EXCLUSIVE: Mississippi will be the 10th state to eliminate the state income tax, and Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is celebrating the anticipated economic boom as “Mississippi’s moment.”

“We are more competitive than we’ve ever been before. Lowering the tax on work, and ultimately, eliminating the tax on work, is going to make us even more competitive,” Reeves told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. 

Reeves signed a bill into law in March to roll back Mississippi’s state income tax from 4% to 3% by 2030, and eventually to zero. The Republican governor said eliminating the state income tax would “help level the playing field” and make Mississippi more competitive with neighboring states, such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee, who already have no income tax. 

“We have already seen the fruits of that with over $32 billion in new capital investment in Mississippi over the last four years. We had the lowest unemployment rate in our state’s history last year. We had more people working last year than at any time in our state’s history. We had, in 2024, the second-fastest growing economy in all of America last year. We had the fourth fastest-growing per capita income in all of America in 2024,” Reeves said. 

DEEP RED STATE MAKES MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT INCOME TAX: ‘WE PLANT OUR FLAG’

While President Donald Trump‘s administration has floated tax hikes for millionaires to accomplish his ambitious budget agenda, which includes an extension of his 2017 tax cuts and no taxes on tips or Social Security, the Trump loyalist made his position on tax hikes clear in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

‘MISSISSIPPI MUSK’: STATE AUDITOR’S MOGE REPORT FINDS $400M IN GOVERNMENT WASTE

“I oppose raising taxes on anybody,” Reeves said when asked if he would support a small tax hike on millionaires. 

Reeves explained that his plan to eliminate Mississippi’s income tax was devised to “reduce taxes on hardworking Mississippians” and “hardworking Americans.”

“We believe that the government ought to take less, so that individuals can keep more. And that’s what we’ve tried to do in our state. We need more workers in our state. We need more income in our state, and I believe if you want more of something, you ought to tax it less,” he added. 

‘HARD NO’: MILLIONAIRE TAX HIKE PROPOSAL HAS HOUSE REPUBLICANS DIVIDED

While Reeves was unwilling to bend to Trump’s potential tax hike, the Mississippi governor dismissed concerns over Trump’s tariff policies. 

“There’s no doubt that there are a lot of opinions about the Trump administration’s approach to tariffs, but let me just tell you what our experience has been. Mississippi has had tremendous success in the last four to five years in growing our economy,” Reeves said. 

He touted more than $75 billion in potential capital investments, claiming Mississippi’s “deal flow is larger today than at any time in our state’s history.” Reeves said states like Mississippi are going to be “huge winners” under Trump’s leadership as he seeks to return manufacturing to the United States. 

“We never gave up on manufacturing. We have been, for years, investing in training and retraining our workforce for a manufacturing boom, and I think we’re fixing to see that here in the United States of America,” Reeves said. 

As for the future of Mississippi’s economy, Reeves said “it’s going to continue to boom.”

Mississippi has also been leading state-level Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, which the state auditor Shad White has jokingly called “MOGE.” White released a compilation of audits last month that amounted to over $400 million in waste during his tenure. 

“During the time between 2012 and 2020, when I was lieutenant governor, we actually saw a reduction of total state employees from 33,000 down to almost 24,000, almost a 30 percent decline in the total number of employees, and yet, we’re still providing the same level of government service. If that can be done in state government in Mississippi, it can be in every government, from the local level, to the state level, to Washington, D.C.,” Reeves said. 

The Mississippi Republican added that Washington has a “spending problem,” and applauded Elon Musk’s efforts to cut government waste during Trump’s first 100 days in office. 

“I would think every American would be for reducing the types of irrational spending that the Biden administration did in its final year,” Reeves said. 

President Donald Trump declared Friday that “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status,” saying “It’s what they deserve!” 

The announcement from Trump comes after Fox News reported last week 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 said 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.”

“Many others, like these Leftist dopes, are teaching at Harvard, and because of that, Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” he continued.

“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds,” Trump also said.

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 Harvard University President Dr. Alan 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 university later filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its “unlawful” freezing of funds.

