Vice President JD Vance to play key role with RNC to ‘fully enact MAGA mandate,’ grow GOP majority in 2026
EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance will serve as the Republican National Committee’s finance chair, telling Fox News Digital that he will work with the party to “fully enact the MAGA mandate” and grow the Republican majority in Congress in 2026. The RNC Executive Committee voted unanimously to confirm Vance in the role, an RNC official told Fox News Digital. This is the first time in the history of the GOP that a sitting vice president will serve in the role. RNC BRINGS ON NEW SENIOR LEADERSHIP TO ‘WORK AROUND THE CLOCK’ TO SUPPORT TRUMP AGENDA, ELECT REPUBLICANS An RNC official told Fox News Digital that Vance serving as finance chair is “unprecedented” and shows “just how much the White House and the RNC are in lockstep this cycle.” “Everyone is laser-focused on growing our majorities in 2026, and we are going to aggressively fundraise to be ready for next year.” Vance, in a statement to Fox News Digital, reflected on Trump’s “historic election victory, taking back the White House and helping Republicans regain control of the Senate and retain control of the House.” “But to fully enact the MAGA mandate and President Trump’s vision that voters demanded, we must keep and grow our Republican majorities in 2026,” Vance said. “I am excited to work with Chairman Whatley and the RNC leadership to build the war chest we need to deliver those victories next November,” Vance added. “JD will do a fantastic job as RNC Finance Chair,” President Trump said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “He knows how to fight and win tough races.” RNC CHAIR WHATLEY VOWS TO BE ‘TIP OF THE SPEAR’ TO PROTECT TRUMP AFTER COASTING TO RE-ELECTION VICTORY The president added, “I’m glad he’ll be working with Michael Whatley to help us secure our elections, get out the vote, and win big next year!” RNC Chair Mike Whatley told Fox News Digital that Vance is “the definition of an American success story, rising from a childhood where his family faced great struggles to become one of the youngest vice presidents in our nation’s history.” “Vice President Vance is not only one of our Party’s most talented messengers, he is also a thought leader who has helped remake the GOP into the party of working Americans representing the forgotten men and women of our country,” Whatley wrote. “I am continuously thankful to President Trump for the leadership and direction he provides the Party and am honored to work with Vice President Vance to grow our party and ensure President Trump has the votes in Congress to Make America Great Again.” Vance is succeeding outgoing National Finance Chair Richard “Duke” Buchan III. Trump appointed Buchan to serve as ambassador to Morocco. Whatley thanked Buchan for his “tremendous service” to the RNC and the GOP and for his “support for President Trump.” “His efforts were an essential contribution to our success in 2024,” Whatley said.
‘Bring it on’: Sheriff pushes back after blue state leaders sue to stop immigration enforcement
Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer is calling out the “lunacy” of Democratic leadership in deep blue Washington after state Attorney General Nick Brown launched a lawsuit against one of his colleagues for helping enforce immigration law. “They honestly feel that they can just run over everybody,” he said, adding, “Bring it on, I’ll fight them.” Brown, a Democrat, sued the Adams County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, accusing the office of “illegally collaborating” with federal officials and the Trump administration. The lawsuit, which was filed in Spokane County Superior Court, claims that the Adams County Sheriff’s Office’s holding of illegal immigrants in custody based on their immigration status, helping federal agents question people in custody, and “routinely” sharing personal confidential information of Washington residents with federal officials “expressly violates state law.” TOM HOMAN WARNS MAJOR SANCTUARY STATE WILL ‘GET EXACTLY WHAT THEY DON’T WANT’ The suit cites a 2019 law called the Keep Washington Working Act, which prohibits law enforcement in the state from providing aid in immigration enforcement. Brown is asking the court to force the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Dale Wagner, to comply with the Keep Washington Working Act. This comes the same week that U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks posted on X that agents had partnered with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office to arrest a Mexican national and suspected illegal firearms dealer, including rifles, shotguns and pistols. A representative for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Songer, who has vowed to help ICE, told Fox News Digital that the attorney general’s lawsuit is part of a broader effort by Washington’s leading Democrats, including Gov. Bob Ferguson, to intimidate sheriffs into complying with the state’s sanctuary policies. ‘GET GEARED UP’ BECAUSE ‘ICE IS COMING,’ SAYS LEADING HOUSE GOP MEMBER He shared that two days after Trump’s inauguration his office received a public records request from an individual named Charles Harvey for all of his personal and official phone, text and email communications with federal authorities from 2021 until the present. The request stated that if any communications between Songer and ICE were found they would be reported to the attorney general’s office. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “In my opinion, it’s lunacy. They are whack nuts,” he said. “Why would a governor and legislator and Brown, the new attorney general, why would they not want law enforcement to cooperate with ICE to go after bad people that are illegally in our country that have committed felonies and very serious felonies?” He commended Wagner and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office for standing their ground, calling the attorney general’s lawsuit “flat ridiculous.” YOUNG FATHER KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HIGHLIGHTS ‘BETRAYAL’ OF SANCTUARY CITIES, SAYS REPUBLICAN Songer said he would not be intimidated by the threat of investigations or lawsuits because he believes the Constitution is on his side. “I hope my fellow sheriffs will stand up to the governor and this state and tell them these laws are unconstitutional and we’re not going to cooperate,” he said. “We just need to pay attention and follow the Constitution and I think if we do that, we’re going to have a better country.” “Citizens come first,” he concluded. “And I pray, I absolutely pray for Tom Homan to come to Washington state, the blue state and sanctuary state, because I really believe Ferguson, Brown and their cohorts, elected politicians, are in violation of federal law. And if they are, lock them up.”
Victims of ‘gender industrial complex’ will get justice in court, attorney for detransitioners pledges
Lawsuits against doctors, hospitals and gender clinics will proceed despite President Donald Trump’s executive order halting federal funding for the “surgical mutilation” of minors, an attorney representing several detransitioners said. This comes as the Department of Education invited detransitioners to a meeting on Detrans Awareness Day last week. “These are young women who, as early as 13 years old, were victimized by this gender industrial complex,” Mark Trammell, executive attorney at the Center for American Liberty, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We have other clients who had double mastectomies at 15, 16, they’re all put on puberty blockers, all put on off-label cross-sex hormones, and all without being afforded informed consent.” Shortly after Trump’s executive order took effect, a federal judge in Baltimore last month issued a temporary restraining order, halting the order’s implementation. TRANS INMATE IN PRISON FOR KILLING BABY MUST GET GENDER SURGERY AT ‘EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY’: JUDGE As such, some hospitals that had previously complied with Trump’s order reversed course, Trammell said, citing the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as an example that had re-introduced some of its so-called gender-affirming treatments. “But what can stick is lawsuits,” Trammell said. “And at the end of the day, we can achieve justice. We can secure justice for these young women by hopefully recovering financial damages for what they’ve suffered.” Trammell noted that their involvement with gender ideology lawsuits began with cases involving social transitions in schools, such as the case of Jessica Konen, which resulted in a settlement with a school district. He said many parents became aware of the issue when they discovered that schools were socially transitioning children, sometimes as young as fifth grade, without notifying parents. One of Trammell’s clients, Aurora Regino, learned her daughter was being socially transitioned from female to male in school, including using a male name and pronouns, without any communication with her mother. “We’re suing doctors individually, holding them personally liable,” Trammell said. “We’re also suing the hospitals that employ them. And so these are, again, these are cases that are being brought in tort. So the idea is we’re going to sue the individuals who caused the injury.” BLUE STATE’S LGBT ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’ BAN VIOLATES CONSTITUTION, ‘VERY EASY CASE’ FOR SCOTUS, SAYS EXPERT Last week, the Department of Education hosted a meeting with six detransitioners and activists “fighting to protect children from the serious harms caused by radical gender ideology,” the department said in a March 10 news release. The group shared its concerns about gender ideology in schools with new Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Trammell said the administration’s meeting with the activists was “encouraging” to see them “even