‘Leave now’: Trump admin repurposes controversial CBP One app to encourage self-deportations
EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is rolling out a new app to replace the controversial CBP One app with the new replacement designed to facilitate the self-deportation of illegal immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security is announcing the CBP Home app — which will launch with a self-deportation reporting feature for those in the country illegally. It replaces the CBP One app, which was expanded by the Biden administration to allow migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry to be paroled into the U.S. Hundreds of thousands were paroled into the U.S. as a result. The Trump administration has ended the ability to use the app for that purpose. All CBP One apps will update to the new CBP Home app. NEARLY 17 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN THE US, 16% INCREASE SINCE 2021: ANALYSIS “The Biden Administration exploited the CBP One App to allow more than 1 million aliens to illegally enter the United States. With the launching of the CBP Home App, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. The app allows aliens 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. “The CBP Home App gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream. If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return,” Noem said. NOEM ENDS BIDEN-ERA USE OF CONTROVERSIAL APP TO ALLOW MIGRANTS TO BOARD FLIGHTS, EXCEPT TO SELF-DEPORT 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. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE Last month, 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 for Temporary Protected Status for some nationalities. Meanwhile, the administration has touted a sharp drop in migrant crossings at the southern border. “They heard my words, and they chose not to come, much easier that way,” Trump told a joint session of Congress last week.
Days from partial government shutdown deadline, here’s where things stand
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is gearing up for a vote on Tuesday on a bill, which, if approved, will avert a partial government shutdown during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s term. Given the lack of support from Democrats, Johnson is betting Republicans can muscle through largely by themselves on the 99-page piece of legislation that would keep federal agencies funded until Sept. 30. Congress must act to avoid a partial government shutdown by Friday, March 14. Despite dozens of conservative defections on continuing resolutions over the past two years, Trump on Saturday called for Republicans to unite to support the bill. “The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (‘CR’)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week,” Trump wrote on TRUTHSocial. “Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order. Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen.” CONGRESS UNVEILS SPENDING PLAN AFTER TRUMP CALLS ON REPUBLICANS TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN “We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right,” Trump added. “VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Still, some Republicans have already signaled they would not support the CR. “I’m not voting for the Continuing Resolution budget (cut-copy-paste omnibus) this week,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., posted to X on Sunday. “Why would I vote to continue the waste fraud and abuse DOGE has found? We were told the CR in December would get us to March when we would fight. Here we are in March, punting again! WTFO.” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., meanwhile, said he has never voted for a continuing resolution, but he is on board with Johnson’s effort. He says he has confidence in Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, to make a difference on the nation’s debt. “I don’t like CRs,” Norman said. “But what’s the alternative? Negotiate with Democrats? No.” In a call with reporters on Saturday, House Republican leadership aides outlined how the bill provides for $892.5 billion in discretionary federal defense spending, and $708 billion in non-defense discretionary spending. The aides emphasized that the bill was “closely coordinated” with the White House – while stopping short of saying Trump backed the measure completely, noting he has not reviewed the specific pages yet. It includes an additional $8 billion in defense dollars in an apparent bid to ease national security hawks’ concerns, while non-defense spending that Congress annually appropriates would decrease by about $13 billion. There is also an added $6 billion for healthcare for veterans. REP. RALPH NORMAN BACKS TRUMP’S PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, PUSHES FOR CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS The White House has requested additional spending in areas that were not present in the last government funding extension, known as “anomalies.” Among the anomalies requested by Trump and being fulfilled by the bill is added funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Aides said the funding is meant to meet “an operations shortfall that goes back to the Biden administration.” “That money, most of that, has already been obligated prior to the start of this administration. So that request reflects an existing hole,” a source said. The bill also ensures that spending caps placed under a prior bipartisan agreement, the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), are followed. The FRA mandated no more than a 1% federal spending increase in FY 2025. Cuts to non-defense discretionary spending would be found by eliminating some “side deals” made during FRA negotiations, House GOP leadership aides said. Lawmakers would also not be given an opportunity to request funding for special pet projects