Trump ally announces record-shattering fundraising haul in bid for Alabama governor
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is showcasing his fundraising prowess as he launches his bid for Alabama governor. Tuberville’s gubernatorial campaign on Thursday announced that it raked in $2,064,723 in fundraising during the first 24 hours after the senator declared his candidacy, “far surpassing its initial goal and shattering the previous Alabama record.” The senator, a strong supporter and ally of President Donald Trump, is considered the frontrunner in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Kay Ivey in the Republican-dominated state. “There are two universal truths in the Yellowhammer state right now: Alabamians love President Trump and they want Coach Tuberville to be their next governor,” Jackie Curtiss Cox, fundraiser for Tuberville’s campaign, said. “I’ve never seen momentum like this in my more than 10 years in Alabama politics.” TOMMY TUBERVILLE MAKES A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT And Cox spotlighted that “these were not from PAC donations — every dollar came from small business owners, entrepreneurs, workers, and retirees.” This week’s announcement from Tuberville, a former longtime college football coach who spent 10 years as head coach at Auburn University in Alabama, ended months of speculation about his ambitions to run for governor in his home state. WHY TOMMY TUBERVILLE IS TAKING AIM AT MAINE’S GOVERNOR Tuberville, launched a campaign website that touts his “conservative Alabama values.” And in his first interview after launching his campaign, Tuberville said on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” that “I’m doing this to help this country and the great state of Alabama. I’m a football coach. I’m a leader. I’m a builder. I’m a recruiter, and we’re going to grow Alabama.” TUBERVILLE SPOTLIGHTS TRUMP IN EFFORT TO SAVE COLLEGE SPORTS A source familiar told Fox News a couple of weeks ago that an endorsement from Trump would be a “done deal” if Tuberville decided to run for governor. And Tuberville, in his Fox News interview, said Trump was “fully supportive” of his gubernatorial run. He is also backed by the politically influential and deep-pocketed Club for Growth, a fiscal conservative group that takes sides in GOP primaries. Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, who had been expected to run to succeed Ivey, last week announced that he would not seek the office. Tuberville was first elected to the Senate in 2020, running as an outsider who was closely aligned with Trump. In the Republican primary, he topped former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime senator from Alabama, before resigning in 2017 to serve as Trump’s attorney general. Tuberville went on to defeat incumbent Sen. Doug Jones, who was the first Democrat elected to the Senate in Alabama in decades. Tuberville’s move to run for governor sets up an open Senate seat in Alabama in next year’s midterm elections.
West Point decision to cut ‘duty, honor, country’ from mission statement under fire again
EXCLUSIVE: A United States Military Academy mission statement swap from “duty, honor, country” to “Army Values” is coming under fire again — this time by a conservative judicial and government watchdog group who claims the school engaged in a “cover up” scheme when it altered its mission statement in 2024 as part of an effort to advance a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda. On March 11, 2024, West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland publicly announced that West Point would update its mission and insert the term “Army Values” in lieu of “duty, honor, country.” Even so, Gilland stressed that “duty, honor, country” would remain West Point’s motto as it has been since 1898. Judicial Watch obtained documents via a Freedom of Information Act request seeking all emails regarding the removal of “duty, honor, country” from the mission statement between officials at West Point. HEGSETH QUIPS ‘99.9%’ OF DEI INITIATIVES ARE GONE FROM THE MILITARY UNDER TRUMP’S WATCH Among the documents Judicial Watch obtained is a document from Gilland detailing mission statement talking points for Founders Day speakers that was sent on March 23, 2024. The memo instructs speakers to “AVOID saying ‘removed,’ ‘replaced,’ ‘deleted’—just refer to the ‘updated mission statement and reinforce that the motto remains unchanged.’” The memo does not explicitly connect the mission statement change to any DEI initiatives. However, Judicial Watch argues that the talking points document it obtained implies DEI was a factor in the mission statement change because the document also contains an FAQ section that appears to downplay the role of DEI, claiming only five to eight students each year complete West Point’s Diversity and Inclusion Studies minor. “These records detail how the DEI agenda helped change the mission statement of West Point — and how