recognizing just their existence.” “No teacher should attempt to persuade or coerce a student to undergo a gender transition,” McMahon said in a statement. “No parent should be lied to or prevented from knowing what is going on with their child’s mental or physical health. We stand firmly alongside parents, professionals, advocates, and especially detransitioners, who understand firsthand the damage caused by indoctrinating kids to believe that they can ever be ‘born in the wrong body.’” The federal judge’s restraining order also hasn’t stopped Trump from continuing full steam ahead to stamp out what he calls “radical gender ideology” as the administration reminded hospitals of “the dangerous chemical and surgical mutilation of children, including interventions that cause sterilization,” in a Department of Health and Human Services memo sent out to hospitals and medical providers last week. HOSPITALS WARNED THEY MUST PROTECT CHILDREN FROM CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL MUTILATION: HHS AGENCY MEMO The notice also said, “CMS may begin taking steps in the future to align policy, including CMS-regulated provider requirements and agreements, with the highest-quality medical evidence in the treatment of the nation’s children in order to protect children from harmful, often irreversible mutilation, including sterilization practices.” “In recent years, medical interventions for gender dysphoria in children have proliferated,” the memo reads. “Initiated with an underdeveloped body of evidence and now known to cause long-term and irreparable harm to some children, CMS may begin taking steps in the future to adjust its policies to reflect this reality and the lack of medical evidence in support of these harmful treatments.”
Pentagon deploys Navy warship that fought Houthis to new US southern border mission in line with Trump order
A U.S. Navy destroyer was deployed to the southern border over the weekend to help with the Trump administration’s maritime efforts to halt illegal immigration and drug smuggling. USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, departed Naval Weapons Station Yorktown in Virginia for a scheduled deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border to carry out President Donald Trump’s southern border executive orders, Navy officials said in a statement on Saturday. “Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot of U.S. Northern Command. Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, Joint Staff director for operations, told reporters Monday that USS Gravely will go to the Gulf of America to carry out missions to intercept drug smugglers at sea. TRUMP PUTTING TROOPS ON BORDER WAS GAME CHANGER, SAN DIEGO SECTOR CHIEF SAYS: ‘FORCE MULTIPLIER’ Navy officials said the deployment highlights the Pentagon’s dedication to “combating maritime related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration.” USS Gravely, which has previously been deployed to the Red Sea to intercept missiles that the Iranian-backed Houthis fired at commercial vessels, will enhance “maritime efforts” and “fill critical capabilities gaps” in support of the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, officials said. “This is an important step in the whole-of-government efforts to seal the southern border and maintain U.S. sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Guillot said. “It’s not only vital for the United States to have control of our border via land,” the Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters Monday. “It’s equally important to control our territorial waters, and this deployment directly supports U.S. Northern Command’s mission to protect our sovereignty.” A Coast Guard captain told Fox News Digital earlier this month that there were about 200 migrant boat encounters near the San Diego coast over the previous 90 days, attributing the uptick to the Trump administration’s increase in land border security. TRUMP POLICY ON BORDER JUMPERS EMPOWERS USE OF ‘MAXIMUM CONSEQUENCES,’ BORDER AGENT TELLS FOX “They’re locking down the land border pretty good… where they used to get thousands a day. Now, they’re now down in the hundreds a day,” Coast Guard District 11 Capt. Jason Hagen said. “So, the migrants have to go somewhere. The smugglers have to move their operations somewhere. And we’re starting to see an uptick in the maritime environment.” Hagen said those encountered aboard migrant boats include foreign nationals from U.S. adversary countries. “We’re starting to see an uptick in other nationalities, as well, which is a… national security concern because it’s not just your economic Mexicans looking to come to the United States for work,” Hagen said. “It’s also… bad actors coming from other countries. We’ve seen nationalities to include Chinese, Russian, Uzbekistan[i], Pakistan[i]. It’s really all over the place.” Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Trump tells illegal immigrants to ‘self-deport’ using CBP Home app in new video
