Bernie Sanders, AOC and other anti-Trump progressives haul in big bucks for 2026 midterms
It apparently pays to lead the resistance. Progressive lawmakers in Congress who have been among the most vocal in pushing back against President Donald Trump’s aggressive and controversial second-term agenda are seeing a surge in fundraising. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the longtime progressive champion, hauled in $11.5 million in the January-March first quarter of 2025 fundraising, according to Federal Election Commission filings this week. The Vermont independent and two-time Democratic presidential primary runner-up also reports more than $19 million in his campaign coffers at the start of this month. WHAT BERNIE SANDERS TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT TRUMP, MUSK, AND DEMOCRATS Sanders has been drawing tens of thousands of people to his “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies across the country over the past six weeks. Co-headling those rallies is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another rock star on the political left. The four-term Democrat from New York City raked in a massive $9.6 million the past three months. The record-breaking fundraising haul was one of the biggest ever for any House lawmaker. BERNIE SANDERS AND AOC TAKE AIM AT TRUMP AND MUSK, AS WELL AS DEMOCRATS, AT WESTERN RALLIES Ocasio-Cortez’s team highlighted that the fundraising came from 266,000 individual donors, with an average contribution of just $21. “I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy. Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities,” Ocasio-Cortez emphasized in a social media post. Another Democrat in Congress who has been very visible in leading the resistance to Trump is Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Murphy, who won re-election last November and doesn’t have to run again until 2030, hauled in $8 million over the past three months, his biggest quarterly fundraising ever. “The people are sending Democrats a message about the direction they would like to see,” top Sanders advisor Faiz Shakir said in a social media post. Longtime Democratic operative and strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of the Sanders 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, told Fox News that “there’s a direct correlation between fundraising and action… this is an indication of the yearning for action over inaction… that is what Democratic voters and Democratic activists want.” And Caiazzo warned that “the stale ways of Washington have been rejected by the voters, and we need to understand that going into the next cycle.” HOUSE GOP TOUTS ‘UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM’ AS IT SHOWCASES FUNDRAISING While not bringing in similar eye-popping numbers, House Republicans are touting their first-quarter fundraising, as they prepare to defend their razor-thin majority in the chamber in next year’s midterm elections. Seven GOP lawmakers in competitive districts who are being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee each raised seven figures over the past three months. Leading the way was Rep. Mike Lawler of the 17th Congressional District of New York, who hauled in nearly $1.5 million during the first quarter. Lawler is mulling a statewide bid for New York governor in 2026. Also on the list are Reps. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona’s 6th District, Young Kim and Ken Calvert, of California’s 40th and 41st Districts, respectively, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa’s 1st District, Jen Kiggans of Virginia’s 2nd District, and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin’s 3rd District The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) highlighted that House GOP lawmakers in competitive districts enjoy a large fundraising advantage over Democrats in competitive seats. And the NRCC emphasized that this is “a huge difference” from the first fundraising quarter during the 2024 election cycle, when the Democrats held a campaign cash advantage. “House Republicans aren’t just winning the fundraising game against vulnerable Democrats – they’re running laps around them,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella argued.
