FBI launches probes into 3 children’s hospitals for alleged genital mutilation of minors
FIRST ON FOX: The FBI has initiated criminal investigations of three children’s hospitals after commitments from Attorney General Pam Bondi that the Trump administration would enforce federal statutes outlawing female genital mutilation to protect children from often irreversible sex-change surgeries. The investigations target providers who work at Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, according to a source familiar with the investigation who spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity. These hospitals have been among some of the foremost providers of sex change procedures for minors in America over the last several years, according to the source. Just days after taking office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing all federal agencies to work toward terminating the ability for children under 18 to receive “irreversible medical interventions” as a treatment for gender dysphoria. Part of that effort included Attorney General Bondi issuing a memorandum several weeks later, directing Justice Department personnel to enforce 18 U.S.C. § 116, which is a federal statute that makes female genital mutilation against the law. FBI CALLS FOR PUBLIC TIPS ON CHILDREN HURT IN ‘GENDER-AFFIRMING’ SURGERIES “I am putting medical practitioners, hospitals and clinics on notice: In the United States, it is a felony to perform, attempt to perform or conspire to perform female genital mutilation (“FGM”) on any person under the age of 18,” Bondi’s memo said. “That crime carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years per count. I am directing all U.S. Attorneys to investigate all suspected cases of FGM — under the banner of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ or otherwise — and to prosecute all FGM offenses to the fullest extent possible.” Bondi also said in the memo that the Justice Department would be launching a new Coalition Against Child Mutilation, which will partner with state attorneys general to build cases against hospitals and practitioners violating federal or state laws banning female genital mutilation. The memo added that the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs is drafting legislation establishing a private right of action for children and parents of children “whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical professionals through chemical and surgical mutilation” so they can hold hospitals and providers retroactively liable. Amid the Trump administration’s focus on banning irreversible transgender medical treatments for minors, numerous hospitals have amended their policies for who can obtain gender transition treatments and surgeries. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE PUSHES BILL TO PUNISH THOSE WHO PERFORM GENDER TRANSITION MEASURES ON MINORS Earlier this month, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles announced it would permanently close its Center for Transyouth Health and Development, effective July 22, 2025. The decision was attributed to “significant operational, legal and financial risks stemming from the shifting policy landscape at both the state and federal levels,” according to CBS News. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles did not respond to Fox News Digital’s repeated requests for comment. Children’s Hospital Colorado initially suspended its transgender medical treatments for patients under 19 in response to the president’s executive order directing hospitals to halt irreversible transgender treatments for minors. But after a judge’s ruling blocking Trump’s order, the hospital announced it would resume providing puberty blockers and hormone-based treatments to minors. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Children’s Hospital Colorado noted that it has “never” provided transgender surgeries for those under 18, adding that, two years ago, the hospital stopped providing these surgeries for patients over 18. Instead, starting in 2023, the hospital decided to begin referring patients to outside providers for such services, according to Colorado Newsline. Boston Children’s Hospital continues to operate its Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS) program, according to publicly available information. While the hospital only provides gender-change surgeries for patients over 18, its GeMS program does offer transgender hormone therapy, puberty blockers and social transitioning for patients under 18. It also provides referrals for gender-transition surgeries to minors as well. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Boston Children’s said it had not yet received any notice from the FBI regarding alleged violations of federal law. The FBI said that, as a matter of policy, it “declines to confirm or comment on investigations.”
