The Louisiana rapper who was pardoned by President Donald Trump once said “F— Donald Trump” in a 2017 song. 

NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, has been thanking Trump for the reprieve, writing in a recent Instagram post that the president is “giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist.” 

However, in his song “Red Rum,” the 25-year-old Gaulden once rapped “And f— Donald Trump b—-, that NBA s—.” 

Pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson was asked about the remark during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” earlier this morning. 

RAPPER THANKS TRUMP FOR PARDON ON GUN CONVICTION 

“So a couple of rappers have come out or let’s say one in particular — YoungBoy. One of his lyrics in 2017 that he put out is “F Donald Trump” and some more disparaging things to say. He had a violent past of assault and battery. Multiple cases of that, and firearm, drug and fraud charges. What sold you on him getting a second chance?” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked her. 

“I looked at the age and how this young man grew up. He grew up in a very impoverished neighborhood. And the things that he had to face, NBA YoungBoy growing up. Most of those were gun charges without the guns being discharged,” she said. 

“But I also looked at what happened to him on a set where he was filming a video and he had a prop in the set. That’s really where this came from. He didn’t come out of prison. He was given a pardon so he could have a new beginning. And the officers who in this particular case they came at him as though he was a terrorist and he was on a set, filming for a video. They gave him a gun charge for that… the officers who did this were all investigated and fired. So I look at the elements of what happened to this young man,” Johnson added. 

Last year, Gaulden was sentenced by a federal judge in Utah after he acknowledged possessing weapons despite being a convicted felon. However, he reached an agreement that resolved Utah state charges against him and settled two sets of federal charges against him — one carried a 23-month sentence and the other ordered five years of probation and a $200,000 fine.  

TRUMP PARDONS EX-CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR ROWLAND AND COMMUTES CHICAGO GANG LEADER HOOVER’S SENTENCE   

“I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and for giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist,” Gaulden, whose stage moniker stands for “Never Broke Again,” wrote on his Instagram. “This moment means a lot.”  

“It opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this,” Gaulden added.  

Gaulden was released from federal prison in March and sent to home confinement after receiving credit for time served, his attorney Drew Findling told the Associated Press. With home confinement finished last month, the pardon means he won’t have to follow the terms of his probation, including drug testing, he said. 

The rapper has acknowledged that he possessed a Glock 21 .45-caliber pistol and a Masterpiece Arms MPA30T 9mm handgun while filming a rap video in Baton Rouge. He has also said he had a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol at his home in Huntsville, Utah. He had agreed to give up the guns.  

Gaulden had previously been convicted in Louisiana of aggravated assault with a firearm. He had also pleaded guilty in November to his role in a prescription drug fraud ring that operated out of his home in Utah. He had to pay a $25,000 fine and was given no prison time. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The estimated revenue impact of the GOP tax plan would be nearly $4 trillion in the negative over a decade, the Joint Committee on Taxation — a nonpartisan committee of the U.S. Congress — has indicated.

A document issued by the committee puts the net total estimated revenue effects at -$3.939368 trillion for fiscal years 2025-2034. 

“The problem with all of these studies is they willfully ignore current tax policy. You can’t do that and be taken seriously,” an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson indicated.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Joint Committee on Taxation for comment, but no comment had been provided by the time of publication.

GOP RAILS AGAINST ‘BLATANTLY FALSE’ DEM CLAIMS ABOUT MEDICAID REFORM IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last week, even with the U.S. national debt at more than $36 trillion.

The measure cleared the chamber with zero Democrat votes, and two House Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio —  voting against it.

House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., voted present, explaining in a statement, “I voted to move the bill along in the process for the President. There is still a lot of work to be done in deficit reduction and ending waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON CLASHES WITH RAND PAUL OVER ‘WIMPY’ SPENDING CUTS IN TRUMP’S BILL

Some Senate Republicans have indicated that they would not be willing to support the measure as it stands coming out of the House.

Elon Musk is not happy with it either. The business tycoon said during an interview for “CBS Sunday Morning” that he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill,” and that the measure undermines the Department of Government Efficiency team’s work.

“I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” President Donald Trump said of the measure when asked about Musk’s comments. 

Last week, Trump hailed the House’s passage of the proposal, calling for the Senate to pass it as well.

“Great job by Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House Leadership, and thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill! Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!” the president declared in part of a Truth Social post last week.

MUSK OFFICIALLY STEPS DOWN FROM DOGE AFTER WRAPPING WORK STREAMLINING GOVERNMENT

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White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller asserted in a post on X, “I see some self-described libertarians siding with lefty bureaucrats at CBO who claim the Big Beautiful Bill will ‘explode the debt.’ This is based entirely on CBO claiming that extending the current tax rates (not raising them) will ‘cost’ the government $4 trillion in revenue. 

“Since when have libertarians argued that NOT raising taxes ‘costs’ the government money? Private money yet to be earned does not “belong” to the government. This is a Democrat-collectivist argument and I’m shocked to see libertarians deploying it. Under this ludicrous theory, one could raise taxes to 90% on everyone and declare the deficit solved. BBB cuts taxes, cuts spending, reforms welfare and *ends mass migration*,” he declared.