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

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

California state Sen. Tony Strickland believes policy reforms are warranted after federal authorities intervened in the planned early release of an illegal immigrant convicted in a 2021 DUI manslaughter that killed two Orange County teenagers in his district in Seal Beach.

The Republican told Fox News Digital that changes are needed to programs like the in-prison credit system that may have allowed Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano to be released back into the community in July if the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not quickly get involved.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said last week that California will “coordinate” with ICE to “transfer him before release,” as he is slated to only spend three and half years of his 10-year sentence behind bars at the state level.

GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP ADMIN FOR MASSIVE NIGHTCLUB RAID TARGETING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

“We need to reform these programs. We need to reform some of this. Again, I think the most essential role of government is public safety, and we need to bring accountability back into our system here in California. If you make a mistake, you can commit a crime. You should do the time. And again, we are not more safe by these programs, we’re less safe,” Strickland told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The senator said the plan for early release was “a slap in the face of the parents and everybody who loved those children who ended up passing away.”

Ortega-Anguiano, 43, was driving drunk and high, and speeding at nearly 100mph on the 405 freeway in Orange County in November 2021, when he crashed into a car being driven by a young couple, 19-year-olds Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, killing them both as they burned alive. In spring 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CONVICTED OF KILLING TEENS IN HIGH-SPEED CRASH TO BE RELEASED EARLY: ‘IT’S DISGUSTING’

Fox News reported that the victim’s families were informed on Easter Sunday about an early release. However, following the report, the DOJ said they would be prosecuting Ortega-Anguiano on federal charges to keep him behind bars longer.  

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

“For safety and security reasons CDCR cannot provide information on an incarcerated person’s release date or location in advance of their release. Incarcerated persons may earn credits for participating in rehabilitative programming, which may move their parole dates to an earlier date,” the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated last week.

ICE told Fox News Digital that Ortega-Anguiano had entered the country illegally twice before and had a prior criminal background before the two teens were killed in the fatal crash.

GOP DA TRADES BARBS WITH NEWSOM AFTER BEING BLAMED FOR BAD ‘PLEA DEAL’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FELON

“I was moved by the story and the fact this should never happen,” Strickland said.

However, he said Democrats in Sacramento are mum about early release concerns.

“I haven’t heard anything. The supermajority is tone-deaf, and the governor, Newsom, is so busy about running for president, he’s not doing his job as governor of California. He’s so interested in what’s going on in the Trump administration,” the senator said.

Strickland said Golden State residents are becoming more aware of problems in Sacramento – and the Orange County lawmaker said that awareness is cause for optimism.

“The good news is people are now waking up to the lack of leadership and they’re waiting to hear leaders to come forward to help turn the state around. I do believe California will be golden again, but it takes leadership and people like myself and others in the legislature to point this out,” Strickland said.  

As DNC Vice Chair David Hogg seeks to spend millions on primarying older Democrats in blue districts, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm suggested they are taking the exact opposite tact ahead of the 2026 midterms.

“With Democrats like Jon Ossoff openly calling to impeach President Trump, no one should put their personal ambitions above protecting the president’s legacy and majorities,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) communications director Joanna Rodriguez told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“Leader [John] Thune and Chairman [Tim] Scott have been clear that the NRSC’s goal is to protect President Trump’s majority in the Senate, and they know Mike Rogers and John Cornyn are the best candidates to do that in their respective races.” 

The issue arose as both men – a former Michigan congressman seeking Sen. Gary Peters’ to-be-open seat and an incumbent Texas senator, respectively – may see substantive primary challenges.

SENATE FAILS TO REJECT TRUMP’S NATIONAL EMERGENCY ON TARIFFS AS REPUBLICANS SPLINTER

An NRSC official reportedly told donors on a Tuesday conference call that people seeking to aid Senate races in both states should only give to Rogers and Cornyn, according to Axios.

When reached, an NRSC official did not wave Fox News Digital off that report.

Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., is considering a run for Peters’ seat, and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, is doing the same in the Lone Star State, according to several reports.

NRSC political director Brendan Jaspers said, according to Axios, that no other candidates but Rogers and Cornyn – “declared or posturing” – should be supported by substantive donors, unless and until they decide to hold onto their seats in a narrowly Republican-majority House of Representatives.