Dem mayoral candidate in major American city linked to rabid anti-Israel activism: report
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has very deep ties to activism against one of America’s closest allies, a report by antisemitic watchdog group Canary Mission found. With New York City’s mayoral primary election on Tuesday and the Israeli-Iran conflict still fresh, Canary Mission is warning that “a vote for Mamdani is a vote for anti-Israel chaos in NYC.” Mamdani, who has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is one of the top candidates for the Democratic mayoral nomination in New York City. He is facing off against former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. The current mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is running for re-election as an independent. According to a new report by Canary Mission, Mamdani is a regular and prominent figure in New York City’s anti-Israel protest scene, who, as a New York state assemblyman, introduced legislation to crack down on non-profits sending money to Israel. COLBERT GRILLS DEM SOCIALIST NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI ON ISRAEL, ANTISEMITISM The report stated that Mamdani joined protests against Israel just days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. According to Canary Mission, Mamdani “didn’t stumble into anti-Israel activism—he was raised in it.” The report details how Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to Muslim-Indian parents Mahmood Mamdani and Mira Nair, both of whom are also outspoken anti-Israel activists. Mamdani’s father, Mahmood, is a professor of anthropology at New York’s Columbia University, which has been at the epicenter of the pro-Palestine protests in the U.S. Canary Mission calls Mahmood a “Marxist” professor who is “known for his anti-Israel views and obsession with ‘colonialism.’” According to the report, in a recent course titled “Settlers and Natives,” Mahmood promoted the concept of “the necessity of violence in anticolonial struggle.” ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS TORCH DIPLOMAS OUTSIDE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ON GRADUATION DAY The report also said that Mahmood was one of the Columbia faculty members who donned an orange vest and locked arms in attempts to keep Avi Weinberg, an economics student at Columbia, and a small group of Jewish classmates from entering a pro-Palestine encampment on Columbia’s campus. Faculty refused to answer when asked why the students were not being let on the lawn. Members of the crowd suggested it was unfair that faculty were determining who could and could not go into the area, when it is part of the university campus they pay to attend. NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI DEFENDS BDS SUPPORT AMID ISRAEL CONTROVERSY Meanwhile, Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair, is a filmmaker who just this year signed onto an open letter calling on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to forbid Israeli actress Gal Gadot from attending the Oscars, according to the report. Both of Mamdani’s parents are supportive of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which encourages economic pressure against the state of Israel for its alleged “genocide” against Palestinians. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment but received no response by publication deadline.
GOP bill would grant Trump right to deploy National Guard for immigration enforcement
FIRST ON FOX: New legislation aims to codify the president’s authority to deploy National Guard units for immigration enforcement, as part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration and stiffen penalties for those who assault immigration officers. The bill, authored by Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., would allow the president to federalize and deploy the National Guard when states refuse to cooperate, like Gov. Gavin Newsom in California. It also stipulates that those who assault immigration officers receive the death penalty or life in prison if an officer is killed. Under current law, the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the use of federal military forces for domestic law enforcement purposes. However, the GUARD Act proposes a narrowly tailored exception permitting the National Guard — while under Title 10 or 32 federal orders — to be used “exclusively” for enforcing federal immigration law. That includes apprehending and detaining individuals in the U.S. unlawfully, as well as executing removal orders and conducting border security operations. The proposal comes amid growing Republican frustration with so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies — and after an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in Los Angeles led to widespread rioting. NATIONAL GUARD AUTHORIZED TO DETAIN ICE ATTACKERS, DHS SAYS Trump sent in the National Guard to respond to anti-ICE protests, and later deployed U.S. Marines. California sued over the deployment, but so far the courts have allowed Trump to keep control of the Guard. “The GUARD Act makes one thing clear: When state and local leaders refuse to enforce federal immigration law, the President has the authority — and the responsibility — to act,” said Harrigan. NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS DETAIN ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS IN LOS ANGELES UNDER TRUMP’S ORDERS “Sanctuary policies have turned entire cities into safe havens for violent criminals, and now some governors are actively blocking National Guard deployments that protect American communities. What unfolded in Los Angeles isn’t isolated. It’s exactly why this bill is needed. Public safety cannot depend on whether a governor feels like obeying federal law.” In addition to capital punishment for killing an immigration officer, the bill mandates a minimum of five years in prison and 10 years if the assault causes bodily injury. The proposed penalties mirror similar statutes that protect federal law enforcement officers but extend explicit coverage to immigration enforcement personnel.
