‘We have never been this close to peace’ since Russia invaded Ukraine, Leavitt tells reporters
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday 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 this week after a meeting with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia, on the condition that Moscow commits to the plan. Leavitt noted that this morning President Donald Trump put out a scathing Truth Social post that included a message urging the Russians to accept the U.S. ceasefire proposal. TRUMP ‘HOPES’ PUTIN AGREES TO CEASEFIRE AS MOSCOW SIGNALS NO TRUCE YET “He is putting pressure on President Putin and the Russians to do the right thing,” Leavitt told reporters. “Yesterday was a productive day for the United States of America and for the world. In terms of peace, we have never been this close to peace.” In celebrating the administration’s success, Leavitt pointed out that yesterday NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Trump’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war. Rutte told Trump that he “broke the deadlock” in the Russia-Ukraine war with this week’s peace talks in Saudi Arabia and the opening of a “dialogue with the Russians.” ZELENSKYY ACCUSES PUTIN OF TRYING TO STALL CEASEFIRE TALKS, PUSHES TRUMP FOR TOUGHER SANCTIONS “Ukraine, you broke the deadlock, as you said, all the killing and the young people dying, cities getting destroyed. And the fact that you did that, you started a dialogue with the Russians and the successful talks in Saudi Arabia, now with the Ukrainians. I really want to commend you for this,” Rutte said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for tougher sanctions on Russia and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to drag out the peace talks to prolong the war. However, on Thursday, while taking questions from reporters alongside Rutte, Trump said he would prefer peace to sanctions, but noted that there were things the U.S. could do financially that would be “very bad for Russia.” He did not specify what that would entail.
Tulsi Gabbard lists ‘recent examples of unauthorized leaks’ from intelligence community, announces crackdown
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a crackdown on leaks within the intelligence community. Gabbard — a former Democratic congresswoman turned Trump-supporting Republican — was sworn in to the DNI post last month. “Our nation’s Intelligence Community must be focused on our national security mission. Politically motivated leaks undermine our national security and the trust of the American people, and will not be tolerated,” she declared on Friday in a thread on X TULSI GABBARD’S WARNING TO SENATE ON SYRIA PROVES PROPHETIC AS AL QAEDA-LINKED REGIME SLAUGHTERS MINORITIES “Unfortunately, such leaks have become commonplace with no investigation or accountability. That ends now. We know of and are aggressively pursuing recent leakers from within the Intelligence Community and will hold them accountable,” Gabbard added. She then listed several “recent examples” of intelligence community leaks: GABBARD SAYS BIDEN ADMIN IGNORED ‘HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE’ CHATS HAPPENING AT NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCIES She concluded the thread by warning that unauthorized disclosure of classified material is a breach of the law and will be handled accordingly. “I’m grateful that @DNIGabbard is working to end leaking and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community. Another promise made and promise kept,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a post. TULSI GABBARD SWORN IN AT WHITE HOUSE HOURS AFTER SENATE CONFIRMATION CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, tweeted, “Restore an intelligence community that fits within the Constitution, and stays focused on America’s national security.”
