Texas border sheriff says illegal crossings have seen ‘dramatic decline’ as CA migrant center shuts down
A Texas sheriff, whose county shares 54 miles of the U.S. southern border with Mexico, told Fox News Digital he has seen a “dramatic decline” in illegal migrant crossings since President Donald Trump took office, specifically, a sharp decrease in the last two weeks. “Since President Trump took over, we have seen a continued decline in apprehensions,” Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland told Fox. “This past two-week period, we should have been busier because it coincides with the full moon cycle, that’s usually when we see more activity in our area.” ALLEGED HUMAN SMUGGLERS ARRESTED IN TEXAS AFTER HIDING MIGRANTS INSIDE HOLLOWED HAY BALES The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed earlier this month that April year-over-year apprehensions at the border were down 93%. CBP reported 129,000 apprehensions in April 2024 under the Biden administration, compared to 8,383 this past month under Trump. “You know, during the Biden administration, we saw, just like the rest of the U.S.-Mexico border, record levels of crossings and gotaways in our county,” Cleveland explained. “We also saw record levels of deaths from people trying to enter the United States. So that was definitely a challenge for us when you talk about the 10th largest county in the state of Texas, just over 2300 square miles, 54 miles of river.” Trump border czar Tom Homan weighed in on the dramatic decrease in illegal crossings, telling Fox News Digital last week that the U.S. border “is the most secure in the nation’s history.” TRUMP SANCTIONS ARE ‘FULL-FRONTAL ASSAULT’ ON ORGANIZED CRIME AT THE BORDER, EXPERT SAYS “The way we did it, that we got a president in the White House, a strong president, who simply ruled a lot of [Executive Orders], the same [Executive Orders] that were proved effective in Trump 45, remain in Mexico, third state country agreements, ending catch and release, and continue building border barriers,” Homan told Fox. Cleveland’s comments come days after a San Diego immigrant center shut down due to an “unprecedented decrease in illegal crossings this year.” “In 3/2025, San Diego Sector arrested 1,199 illegal aliens with an average of 38 per day. This was a 186% drop compared to 3/2024,” the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector posted to X on Sunday. ICE BEGINS NEW, NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO ARREST ILLEGAL ALIENS AT IMMIGRATION HEARINGS Cleveland noted there might be additional facility closures if illegal crossing numbers continue to plummet. “As the border activity becomes slower and we see less and less crossings, we’re starting to see Border Patrol close more of these south side of facilities,” the Texas sheriff added. “We don’t have any out here in our area of West Texas. The closest one we had was down in Eagle Pass.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “There’s no reason to spend that money to keep those open, and they can definitely use that money in other parts of the border.”
DeSantis goads Congress to follow FL’s DOGE blueprint as Musk’s cuts still wait for vote
Gov. Ron DeSantis urged House Republicans to take note of Florida’s successful implementation of “DOGE”-type governance and get moving on slashing waste, fraud and abuse identified by the executive branch organization. “Elon Musk took massive incoming – including attacks on his companies as well as personal smears, to lead the effort on DOGE,” DeSantis posted on X. “He became public enemy #1 of legacy media around the world. To see Republicans in Congress cast aside any meaningful spending reductions (and, in fact, fully fund things like USAID) is demoralizing and represents a betrayal of the voters who elected them,” the Republican said on Tuesday. DeSantis had reposted a comment from former government scientist Matt van Swol, who claimed congressional Republicans have not done enough to go to bat for DOGE. WINNERS, LOSERS AND GRAB-BAGS FROM HOUSE GOP’S NARROW PASSAGE OF BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL “DOGE is literally one of the most popular government initiatives in history. 73% of Americans say they support cutting government waste. Trump brought in the smartest man on earth to do it… …the Left destroyed Elon for it …the GOP won’t vote on it I can’t believe this,” van Swol said in the shared message. In remarks Tuesday, DeSantis expounded upon his concerns, saying that Florida’s executive branch has successfully implemented DOGE-type policies in the state, increasing affordability, lowering taxes and ridding Tallahassee of waste and fraud. He said Florida has been a state for 180 years, and it was his own administration who reportedly paid down 41% of its accumulated debt to-date. DeSantis said the average Floridian’s share of the state debt is $400, while federally, their onus is about $105,000. The governor noted how Musk stuck his neck out for DOGE and saw his car dealerships “firebombed” and how the media “smearing him relentlessly because he basically said, look, we can’t keep doing this…” “And yet, we have a Republican Congress, and to this day, we’re in the end of May, past Memorial Day, and not one cent in DOGE cuts have been