director John Brennan deserved execution. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, called Tata’s record of political statements “disqualifying” and said his rhetoric was “not appropriate for a position of this significance.” “I respect and appreciate your military service,” Reed said, “but your record of public statements and behavior toward individuals with whom you disagree politically is disqualifying.” Tata, under questioning from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said he regretted the comments, calling them “out of character.” HEGSETH ORDERS ‘HISTORIC’ REDUCTION OF GENERAL OFFICERS IN THE MILITARY “I regret making those comments,” said Tata. “I have 45 years of solution-oriented leadership, that was out of character. I regret it. I can guarantee that I will be an apolitical leader.” The retired Army general and former Trump administration official was nominated for a senior Pentagon role in 2020, but the Senate canceled his confirmation hearing at the last minute over similar concerns. Trump later appointed him to a civilian advisory role without Senate confirmation. Tata’s post-military career includes stints as a school district official, North Carolina’s secretary of transportation, and a military thriller author. After calling Obama a terrorist in 2018, Tata later wrote on X that he was “joking” and meant to criticize Obama for the Iran deal. “I was joking! Of course it’s not a conspiracy theory. He did more to harm US vital interests and help Islamic countries than any president in history. The Iran deal alone is more than enough evidence of his drive to subvert US national interests to Islam and a globalist agenda.” “Might be a time to pick your poison,” Tata had also replied on X to Brennan in a since-deleted post, accusing him of treason. Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Darin Selnick, his deputy chief of staff who had also been performing the duties of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. Selnick was one of three top aides Hegseth fired after a leak investigation and fights between the aides and his former chief of staff. HEGSETH ORDERS SWEEPING ARMY OVERHAUL AND CONSOLIDATION AIMED AT COUNTERING CHINA AND GOLDEN DOME CAPABILITIES Senators also pressed Tata on more recent social media posts, including a tweet suggesting military officers were engaged in “mutinous discussions” and another calling for senior defense officials appointed by President Joe Biden to be fired. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., asked whether Tata valued loyalty to the Constitution or the administration’s political agenda more. “We all raise our right hand to uphold the Constitution,” Tata responded, though he defended Trump’s vision of avoiding “unnecessary wars” and rebuilding the military. He pledged to uphold his oath even “if it means getting fired.” If confirmed as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, Tata would oversee military recruitment, education, healthcare and overall force readiness. He would also play a key role in implementing efforts backed by Trump allies to reduce the number of general officers and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the department. Tata said he would push to improve military recruiting by expanding access to high school programs to build a “warrior ethos,” and streamline medical waivers for disqualified candidates. He also pledged to advise the chain of command on “apolitical and objective hirings,” and denied supporting any kind of “blatant purge.” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., expressed concern about political pressure on military leadership, citing the recent ouster of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown. Tata insisted his approach would be objective. In contrast, the nomination of Katherine Sutton for a top Pentagon technology role drew little opposition. Sutton, currently chief technology advisor at U.S. Cyber Command, warned that China’s cyber threats demand urgent investment in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Sutton was pressed by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., on whether she believed Signal and Telemessage were permissible for work purposes at the DoD, after a slew of reports about the secretary’s use of the encrypted messaging applications. “Depends on the level of classification,” said Sutton, adding there are a “wide variety” of apps in use at the DoD. “OK, glad you got your talking point answer out,” said Slotkin. “It’s concerning to me that going into this job you can’t give a straight balls and strike answer.”