Sununu says ‘door is not closed’ on ’26 Senate run in battleground New Hampshire: ‘I would win’
NEWFIELDS, N.H. – Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is keeping the door open to a possible Republican run next year in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Sununu, who enjoys a large national profile, thanks to his regular appearances the past few years on the cable news networks and Sunday talk shows, emphasized that the “door is not closed,” when asked on Fox News Radio’s “The Guy Benson Show” if he’s considering a Senate run. And Sununu, who was elected and re-elected to four straight two-year terms as governor of the key New England swing state, touted on Thursday that if he were to run, “I would win, by the way.” WHY THIS LONGTIME DEMOCRATIC SENATOR ISN’T RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION NEXT YEAR The 78-year-old Shaheen, the first woman in the nation’s history to win election as governor and as a U.S. senator, announced this week that she would retire at the end of next year rather than seek a fourth six-year term in the Senate. ONLY ON FOX NEWS: SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S AIMING FOR IN 2026 Even before Shaheen’s announcement, her seat in New Hampshire was considered one of the GOP’s top pick-up opportunities in the 2026 midterms – along with Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is also retiring, and Georgia, where Republicans consider first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff vulnerable – as Republicans hope to expand their current 53-47 majority. Sununu, in 2021, expressed interest in running for the Senate against his predecessor as governor, Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan, who was up for re-election in 2022. And the popular governor was heavily courted by national Republicans to take on Hassan. But on Nov. 9, 2021, Sununu announced that he would instead run for a fourth term as governor, upsetting many Republicans in the nation’s capital. TOP POLITICAL HANDICAPPER REVEALS DEMOCRATS CHANCES OF WINNING BACK THE SENATE MAJORITY And he heavily criticized the Senate. “When you look at what their (senators) job is and what a governor’s job is . . . it’s not even close. I can’t tell you how many senators told me, ‘You’re just going to have to wait around a couple of years to get anything done.’ Can you imagine me sitting around a couple of years,” Sununu emphasized at the time. “They debate and talk and nothing gets done. . . . That’s not the world I live in.” Fast-forward to this past year, and Sununu repeatedly said he wouldn’t seek to run for the Senate in 2026. In a November interview with Fox News Digital, the then-governor reiterated what he had first said in a July interview. “Definitely ruling out running for the Senate in 2026. Yeah, definitely not on my dance card,” Sununu said in an interview along the sidelines of the Republican Governors Association winter meeting in Florida. The 50-year-old Sununu, who when he was first elected in 2016 was the nation’s youngest governor, was asked again about a 2026 Senate run in a Fox News Digital interview in early January, in his last full day in office. SUNUNU OPENS UP ABOUT WHAT’S NEXT AFTER HE FINISHES HIS TERM AS GOVERNOR “I’m not planning on running for anything right now. I’m really not, at least for the next two, four, six years,” he emphasized. “Who knows what happens down the road, but it would be way down the road and nothing, nothing I’m planning on, nothing my family would tolerate either short term.” Sununu, in his interview on Thursday, cautioned that while he’s keeping the door open to a potential 2026 campaign, “I’m not saying it’s a high probability. Can’t wait to jump in. Definitely not.” As for his change of mind from his steadfast no to a slight maybe, Sununu said that “some folks in New Hampshire especially, and some of our mutual friends in Washington, D.C., have asked me to at least keep the door open and reconsider, and I am.” As for his timetable for making a decision, Sununu said on Friday in an interview on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” that he would “take a few weeks to think about it.” Sununu isn’t the only Republican mulling a Senate bid in New Hampshire. Former Sen. Scott Brown, of Massachusetts, who later narrowly lost to Shaheen in New Hampshire in the 2014 election, is seriously considering a 2026 run. FORMER TRUMP AMBASSADOR EYES SENATE RETURN Brown, who served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during President Donald Trump’s first administration, has been holding meetings with Republicans across New Hampshire for a couple of months and has met multiple times with GOP officials in the nation’s capital. Brown recently met with top Trump administration political officials at the White House, sources tell Fox News Digital. Brown, who told Fox News Digital late last year that he was seriously considering a Senate run, took aim at Granite State Democrats, arguing that “they’re just completely out of touch with what we want here in New Hampshire. And the more I think about it, I think we can do better.” Sununu, who’s long been known for his frenetic pace and his confidence on the campaign trail, highlighted, “I know how to run. I know how to win. . . . I think we’ve got a great record here. I just know my voters, and they know me. . . . And so, if I really wanted to do this, I have no doubt we could be very, very successful. I know that sounds arrogant. . . . I don’t care. I’m just saying things are the ABCs of me winning.” On his past criticism of how the Senate functions, Sununu noted that “there’s something that definitely changed from when I really didn’t want to do it in ’22 to today. You know, specifically just the priority. I mean, back then, I had Republicans in the U.S. Senate telling me balancing budgets didn’t matter,” Sununu elaborated. And he argued that “clearly that has changed.”