Longtime Democratic Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer has yet to announce whether he will seek re-election next year for a 24th two-year term in Congress.

If he does, he will face a primary challenger who is making Hoyer’s age – the congressman turns 86 next month and would be 89 at the end of his next term – a centerpiece of his campaign.

Harry Jarin, 35, a volunteer firefighter and emergency services’ consultant, said Thursday in a new video announcing his candidacy, “If you live here in southern Maryland, I want to ask you a tough question. Do you really think that Steny Hoyer, at 89-years-old, is the best person to represent us?” 

Jarin argued that “we’re in a moment of real crisis. Radical Republicans are burning down our country around us. Our friends and family who work in the government are losing their jobs. We keep sending politicians like Steny Hoyer back to Congress again and again. Tired politicians like Steny can’t put up a fight that we need.”

PARTY VICE CHAIR IGNITES FIRESTORM WITH PUSH TO PRIMARY CHALLENGE OLDER HOUSE DEMOCRATS

“Here’s the bottom line: you don’t put out a fire by sending in the same people who let it spread. Send in a firefighter,” Jarin said. “Maryland deserves a new generation of leadership, and I’m ready to take up the fight.”

Fox News reached out to Hoyer’s office for a response, but a spokesperson declined to respond.

Hoyer, who first won his seat in Congress in a 1981 special election, from 2003 to 2023, was the second ranking House Democrat behind Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He served as House Majority Leader from 2007-2011 and from 2019-2023, when the Democrats controlled the chamber.

Along with Pelosi, Hoyer stepped down from his longtime leadership position at the end of 2022 but remained in Congress.  

DEMOCRATS PREDICT HOUSE REPUBLICANS WILL PAY PRICE FOR PASSING TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“I think all of us have been around for some time and pretty much have a feel for the timing of decisions. And I think all three of us felt that this was the time,” Hoyer told CNN at the time, as he referred to the moves by the top three House Democrats – Pelosi, Hoyer and Rep. Jim Clyburn – to step down from their leadership roles.

Hoyer has long been a major backer of the Democrats’ top issues, and during his second tenure as House Majority Leader, he played a crucial role in the passage of then-President Joe Biden’s so-called American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

He represents Maryland’s Democrat-dominated 5th Congressional District, which covers a region known as Southern Maryland, and includes the suburbs south and east of Washington D.C., a sliver of suburban Baltimore and Annapolis, as well as rural areas farther south. 

Hoyer, who suffered a minor stroke last year, is the latest high-ranking House Democrat to face a primary challenge from a younger opponent.

Pelosi and Reps. Brad Sherman of California and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have drawn primary challenges, with Schakowsky later announcing that she will no longer run for re-election.

The primary challenges come as Democrats are still trying to regroup following last November’s election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and their Senate majority, and came up short in their bid to win back the House.

The party’s base is angry and energized to push back against the sweeping and controversial moves by President Donald Trump in the four months since he returned to the White House.

Additionally, while much of that anger and energy is directed at fighting the White House and congressional Republicans, some of it is targeted at Democrats whom many in the party’s base feel aren’t vocal enough in their efforts to stymie Trump.

Concurrently, other longtime and older House Democrats in safe blue districts are facing the possibility of primary challenges.

This, after newly elected Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg last month pledged to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to back primary challenges against what he called “asleep at the wheel” House Democrats – lawmakers he argued have failed to effectively push back against Trump.

The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats ignited a firestorm within the party.

Former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson is running for the U.S. Senate, as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., seeks the governorship in the Yellowhammer State.

Tuberville, who has served in the U.S. Senate since early 2021, announced a gubernatorial bid this week, leaving Alabama’s 2026 U.S. Senate race wide open since there will not be an incumbent in that contest.

“President Trump needs fighters, not career politicians. I’m a former Navy SEAL, not a swamp insider — and I’m running for U.S. Senate in Alabama to help secure the border, crush the woke agenda, and defend our Christian values,” Hudson noted in a post on X.

RED STATE OFFICIAL RECOUNTS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF BEING ‘DEBANKED’ AND WHY IT ‘HAS TO BE STOPPED’

House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eli Crane spoke highly of Hudson when sharing the candidate’s post on X.

“Really glad to see men like Jared jumping into one of the toughest fights on earth. I served with Jared at Team 3. He is a very good man, who loves the Lord and his family,” the congressman said in a post.

TRUMP ALLY TUBERVILLE ANNOUNCES RUN FOR ALABAMA GOVERNOR

“Eli Crane is a friend & God-fearing patriot,” Hudson posted in response to Crane’s comments. “We need more warriors like him in Congress — representatives who don’t quit & serve the people, not the Swamp. That’s why I’m running. I’ll provide reinforcements for Eli & Pres. Trump in the fight to Make America Great Again!”

Hudson and his wife founded the nonprofit organization Covenant Rescue Group, according to the group’s website. 

TRUMP TELLS UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA GRADUATES NOT TO BE A ‘VICTIM,’ SAYS IN AMERICA ‘WE REJECT THAT IDEA’

“They saw a lack of skills and funding to properly rescue victims and arrest criminals involved in human trafficking and child exploitation,” the site notes. “Sharing a passion for children who fall victim to these crimes globally, they decided to become active. They organized their passion, training, and expertise to bring this wicked organized enterprise to an end.”