leadership under the Biden administration tried to cover it up,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital. But in the memo outlining mission statement talking points, Gilland urged speakers to push back against the narrative that the mission statement change was done for political purposes. “EMPHASIZE the actual seven values as some in the audience don’t realize Army Values is a defined term and to counter the social media narrative that the Army Values change for political reasons. AVOID comparing DHC to AV—it’s not either/or,” the mission statement talking points document said. NAVAL ACADEMY CLOSING DEI OFFICES TO ALIGN WITH TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: MEMO “AVOID the perception that the External Review Team was political or made the decision. The Academy selected them. They advised. Academy leadership made Decisions,” the document said. The term “Army Values” keeps “duty” and “honor” within its core set of values, but also includes the following: loyalty, respect, selfless service, integrity and personal courage. Gilland said in a statement announcing the change that “country” is reflected in the term “loyalty.” “The Army Values include Duty and Honor, and Country is reflected in Loyalty, bearing truth faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers,” Gilland said in an announcement about the mission statement change. Gilland also said that “duty, honor, country” is “foundational to the United States Military Academy’s culture and will always remain our motto.” An Army spokesperson directed Fox News Digital to Gilland’s original announcement where he wrote: “Our absolute focus on developing leaders of character ready to lead our Army’s Soldiers on increasingly lethal battlefields remains unchanged.” West Point is one of several U.S. military academies that trains students to become military officers. Meanwhile, West Point’s mission statement has been changed nine times in the past century, and the words “duty, honor, country” didn’t make it into West Point’s mission statement until 1998. As of March 2024, West Point’s mission statement is: “To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation.” WEST POINT DISBANDS GENDER-BASED, RACE CLUBS IN TRUMP’S DEI SWEEP West Point’s previous mission statement, first adopted in 2005, remained: “To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.” West Point’s superintendent at the time, Lt. Gen. William Lennox, requested the change in 2005 and then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker approved the change. Meanwhile, Republicans have pushed to incorporate “duty, honor, country” back into the mission statement. For example, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spearheaded legislation in January to add the words back to the military academy’s mission statement. “For centuries, the United States Army has set the global standard for military excellence because its leaders embrace a lifetime of selfless service and embody the values of ‘Duty, Honor, Country.’ West Point’s removal of these core values from its mission statement risks eroding the foundation of American military leadership,” Cruz said in a statement in January.
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Elon’s Exit
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… –Elon Musk criticism of Trump tax bill frustrates some Republicans: ‘No place in Congress’ -Rubio spearheads massive State Department reorganization set to eliminate, merge more than 300 offices -Federal judge says attempted deportation of anti-Israel ringleader Mahmoud Khalil may be unconstitutional Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bid farewell to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a Wednesday night X post, ending his tenure as the face of the agency as it shifts to a new phase in President Donald Trump‘s second term. “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said on X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” Musk has been the public face of DOGE since Trump signed an executive order establishing the office on Jan. 20. DOGE has since ripped through federal government agencies in a quest to identify and end government overspending, corruption and fraud…READ MORE BLUE AMBITIONS: 21 Democrats who may try to succeed Trump in the 2028 presidential election DEEP CUTS: Trump’s drastic NSC cuts spark debate: Does fighting the ‘Deep State’ put national security at risk? JUDICIAL PUSHBACK: Federal judge orders Trump admin to resume migrant ‘parole’ applications COURT WIN: Federal judge sides against copyright leader who claimed Trump was wrong to fire her ‘MOMENT MEANS A LOT’: Rapper thanks Trump for pardon on gun conviction SAVED BY THE PEN: Trump commutes sentence of major political donor in latest round of clemency ‘INFLECTION POINT’: Hamas faces ‘legitimacy crisis’ as desperate Gazans flock to US-backed aid centers ‘PATH’ FOR PEACE: Franklin Graham meets with Zelenskyy in Berlin, offers