Nancy Pelosi urges senators to oppose key spending bill, risking shutdown
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and several key Democrats are urging Senate Democrats to risk a government shutdown by opposing a must-pass spending bill being considered on the Senate floor today. Instead, Pelosi, who represents San Francisco and is a leading Democrat in the House, is urging senators to back a shorter-term funding extension that would allow more time for negotiation. The Senate will take a key procedural vote on Friday afternoon to potentially tee up final passage of a crucial stopgap government spending bill – known as a continuing resolution (CR) – to avoid a partial shutdown as time runs out. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed that he would vote for the House-passed CR, because “a shutdown would be a gift” for President Donald Trump and Republicans. DEMOCRATS FACE PRESSURE TO ACT AND AVOID A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN Pelosi, a leading Democrat in the House, however, is saying the bill presents a “false choice.” “Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America,” she wrote on X. “Let’s be clear,” she went on, “neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.” Pelosi commended House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats for overwhelmingly voting against the bill. DEMOCRATS BLAST SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER FOR BACKING GOP SPENDING BILL She said that Democratic senators “should listen to the women” in Congress. “Appropriations leaders Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement,” said Pelosi. “America has experienced a Trump shutdown before – but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse,” she said. “Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People.” Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a billionaire and another elected official seen as a leading Democrat voice, is also urging Senate Democrats to oppose the bill. DEM GOVERNOR TO HEADLINE MAJOR FUNDRAISER IN KEY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY STATE STOKING 2028 SPECULATION “Democrats have the power to stop the cessation of power to Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and they should use it,” he said in a press release. He slammed congressional Republicans for having “abdicated their responsibility” to keep Trump’s power in check. “America was founded on the concept of checks and balances, but Republicans in Congress have decided to bend their knee to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their cronies who seek to gut our government from the inside out. It is dangerous,” he said. “Democrats have the ability to force bipartisanship and bring the two sides together to make a budget that reflects priorities we all ought to share,” he added. “I urge a no vote on the Continuing Resolution.”
Pentagon calls Mark Milley ‘corpulent’ as it kicks off review of physical fitness and grooming standards
Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot lobbed a shot at the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, as he explained Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s new review of physical fitness and grooming standards. “Unfortunately, the U.S. military’s high standards on body composition and other metrics eroded in recent years, particularly during the tenure of former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, who set a bad example from the top through his own personal corpulence. Secretary Hegseth is committed to restoring high standards, and this review is the first step in doing so,” Ullyot said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The Pentagon revoked Milley’s security detail and clearance in late January. The review comes after the secretary has voiced concerns that fitness standards have eroded, and questioned whether mismatched standards for men and women are affecting readiness. SECRETARY HEGSETH SAYS THE DOD DOES NOT DO ‘CLIMATE CHANGE CRAP’ The memo specifically calls out protocols for beards. It directs the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness to look at “existing standards set by the Military Departments pertaining to physical fitness, body composition, and grooming, which includes but is not limited to beards.” The memo directs the review to examine how standards have changed since 2015. “Our troops will be fit – not fat. Our troops will look sharp – not sloppy. We seek only quality – not quotas,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X late on Wednesday. HEGSETH ORDERS REVIEW OF MILITARY FITNESS AND GROOMING: ‘OUR ADVERSARIES ARE NOT GROWING WEAKER’ “That will be part of one of the first things we do at the Pentagon – is reviewing that in a gender-neutral way – the standards ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center,” Hegseth promised in January. In December 2015, the military opened up all combat roles to women. In a podcast interview shortly before he was tapped as secretary, Hegseth said the U.S. “should not have women in combat roles.” But during his confirmation hearing, he clarified that in ground combat roles, women should have to meet the same standards as men. DOGE INITIAL FINDINGS ON DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DEI SPENDING COULD SAVE $80M, AGENCY SAYS “Whether it is a man or woman, they have to meet the same high standards,” he said. “In any place where those things have been eroded, or courses or criteria have been changed to meet quotas . . . that’s the kind of review I’m talking about. Not whether women should have access to ground combat.” The review could possibly lead to changes to the Army Combat Fitness Test, which is currently scored under age- and gender-specific requirements. That became the Army’s standard fitness test in 2023, after decades of a physical fitness test that imposed the same standards on men and women. The current test requires men ages 17-21 to run two miles in 22 minutes, and women of the same age to do it in 23 minutes and 22 seconds. The service branches began making accommodations for recruits who don’t meet physical fitness standards in recent years as a way to address the recruiting crisis. The Army and Navy offered pre-boot camp training for those who did not meet physical fitness or testing scores. But those recruits had to meet the same standards in order to graduate from training courses and serve. “When I was in the Army, we kicked out good soldiers for having naked women tattooed on their arms, and today we are relaxing the standards on shaving, dreadlocks, man buns, and straight-up obesity,” Hegseth wrote in his book ‘The War on Warriors.’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Piece by piece, the standards had to go … because of equity,” he added. The service branches have begun allowing troops to sport different hairstyles, in large part due to female service members who argued that the constant tight, low bun was leading to hair loss. In recent years, the Army has begun allowing cornrows and twists after female service members argued that the hairstyles were cheaper and easier to maintain.
