Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime does not direct the activities of the Tren de Aragua, according to a newly public memo released by U.S. intelligence agencies last month.

The memo, published Monday by the New York Times, undercuts President Donald Trump’s justifications for using the Alien Enemies Act to facilitate deportations. The report represents the “sense of the community” of the National Intelligence Council and states they have not found a direct link between Maduro’s regime and TdA leadership.

“While Venezuela’s permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the report states.

“The IC bases this judgment on Venezuelan law enforcement actions demonstrating the regime treats TDA as a threat; an uneasy mix of cooperation and confrontation rather than top-down directives [that] characterize the regime’s ties to other armed groups; and the decentralized makeup of TDA that would make such a relationship logistically challenging,” the memo continues.

FEDERAL JUDGES IN NEW YORK AND TEXAS BLOCK TRUMP DEPORTATIONS AFTER SCOTUS RULING

While the memo cuts against the claim that support for TdA is a direct policy from Maduro’s regime, it does note that FBI analysts agree that “some Venezuelan government officials facilitate TDA members’ migration from Venezuela to the United States and use members as proxies … to advance what they see as the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public safety in these countries.”

NOEM RIPS DEMOCRATS OVER SUPPORT FOR DEPORTED MIGRANT

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing, has been invoked three times, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.

Trump’s administration declared in March that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years or older who are members of TdA, are within the U.S. and are not naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the U.S. may be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed as “alien enemies.”

Key to the White House’s argument is its claim that TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolás Maduro regime-sponsored narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela.

In 2020, Maduro and other regime members were charged with narco-terrorism and other crimes in an alleged plot against America.

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris headlines a top-dollar Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner on Tuesday, marking the latest step back into the political spotlight by the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee.

The New York City gathering of top party officials, politicians and donors, where tickets range upwards of $25,000 per person, according to an invitation obtained by Fox News, comes as Harris is mulling her political future after last November’s election defeat at the hands of Republican President Donald Trump.

Among her campaign options that she’s 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.

The event also comes as the Democratic Party, facing historically low favorable ratings in national polling, aims to leave the political wilderness after the party lost control of the White House and the Senate and fell short in its bid to regain the House majority in the 2024 elections.

KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS POLITICAL TIMETABLE FOR MAKING KEY DECISION

And it is being held as an increasingly angry and energized base of Democrats is pushing for party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against Trump’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the opening months of his second administration.

“Kamala Harris understands the fight that we are in,” DNC committee member and veteran Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Fox News.

She added that “Kamala Harris is a beloved figure in the Democratic Party.”

“The DNC is using every tool in their toolbox to bring people together, to get people excited about the campaigns that are coming in the next two cycles,” said Cardona, a member of the DNC’s influential Rules and Bylaws committee. “I think it’s super smart for the DNC to use her, to use every other elected [official], to use governors, to use former administration officials. … I think this is just par for the course for what the DNC needs to do going forward.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND OPINION ON FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS

The fundraiser is being held the day after the president helped haul in big bucks as he headlined a gathering of major donors at one of his golf courses in Virginia for MAGA Inc., which was the top Trump-aligned super PAC during the 2024 election cycle.

Harris proved her fundraising prowess last year, hauling in over $1 billion during her three-and-a-half-month White House campaign after replacing then-President Joe Biden atop the Democrats’ national ticket in late July, amid mounting questions over the then-81-year-old president’s physical and mental stamina. 

“She raised an eye-popping record amount of money,” Cardona noted. “She is still a tremendous draw for the Democratic faithful and donors and that will continue to be the case going forward.”

The DNC is using much of the money brought in at its fundraisers to build its ground operations and messaging efforts ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

A top progressive leader agreed that using Harris to help fundraise for the DNC makes sense. 

HERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY EVENTUALLY RUN FOR WHITE HOUSE IN 2028

But Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a major grassroots organization that promotes economic populism and democracy through electoral and issue advocacy efforts, pointed to Harris’ 2024 setback as well as her flameout in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary when asked about how the left would receive a potential 2028 White House bid by Harris.

“She had her chance. Sometimes you have to know when to step away,” Green told Fox News.

He argued that Harris felt more like a candidate from the party’s establishment than a shake-up of the system, populist, during her two presidential campaigns, and that the more voters got to know her, the less they supported her.

Harris’ appearance at Tuesday’s DNC fundraiser, where she’ll take part in a question-and-answer session with national party chair Ken Martin, comes a week after she made some of her first major public remarks since her 2024 defeat.

The former vice president at an event in San Francisco took aim at Trump’s economic agenda. She said the president’s controversial implementation of tariffs, which initially triggered a massive stock market selloff, “as I predicted, are clearly inviting a recession.”

The stepped-up appearances by Harris come as she continues to meet with advisors and friends as she considers her political future.

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.

TOP TRUMP ALLY TEASES BID FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR IF HARRIS RUNS

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 election as vice president.

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

Meanwhile, extremely early polls in the next Democratic Party presidential nomination race, which are heavily reliant on name recognition at this point, indicate that the former vice president holds a significant lead over other potential White House contenders.

It is unlikely she could do both. Running and winning election in 2026 as governor of California, the nation’s most populous state and home to the world’s fifth-largest economy, would likely take a 2028 White House run off the table, allies and political analysts have indicated.

While no decisions have been made, the former vice president has vowed to remain politically involved.

Harris, in a video message to the Democratic National Committee as it huddled for its winter meeting in early February, pledged to be with the party “every step of the way.”

And in an early April speech in California, Harris reiterated that she’ll stay politically active, noting that “I’m not going anywhere.”

2028 WATCH: VIRAL VIDEO SPARKS MORE AOC SPECULATION

But Harris is far from the only Democrat sparking 2028 speculation.

Among those making headlines in the extremely early moves for the next Democrat presidential nomination race is two-term Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, who took aim at Trump and his own party as he headlined a state Democratic Party fundraiser a week and a half ago in New Hampshire, which traditionally has held the first primary in the White House race.

Also grabbing plenty of 2028 buzz is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the four-term, outspoken progressive from New York City.

A viral video of her nationwide series of rallies with longtime liberal champion Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, drew large crowds and sparked more speculation that the lawmaker known as AOC might have presidential ambitions in 2028 or that she could potentially primary challenge longtime Democrat Senate Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York in three years.

Green, in contrasting Harris and Ocasio-Cortez, said “this moment calls for authentic outsiders who want to shake up the broken political system and an economic status quo rigged for billionaires against working people. That’s why Kamala Harris lost, and it’s why a lot of people are looking at AOC.”

President Donald Trump unveiled a budget blueprint last week that includes roughly $6 billion in federal funding cuts to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Despite the multibillion-dollar slash, a senior official at the space agency told Fox New Digital that the reduction in funding is actually beneficial for efficiency and exploration.

“The reductions in the President’s blueprint budget counterintuitively represent an opportunity to truly innovate in how we conduct our space missions,” senior NASA official Ryan Whitley told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. 

“Now is the time to reduce the bureaucracy at NASA and turn our attention to the execution of bold new human missions to the Moon and Mars.”

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS EMBRACES TRUMP BUDGET PROPOSAL ‘PARADIGM SHIFT’

The proposed plan would cut roughly 24% of NASA’s entire budget, and could phase out some major projects like the Artemis moon program. Artemis, which was conceptualized by Trump in his first term, was designed to push the U.S. to return to moon exploration and came after President Barack Obama canceled the Constellation program in 2011.