16 states back Trump in court battle against Harvard over funding freeze for antisemitism response
EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump’s legal defense in a major lawsuit from Harvard got a major boost from a slew of state prosecutors who formally joined his side on Monday. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led 15 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of Trump after the Massachusetts institution sued the administration to prevent billions in federal funding from being stripped from its coffers over its lax response to antisemitism on campus. Bird argues there’s precedent for Trump’s actions, pointing to another popular Republican president who, in the 1980s, challenged a South Carolina college over its ban on interracial relationships. The Trump-Harvard case, Bird said, “is not the first time the federal government has [altered] funding because a university wasn’t following anti-discrimination laws.” HARVARD UPDATES LAWSUIT AFTER TRUMP CANCELS ADDITIONAL $450M IN FUNDING “That’s exactly what’s happening here with Harvard; they’re not following anti-discrimination laws, and they’re not stopping antisemitism on campus or protecting Jewish students and Israeli students, and so, because of that, there’s a big parallel.” Bird noted that Harvard has the nation’s largest endowment at around $50 billion, in addition to billions more in government grants that are conditional. “One of those conditions for that type of funding is that they’re going to follow anti-discrimination-wise,” she said, adding that Iowa is relevant and now involved in the case because Iowans’ taxes fund those federal grants, and that if Harvard is allowed to let antisemitism run rampant, other colleges farther west may be able to do so to. LEGAL EXPERT BACKS TRUMP ADMIN’S CRACKDOWN ON HARVARD: ‘ACCOUNTABILITY MUST BE ENFORCED’ While Harvard has shown some improvement since Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., grilled its president and the University of Pennsylvania’s then-president last year, a clear message must still be sent that their conduct was unacceptable, Bird said. “President Trump has shown that he is leading and he is making sure that our college campuses that are funded with taxpayer dollars will not engage in discrimination against Jewish students or against people from Israel. And so I think he has taken a strong step here. And I think the law is on his side.” Like the Harvard case, Bob Jones — an Evangelical college in Greenville, South Carolina — saw its tax-exempt status stripped, which similarly affected its bottom line. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The original IRS policy change banning discrimination went into effect under former President Richard Nixon, but it wasn’t until 1983 that the government — then run by former President Ronald Reagan — won a similar lawsuit. The Supreme Court ruled there that the public interest in preventing discrimination trumped any related invocation of religious freedom. Following the Bob Jones case, then-college president Bob Jones III went on national television in 2000 to declare the university was wrong in its prior race-based policies and officially lifted the ban on interracial dating. On its website, the college explained, “Our sincere desire is to exhibit a truly Christ-like spirit and biblical position in these areas. Today, Bob Jones University enrolls students from all 50 states and nearly 50 countries, representing various ethnicities and cultures.”
Iran vowed ‘death to America’ and its leaders for decades before Trump wiped out nuclear facilities
Iranian leaders have for decades called for “death to America” while working to quietly build the country’s nuclear program before President Donald Trump ordered strikes on a trio of nuclear facilities and secured a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. “Yes, it will happen. Death to America will happen,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared in 2022, the Middle East Media Research Institute reported at the time. “Some people say: By chanting ‘Death to America,’ you bring America’s animosity upon yourself. I say that this is not true. When America began its hostility towards Iran, nobody had been chanting ‘Death to America.’” “Death to America,” or “marg bar Amreeka” in Farsi, is a slogan that originated back in the 1970s, the Associated Press previously reported. Protesters chanted the slogan amid the Iranian Revolution, when the country’s shah was overthrown in 1979 and Iran’s monarchy was abolished and replaced by its current government, the Islamic Republic of Iran. The slogan has remained a fixture of Iran’s views of the U.S. across the following decades, most notably after the deaths of various Iranian military leaders and as the U.S. looked to strike nuclear deals with the nation. US AIRSTRIKE ON NUCLEAR FACILITIES FOLLOWS YEARS OF IRANIAN PLOTS ON AMERICAN SOIL “The hatred and rage of the Muslim people is directed toward America, the infidel Satanic regime,” Iranians chanted in 2007 ahead of a speech by then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “Saying ‘Death to America’ is easy. We need