Bondi defiant, says Abrego Garcia will stay in El Salvador ‘end of the story’
Attorney General Pam Bondi doubled down on the Trump administration’s claim that it’s “up to El Salvador” whether Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant in Maryland who was wrongfully deported last month, can return to the U.S. Speaking to reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday, Bondi reiterated her earlier claim that it is up to El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele whether his country opts to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., even though officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error. “He is not coming back to our country,” Bondi told Fox News on Wednesday, in response to a question about his legal status during the briefing. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian national who had been living in Maryland before he was deported in March. Now, he is believed to be held in his home country’s sprawling, maximum-security prison. Both a federal court and the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his release and return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings. ‘UP TO EL SALVADOR’: TRUMP ADMIN PUNTS ON RETURN OF WRONGFULLY DEPORTED MARYLAND RESIDENT Bondi made clear Wednesday that they continue to see the issue as squarely in the purview of Bukele. “President Bukele said he was not sending him back. That’s the end of the story,” she said. “If he wanted to send him back, we would give him a plane ride back. There was no situation, ever, where he was going to stay in this country. None.” Her remarks come after the Supreme Court last week upheld a lower court’s order that requires the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” On Tuesday, a federal judge in Maryland ordered Trump lawyers and plaintiffs to conduct an “intense,” expedited two-week discovery process into efforts made to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return – including ordering top DHS and State Department officials to be deposed, under oath, in efforts to secure his return as the court weighs whether the Trump administration has been acting in good faith. “Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments,” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis told both parties Tuesday, clearing the way for what she said would be an extremely fast-paced timeframe. “There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding,” she said of the process. Bondi also emphasized that Abrego Garcia is not a U.S. citizen and had been living “illegally in our country from El Salvador.” FEDERAL JUDGES IN NEW YORK AND TEXAS BLOCK TRUMP DEPORTATIONS AFTER SCOTUS RULING That is not in dispute. A U.S. court granted Abrego Garcia temporary protected status in 2019, finding he faced a “clear probability of future persecution” if returned, and that “El Salvadoran authorities were and would be unable or unwilling to protect him.” Neither the Supreme Court ruling nor the lower court orders require Abrego Garcia to remain in the U.S. Rather, the courts have stressed that individuals slated for deportation must be granted certain due process protections under the U.S. Constitution, including habeas protections that allow them to challenge their removal in court. It was not the first time this week that Trump officials have suggested that El Salvador should have the final say on Abrego Garcia’s status. They also made this claim on Monday, when President Donald Trump hosted Bukele at the White House for a bilateral summit. When asked by reporters about Abrego Garcia, Bondi and other Cabinet officials said the matter was up to Bukele’s administration. “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us,” Bondi said then. “The Supreme Court ruled precedent that if El Salvador wanted to return him,” she continued. “This is international matters, foreign affairs.” Bondi added that “if they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it – meaning to provide a plane.” El Salvador has received hundreds of migrants from the U.S., including more than 200 Venezuelan nationals abruptly removed in March under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, and alleged members of the Salvadorian gang MS-13, under a $6 million deal struck with the U.S. earlier this year. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller doubled down on Bondi’s assertion, noting that Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian national. “It’s very arrogant, even for American media, to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens as a starting point,” Miller told reporters, claiming that “two courts” had found Abrego Garcia to be a member of the MS-13 gang.
Colorado Dems move to divert $4M in taxpayer dollars to fight Trump admin in court
A new Colorado bill giving the governor broad power to spend taxpayer dollars against possible Trump administration actions cleared a major hurdle this week. HB25-1321, also known as the “Support Against Adverse Federal Action,” will earmark $4 million from the state’s infrastructure cash fund as a safeguard against potential federal retaliation over state laws that defy President Donald Trump’s executive orders. According to the language of the bill, the governor’s office could use the fund to hire outside lawyers or contractors to respond to federal decisions impacting grants, contracts or funding sent to Colorado. It also covers legal costs for any state employees facing federal investigations or lawsuits related to their official duties. CONCERNED PARENTS OF TRANS KIDS COMPARED TO ‘HATE GROUPS’ BY COLORADO DEM: WOULDN’T ‘ASK THE KKK’ FOR OPINION The bill was