implemented by the Congress,” the one-time congressman said. DEMS CALL BUDGET BILL ‘BUREAUCRATIC WATER TORTURE’ AS GOP ‘GLAD TO HAVE THE BALL IN OUR COURT’ “That’s one of the reasons why we need a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It’s another reason why we need term limits for members of Congress. But I think what you’ve seen with how, and I kind of said this early on, that DOGE and Elon were on a collision course with the swamp.” Libertarian-minded Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., had lodged a similar complaint – claiming that rescission votes to act on DOGE’s proposed cuts were “cancelled” earlier in May – but a top aide to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., disputed the claim. “No votes on rescissions were cancelled this week. The Speaker has repeatedly expressed his commitment to save taxpayer funds via the rescissions process,” wrote press secretary Athina Lawson. “Under law, this process requires a special message to Congress detailing proposed rescissions before Congress can act.” House Republicans could not include any DOGE cuts in the “big beautiful bill” because, in order to pass the Senate, the bill could only deal with statutorily “mandatory” spending concerns. The rules of Senate Reconciliation preclude that move as well. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The two options House Republicans have are to wait for a formal rescission request for a cut or cuts from Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought – a Trump appointee – and take that up within 45 days, or try to pass separate legislation themselves through the appropriations process. The issue with the latter is that legislation independent of a request originating from the executive branch would require 60 votes – while a rescission request only requires a simple majority. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate. Two independents – Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King, Jr. of Maine – caucus with Democrats. However, Republicans have had luck putting Democrats in a bind via the appropriations process, as the last passage of the typically massive bills led to members of that party turning on its leader – Sen. Charles Schumer of New York – for ultimately voting to fund the government earlier this year. Fox News Digital reached out to DeSantis and Johnson for comment.
DOJ sues North Carolina over voter rolls
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Tuesday for allegedly failing to maintain an accurate voter list. The Trump administration claims the Tar Heel State is in violation of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that did not make clear whether an applicant must provide a driver’s license number, or if the applicant does not have a driver’s license, the last four digits of the applicant’s social security number. If an applicant has neither, the law says the state must assign a special identifying number. The lawsuit says, “a significant number of North Carolina voters who did not provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a social security number using that voter registration form were nonetheless registered by their election officials, in violation of HAVA” and the defendants “only took limited actions to prevent further violations.” FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS NC TO CERTIFY SUPREME COURT ELECTION RESULTS WITH DEMOCRAT LEADING “Upon information and belief there currently are a significant number of voters that do not have a driver’s license number, last four digits of a social security number, or any other identifying number, as required by Section 303 of HAVA, listed in North Carolina’s state voter registration file,” according to the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. “Those violations will continue absent relief from this Court.” “Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws.” A previous edition of the state elections board, in which Democrats held a majority, acknowledged the problem in late 2023 after a voter complained. The board updated the voter registration form but declined to contact people who had registered to vote since 2004 in time for the 2024 elections so they could fill in the missing numbers. According to the lawsuit, the board indicated that such information would be accumulated on an ad hoc basis as voters appeared at polling places. It is unclear exactly how many voters’ records still lack identifying numbers. Lawyers from the DOJ Civil Rights Division want a judge to give the state 30 days to develop a plan to contact voters with records that do not comply with federal law, obtain an identifying number for each and add that to the electronic list. The state and national GOP last year sued over the lack of identifying numbers, which they estimated could have affected 225,000 registrants. However, federal judges declined to make changes so close to the general election. The lawsuit also referred to President Donald Trump‘s executive order on elections in March to “guard against illegal voting, unlawful discrimination, and other forms of fraud, error, or suspicion.” FEDERAL JUDGE KICKS BATTLE OVER NC SUPREME COURT ELECTION BACK TO STATE COURT After Election Day, formal protests were filed by Jefferson