President Donald Trump will urge illegal immigrants to “self-deport” from the U.S. using a newly announced app from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Axios reported Monday. Trump will send the message in a video set to release on social media platforms this week, calling on illegal immigrants to use the CBP Home app to announce their departure from the country. The DHS unveiled the app earlier this month after removing the Biden-era CBP One app, which was used to allow migrants into the U.S. “People in our country can self-deport the easy way, or they can get deported the hard way, and that’s not pleasant,” Trump says in the video. “The Biden administration exploited the CBP One app to allow more than 1 million aliens to illegally enter the United States. Now, my administration is launching the CBP Home app to give people in our country illegally an easy way to leave now and self-deport voluntarily,” he continues. NEARLY 17 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN THE US, 16% INCREASE SINCE 2021: ANALYSIS “If they do, they will have the opportunity to potentially return legally at some point in the future, but if they do not avail themselves of this opportunity, then they will be found. They will be deported, and they will never be admitted to the United States ever, ever again,” Trump adds. NOEM ENDS BIDEN-ERA USE OF CONTROVERSIAL APP TO ALLOW MIGRANTS TO BOARD FLIGHTS, EXCEPT TO SELF-DEPORT Trump goes on to say that using the CBP Home app is the “safest option” for both illegal immigrants and law enforcement, in addition to allowing law enforcement to focus resources on apprehending and deporting illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes. The CBP Home app allows illegal immigrants to “Submit Intent to Depart” and submit information regarding their intent to leave the U.S. They can also provide information to verify they have left the U.S., a function limited to those who were paroled into the U.S. using the Biden-era app. The Trump administration has moved rapidly to expand deportations and also cut the number of migrants entering the U.S., including via humanitarian parole, which dramatically expanded under the Biden administration. Trump ended the use of the CBP One app to parole migrants on his first day in office. His administration has also paused applications for parole programs and allowed ICE to cancel parole statuses of migrants. Last month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended the use of CBP One to allow migrants to board domestic flights, unless it is being used for their self-deportation. The administration has also canceled extensions of Temporary Protected Status for some nationalities. Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report
Dan Bongino sworn in as FBI deputy director: ‘Critical time for our nation’
Dan Bongino, President Donald Trump’s choice for deputy director of the FBI, has been sworn in to serve in the federal agency. “It is an honor to serve as Deputy Director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation at such a critical time for our nation. The American people deserve a justice system that is transparent, accountable, and committed to the rule of law,” Bongino said in a Monday post on X. One of the photos included in the post appears to show Bongino being sworn in by FBI Director Kash Patel. FBI INVESTIGATING RISE IN SWATTING INCIDENTS AFTER SEVERAL CONSERVATIVES TARGETED, KASH PATEL SAYS “My promise to you is that I will work tirelessly to help restore integrity, eliminate political bias, and ensure the FBI remains dedicated to its core mission of protecting the United States and upholding the Constitution,” Bongino continued. Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona shared Bongino’s post and wrote, “The FBI is so back.” NEWLY SWORN-IN FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL WELCOMES DAN BONGINO AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR: ‘HE’S A COPS COP’ “Welcome,” Patel said to Bongino in a post on X, adding, “Let’s get to work.” The @FBI X account noted, “After his swearing-in ceremony as FBI Deputy Director, Dan Bongino paid his respects at the Wall of Honor, honoring the brave members of the #FBI who made the ultimate sacrifice and reflecting on the legacy of those who paved the way in the pursuit of justice and security.” TRUMP ANNOUNCES DAN BONGINO WILL BE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and NYPD officer, stepped away from his successful podcast “The Dan Bongino Show” in order to serve in the FBI. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “He was a member of the New York Police Department (New York’s Finest!), a highly respected Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, and is now one of the most successful Podcasters in the Country, something he is willing and prepared to give up in order to serve,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last month when announcing Bongino for the FBI post.