The original timeline of the Artemis program included a mission to land astronauts on the moon by 2024 via the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, but technical challenges have delayed the undertaking several years, and it is now set for at least September 2026 should the program survive the cuts. 

While funding reduction threatens some existing programs, the White House touted new investments that would bolster the agency in an effort to beat Chinese space innovations.  

TRUMP, GOP PUSH FOR MAJOR REDUCTION OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING IN NEW BUDGET PLAN

“By allocating over $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, it ensures that America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative, and efficient,” the White House topline preview reads. “To achieve these objectives, the Budget would streamline the NASA workforce, IT services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, and construction and environmental compliance activities.”

Aligning with the Trump administration’s movement to improve government efficiency, the White House clarified that the budget “refocuses [NASA] funding on beating China back to the Moon and on putting the first human on Mars.”

With a heavy reduction in federal funding, it is most likely that outside contractors and companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX will most likely play a bigger role in launching rockets and exploring space.

SpaceX has conducted 479 launches thus far, and Blue Origin has conducted 31.

As the current head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), though he has announced his intention of leaving the agency to focus more on Tesla and his other ventures, Musk clarified he had no involvement in NASA budget discussions in a post on X last month.

GOP LEADERS FIND NEW MAJOR HOLIDAY DEADLINE FOR TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AMID MEDICAID, TAX DIVISIONS

The budget blueprint and the funding changes to NASA still have to make their way through the legislative process, but the U.S. space agency has stood fast in its position that the current proposal will bolster innovation and exploration.

“We have accomplished the impossible time and time again, but even the best organizations need to take a hard look in the mirror,” Whitley told Fox News Digital.

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“For the past 25 years, NASA has had access to billions of dollars to advance human exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit. Despite that, in all that time, the United States has only successfully conducted one—uncrewed—test flight around the Moon,” he said. “We know we are capable of accomplishing much more.”

Egypt and China wrapped up their first-ever joint military exercises on Sunday, in a show of force involving the U.S.’ top rival and one of its top recipients of military aid. 

Running from mid-April until Sunday, the drills consisted of joint aerial exercises, simulated air combat and modern warfare lectures. 

China deployed its J-10C fighter jets, KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft and Y-20 transport tankers in a display of its military prowess beyond Asia, according to footage posted by Chinese state media outlet CCTV.

Egypt has, in recent years, also purchased large amounts of military machinery from Russia, prompting questions about how the U.S. should address a top Middle East ally and aid recipient growing closer to its biggest adversaries. 

CHINESE FIRM AIDING HOUTHI ATTACKS ON US VESSELS

“We’ve never seen a crisis like this,” said Joel Rubin, a former senior State Department official who worked on the Egypt desk under former President George W. Bush and pens “The Briefing Book” on Substack. “Egypt is essentially flouting us right now and looking to China, looking for more stable, long-term partners after nearly four and a half decades of stability in terms of the peace deal under Camp David.”

Egypt operates a number of U.S.-made aircraft – F-16 fighter aircraft, CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache helicopters – and is slated to receive C-130 J transport aircraft. Egypt also possesses 32 American Patriot missile defense systems. 

The China-Egypt Eagles of Civilization 2025 is expected to bolster Beijing’s ties to Africa’s strongest military and a longtime strategic U.S. ally. 

Egypt has received roughly $1.3 billion each year in U.S. military aid since the Camp David Accords that normalized relations between Israel and Egypt. That figure puts it behind only Israel, which scores around $3.8 in U.S. military aid. 

Ukraine receives more aid than Egypt and Israel, but only since Russia’s invasion – prior to 2022, it got between $200 and $350 million each year. 

ISRAEL APPROVES PLAN TO CAPTURE ALL OF GAZA, CALLS UP TENS OF THOUSANDS OF RESERVE TROOPS

When the Trump administration took office and froze all foreign aid, Egypt and Israel were the only two nations who were exempted from the freeze. 

Egypt partners with U.S. security forces across the region to fight terrorism in places like Iraq and Syria. 

The Camp David Accords, per Rubin, were the “final piece to the puzzle that peeled off the most important Arab military from the Soviet Union.” Prior to the accords, Egypt was aligned with Russia’s priorities in the Middle East. “It was about getting them into our column, and this is a sign they may be again moving into a different column.” 

Around $300 million of U.S. military aid to Egypt can be conditioned on human rights concerns, and that money has been frozen and unfrozen in recent years due to complaints about Egypt’s human rights record under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. 

“Cairo’s hedging tactics are not new. This has been a slow and steady effort, and this exercise marks a clear escalation. For Cairo, they want to diversify their patrons. Washington has long conditioned its aid to Egypt on human rights and democratization efforts. While the U.S. has routinely issued waivers on these conditions and allowed the aid to flow, Cairo does not want to remain beholden to Washington,” said Mariam Wahba, an Egypt-focused researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. 

However, with a new administration with little appetite for foreign aid, Egypt may be concerned that further aid cuts are on the table. 

“This exercise should certainly sound the alarm in Washington,” said Wahba. 

The exercises, according to former Deputy Assistance Secretary of Defense Simone Ledeen, “are both about capability building and sending a geopolitical signal.” 

“Egypt is hedging, showing the U.S. it has options,” added Ledeen, who worked in the first Trump administration. “China is making clear it intends to expand its influence in the Mediterranean. Everyone should be paying attention.”

The latest development, according to Rubin, calls for “very agile diplomacy.”  

“It’s indicative of the broader global uncertainty and panic about the Trump administration’s position towards international affairs,” he said. “If we do threaten in a way that pushes them out, then even if we might feel justified morally, we could potentially be losing a crucial ally and partner, one that has significant impact on global shipping routes, counterterrorism work across the Arab Middle East, and we would be giving China a toe hold right into the heart of the Middle East at the worst possible time.”

John Fetterman has always been an eccentric character on a star-crossed path.

He is the only United States senator who has adopted a hoodie as his official uniform. 

He is also the only one who suffered a stroke on the eve of his primary victory, making it difficult for him to speak, but won the general election anyway.

And the Pennsylvania Democrat doesn’t toe the line on all party positions, especially when it comes to his fierce support for Israel.

AS JUDGE IS CHARGED WITH OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE IN MIGRANT CASE, SPINNERS CAST IT AS AN ANTI-TRUMP STORY

But now comes a troubling story in New York Magazine that casts the senator in a much darker light.

The New York Times put it this way: Fetterman’s former chief of staff “was so alarmed with his ex-boss’s erratic behavior last year that he wrote a lengthy letter to his doctor warning that the senator was spiraling out of control and that his mental health issues could cost him his life.”

The staffer, Adam Jentleson, added in writing Fetterman’s Walter Reed doctor: “I’m worried that if John stays on his current trajectory he won’t be with us for much longer.” 

Other former staff members told the Times that colleagues were sometimes “frightened” to be in his presence when he was manic, and that his “volatile” behavior has gotten worse since the election.

Fetterman issued a statement saying that “my ACTUAL doctors and my family affirmed that I’m very well.” He called the magazine story a “hit piece” and promoted the idea that its author, Ben Terris, was “best friends” with Jentleson and that they “sourced anonymous, disgruntled staffers with lies or distorted half-truths.”

Terris, for his part, disclosed in the article that Adam Jentleson is a “personal friend.” So it wasn’t a state secret.