Newark mayor takes fight to the gates of ICE detention center amid legal battle over alleged safety violations
The Democrat mayor of Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday continued his crusade to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities inside a previously vacant prison that is being converted into an immigrant detention center. Mayor Ras Baraka arrived at the gates of Delaney Hall this morning alongside activists to demand entry into the facility that he claims GEO Group, the building’s new owner, is unlawfully preventing from being inspected. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the City of Newark on April 1 alleges that GEO Group failed to permit entry to safety inspectors and violated city construction code, including by conducting electrical and plumbing renovations without proper oversight. Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on the ongoing litigation and Baraka’s visit to the facility. ‘BOGUS CLAIMS’: BLUE CITY MAYOR UNDER FIRE FOR TRYING TO HALT REOPENING OF ICE FACILITY In a press conference on Monday, Baraka said GEO Group is “following the pattern of the president of the United States who believes that he can just do what he wants to do and obscure the laws, national and constitutional laws, and they think they can do the same thing in the state of New Jersey and in Newark.” Baraka said fire department officials were trying to verify whether people were being detained in Delaney Hall after hearing “from word of mouth that they said they’ve been putting people in the building, from an employee there who told us that detainees were in fact being allowed in the building.” “In the initial inspection, we found some violations. Some of them weren’t grave violations, but they were, in fact, violations. Violations that put first responders at risk, violations that put detainees or workers that are there at risk,” the mayor continued. Possible violations listed later in the press conference by lawyer Kenyatta K. Stewart included unsanitary kitchens, lack of emergency exits and lack of proper ventilation. IDENTITY OF SECOND DEPORTED MAN WHO JUDGE WANTS RETURNED TO US REVEALED AS TRUMP ADMIN FIGHTS ORDER Stewart and Baraka expressed concern about the possibility of children being detained in the building. The mayor said it violates the law to refuse access to fire inspectors, health inspectors and uniform code of construction inspectors. GEO Group contends they are using an old certificate of occupancy from 2007, but Baraka says it’s invalid. “The attempt by local and state officials to stop the opening of a lawful federal immigration processing center at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark is another unfortunate example of a politicized campaign by sanctuary city and open borders politicians in New Jersey to interfere with the federal government’s efforts to arrest, detain, and deport dangerous criminal illegal aliens in accordance with established federal law,” a spokesperson for the group told Fox News Digital in a statement last month. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “These politically motivated tactics threaten both public safety and the local economy and are based on bogus claims about the Delaney Hall facility, which previously operated as a federal immigration processing center for six years under President Obama’s administration, without opposition from local political leaders,” the statement continued. Baraka, who is running for governor of the Garden State, denied politicizing the issue. “The reality is, this is not a Republican or a Democratic issue, in my mind. It’s an issue of human rights. It’s an issue of due process. It’s the issue of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States,” he said.
Supreme Court hands down decision in trans military ban suit
The Supreme Court has sided with the Trump administration in lifting a lower court’s order that paused the Pentagon’s transgender military ban. In a short order on Tuesday, the high court handed the White House win as Trump seeks to unmake the Biden-era diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda. The court stayed a lower court order, allowing the Pentagon policy to take effect. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the administration’s appeal and kept the lower court injunction in place. At issue in the suit, Shilling v. United States, is President Donald Trump‘s January executive order banning transgender military members. The order required the Department of Defense to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.” HEGSETH SAYS HE’S SIGNING MEMO ON COMBAT ARMS STANDARDS FOR MEN AND WOMEN Seven transgender military members proceeded to then bring suit against the administration in a Seattle-based federal court in early February. Trump was dismissed from the suit as a defendant in his official capacity as the suit played out in court. The initial complaint argued that the executive order “turns” away transgender military members “and kicks them out – for no legitimate reason.” “Rather, it baselessly declares all transgender people unfit to serve, insults and demeans them, and cruelly describes every one of them as incapable of ‘an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,’ based solely because they are transgender,” it continued. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle had issued a preliminary injunction in March that blocked the administration from identifying and removing transgender service members as the suit worked its way through legal proceedings. In his opinion granting the injunction, Settle characterized the ban as a “blanket prohibition on transgender service.” Settle found the plaintiffs would likely succeed on the merits of their equal protection, First Amendment, and procedural due process claims, among others. TRUMP’S TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN DEALT LEGAL BLOW AFTER APPEALS COURT RULING “The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record,” Settle wrote. Settle wrote in his order that the injunction was to “maintain the status quo of military policy regarding both active-duty and prospective transgender service” that were in place prior to Trump’s January 27 executive order. The administration quickly appealed the order to the Ninth Circuit, requesting the appellate court stay Settle’s order. The administration argued in court filings that the policy “furthers the government’s important interests in