A federal judge in Boston said Thursday that she plans to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s certification to host foreign students. 

Judge Allison D. Burroughs – who was appointed by former President Barack Obama – already granted Harvard University a temporary restraining order last week, preventing the government from revoking the Ivy League school’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The program permits the university to host international students with F-1 or J-1 visas to study in the U.S.

At Thursday’s hearing, Burroughs said the block on the Trump administration would stand for now.

In its lawsuit, Harvard said the revocation would impact more than 7,000 visa holders – more than a quarter of its student body.

Lawyers representing Harvard said in Thursday’s hearing that international students are “terrified” and are “facing real harm in real time.” 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the authority of judges to block infrastructure projects due to environmental concerns.

The nine justices handed down the lone decision Thursday morning, slightly curbing judicial authority at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration is loudly complaining about alleged judicial overreach. The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, relates to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the requirement for environmental impact statements (EIS) in infrastructure projects supported by the federal government.

“NEPA does not allow courts, ‘under the guise of judicial review’ of agency compliance with NEPA, to delay or block agency projects based on the environmental effects of other projects separate from the project at hand,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion of the court.

“Courts should afford substantial deference and should not micromanage those agency choices so long as they fall within a broad zone of reasonableness,” the opinion continued.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW EL SALVADOR DEPORTATION FLIGHT CASE

Kavanaugh went on to state that agencies should not be expected to consider the environmental impact of any project aside from the one they are currently working on, “even if” the environmental impacts “might extend outside the geographical territory of the project or materialize later in time.”

“The fact that the project might foreseeably lead to the construction or increased use of a separate project does not mean the agency must consider that separate project’s environmental effects,” the court ruled.

Thursday’s decision was an 8-0 ruling, with Justice Neil Gorsuch taking no part in the consideration of the case. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett joined with Kavanaugh’s opinion.

Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a separate concurring opinion, onto which joined Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Trump, having a history in major construction projects, has repeatedly complained about environmental impact statements and the roadblocks they can cause.

NUMBER OF INJUNCTIONS HALTING TRUMP POLICIES TROUNCES PREDECESSORS BY DOUBLE

Republicans have also widely criticized what they see as judicial overreach in federal judges unilaterally blocking major aspects of Trump’s agenda.

“Universal injunctions are an unconstitutional abuse of judicial power,” Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital earlier this month.

“Just this past week, a D.C. district judge issued a universal injunction blocking the president’s executive order requiring voter ID or proof-of-citizenship prior to voting in national election,” he continued. “Judges are not policymakers.”

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The Supreme Court is considering the wide use of universal injunctions in a separate case that will be handed down in the coming weeks.

Today is the deadline for President Joe Biden’s former White House physician and four aides to respond to House Oversight Committee interview requests.

Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is demanding the high-ranking staffers in former President Joe Biden’s White House appear for transcribed interviews on their suspected roles, working “behind the scenes” to “cover up” the former president’s mental decline during his term.

Comer sent interview requests to four key Biden White House aides — former director of the Domestic Policy Council Neera Tanden, former assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, former senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal and former deputy director of Oval Office operations Ashley Williams.

KEY BIDEN STAFFERS ASKED TO TESTIFY ON ALLEGED ROLE IN MENTAL DECLINE ‘COVER-UP’

FOX is told lawyers for Neera Tanden, Anthony Bernal, Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams have contacted the committee, but no interviews are confirmed or scheduled. 

So far, there’s been no contact with physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor. While the Bidens have stayed silent on the latest congressional probe, Jill Biden’s former press secretary is pushing back. 

GOP PUSH FOR NEW HOUSE COMMITTEE TO PROBE BIDEN DECLINE ‘COVER-UP’ GAINS STEAM

With regards to Chairman Comer…he spent two years trying to take on the Biden family and came up with nothing. He went fishing in a dry lake,” said Michael LaRosa.

If they don’t commit by day’s end, the committee said it is ready to issue subpoenas immediately.

“We believe these are the staffers that were responsible for using the autopen… We want to ask them, ‘Who gave you the authority to use Joe Biden’s signature?’” Comer said on “Hannity.”

FIRST ON FOX: New State Department reorganization plans will cut or consolidate more than 300 of the agency’s offices and bureaus as part of a massive overhaul seeking to streamline the department, according to agency officials. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio first announced plans in April to restructure the agency because the department was “bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission.” 

The State Department submitted a notice to Congress Thursday disclosing plans for the overhaul — the largest restructuring for the agency since the Cold War, senior State Department officials told Fox News Digital. 

The agency’s overhaul aims to cut red tape so the department can respond to threats more quickly, place greater emphasis on the agency’s “primary mission” representing the U.S. abroad and eliminate “bureaucratic overgrowth” in Washington, the congressional notice said. 

“We have too many godd— offices,” a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. “We’re trying to shrink offices rather than create them.” 

RUBIO OVERHAULING ‘BLOATED’ STATE DEPARTMENT IN SWEEPING REFORM

The State Department’s plans will slash or merge 311 existing domestic offices, ultimately eliminating up to roughly 3,400 State Department personnel, who make up between 15% and 20% of the agency’s domestic headcount, according to State Department officials. 