Jentleson wrote to the medical director who supervised Fetterman’s hospitalization for mental health problems in 2023: “He does not see his doctors. I am not sure when he last saw a cardiologist, but I don’t think he’s seen one since he was released. He long ago ordered us to stop putting regular drop-bys with Dr. Monahan on his schedule, despite the fact that he had agreed to those as part of the plan.” Brian Monahan is the Capitol and Supreme Court physician. 

Fetterman was the first Democratic senator to visit Trump, who carried Pennsylvania and the other swing states, at Mar-a-Lago. 

STATE OF WAR: HOW TRUMP IS FIGHTING A 9-FRONT BATTLE

Jentleson wrote another doctor: “We do not know if he is taking his meds, and his behavior frequently suggests he is not.”

Among other things, wrote Jentleson, his ex-boss drives recklessly and recently bought a gun. There are “high highs and low lows; long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues lying in ways that are painfully, awkwardly obvious to everyone in the room.”

Joe Biden, who does his first post-White House interview today, with his wife on “The View,” is a whole other story.

His problem was not depression but making other Democrats depressed when he insisted on running for a second term. We now know how his wife and his staff protected him from the press and even his own staff to avoid revealing his mental decline.

And that blew up on them in the horrible debate with Trump. Ron Klain has gone on the record with his frustration that his longtime boss walked out on one prep session and fell asleep by the pool.

Now comes a new revelation in a forthcoming book by Josh Dawsey of the Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of the New York Times and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post.

The Times writes, citing the book, that “his top White House aides debated having him undergo a cognitive test to prove his fitness for a second term” in the early weeks of 2024.

Here was the dilemma, according to “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America.” And that’s an accurate title.

Biden’s closest aides “worried that the mere fact of his taking one would raise new questions about his mental abilities.”

SENATOR’S WARNING FOR DISTRICT JUDGES AS SUPREME COURT SET TO HEAR LANDMARK CASE

Which is precisely what would have happened. Rather than persuading the former president not to run, they wouldn’t even let him do a soft-focus Super Bowl interview.

During this period in 2022, the Times published an interview with David Axelrod, the former Obama White House official turned CNN commentator. Axelrod said Biden “looks his age”–then 79–and added:  “The stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue.”

Axelrod angrily called Klain, then the chief of staff, to ask why he was fueling doubts about a Democratic president.

“There’s no Obama out there, Axe,” Klain told him, according to the book. “Who’s going to do it if he doesn’t do it?”

This was also around the time that special counsel Robert Hur, declining to prosecute Biden on the classified documents he voluntarily turned over, called the president “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” That seems incredibly mild now. Biden held a news conference to declare his memory was fine, but referred to the president of Egypt as the president of Mexico.

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Talk about good days and bad days. Everyone has bad days, but it has national and international resonance when it involves a senator or a president.

None of this should be used to stigmatize those with mental health or mental acuity problems. But there are red flags here that deepen our understanding of what’s really happening.

A lawyer who represented a government whistleblower in a case that led to President Donald Trump’s first impeachment sued the Trump administration on Monday for “unconstitutional retaliation” after his security clearance was revoked.

Lawyer Mark Zaid argued that the administration’s decision to pull his clearance in March was in retaliation for representing former Department of Homeland Security intelligence chief Brian Murphy, who was key to Trump’s 2019 impeachment.

Murphy filed a whistleblower complaint in 2019 alleging Trump, amid his re-election campaign, pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate then-U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. 

The U.S. House of Representatives voted later that year to impeach Trump for abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, but he was later acquitted by the Senate.

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Zaid’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., claims the decision to rescind his security clearance represents a “dangerous, unconstitutional retaliation by the President of the United States against his perceived political enemies” that “eschews any semblance of due process.”

The complaint accuses the Trump administration of violating the Administrative Procedures Act, the First Amendment and parts of the Fifth Amendment.

“No American should lose their livelihood, or be blocked as a lawyer from representing clients, because a president carries a grudge toward them or who they represent,”  Zaid said in a statement. “This isn’t just about me. It’s about using security clearances as political weapons.”

FORMER VP PENCE VOWS TO SPEAK OUT IF PRESIDENT TRUMP VEERS FROM ‘CONSERVATIVE AGENDA’ 

The lawsuit cites a 2019 incident in which Trump called Zaid a “sleazeball” at a Louisiana rally and told reporters that the lawyer was a “disgrace” who “should be sued.”

The move to pull Zaid’s clearance was “a bald-faced attack on a sacred constitutional guarantee: the right to petition the court or federal agencies on behalf of clients,” the lawsuit says, noting that an “attack on this right is especially insidious because it jeopardizes Mr. Zaid’s ability to pursue and represent the rights of others without fear of retribution.”

Trump has also revoked clearances of several other political foes, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his own former national security advisor John Bolton, as well as attorneys at other law firms.

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Zaid urged the court to rule that Trump’s revocation decision was unconstitutional and reinstate his clearance. He has had access to classified information since 1995 and a security clearance since 2002.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a scathing letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber on Monday, not only blasting the Massachusetts Ivy League school’s handling of antisemitism on campus but also advising school officials to refrain from applying for future federal grants because they will not “be provided.”

In her no-holds-barred letter, McMahon told Garber that the federal government has a “sacred responsibility” to be an important steward of American taxpayer funds, adding that the school has amassed a largely tax-free $53.2 billion endowment and receives billions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year.

“Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right,” she wrote. “Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these ‘students’ come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country – and why is there so much HATE? These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?”

She also said the university has “made a mockery” of the higher education system in the U.S., inviting foreign students to its campuses who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the U.S.

TRUMP SAYS HE’LL REVOKE HARVARD’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS

McMahon slammed the school for adopting an “embarrassing” remedial math program for undergraduates, questioning why a school that’s so difficult to get admitted to has to teach low-level mathematics.

She called Harvard out for being embroiled in plagiarism scandals and lambasted the school for allowing Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review to engage in “ugly racism.”

McMahon blasted Harvard for hiring former Mayors Bill de Blasio of New York City and Lori Lightfoot of Chicago to teach “leadership” at its School of Public Health.

“This is like hiring the captain of the Titanic to teach navigation to future captains of the sea,” she said.

IVY LEAGUE SUICIDES, PRINCETON’S 8TH STUDENT DEATH IN 4 YEARS EXPOSE CRISIS AT ELITE SCHOOLS

“The above concerns are only a fraction of the long list of Harvard’s consistent violations of its own legal duties. Given these and other concerning allegations, this letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided,” McMahon later wrote. “Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution and can instead operate as a privately-funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment, and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni.

“You have an approximately $53 billion head start, much of which was made possible by the fact that you are living within the walls of, and benefiting from, the prosperity secured by the United States of America and its free-market system you teach your students to despise,” she added.

In closing, McMahon reminded Garber that the Trump administration had been willing to maintain federal funding to Harvard as long as the school complied with federal law to protect and promote student welfare and stop racial preferencing.

HARVARD PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES FOR FAILURE TO ADDRESS ANTISEMITISM, ISLAMOPHOBIA AFTER NEW REPORTS RELEASED

“The proposed common-sense reforms – which the Administration remains committed to – include a return to merit-based admissions and hiring, an end to unlawful programs that promote crude identity stereotypes, disciplinary reform and consistent accountability, including for student groups, cooperation with Law Enforcement, and reporting compliance with the Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, and other Federal Agencies,” McMahon said. “The Administration’s priorities have not changed, and today’s letter marks the end of new grants for the university.”