in their districts known as earmarks, another area that Republicans are classifying as savings. The bill does not cover the majority of government spending, including Social Security and Medicare. Funding for those two programs is on autopilot and not regularly reviewed by Congress. Still, Democratic leadership issued a statement Saturday saying they were troubled the bill does not take steps to protect those programs and Medicaid, which Republicans are eying to help pay for extending tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term. “We are voting no,” a trio of House Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said. The top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, both issued statements blasting the legislation. Murray said the legislation would “give Donald Trump and Elon Musk more power over federal spending — and more power to pick winners and losers, which threatens families in blue and red states alike.” DeLauro, in an X post, called the CR “a power grab for the White House.” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the focus must be on preventing a shutdown because closures have negative consequences all across government. “They require certain essential government employees, such as Border Patrol agents, members of our military and Coast Guard, TSA screeners, and air traffic controllers, to report to work with no certainty on when they will receive their next paycheck,” Collins said. “We cannot allow that to occur.” Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump’s eighth week in office set to continue breakneck level of actions, rallying GOP to avoid shutdown
President Donald Trump is expected to have another busy week back in the Oval Office, including rallying Republican Congressional support to pass a continuing resolution ahead of Friday’s government shutdown deadline. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are in the midst of hammering out a stopgap spending bill that would fund the federal government through Sept. 30 or face a shutdown at the end of the week. “I am working with the GREAT House Republicans on a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until September to give us some needed time to work on our Agenda,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Conservatives will love this Bill, because it sets us up to cut Taxes and Spending in Reconciliation, all while effectively FREEZING Spending this year,” Trump added. SECRET SERVICE SHOOTS MAN IN OVERNIGHT ‘ARMED CONFRONTATION’ NEAR WHITE HOUSE Negotiators released a 99-page piece of legislation on Saturday that would roughly maintain current government funding levels through the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2026, which begins Oct. 1. House Republicans have said that they are confident the bill will pass on Republican support alone, Fox Digital previously reported. House Republican leadership aides said in a media call on Saturday that the bill was “closely coordinated” with the White House, but noted that Trump has not reviewed this specific bill. CANADIANS FEEL ‘UNDER ECONOMIC ATTACK,’ FRUSTRATION WITH US OVER TRUMP TARIFFS, ANNEXATION TALK: AMBASSADOR House Democrats, meanwhile, are rallying lawmakers to reject the legislation, claiming Republicans are trying to cut Medicare and Medicaid. “Republicans have decided to introduce a partisan continuing resolution that threatens to cut funding for healthcare, nutritional assistance and veterans benefits through the end of the current fiscal year,” House Democrats said in statement last week. “House Democrats would enthusiastically support a bill that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans health and Medicaid, but Republicans have chosen to put them on the chopping block to pay for billionaire tax cuts.” CONGRESS UNVEILS SPENDING PLAN AFTER TRUMP CALLS ON REPUBLICANS TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN In addition to the looming shutdown, this week will also include tariffs of 25% on imports of steel and aluminum taking effect on March 12, Trump told the media. The president is also set to receive a report on his assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July of last year that left him with an injury to the ear, as well as the assassination attempt in Florida in September that was thwarted. “They are giving me a report next week some time, and I do believe I’ll be releasing,” Trump said on Thursday while speaking with Fox News’ Peter Doocy. “I want to release a report. A lot of people have asked that question.” DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY REBUKE PARTY MEMBERS WHO JEERED TRUMP DURING SPEECH TO CONGRESS: REPORT Trump has also previewed that the administration could announce the creation of a “massive new program for building very large, the largest ships in the world” this week. “It’ll have to do with incentives, taxes, they’ll be coming from all over the world, just like they are with cars, with what we’ve done with tariffs,” Trump said from the Oval Office last week of the upcoming announcement. “And we have at least seven new, major car plants that are going to be starting very shortly because of what we’re doing with the tariffs, which will primarily start on April the 2nd.” On Monday, Trump is expected to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte where a main discussion point will certainly be the ongoing negotiations to reach a cease-fire agreement between Russia and Ukraine. On Wednesday Trump is expected to welcome Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the leader of Ireland. The President recently declared March Irish- American Heritage Month. Trump is entering his eighth week back in the White House with at least 87 executive orders under his belt since Jan. 20, which include 45 he signed in his first 10 days. Trump also enters the new work week after delivering his first address to a joint session of Congress last Tuesday, which broke records for length and was celebrated as “historic” by conservative allies. Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