The agency currently boasts roughly 700 offices, meaning the reorganization will cut or join more than 40% of the offices. 

“We are really addressing a significant portion of the department’s domestic offices and sort of merging them, combining them, trying to make them more efficient,” the senior State Department official said. 

Staff have not received notifications regarding the reduction in force yet, but they are expected to receive an update on reductions in force by July 1. 

Whereas three offices overseeing sanctions issues previously existed, the overhaul will merge all of those branches together to make it more clear who to report to, according to the official. 

However, a few additions are in the works. The plans also include adding approximately nine new offices, the State Department officials said. 

New positions include a deputy assistant secretary for democracy and Western values, as well as new immigration security offices under the agency’s bureau of population, refugees and migration to tackle President Donald Trump‘s immigration priorities. 

Likewise, the restructuring adds a new bureau of emerging threats that will address issues pertaining to artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons and space. 

“So we’re not just cutting these things,” the senior State Department official said. “We’re re-imagining them to advance the administration’s agenda.” 

The reorganization structure only affects domestic offices and also seeks to cut down on the layers of bureaucracy in Washington to give more power to the embassies abroad, according to State Department officials. 

The State Department has domestic offices all across the U.S., ranging from the East Coast in Boston, all the way to San Francisco and Honolulu. The State Department has more than 270 diplomatic posts outside the U.S. 

WHITE HOUSE PROPOSAL AXES UN, NATO FUNDS AND HALVES STATE DEPARTMENT BUDGET

The status quo hampered the department’s ability to push out policy because there were so many channels of approval that needed to be cleared first as part of a “horizontal reporting structure,” they said. 

Under the new structure, regional bureau offices that handle global U.S. bilateral relationships will take on greater responsibility and oversee policy management of nearly all non-security foreign assistance, according to the congressional notice. 

“We’re really shifting the focus towards our embassies out in the field, our ambassadors out in the field, giving them the tools … so that they can effectively implement the ‘America First’ diplomacy out there in the field,” another senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. 

The officials said that Rubio has instructed that the new structure be implemented by July 1 and that the agency is so far on track to meet that goal. 

Rubio told lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing foreign affairs on May 20 that the restructuring “is not designed to either cripple the department or in any way — it’s not even a cost-savings endeavor.”

Rather, Rubio said the change aims to “empower” regional bureaus and embassies. Specifically, Rubio said that he receives up to 15 cables each morning from embassies around the world and that’s where the “best innovations” originate. 

TRUMP ADMIN TO DIRECT AGENCY HEADS TO PREP FOR ‘LARGE-SCALE REDUCTIONS IN FORCE,’ REORGANIZATION BY MARCH 13

“They are identifying problems and opportunities well in advance of some memo that works its way to me,” Rubio told lawmakers. “We want to get back to a situation or we want to get to a situation where we are empowering ideas and action at the embassy level and through our regional bureaus. Those are literally the front lines of American diplomacy. And so we have structured a State Department that can deliver on that.”

Meanwhile, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., voiced caution about the reforms in April after Rubio’s initial announcement and said any changes “must be carefully weighed with the real costs to American security and leadership.”

“A strong and mission-ready State Department advances American national security interests, opens up new markets for American workers and companies and promotes global peace and stability,” Shaheen said in her April statement. “It remains to be seen how the administration’s latest proposals will achieve that goal.”

Elon Musk’s criticism of House Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” has left some GOP lawmakers frustrated at the tech billionaire.

“This is why Mr. Musk has no place in Congress,” one House GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak freely, told Fox News Digital. “He wants to codify discretionary cuts. He didn’t find enough waste, fraud, and abuse to fund [the Small Business Administration], let alone reduce our debt.” 

“This was a gimmick. He got used. He’s now upset. He played the game, he got what he wanted, then he ended up like everyone else who gets too close.”

House Republicans passed a broad-ranging bill last week advancing President Donald Trump‘s agenda on tax, immigration, defense, and energy. Congressional Republicans are hoping to pass it via the budget reconciliation process, a mechanism for passing fiscal legislation while waiving the Senate’s 60-vote threshold and sidelining the minority party.

MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE

Musk told “CBS Sunday Morning” the legislation “undermines the work” done by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

He called it a “massive spending bill” that “increases the budget deficit.”

However, Republican supporters of the bill have contended that the kind of spending cuts Musk is looking for, and the kind DOGE outlined, cannot be done via the reconciliation process. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., himself pledged in a public statement after Musk’s comments that House Republicans would tackle DOGE cuts – albeit in a different vehicle than the “big, beautiful bill.”

Reconciliation primarily deals with mandatory government funding that Congress must change by amending the law itself, like federal safety net programs.

The White House is also planning to send a package of proposed spending cuts to Congress next week, including cuts outlined by DOGE, that target discretionary government spending. Discretionary spending refers to the cash flows that Congress controls annually via the budget appropriations process.

Other supporters of the bill, like Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said its focus was on people outside of Musk’s wealth class.

“The bill strikes the proper balance between rooting out fraud to achieve savings and not impacting citizens who rely on government programs. The biggest winners for a change are not billionaires like Musk but middle-class families who will see the bulk of savings returned to them in the form of real tax relief,” Malliotakis told Fox News Digital.

