All illegal migrants held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have been sent to Louisiana
All 40 illegal migrants held at the Guantánamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba have been sent back to the United States and are now being held in Louisiana, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News. The group includes 23 “high-threat illegal aliens” who were held at the detention facility on base and 17 migrants who were held at the migrant operations center on base. The illegal migrants were transported to Louisiana via Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aircraft and there are currently no migrants being held at the base and no flights scheduled to arrive with more migrants, the officials said. ‘WEAPONIZED MIGRATION’: US FACES DEADLY CONSEQUENCES WITH MADURO IN POWER, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION WARNS The U.S. defense officials were not told why the 40 migrants were sent back to the United States, and Homeland Security and ICE have not yet responded to any inquiries about why they were sent back and where in Louisiana they are being held. It is unclear if the U.S. will continue to hold migrants at the base, commonly known as “Gitmo.” None of the 195 tents that were set up to hold migrants have been used because they do not meet ICE standards, according to several U.S. defense officials, such as having air conditioning and other amenities. In late January, President Donald Trump instructed the Pentagon to prepare 30,000 beds at the base to house “criminal illegal aliens” who pose a threat to the American public, adding that putting them there would ensure they do not come back. The president said the move would bring the U.S. one step closer to “eradicating the scourge” of migrant crime in communities, once and for all. VANCE TAKES VICTORY LAP IN BORDER VISIT AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT NUMBERS PLUMMET But the operation to build more tents was halted back in February, just several weeks after it started. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the base in late February and met with troops serving there. The 45-square-mile base, located about 430 miles southeast of Miami, is best known for detaining terrorism suspects, including those behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It’s been leased from Cuba since 1903 and serves as a key operational and logistics hub for maritime security, humanitarian assistance and joint operations. News of the migrants being sent to Louisiana comes as President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in an effort to pave the way for faster mass deportations of illegal immigrants. Trump will use the law to target members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, the New York Post reported, citing two sources close to the administration. Trump campaigned on invoking the wartime law, which allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation. Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Republican AGs praise teamwork with feds on crime ahead of meeting with Trump, Bondi
FIRST ON FOX – GOP state attorneys general previewed their upcoming meeting Friday at the Department of Justice, where President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will discuss collaborating with state top cops to combat crime. Fox News Digital is told much of the conversation is expected to focus on fighting the scourge of fentanyl in communities. Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday previewing his Justice Department speech. He nodded to problems faced in cities, such as subway violence. “We don’t want to have crime in the streets. We don’t want to have people pushed into subways and killed,” Trump said. “We want to have safety in our cities, as well as in our communities, and we’ll be talking about immigration. We’ll be talking about a lot of things. The complete gamut.” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares championed Bondi’s “proactive” approach, saying he had received more calls from the DOJ in Trump’s first 30 days in office than he did in his prior three years of service under the Biden administration. “They keep open lines of communication. Whereas, before, the only time I ever heard from Merrick Garland was if he was trying to sue Virginia for some reason,” Miyares told Fox News Digital. Miyares said he viewed the fentanyl epidemic as both a national security and domestic challenge, citing how an average of 105,000 Americans were dying every 12 months of addiction deaths at the peak of the crisis. By contrast, over 50,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War over the course of 15 years. “It was two Vietnam wars happening every 12 months in this country to absolutely devastating impact. Virginia was not lost on that,” Miyares said. FENTANYL’S FINANCIAL GRIP ON US SKYROCKETED TO $2.7T AT HEIGHT OF BIDEN ADMIN: STUDY Virginia has seen a 40% reduction in addiction deaths since 2021, one of the most significant drops in the country, Miyares said, arguing he and Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s three-prong approach of prosecution, prevention and treatment can be applied nationally. He noted that Trump’s nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, is currently serving as Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. “He’s going to be an exceptional, exceptional head of a DEA,” Miyares said. “He knows what we’ve done in Virginia because he’s been part of it. I look forward to seeing him bring that nationwide.” Miyares praised Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. As for the Biden administration, Miyares said he “never felt that they took it as seriously.” He said one federal agent told him the Biden administration discouraged posting about drug busts online, describing the attitude at the top of the bureaucracy as signaling,[ “We don’t want to admit we have a drug problem in this country.” “It was almost like an ostrich with its head in the sand. The other problem was the border. More fentanyl was crossing our southern border in one year to kill every man, woman and child in America three or four times over. It was staggering,” Miyares said. “The reality is the Sinaloa Cartel is the single most dangerous criminal enterprise, I would argue, in the history of the world, they have a reach that is staggering.” “It was President Trump who has declared the cartels a foreign terrorist organization. The Biden administration could have done so,” Miyares said. “These were criminal enterprises that, in my opinion, were conducting chemical warfare on everyday Americans to levels that we don’t see even lost in war or happening to our kids, our friends and our neighbors. They are terrorist organizations.” With Democrats having lost control of both houses of Congress, Democratic attorneys general have led their party’s charge against the Trump administration’s agenda on a number of issues, including immigration. Miyares urged fellow state top cops across the aisle to “lock arms and work together” when it comes to the fentanyl epidemic, because “it affects every American Republican or Democrat, red state or blue state.” “Make sure you do that partnership so we can save lives, because our real enemy is not the other political party,” he said. “Our real enemy are the cartels and these dealers poisoning our kids.” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday told Fox News Digital that keeping families together is a crucial component to public safety. He also said that Republicans must have a greater presence in inner cities long controlled by Democrats. “The only way that we can maximize outcomes to keep people safe in this country is when we all work together. And having a Justice Department that’s aligned with my philosophy of public safety, that without safe communities, nothing else matters, it puts us in a position where we can take that collaboration to the next level,” Sunday said. “Citizens have the absolute right to demand that their government works to keep them safe.” “As I go into this meeting tomorrow, I view this through a positive lens. This is an opportunity for us,” he told Fox News Digital. “This epidemic not only is killing people. It’s destroying our economy, and it’s tearing families apart. And that’s one of the absolute worst parts of this. You know that the family in America is one of the most crucial components to a thriving community and public safety.” “When you have addiction permeating our community, that tears families apart. And it’s something that I absolutely do not want to see,” Sunday said. “Local law enforcement cannot do the job by themselves.” SENATE DEMOCRATS SAY THEY’LL OPPOSE GOP FUNDING BILL AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DEADLINE LOOMS He said from his experience as a local prosecutor that some of the “most painful meetings I’ve ever had are with parents who’ve lost their children to addiction.” “The thought of having to watch a child slip away into the web of addiction and become someone that’s not even, you know, the person that you knew. It’s so gut-wrenching,” he said. Sunday said part of
Dems cry foul after Schumer’s announcement on impending vote to avert government shutdown
As the prospect of a partial government shutdown looms and the Senate is poised to vote on a House-passed government-funding measure that would avert a shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on Thursday that he “will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.” He said that while the “bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse.” The senator’s announcement prompted pushback from some Democrats. “I cannot underscore enough how incorrect that is,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said of Schumer’s argument. “What voting for this CR does is that it codifies the chaos and the reckless cuts that Elon Musk has been pursuing, the robbing of our federal government in order to finance tax cuts for billionaires is what is happening. And that is what Senate Democrats will be empowering if they vote for this CR.” CHUCK SCHUMER WILL VOTE TO KEEP GOVERNMENT OPEN: ‘FOR DONALD TRUMP, A SHUTDOWN WOULD BE A GIFT’ “Respectfully Senator Schumer, no,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., wrote on X. “This Republican bill is bad for workers, bad for our veterans, bad for our seniors. Republicans should pull it and let us get back to work crafting a budget that works for all of our families.” “WTF? @SenSchumer please grow a spine. And quickly,” wrote Susan Rice, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and then as national security advisor during President Barack Obama’s administration. She later served as domestic policy advisor during a portion of President Joe Biden’s administration. SCOOP: TRUMP CRAFTS PLAN TO CUT SPENDING WITHOUT CONGRESS AFTER SHUTDOWN IS AVERTED “It is clear that some of us understand the present danger & some don’t!” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, declared on X. “I stand by the NO vote on the blank check for Trump & Elon… I’ve got no explanation nor agreement with Senate Dems being complicit in Trump’s Tyranny.” While Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, even if all GOP senators were on board with the proposal — which they are not, as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has declared himself a “hell no” on the measure — they cannot advance to a vote unless multiple Democrats join with them to surmount a procedural hurdle. WHITE HOUSE VIDEO RIPS SENATE DEMS WITH THEIR OWN WORDS FOR ‘HYPOCRISY’ OVER LOOMING SHUTDOWN CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Only one Democrat voted to pass the measure when it cleared the House chamber earlier this week.