Harvard confirmed to Fox News Digital that it received a letter from the administration on Monday.

“Today, we received another letter from the administration doubling down on demands that would impose unprecedented and improper control over Harvard University and would have chilling implications for higher education,” a Harvard spokesperson said. “Today’s letter makes new threats to illegally withhold funding for lifesaving research and innovation in retaliation against Harvard for filing its lawsuit on April 21.

“Harvard will continue to comply with the law, promote and encourage respect for viewpoint diversity, and combat antisemitism in our community. Harvard will also continue to defend against illegal government overreach aimed at stifling research and innovation that make Americans safer and more secure,” the spokesperson continued.

TRUMP BRANDS HARVARD ‘ANTISEMITIC’ AND A ‘THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’ DURING FUNDING BATTLE

McMahon’s letter comes just days after President Donald Trump declared that his administration was going to be taking away Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

Trump made the announcement after Fox News reported that his administration asked the Internal Revenue Service to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status. The Ivy League school’s failure to address antisemitism on campus is grounds for losing its 501(c)(3) status, sources said at the time.

Trump argued in mid-April that Harvard had “lost its way” and didn’t deserve federal funding.

“Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders,'” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Look just to the recent past at their plagiarizing President, who so greatly embarrassed Harvard before the United States Congress.”

Harvard has become a target of Trump’s broader crackdown on universities, much of which is in response to last year’s anti-Israel unrest that erupted on campuses across the country.

On April 11, the Trump administration sent a letter to Garber and Harvard Corporation Lead Member Penny Pritzker outlining the institution’s failures and a list of demands from the White House. In the letter, the administration accused Harvard of failing to uphold civil rights laws and to foster an “environment that produces intellectual creativity.”

The Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding if Harvard did not reform governance and leadership as well as its hiring and admissions practices by August 2025. The letter emphasized the need for Harvard to change its international admissions process to avoid admitting students who are “hostile” to American values or support terrorism or antisemitism. 

Harvard refused to comply with the demands, with Garber saying that “no government… should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

The Trump administration then froze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard and is reportedly looking to slash another billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The university later filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its “unlawful” freezing of funds.

Fox News’ Greg Norman, Andrea Margolis, Alexis McAdams and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

The Trump administration is asking a federal judge in Texas to dismiss a case that aims to restrict access to the abortion drug mifepristone. 

The request continues the Biden administration’s position in defense of the drug: that Texas isn’t the proper venue for the lawsuit.

In a Justice Department court filing, the Trump administration said Idaho, Missouri and Kansas have no ties to Texas, where the lawsuit was filed, arguing they lack standing in the suit against the Food and Drug Administration over its rules over the pills, which are available online and by mail.

MAJOR DRUG STORES START SELLING ABORTION PILL SOME SAY IS ‘DANGEROUS’ FOR WOMEN AHEAD OF LANDMARK SCOTUS CASE

“Aside from this litigation, the States do not dispute that their claims have no connection to the Northern District of Texas,” the DOJ wrote. “The states cannot keep alive a lawsuit in which the original plaintiffs were held to lack standing, those plaintiffs have now voluntarily dismissed their claims, and the States’ own claims have no connection to this District.” 

The three Republican-led states are challenging FDA actions that loosened restrictions on the drug in 2016 and 2021, including allowing for medication abortions at up to 10 weeks of pregnancy instead of seven, and for mail delivery of the drug without a woman first seeing a clinician in-person, Reuters reported. 

ABORTION PILL USE HAS SPIKED IN RECENT YEARS, NEW REPORT REVEALS: ‘SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE’

A lower court previously rebuffed a request to reverse FDA approval of mifepristone. 

“The States are free to pursue their claims in a District where venue is proper,” the federal attorneys said. But the brief pointed to weaknesses in the states’ argument beyond standing, noting, for instance, that their challenge to the FDA’s 2016 action allowing the pills to be used up to 10 weeks of pregnancy rather than the previous seven is outside the statute of limitations.

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Last year, the Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by anti-abortion doctors and medical associations after the justices ruled the plaintiffs could not show they had been personally harmed by the federal government’s regulation of the pill. 

The Trump administration also argued for the dismissal, saying the states’ challenge to FDA’s 2016 actions is outside the six-year statute of limitations.

Fox News Digital’s Melissa Rudy contributed to this report. 

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

–REAL ID ‘unnecessary in keeping us safe,’ GOP lawmaker says as deadline looms

-Former Vice President Mike Pence honored by Kennedy family in receiving the JFK ‘Profile in Courage Award’

-Senator warns of ‘unconstitutional’ judicial overreach ahead of SCOTUS showdown

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security will front the cost of commercial flights and provide a $1,000 stipend to illegal aliens who opt to self-deport from the United States in a move DHS says will save thousands of dollars.

The department says this will be 70% cheaper for American taxpayers, as it currently costs DHS, on average, over $17,000 to arrest, detain, and deport someone. DHS told Fox News that paying for aliens to remove themselves, even with the stipend, is anticipated to cost only around $4,500 on average. 

The stipend would not be paid until it was verified that an individual self-deported. Aliens will use the CBP Home self-deportation app to access this assistance, and DHS expects self-removals, already in the thousands, to ramp up significantly with this announcement…READ MORE

FREED PRISONER: Trump meets with American ballerina freed from Russian prison

‘NOT ALLOWED’: Trump shoots down rumors he will seek 3rd term: ‘Not something I’m looking to do’

DISORDER IN COURT: Trump questions judges who block deportations of ‘criminals, including murderers’

‘AUTHORITY TO REGULATE’: Trump admin sues Colorado, Denver over ‘sanctuary laws,’ alleged interference in immigration enforcement

KEEPING TRUMP HONEST: Former VP Pence vows to be a ‘voice against’ Trump when president veers from ‘conservative agenda’

‘RAPIDLY’: Trump fields question about his timeline for judicial nominations: ‘We’re putting ’em in rapidly’

TRUMP’S 16TH WEEK BACK: Trump’s 16th week in office to include WH meeting with Canada, ongoing trade negotiations

‘SHE IS SO AFRAID’: Trump says Mexican president is afraid of cartels after she rejected his offer to send US troops to Mexico

LAST CHANCE: Israel says Trump’s Middle East visit is the ‘window of opportunity’ for hostage deal

TOTAL CONTROL: Israel approves plan to capture all of Gaza, calls up tens of thousands of reserve troops: report

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC: Rwanda ‘in discussions’ with US to receive deported migrants: report

TRUMP CARD: GOP leaders find new major holiday deadline for Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ amid Medicaid, tax divisions

‘BRUTAL’ PREDICTION: Senate Democrats predicting very rough confirmation hearing for UN ambassador pick Mike Waltz

‘LOSING THE BASE’: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene airs frustrations, warns that she represents a ‘not happy’ Republican base

‘WHEELS ARE COMING OFF’: GOP rep urges lawmakers to ‘right-size’ bloated bureaucracy, national debt

‘FIRST THEY CAME’: Democrat Hank Johnson draws Holocaust comparison while blasting deportations

‘RACIAL DISPARITIES’: DOJ opens probe after left-wing DA requires prosecutors to consider race in plea deals

‘WE DELIVER ON THAT PROMISE’: Texas Gov. Abbott signs $1 billion voucher program into law, capping off win for school choice advocates

BALLOTS CAST: REAL ID is about to go into effect. Here’s how it may impact voting

LASTING LEGACY: Cornyn bringing bill to enshrine Trump EO renaming refuge after Jocelyn Nungaray into law

FIRST ON FOX: Red state school district hit with complaint to Trump admin alleging unlawful DEI practices

MAY 20 DEADLINE LOOMS: Deadline looms allowing left-wing court to select US attorney as state AGs urge confirmation of Trump pick

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

A series of Facebook ads funded by the California Democratic Party is claiming that Republicans are against stronger laws to protect 16- and 17-year-old sex trafficking victims amid a legislative fight over a minor solicitation bill in which Democrats successfully forced the exclusion of harsher penalties for the purchase or solicitation of older teens. 