Anna Paulina Luna escalates DOJ standoff over Epstein docs, unveils SHRED Act
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wants federal agents caught destroying or concealing government documents to be eligible for a life sentence in prison. Luna, who is leading a task force on the declassification of government records, is introducing a new bill called the Stopping High-level Record Elimination and Destruction (SHRED) Act of 2025. It would levy a mandatory sentence of 20 years to life for any government official or employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ) found to have concealed, removed, or mutilated federal records, according to bill text previewed by Fox News Digital. Federal law currently dictates that anyone found knowingly destroying, falsifying, or obstructing government records “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States” is eligible for a fine or up to 20 years in prison. ‘TIPPING THE SCALES’: HOUSE GOP LEADERS RIP ACTBLUE AFTER DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT HIT WITH SUBPOENA Any custodian of public records found to be destroying or concealing those records could be fined up to $2,000 or face up to three years in prison, or both. Luna’s push for increased penalties comes amid her continued standoff with the Trump administration over the declassification of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr., among others. Trump officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have repeatedly vowed to lead with transparency, including on the subjects of Epstein and Kennedy. However, Luna told Fox News Digital earlier this week that she had not had significant communications with the DOJ about her task force matters. “The DOJ has not been really responsive,” she said Tuesday. “Even if they are, you know, conducting a criminal investigation, you should probably pick up the phone and call us, and not talk about it on the news.” GOPERS PRESS FOR THE RELEASE OF JFK, EPSTEIN FILES: HERE’S WHY THEY’RE NOT OUT Conservative influencer Benny Johnson reported on whistleblower allegations within the last month that rank-and-file agents within the FBI were destroying documents in a bid to block Patel’s work Meanwhile, there has been a tidal wave of pressure from the right for Bondi and Patel to declassify documents about Epstein. An initial round of information, first released to conservative influencers at the White House, was blasted for containing no meaningful evidence implicating anyone in the deceased pedophile’s crimes. Bondi told Fox News host Mark Levin earlier this month that she was misled on the Epstein documents, and that she was alerted after that initial release to the Southern District of New York “sitting on thousands of pages of documents” that she was not in possession of. She said Americans would see “the full Epstein files,” adding, “We will have it in our possession. We will redact it, of course, to protect grand jury information and confidential witnesses, but American people have a right to know.” The DOJ was not able to immediately return a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
Dancing transgender hecklers shut down parents’ event at blue state’s capitol: ‘Sad and unfortunate’
Several provocatively dressed, dancing transgender activists broke into an informational parents’ meeting at the Vermont State House on Wednesday, disrupting the event and forcing the parents to seek another space for their event. The activists played loud music and shouted as event organizers attempted to speak. The Vermont State House Sergeant of Arms refused to remove the trans activists, claiming they had a right to be there, according to the Vermont Daily Chronicle. The parents’ group – the Vermont Family Alliance – was holding an event for ‘Detrans Awareness Day’ and was meant to highlight resources available for formerly transgender-identifying people who have been physically, mentally and emotionally harmed by sex-change treatments. DOGE PROTESTERS RALLY OUTSIDE KEY DEPARTMENT AFTER EMPLOYEES ARE TOLD NOT TO REPORT TO WORK WEDNESDAY Video taken of the incident posted to X shows several transgender activists, one shirtless and wearing a purple tutu and another waving a ribbon baton, dancing around event organizer Renee McGuinness as she tries to give her presentation to parents. Speaking with the Vermont Daily Chronicle, McGuinness said the group had reserved the room for the event for the afternoon. However, State House Sergeant at Arms Agatha Kessler made both groups vacate the room after 30 minutes of continued disruption, citing concerns about both parties’ safety. The Chronicle reported that many event attendees moved to the cafeteria to hold their event. “Our First Amendment rights were denied in this case in favor of a group that was