Federal safety rule on baby cushions goes too far, contradicts Trump agenda, legal group claims
FIRST ON FOX: A baby products manufacturer is challenging a new federal regulation as overly broad and contrary to President Donald Trump‘s agenda of reigning in three-letter agencies and commissions. New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed suit Thursday in Washington, D.C. against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) over a new federal safety standard for infant support cushions. NCLA, on behalf of Heroes Technology, says the commission misinterprets the term “durable” in the provision to include items not previously covered by the standard, like cushions and other such products. NCLA argues that the CPSC previously only included items that fell squarely within the accepted definition of “durable” as delineated by congressional statute – cribs, for example, as well as high chairs, swings and other products. SCOOP: TRUMP CRAFTS PLAN TO CUT SPENDING WITHOUT CONGRESS AFTER SHUTDOWN IS AVERTED “We think that this is a pure case of statutory construction that guides agency authority and over here they step their bounds,” Kara Rollins, Litigation Counsel at NCLA, told Fox News Digital. Rollins said that, via the provision in question, the commission is “shortcutting and bypassing really important procedural checks, evidentiary requirements in order to push out a regulation faster.” NCLA had previously sent CPSC a letter requesting a stay of the rule, saying that it “establishes an arbitrary and ineffective safety standard.” NCLA sought “postponement and reconsideration” in light of one of Trump’s executive orders ordering all executive agencies and departments to halt issuing new rules and regulations pending review and approval. “The president has said to these agencies, ‘You must do X’, and it’s not clear that they’re actually following through with what’s required of them,” Rollins said. Rollins said that the rule not only affects Heroes Technology but also extends to “thousands of manufacturers [and] thousands of manufacturing jobs” both in and outside the U.S. LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS “It’s emblematic,” Rollins said of the broader implications of the rule. “When an agency is not held to account, when it’s not held to the standards set out by the statute, or is independent and doesn’t answer to the president in its own mind, then these sorts of self-aggrandizements tend to occur.” Rollins said that while the rule applies to a specific sector of businesses and products, “there’s not really anything that stops it from sort of infiltrating further unless there’s a check on their power.” “And one thing we’re very clear on is that it’s not that we don’t think our clients’ products can’t be regulated or shouldn’t be regulated, but how Congress said they should be regulated,” Rollins said. “Congress said if you’re a durable infant good, everything else has to go through the process, and it’s our view that it should have went through the other process.” HERE ARE TRUMP’S TOP ACCOMPLISHMENTS 50 DAYS INTO HIS OVAL OFFICE RETURN Rollins and NCLA argue that infant cushions such as the ones in the case should undergo a separate process that “is more onerous, more rigorous, requires more data, more fact-finding.” The suit comes as the Trump administration works to reel in the administrative state via executive orders, directives and legal challenges. In February, Trump signed one order in particular that requires federal agencies to evaluate all of their regulations that could violate the Constitution as the administration continues to prioritize slashing red tape. The administrative state was previously dealt a blow by the Supreme Court in 2024 when it overturned the Chevron doctrine. In the landmark decision, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court effectively scaled back administrative power by holding that “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.” The doctrine previously gave deference to an agency’s interpretation of a federal regulation. Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
Trump admin cracks down on groups tied to Iran targeting US citizens, sanctions Iranian-linked Swedish gang
The Trump administration unveiled new sanctions on Wednesday against an Iranian-linked Swedish gang that coordinated an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm in January 2024, according to the Treasury Department. The sanctions freeze assets for members and those affiliated with the Foxtrot Network, a transnational criminal organization that the Treasury Department said is one of the most “prominent” drug trafficking organizations in the region. The sanctions also single out and target the group’s fugitive leader, Rawa Majid. “Iran’s brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime’s attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a Wednesday statement. “Treasury, alongside our U.S. government and international partners, will continue to hold accountable those who seek to further Iran’s thuggish and destabilizing agenda.” TRUMP REINSTATES ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ CAMPAIGN AGAINST IRAN In addition to trafficking drugs, the Foxtrot Network is a criminal organization that conducts violent acts, including shootings, contract killings and assaults, and is responsible for increased violence in Sweden. It is notorious for employing teenagers to conduct these violent acts, according to the Treasury Department. Iran has increasingly utilized criminal networks to conduct attacks targeting the U.S. as well as attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe, the Treasury Department said. For example, the agency accused Iran of colluding with the Foxtrot Network to conduct an attack on the Israeli Embassy in 2024 after Swedish officials identified a “dangerous object” believed to be an explosive device at the embassy. While security forces neutralized the device, Sweden’s security police moved to investigate the attack as a “terrorist crime,” according to Reuters. The Treasury Department also said on Wednesday that Majid has coordinated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which is already under U.S. sanctions, and faces charges in Sweden pertaining to narcotics and firearms trafficking. The White House referred Fox News Digital to the Treasury and State Department’s statements on the sanctions. The sanctions against Majid and the Foxtrot Network align with President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, which he reinstated in February through a series of sanctions aimed at sinking Iran’s oil exports. TRUMP SAYS ‘SOMETHING’S GOING TO HAPPEN VERY SOON’ WITH IRAN AS HE PUSHES TO NEGOTIATE NUCLEAR DEAL Trump signaled Friday a nuclear deal with Iran could emerge shortly, and he revealed that he sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to push for Tehran to agree to a nuclear agreement. Otherwise, he said Tehran could count on facing military consequences. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I would rather negotiate a deal,” Trump told Fox Business in an interview Sunday. “I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily.” “But the time is happening now, the time is coming up,” he said. “Something is going to happen one way or the other. I hope that Iran, and I’ve written them a letter saying I hope you’re going to negotiate, because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them.”
USPS signs agreement with DOGE, agrees to cut 10,000 workers: ‘Broken business model’
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy informed members of Congress on Thursday he has signed an agreement with the General Services Administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget. In a letter to Congress, DeJoy lamented that the Postal Service has a “broken business model that was not financially sustainable without critically necessary and core change.” “Fixing a broken organization that had experienced close to $100 billion in losses and was projected to lose another $200 billion, without a bankruptcy proceeding, is a daunting task,” DeJoy wrote. “Fixing a heavily legislated and overly regulated organization as massive, important, cherished, misunderstood and debated as the United States Postal Service, with such a broken business model, is even more difficult.” DOGE will assist USPS with addressing “big problems” at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has sometimes struggled in recent years to stay afloat. The agreement aims to help the Postal Service identify and achieve “further efficiencies.” DOGE SAYS 239 CONTRACTS CANCELED OVER 2 DAYS, INCLUDING A GRANT TO TEACH TRANS FARMERS ABOUT ‘FOOD JUSTICE’ USPS listed such issues as mismanagement of the agency’s retirement assets and Workers’ Compensation Program, as well as an array of regulatory requirements that the letter described as “restricting normal business practice.” “This is an effort aligned with our efforts, as while we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done,” DeJoy wrote. HOUSE DEM GOES ON SCREAMING RANT AGAINST ELON MUSK, DOGE: ‘SHAME!’ Critics of the agreement fear negative effects of the cuts will be felt across America. Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerald Connolly, of Virginia, who was sent the letter, said turning over the Postal Service to DOGE would result in it being undermined and privatized. “The only thing worse for the Postal Service than DeJoy’s ‘Delivering for America’ plan is turning the service over to Elon Musk and DOGE so they can undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans’ loss,” Connolly said in a statement. He added: “This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans – especially those in rural and hard to reach areas – who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more. Reliable mail delivery can’t just be reserved for MAGA supporters and Tesla owners.” DOGE AND AGENCIES CANCEL 200,000 FEDERAL CREDIT CARDS The National Association of Letter Carriers President Brian L. Renfroe said in a statement in response to Thursday’s letter that they welcome anyone’s help with addressing some of the agency’s biggest problems but stood firmly against any move to privatize the Postal Service. “Common sense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees’ jobs, 7.9 million jobs tied to our work, and the universal service every American relies on daily,” he said. USPS currently employs about 640,000 workers tasked with making deliveries from inner cities to rural areas and even far-flung islands. The service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to the letter. The agency previously announced plans to cut its operating costs by more than $3.5 billion annually. And this isn’t the first time thousands of employees have been cut. In 2021, the agency cut 30,000 workers. As the service that has operated as an independent entity since 1970 has struggled to balance the books with the decline of first-class mail, it has fought calls from President Donald Trump and others that it be privatized. Last month, Trump said he may put USPS under the control of the Commerce Department in what would be an executive branch takeover.