The ads began appearing on social media after a vote in the California Assembly last week when Democrat leaders refused to move forward with AB 379, which would have made it an automatic felony to purchase or solicit 16- and 17-year-olds for sex. 

Featured in each ad is the name and image of a state Republican lawmaker who “voted against stronger laws protecting” older teens from sex trafficking, accusing them of protecting their “political party, not our kids.”

SON OF SUSPECTED WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN ARRESTED ON CHILD PORN CHARGES

AB 379, authored by Democratic Assemblymember Maggy Krell, was an attempt to crack down on the buyers in the child sex trafficking trade and to align their punishments with the traffickers. The ad campaign came after the Democrat-controlled Assembly Public Safety Committee decided to move the bill forward as long as it didn’t carry the felony provision for those who solicit older teens for sex. 

At the time, Krell told Fox News Digital that she was forced to exclude the felony provision in order for the legislation to move forward. 

“I wholeheartedly disagree with that amendment,” she said. “This has been my life’s work and I will continue to partner with sex trafficking survivors and law enforcement to ensure all minors are protected from the horrors of sex trafficking.”

On Thursday, Democrats voted to strip the bill completely from Krell, a former prosecutor who investigated human trafficking, while excluding the automatic felony clause. They also inserted text that read, “It is the intent of the Legislature to adopt the strongest laws to protect 16-and 17-year old victims and strengthen protections in support of survivors of human trafficking.”

“Just when you thought the @CA_Dem couldn’t go any lower, any more pathetic and desperate, here they are, trying to falsely spin themselves out of siding with predators over children, (poorly) playing politics over people. SO excited for 2026,” the California Republican Party shared Monday on X. 

WANDA BARZEE, ONE OF ELIZABETH SMART’S CAPTORS, ARRESTED ON ALLEGED SEX OFFENDER VIOLATION

Several Republican lawmakers also pushed back against the accusation that their party doesn’t protect children. 

“You see my friend Democrats lie… After we called @AsmDems out on the floor last week for removing protections for 16 and 17-year-old victims, they run ads accusing us… of the very thing they are doing,” Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher wrote on X. “You can’t hide from the truth with deceptive ads. It is Democrats who can’t bring themselves to part with weird ideological politics to protect kids.”

Assemblyman Josh Hoover, one of several Republicans targeted in the ad campaign, said Democrats were attempting to gaslight Californians. 

“Make no mistake, these ads are nothing but a distraction from their own failed record on public safety,” he wrote on social media. “I will continue to fight to restore the protections they removed, hold perpetrators accountable, and make sure all minors are treated equally under the law.”

The ad campaign was reportedly being pushed by the campaign of Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. Fox News Digital has reached out to the California Democratic Party and Rivas’ campaign. 

FATHER PRESSES FOR ANSWERS IN COLLEGE FRESHMAN DAUGHTER’S DEATH AFTER FALL FROM DORM: ‘SHE WAS OUR WORLD’

AB 379 came together after older teens were left out of a state law that went into effect this year that makes it a felony to purchase a child aged 15 and younger for sex. Last year, California State Sen. Shannon Groven authored a bill that made it illegal to buy minors for sex, but it excluded 16- and 17-year-olds.

Currently, traffickers, not the buyers, face the harshest consequences when convicted of trafficking anyone under 18. 

Last week, Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he supported harsher consequences for those who solicit minors for sex.

Assemblyman Joe Patterson said Newsom has lost control of his own party and that the state Democratic Party is treating him “like a lame duck.” Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez said Democrats across the state have failed Californians on a range of issues, including public safety, affordability and homelessness.

“All they have left are dirty lies that are easily rebutted by journalists,” she wrote. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee also weighed in on the matter. 

“California Democrats chose predators over children and out-of-touch Democrats Derek Tran and Dave Min have said nothing,” Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the NRCC, told Fox News Digital while calling out Democrat lawmakers. “Worse, they’re letting their fellow Democrats whitewash their disgusting record of protecting the absolute worst among us.”

Last week, Krell said she didn’t care if the bill had her name on it or not, but would support any proposal that included protections for 16- and 17-year-olds. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that the U.S. military will soon be seeing a dramatic reduction in the number of general officers across all branches. 

He called the reduction a “historic” move to fulfill President Donald Trump’s commitment to “achieving peace through strength.” 

“We’re going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters,” said Hegseth. 

According to Hegseth, there are currently 44 four-star and flag officers across the military, making for a ratio of one general to 1,400 troops, compared to the ratio during World War II of one general to 6,000 troops.

HEGSETH ORDERS SWEEPING ARMY OVERHAUL AND CONSOLIDATION AIMED AT COUNTERING CHINA AND GOLDEN DOME CAPABILITIES

Hegseth, who has pledged to transform the military into a “leaner, more lethal force,” issued a memo to senior Pentagon personnel on Monday in which he ordered the reductions to be carried out in two phases. 

In the first phase, Hegseth ordered a “minimum” 20% reduction of four-star generals and flag officers in the active-duty component as well as a 20% reduction in the National Guard. 

In phase two, the secretary is ordering an additional 10% reduction in general and flag officers across the military. 

The secretary called the reductions part of his “less generals, more GIs policy.” 

BILLIONS SPENT, WARFIGHTERS WAIT: INSIDE THE PENTAGON’S BROKEN BUYING SYSTEM AND THE PLAN TO FIX IT

In a video announcing the change, he said the reductions will be done “carefully, but it’s going to be done expeditiously.” 

He said “this is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers” but rather a “deliberative process, working with the joint chiefs with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions.” 

“We got to be lean and mean. And in this case, it means general officer reductions,” said Hegseth. 

Congress sets the number of general officers allowed in the military. The total number of active-duty general or flag officers is capped at 219 for the Army, 150 for the Navy, 171 for the Air Force, 64 for the Marine Corps and 21 for the Space Force.

President Donald Trump is proposing staggering spending cuts.

In his budget request for fiscal year 2026, the president demands that Congress slash an eye-popping 20% of spending which lawmakers allocate each year.

“You’re going to see $150 billion (in cuts) passed in the House and the Senate. That is real money,” said Budget Director Russ Vought on Fox News. “I think for the first time, this budget is not dead on arrival.”