Griffin, a Republican candidate for a seat on the state Supreme Court, who challenged about 65,500 ballots. He contended that about 60,000 were cast by registrants whose records failed to contain one of the two identifying numbers. The state election board said earlier this year at least roughly half of those voters actually did provide an identifying number. Griffin also challenged another 5,500 ballots belonging to overseas military personnel and their family members who were not required to attach a copy of their photo IDs, as well those in a category of “Never Residents,” or U.S. citizens with family ties to North Carolina who have never lived in the United States. A state appeals court criticized the board’s handling of the registration records but ultimately ruled the challenged ballots had to remain in the final election tally. Six months passed during what amounted to be the nation’s last contested 2024 election. Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs was ultimately certified as the winner over Griffin by 734 votes out of over 5.5 million ballots cast. Griffin conceded earlier this month but said he did not fully agree with the court’s analysis. This month, the state election board’s composition changed to reflect a 2024 law approved by the GOP-dominated General Assembly that shifted the board’s appointment powers from the now-Democratic governor to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek. A previous 3-2 Democratic majority is now a 3-2 Republican majority. The new iteration of the board sounds open to embracing the Justice Department’s wishes. Executive Director Sam Hayes said late Tuesday the lawsuit was being reviewed, “but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented.” “Rest assured that I am committed to bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law,” he said, according to The Associated Press. Local elections start in September. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump order targeting law firm WilmerHale blocked as ‘unconstitutional,’ federal judge rules
A federal judge permanently blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm WilmerHale on Tuesday. Trump’s order sought to limit the influence of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP by urging federal agencies to suspend security clearances for the firm’s employees as well as cancel contracts with the organization. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon found that the order violated the Constituion’s First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments, as well as separation of powers. “For the reasons set forth below, I have concluded that this order must be struck down in its entirety as unconstitutional,” Leon wrote. “Indeed, to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!” Leon argued that Trump’s order served as a threat to law firms across the country. FEDERAL JUDGES IN NEW YORK AND TEXAS BLOCK TRUMP DEPORTATIONS AFTER SCOTUS RULING “If you take on causes disfavored by President Trump, you will be punished!” Leon wrote. “Other firms facing similar executive orders have capitulated to President Trump.” WilmerHale drew Trump’s ire as the home firm of Robert Mueller, who served as special counsel during Trump’s first term and investigated alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. ‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO Federal judges have been a bane to Trump’s agenda in the opening months of his return to the White House, foiling or delaying key aspects of his immigration and economic plans. A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily halted the administration’s effort to kill New York City‘s controversial congestion pricing program as well. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman issued a temporary restraining order barring the administration from getting rid of the program and withholding federal funding if the city failed to nix the program. Another federal judge in Massachusetts chastised senior Trump officials Monday night for failing to comply with his court orders after a group of migrants was deported from the U.S. to South Sudan. APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy rejected Trump’s request to amend or withdraw the judge’s earlier decision requiring them to keep in U.S. custody six migrants who were deported to South Sudan without due process or notice. “It turns out that having immigration proceedings on another continent is harder and more logistically cumbersome than defendants anticipated,” Murphy said in his order, noting that the Trump administration is free to return individuals to have the interviews carried out on U.S. soil. The salvo comes as Murphy, a federal judge in Boston, presides over a class-action lawsuit from migrants who are challenging deportations to third countries, including South Sudan, El Salvador and other countries, including Costa Rica, Guatemala and others that the administration has reportedly eyed in its ongoing wave of deportations. Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report
Succeeding Trump: 6 Republican potential presidential hopefuls to keep your eyes on in 2028