Convicted Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to obstruction of justice, calls himself ‘proud patriot’
Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member convicted of leaking highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, used his court-martial Thursday to describe himself as a “proud patriot” who was trying to expose the supposed “lies” of the Biden administration. After pleading guilty to military charges of obstructing justice, the 23-year-old acknowledged he knew his actions were illegal but felt he needed to share the truth about how the Biden administration was, in his view, misleading the American public about the war in Ukraine. “If I saved even one American, Russian or Ukrainian life against this senseless money-grab war, my punishment was worth it,” he said, adding that he was “comfortable in how history will remember my actions.” Teixeira drew parallels with President Donald Trump, alleging he too was a victim of a weaponized Justice Department. He called on the Trump administration to “review my double prosecution and punishments with an eye towards reversing deep-state actions and showing truth, no matter how embarrassing to the Biden administration.” TRUMP SALUTES ‘FEARLESS’ MILITARY, POLICE DOGS ON K-9 VETERANS DAY: ‘CANINE COURAGE’ Teixeira was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act following his arrest for sharing classified documents on a Discord chatroom. BORDER AREA BUSTLING UNDER BIDEN NOW QUIET UNDER TRUMP, SAYS VETERANS GROUP: ‘AMAZING DIFFERENCE’ The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a U.S. adversary’s plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas. Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the U.S. The security breach forced the Biden administration to scramble to try to contain diplomatic and military fallout. The leaks also embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members found to have intentionally failed to take the required action regarding Teixeira’s suspicious behavior.
Second judge orders Trump admin to rehire probationary workers let go in mass firings
A second judge late Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate probationary workers who were let go in mass firings across multiple agencies. In Baltimore, U.S. District Judge James Bredar, an Obama appointee, found that the administration ignored laws set out for large-scale layoffs. Bredar ordered the firings halted for at least two weeks and the workforce returned to the status quo before the layoffs began. He sided with nearly two dozen states that filed a lawsuit alleging the mass firings are illegal and already having an impact on state governments as they try to help those who are suddenly jobless. The ruling followed a similar one by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who found Thursday morning that terminations across six agencies were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the authority to do so. MICHELLE OBAMA REVEALS OBAMA NEEDED TO ‘ADJUST’ TO BE PUCNTUAL, LEAVE ON TIME Alsup’s order tells the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury to immediately offer job reinstatement to employees terminated on or about Feb. 13 and 14. He also directed the departments to report back within seven days with a list of probationary employees and an explanation of how the agencies complied with his order as to each person. The temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and organizations as the Republican administration moves to reduce the federal workforce. The Trump administration has already appealed Alsup’s ruling, arguing that the states have no right to try and influence the federal government’s relationship with its own workers. Justice Department attorneys argued the firings were for performance issues, not large-scale layoffs subject to specific regulations. CHUCK SCHUMER WILL VOTE TO KEEP GOVERNMENT OPEN: ‘FOR DONALD TRUMP, A SHUTDOWN WOULD BE A GIFT’ Probationary workers have been targeted for layoffs across the federal government because they’re usually new to the job and lack full civil service protection. Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the mass firings. Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment. Alsup, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, has found that difficult to believe. He planned to hold an evidentiary hearing on Thursday, but Ezell did not appear to testify in court or even sit for a deposition, and the government retracted his written testimony. There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers across federal agencies. They include entry-level employees but also workers who recently received a promotion.