These are the judges going toe to toe against Trump’s agenda
President Donald Trump has signed more than 80 executive orders since returning to the White House in January — prompting more than 100 lawsuits against his administration. While Democratic lawmakers have accused the Trump administration of launching a “constitutional crisis” within the U.S. as a result of these orders, the White House has claimed that “low-level” judges have issued unconstitutional injunctions barring Trump from implementing his agenda and that it will appeal adverse rulings. “You cannot have a low-level district court judge filing an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the President of the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday. “That is completely absurd. … It’s very clear that there are judicial activists throughout our judicial branch who are trying to block this president’s executive authority.” Here are some of the judges, appointed under the Obama and Biden administrations, who’ve pushed back against Trump’s orders: Boasberg has served as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since March 2023, and was first appointed as a judge to the District Court in March 2011 under the Obama administration. Boasberg issued several key rulings on various cases during Trump’s first administration. For example, he blocked Arkansas, Kentucky and New Hampshire from implementing work requirement waivers for Medicaid recipients, after the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a policy permitting states to enforce the waivers for Medicaid recipients. Ultimately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling in February 2020 upholding Boasberg’s previous decision in the Kentucky and Arkansas case. In the ruling, the appeals court said that former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar “failed to analyze whether the demonstrations would promote the primary objective of Medicaid — to furnish medical assistance.” The Supreme Court then dismissed all pending cases related to the Medicaid work requirements in April 2022. WHITE HOUSE BLASTS JUDGE FOR ATTEMPTING TO HALT DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO EL SALVADOR: ‘NO LAWFUL BASIS’ On Saturday, Boasberg issued an order halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing. However, the flight continued to drop off the migrants in El Salvador, and Leavitt said Sunday the order had “no lawful basis” since Boasberg issued it after the flight’s departure from U.S. airspace. Boasberg graduated from Yale College in 1985 and Yale Law School in 1990. He also served a seven-year term from 2014 to 2021 on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which handles surveillance requests for foreign intelligence gathering. Sorokin, an Obama appointee, joined the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2014, after previously serving as magistrate judge on the same court. Sorokin spearheaded a delayed-sentencing program in Massachusetts known as the Repair, Invest, Succeed, Emerge, or RISE, program. The program offers some criminal offenders a yearlong delay in sentencing for some criminal offenders who qualify for pretrial release as they undergo an intensive supervision program. “I’m thrilled with how the restorative justice part of RISE has gone, so we’re expanding,” Sorokin said at an event at Columbia Law School in 2020. “I think it’s lawful. I think it’s correct. I think it’s what we ought to be doing.” Sorokin said his motivation to launch the RISE program stemmed from a conversation he had with a man convicted of bank robbery who explained he wanted to apologize to the bank teller and to his sisters for committing the crime. Sorokin blocked the Trump administration from implementing an executive order to ban birthright citizenship in February — joining other judges from Maryland and Washington state in issuing nationwide injunctions against the ban. The Trump administration requested the Supreme Court step in Friday and allow it to execute the order, and the Supreme Court requested responses from challengers by April 4. Sorokin attended Columbia Law School and has worked as a professor for Boston University School of Law. Ali, a Biden appointee, is one of the newest judges to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, joining the court in December 2024. Ali also helped launch the MacArthur Justice Center’s Washington, D.C., branch in 2017, a nonprofit law firm that specializes in criminal justice reform and civil rights issues. Ali, who eventually led the firm as the executive director, argued and won two cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the MacArthur Justice Center. Ali’s ties to the firm came under scrutiny during his confirmation hearing in February 2024 before the Senate, where lawmakers asked him about remarks his MacArthur Justice Center colleague, Cliff Johnson, made in 2020 asserting that defunding the police paves the way for a “movement toward making police departments obsolete.” WHO IS JUDGE AMIR ALI? THE BIDEN-APPOINTED FEDERAL JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S USAID BATTLE However, Ali told lawmakers that he didn’t espouse those