passed by the House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday and is scheduled for consideration by the full House. It will then go before the Senate for consideration. Colorado Democrats may be taking a page out of California’s playbook, as Gov. Gavin Newsom approved $50 million in taxpayer dollars in February to aid in legal court battles and protection for illegal immigrants against the Trump administration. State Republicans immediately slammed the bill’s passage, saying on social media the Centennial State’s legislature has “continually poked the Admin in the eye this session & are now using our tax dollars meant for roads & water to defend it.” COLORADO DEMS ARE ‘POKING THE BEAR’ BY DEFYING TRUMP’S ORDERS, GOP LAWMAKER WARNS “Four million dollars TAKEN from the infrastructure investment and jobs act to give the governor a blank check of $4 million to sue the federal government, that’s what we are arguing against today,” Republican state Rep. Brandi Bradley posted on X. “You cannot make this stuff up…. -Roads are crumbling -Crime is through the roof -education is failing our kids -we are over regulated and over taxed -Coloradans cannot afford basic necessities or healthcare Zero transparency in this bill and an amendment to allow any money to continue to be appropriated, that is not expended.” Colorado House Democrats communications director Jarrett Freedman said the bill would “Musk-proof” the state from “illegal, unconstitutional federal actions that threaten funding for health care, education, public safety, our environment and critical infrastructure.” “Trump has frozen FEMA grants, agriculture grants for Colorado farmers, behavioral health funding, emergency response funding, and House Republicans are cheering it all on,” he said. COLORADO DEMS RAM ABORTION, TRANSGENDER BILLS THROUGH ON LIMITED SUNDAY SESSION DEBATE: ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ In February, Trump implemented a freeze on several federal funding programs to ensure that federal financial assistance programs comply with his recent executive orders, including halting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. But a U.S. district judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering the administration to release billions of dollars allocated by two Biden-era initiatives, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Colorado House Democrats recently passed a series of controversial bills that Republicans fear could draw Trump’s attention, since a few of the bills defy his executive orders. The bills that were passed this session include SB25-183, which requires taxpayers to fund abortion services; HB25-1309, mandating insurers cover transgender procedures regardless of age; HB25-1312, which imposes state-mandated gender policies on schools and considers it “coercive control” in child custody cases when a parent does not affirm a child’s gender identity or “deadnames” them; and SB25-129, which prohibits cooperation with out-of-state investigations on transgender procedures and abortion services.
Bill taking aim at IRS would strip agency of guns and ammo
While American taxpayers are familiar with the annual rigmarole of filing their federal taxes and realizing just how much of their hard-earned money Uncle Sam is taking away, several House Republicans are pushing a proposal to take some things away from the Internal Revenue Service: Guns and ammunition. The “Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act” would disarm the federal agency, prohibiting the commissioner of internal revenue from using funds to buy, receive or store firearms and ammo, and requiring the transfer of IRS firearms and ammunition to the Administrator of General Services. The guns would then be sold or auctioned to licensed dealers and the ammo would be auctioned to the public. Proceeds would go to “the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction,” the measure stipulates. TRUMP SAYS THERE’S A ‘REAL CHANCE’ TARIFFS COULD REPLACE INCOME TAX The bill states that “there are transferred to the Department of Justice the authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, which shall be maintained as a distinct entity within the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, including the related functions of the Secretary of the Treasury.” Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., introduced the measure, which is backed by three original cosponsors: GOP Reps. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Mary Miller of Illinois, and Clay Higgins of Louisiana. The IRS says on its website that its “mission is to provide America’s taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.” WHITE HOUSE QUIETLY FLOATS MILLIONAIRE TAX HIKE PROPOSAL IN CONGRESS AS GOP LEADERS SIGNAL OPPOSITION But Moore claimed that the federal agency has regularly been “weaponized.” “The IRS has consistently been weaponized against American citizens, targeted religious organizations, journalists, gun owners, and everyday Americans,” Moore asserted, according to a press release. “Arming these agents does not make the American public safer. My legislation, the Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act, would disarm these agents, auction off their guns to Federal Firearms License Owners, and sell their ammunition to the public. The only thing IRS agents should be armed with are calculators.” HAWLEY URGES REPUBLICANS TO CUT TAXES FOR WORKING-CLASS VOTERS WHO ‘PUT TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In an April 15 post on X Moore noted, “Tax Day is a great reminder that it’s time for the IRS to stop wasting our taxpayer dollars stockpiling guns and ammo.”