To be clear, the budget which Mr. Trump sent to Capitol Hill is aspirational. All presidential budgets are. It’s what a president proposes that lawmakers – and his administration – aim to spend for the upcoming fiscal year. Congress is still charged with voting on the 12 annual spending bills which fund the government. The 20% cut proposed by President Trump deals with that area of spending.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WHERE WE STAND WITH TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

The Trump administration characterized this blueprint as a “skinny” budget. That’s because it included nothing about Medicare and Medicaid. Those social programs consume exorbitant chunks of federal spending – far exceeding what Congress appropriates each year. Congressional Republicans aim to make alterations of some kind to these programs in their so-called “big, beautiful bill.” Republicans insist those programs won’t endure cuts. But a “cut” is in the eye of the beholder.

“We’re going to move towards a long-term balanced budget. I like how we’re thinking long-term instead of short-term,” said Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., on Fox News.

To be clear, the framework for the GOP’s big, beautiful bill does not balance the budget. In fact, it increases the budget deficit. And Mr. Trump’s budget package doesn’t balance either. There’s no way to understand such a path unless you include Medicare and Medicaid.

But here’s what Mr. Trump’s budget request does do:

It eliminates dollars from every federal department and agency, except the Departments of Transportation and Veterans Affairs. Space programs and NASA are also safe, too.

“This is how you break the Swamp,” declared the House Freedom Caucus. “The FY ‘26 budget is a paradigm shift.”

The president’s proposal knifes the Department of Housing and Urban Development by 40%. It axes the Departments of Labor and Interior by 30%.

TOP SENATE ARMED SERVICES REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP OMB’S BUDGET ‘SHREDS TO THE BONE’ MILITARY CAPABILITIES

However, dollars for the Pentagon are essentially flat.

Defense hawks were apoplectic.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., torched Mr. Trump’s outline.

“Trump successfully campaigned on a Peace Through Strength agenda. But his advisers at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) were apparently not listening,” fumed Wicker. “For the defense budget, OMB has requested a fifth year straight of Biden administration funding, leaving military spending flat, which is a cut in real terms.”

Wicker accused OMB of trying to “shred to the bone” the nation’s military.

Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., chairs the Senate defense appropriations panel, charged with funding the Pentagon.

“It is peculiar how much time the President’s advisors spend talking about restoring peace through strength, given how apparently unwilling they’ve been to invest accordingly in the national defense or in other critical instruments of national power,” said McConnell.

“I am very concerned the requested base budget for defense does not reflect a realistic path to building the military capability we need to achieve President Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala.

With friends like these…

TRUMP SLAMS REPUBLICAN ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ OPPOSING BUDGET BILL, PREDICTS MASSIVE US TAX INCREASES IF IT FAILS

Vought fired back at Congressional defense advocates and their allegations that the budget request undercut the military.

“It’s an inaccurate charge. We provide a trillion dollars in national defense spending. 13% increase. We do it in two components,” said Vought. “We use discretionary spending. And then we put in a historic paradigm all of our increases on defense and Homeland Security. We use it in reconciliation so that we only need to use Republican votes. We don’t want Democrats to have the filibuster as a veto to then hijack the appropriations process and say no to the Homeland Security spending.”

Let me fillet that statement for you.

In other words, Vought asserts that some of the funding increases for the Pentagon will come through “budget reconciliation,” the process Republicans are now using to pass the big, beautiful bill. Republicans intend to pass that package with only GOP votes. But if Republicans included that military money in a “regular” appropriations bill, Democrats may demand “parity.” They would insist that non-defense programs score the same increase in exchange for advancing those bills – and voting to overcome a filibuster. So Vought argues his approach keeps Democrats from holding Pentagon dollars hostage in exchange for money targeted toward other programs.

But Democrats are focused on what Republicans may try to do with Medicare and Medicaid. They argue that Republicans are teeing up cuts.

“Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will shut down. Communities will be hurt. And Americans will die,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Republicans insist those programs won’t face cuts.

“The question is, will we be susceptible to the fear-mongering and the false rhetoric that you just heard from the Democrat Minority Leader in the House? And this is the same tired play they run,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, on Fox News. “We will be rewarded because we’re doing this for the sustainability of these programs for the most vulnerable.”

TRUMP SAYS PUBLIC ENTITLEMENTS LIKE SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICAID WON’T BE TOUCHED IN GOP BUDGET BILL

Still, even some remain apprehensive about how the GOP will handle those programs.

“If you want to be in the minority forever, then go ahead and do Medicaid cuts,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “That would be catastrophically stupid.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., met President Trump at the White House late last week to discuss the big, beautiful bill. The White House gave Congressional leaders a wish list of items it wants in the bill – and what can fall by the wayside.

Tax credits for electric vehicles are out.

“I don’t have a problem if somebody wants to go buy an electric vehicle. I just don’t think hardworking Americans should be subsidizing that,” said House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wisc., on Fox News.

Republicans hope to use money generated from the sale of EVs to shore up the Highway Trust Fund. The government used the federal gas tax to pay for construction of roads and bridges. But Congress hasn’t adjusted the gas tax since the mid-1990s. Plus, more EVs and hybrids are now on the road. And conventional vehicles which rely on gas are more fuel efficient. So this shores up some of those depleted coffers.

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS EMBRACES TRUMP BUDGET PROPOSAL ‘PARADIGM SHIFT’

Johnson is sticking by his goal to pass the bill through the House by Memorial Day. But some Republicans doubt that timeline.

“There’s no way,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., on Fox Business. “Unfortunately, President Trump chose the one big, beautiful (bill). What he should have done is the multiple-step process.”

In other words, lawmakers could have addressed the border, tax cuts and spending cuts in individual chunks. Loading everything onto one legislative truck makes this hard.

So can the House approve this in two weeks? There’s not a lot of consensus yet. But maybe they’ll try to wear Members down.

“We will stay until we pass it,” said one senior House GOP leadership source.

A law signed by Washington State Gov. Bob Ferguson last week that requires members of the clergy to report confessions of child abuse or neglect is under scrutiny, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights investigation into whether the law violates the First Amendment.

The Evergreen State’s new law adds “members of the clergy” to a list of professionals who are required to report information obtained through confessionals that relate to child abuse or neglect, to law enforcement or other state authorities.

The law provides no exception for the absolute seal of confidentiality, which applies to Catholic Priests, according to the DOJ.

The DOJ also said the state’s new law singles out “members of the clergy” as the only “supervisors” who are unable to rely on applicable legal privileges such as religious confessions, as a reason to not report the claims as mandated.

VATICAN LAW REQUIRES CLERGY TO REPORT SEX ABUSE AND COVER-UPS

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is investigating whether Washington state’s law violates religious protections provided under the First Amendment.

The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

UTAH BILL WOULD PROTECT CLERGY MEMBERS WHEN REPORTING CHILD ABUSE TO POLICE

“SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals. We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation.”

NEW LEADER IN LDS CHURCH SAYS IT SHOULD DO MORE TO HELP VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Ferguson, who signed the bill into law on May 2, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.

FOX 13 in Seattle reported that the bill will go into effect on July 26.

The station also reported that a federal report shows that Washington is one of just five states that does not explicitly or implicitly require clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect. It added that most states exempt information learned through confession from mandatory reporting, though Washington joins just a handful of states, including West Virginia and New Hampshire, which do not provide such exemptions.

The House Rules Committee has advanced a bill to permanently rename the Gulf of America.

Formerly the Gulf of Mexico, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that upended that as part of his America First agenda.

But without congressional action, the name could be reverted by a future administration – which spurred Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to introduce a bill enshrining the name in federal law.