views, nor did the MacArthur Justice Center. “Let me be very clear about this,” Ali said. “I have never advocated for taking away police funding. I would not take that position, and the MacArthur Justice Center has not taken that position.” On March 11, Ali issued a ruling that determined the Trump administration likely exceeded its constitutional authority when it sought to halt payments the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) owed to contractors amounting to $2 billion in funding Congress had approved. Ali has also taught classes on civil, criminal and appellate litigation at schools, including Harvard Law School and the Georgetown University Law Center. Howell, an Obama appointee, joined the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in 2010. She previously served as staff and as general counsel of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1993 to 2003. Howell ruled against the Trump administration March 6, and wrote in her ruling that Trump did not have the authority to fire members of
Trump accuses Big Media of ‘illegal’ reporting, virtually abolishes Voice of America
President Trump has spent the last decade railing against fake news, a phrase that’s now deeply embedded in our culture. He has accused the media of being relentlessly biased against him – which is largely true – and called out journalists by name. He has sued such outlets as ABC News (which paid him $16 million), CBS and the Des Moines Register. He has charged that Politico received payments for negatively covering him – it turned out these were routine subscriptions, and for the New York Times as well – and then canceled many of the subscriptions. TRUMP ORDERS THE DISMANTLING OF GOVERNMENT-FUNDED, ‘PROPAGANDA’-PEDDLING MEDIA OUTLET But in a controversial speech at the Justice Department, Trump went further than ever before. He said the Times, the Washington Post and the major networks were engaged in “illegal” reporting. The president did not specify what was illegal about it. But perhaps there’s a short distance between Trump’s accusation and a future prosecution? The DOJ speech drew heavy coverage. The Times said he “veered from his prepared remarks to lash out at lawyers and former prosecutors by name in a venue dedicated to the impartial administration of justice. He also accused the department’s previous leadership of trying to destroy him and declared former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. the head of a ‘crime’ family.” The Post quoted Trump as saying his enemies had “launched one hoax and disinformation operation after another, broke the law on a colossal scale, persecuted my family, staff and supporters, raided my home, Mar-a-Lago, and did everything within their power to prevent me from becoming the President of the United States.” The paper added: “It is rare for a president to visit the Justice Department — which has kept safeguards between the White House and the law enforcement agency in the post-Watergate era to ensure that politics don’t interfere with law enforcement investigations.” But here’s the fascinating part. The Times and the Post made no mention of Trump’s “illegal” reporting charge. Didn’t give it as much as a paragraph. Couldn’t squeeze it in (I say in jest, since space is unlimited in the digital age). I see two possible explanations for this. One is that they are so offended by the president’s accusation, which they view as false, that they don’t want to give it any oxygen and share it with readers. In other words, when the president is shooting arrows at you, it’s best to deflect them. The other is that they fear that there might be a prosecution down the road – given Trump’s history of civil lawsuits – and don’t want to cross him on this issue. In short, they are intimidated by the president. But here’s the thing: If two of the nation’s preeminent newspapers aren’t going to defend themselves on the charge of illegality, who is? How can they expect any backing when they won’t stand up for themselves, by censoring Trump’s remarks? Meanwhile, over the weekend, the president all but abolished the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe with an executive order aimed at its parent agency – whose special adviser is former Arizona candidate Kari Lake. Trump ordered 1,300 journalists, executives and other staffers placed on indefinite leave. His argument is that they’re part of the radical left. He’s a longtime critic of VOA, having once called it the “voice of the Soviet Union.” SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES Carla Babb, the VOA’s Pentagon correspondent, posted this: “A silencing of VOA will be celebrated by communists, autocrats and ayatollahs whose lies we shed light on.” The VOA was launched during World War II and credited with successfully countering enemy propaganda for decades. But there’s a legitimate debate to been had about who the “enemy” is these days, given Trump’s friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin. What’s more, people aren’t huddled around their radios as they were in 1942. But those who were laid off indefinitely consider themselves independent journalists – and suddenly find themselves out of a job.