prayer amid escalating Russia-Ukraine war FIGHTING BACK: Former Navy Seal Jared Hudson mounts Senate bid to ‘crush the woke agenda’ as Tuberville seeks governorship UPPER BRACKET BOOST: Here are the changes to the SALT tax deduction in the ‘big, beautiful bill’ DOCTOR DEMOCRAT: Lindsey Graham draws Democratic Senate challenger who previously lost congressional race FUNDING FEUD: GOP rails against ‘blatantly false’ Dem claims about Medicaid reform in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ ‘POLITICAL SCANDAL’: GOP push for new House committee to probe Biden decline ‘cover-up’ gains steam CLOCK’S TICKING: 85-year-old longtime House Democrat facing primary challenger who’s making age the issue RED TAPE CUT: Supreme Court limits judges’ authority to block infrastructure projects over environmental concerns SPLASH SHOWDOWN: Riley Gaines challenges ex-ESPN host to race after he says she was a ‘worse swimmer’ than she is ‘MAGA stooge’ RACE HEATING UP: Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger releases first TV ad, slams ‘political nonsense’ ‘CRUSH THE WOKE AGENDA’: Former Navy Seal Jared Hudson mounts Senate bid to ‘crush the woke agenda’ as Tuberville seeks governorship FAITH-BASED LEARNING: Pro-life leader praises bill requiring Ten Commandments in Texas schools: ‘A step in the right direction’ Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
GOP lawmaker defends Trump tax bill to angry crowds at back-to-back town halls
An Iowa congresswoman touted her support for President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill in back-to-back town halls on Wednesday, even as members of the audience jeered and disrupted her speech. “They were booing when I was saying, you know, ‘We’re preserving tax cuts,’ and I can’t believe people would boo tax cuts for themselves,” Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “I think there are a number of people who just show up to these town halls who want to disrupt. They didn’t care what I had to say. They just want to boo and yell and be angry.” And there were a significant number of such people at both her town halls in Elkader and Decorah on Wednesday. SCOOP: HOUSE GOP MEMO HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN WINS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ At both events, Hinson touted her support for Trump and House Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill and promoted the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts. Both issues drew largely negative reactions from people there, save for some exceptions. At one point in the first town hall, a woman named Linda stood on behalf of another woman, Nicole, who was in a wheelchair and had “difficulty speaking.” Nicole, who relied on federal health and food programs, was concerned about any cuts to those programs making her life more difficult, Linda said. The crowd then cheered as Hinson pledged that Republicans were only reforming those programs, “so that people like you can continue to have access to the treatments and medications you need.” The goodwill was short-lived, however, when the next questioner accused Republicans of cutting university funding in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy – despite Hinson pointing out the bill does not change income tax brackets. MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE “It’s an absolute crime,” the man shouted. The boos grew louder when Hinson accused top universities of “letting men play in girls’ sports.” People in the crowd could be heard screaming “stop it” and “stop spinning.” At her second town hall, the crowd jeered as Hinson emphasized her support for Trump. “The president is, I believe, fighting for you and fighting for me. I’m fighting alongside of him. I think God saved President Trump’s life in Butler,” Hinson said before briefly pausing as the boos swelled. “I think He saved his life in Butler, Pennsylvania for a reason. I think he is helping us to save this country,” she continued. Hinson was still unfazed by the protesters when she spoke with Fox News Digital the next day. “I did exactly what I said I was going to do,” Hinson said. “I feel good about what I was able to communicate and correct the record yesterday. And I will not only defend this agenda and answer any questions any day, any time of the week, but I think it is really important that I’m out there on offense, correcting the record.” The congresswoman said the disruptions grew so loud that it prompted a Vietnam War veteran to address her after one of the events and tell her, “I couldn’t hear over all that, and I think that’s a shame because I wanted to hear what you had to say.” “That’s really the disservice. Again, these people who their only intent is to disrupt, someone like that man who served our country, who wanted to come hear what I had to say, had trouble hearing me,” Hinson said. “People there want to be able to have civil discourse and ask the questions and hear my answers.”