The 2028 presidential election seems like a long way away, but in reality, the early moves are already underway by some Democrats with likely national ambitions. And one Republican politician is already selling 2028 merchandise. “Trump 2028” hats are available for $50 and T-shirts that read, “Trump 2028 (Re-write the Rules),” sell for $36 on the Trump Organization’s website. But the rules are quite clear: The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restricts presidents to two terms in office. And after months of flirting with running for a third term in the White House, President Donald Trump appears to be ruling out another campaign. WHERE TRUMP STANDS WITH AMERICANS 4 MONTHS INTO HIS 2ND TERM Despite touting strong support in the MAGA world for a 2028 run for re-election, the president in an interview this month on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” said, “I’m not looking at that.” “I’ll be an eight-year president,” Trump added. “I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important.” But Trump’s 2028 flirtations, which he said weren’t a joke, and his sweeping moves since the start of his second tour of duty in the White House are keeping the spotlight firmly on him, averting any lame-duck talk and putting a damper on any early moves by those in the Republican Party hoping to succeed the president. DEMOCRATS EYE 2028 JUST MONTHS INTO TRUMP’S 2ND TERM The race for the next GOP presidential nomination won’t get underway until Trump’s ready to share the spotlight, and he recently said it’s “far too early” to begin holding those discussions. But Trump also added, “I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward.” With that in mind, here’s a look at the potential 2028 Republican White House contenders. Vice President JD Vance appears to be the heir apparent to the “America First” movement and the Republican Party’s powerful MAGA base. It was a point driven home by Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, MAGA rockstar and powerful ally of the vice president. “We are getting four more years of Trump and then eight years of JD Vance,” Trump Jr. said on the campaign trail in Ohio a few weeks ahead of the November 2024 election. As sitting vice president, Vance enjoys plenty of perks that could boost him to frontrunner status. Among them, a large staff that comes with the job, and Air Force Two, which he has repeatedly used to make stops across the U.S. and the globe since the start of the second Trump administration. And Vance is now finance chair of the Republican National Committee, the first sitting vice president to hold such a position with a national party committee. The posting puts Vance in frequent contact with the GOP’s top donors. But while Trump has hinted that Vance could be his successor and called him “a fantastic, brilliant guy” in the “Meet the Press” interview, he has avoided anointing his vice president as the party’s next nominee. Vance has taken no steps toward a 2028 presidential run and isn’t seriously thinking about it at this time, a source in the vice president’s political orbit told Fox News. “I really am just not focused on politics,” Vance said in early April in a “Fox and Friends” interview. “I’m not focused on the midterm elections in 2026, much less the presidential election in 2028. When we get to that point, I’ll talk to the president. We’ll figure out what we want to do.” And the 40-year-old vice president added, “The way I think about it is, if we do a good job, the politics take care of themselves.” In his “Meet the Press” interview, besides Vance, Trump also named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a “great” potential GOP leader. “Marco’s doing an outstanding job,” the president said. Rubio, a one-time rival who clashed with Trump during the combustible 2016 Republican presidential nomination battle, became a leading Trump ally in the U.S. Senate during the president’s first term in office. And besides serving as secretary of state, the 53-year-old former senator from Florida is also acting national security advisor, acting head of the National Archives and acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. While Rubio’s expanding portfolio in the second Trump administration is fueling speculation about a potential 2028 presidential bid, he still faces skepticism from parts of MAGA world who question his “America First” credentials. Conservative Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was flying high after a landslide re-election in 2022, but an unsuccessful 2024 presidential primary run and a bruising battle with Trump knocked him down in stature. However, the term-limited 46-year-old governor, who has a year and a half left in office steering Florida, proved in the past few years his fundraising prowess and retains plenty of supporters across the country. DeSantis was also able, to a degree, to repair relations with Trump, helped raise money for the GOP ticket during the general election and earned a prime-time speaking slot at the 2024 Republican convention. And in December 2024, the governor was seen as a possible replacement when now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination briefly faltered. While DeSantis is certain to still harbor national ambitions, his feud this year with the Republican-dominated Florida legislature and the controversy over a charity tied to Florida first lady Casey DeSantis are seen as potential hurdles. Thanks to his 2021 gubernatorial victory, the first by a Republican in Virginia in a dozen years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin instantly became a GOP rising star. In Virginia, governors are limited to one four-year term, which means Youngkin has seven months left in office. The 58-year-old governor, who hails from the Republican Party’s business wing but has been able to thrive in a MAGA-dominated party, likely harbors national ambitions. And Youngkin’s trip to Iowa, the state that for a half century has kicked off the GOP’s presidential nominating calendar, in July to headline