to express ‘Death to America’ with action,” Ahmadinejad’s successor, former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said in 2013. Iranian lawmakers chanted “death to America” while in the Parliament in 2019, and again in 2020, after Trump ordered a strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, while “death to America” chants have also broken out on U.S. soil following Hamas’ war on Israel that began in 2023. Iranians additionally commonly chant the phrase during their annual “Death to America Day” each November, videos show. Iran agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with world powers such as the U.S. in 2015 that aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the U.S., U.N. and European Union lifting sanctions on the country. Trump pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, arguing it was weak and would not prevent Iran from building its nuclear program, and instead reinstated sanctions on the country. IRAN’S KHAMENEI LAUNCHES BLISTERING ATTACK ON TRUMP AFTER MIDDLE EAST VISIT Amid the 2015 discussions on the JCPOA, Khamenei declared again, “death to America” while rallying support for the agreement, the New York Post reported in March 2015. “Sanctions must be lifted immediately,” Khamenei said to crowds of people that year as he endorsed the agreement. The crowd broke out into chants of “death to America,” sparking Khamenei to respond: “Of course, yes, death to America, because America is the original source of this pressure.” Following the signing of the agreement in July 2015, Khamenei attempted to argue that the slogan did not mean literal death to American citizens, but the death of U.S. policies. “Your ‘Death to America’ slogan, and the cries by the Iranian nation, have strong logical support behind them,” he told Iranians in Tehran, according to the Associated Press. “Obviously by ‘Death to America’, we don’t mean death to the American people. The American nation is just like the rest of the nations. It … means death to U.S. policies and its arrogance.” The ayatollah, however, doubled-down in 2019 that “death to America” meant the deaths of U.S. leaders such as Trump. “‘Death to America’ means death to Trump and John Bolton and Pompeo,” Khamenei said in 2019, according to the New York Times, referring to Trump’s then-national security advisor John Bolton, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “It means death to American leaders, who happen to be these people at this time,” he added. The slogan has been accompanied by similar “death” calls on Israel and protesters burning American flags on the streets of Tehran while holding photos honoring Khamenei. IRANIAN DICTATOR’S MOUTHPIECE INCITES FIRING BULLETS INTO TRUMP’S ‘EMPTY SKULL’ The slogan most recently has been used since Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran on June 12 following months of stalled negotiations related to Iran’s nuclear program and mounting concern the Islamic Republic would imminently have their hands on a nuclear weapon. The U.S. did not actively participate in the strikes on June 12 and the subsequent days, but warned Iran the U.S. could become involved if Iran did not make a deal for peace. “The US President threatens us,” Khamenei wrote on X of Trump June 18. “With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him. They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats.” “It isn’t wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender. What should the Iranian nation surrender to?” he continued. “We will never surrender in response to the attacks of anyone.” Iranians were seen on the streets of Tehran in June chanting “death to Israel and America” ahead of the U.S.’ strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump announced Saturday evening in a surprise Truth Social post that the U.S. had successfully executed strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, which he said were “obliterated” and backed the country into a corner to strike a peace deal. TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES “A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,” Trump said from the White House in an address to the nation just hours after the Truth Social announcement. “Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to
Experts gauge success of ‘bunker buster’ bombs dropped by US on Iran nuclear sites
While President Donald Trump has asserted that the military’s weekend strike against Iran “completely and totally obliterated” its nuclear weapon-making capabilities, there are still questions about whether the ground-penetrating “bunker buster” bombs used to attack Iran’s key enrichment sites were enough to stop the rogue country from developing a nuclear bomb. A report released last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) explains that the special “bunker buster” bombs the U.S. used in Iran over the weekend that everyone is talking about, known as GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs, might not be able to fully destroy the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow. Fordow, which Trump said was “gone” now following the strike, is considered central to