How ‘judge shopping’ is shaping the legal fights against President Trump’s agenda in federal court
The onslaught of legal challenges to President Donald Trump’s early actions brought by federal workers and advocacy groups have found their way into mostly friendly courts, overseen, for the most part, by sympathetic judges. These plaintiffs have employed a well-known, pervasive strategy used by both sides of the political aisle, known as forum or “judge shopping”– that is, to have a case tried in a certain district court, and one that falls under the jurisdiction of a U.S. appeals court with a certain political makeup. This strategy serves a distinct legal purpose. While the Supreme Court is the nation’s highest court, most cases don’t make it there. That’s because the Supreme Court hears an average of less than 100 cases annually, according to federal judiciary data. In contrast, the 13 U.S. appeals courts handle an average of more than 50,000 cases per year – meaning that these courts often get to rule on the most pressing legal issues. HERE’S WHY DOZENS OF LAWSUITS SEEKING TO QUASH TRUMP’S EARLY ACTIONS AS PRESIDENT ARE FAILING And while plaintiffs suing the federal government used to have to establish a local, geographic connection to the district where they were filing their lawsuit, Congress broadly moved to lift that requirement more than 30 years ago – allowing the practice to quickly gain prominence. As president, Trump “is exercising Article II power to take care that our federal laws are faithfully executed,” Mike Davis, the founder and president of the Article III Project, or A3P, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “That’s his constitutional duty. And that includes weeding out waste, fraud and abuse. That’s what he’s doing with Elon Musk and with DOGE,” said Davis, a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Neil Gorsuch. But recent years have seen a wave of new efforts to reform the system and stop the process of “judge shopping,” with detractors pointing to a spate of recent examples where cases were filed specifically in certain districts in an effort to yield more favorable outcomes. It’s a strategy both Republican and Democrat plaintiffs have used with increasing regularity. Most recently, groups of Democratic-led plaintiffs filed three separate court challenges to Trump’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship within the jurisdiction of the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, or the Boston-based appeals court whose bench is composed primarily of Democratic-appointed judges. Other groups seeking to overturn Trump’s early actions have focused on courts within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has a reputation for liberal decisions. Judges on that bench moved unanimously to block the Trump administration’s birthright citizenship order from taking force, leaving in place the decision of a Seattle district court, and potentially kicking the matter to the Supreme Court for consideration. TRUMP STRIPS SECURITY CLEARANCES FROM LAW FIRM TIED TO JACK SMITH CASES Other notable examples include a wave of anti-abortion cases filed in the rural Texas town of Amarillo, where the sole federal judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, is known for his anti-abortion beliefs and for siding on behalf of pro-life groups. (Texas is also under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where 75% of the 26 judges on the bench are Republican-appointed.) Kacsmaryk’s attempt to ban the abortion pill, mifepristone, in 2023 was upheld but narrowed by the Fifth Circuit Court. It was later dismissed completely by the Supreme Court, which noted that the plaintiffs in the case lacked proper standing. Still, judicial reform advocates have pointed to this case – and many others – as evidence of the lengths individuals will go to in an attempt to reshape the federal policy landscape by way of case law and legal precedent. “Allowing plaintiffs to pick their judge is contrary to the bedrock federal court principle of randomly assigning cases to judges through an electronic version of drawing names from a hat,” Russell Wheeler, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program, wrote in an op-ed. LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS Davis, for his part, told Fox News that his organization, A3P, is currently working with the Senate Judiciary Committee to draft legislation to end the flurry of temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions that have come before single judges. “The legislation will require a three-judge panel randomly assigned from around the country; a lottery system” to hear various cases and prevent the uptick in forum shopping, Davis said. Federal judiciary leaders and members of Congress have also introduced efforts within the last year aimed at stopping or curtailing the pervasiveness of judge-shopping. Senate Democrats introduced a bill last spring that would require cases to be randomly assigned within a federal court district, though it has failed to gain traction in the rest of Congress. Last March, the U.S. Judicial Conference, the body that sets policy for the federal courts, issued fresh guidance urging courts to assign certain high-profile cases at random in a bid to stop judge shopping and restore public trust in the court system. “The random case-assignment policy deters judge-shopping and the assignment of cases based on the perceived merits or abilities of a particular judge,” Judge Robert J. Conrad, the U.S. Judicial Conference secretary, said in a statement at the time. Rather, he said, the feature “promotes the impartiality of proceedings and bolsters public confidence in the federal Judiciary.”