military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and avoiding disproportionate costs.” A three-judge panel – composed of Judges Atsushi Wallace Tashima, a Clinton-appointee, John B. Owens, an Obama-appointee, and Roopali H. Desai, a Biden-appointee – denied the administration’s request for a stay on March 31. HEGSETH SUGGESTS JUDGE REPORT TO MILITARY BASES AFTER RULING THAT PENTAGON MUST ALLOW TRANSGENDER TROOPS The stay would have allowed the administration to enforce the ban while the legal challenge moved forward. “The Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s executive actions, including the Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness Executive Order, and will continue to do so,” a Justice Department official told Fox News Digital at the time. Shilling v. United States is just one of several suits challenging the Trump administration’s military ban. Transgender plaintiffs also notably sued in D.C. federal court where U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes also initially blocked the ban from going into effect. Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Josh Hawley calls for federal investigation after whistleblower alleges child labor at Tyson Foods plant
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is urging President Donald Trump‘s Department of Labor to open an investigation into Tyson Foods on Tuesday after receiving a whistleblower report claiming the company employed child labor at one of its facilities. Hawley wrote a letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer on Tuesday, urging her to investigate the matter. He said his Senate Judiciary subcommittee opened its own investigation after being contacted by the whistleblower. Tyson plants in Tennessee and elsewhere have been the subject of child labor investigations in recent years. “The whistleblower, a former Tyson Foods employee who oversaw plant safety, alleges that they personally witnessed underage workers and also received multiple reports from hourly Tyson employees about child workers in the plant. According to the allegations, these child workers were employed by a third-party entity contracted by Tyson for work in the plant,” Hawley wrote in his letter. “After reporting concerns to company superiors about child workers employed at the plant, the whistleblower was subjected to retaliation and a ‘toxic work environment.’ Due to the toxic work environment, the whistleblower quit. Tyson is now pursuing legal action against them related to their departure from the company,” the letter continued. ONE DEAD, 2 HOSPITALIZED AFTER FIRE AT TYSON FOODS PLANT IN GEORGIA Hawley went on to note media reports showing that “Tyson purposely uses subcontractors to avoid punishment for illegally employing children. As a result, Tyson has successfully avoided all liability and culpability for its clear violations of child labor laws.” Tyson denied any wrongdoing in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “We do not allow the employment of anyone under the age of 18 in any of our facilities, and we do not facilitate, excuse, or in any other way participate in the use of child labor by third parties. We take the enforcement of all labor laws seriously, and we verify the age of all team members by fully participating in the federal government’s E-Verify and IMAGE programs. We also have multiple processes in place, including an anonymous ethics hotline, for all team members to report suspicious activity,” a Tyson Foods spokesperson said in a statement. EXPLOSION AT LOUISVILLE FACTORY KILLS 2, INJURES SEVERAL, COMPANY CONFIRMS During her confirmation hearing, Chavez-DeRemer vowed to use her role in the new Trump administration to crack down on labor abuses. “Child labor should not be accepted by anybody in America. The Department of Labor has the enforcement capability to double down if [companies] are knowingly breaking the law and exploiting children in their factories,” she told Hawley during the confirmation process. Chavez-DeRemer’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital that the secretary had received Hawley’s letter on Tuesday. “The Secretary is reviewing the Senator’s letter and remains committed to protecting America’s children from potential labor violations,” Labor Department spokesperson Courtney Parella said in a statement. Tyson also faced heavy criticism in 2024 after announcing plans to hire asylum seekers for one of its plants in Tennessee, just days after closing another facility in Iowa, costing roughly 1,000 jobs.
Trump dares Newsom to run in 2028, slams record on LA wildfires
President Donald Trump said he would “love” California Gov. Gavin Newsom to launch a White House bid for the Democrats, but said his response to wildfires and other issues would “pretty much put him out of the race.” The president, during a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, took a swipe at Newsom, blasting California’s high-speed rail project. SMELT TEST: TRUMP ORDER OVERRIDES CALIFORNIA’S FISH-PROTECTING RULES TO MAXIMIZE WATER SUPPLY “A little train going from San Francisco to Los Angeles that’s being run by Gavin New-scum—the governor of California,” Trump said. “Did you ever hear of Gavin Newsom? He has got that train—the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen. It’s like, totally out of control.” Trump said he “always liked Gavin” and “had a good relationship with him.” “I just got him a lot of water, you know, I sent in people to open up that water because he refused to do it,” Trump said, adding that “if they would have done what I said to do, they wouldn’t have had the fires in Los Angeles.” “Those fires would have been put out very quickly,” Trump said. Trump traveled to Southern California in January, just days after taking office, to see damage from the devastating wildfires that destroyed thousands of acres and more than 10,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area. After the visit, Trump issued an executive order calling on federal agencies to overrule California regulations on endangered species to create more water availability, expedite the removal of debris in the areas affected by the fires and conduct investigations into the City of Los Angeles’ use of federal grants. Trump also called on the Department of the Interior to immediately override existing regulations in California that “unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries” to the Central Valley Project, a water management effort in the state. TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND Shifting back to the high-speed rail project, Trump said he has “watched a lot of stupid people build a lot of stupid things,” but that this is “the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen.” California’s high-speed rail project was designed to cart riders between San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours. It was expected to cost $33 billion and be finished by 2020, but the project has been riddled with funding challenges, cost overruns and delays. The project is now reportedly expected to cost an estimated $106 billion to complete. “This government is not going to pay,” Trump said, noting that he told Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that the Trump administration is “not going to pay for that thing” – [it’s] “30 times over budget.” “It was supposed to be a simple train,” Trump said. Duffy, in February, began a Transportation Department review to determine whether the California High-Speed Rail Authority had “followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding.” “If not, I will have to consider whether that money could be given to deserving infrastructure projects elsewhere in the United States,” Duffy said at a news conference in Los Angeles in February. Looking ahead to 2028, the president said he would “love” to see Newsom run for president. Newsom is barred from seeking re-election as California governor in 2026 due to term limits. NEWSOM PROPOSES TO WORK WITH TRUMP TO ‘MAKE AMERICA FILM AGAIN,’ FLOATS $7.5B FEDERAL TAX CREDIT “But I don’t think he’s going to be running because that one project alone—well, that and the fires and a lot of other things—pretty much put him out of the race,” Trump said. Newsom has been rumored to be mulling a 2028 presidential bid but has not committed to doing so. In a statement to The New York Times, Newsom said he wanted to work with the Trump administration on a $7.5 billion federal tax credit program to bolster the TV and film production industry. “California built the film industry – and we’re ready to bring even more jobs home,” Newsom wrote on X on Monday. “We’ve proven what strong state incentives can do. Now it’s time for a real federal partnership to Make America Film Again.” The White House said Monday that “no final decisions” had been made as the administration was “exploring all options” to deliver on Trump’s directive “to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again.” Trump first announced in a Truth Social post on Sunday that he was authorizing the Department of Commerce and the U.S. trade representative “to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SCOOP: Trump ally’s Gulf of America bill sparks frustration in House GOP
FIRST ON FOX: A scheduled vote on making President Donald Trump’s Gulf of America name change permanent is causing some heartburn within the House GOP conference. Multiple House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital said they were frustrated by House GOP leaders’ decision to spend time voting on what they saw as a largely symbolic gesture in an otherwise light legislative week. It comes as GOP negotiators work behind the scenes to iron out divisions on Medicaid, tax policy and green energy subsidies in time to pass Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” by the Fourth of July. “This is a time where we should be in our districts, going to graduations, making sure that we’re listening to folks who have tariff issues,” a more moderate GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak freely, told Fox News Digital. “Instead, we’re going to spend time doing this… it’s frustrating for somebody who’s got a lot of pragmatic legislation, waiting in the queue to be heard. Instead, we’re doing posture bills. It’s not what I came here to do.” SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING ‘BIG ABORTION’ LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL But the frustration is not limited to moderate and mainstream Republicans. One conservative GOP lawmaker vented to Fox News Digital, “125 other [executive orders], this is the one we pick.” “Folks are upset that we’re not doing something more important,” the conservative lawmaker said. Two sources familiar with House Republicans’ whip team meeting said at least three GOP lawmakers aired concerns about the bill — Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Glenn Grothman, R-Wis. One of the sources described their sentiments as, “They just think it’s kind of frivolous or not serious.” “I’ve heard criticisms from all corners of the conference. Conservatives to pragmatic ones,” Bacon told Fox News Digital. “It seems sophomoric. The United States is bigger and better than this.” Bacon is among the Republicans pushing hard for a restrained hand on Medicaid cuts in Trump’s multitrillion-dollar bill, while other GOP lawmakers are pushing for more significant cuts. Grothman would not confirm or deny his concerns, telling Fox News Digital, “That’s behind-the-scenes stuff.” Obernolte’s office did not respond to requests for comment by press time. While the concerns have not come from a large number of the overall conference, any degree of defections is significant with the GOP’s razor-thin House majority. With all lawmakers present in the chamber, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can currently lose up to three votes to still pass something along party lines. It’s also a sign of Trump’s continued dominance on Capitol Hill starting to wear on some Republican lawmakers. It’s not clear that the lawmakers who expressed concerns will vote against the final bill, however, particularly with pressure from House GOP leaders. A third House Republican who spoke with Fox News Digital anonymously acknowledged the frustrations, but nevertheless said, “It’s not the hill to die on.” It’s worth noting that congressional Republicans have passed several bills promoting Trump’s agenda already, including resolutions to roll back key Biden administration policies. The budget reconciliation package, Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” is GOP negotiators’ current priority. MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE The Gulf of America Act was introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a top Trump ally. When reached for comment on some GOP lawmakers’ concerns, Greene told Fox News Digital, “Codifying the rightful renaming of the Gulf of America isn’t just a priority for me and President Trump, it’s a priority for the American people. American taxpayers fund its protection, our military defends its waters, and American businesses fuel its economy. My bill advances President Trump’s America First agenda.” “If certain moderate Republicans want to start elsewhere, where do they suggest?” she continued. “I have bills ready for all of it. But let’s be clear, we should be voting to codify every single executive order President Trump issues.” The bill is currently slated to get a vote on Thursday morning, and Johnson promoted it during his House GOP leadership press conference on Tuesday. “We’re going to pass Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to permanently rename the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America. And then we’re going to codify dozens more of President Trump’s budget-related executive orders, spending-related executive orders through the budget reconciliation process,” the speaker said. Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., posted on X in response to the speaker, “This will be a tremendous economic driver for my district. Families across the country will flock to the Florida Panhandle to be the FIRST to enjoy the Gulf of AMERICA!” The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jill Biden lands new job following four years as first lady
Jill Biden landed a new job following her four years in the White House: leading a California-based think tank’s initiative aimed at improving women’s health. “From endometriosis to healthy aging, the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research made important investments in research and development, while making clear it will take collaboration across industries to bring these innovations to scale,” Biden said, according to a Milken Institute press release published April 29. “I am honored to join the Milken Institute as we unite leaders around a shared mission: for women everywhere to benefit from the lifesaving, world-changing research we know is possible.” The Milken Institute describes itself as a nonpartisan economic think tank based out of Santa Monica that focuses on “financial, physical, mental, and environmental health” to “bring together the best ideas and resourcing to develop blueprints for tackling some of our most critical global issues.” Biden will serve as the chair of the think tank’s new Women’s Health Network. Biden, who is a teacher and holds a doctorate in education, focused as first lady on the Biden Cancer Moonshot plan to end cancer, the Joining Forces initiative to support veteran families and caregivers, and launching the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. JILL BIDEN’S STATE OF THE UNION GUESTS: ALABAMA IVF PATIENT, SWEDISH PM, UAW PRESIDENT AND MORE Biden joined the Milken Institute’s 28th annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, Monday. Other notable guests who addressed the conference included Trump administration Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump administration Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. Biden’s new role serving as chair of the Milken Institute’s initiative will focus on “galvanizing participation, collaboration, and shared action in the Women’s Health Network to improve women’s health and wellbeing,” according to the think tank’s press release announcing the former first lady’s new role. Former President Joe Biden signed a presidential memorandum in 2023 that launched the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Jill Biden led the White House initiative, which worked to beef up funding for and research into women’s health. The Biden White House argued at the time that “TOO MANY medical studies have focused on men and left women out” and that too many of “the medicine dosages, treatments, medical school text books, are based on men and their bodies – and that information doesn’t always apply to women.” Jill Biden said during Milken’s conference Monday that her husband had been eager to “infuse” the “federal government with money” when they launched the White House women’s health initiative in 2023. “So one of the things we did was we got to work right away,” Jill Biden said during the Milken Institute conference Monday. “Joe said, ‘You know, let’s infuse – really, the federal government with money.’ In one year, we put in $1 billion to advance women’s research.” “And we worked a lot through the (National Institutes of Health) and the way that they did research, and we made sure that they disaggregated the data and that they separated the research on women and men differently, and we worked with (the Department of Defense) DOD – they put a lot of money into women’s research – and then we put a lot of money in to de-risk the investment. So there were a lot of things that, really, private equity wasn’t willing to take on because it was too risky, and we thought, let’s push this forward, and let’s try to find answers more quickly.” JILL BIDEN ‘STUNNED’ JOE’S FAMILY DURING HEALTH SCARE, MARKING HER STATUS AS ‘FULL-FLEDGED’ BIDEN: BOOK Fox News Digital reached out to the Milken Institute Tuesday for additional comment on the former first lady’s new role, but did not immediately receive a reply. Jill Biden worked as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College from 2009 to December 2024, when she announced she wrapped up her final semester as her husband prepared for his Oval Office exit. TOP 5 REVELATIONS IN 2024 CAMPAIGN BOOKS, FROM OBAMA WORKING AGAINST HARRIS TO BIDEN’S ‘OUT OF IT’ DEMEANOR Jill Biden’s new role comes as political books recapping the Biden administration hit bookshelves nationwide, with several reporting that concerns over the president’s mental acuity and age had gripped the administration across its four years. The book “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” for example, is set to be released in July and authored by three reporters from the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Washington Post, and reportedly details how Biden’s team chose not to have the president take a cognitive test in February 2024 due to concerns that taking the test itself would raise more questions about his age. Another book, Chris Whipple’s “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History,” reported that White House staffers allegedly kept Biden from socializing with others, including close allies and friends, out of fear the 46th president “might say the wrong thing or might feed the mental acuity narrative.”