Dem rising star eyes Vance as key long-term threat: ‘Needs to be defeated’
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Rep. Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who likely harbors national ambitions in 2028, is turning up the volume in his broadsides against Vice President JD Vance, the heir apparent to President Donald Trump. In two high-profile speeches this week – in the vice president’s home state of Ohio on Monday and Tuesday at Yale Law School, where both politicians earned their legal degrees – Khanna trained his verbal fire on Vance. Khanna accused Vance of working to “win public adulation by stoking anger and treating legal limits as nuisances to be ignored.” While Vance has not called on Trump to ignore Supreme Court rulings, the vice president, in a closely watched social media post two months ago, criticized moves by federal judges to block the Trump administration’s controversial efforts to dramatically downsize the federal workforce. Vance argued that the judges were trying to “control the executive’s legitimate power.” RO KHANNA JABS AT JD VANCE IN VICE PRESIDENT’S HOME STATE “Vance says the president, elected by the people, should tell the court what the Constitution means, and if the court disagrees, let them try to enforce their ruling — that the president, as a co-equal, may simply ignore the court’s judgment of the law,” Khanna argued in his Tuesday speech. Khanna – spotlighting the controversial case of a Salvadoran citizen (who the Trump administration alleges was an MS-13 gang member) who had lived in Maryland for about 15 years that the Justice Department said was deported to El Salvador due to an “administrative error” – highlighted Vance’s response. VANCE DOUBLES DOWN AFTER TRUMP ADMIN ADMITS ‘ERROR’ SENDING MAN TO SALVADORAN PRISON “Let me say this as clearly as I can: JD Vance, your cold indifference to the lives of vulnerable immigrants betrays every principle that this law school was built to uphold,” Khanna charged. “Your affiliation with this law school is now a stain on the degree of every Yale graduate.” Vance’s political team did not appear to be too concerned about Khanna’s repeated verbal attacks. “Yawn,” a top political adviser to Vance told Fox News when asked about Khanna’s comments. The adviser described Khanna as an “ankle biter,” which is slang for a relatively minor or irritating person or problem. Khanna’s speech in New Haven was followed by a day an economic address at the City Club of Cleveland, where the congressman contrasted his vision for America’s “new economic patriotism” with the future of the GOP with Vance at the helm. Responding to the visit, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou told Fox News Digital that “Khanna is a far-left socialist from one of the wealthiest and wokest congressional districts in America. He served as an official surrogate for both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. This speech is nothing but another desperate plea for attention from another elitist politician wholly out-of-touch with Middle Class voters like those in Ohio.” Plenty of Democratic Party leaders have turned up the volume in their pushback against Trump’s sweeping and controversial actions to upend the federal government and policy. Also in the Democrats’ crosshairs is the president’s most visible White House adviser – billionaire Elon Musk – who, through his role steering the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has taken a sledgehammer to the federal work. However, Khanna is taking the lead among Democrats in shaping Vance – who at this extremely early stage in the 2028 race is viewed as the GOP nomination front-runner – as the Republican bogeyman. When asked if he was trolling Vance, Khanna said in a Fox News Digital interview ahead of his speech at Yale that the vice president is “trolling all of us. He’s the one who has made the argument that the court should not be listened to,” before adding a litany of other examples. Additionally, Khanna pointed to what he described as Vance’s “dangerous attacks on universities, the Supreme Court and the rule of law.” Noting rising economic uncertainties and the recent massive stock market sell-off triggered by the initial implementation of Trump’s tariffs on nations across the globe, Khanna suggested that Vance may not have the 2028 Republican nomination to himself. “Well, after the markets and the economy and the tariffs, I’m not sure he’s going to get the nomination. I think that others may emerge,” Khanna predicted. He stressed that the vice president “is the one person who is trying to give most argument to MAGA philosophy. He’s the one who’s called the university’s the enemy. He’s the only one who said the Supreme Court should be defied. He’s the one who’s been defending this high tariff policy. And so we need to take on his arguments and offer a counter to defeat them.” HERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY EVENTUALLY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 However, when asked if his attacks on Vance were an early 2028 positioning move, Khanna responded that “what I’m doing is providing an intellectual foundation for the Democratic Party.” Khanna emphasized that “we have to have a whole rebrand of the Democratic Party with a coherent platform and a future-oriented platform, and many leaders need to do that. New leaders, not the old guard. And I hope to be part of that.” Khanna has been crisscrossing the country the past couple of months, taking a lead in amplifying the Democrats’ message in resisting Trump. When asked if Democratic Party leaders need to be more vocal, Khanna quickly said yes. “We need more from our leadership. And you know, if you’re not willing to speak up about someone being snatched away from their home and deported without due process, you probably shouldn’t be in elective office as a Democrat right now,” he said. “We need Democrats speaking out, not just on the economy. We need them speaking out on civil liberties, on the rights of immigrants and on the rights of universities.” Khanna also praised the recent record-breaking marathon Senate floor speech by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and the