‘Intensely loyal’ Jill Biden aide despised by White House staffers, new book claims
President Joe Biden’s aides consider first lady Jill Biden one of the most powerful first ladies in history, according to the new book, “Original Sin,” by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson. By proxy, the first lady’s top aide, Anthony Bernal, became one of the most influential people in the White House, Tapper and Thompson said in their new book about Biden’s cognitive decline and the administration’s alleged cover-up. “He would not be welcome at my funeral,” a longtime Biden aide told the authors. Operating in a White House anchored in loyalty, Bernal wielded loyalty as a weapon to weed out the defectors, Tapper and Thompson said. ‘THE KAMALA EXCUSE’: TENSIONS BETWEEN BIDEN AND HARRIS PLAGUED THEIR CAMPAIGNS, NEW BOOK REVEALS “He considered loyalty to be the defining virtue and would wield that word to elevate some and oust others – at times fairly and at times not. ‘Are you a Biden person?’ he would ask West Wing aides. ‘Is so-and-so a Biden person?’ The regular interrogations led some colleagues to dub him the leader of the ‘loyalty police,’” the journalists wrote in “Original Sin.” NEW BOOK REVEALS BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE WORRIED ABOUT HIS AGE YEARS BEFORE BOTCHED DEBATE PERFORMANCE During the pandemic, Biden traded the campaign trail for lockdown. Two aides, Bernal and Annie Tomasini, found their way into Joe and Jill Biden’s pod, shifting the power dynamic of Biden’s so-called “Politiburo,” the group of advisors who steered Biden’s political orbit. Tapper and Thompson describe the “intensely loyal” duo as taking on an “older-brother-and-little-sister vibe.” Thompson even had the title of deputy campaign manager, which Tapper and Thompson said was “unusual for a staffer to a spouse.” The duo were the masterminds behind loading a teleprompter for Biden ahead of a local interview, a misstep that followed Biden’s campaign. “The significance of Bernal and Tomasini is the degree to which their rise in the Biden White House signaled the success of people whose allegiance was to the Biden family – not to the presidency, not to the American people, not to the country, but to the Biden theology,” the authors wrote. Tapper and Thompson said it was difficult to find many Bernal defenders and described him as using his power to cast out “potential heretics.” As Bernal earned a reputation for trash-talking fellow aides, “some even described him as the worst person they had ever met,” Tapper and Thompson said. Bernal and Tomasini took on some of the residence staffers’ roles in the White House. Tapper and Thompson said the aides “had all-time access to the living quarters, with their White House badges reading ‘Res’ – uncommon for such aides.” When the Biden campaign began gearing up for a re-election campaign and some voiced fears about his age or battleground state polling, Bernal and other senior staffers reacted dismissively about Vice President Kamala Harris launching a bid. Bernal is quoted in the book as having said, “You don’t run for four years – you run for eight.” “He had already begun planning the first lady’s 2025 international travel schedule,” Tapper and Thompson said. Bernal worked overtime to elevate Jill Biden’s “profile and glamour,” freely criticizing her looks and outfits and even calling her “Jill,” according to the authors. Jill Biden and Bernal worked in tandem, keeping score of “who was with them and against them.” The book described the first lady as “one of the chief supporters of the president’s decision to run for reelection, and one of the chief deniers of his deterioration.” Bernal’s loyalty to the Bidens never faltered, and even after the disastrous debate performance in July 2024, Jill Biden and Bernal were determined to keep pushing on through November, Tapper and Thompson said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital has written extensively dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign about Biden’s cognitive decline and his inner circle’s role in covering it up. A former White House staffer fired back against Tapper and Thompson’s allegations about Bernal in a statement to Fox News Digital. “A lot of vignettes in this book are either false, exaggerated, or purposefully omit viewpoints that don’t fit the narrative they want to push. Anthony was a strong leader with high standards and a mentor to many. He’s the type of person you want on a team – he’s incredibly strategic, effective, and cares deeply about the people he manages,” the former White House staffer said.