disruptive,” said McGuinness. “That’s not under the First Amendment for one group to just be able to outshout the other, and whoever outshouts the other, then they’ve won their First Amendment Rights at the sacrifice of the other party.” TRUMP GUEST SHARES SPECIAL MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT AFTER ADDRESS TO CONGRESS McGuinness explained that the event was meant to help former transgender people who have been “denied and ostracized and bullied.” “They want to have a voice, and they want healing from their wounds and injuries because of the medical procedures,” she said. McGuiness called for the Vermont legislature, which is majority Democratic, to amend its rules regarding decorum in the state house to respect the rights of groups that have gone through proper channels to reserve an event space. “It’s sad and unfortunate,” said McGuinness. “The First Amendment is really about civil discourse, right? And not censoring one group over another.” “Our First Amendment rights of speech were not protected,” Marie Tiemann, president of Speak VT, a group that was co-hosting the event, told Fox News Digital. NEARLY HALF OF DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STAFF WILL BE ELIMINATED IMMINENTLY “The Sergeant of Arms essentially came down on the side of these activist disrupters,” she said. “We held the event to give a voice to the thousands of detransitioners who are suffering from the real-world harms caused to their emotional and physical health.” Erika Sanzi, Director of Outreach at a national parents group called Parents Defending Education, also spoke out after the incident. “If students and staff are forced to celebrate LGBTQ awareness and Pride, they should also be made aware of the very real and increasingly acute issue of de-transition,” she said. “Vermont can’t have it both ways where they preen about how inclusive they are and then deliberately exclude and even erase the stories of minors who have gone through the process of gender transition and later changed their minds and decided to detransition,” she went on. “This is a big deal —medically and psychologically—and ignoring it reveals ideological bias, bias and callousness.”
50 House Dems railed for ‘political puppet show’ after making identical social media posts
At least 50 House Democrats are being criticized as “actors reading a script” after posting identical talking points to social media, one of several similar online campaigns by Democratic lawmakers. “House Democrats stand united for a four-week funding extension that stops harmful cuts, keeps government open, and allows Congress to reach a bipartisan funding agreement. I am ready to vote today, tomorrow or Friday to pass a four-week extension,” a social media post made by dozens of Democratic lawmakers read on Thursday. The message was posted by the House Democrats X account, as well as by various lawmakers such as “Squad” member Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., “You can see the ridiculous political puppet show for what it really is,” Elon Musk, who is leading cost-cutting efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), wrote in a post on X in response to the identical posts shared by EndWokeness. “They are just actors reading a script.” HAROLD FORD JR.’S MESSAGE TO DEMS: STOP SWEARING AND START GIVING ‘SERIOUS ANSWERS’ “This is the 2025 version of ‘Live by the promise of the hashtag,’” Republican commentator Matt Whitlock said. “Dems are so tacky.” Joe Concha, a Fox News contributor, deemed Democrats the “cut-and-paste party.” Dingell told Fox News Digital why Democrats decided to make the same social media post. “House Democrats shared the same message because we are all unified and ready to keep the government open in a way that serves the American people,” the congresswoman said in a statement. CONSERVATIVES FLIP SCRIPT ON SENATE DEMS PUSHING IDENTICAL TALKING POINTS AGAINST TRUMP: ‘LIKE ROBOTS’ The message comes as part of a new trend by Democratic lawmakers to post coordinated content to social media. Fox News Digital reached out to the House Democratic Caucus for comment. Senate Democrats also faced criticism earlier this year after identical videos to social media ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress in March. The synchronized “S— That Ain’t True” mashup saw at least 22 Democratic Senators repeating the same statement in unison. “Since day one of Donald Trump’s presidency, prices are up, not down. Inflation is getting worse, not better. Prices of groceries, gas, housing, rent, eggs — they’re all getting more expensive. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has done nothing to lower costs for you,” the Democrats, including senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in the video. Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., recently said the video was created with the intention of reaching more people online. “We’re trying to do more things as a caucus that break through. Clearly, this was very successful,” the senator said. Democrats were again recently mocked for a viral “choose your fighter parody,” where several congresswomen, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were seen jumping up and down in a fighting position as if they were video game characters, along with their attributes. Jeremy Hunt, a media fellow at the Hudson Institute, recently told Fox News that Democrats are “lost at sea” with their messaging. “When you don’t have a message, and you have nothing positive to present to the American people, you have no plan, no strategy, you just start to think they are now just going off the reservation, constantly swearing, trying to howl at the moon, and trying to garner some type of resistance to what Trump is doing because they have no message,” Hunt told “Outnumbered in March.
Abortion research group opposes state reporting requirements amid ‘weaponization’ by lawmakers
The “hostile political climate” of the Trump administration means that states must “rethink” their mandated abortion reporting requirements and “vigorously oppose new ones,” according to the nation’s leading abortion research institute. But one pro-life activist told Fox News Digital such a move would be a “serious mistake.” A Guttmacher Institute policy analysis report published this month concluded that “the benefits of state-mandated abortion reporting no longer outweigh the risks, a shift that is likely to accelerate as anti-abortion policymakers double down on punitive approaches to data collection while using the resulting data to further restrict abortion rights and access.” “The enactment of abortion reporting requirements for purely political reasons and their increasing weaponization against patients and providers are clear indications that the harms of this mandatory data collection now outweigh its benefits,” researchers for the pro-abortion rights group said. “To prevent further harms, policymakers at all levels of government should work to remove existing reporting requirements and vigorously oppose new ones, along with any attempt to tie federal funding to abortion reporting.” FDA CHIEF COUNSEL WHO DEFENDED ABORTION PILL ACCESS UNDER BIDEN RESIGNS TWO DAYS INTO JOB Guttmacher, which is considered the gold standard for accurate abortion statistics since it provides more comprehensive data and receives more reporting than the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommended that, instead of doing away with reporting altogether, state policymakers should implement a voluntary form of data collection. Pro-life advocates object to the Guttmacher recommendation. “Rolling back state-mandated abortion reporting would be a serious mistake,” Mia Steupert, research associate at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a pro-life research group, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Considering Dobbs placed the authority to enact protections for unborn children in the hands of the American people and their elected representatives at the federal and state levels, it’s critical to have access to good data so that the impact of those abortion policies can be evaluated,” Steupert said, referring to the 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. CLINTON-ERA LAW ‘WEAPONIZED’ BY BIDEN AGAINST PRO-LIFERS MUST GO, PENCE GROUP URGES HOUSE GOP The normative practice of abortion data collection comes primarily from states that report their numbers to the CDC. The data is then compiled to give a snapshot of how many abortions there are nationwide, the age of the mother and how far along she was. However, while most do, not every state requires abortion providers, hospitals and other medical providers to report their numbers. Currently, 46 states and the District of Columbia have some form of mandated abortion reporting, according to the institute. California, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey do not require reporting. “Even the CDC agrees that accurate abortion data is important for public health in terms of measuring unintended pregnancies and tracking changes in clinical practice,” Steupert said. “Ending state reporting requirements would give the abortion lobby a monopoly on abortion reporting, leaving the American people in the dark about the horrific realities of abortion.” The information gathered in abortion reports varies by state but generally includes details such as the names of the medical facility and clinician involved in the abortion service. Demographic data on the person receiving an abortion, including age, race, ethnicity, marital status, place of residence, gestational age