Chicago mayor calls DOGE ‘an act of war,’ compares second Trump term to Third Reich
Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson laid into DOGE and President Donald Trump’s economic policies during his weekly press availability, drawing parallels between the Third Reich in Germany and the mogul’s second term. Johnson said the Windy City is the most “pro-worker” city in the U.S. but faces “hostility” from Washington: “The fact that the President of the United States of America is cutting off food supply and medicine to working people and families across this country — that is an act of war,” Johnson fumed. “And we’re going to need leaders who are prepared and willing to stand up for working people because this battle has reached our front doors all across America where people are struggling and suffering. And in order to alleviate that pain and discomfort, it’s going to require bold leadership. We can’t tippy toe.” PROPOSED CHICAGO POLICE RESOURCE CUTS COULD LAND CITY IN COURT, TOP OFFICIALS WARN Addressing a reporter who had asked how to work with the Trump administration for the benefit of the city from such an adversarial position, Johnson cited Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s State of the State address in February, which referenced how it “took the Nazi’s one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a Constitutional Republic.” “Governor Pritzker… offered up a warning,” Johnson said. “You have a president that is cutting off medicine and food, a president that is working to erase culture. I mean, you can’t make this up. He’s doing it in plain sight.” Pritzker had compared the rise of former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to Trump’s popularity — in that the eventual national-socialist dictator was seen as the answer to “inflation and [the public] looking for someone to blame.” CHICAGO DEMOCRAT GOES OFF ON CITY’S HANDLING OF MIGRANT CRISIS In his remarks, Johnson noted how people have wondered how Germany could have descended into Nazism and anti-Semitism so quickly and dreadfully – saying that Trump is “carry[ing] out the playbook that was done against an entire people-group.” “He’s doing it right here in this country, against working people, erasing Black folks from museums and the history and the culture — So, when you ask how we balance that. You have to fight it and resist it with everything that’s in you.” “The President of the United States of America is capturing the hopes and aspirations of working people and holding us hostage as he works to implement and annihilate democracy,” he said, returning to comment on lawsuits the city has joined to halt DOGE-type efforts. Chicago is party to a lawsuit filed by several municipalities, including Baltimore, Santa Clara, and the county that encompasses Houston, which seeks to stop DOGE’s slashing of the federal bureaucracy. “Congress created these federal agencies. It funded them. But the president is trying to fire all these people and gut these agencies that Congress created,” Chicago Deputy Corporation Counsel Steve Kane told the city’s ABC affiliate, calling the situation unconstitutional. DOGE-driven cuts affecting the Windy City have included the Energy Department’s 2025 Small Business Expo originally pinned for June. The cut came as part of billions in spending reductions for cabinet agencies, and other closures of clean-energy-centric operations have affected the city, according to reports. Earlier in May, Chicago hired Ernst & Young – an international consulting firm – to find ways to bridge its own budget gaps, according to Bloomberg. The Trump administration has threatened to withhold funding from sanctuary cities, a definition within which Chicago falls. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP While city-specific data was not immediately available for DOGE-related cuts, the Trump administration saw the Department of Health & Human Services cut their regional office in Illinois, which served 28,000 low-income families. Efforts to consolidate federal real estate and office space affected America’s third-largest city as well: The Federal Transit Administration, SEC, Labor Relations Authority and Civil Corps of Engineers all saw their offices there shut down. A federally-owned art collection in Chicago also sees some of its staffing on the chopping block, according to Axios. Fox News’ Remy Numa and Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.