DOGE says 239 contracts canceled over 2 days, including a grant to teach trans farmers about ‘food justice’
Over a two-day period, 239 “wasteful” contracts with a “ceiling value” of $1.7 billion have been terminated, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said Thursday, including a grant intended to teach transgender and queer urban farmers about “food justice.” The elimination of the contracts represents a savings of $400 million, according to a DOGE tweet posted on X. Among them included an $8.5 million consulting contract for “fiscal stewardship to improve management and program operations in order to drive innovation and improve efficiency and effectiveness of business services; rethink, realign and reskill the workforce; and enhance program delivery through a number of transformational initiatives.” DOGE PROTESTERS RALLY OUTSIDE KEY DEPARTMENT AFTER EMPLOYEES ARE TOLD NOT TO REPORT TO WORK On Tuesday, DOGE announced the National Institutes of Health canceled multiple federal grants related to trans and sexual identity. Those include $699,000 for studying “cannabis use” among “sexual minority gender diverse individuals” and $620,000 for “an LGB+ inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys,” DOGE said. DOGE AND AGENCIES CANCEL 200,000 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CREDIT CARDS Another included $225,000 in federal funds for the University of Colorado to study the “effects of hormones on headaches in transmasculine adolescents.” On Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted that a $379,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant in the San Francisco Bay Area to educate queer, trans and BIPOC urban farmers and consumers about food justice and values-aligned markets had been canceled. “By stopping this wasteful spending here at USDA, we are ending identity politics, and we are refocusing our agency on its core mission of supporting American farming, ranching and forestry,” she said in a video message.
Trump salutes ‘fearless’ military, police dogs on K-9 Veterans Day: ‘canine courage’
President Donald Trump on Thursday saluted the heroic canines who “defend our citizens and our homeland.” National K-9 Veterans Day is an annual March 13 celebration of “canine courage,” and the bravery of military and police dogs. “Serving on the front lines, in combat zones, and at our borders, these fearless four-legged fighters are an invaluable part of protecting America,” Trump said in a Thursday message to commemorate the day. In the military, more than 30,000 “dedicated working dogs” — with 1,600 working dogs actively serving — have provided frontline support to U.S. service members, according to the White House. These warriors are trained in detecting explosives and drugs, and assisting in search and rescue operations. Famous military working dogs include Army Special Operations Forces dog Conan — the 50-combat-mission veteran named after late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien — who helped track Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi when he was killed in October 2019 in Syria. Conan was injured on the mission but made a full recovery. CONAN, A DOG INJURED IN AL BAGHDADI RAID, HONORED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AT WHITE HOUSE In 2019 at the White House, Trump gave a medal and plaque to Conan, who had been assigned to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. The doggo later was adopted by his former handler and passed away in 2023. White House protector and most decorated K-9 in U.S. history, Hurricane, died in February after more than a decade in the Secret Service. The 16-year-old Belgian Malnois — whose accolades included a Secret Service Award for Meritorious Service, Distinguished Service Medal and Department of Homeland Security Secretary’s Award for Valor — made a national name for himself after taking down an intruder who had breached the White House gate in 2014. Mere yards away were former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, watching a movie in the White House theater, according to The New York Times. WHITE HOUSE PROTECTOR AND MOST DECORATED K-9 IN US HISTORY DIES: ‘A VERY GOOD BOY’ In 2022, Hurricane was one of three dogs to become the first recipients of the Animals in War & Peace Distinguished Service Medal on Capitol Hill — earning him a spot among the famed Guinness World Records. He received the award alongside Yorkshire Terrier and World War II Army Air Corps veteran Smoky, who helped lay communication wires in the Philippines, and Coast Guard explosive detection dog Feco, a Hungarian Vizsla who at the time had conducted more than 365 bomb searches, according to the records book. Trump also nodded to now-deceased SEAL Team Six operator veteran Cairo, who played a significant role in the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011, and Marine veteran Rex, who “saved countless lives by detecting explosives in combat in Iraq.” The German shepherd served alongside Corps Cpl. Megan Leavey, whose heroic service with the dog was depicted in the 2017 film namesake. DOG THAT SERVED OUR NATION IS REUNITED WITH ITS FORMER AIR FORCE HANDLER: ‘IT’S BEEN A BLESSING’ Trump said Thursday, “As we remember the fallen, we thank all of the brave veterans of the K-9 Corps who protect the American people and our way of life, living up to the name of man’s best friend.” Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.