“That’s who President Trump and House Republicans set out to help.”

A second House Republican who requested anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital that Musk did “put a lot of work in” with DOGE but argued he was wrong on the facts.

“I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time that he didn’t really have a handle on the process,” the House Republican said. “So, you know, we really have to bake the DOGE cuts into the budget rather than through reconciliation.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Musk for comment via Tesla but did not immediately hear back.

The White House pointed Fox News Digital to Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s public statement about fiscal hawks’ concerns about the bill. 

Miller said, “DOGE cuts are to discretionary spending. (Eg the federal bureaucracy). Under Senate budget rules, you cannot cut discretionary spending (only mandatory) in a reconciliation bill. So DOGE cuts would have to be done through what is known as a rescissions package or an appropriations bill. The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill and does not fund the departments of government. It does not finance our agencies or federal programs. Instead, it includes the single largest welfare reform in American history.”

On the other side of the House GOP Conference, fiscal hawks who also had issues with the legislation rallied around Musk’s comments.

“I share Mr. Musk’s concerns about the short-term adverse effect on the federal deficit of the limited spending reductions in the BBB. Debt markets remain concerned about US total debt and annual deficits,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md.

The Maryland Republican voted “present” on the reconciliation bill last week.

SCOOP: HOUSE GOP MEMO HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN WINS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“Hopefully the Senate will take those concerns into consideration as the legislative process moves forward,” Harris said.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, the lone House Republican to vote against the bill, posted on X, “Hopefully, the Senate will succeed where the House missed the moment. Don’t hope someone else will cut spending someday, know it has been done this Congress.”

“Despite pleas to step back and look at the sum of the parts passed by 11 different committees, this bill was rushed to the floor when it should have been fixed,” Davidson said.

Musk announced late on Wednesday that he was stepping away from his federal government role because his “scheduled time as a Special Government Employee” was coming “to an end.”

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bid farewell to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a Wednesday night X post, ending his tenure as the face of the agency as it shifts to a new phase in President Donald Trump‘s second term. 

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said on X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

Musk has been the public face of DOGE since Trump signed an executive order establishing the office on Jan. 20. DOGE has since ripped through federal government agencies in a quest to identify and end government overspending, corruption and fraud.

After Musk’s departure, a senior White House official told Fox News Digital that DOGE will operate as it has always operated and that the agency is “part of the DNA of this federal government.”

OBAMA-NOMINATED JUDGE ALLOWS LAWSUIT TARGETING MUSK’S ROLE WITH DOGE TO PROCEED, DROPS CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP

The official added that DOGE now operates in “nearly every federal government agency department” with the “sole job” of cutting waste, fraud and abuse with the goal of efficiency.

“The DOGE employees at their respective agency or department will be reporting to and executing the agenda of the president through the leadership of each agency or department head,” the official said. 

In a post on X, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said, “The work DOGE has done to eliminate government waste and corruption — the rot embedded deep within Washington — is among the most valuable services ever rendered to government. And the work has only just begun.”

While Musk has been the public face of DOGE for months, he was not an employee of the United States DOGE Service and did not report to the acting DOGE administrator, Amy Gleason, according to a court filing in March that shed additional light on the internal workings of the office.

‘BUREAUCRATIC AND WASTEFUL’: DOGE SNIFFS OUT EYE-POPPING SPENDING ON BIDEN DEI EFFORTS IN KEY AGENCY

Gleason, who has been described by her peers as a “world-class talent,” previously worked for the United States Digital Service, which was founded in 2014 by former President Barack Obama as a technology office within the Executive Office of the President.

DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group itself will be dissolved on July 4, 2026, according to Trump’s executive order.

Musk’s tenure with DOGE resulted in an estimated $175 billion in savings through a combination of asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment deletion and other cost-cutting measures, according to the agency’s website, which was last updated on May 26.

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The savings amount to $1,086.96 per taxpayer, according to the website. 

Amid Musk’s work with DOGE, Democrats and activists have staged protests against the tech billionaire and his companies, including working to tank Tesla stocks. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Elizabeth Pritchard contributed to this report.

It has been just over four months since President Donald Trump returned to power in the White House, and the very early moves in the 2028 presidential race are already underway by some Democrats with likely national ambitions.

This upcoming weekend, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential nominee, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who says he is not laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential run, will make separate appearances in South Carolina, the state the Democratic National Committee anointed to hold the lead-off primary in their 2024 nominating calendar.

Two weeks later, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who ran for the White House in 2020, will headline a major Democratic state party dinner in New Hampshire, which for a century has held the first presidential primary.

Two weeks ago, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who later served as Transportation secretary in former President Joe Biden’s administration, headlined a town hall with veterans and military families in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

SUCCEEDING TRUMP IN 2028: SIX REPUBLICANS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON

Iowa’s caucuses for half a century kicked off both major political parties’ presidential nominating calendars until the DNC demoted the Hawkeye State on their 2024 schedule.

Another potential contender, two-term Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, late last month, gave the keynote address at a major state party fundraising gala in New Hampshire.

Also making noise is two-term Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who said recently he would consider running for president if he felt he could successfully unite the country.