Trump State Dept announces new student-visa vetting will be ongoing process, not one-time check
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce indicated Thursday that the increased scrutiny the Trump administration is placing on foreign student visas will not be a “one-time” check, but rather a process that lasts the entire time foreign students remain studying in the country. Bruce was peppered with questions at a Thursday press briefing about the Trump administration’s plans for increased vetting for foreign students. The briefing came amid news that the Trump administration has paused new student visa appointments at embassies across the globe. The Trump administration also indicated this week it would begin “aggressively” revoking the visas of Chinese students that pose national security threats, and has plans to implement expanded social media vetting for foreign student visas. “Everyone who’s here on a visa has to recognize – certainly it is what they’ve seen over the last few months – that America takes their visa seriously, that vetting is not a one-time process – it’s continuing,” Bruce said in response to questions about what the new scrutiny and vetting will entail. “When things, if things happen, if you get arrested, if there’s some kind of an issue, it’s probably going to be seen at some point,” Bruce added. STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD “There’s an interest in making sure that those who are here from China on a visa understand that we are taking our national security seriously,” she continued. “And, if everything’s fine, terrific. But, that will be a vetting that certainly continues and is important.” Citing national security concerns, Bruce did not reveal many details about what the new scrutiny on foreign students will look like. However, she did tell reporters that the student visa interviews will likely resume “sooner-than-later,” once a formalized process has been agreed upon. Bruce framed the new student visa scrutiny as part of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda aimed at reducing alleged political indoctrination on campuses and ensuring that American students can receive the highest quality education possible without interference. TRUMP ACCUSES HARVARD OF BEING ‘VERY SLOW’ TO TURN OVER FOREIGN STUDENT INFO “There’s a reason why people come here – it’s because of what the country represents. Yes, the excellence of our schools. And we want to keep it that way,” Bruce told reporters Thursday. “We want parents who send their children, whether they be from a different country or America – to an American university – that they can recognize their child when that child returns home … making sure that everyone who does want to send their child to a school in this country can do so knowing that they’re going to be safe, they’re going to be able to get into a building and not held hostage in a library because it’s been occupied, or that they’re going to be able to actually learn things that you’re paying that kind of money for.”
Flashback: Top five wildest moments from Elon Musk’s DOGE tenure as it comes to an end
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced his departure from DOGE on social media Wednesday after five months of viral moments and cuts that sparked both praise and controversy nationwide. Fox News Digital compiled five of the top memorable moments from that span. As Musk’s efforts to cut government waste resulted in outrage from Democrats and violent protests at Tesla dealerships across the country, along with a dip in Tesla’s stock price, President Donald Trump announced he was going to purchase a Tesla and met with Musk outside the White House to look at options. “I’m going to buy a brand-new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” Trump announced. WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE? ‘ONLY JUST BEGUN’ “To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for,” Trump said on Truth Social. Trump and Musk were photographed examining different Tesla models and sitting inside them. Musk got in on the passenger side and joked about “giving the Secret Service a heart attack” as they talked about how to start a vehicle that can reach 60 miles per hour in a few seconds. “That’s beautiful, this is a different panel . . . everything’s computer!” Trump remarked, in a comment that went viral on social media. “That’s beautiful! Wow!” Trump told reporters that he would write a check for the car he chose, which retails for roughly $80,000, and leave it at the White House, so his staff could drive it. The president also said he hopes his purchase will boost Tesla, which was struggling with sagging sales and declining stock prices at the time. One of the most notable DOGE revelations as it scoured the government for waste, fraud, and abuse was Musk’s announcement in February that his agency was looking into a limestone mine in Pennsylvania where he said federal employee retirements