The measure advanced through the House Rules Committee in a party-line vote on Monday evening, teeing it up for a chamber-wide vote sometime this week. The House Rules Committee acts as the final gatekeeper for most bills before they hit the House floor.

MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE

Democrats had attempted to derail the measure with several protest amendments, including one that would have limited oil and gas drilling permissions in the area. 

None of those passed along with the final bill, however, as expected. 

Democrats ripped the legislation as a meaningless attempt to score political points with Trump.

Republicans, however, called it a “historic” move for America First and an  “important symbol of that effort and a step in the right direction.”

“Throughout our country’s history, presidents have changed the names of America’s lands and waters. The change we are discussing today signals to the world that America is standing tall, and that we are proud of our country,” Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., said in support of the bill.

“It is nearly impossible to overstate the Gulf of America’s critical role in achieving not only American energy independence, but dominance. President Trump has made it a priority of his administration to reassert America’s role as a global leader in energy production, and the Gulf of America is a critical part of that agenda.”

She pointed back to Republicans’ 2024 electoral sweep, “The American people support these policies, and we must deliver on the promises that we have made.”

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., a member of the House Rules Committee, said during her opening statement during the panel’s debate on the measure, “Ever since the beginning of Trump’s term, House Republicans have been tripping over themselves to find new and more embarrassing ways to suck up to the president and indulge his peculiar obsessions.”

SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING ‘BIG ABORTION’ LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL

“This bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico is a stupid, unserious waste of time and taxpayer dollars. It’s an embarrassment to the nation that it was ever introduced, let alone that it’s being brought to the floor for a vote,” Scanlon said.

Fox News Digital is told a House-wide vote on the bill is expected Thursday morning.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital of the Democrats lodging protest amendments to the bill, “Democrats are so overtaken with Trump Derangement Syndrome and obsessed with obstructing the President’s agenda that they will always put America Last. As President Trump said, the Gulf of America has long been an integral asset to our nation. All future generations should be able to recognize this beautiful body of water as a sign of American greatness.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed President Donald Trump while discussing the recent chaos at Newark Liberty International Airport, saying he had “decimated the FAA.”

During a press conference on Monday, Jeffries took a reporter’s question about the recent delays at Newark Airport.

“Well, it’s certainly something that I think we’re all invested in looking into, as it relates to the ability of the American people to be able to travel in an efficient way,” the Democrat began, before turning his attention to Trump.

“We do know that the Trump administration has decimated the FAA in a variety of different ways, and they’ve been doing this from the very beginning,” he added. “They are breaking the federal government.”

TRUMP ANNOUNCES 100% TARIFF ON ALL FOREIGN-PRODUCED MOVIES: ‘WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!’

Jeffries added that the Trump administration is “breaking the FAA.”

“And whether the specific situation at Newark Airport has anything to do with that remains to be seen,” he continued.

“But it’s my expectation that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will look into this situation, and we should get some answers to figure out how to get it turned around.”

UN WATCHDOG PROJECT CALLS ON DOGE CAUCUS TO ‘AUDIT’ THE INTERNATIONAL ORG

The conference came days after the massive delays and cancellations at the New Jersey airport began.

On Thursday, more than 500 flights in and out of Newark were delayed and at least 200 others were canceled, and chaos followed throughout the weekend. As of Monday afternoon, 172 flights have been delayed and 76 have been canceled on Monday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the situation on poor technology in an X post on Friday.

“The technology that we are using is old. That’s what is causing the outages and delays we are seeing at Newark,” Duffy wrote.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House is going after Democratic lawmakers looking to upend House GOP plans to make President Donald Trump’s Gulf of America name change permanent.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most legislation gets a House-wide vote, is considering a bill to codify Trump’s decision to cease calling the body of water on the U.S. Southeast “the Gulf of Mexico.”

“Democrats are so overtaken with Trump Derangement Syndrome and obsessed with obstructing the President’s agenda that they will always put America last,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.

“As President Trump said, the Gulf of America has long been an integral asset to our nation. All future generations should be able to recognize this beautiful body of water as a sign of American greatness.”

MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE

Four Democrats have submitted amendments in a bid to upend the legislation — though none are likely to pass, given the committee’s Republican majority.

The first measure, led by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., would revert a similar Trump decision to rename Mt. McKinley in Alaska. The highest peak in North America, former President Barack Obama stripped his assassinated predecessor’s name from the mountain in favor of Mt. Denali, the name originally given by the indigenous peoples who lived in the area.

Trump signed an executive order restoring McKinley as its name on his first day in office this year.

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

A second amendment by Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., is aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to issue oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf region.

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., meanwhile, submitted an amendment that, if passed, would block the Trump administration from “retribution” against news organizations that refer to the area as the Gulf of Mexico.

The White House had blocked access for an Associated Press journalist earlier this year after the organization continued to refer to the gulf’s former name even after Trump’s executive order. A federal judge ordered the White House to reverse that last month.

The fourth amendment submitted by Democrats, led by Rep. Luz Rivas, D-Calif., would prevent the formal name change from taking effect until the Department of Interior carried out an assessment on whether it would benefit the economy.

Rivas told Fox News Digital that the Gulf of America rename is a “vanity project” that “accomplishes nothing” in response to the White House statement.

“Millions of Americans are struggling because of President Trump’s economic policies, and Republicans in Congress have yet to put forth a legislative proposal that lowers the costs of groceries, protects healthcare, or lowers housing costs,” Rivas said.

The bill itself is expected to get a vote sometime this week.

It’s one of several pieces of legislation House Republicans are advancing aimed at making Trump’s executive actions permanent.

Trump’s executive order renaming the gulf was one of the first actions he took in his second term.

The remaining three Democratic offices who Fox News Digital reached for comment did not get back by press time.

A pro-Trump legal group founded by White House aide Stephen Miller is suing Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts — a long-shot move as Trump allies fight court rulings blocking key actions from the Oval Office.

The lawsuit was filed by the America First Legal Foundation against Roberts in his capacity as the official head of the U.S. Judicial Conference and Robert J. Conrad, who serves as the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. 

The complaint accuses both the U.S. Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts of performing certain regulatory actions that go beyond the scope of resolving cases or controversies, or administratively supporting those actions, which they argue are the “core functions” of the judiciary.

It also argues that records held by the Roberts-led U.S. Judicial Conference should therefore be subject to the Freedom of Information Act requests, or FOIA requests, as a result.

TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON VOTING BLOCKED BY FEDERAL JUDGES AMID FLURRY OF LEGAL SETBACKS

AFL cited in its lawsuit recent actions taken by both the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office in 2023 to “accommodate” requests from Congress to investigate allegations of ethical improprieties by Justices Thomas and Alito, and subsequently to create or adopt an “ethics code” for justices on the high court.

“Under our constitutional tradition, accommodations with Congress are the province of the executive branch,” AFL said, adding: “The Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office are therefore executive agencies,” and must therefore be overseen by the president, not the courts.

GORSUCH, ROBERTS SIDE WITH LEFT-LEANING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES IN IMMIGRATION RULING

The U.S. Judicial Conference is the national policymaking body for the courts. It is overseen by the Supreme Court’s chief justice, and tasked with making twice-yearly recommendations to Congress as needed.

The Administrative Office for the U.S. Courts, meanwhile, operates under the guidance and supervision of the Judicial Conference. Its role is to provide administrative support to the federal courts on certain administrative issues and for day-to-day logistics, including setting budgets and organizing data, among other things.