Iran’s nuclear weapon-making capabilities. Meanwhile, a satellite imagery expert relayed to Reuters that confirmation of below-ground destruction could not be determined via pictures alone, because the facility’s hundreds of centrifuges are too deeply buried in order to make an accurate determination. EXPERT CONFIDENT IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS ‘NO LONGER’ AFTER MASSIVE US STRIKE “I actually have a little bit of a rosier view on things,” Andrea Stricker, Deputy Director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, told Fox News Digital. “I think that because of the massive damage and the shock wave that would have been sent by 12 Massive Ordnance Penetrators at the Fordow site, that it likely would render its centrifuges damaged or inoperable.” Stricker noted that centrifuges are “very delicate” and the kind of shock wave coming from the MOPs would at least put them “out of commission.” She also said if any centrifuges did survive the blasts, it would be likely that they would be inaccessible by Iranian authorities for several months. “Underground facilities present a difficult target, not only for destruction, but also in terms of follow-on battle damage assessment,” added Wes Rumbaugh, a fellow in the Missile Defense Project at CSIS. “The United States and Israel will likely need to invest additional intelligence resources to determine the true extent of the damage from the U.S. strikes and their long-term effect on Iranian nuclear infrastructure.” SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWS FORDOW NUCLEAR FACILITY AFTER MASSIVE BOMB STRIKE In addition to Fordow, the U.S. used its MOPs at an Iranian enrichment facility called Natanz, where, according to Stricker, at least 1,000 centrifuges are located, as well as an above-ground enrichment plant and other labs capable of making uranium metal. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the above-ground labs had previously been damaged by Israeli airstrikes, destroying the plant’s electrical infrastructure. Meanwhile, satellite imagery following the U.S.’s decision to drop two MOPs on Natanz show two craters located where the site’s underground enrichment facilities are reportedly located. However, it is still not clear if the U.S. attacks completely destroyed the underground nuclear infrastructure. Either way, Striker noted, the significant damage to Iran’s Natanz facility will create a “bottleneck” in the country’s supply chain for weapons-grade uranium, which will significantly impact Iran’s nuclear weapon-making capabilities. The third site targeted by the U.S.’s airstrikes was Iran’s Isfahan nuclear enrichment facility, but MOPs were not used at that site. Instead, the U.S. used Tomahawk cruise missiles, which the IAEA confirmed caused significant damage. Satellite imagery reportedly shows Isfahan’s above-ground facilities were taken out, but it remains unclear the extent of the damage to the site’s underground sections. US STRIKE DAMAGE TO IRAN’S NATANZ, ISFAHAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES CAPTURED IN SATELLITE IMAGES One of the biggest outstanding questions regarding the success of the United States’ weekend strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, is whether authorities in the country were able to move their nuclear materials from the targeted sites before the U.S. launched its missiles at them. But, according to CSIS’s Bumbaugh, even if that is the case and Iran moved their nuclear materials, the chaos would still make it hard for Iran to “sprint to a nuclear weapon.” “Having to move these assets to new facilities likely degrades Iran’s immediate ability to sprint to a nuclear weapon but makes it likely that Iran will go to great lengths to conceal their new location,” Bumbaugh said. “This movement of nuclear infrastructure or material would make follow-on strikes difficult if intelligence is unable to find all of the new hidden facilities.” “There’s a lot of alarmism right now about whether Iran could sprint to a bomb,” Stricker added. “Israel has done so much damage to their ability to make nuclear weapons [and] the weaponization supply chain. So the facilities, the components that [Iran] would need, the equipment, and then up to 14 nuclear scientists, I think, if they did want to build a bomb quickly, they’re really stymieing – they don’t have access to all of all that, all of those assets they would need. And so, I think in the short to medium term, we don’t need to be overly concerned that they could get there.” Fox News Digital reached out to both the Pentagon and the Air Force to glean more details about the success of the weekend strike on Iran, but no new information was gleaned. An Air Force spokesperson did confirm to Fox News Digital that, in total, U.S. forces deployed 75 “precision guided weapons” targeting Iran over the weekend, including 14 30,000 pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators. On Monday, Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, appealed for immediate access to the targeted Iranian nuclear sites in order to assess the damage that is likely “significant,” according to the United Nations.