Massie says he’s a ‘NO’ on Trump-endorsed government funding measure: ‘Unless I get a lobotomy’
As the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown approaches and President Donald Trump urges Republicans to support passage of a funding measure, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has declared that he will oppose the proposal. “Unless I get a lobotomy Monday that causes me to forget what I’ve witnessed the past 12 years, I’ll be a NO on the CR this week. It amazes me that my colleagues and many of the public fall for the lie that we will fight another day,” Massie declared in a Sunday post on X. President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to pass the measure. CONGRESS UNVEILS SPENDING PLAN AFTER TRUMP CALLS ON REPUBLICANS TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN “The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (“CR”)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week,” the president said in a Saturday Truth Social post. “Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order. Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen. We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right. VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., is supporting the funding measure. REP. RALPH NORMAN BACKS TRUMP’S PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, PUSHES FOR CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS “Congress must keep the government open so that DOGE can continue to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our government. This continuing resolution is necessary to advance President Trump’s agenda. I fully support it,” Harris declared in a tweet. The Trump administration’s DOGE effort aims to uncover government waste, fraud, and abuse that can be slashed from the federal government. JOHN FETTERMAN TAKES AIM AT HIS OWN PARTY IN TWEET ABOUT ‘#THERESISTANCE’: ‘HOLD OUR BEER’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Why would I vote to continue the waste fraud and abuse DOGE has found? We were told the CR in December would get us to March when we would fight. Here we are in March, punting again! WTFO,” Massie declared in a tweet. A House Appropriations Committee press release about the measure indicates that it “Ensures a costly government shutdown does not befall the American people,” “Enhances defense investments and includes the largest pay raise for junior enlisted troops in over 40 years” and “Increases funding for air traffic control priorities over FY24.” “The bill fully funds the program that provides important nutrition assistance to mothers, infants, and children. It includes a more than $500M increase for WIC, as requested by the Trump Administration, for a total of $7.6B,” the press release indicates.
Arkansas public school students will soon be required to take gun safety courses
The Arkansas state Senate passed a bill to provide age-appropriate firearms safety instruction to students last week and the Arkansas Department of Education will be working with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to develop a plan. Act 229, also known as House Bill 1117, will require public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools to annually provide students with instruction on firearm safety. The bill’s sponsors say the idea came from conversations among neighbors. PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THIS STATE COULD SOON BE REQUIRED TO TAKE GUN SAFETY COURSES “All of our children play together and invade whatever home happens to be the play of the day. And in that process, they may go into a neighbor’s home and discover that unsecured firearm, and how would they react,” said Rep. Scott Richardson. The bill says it will empower the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission to work with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education to create and approve age-appropriate firearm safety courses. Methods discussed in the bill range from videos to online sources and even mentions the possibility of an off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course in conjunction with a live-fire exercise or sporting event. Although these are just options being discussed at this time, the bill does state that if an option of live-fire training is approved, parents will have to give consent. “If an off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course is provided in conjunction with a live-fire exercise or sporting event, the provider of the off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course and the public school district or open-enrollment public charter school in which the participating student is enrolled shall obtain prior written approval from the participating student’s parent, legal guardian, or person standing in loco parentis to the participating student,” according to the bill. GEORGIA HOUSE ADVANCES GUN SAFETY TRAINING TAX CREDIT, BAN ON GUN STORE MERCHANT CATEGORY CODE The committee will also be responsible for determining the earliest grade appropriate for students to begin receiving the training. Instruction will begin with the 2025-2026 school year.