US equal opportunity commission demands 20 law firms disclose DEI employment practices
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is requesting data from 20 law firms about employment practices to increase diversity, equity and inclusion, which the federal agency warns may be illegal. The commission’s acting chair, Andrea Lucas, sent letters to the firms seeking detailed information on DEI programs that may be in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Some of the companies have made legal challenges to President Donald Trump’s policies targeting DEI or have connections to his political opponents. Perkins Coie; Hogan Lovells; Ropes & Gray; and WilmerHale are among the firms currently representing plaintiffs in lawsuits against the Trump administration. Lucas said some of the firms had made public statements expressing their commitment to diversity in their workforces. At least two of the firms had numerical goals for recruiting lawyers based on their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity. TRUMP EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION PUTS EMPLOYERS ‘ON NOTICE’ TO STOP ‘ANTI-AMERICAN BIAS’ She expressed concern that the firms’ employment practices “may entail unlawful disparate treatment in terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, or unlawful limiting, segregating, and classifying” based on race, sex and other protected characteristics. “The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,” Lucas said in a statement. “No one is above the law—and certainly not the private bar.” The letters requested information about the internships, scholarships and fellowships the firms offer to law students, as well as the firms’ hiring and compensation practices. Lucas also asked for the name, sex and race of every lawyer who has worked at or applied for a job at the firms since 2019 and if each of them participated in diversity programs. Some of the information was asked to be included in a “searchable Excel spreadsheet.” ‘UNLAWFUL DEI-MOTIVATED’ WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION TO BE ROOTED OUT BY TRUMP’S NEW ACTING EEOC CHAIR The EEOC can investigate companies’ employment practices and file lawsuits over allegations of discrimination, but only after a worker or one of the agency’s five commissioners brings a formal complaint. The agency gave no indication that Lucas had filed complaints against any of the firms. Trump has sought to eliminate DEI programs across the country, including in the federal government, higher education and the private sector. The president has also taken action against high-profile law firms over their DEI practices. Trump issued executive orders this month targeting Perkins Coie as well as Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison over the two firms’ alleged discriminatory internal diversity policies and previous work for his political opponents. The orders revoked security clearances for lawyers at the firms and restricted their government access and federal contracting work. The order targeting Perkins Coie also directed Lucas to “review the practices of representative large, influential, or industry-leading law firms” even though the commission was designed to operate independently of the White House. Perkins Coie sued on allegations that the order violated its rights under the U.S. Constitution. A judge temporarily blocked parts of the order last week. Some companies have previously adopted policies to encourage diversity from their outside law firms. Lucas, in the letters, asked law firms to identify clients since 2019 that have had “diversity requirements” or stated preferences for employee staffing. She also asked for the firms’ actions in response to the client requirements, including producing related documents. Reuters contributed to this report.
Trump says he’ll speak with Putin in call to push for truce in Ukraine
President Donald Trump said he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about the final points of a deal to end the war in Ukraine. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said many “elements” of the Final Agreement” have been agreed to “but much remains.” “Thousands of young soldiers, and others, are being killed. Each week brings 2,500 soldier deaths, from both sides, and it must end NOW,” Trump wrote. “I look very much forward to the call with President Putin.” TRUMP, PUTIN CALL EXPECTED THIS WEEK, AS ADMIN EDGES CLOSER TO RUSSIA-UKRAINE CEASEFIRE DEAL: WITKOFF Some points of discussion could involed territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Trump administration has been working on a deal to end the three-year war. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko reportedly said that the Kremlin wants an “ironclad” guarantee that Ukraine will be prohibited from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that “we have never been closer to peace,” as the U.S. waits for Russia’s answer on a 30-day ceasefire agreement. Ukraine accepted the deal earlier in the week after a meeting with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia, on the condition that Moscow commits to the plan. PUTIN IN NO RUSH TO FOLLOW ‘TRUMP TIME’ CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for tougher sanctions on Russia and accused Putin of trying to drag out the peace talks to prolong the war. “It’s clear to everyone in the world—even to those who refused to acknowledge the truth for the past three years—that it is Putin who continues to drag out this war,” the Ukrainian leader wrote Monday on X. “For a week now, Putin has been unable to squeeze out ‘yes’ to the ceasefire proposal. He’s saying whatever he wants, but not what the whole world wants to hear.” He called for world leaders to pressure Moscow into ending the conflict. “The unconditional ceasefire proposal is essentially about saving lives, allowing diplomats to work on ensuring security and a lasting peace—the proposal that Russia is ignoring,” he said. “Pressure is needed to finally make Moscow accept that their war must be brought to an end.”