Trump says Harvard has ‘lost its way,’ doesn’t deserve federal funding
President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against Harvard University on Wednesday, saying the institution is a “joke.” Trump spoke out on social media Wednesday after Harvard refused to comply with requirements from the Department of Education (DOE) to address antisemitism and other issues on campus. He also blasted Harvard for hiring Bill de Blasio and Lori Lightfoot, the former mayors of New York City and Chicago respectively. “These two Radical Left fools left behind two cities that will take years to recover from their incompetence and evil. Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders,’” Trump wrote. “Look just to the recent past at their plagiarizing President, who so greatly embarrassed Harvard before the United States Congress,” he continued. “Many others, like these Leftist dopes, are teaching at Harvard, and because of that, Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges. Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.” HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING Trump’s administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal funding from Harvard after the university refused to work with the DOE. In a statement on Monday, Harvard University President Alan Garber said the terms of the agreement make “clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner.” TRUMP ADMIN SLASHES OVER $2.2B IN FUNDING TO HARVARD AFTER SCHOOL DEFIES DEMANDS “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the intellectual conditions at Harvard,” Garber wrote. Trump and other prominent Republicans have also proposed taxing the endowments of Harvard and other Ivy League schools. Harvard holds an endowment of over $50 billion, while the other seven Ivy League schools total nearly $140 billion in endowments. MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’” Trump wrote earlier this week. “Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” the president added. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has also proposed taxing Ivy League schools to offset the costs of passing tax cuts for working-class Americans.
White House proposal axes UN, NATO funds and halves State Department budget
The Trump administration is mulling a proposal that would slash the State Department budget by $27 billion – nearly in half – and shutter smaller embassies and consulates across the globe. The proposal calls for the elimination of funding for more than 20 international organizations, including the United Nations, NATO and the Organization of American States, a diplomatic source in possession of the document told Fox News Digital. The U.S. contributed around $13 billion to the United Nations in 2023 and around $3.5 billion to NATO. The proposed budget calls for allocating $2 billion for “America First” priorities. Those coffers could be used for “specific partners” like India and Jordan, according to the document, or broader priorities, like the South Pacific Tuna Treaty. However, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday, “there is no final plan, final budget.” PETE MAROCCO, MASTERMIND BEHIND DISMANTLING OF USAID PROJECTS, LEAVES STATE DEPARTMENT The proposal is an early draft and has to pass layers of approval within the administration before it even gets to Congress. Congress can then take it as an outline but ultimately draw up its own budget figures. The foreign service travel budget and benefits would be scaled back, and the Fulbright scholarship program would be eliminated. The document calls for a 2% reduction in diplomatic security, cuts to the inspector general’s office and the closure of smaller embassies in countries such as the Maldives, Malta, Luxembourg and the Central African Republic. It also proposes a 54% cut to global public health funding, with carve-outs for malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis, and a complete elimination of international peacekeeping funds. When asked about the budget plan during a State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, “Throughout the history of the United States, everyone has a budget plan and everyone has ideas for budgets. And every president has a budget plan and sends it to Congress. And then Congress either accepts it or they have their own ideas, which happens more often than not.” “There is no final plan, final budget,” she emphasized. The Trump administration has moved quickly to dismantle foreign aid, eliminating nearly 90% of USAID projects and merging the agency with the State Department and defunding “soft power” institutions like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting networks. STATE DEPARTMENT WILL ABSORB REMAINING USAID PROGRAMMING AS INDEPENDENT AGENCY IS DISMANTLED The White House budget is set to be transferred to Congress next month before the Republican-led House and Senate get to work on passing appropriations bills for each agency of government. Meanwhile, agencies are expected to present their own plans for reorganization to the White House this week, outlining what cuts they believe are necessary to further shrink the federal government. The State Department has not yet publicly detailed its plans for downsizing. As reports of the cuts emerged, Democrats warned that U.S. adversaries would fill the vacuum left by America around the world. The cuts “would leave our country alone and exposed and allow China and Russia to fill the vacuum made vacant by this administration,” according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, N.H., top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. “Why in the world would we cut funding for NATO at a moment when war is raging in Europe and security threats on the continent grow?” she added. It is not clear whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio endorses the initial proposal. “I want to hear from Secretary Rubio directly,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, Hawaii, top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that handles State funding, calling the reports “deeply troubling.”