New study reveals ‘staggering’ scope of how much DEI was infused into government under Biden
FIRST ON FOX: A study published this week details the degree to which the Biden administration infused DEI policies into the federal government in a report the authors say can serve as a resource for the Trump administration to continue to identify and “destroy” the practice. The new study, conducted by the Functional Government Initiative and the Center for Renewing America, identified 460 programs across 24 government agencies in the Biden administration that diverted resources to DEI initiatives. At least $1 trillion of taxpayer money was infused with DEI principles, the study states. The study lays out DEI infusion across several federal agencies, including the Defense Department‘s plan to “integrate environmental/economic justice tools” into training, FEMA’s need to “instill equity as a foundation of emergency management,” and the Labor Department’s push to “embed equity in a sustainable manner that recognizes the multiple and overlapping identities held by workers.” TRUMP TO SHIFT AWAY FROM DEI VISA POLICY THAT ‘SURGED’ UNDER BIDEN, EXPERT SAYS On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 13985, which was aimed at carrying out the stated goal of “advancing equity and racial justice through the federal government.” “This order mandated a whole of government approach to injecting DEI philosophy into the federal budget,” the study says. “In alignment with this directive, the Biden administration apparently spent trillions in DEI-related initiatives in a manner and at a speed that has shrouded public awareness of the financial burden.” ‘DISTURBING’: WHISTLEBLOWER FUMES AT BIDEN-ERA AGENCY PROMOTING DEI PROGRAM AS DEPARTMENT’S ‘MISSION’ The report outlines how, over the next four years, the amount spent on DEI efforts was “staggering.” “The cumulative budget of these programs exceeds $1.1 trillion,” the report says. “However, this figure does not encompass all DEI-related expenditures, nor does it include every program across these agencies. The findings reveal a substantial increase in DEI spending, largely attributable to policy directives under the Biden administration.” “Of the programs identified, 10 are exclusively dedicated to DEI and could be considered for quick elimination; 144 allocate significant resources to DEI initiatives and should be reviewed if those are to be ended; and 306 programs incorporate DEI to varying degrees, though the extent of their DEI focus is indeterminate based on the available documentation.” The report goes department by department and calculates the DEI programs and provides recommendations on how they should be addressed. “DEI is deeply rooted throughout all aspects of the federal government, and it needs to be eliminated completely,” Center for Renewing America senior adviser Wade Miller told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Thankfully, the Trump administration has already embarked on a vitally necessary complete audit of each and every government program. We offer, in this report, what we hope are additional resources and tools that the new administration and Congress can use to identify, destroy and permanently remove DEI from the federal government.” FGI spokesman Roderick Law explained to Fox News Digital that the dual study “could both expedite the elimination of DEI from the executive branch and show just how quickly pernicious ideologies can spread inside the government.” “The nature of DEI is both divisive and anti-American,” Law added, “so why force it onto the military or the Commerce Department or the EPA? After President Biden lavishly funded and pushed these controversial principles into every possible area of government, our hope is that raising these questions and offering Congress and responsible executive branch officials tools and suggestions can keep it from happening again.” The Trump administration has made it a top priority to rid DEI from the federal bureaucracy and the president has signed multiple executive orders aimed at addressing what it argues is a practice that does more harm than good by ignoring meritocracy. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment.