are processed manually using a system that could take months. “We’re like, well, what? Why is that? Well, because all the retirement paperwork is manual on paper,” Musk said. “It’s manually calculated and written down on a piece of paper. Then it goes down to mine and like, what do you mean, a mine?” DOGE wrote on X that an old limestone mine in Boyers, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh, is where about 700 workers operate more than 230 feet underground to process about 10,000 federal retirement applications per month. The applications are processed by hand using paper, and are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes, DOGE said. The Washington Post described the facility as a “sinkhole of bureaucracy” in a 2014 article. At the time, the report said the total spending on the retirement system was $55.8 million. “And then the speed, the limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move, determines how many people can retire from the federal government,” Musk said. “And the elevator breaks down and sometimes, and then you can’t, nobody can retire. Doesn’t that sound crazy?” ‘BUREAUCRATIC AND WASTEFUL’: DOGE SNIFFS OUT EYE-POPPING SPENDING ON BIDEN DEI EFFORTS IN KEY AGENCY Musk’s 4-year-old son, Æ A-12, also known as “Lil X,” was often seen accompanying his father for visits to the White House and Capitol Hill in recent months, often going viral on social media. In February, Lil X made headlines after attending an Oval Office meeting and mimicking his father while he spoke, at one point sitting on Musk’s shoulders and putting his fingers in the former DOGE chief’s ears, and holding onto the Resolute Desk. “This is X, and he’s a great guy. High IQ,” a chuckling Trump said, adding that the boy is a “high-IQ individual.” In March, heartwarming photographs of Trump walking to the president’s helicopter, Marine One, with Elon Musk’s son went viral on social media, with internet users doting over the joyful moment. Musk sat down with “Special Report” executive editor Bret Baier for a revealing behind-the-scenes interview with members of his team earlier in March and offered previously unseen glimpses into the work being done. Musk, along with DOGE members Steve Davis, Joe Gebbia, Aram Moghaddassi, Brad Smith, Anthony Armstrong, Tom Krause and Tyler Hassen, illustrated key efforts of the department to achieve Trump’s goal. Davis brought up federal credit cards, which he labeled a “mundane” but “illustrative” example of DOGE’s work. TOP 5 MOST OUTRAGEOUS WAYS THE GOVERNMENT HAS WASTED YOUR TAXES, AS UNCOVERED BY ELON MUSK’S DOGE “There are in the federal government around 4.6 million credit cards for around 2.3 to 2.4 million employees. This doesn’t make sense. So one of the things all of the teams have worked on is we’ve worked for the agencies and said, ‘Do you need all of these credit cards? Are they being used? Can you tell us physically where they are?’” Davis explained. “Clearly there should not be more credit cards than there are people,” Musk responded. The eight-man group also discussed DOGE’s work relating to the federal workforce, financial management, government infrastructure, computer systems, Social Security and more. “They may characterize it as shooting from the hip, but it is anything but that,” Musk said, noting that the agency’s approach to cuts is to “measure twice, if not thrice, and cut once.” Earlier this month, Musk and his team gave a second revealing interview to “Jesse Watters Primetime,” outlining examples of waste they had discovered in government. As the team shared cases of wasteful spending from top departments to smaller agencies, Watters asked how the findings made Musk and the DOGE members feel. “Unfortunately, like the 100th time you’ve heard it, it’s hard not to get a little numb, and
Hawley urges DOJ probe of Chinese trucking company
FIRST ON FOX – Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked the Justice Department on Thursday to investigate a Chinese-owned self-driving trucking company, one of the largest in the U.S., citing allegations that it had shared proprietary data and other sensitive technology with state-linked entities in Beijing. The letter, sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital, asks the Justice Department to open a formal investigation into the autonomous truck company TuSimple Holdings, a Chinese-owned company and one of the largest self-driving truck companies in the U.S. In it, Hawley cites recent reporting from the Wall Street Journal that alleges that TuSimple “systematically shared proprietary data, source code, and autonomous driving technologies” with Chinese state-linked entities— what he described as “blatant disregard” of the 2022 national security agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS. “These reports also revealed communications from TuSimple personnel inside China requesting the shipment of sensitive Nvidia AI chips and detailed records