WHAT BERNIE SANDERS SAID IN A FOX NEWS DIGITAL INTERVIEW 

Additionally, progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York grabbed plenty of attention the past couple of months, co-headlining a slew of large rallies across the country with longtime progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, which sparked plenty of 2028 speculation.

The Democratic Party has been in the political wilderness since last November’s election setbacks, when Republicans won back control of the White House and the Senate and defended their fragile House majority. Republicans additionally made gains among Black and Hispanic voters as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

Since Trump’s return to power, an increasingly angry and energized base of Democrats has been pushing for party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the opening months of his second administration.

EFFORT BY DEMOCRATS TO STOP THE SLIDE RIDICULED 

Democrats are not only looking ahead to next year’s midterms, when they hope to make ballot box gains, but also to the next presidential race.

“There was a sense of hopelessness earlier this year among Democrats, as Trump came in with his wrecking ball, and it seemed like there was nothing but futile opposition to him,” longtime Democratic strategist Chris Moyer told Fox News. “So thinking about a presidential race with potential candidates is a way to get some hope back and look towards a future that doesn’t include Trump.”

Moyer, a veteran of a handful of Democratic presidential campaigns, said the race is “wide open, and it won’t be long before we see clear maneuvering from a litany of candidates.”

The results of the 2026 midterm elections will have a major impact on the shape of the next White House race. 

For now, however, here are 20 Democrats considered potential presidential contenders to watch on the road to 2028.

After lying low when the Biden administration came to a close, former Vice President Kamala Harris has picked up the political pace of late, including headlining a recent major DNC fundraiser in New York City, with another in San Francisco next week.

Among her campaign options that she is weighing is a 2026 run for the open governor’s seat in her home state of California and another bid in 2028 for the White House.

A source in the former vice president’s political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital two months ago that Harris had told allies she would decide by the end of summer on whether to launch a 2026 gubernatorial campaign.

Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and represented the Golden State in the U.S. Senate before joining Biden’s 2020 ticket and winning that election as vice president.

Additionally, Harris would be considered the clear frontrunner for governor in heavily blue California in the race to succeed term-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom.

However, early polling in the 2028 Democratic nomination race indicates that Harris would be the frontrunner, thanks in part to her name recognition within her party.

While there are plenty of voices within the party who would like to move on from the Biden/Harris era following Trump’s sweeping victory, and there is little history of Democrats yearning for past defeated presidential nominees, Trump has re-written the rules when it comes to defeated White House contenders making another run. 

Potential buyers’ remorse of a second Trump administration could boost the 60-year-old Harris in the years to come.

The progressive “rock star” and best-known lawmaker among the so-called “Squad” of diverse House Democrats in October turned 35, the minimum age to run for president.

Some Democrats argue that a riveting messenger with star power is needed as the party’s next nominee, and Ocasio-Cortez is guaranteed to grab plenty of attention if she ultimately decides to run.

There is also speculation the four-term federal lawmaker from New York City may primary challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York when he is up for re-election in 2028.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was a top surrogate for Biden during the president’s re-election bid. With the blessing of the White House, the two-term California governor debated then-Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year on Fox News. 

Newsom’s travels on behalf of Biden brought him to New Hampshire and South Carolina, two crucial early voting states on the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.

After Harris, his friend and fellow Californian, replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, the governor, after a pause, continued his efforts to keep Trump from returning to the White House.

While Newsom and California’s Democrat-dominated legislature took action to “Trump-proof” the Golden State, the governor has also worked with Trump on key matters, including January’s wildfires that devastated parts of metropolitan Los Angeles.

Newsom also appears to have moderated on some issues and invited well-known Trump allies Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon on his weekly podcast.

The 57-year-old Newsom, who is term-limited, completes his duties in Sacramento at the end of next year, right around the time the 2028 presidential election will start to heat up.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has become a leading voice in the Democrats’ opposition to Trump and has taken steps to Trump-proof his solidly blue state.

“You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker told reporters of his efforts to protect Illinois.

Pritzker was also a high-profile surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris during the 2024 cycle. Those efforts brought Pritzker to Nevada, a general election battleground state and an early-voting Democratic presidential primary state, and New Hampshire.

Additionally, the governor’s recent trip to New Hampshire sparked more 2028 buzz.

However, before he makes any decision about 2028, the 60-year-old governor must decide whether he will run in 2026 for a third term steering Illinois.

Two-term Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer grabbed plenty of attention and became a Democratic Party rising star in 2020 when she feuded with Trump over COVID-19 federal assistance and survived a foiled kidnapping attempt.

Trump, at the time, called her “that woman from Michigan.”

Along with Newsom and Pritzker, Whitmer’s name was floated as a possible replacement for Biden following his disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June, before the president endorsed Harris, and the party instantly coalesced around the vice president.

Whitmer was a leading surrogate for Biden and then for Harris and made a big impression on Democratic activists during a stop this summer in New Hampshire on behalf of Harris.

However, Whitmer was criticized by some in her party for appearing to cozy up to Trump during a White House visit earlier this spring.

The 53-year-old governor is term-limited and will leave office after the end of next year.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, the 51-year-old first-term governor of Pennsylvania, was on Harris’ short-list for vice presidential nominee.