Easter Monday could soon become federal holiday under new GOP proposal
Easter Monday could soon be a federal holiday under a new legislative proposal. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Rep. Riley Moore, R-W. Va., are leading the way on legislation to make the day following Easter Sunday a holiday amid several other countries also recognizing the holiday. In a thread posted to X, Schmitt cited a poll that 81% of Americans celebrated Easter as of 2023, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. “This isn’t a radical idea. It’s a federal recognition of a tradition that is central to Western civilization—a tradition that’s already recognized as a public holiday in nations across (and beyond!) the West, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most of Western Europe,” the Republican lawmaker said. WHITE HOUSE PLANS ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ HOLY WEEK AS TRUMP HONORS EASTER WITH ‘THE OBSERVANCE IT DESERVES’ “Easter is a floating holiday, it can fall from Mar 22 to April 25. The only two-month gap in our federal holiday calendar is April-May. An Easter Monday holiday fills the gap—creating a three-day weekend when workers and families need it most. Pro-worker. Pro-family. Pro-faith,” he added. “There are plenty of practical arguments for it, too. Easter weekend already generates around $15 billion for our economy. Making it a three-day weekend could boost that by an estimated 10-15%, adding up to $2 billion in economic activity while strengthening American families.” There are 11 public federal holidays, which means that the federal public sector is closed, along with many private sector businesses. AHEAD OF EASTER AND AMID BIRD FLU, IS IT SAFE TO COLOR EGGS? The most recently added public holiday is Juneteenth, which is meant to recognize the abolition of slavery in the United States. It was signed into law by former President Joe Biden in 2021. Christmas Day is the only traditionally religious holiday on the list. Easter is on Sunday, and it is often considered the highest holiday in the Christian faith as it honors the resurrection of Jesus after the crucifixion on Good Friday. Additionally, it is also widely regarded in the U.S. as a spring celebration with the Easter Bunny and egg hunts. UK SCHOOL FACES BACKLASH AFTER CANCELING EASTER CELEBRATION FOR ‘INCLUSIVITY’ “The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the history of the world. ‘Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld,’” Moore tweeted. Senate bill 1426 was introduced by Schmitt on Thursday, and it’s been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Major university medical center accused of hiding DEI programs, influential Senator calls them out
FIRST ON FOX: Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn sent a letter Tuesday to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) calling on the medical school to comply with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs at educational institutions. The letter comes after VUMC reportedly took steps to hide many of its DEI resources as opposed to getting rid of them, following the president’s Executive Orders. Consumers Research, a conservative nonprofit that was following medical schools’ responses to Trump’s orders on ending DEI discovered that VUMC was taking steps to hide some of theirs behind password-protected web pages. In response to criticism, a VUMC spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time that it was undergoing “a thorough review” of its programs to figure out “where revisions may be required to remain in compliance, including updating information on websites and other public platforms.” VANDERBILT MED CENTER ‘HIDING’ DEI RESOURCES BEHIND PASSWORD-PROTECTED WEB PAGES: REPORT According to an updated review, VUMC’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion website remains behind a password-protected web page. Same with the DEI web page on VUMC’s Department of Medicine website, resources touting “climate care is health care,” and a web page for the school’s “Inaugural Climate Change Action & Sustainability Summit.” Other resources which had previously appeared to be hidden behind password protected web pages – rather than deleted – such as a YouTube video about “The War on DEI,” appear to have been deleted since criticism over the matter was unleashed against the school. “Offices such as the Office of Health Equity, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office for Diversity Affairs are seemingly still active,” Blackburn said in her letter. “These offices have advocated for ‘collectively addressing systemic inequities’ and ‘confronting structural racism.’” Among the priorities of this program, was to hire “diverse biomedical researchers,” Black burn pointed out. Blackburn also noted that VUMC was the recipient of more than $66 million this fiscal year from the National Institutes of