Defense Department workers no longer required to submit DOGE’s weekly production reports
Defense Department civilian employees will no longer need to submit a weekly bulleted list of what they accomplished, which the Department of Government Efficiency had demanded of federal employees starting in February. In an email to the Pentagon’s civilian workforce, Jay Hurst, who is performing the duties of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said the “five bullet exercise” will no longer be required and that employees should instead submit at least one idea by Wednesday to help improve efficiency or root out waste at the Defense Department. Other agencies have also begun to end the weekly reports, including the National Institutes of Health last month. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP DISMANTLING OF US INSTITUTE OF PEACE Workers had been required to submit weekly reports justifying their employment by listing five things they did the previous week, as part of efforts by billionaire Elon Musk and DOGE — which had been led by Musk — to eliminate waste in the federal government. Musk, who recently announced he is stepping back from DOGE and focusing more on his companies, Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, said on Feb. 22 that federal employees would be required to start sending weekly reports of what they accomplished to the Office of Personnel Management as well as their managers. “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote on X at the time. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” he emphasized. Some agencies, including the Defense Department, the State Department and the FBI, initially told employees to hold off on submitting the reports. Days later, the Office of Personnel Management told human resources officers across the government that the emailed reports were voluntary, according to The Washington Post. ELON MUSK ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL, SAYS IT UNDERMINES WHAT DOGE IS DOING Officials at the agency also said they did not plan to do anything with the emails they received. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a memorandum on Feb. 28 instructing all Pentagon civilian employees to submit the weekly emails requested by DOGE. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Elon Musk ‘disappointed’ by Trump’s spending bill, says it undermines what DOGE is doing
Elon Musk said he is “disappointed” by the costs of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” passed by Republicans in the House last week. “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told “CBS Sunday Morning” in an exclusive broadcast interview. DEMS SLAM TRUMP ADMINS OVER ALLEGED $436B SPENDING BLOCK The remarks by Musk, who recently stepped back from running the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, are in contrast to Trump, who backed the legislation, which still needs Senate approval. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed 215 to 214 in the House. All Democrats and two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, voted against the bill. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., voted “present.” The bill is a victory for Trump and House Republicans, who overcame policy disagreements to deliver on Trump’s key campaign promises, including an extension of his 2017 tax cuts and no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security. SENATE DEMS RAIL AGAINST ‘SHADOW SPEAKER’ BILLIONAIRE ELON MUSK: ‘NOT ELECTED TO ANYTHING’ It aims to cut roughly $1.5 trillion in government spending. The U.S. government is still more than $36 trillion in debt and has spent $1.05 trillion more than it has collected in the 2025 fiscal year, according to the Treasury Department. The bill still faces hurdles. The Senate is tasked with passing its own version. Republican leaders are hoping to send the bill to Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July. Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
Melania Trump spokesperson shuts down ‘completely false’ theory about husband and son
A spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump shut down a “completely false” theory that her husband, the president, is warring with Harvard University because her son, Barron, was supposedly not accepted to the school. The Palm Beach Post first reported that first lady spokesperson Nicholas Clemens said, “Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false.” This comes amid online rumors that President Donald Trump is targeting Harvard with federal funding cuts because Barron, who just finished his freshman year at New York University, was supposedly rejected by the school. The Trump administration is asking all federal agencies to find ways to terminate all federal contracts with Harvard amid an ongoing standoff over foreign students’ records at the Ivy League school. Harvard has already sued in federal court seeking the restoration of about $3.2 billion in federal grant funding frozen by the administration since last month. HARVARD FOREIGN STUDENTS FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE AMID TRUMP CAMPUS CRACKDOWNS In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump accused Harvard of being “very antisemitic” and said he was considering giving the school’s federal funding to trade schools “all across our land.” “What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” he wrote. In a letter Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard’s leadership that the university had lost its “privilege” of enrolling foreign students as a result of the institution’s “refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security with pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies.” On Friday, Judge Allison Burroughs, a President Barack Obama appointee, granted Harvard a temporary restraining order, preventing the government from revoking the Ivy League school’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The program permits the university to host international students with F-1 or J-1 visas to study in the U.S. TRUMP RAMPS UP HEAT ON HARVARD: HERE ARE 5 REASONS FROM THE UNIVERSITY’S OWN INVESTIGATION Trump said this week that Harvard is being “very slow” to turn over information on foreign students. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” Trump wrote. “Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!” he wrote. “The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) – But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!” The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