Even though the vice president named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Shapiro remained a top surrogate on behalf of his party’s 2024 national ticket. 

However, his two-day swing in New Hampshire during the final full week ahead of Election Day did raise some eyebrows and 2028 speculation.

After Harris lost battleground Pennsylvania to Trump, there was plenty of talk within the party that Harris had made the wrong choice for her running mate.

Shapiro, who has a track record of taking on the first Trump administration as Pennsylvania attorney general, is expected to play a similar role with Trump back in the White House.

The governor will be up for re-election in 2026.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is considered by many to be another Democratic Party rising star.

The 46-year-old Army veteran, who is also a Rhodes Scholar and CEO of the charitable organization the Robin Hood Foundation during the coronavirus pandemic, was elected two years ago.

Even though Moore said in a recent interview on “The View” that he is “not running” in 2028, speculation persists, fueled in part because of his upcoming stop in South Carolina.

Moore will be up for re-election in 2026. 

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who surpassed expectations during his 2020 Democratic presidential nomination run, was a very active surrogate on behalf of Biden and later Harris, during the 2024 cycle.

He helped raise a lot of money for the Democratic Party ticket, including heading a top-dollar fundraiser in New Hampshire.

The 43-year-old former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and former naval officer who served in the war in Afghanistan, is considered one of the party’s biggest and brightest stars. He was known as a top communicator for the administration, including making frequent appearances on Fox News.

Fueling buzz about a potential 2028 presidential run, Buttigieg passed on a 2026 Senate bid in his adopted home state of Michigan and made a high-profile stop in Iowa earlier this month.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, 47, who was elected governor in 2019 and then re-elected in 2023 in red-state Kentucky, was on Harris’ longer list for potential running mates.

Beshear made plenty of new friends and contacts as he ventured to New Hampshire last year to headline the state Democratic Party’s annual fall fundraising gala.

He served as Kentucky’s attorney general before running for governor.

Beshear said in a recent interview with local station WDRB that “if you’d asked me a couple years ago if this is something I’d consider, I probably wouldn’t have. But I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids. And so, if I’m somebody that can bring this nation together, hopefully find some common ground, it’s something I’ll consider.”

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, 55, is a major player in Washington as the Democratic minority in the Senate fights back against the second Trump administration.

Warnock, who won Senate elections in 2020 and 2022 in battleground Georgia, served as senior pastor at the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.

He is up for re-election to the Senate in 2028.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, is considered one of the party’s most talented orators.

Thanks to his 2020 run, Booker made plenty of friends and allies in such early states as New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Booker made headlines earlier this year by delivering a record-breaking 25-hour and 5-minute marathon speech from the floor of the Senate. The speech protested the sweeping and controversial moves so far by Trump during his second administration, as well as the operations of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. 

The 56-year-old senator is up for re-election in 2026.

Since the November election, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has been very vocal about the steps Democrats need to take to win back working-class voters.

First elected to the House in 2006 and later to the Senate in 2012, the 51-year-old Murphy cruised to re-election this year by nearly 20 points, which means he would not have to decide between a re-election bid and a White House run in 2028.

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, 65, who once served as county attorney in Minnesota’s most populous county, is now in her fourth term in the Senate.

Klobuchar ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and came in a strong third in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.

The senator has not ruled out making another run for the White House in 2028.

Rep. Ro Khanna, 48, was a tireless surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris. 

He has been a regular visitor to New Hampshire in the past couple of years, including a high-profile debate last year against then-GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Khanna has grabbed plenty of attention so far this year as he has held town halls in Republican-controlled congressional districts and targeted Vice President JD Vance with events in the vice president’s home state of Ohio and at Yale Law School, where both politicians earned their legal degrees.

The 57-year-old sports TV personality, sports radio host, sports journalist, and actor has generated a ton of buzz this year as he has mulled a White House run and has even grabbed Trump’s attention.

Another potential contender with plenty of star power is Mark Cuban.

The 66-year-old billionaire business mogul and part-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks was a high-profile surrogate for Harris during her presidential election campaign.

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, 67, who in January finished up his eighth and final year as governor, took his name out of the Harris running mate speculation early in the process last summer.

Cooper served 16 years as North Carolina’s attorney general before winning election as governor.

The former governor is being heavily recruited by Democrats to try and flip a GOP-held Senate seat in North Carolina in next year’s midterms.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, 65, is halfway through her second term steering New Mexico.

The governor, a former member of Congress, was a high-profile and busy surrogate on behalf of Harris during the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.

The 61-year-old Minnesota governor, who served as Harris’ running mate, has two years remaining in his second term in office.

While the vice presidential nominee’s energy and enthusiasm on the campaign trail this year impressed plenty of Democratic strategists, the final results of the election will make any potential future national run for Tim Walz difficult.

Walz has said he is not thinking of 2028, but he has been very busy so far this year heading events across the country, and an upcoming stop in South Carolina is fueling more White House buzz.

The 65-year-old Rahm Emanuel, who served the past four years as ambassador to Japan during the Biden administration, has a jam-packed resume.

Emanuel, a veteran of former President Bill Clinton’s administration in the 1990s, went on to serve in Congress and steered the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during its very successful 2006 cycle. He later served as Obama’s chief of staff before winning the 2011 election and 2015 re-election as Chicago mayor.