Blue state sheriff issues stark warning for activists who defy ICE, rips media ‘fear mongering’
A California sheriff is pushing back against the media narrative about President Trump’s deportations across the country and says that those opposing ICE raids both in the media and on the streets will cause people to get hurt. “It’s all fearmongering,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told Fox News Digital. “So the reality right now is that the only people that ICE are going after are people who have already been deported for criminal issues. That’s it. The lie that they’re doing raids and that they’re just going through communities, that is an absolute lie spread by activists and dishonest politicians.” The Associated Press reported last month that volunteers and activists were attempting to disrupt ICE efforts in Los Angeles by warning residents of ICE’s presence with bullhorns and sirens. Bianco, who recently announced he is running for governor of California, told Fox News Digital that those who are impeding ICE operations are “guilty of a crime” and could find themselves arrested. GOP FIGHTS BACK AGAINST ‘TRUMP-PROOF’ SANCTUARY JURISDICTIONS “It’s going to get people hurt because the reality is these people all have federal warrants to be deported,” Bianco said. “They’ve already gone through the process. They’ve already victimized us in the past. They’re not here to make a better life for themselves. They were here to victimize us, and a judge has ordered them removed. That’s the only people they’re going after.” Bianco also warned of the potential danger to the community that impeding ICE actions could cause. TRUMP ADMIN ENDS DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR MASSIVE NUMBER OF VENEZUELANS AMID ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN “It’s going to cause a confrontation with these federal law enforcement officers and people are going to get hurt,” Bianco explained. “Law enforcement is going to get hurt. People are going to get hurt and, more than likely, in some situations, killed, and it is absolutely ridiculous.” Bianco continued, “All of these people, they don’t even really know what they’re protesting. They’re protesting because they’re believing dishonest politicians, and they’re believing these activist groups, and it’s unfortunate. It’s very unfortunate.” Trump has continued to make deportations a focal point of his immigration plan and his promised border crackdown appears to be influencing groups of migrants looking to enter the United States illegally. Despite the increase in criminal illegal immigrants being deported, many of them accused of heinous crimes, many Democrat politicians have pledged to defy his orders and refuse to work with ICE. “The media should be reporting the truth. The politicians should be telling the truth,” Bianco said. “But we know that the only way for these politicians to win is to create this divide. There has to be this emotional divide that separates us from race and with sex and all of these different things, and they believe that that works, and it truly doesn’t, and right now it’s just placing people in danger.”
Red state bill could zero out tax burden for donors to pro-life pregnancy centers
Missouri residents donating to pregnancy resource centers that do not provide abortions could enjoy significant reductions in their state tax bill if a new GOP bill passes into law. SB 681, sponsored by state Sen. Jill Carter, a Republican, would establish a 100% tax credit for such donations beginning in 2026, up from a 70% credit for the years 2021 to 2025. Essentially, for every dollar donated, one dollar would be deducted from the taxpayer’s annual income tax obligation. “I think states that are Republican-led are racing to try to figure out how to get more tax dollars back to their communities,” Carter told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday. “So, we don’t want to shift the burden necessarily to the taxpayer, but to incentivize people being able to say, ‘with my own dollars, I want to invest in these women who are community members,’ and in supporting those things that they also value.” ABORTION PILL MIFEPRISTONE SPARKS NEW PRO-LIFE DEBATE AS SOME DOCTORS STRESS SAFETY CONCERNS Under Carter’s bill, taxpayers can claim up to $50,000 in tax credits each year for donations of at least $100, with any unused credits carrying over to the next year. SB 681 also removes the previous $3.5 million cap on total credits that could be claimed for fiscal years up to 2021. The same bill was introduced in the state House, which passed the tax reform committee last month in a key legislative hurdle. “We’re trying to help people support the values that they believe in by being able to personally invest instead of government doing it for them,” Carter said. “I think that’s a strong conservative Republican policy and position.” Carter added that Republicans are “in a really transformative stage right now with politics and policy” when it comes to more pro-life options. In a written testimony submitted to the state House legislature, Alissa Gross, the CEO of Resource Health Services that runs four pregnancy centers in Missouri and a virtual office in Kansas, wrote, “The impact of the tax credits on our organization has been profound.” “We have seen our budget increase dramatically and in return, our