of the pregnancy, the type of abortion elected and number of previous live births are also included. SOROS-BACKED JUDGE DEFENDS REDUCED SENTENCE FOR REPEAT CHILD MOLESTER AT DEBATE IN STATE SUPREME COURT RACE In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Guttmacher said their “recommendation isn’t an argument against states collecting abortion data, but a discussion of the risks and burdens of how it’s collected.” “Ending government-mandated abortion reporting does not contradict the collection of rigorous and accurate abortion data. We urge states to consider changing their laws and regulations to switch to voluntary models of data collection, which can produce high quality data while protecting the safety and privacy of patients and providers. We strongly oppose the intrusive and punitive federal abortion reporting mandate laid out in Project 2025,” the spokesperson said. Project 2025 refers to a policy blueprint by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank and is not an official Trump administration policy guide. The report comes nearly three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – the 1973 decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to abortion – and many states have since enacted abortion bans. The Trump administration also rolled back a Biden-era executive order that federally funded abortion services, re-enacting the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal taxpayer dollars for elective abortions.
FLASHBACK: Biden also paraded electric vehicles at the White House when he drove a Jeep Wrangler in 2021
Democrats pounced on President Donald Trump’s purchase of a red Tesla on Tuesday — even though former President Joe Biden similarly paraded a Jeep Wrangler at the White House in 2021. Trump flaunted the vehicle on the White House’s South Lawn with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also heading up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as Tesla’s stock floundered earlier in the week. The share price rose following the White House event. Democrats decried the move, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee labeled the Trump administration the “most corrupt administration in American history.” But Biden also conducted a similar event at the White House in August 2021, when he drove an electric Jeep Wrangler on the White House South Lawn as part of a meeting with top executives from General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. That event corresponded with Biden signing an executive order aiming for zero-emission vehicles manufactured in the U.S. to make up half of its vehicle production by the end of the decade. TRUMP BUYS RED TESLA MODEL S AT WHITE HOUSE ALONGSIDE ELON MUSK: ‘I LIKE SIGNING A CHECK!’ Musk and Tesla weren’t invited to Biden’s 2021 electic vehicle event. Musk had called out the Biden administration in a post on X at the time, saying, “Yeah, seems odd that Tesla wasn’t invited.” When asked at the time why the White House had excluded Tesla, the largest electric vehicle maker in the U.S., White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that Tesla would receive an invitation for future events. “Well, we of course welcome the efforts of automakers who recognize the potential of an electric vehicle future and support efforts that will help reach the President’s goal, and certainly Tesla is one of those companies,” Psaki said in August 2021. “I would not expect this is the last time we talk about clean cars and the move toward electric vehicles, and we look forward to having a range of partners in that effort.” Meanwhile, the Biden’s administration’s refusal to meet with Musk served as the catalyst for Musk’s departure from the Democratic Party, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported in July 2024 that Musk had voted for Biden in 2020 and had reached out to the Biden White House following his inauguration, but the White House had refused to speak with him. The Journal reported that the Biden White House had hesitated to take Musk up on the offer due to concerns that ties to him would upset the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, since Tesla is the only non-union automaker in the U.S. Psaki said that for the electic vehicle event it had selected the “three largest employers of the United Auto Workers, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.” TESLA REBOUNDS AFTER TRUMP DEFENDS MUSK, BRINGS EVS TO WHITE HOUSE Others criticized Trump for his Tuesday Tesla show. “I’m sure all the people losing their retirement, jobs, and health care because of Trump are glad to see the White House turned into a car dealership for the richest man on the planet,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in an X post. Fox Business’ Breck Dumma contributed to this report.