Emanuel, who late last year mulled making a bid for Democratic National Committee chair, has seen his name floated in recent months as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender.

The 54-year-old Gina Raimondo, a former two-term Rhode Island governor, made history as the first woman to steer the nation’s smallest state.

Raimondo, who served as Commerce secretary in Biden’s cabinet, said “yes” when recently asked by veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod if she was considering a 2028 White House run.

Honorable Mentions: Two other names that also keep coming up in the Democrats 2028 conversation are Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Sen. Ruben Gallego of battleground Arizona.

The Virginia Democrat running to replace Gov. Glenn Youngkin released her first TV ad Thursday slamming what she described as “political nonsense” in public service. 

“Too many politicians talk when they should listen. And divide instead of unite. Enough is enough. I’m Abigail Spanberger. I believe that public service is too important for political nonsense,” the former U.S. House representative said. 

“When I was in law enforcement and then working counterterrorism at CIA, we didn’t do politics. We did our jobs. I broke down some of the divides, stood up to both parties and was named the most bipartisan member of Congress from Virginia,” she added. “As governor, I’ll work to lower costs, let people keep more of their money and make Virginia schools the best in the nation.” 

Spanberger is running against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, in this November’s gubernatorial race. Representatives for both Youngkin and Earle-Sears did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. 

DEMOCRAT GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE BLASTED FOR MELTDOWN OVER ‘SHOCKING’ ICE ARREST OF 2 CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 

Spanberger has faced pushback from both Earle-Sears and the Department of Homeland Security after condemning the “shocking” execution of an ICE raid at a Virginia courthouse in April that netted two criminal illegal immigrants. 

“I think what we’ve seen most shocking, including here in Charlottesville, has been cases where people haven’t provided identification and have been in some cases masked and in plain clothes,” Spanberger told the Daily Progress earlier this month, after an ICE raid at Albemarle County Courthouse led to the arrest of two illegal immigrants.  

FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN TURNED VA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ACCUSED OF ETHICS VIOLATION 

Earle-Sears press secretary Peyton Vogel later told Fox News Digital that “Abigail Spanberger’s outrage over criminal illegal immigrants being taken off our streets is everything Virginians need to know about what kind of governor she’d be — criminals first, victims last.” 

The Earle-Sears campaign has also accused Spanberger of failing to include her role as a trustee in financial disclosure reports while she was a member of Congress. 

The campaign for Earle-Sears called the incomplete disclosures “a calculated lie,” not an “accident.” But, according to Spanberger’s campaign, the only asset contained in the trust is Spanberger’s personal residence, which is not required to be disclosed. 

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: Riley Gaines clapped back at former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann with an official challenge for charity on Wednesday after he said Gaines “was, somehow, a worse swimmer than she is a MAGA stooge.”

Olbermann, the ex-host of both MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann and ESPN’s SportsCenter, quoted an X post of Education Secretary Linda McMahon telling Fox News’ America Reports that Gaines “would have clearly won” her race if Gaines didn’t have to compete against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

CALIFORNIA TRACK STAR’S FAMILY REACTS TO TRUMP SHAKING UP GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIP MEET AMID TRANS ATHLETE DRAMA

“[Riley Gaines] finished 85th in the Olympic Trials,” Olbermann posted to X. “She finished tied for 5th in the only race including a transgendered athlete. If there had been none she MIGHT have finished tied for 4th, or had 5th place to herself.”

The 12-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-American responded on X, noting she “placed 85th at Olympic trials when I was 15/16.” 

“I was one of the youngest there,” Gaines explained. “And I placed 5th *in the nation* in a sport measured in .01s of a second without going a best. Would you say the 5th best college football player is objectively bad at their sport?”

LIA THOMAS’ FORMER TEAMMATES SPEAK OUT AGAINST UPENN AMID TITLE IX VIOLATION

The “Gaines for Girls” podcast host told Fox News Digital she is now officially challenging Keith Olbermann to a race for charity. The event would be a 200-yard freestyle at a location of Olbermann’s choice sometime before August 31 of this year. 

The winner of the race will pick which charitable organization the proceeds would go to and the total wager to be donated would be set if Olbermann agrees. The 25-year-old University of Kentucky alumnus told Fox that Olbermann “could do a 150” yard freestyle, while she still swims 200 yards, if it incentivized him to compete in the charitable challenge.

A spokesperson for Olbermann did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

While Gaines and Olbermann sparred on X, President Donald Trump blasted California governor Gavin Newsom earlier this week as the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) cleared the way for a transgender athlete to compete in a women’s state championship track meet this upcoming weekend.

“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newscum, continues to ILLEGALLY allow “MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.;” Trump posted to Truth Social. “This week a transitioned Male athlete, at a major event, won “everything,” and is now qualified to compete in the “State Finals” next weekend.”

President Trump signed an Executive Order on Feb 5th in an attempt to outright ban men from competing in women’s sports. Trump went on to explain that if the Golden State did not comply with this executive order, federal funding could be revoked. 

“THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS,” the president continued in his post. “Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to.”

Newsom’s office released a statement supporting the transgender athlete’s participation in the upcoming state championship.