‘I’m just a silly girl’: AOC fires back after Trump calls her ‘stupid’
Progressive New York Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, fired back at President Donald Trump’s Truth Social rampage on Tuesday after the two traded barbs following Saturday night’s U.S. strikes on Iran. “Mr. President, don’t take your anger out on me – I’m just a silly girl,” Ocasio-Cortez responded Tuesday after the president dubbed her “Stupid AOC.” “Take it out on whoever convinced you to betray the American people and our Constitution by illegally bombing Iran and dragging us into war,” she said. Ocasio-Cortez emerged as one of Trump’s fiercest congressional critics after the U.S. attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran on Saturday night. While Democrats raged against Trump, calling his actions unconstitutional, Ocasio-Cortez went as far as to call for his impeachment. TRUMP DARES AOC TO TRY TO IMPEACH HIM: ‘MAKE MY DAY’ “It only took you 5 months to break almost every promise you made,” the 35-year-old Democratic socialist, who is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said Tuesday, before adding, “Also, I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully.” She was responding to a lengthy post from the president in which he referred to her as “Stupid AOC” and “one of the ‘dumbest’ people in Congress.” 128 DEMOCRATS JOIN HOUSE GOP TO BLOCK PROGRESSIVE’S BID TO IMPEACH TRUMP Trump criticized Ocasio-Cortez for “now calling for my Impeachment, despite the fact that the Crooked and Corrupt Democrats have already done that twice before.” During Trump’s first term, he was impeached twice. First, in 2019, Trump was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over allegations that he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to interfere in U.S. elections. Following the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection. The Senate acquitted Trump in both instances. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas., who advocated for Trump’s impeachment during his first term and was censured for disrupting Trump’s joint address to Congress earlier this year, introduced articles of impeachment against Trump last month for “devolving democracy within the United States into authoritarianism.” Green once again introduced articles of impeachment against Trump after the U.S. strikes against Iran, which he said violates Article I of the U.S. Constitution, saying only Congress has the authority to declare war. The House voted to dismiss Green’s resolution Tuesday afternoon in a 344–79 vote, including support from 128 Democrats. “It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment,” Ocasio-Cortez said Saturday night, responding to Trump’s announcement that the U.S. had successfully struck Iran’s nuclear facilities. Several Democrats joined Ocasio-Cortez’s call for impeachment, but Trump focused his criticism on fellow progressive “Squad” members in his lengthy Tuesday post. After insulting Ocasio-Cortez’s intelligence, Trump said she is “far more qualified than Crockett, who is a seriously Low IQ individual, or Ilhan Omar, who does nothing but complain about our Country.” He also said, “AOC should be forced to take the Cognitive Test that I just completed at Walter Reed Medical Center, as part of my Physical.” And Trump dared Ocasio-Cortez, “Go ahead and try Impeaching me, again, MAKE MY DAY!” after telling her to go back home to her district in Queens, where Trump was raised, and “straighten out her filthy, disgusting, crime-ridden streets, in the District she ‘represents,’ and which she never goes to anymore. She better start worrying about her own Primary.” In her social media rebuttal, the New York Democrat also fired back at Vice President JD Vance, who said on X, “I wonder if other VPs had as much excitement as I do.” “Maybe that’s because you advised the president to illegally bomb Iran,” Ocasio-Cortez replied. Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Biden’s Middle East coordinator praises Trump team for handling of Iranian conflict: ‘Best place we can be’
The U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities Saturday have rendered ideal results for addressing the crisis between Iran and Israel, according to former President Joe Biden’s National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. “Bottom line, this is about the best place we can be,” Brett McGurk said in a CNN interview late Monday. “I give extremely high marks to this national security team and President Trump for managing this crisis and getting where we are.” Additionally, McGurk said that the Trump administration has an opportunity to pursue a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza amid ongoing attempts for months to secure one. “There’s a chance for diplomacy here,” McGurk said. “Not only on the