White House rages at House Democrat for ‘shameful’ Memorial Day trip to visit suspected MS-13 gangbanger
The White House ripped Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., for making a “shameful” Memorial Day trip to El Salvador in an attempt to visit deported illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The White House’s rapid response account said of Ivey’s trip, “This moron spent his Memorial Day trying (and failing) to visit a criminal illegal immigrant gangbanger in a foreign country. For Democrats, criminal illegals > American citizens every time.” Ivey posted about the attempted visit on his X account, saying that he represents Abrego Garcia, and that the Salvadoran government stonewalled his efforts to conduct a welfare check. “Today, I was denied access to seeing my constituent, Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. If there is nothing to hide, cut the crap. Let his lawyer and I check on him,” he said. “I’m the congressman who represents Kilmar and I came all the way down from the United States after we contacted their ambassador, after we made formal requests through our ambassador to the El Salvadoran government, and we came here to visit him today.” DEM IMMIGRATION TALKING POINTS FIZZLE AS DARK PICTURE OF ABREGO GARCIA EMERGES “We need to bring him home. I won’t stop until we do,” Ivey added in an X post. Abrego Garcia’s deportation to his home country, El Salvador, has caused significant controversy. The Trump administration has pointed to evidence suggesting that Abrego Garcia was involved with MS-13 and human trafficking to justify his deportation. The administration has also cited court documents detailing Abrego Garcia’s alleged physical abuse of his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. Democrats, meanwhile, say he is a “Maryland man” who was not given his due process in court before being deported. Since Abrego Garcia’s deportation, several Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have made trips to El Salvador to conduct similar wellness checks and to advocate for his release. The trips have stirred significant controversy as well, with many asking why Democrats are spending so much time advocating for a suspected gang member who was unlawfully present in the U.S. MARYLAND DEMOCRAT IVEY FURIOUS NOT GIVEN ACCESS TO KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA IN EL SALVADOR The video also caught the attention of White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson. Jackson told Fox News Digital that “it’s shameful, and an insult to the American people, that a Democrat Congressman spent his Memorial Day trying to visit a deported illegal alien, MS-13 terrorist, human-trafficker, and wife beater.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “This pathetic stunt tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of the modern Democrat party – they’re putting criminal illegals over American citizens all the time,” said Jackson. In addition to the wife beating evidence, Fox News Digital has previously reported on documents detailing Abrego Garcia being stopped by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper after he was “observed speeding” and unable to stay in his lane in 2022. The trooper noticed eight individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he began driving three days prior from Houston to Temple Hills, Maryland, via St. Louis to “perform construction work.” KILMAR ABREGO-GARCIA SUSPECTED OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN REPORT OBTAINED BY FOX NEWS The report states that the trooper suspected it was a human trafficking incident, as there was no luggage in the vehicle. Additionally, the individuals in the car reportedly gave the same address as Abrego Garica’s home address. When speaking with the trooper, Abrego Garcia allegedly “pretended to speak less English than he was capable of and attempted to put encountering officer off-track by responding to questions with questions.” After the incident, the officer decided not to give Abrego Garcia a citation for the driving infractions, but rather to give him a warning for driving with an expired license. The White House has not held back in its criticisms of Van Hollen’s visit. In April, the White House tweeted side-by-side photos of Trump meeting with the mother of Rachel Morin, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2023, and Van Hollen sitting with Abrego Garcia with the caption, “We are not the same.” Rachel Morin was a Maryland resident, as is her mother, Patty, who said that Van Hollen had not reached out to her since her daughter was murdered. Van Hollen responded to this criticism in a Fox News interview in which he said he “did have concern” for the Morin family and his “heart goes out to every Maryland family that is the victim of violence.” Van Hollen also said that “there is zero connection between the horrible murder of Rachel Morin and the situation with Abrego Garcia.” Ivey did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.