Senator introduces legislation to rein in widely used, controversial abortion pill
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation Tuesday to scale back the popular abortion drug mifepristone after a recent study revealed that 1 in 10 women who used the medication experienced “serious adverse effects.” The Restoring Safeguards for Dangerous Abortion Drugs Act would direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create safeguards on the abortion drug mifepristone, allow women who have suffered complications from prescriptions the right to sue telehealth providers and pharmacies for damages, and ban foreign companies from mailing and importing mifepristone into the U.S. Hawley introduced the legislation “after a bombshell study revealed the truth about mifepristone: it’s dangerous,” the Missouri senator told Fox News Digital. “The data shows 1 in 10 women who take mifepristone experience adverse health effects, like going to the ER or suffering from sepsis. The FDA needs to act to protect women now.” COVID VACCINE BOOSTERS CALLED INTO QUESTION BY FDA CHIEF: ‘VOID OF DATA’ Hawley cites last week’s study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which revealed in its key findings that “10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.” The study assessed 865,727 insurance claims between 2017 and 2023 for women who used the medication to terminate early pregnancy. The pill can be taken up to “70 days since the first day of their last menstrual period,” according to the FDA. The exact number of women who have undergone a mifepristone abortion since the FDA’s approval under the Clinton administration in 2000 can be difficult to calculate, as some pregnancies are terminated without official medical intervention. The Guttenmacher Institute, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which was once a part of Planned Parenthood, estimates that there were 1,038,100 clinician-provided abortions in 2024, though this number only reflects “states without a ban”. The estimation does not include the number of abortions that occurred illegally or in states where pregnancy termination laws vary. SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING ‘BIG ABORTION’ LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL At the time of approval, there were stricter parameters for administering the drug. However, the Obama administration’s FDA rolled back some of these requirements in 2016 by reducing the need for in-person visits, removing mandatory physician prescription requirements, and eliminating non-fatal adverse event reporting. Hawley sent a letter last week to Trump-appointed FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, whom Hawley questioned during the former Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor’s confirmation before the U.S. Senate. “[D]uring your confirmation hearing, you pledged to me that you would ‘review the totality of the data and ongoing data’ to inform action on the drug,” Hawley’s letter to the FDA head explained. “I urge you to follow this new data and take all appropriate action to restore critical safeguards on the use of mifepristone. The health and safety of American women depend on it.” TRUMP FOE LETITIA JAMES LEADING CHARGE ON NEW MULTISTATE LAWSUIT OVER HHS CUTS The introduction of Hawley’s bill comes just one day after Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a Texas federal judge to dismiss a case that could restrict access to the controversial pill. This move mirrored a similar stance taken by the Biden administration to keep a mifepristone lawsuit out of a Texas court. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment.
Carney says Canada is not for sale, Trump replies, ‘Never say never’
Despite President Donald Trump’s interest in Canada becoming the 51st state, Canada isn’t for sale — ever, according to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump regularly has said that he wants Canada to become a U.S. state, and has discussed acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal for security purposes. However, the matter isn’t open to negotiation, Carney said. “Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign the last several months, it’s not for sale,” Carney said at the White House Tuesday. “Won’t be for sale ever, but the opportunity is in the partnership and what we can build together. We have done that in the past, and part of that, as the president just said, is with respect to our security and my government is committed for a step change in our investment in Canadian security and our partnership.” While Trump acknowledged that Canada was stepping up its investment in military security, Trump said “never say never” in response to Canada becoming another state. “I’ve had many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable,” Trump said. Later, Carney said that Canada’s stance on the issue wouldn’t alter. “Respectfully, Canadians’ view on this is not going to change on the 51st state,” Carney said. The interaction comes after Trump told Time magazine in an April interview that he wasn’t “trolling” when discussing the possibility of Canada becoming part of the U.S. Trump told TIME’s Eric Cortellessa that the U.S. is “losing” money supporting Canada, and the only solution on the table is for it to become a state. “We’re taking care of their military,” Trump told the magazine. “We’re taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don’t need them to make cars for us. In fact, we don’t want them to make cars for us. We want to make our own cars. We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state.” This is a breaking news story and will be updated.