Iran side, but also in Gaza. Those talks are also going on back channel in Cairo; there’s a Hamas delegation there. Try to get that ceasefire in place. And you can come out of this in a place that is far better than we would have anticipated 10 nights ago.” TRUMP SLAMS RUSSIA’S CASUAL THREAT TO ARM IRAN WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS: ‘THAT’S WHY PUTIN’S THE BOSS’ While McGurk most recently served in the Biden administration, he’s been part of both Republican and Democrat administrations. He previously served on former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s National Security Councils. He also served as the special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during both the Obama administration and President Donald Trump’s first term. However, he resigned from that post in 2018 following Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, along with then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis for the same reason. EX-CLINTON OFFICIAL APPLAUDS TRUMP’S ‘COURAGEOUS’ IRAN CALL, DOUBTS HARRIS WOULD’VE HAD THE NERVE In addition to McGurk, other officials who served in Democratic administrations also weighed in to support Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict, including Jamie Metzl, who previously served as former President Bill Clinton’s director for multilateral affairs on the National Security Council. Metzl said that while he’s been critical of Trump and voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, he doesn’t believe Harris could have pulled off the strikes against Iranian targets like Trump did. “Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years,” Metzl said in a post on X Sunday. “Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan ‘death to America’ was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole.” RUSSIAN LEADER CLAIMS MULTIPLE COUNTRIES PREPPED TO PROVIDE IRAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOLLOWING US STRIKES “Although I believe electing Kamala Harris would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night,” Metzl said. The U.S. launched strikes late Saturday targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The mission involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including B-2 stealth bombers, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. While Trump said early Tuesday that a ceasefire had gone into effect between Israel and Iran, Trump issued tough words for both countries later Tuesday morning amid accusations from both sides that the other had violated the agreement. ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: LIVE UPDATES Trump told reporters both Israel and Iran failed to follow the terms of the agreement, which he said is still in effect. “I’m not happy with them,” Trump said at the White House Tuesday morning. ‘I’m not happy with Iran either, but I’m really unhappy with Israel going out this morning.” “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” he said.
Reporter’s Notebook: Marathon weekend awaits Senate as Johnson prepares House for ‘big, beautiful bill’ battle
This is cobbled together from a variety of sources, with a timeline of how the Senate will try to pass President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” this weekend, and the House will try to align next week. Fox is told the Senate will likely not move to take a procedural vote to formally get on the bill until Friday. That will require 20 hours of debate/clock time run in the Senate once they get onto the bill. The procedural vote only needs a simple majority. The 20 hours of debate/clock time is split. Democrats will probably burn all 10 of their hours. Republicans will use a few. So, the Senate probably begins its “vote-a-rama” on the bill late Friday night or into the wee hours of Saturday morning. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WHO REALLY DECIDES WHEN AMERICA GOES TO WAR? THE ANSWER ISN’T SO CLEAR A “vote-a-rama” is where the Senate takes hours and hours of consecutive roll call votes on the package. It’s likely the Senate starts this lengthy voting sequence late Friday, early Saturday morning (meaning just after midnight) and continues until late Saturday, if not the early hours of Sunday morning. It would culminate with passage of the bill in the Senate late Saturday or early Sunday. SENATE GOP AIMS TO APPROVE MAJOR LEGISLATION NEXT WEEK AS TRUMP TOUTS PARTY UNITY Not that it is impossible to figure out when this could happen. But, frankly, a final vote could come at any time of the day or night all weekend long – if not early Monday. The most recent vote-a-rama ran just under ten hours. A 2021 vote-a-rama consumed 14 hours and 48 minutes, with the Senate considering a total of 40 amendments. We believe this vote-a-rama might be on the longer end. The question is