ability to impact more men and women for life as well as build healthy families has been substantial,” Gross wrote. “We are so grateful for this opportunity and are hopeful for the increase so our reach can grow into the KC area and beyond.” Written testimony submitted by Cindy Speer, a board member and volunteer client advocate at Oasis Resource Center, wrote that her pregnancy center “just completed a debt-free 5000-square-foot center due in large part to the Missouri tax credit.” “Our next phase is housing for these women, many of whom are unable to afford, let alone find a place for themselves and their baby,” Speer wrote. “This would be revolutionary in helping guide these women to become productive citizens who can then become role models for their children.” SCOTUS TURNS DOWN ABORTION CLINIC BUFFER ZONE CHALLENGE, THOMAS SLAMS ‘ABDUCTION’ OF DUTY Other written testimonies opposing the bill say they didn’t want their tax dollars going toward “unregulated, anti-abortion pregnancy centers” that discourage women from having abortions. The bill comes after Missouri voters enshrined an abortion amendment into their state constitution – becoming the first state to overrule a near-total abortion ban – during the November general election. Abortion providers have recently resumed their services, which had been outlawed since 2022, but a slew of pro-life bills introduced at the start of the legislative session in January are still coming down the pipeline for consideration. The package of bills includes two proposed constitutional amendments. The first would ban abortion again, allowing exceptions only for medical emergencies, cases involving fetal anomalies, and certain instances of rape or incest, provided patients present the necessary documentation. A public hearing on the measure was held last month. Other bills under consideration include a proposal to reclassify the abortion drug mifepristone as a Class IV controlled substance, similar to a Republican-led law passed in Louisiana last year. Another proposed amendment aims to make abortion illegal after a fetus reaches viability, typically around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Other bills introduced in the state target the timing of abortions, including House Bill 194, which would ban the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Attorney General Andrew Bailey vowed after the election to continue enforcing the abortion ban after fetal viability. “Under the express terms of the amendment, the government may still protect innocent life after viability,” Bailey wrote. “The statutes thus remain generally enforceable after viability.” NEW YORK GOV. HOCHUL SIGNS LAW PROTECTING ABORTION PILL PRESCRIBERS AFTER DOCTOR INDICTED IN LOUISIANA Several other states also passed abortion amendments in November, including Arizona, Colorado, Maryland and Montana. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January, titled the “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment,” which revokes two 2022 executive orders from the Biden administration that had expanded access to abortion services. By reinstating the Hyde Amendment, the executive order prohibits federal funding for elective abortions, aligning with long-standing policies that prevent taxpayer dollars from being used for abortions.
HHS employees offered $25k as ‘incentive to voluntarily separate’
Health and Human Services Department (HHS) employees have been offered up to $25,000 to part ways with the agency in order to help it downsize under President Donald Trump’s plans to shrink the federal workforce. In the email sent on Friday, the HHS, which is led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said it has received authorization from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to offer Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments. The OPM “allows agencies that are downsizing or restructuring to offer employees lump-sum payments up to $25,000 as an incentive to voluntarily separate,” according to the email. This incentive is aimed at those who are in surplus positions or have skills that are no longer needed within their department. CIA OFFERING BUYOUTS TO ITS ENTIRE WORKFORCE: REPORT The payment is available to most employees within the HHS, which includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Employees also have the option to take the payment if they are eligible for optional or early retirement, according to the OPM’s website. ROUGHLY 75,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AGREE TO TRUMP’S BUYOUT OFFER “By allowing employees to volunteer to leave the Government, agencies can minimize or avoid involuntary separations through the use of costly and disruptive reductions in force,” the website stated. There are around 80,000 people currently working for the HHS in some capacity, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The offer becomes available on Monday and forms must be submitted to local HR offices by Friday at 5 p.m. The HHS is the second-costliest federal agency and accounts for 20.6% of America’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025 with $2.4 trillion in budgetary resources, according to USASpending.gov. Most of that money is spent by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The only agency with more spending power is the Department of the Treasury.