showing ‘deep and longstanding ties’ with Chinese military-affiliated manufacturers,” Hawley said. TRUMP NOMINATES FORMER DEFENSE ATTORNEY EMIL BOVE FOR FEDERAL APPEALS COURT VACANCY He noted that to date, TuSimple “has not faced serious consequences” for sharing American intellectual property with China, despite having continued to share data with China after signing a national security agreement with the U.S. government in 2022, which was enforced by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. “If the reports about TuSimple are accurate, they represent not just a violation of export law, but a breach of national trust and a direct threat to American technological leadership,” Hawley said. TRUMP ADMIN WORKING TO FLY BACK GUATEMALAN MIGRANT ERRONEOUSLY DEPORTED FROM US “The American people deserve to know how and why a supposedly U.S.-based company was allowed to serve as a conduit for the transfer of sensitive innovations to the Chinese Communist Party,” he added. The letter asks Bondi and the Justice Department to take certain steps to investigate the company’s actions, as alleged by the recent reports – including investigating whether TuSimple provided protected information to any Chinese-based entities, and what activities were covered by the company’s national security agreement with CFIUS, struck more than two years ago. Hawley also asked Bondi what actions, if any, DOJ has taken to date to ensure that Bot Auto—a new Texas-based self-driving vehicle company staffed by many former TuSimple employees, “is not engaging in similar behavior.” According to the Wall Street Journal report, TuSimple’s actions helped shape new Commerce Department regulations, which blocked the sale of internet-linked cars and different components with links to China. According to the report, a CFIUS investigation determined TuSimple’s tech sharing did not violate the official national security agreement— but the company was fined for other infractions, and ultimately paid out a $6 million settlement. The letter comes as Hawley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, has emerged as one of the Senate’s more vocal critics of the Chinese Communist Party, especially as it relates to the conduct of certain U.S. companies, and the sharing of certain intellectual property.
Trump administration sets new goal of 3,000 illegal immigrant arrests daily
The Trump administration has a new goal of 3,000 arrests of illegal immigrants daily, which was publicly confirmed by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day,” Miller told “Hannity” on Wednesday night, saying the number is going to keep getting bumped higher over time. His response comes after an Axios report that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Miller were said to be backing the 3,000 daily figure in a meeting last week at ICE headquarters. ICE TOUTS RECORD-BREAKING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS On “America’s Newsroom” on Thursday morning, border czar Tom Homan reaffirmed his statement, saying that officials are “asking for an increase” in arrests. “We’ve gotta increase these arrests and removals,” Homan said. “The numbers are good, but I’m not satisfied. I haven’t been satisfied all year long,” noting that there’s a major “public safety” risk with hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants still in the country from the Biden administration and earlier. For those that do not already have rap sheets, DHS is encouraging them to self-deport with a covered commercial flight and an $1,000 stipend for exiting. TRUMP NABS 30K ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, 1,100 GANG MEMBERS IN 100 DAYS: ‘CRIME WILL GO DOWN,’ EX-FBI AGENT SAYS During Trump’s first 100 days, ICE arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants, and more than 65,000 illegal immigrants were deported. Of that figure, more than 17,000 had criminal convictions or charges for crimes such as driving under the influence, assault, or “weapon offenses,” according to ICE. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The agency deported 17,200 people in April, which is roughly 4,000 higher than the year prior, when former President Joe Biden was in office, according to NBC News. “Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ The goal increases as the administration pushes Congress to pass the reconciliation bill, which has just been passed by the House. The bill is expected to ramp up funding to get 10,000 more ICE agents and tens of thousands more beds for detention facilities. “This bill will add infrastructure and technology to make our gains on the borders permanent. It puts more boots on the ground to target cartel activity, alien smuggling, child trafficking and drug smuggling. It will provide the needed funds and manpower to increase the great work of ICE on our deportation operations nationwide,” Homan said of the bill after its House passage, according to the White House.