Health – alone. Meanwhile, VUMC has invested over $17 million to support its “DEI and Belonging Program,” she said. “This is only one of many examples of VUMC investing in DEI initiatives instead of lifesaving medical research,” Blackburn’s letter continued. “Additionally, VUMC’s track record on embracing harmful woke initiatives is grim,” Blackburn added. “VUMC has previously performed sex-change surgeries on minors before suspending the program after public outrage.” RED STATE LAWMAKERS WARNED ABOUT ALLEGEDLY ACCEPTING ‘DEI DOLLARS’ FROM HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: WATCHDOG VUMC was investigated by Tennessee’s Attorney General’s Office in 2023 amid allegations that a doctor at VUMC was manipulating medical billing codes to evade insurance coverage-limitations for transgender treatments. The investigation followed a video released in 2022, which allegedly showed a VUMC doctor touting transgender surgeries for minors as “huge money makers” and telling anyone with a religious objection to providing them should quit. “President Trump has been clear on this issue. His recent executive orders correctly prohibited DEI programs at federally funded research institutions and ended the recognition of gender identity apart from biological sex,” Blackburn concluded in her letter. “As a beneficiary of federal funding, VUMC has a responsibility to align with the President’s executive orders and return to a focus on lifesaving research as opposed to woke DEI initiatives. Instead of covering up VUMC’s DEI initiatives, I urge you to comply with President Trump’s effort to responsibility allocate taxpayer dollars and immediately cease all DEI initiatives.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Senator told Fox News that “discriminatory” DEI programs, such as those at VUMC, actually serve to “do more harm than good.” She also urged VUMC to “put Tennesseans first” by fully complying with the president’s Executive Orders. In a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, VUMC said, “Vanderbilt University Medical Center is eliminating all DEI programs and is fully complying with Executive Actions on DEI. Shortly after the Executive Orders were issued, VUMC began removing related content on internal and external websites to reflect the termination of these programs. VUMC will continue to comply with federal mandates and directives.”
Texas poised to create its own version of DOGE as bill passes both chambers
Texas will likely have its own Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) very soon after lawmakers passed a bill to create an efficiency office within the governor’s office. The bill, known as Senate Bill 14 (S.B. 14) and inspired by Elon Musk’s DOGE, would create a new Texas Regulatory Office which aims to streamline state regulations and eliminate unnecessary rules. An advisory panel would also be established to work with the governor and help Texas state agencies cut red tape, eliminate unnecessary or burdensome rules and make regulations more cost-effective and transparent. The panel would be made up of business owners, researchers, state agencies and the public. DOGE UNCOVERS MASSIVE VA CONTRACT FOR ‘SALARY SURVEY DATA AND ANALYSIS’ — SAYS IT CANCELED IT, SAVING MILLIONS S.B. 14 has passed both chambers of the Texas Legislature and is heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk to be signed into law. Abbott has not publicly stated whether he will sign the bill. The bill was authored by Weatherford Republican Phil King while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said previously that it would help save taxpayers money and grow the Texas economy by “cutting red tape.” JASON CHAFFETZ: DEMOCRATS HAVE MADE A FATAL ERROR OPPOSING DOGE “I prioritized SB 14 because President Trump’s creation of the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ inspired me to find ways Texas can save taxpayers and businesses money by cutting burdensome regulations,” Patrick said, according to Fox 26. “The Texas Miracle will continue long into the 21st century because our common-sense, conservative approach to regulation will keep Texans prosperous and our economy strong.” The bill also requires agencies to write rules in plain language, reduce paperwork and fees, and justify new rules with clear cost and benefit analyses. It also gives courts more power to challenge agency interpretations of laws, shifting legal authority away from agencies. Additionally, it requires the development of an interactive website where the public can easily search for agency rules and forms as well as regulatory information by topic, industry, or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. The Elon Musk-led DOGE has shaken up federal bureaucracies and uncovered billions of dollars in wasteful spending. Through canceling contracts, workforce reductions and more, DOGE says it has so far saved taxpayers $155 billion.