Plaintiffs for AFL, led by attorney Will Scolinos, argued in their lawsuit that the Judicial Conference’s duties are “executive functions,” and functions they allege must be supervised by executive officers “who are appointed and accountable to other executive officers.” 

Further, AFL argued, “Courts definitively do not create agencies to exercise functions beyond resolving cases or controversies or administratively supporting those functions.”  

In their view, this is also sufficient to put the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts — as it is overseen by the Judicial Conference — under the executive branch as well. 

Scolinos argued that AFL’s proposed framework “preserves the separation of powers but also keeps the courts out of politics.”

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, a Trump appointee, has been assigned to preside over the case. 

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told the graduating class at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, during a commencement speech on Sunday that they know how to “use a chair” in the face of adversity. 

“There are people that are going to tell you that there is not a table in which there is not a seat for you, but I am here to remind you of Montgomery and those folding chairs. Let me tell you that we know how to use a chair, whether we [are] pulling it up or we doing something else with it,” Crockett said. 

During her remarks, Crockett seems to reference the viral video from August 2023 of a group of White boaters attacking a Black riverboat captain, Dameion Pickett, in Montgomery, Alabama. The white folding chair became a symbol of resistance when a Black man raised a chair over his head in Pickett’s defense as the other men attacked him. 

The Texas Democrat urged the graduating class at the historically Black college on Sunday to pull up their own seat at the table, reminding students of the bystanders who rushed to defend Pickett when he was attacked. Conservatives were quick to reply to the clip of Crockett’s remarks, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Crockett’s comments were “not cool.”

TRUMP MOCKS ‘LOW IQ’ JASMINE CROCKETT, ‘NUTJOB’ BERNIE SANDERS AS POTENTIAL LEADERS FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Crockett’s remarks come on the heels of a contentious back-and-forth with President Donald Trump on Sunday. 

JASMINE CROCKETT CLAIMS TRUMP IS ‘TERRIFIED OF SMART, BOLD BLACK WOMEN’ AFTER PRESIDENT’S ‘LOW IQ’ JAB

“For you to be in charge of the WHOLE country, you sure do have my name in your mouth a lot. Every time you say my name, you’re reminding the world that you’re terrified of smart, bold Black women telling the truth and holding you accountable. So keep talking,” Crockett said. 

Trump on Sunday told Kristen Welker, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” that Crockett is a “low I.Q. person,” calling her the future of the Democratic Party, which he described as in “disarray.”

Reports last week indicated that Crockett, who is currently the vice ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has her eyes set on the chair position of the committee. Crockett would lead oversight of the federal government if she gets the gig, which could include leading investigations into Trump’s agenda. 

Conservatives have accused Crockett of inciting violence during Trump’s first 100 days. The progressive lawmaker from Texas was slammed online earlier this year for implying that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “has to be knocked over the head, like hard.”

Crockett also said Democrats need to be willing to “punch” in races against Republicans.

The White House’s rapid response account replied to the comments on X, calling Crockett “another unhinged Democrat inciting violence.”

Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Crockett of “threatening lives” and said she should apologize for her rhetoric against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for saying, “‘All I want to see happen on my birthday is for Elon to be taken down.'” Crockett would clarify that her comments were intended as “nonviolent” resistance. 

Crockett was also criticized this year for calling Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, who is in a wheelchair, “Governor Hot Wheels.” She tried to walk back the comments after her remarks went viral, calling the outrage a “distraction” and claiming she was “appalled that the very people who unequivocally support Trump – a man known for racially insensitive nicknames and mocking those with disabilities – are now outraged.”

Crockett did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Two-term Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was the GOP’s top Senate recruit in battleground Georgia in next year’s midterm elections, announced on Monday that he is passing on launching a campaign.

“Over the last few weeks, I have had many conversations with friends, supporters, and leaders across the country who encouraged me to run for the U.S. Senate in 2026. I greatly appreciate their support and prayers for our family. After those discussions, I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family,” Kemp said in a social media post.

The popular conservative governor, who is term-limited and prevented from seeking re-election in 2026, was the GOP’s dream candidate to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is considered vulnerable, as Republicans aim to expand their 53-47 Senate majority next year.

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Ossoff, who is running for a second, six-year term in the Senate after flipping the seat with a razor-thin victory in a January 2021 runoff election, is a top target of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in a state that President Donald Trump narrowly carried last November.

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“Republicans have a number of strong candidates who can build a winning coalition to add this seat to President Trump’s Senate Majority,” NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez told Fox News in a statement.

Kemp, in his social media post, said that he “spoke with President Trump and Senate leadership earlier today and expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November.”

The governor, who had been courted to run for the Senate for months, told Fox News Digital in a February interview while he was in the middle of Georgia’s legislative session that “I know I can’t keep holding out forever, so we’ll have something to say on that down the road.”

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Kemp, who is currently chair of the Republican Governors Association, also emphasized that “we need to flip that seat. We should have a Republican in that seat, and I believe we’ll have one after the ’26 election.”

But with Kemp out of the picture, the GOP faces the prospect of a crowded and potentially divisive primary that could include Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top Trump supporter in the House who enjoys massive name recognition but is seen by pundits as too toxic to court crucial independent voters needed to win the general election.

Among the other Republicans who have expressed interest in running if Kemp bowed out are Reps. Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, and Rich McCormick, and state Insurance Commissioner John King.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee highlighted Kemp’s announcement.

“Brian Kemp’s decision to not run for Senate in 2026 is yet another embarrassing Republican Senate recruitment failure as they face a building midterm backlash where every GOP candidate will be forced to answer for Trump’s harmful agenda. Senate Republicans’ toxic agenda and recruitment failures put their majority at risk in 2026,” DSCC communications director Maeve Coyle said in a statement.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday banning all federal funding towards “dangerous” gain-of-function research in China, Iran and other countries, and blocking all federal funding for foreign research that could cause another pandemic. 

The president signed the order Monday afternoon to improve the safety and security of biological research in the U.S. and around the world. 

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The White House said the order “will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology.” 

Gain-of-function research typically involves modifying a virus to make it more infectious among humans. Gain of function research took place at the Wuhan Lab before the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

The White House said the order will protect Americans from lab accidents and other biosecurity incidents, “such as those that likely caused COVID-19 and the 1977 Russian flu.” 

The president’s order ends any present and all future federal funding of gain-of-function research in countries with insufficient oversight of research and empowers U.S. research agencies to identify and end federal funding of any other biological research that could pose a threat to American public health, public safety or national security. 

FLASHBACK: US TAXPAYER FUNDS FLOWED TO CHINESE ENTITIES THAT CONDUCTED CORONAVIRUS RESEARCH BEFORE COVID PANDEMIC: GAO

“For decades, policies overseeing gain-of-function research on pathogens, toxins, and potential pathogens have lacked adequate enforcement, transparency, and top-down oversight,” the White House said in a fact sheet describing the order. “Researchers have not acknowledged the legitimate potential for societal harms that this kind of research poses.” 

The order, according to the White House, “protects Americans from dangerous gain-of-function research that manipulates viruses and other biological agents and toxins, but it does not impede productive biological research that will ensure the United States maintains readiness against biological threats and continues to drive global leadership in biotechnology, biosecurity, and health research.” 

“President Trump has long theorized that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and has consistently pushed for transparency in investigating its origins,” the White House said. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.