whether a war powers resolution by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., might delay starting the vote to get onto the “big, beautiful bill.” Kaine’s resolution may not come up until Friday. Here’s the other wild card: How fast can the House pivot to pass the bill and align with the Senate? If the Senate OKs the bill on Saturday or Sunday, there is one scenario where the House tries to move very quickly and maybe even wraps it up late Sunday or in the wee hours of Monday morning. They don’t want members sitting around without much to do. Also, I should point out that the “72-hour rule” to allow the House to read the bill before voting does not apply. The Senate is sending back to the House an “amendment” to the original House plan. Thus, the “72-hour rule” does not count under these circumstances. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., may face political pressure to let members consider the bill for a day or two. That could potentially delay passage in the House until Tuesday or Wednesday. But remember, this all centers around whether things go swimmingly. A host of outstanding issues remain. So, that could push back passage in both bodies. Fox is told that the biggest holdup in the entire process is trying to massage the spending/spending cut numbers. When asked what the single most complicated issue was, Fox was told its SALT, the reduction of state and local taxes for high-tax states. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox is told the Senate may try to go to the House level of “40,000” for the deduction, “if nothing else for optics.” But the key is if the Senate phases out the income cap to take advantage of that tax break. In other words, the Senate might try to place a ceiling on how much taxpayers can earn before qualifying for the SALT break. But members of the SALT caucus signaled that’s not acceptable. They want the straight $40,000 deduction. There is currently a $10,000 deduction in the Senate bill. That is a non-starter for New York and California Republicans who are pushing for the substantial SALT deduction.
New data reveals border crossings reach record lows amid Trump admin’s crackdown
EXCLUSIVE: Southern border numbers continue to be significantly lower compared with the previous administration with record low numbers, according to new U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by Fox News. Between June 1 and June 22, there have been 5,414 apprehensions at the border, with the busiest sector being El Paso. During that same timeframe, there have been 986 known “gotaways.” Both numbers are the lowest ever recorded. In May, there were just under 9,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the border, compared with roughly 118,000 the year prior under the Biden administration by CBP. SOUTHERN BORDER APPREHENSIONS PLUNGE MORE THAN 90% FROM YEAR AGO IN APRIL, CBP SAYS The number began to tick down slightly in June of last year with 83,532 migrant encounters, then just roughly 56,000 in July 2024, but the numbers are still much higher than what is being seen under the current administration. The decrease last year was the result of an order signed by former President Joe Biden to regulate crossings into the U.S., even though migrant encounters were extraordinarily high for three years prior. When President Donald Trump took office in January, the first 11 days saw only 9,086 encounters, and then the numbers have been roughly similar or lower since then. ‘MAIN HOTSPOT’ AT NORTHERN BORDER RECORDS 95% DROP IN ILLEGAL MIGRANT APPREHENSIONS IN MARCH: WHITE HOUSE In 2023, there were points when roughly 10,000 migrants were crossing into the U.S. illegally daily, as many people were able to apply for asylum through the CBP One app. Gotaway numbers are now averaging 46 per day, compared to the average of 1,833 per day at one point under Biden in 2023. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The CBP One app was quickly turned into the CBP Home app by the Trump administration, and it is now used for “non-criminal” individuals who seek to self-deport. The Department of Homeland Security is offering a $1,000 stipend and free travel out of the U.S. for those who opt to leave on their own. BORDER CROSSINGS HIT RECORD LOW IN MARCH THANKS TO ‘VIGILANT’ WORK OF AGENTS: REPORT Meanwhile, deportation efforts have been underway by the administration, with protests and even riots taking place in Los Angeles and throughout the country earlier this month. On the messaging front, DHS and ICE have primarily touted the arrests of people with criminal charges and convictions. In terms of long-term efforts, the administration is touting the border and immigration provisions in the reconciliation bill in the Senate, including hiring more federal authorities and funding for more beds in detention centers.