Less than half of DOGE-terminated contracts can be publicly tracked, only about a quarter of grants: watchdog
With Elon Musk’s departure from the agency, there’s debate roiling over how effective the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE), has been in its mission. In a report released just two days prior to Musk stepping down, financial watchdog Open The Books published a report finding it is likely impossible for the average American taxpayer to track the savings associated with the contracts and grants that were terminated by the DOGE team. According to Open The Books’ analysis, which mined all the data published on DOGE’s official website, the average American taxpayer would likely only be able to confirm 42% of contracts and 27% of grants through an independent review of public federal spending databases. “This doesn’t mean these targets aren’t real, it simply means it’s very hard for taxpayers who want to see additional savings to find proof and evidence of savings,” Open The Books points out in its analysis, shared in a report the group released Tuesday. ‘BUREAUCRATIC AND WASTEFUL’: DOGE SNIFFS OUT EYE-POPPING SPENDING ON BIDEN DEI EFFORTS IN KEY AGENCY “Because taxpayers don’t have access to real-time transparency and a real-time look at the Treasury Payment System, it’s still too difficult for even a highly motivated Joe Taxpayer to confirm the savings claims DOGE is making,” the analysis, released ahead of Elon Musk stepping down from running the agency, continued. “It’s also far too easy for critics to sew [sic] doubt and confusion.” DOGE says on its website that the group’s work up to this point has provided the American taxpayer with $175 billion in “estimated” savings from the elimination of contracts, grants and leases, as well as through renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion and other mechanisms. However, DOGE’s estimated savings have been contested by watchdog groups and budget experts. Such critics have posited that the inclusion of already canceled contracts, double-counting or misrepresentation of contract values, and the unaccounted cost burden that could be imposed on the government when it has to re-hire folks down the line, or revamp its productivity, due to DOGE cuts, have led to inflated savings estimates. Nate Malkus, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, has accused DOGE of “overestimating contracts by a factor of two,” according to CBS News. ELON MUSK ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL, SAYS IT UNDERMINES WHAT DOGE IS DOING But White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital that DOGE has produced “historic savings” for the American people. “DOGE is working at record speed to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, producing historic savings for the American people,” Fields said. “The DOGE Wall of Receipts provides the latest and most accurate information following a thorough assessment, which takes time. Updates to the DOGE savings page will continue to be made promptly, and departments and agencies will keep highlighting the massive savings DOGE is achieving.” “DOGE and Elon Musk have done the country an incredible service by identifying savings targets,” added Open The Books CEO John Hart. “Having worked on the last major deficit commission with the late Senator Tom Coburn, we would have been elated to have had Musk in our corner. Now it’s up to Congress to not only turn DOGE’s recommendations into durable savings but to go beyond DOGE’s scope and truly tackle our long-term debt and deficit crisis.” Open The Books highlighted two “common sense” standards to help establish an “intellectually honest” approach to understanding the true impact of government cuts, such as those being recommended by DOGE. The first is the “durable standard,” which asks whether a proposed cut can be easily reversed. OBAMA-NOMINATED JUDGE ALLOWS LAWSUIT TARGETING MUSK’S ROLE WITH DOGE TO PROCEED, DROPS CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP “Describing something as ‘durable’ does not mean it is permanent or irreversible; it simply means it is hard to reverse,” the Open The Books’ analysis stated. “The most durable budget cut in our constitutional system would be passed by Congress, signed into law by the president and be clearly constitutional, or unassailable in a court challenge. Budget cuts become less durable when they lack any of these three elements.” The second is called a “duty standard,” which illuminates the power behind certain cuts based on who is trying to impose them. “In our constitutional system, the founders gave the job of budget savings to three branches but primarily to Congress,” Open The Books points out. “DOGE’s job is to identify, not enact, savings targets. It’s up to Congress to do the heavy lifting. And We the People have a responsibility to be informed and hold our elected officials accountable.” WHITE HOUSE SENDING $9.4B DOGE CUTS PACKAGE TO CONGRESS NEXT WEEK Open The Books ultimately concluded that due to various limitations associated with publicly available data on government spending and revenue, in particular a lack of real-time access to the government’s Treasury Payment System, it is still too difficult for even the most motivated average American citizen to either confirm, or deny, the savings claimed by DOGE. Elon Musk officially stepped down from his role as DOGE chief Thursday evening, as his position of “special government employee” in the Trump administration was limited by law to a few months. Amid the transition, Musk criticized Republicans’ spending bill that was passed ahead of Memorial Day in the House, indicating he was “disappointed” it would increase the federal deficit. “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS News in an interview that will air in full on June 1.