CHINA IS ‘CAVING’ TO TRUMP’S TRADE WAR STRATEGY, EXPERT SIGNALS

A Huizenga spokesperson told Fox News Digital it is important to “remember that Michigan voters have the ultimate say.”

“We continue to hear from grassroots activists, Republican primary voters and donors both here in Michigan and around the country who are looking for an alternative. Sadly, it seems that Washington insiders prefer predictable candidates, regardless of success.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC for comment from Hogg regarding Republicans shaping their campaign strategy in direct contrast to his own.

“Republicans are clearly so afraid of losing seats in the House with their extremely unpopular agenda that party leaders are urging House members not to run for higher office,” a DNC spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

“Republicans should be afraid of losing elections as they push a budget bill that will cut vital programs for hardworking Americans to pay for another billionaire tax handout — all as the country braces for a Trump recession.”

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Hogg’s strategy incensed party elders, including Bill Clinton confidant James Carville, who recently remarked, “Does he really think the problem that we‘re facing in the United States today is because we got 65-year-old Democrats in office? Why don’t you take on a Republican? That‘s your job.”

However, Carville has since softened his stance, appearing to compare Hogg to Ulysses S. Grant by referencing a popular anecdote in which President Abraham Lincoln purportedly defended Grant against calls for his dismissal after the 1862 Battle of Shiloh, reportedly saying, “I can’t spare this man; he fights.”

Hunt’s office could not be reached for comment for the purposes of this story. 

President Donald Trump fired off a scathing Truth Social post late on Thursday night as he is once again targeted for impeachment, floating the idea that Republicans should target Democrats for expulsion from Congress.

“The Democrats are really out of control. They have lost everything, especially their minds! These Radical Left Lunatics are into the ‘Impeachment thing’ again. They have already got two ‘No Name,’ little respected Congressmen, total Whackjobs both, throwing the ‘Impeachment’ of DONALD J. TRUMP around, for about the 20th time, even though they have no idea for what I would be Impeached,” Trump declared in the post.

Earlier this week Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., announced articles of impeachment against Trump. 

HOUSE DEMOCRAT ANNOUNCES ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST TRUMP: ‘CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER’

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, applauded the impeachment effort and declared during a speech, “Add my name to your articles of impeachment.” 

Green also plans to introduce his own articles of impeachment targeting Trump.

“These Congressmen stated that, they didn’t know why they would Impeach me but, ‘We just want to do it.’ The Republicans should start to think about expelling them from Congress for all of the crimes that they have committed, especially around Election time(s),” Trump asserted in his post. 

Thanedar’s resolution includes seven articles of impeachment: “OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE, VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS, AND A BREACH OF THE DUTY TO FAITHFULLY EXECUTE LAWS,” “USURPATION OF THE APPROPRIATIONS POWER,” “ABUSE OF TRADE POWERS AND INTERNATIONAL AGGRESSION,” “VIOLATION OF FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS,” “CREATION OF UNLAWFUL OFFICE,” “BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION,” and “TYRANNY.”

DEM REP. AL GREEN, BOOTED FROM TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS, DOUBLES DOWN ON IMPEACHMENT

The House impeached Trump twice during his first term in office, but in each case the Senate vote failed to reach the threshold necessary for conviction.

The second impeachment occurred at the tail end of Trump’s term in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, and the Senate vote resulting in acquittal occurred after Trump had already departed from office.

“These are very dishonest people that won’t let our Country heal! Why do we allow them to continuously use Impeachment as a weapon against the President of the United States who, by all accounts, is working hard to SAVE OUR COUNTRY. It’s the same playbook that they used in my First Term, and Republicans are not going to allow them to get away with it again. These are total LOWLIFES, who hate our Country, and everything it stands for,” Trump declared in his late-night post on Thursday.

TRUMP NOMINATES WALTZ FOR HIGH-LEVEL POST AFTER OUSTING HIM AS NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR

“Perhaps we should start playing this game on them, and expel Democrats for the many crimes that they have committed — And these are REAL crimes,” he declared. “Remember, ‘Shifty’ Adam Schiff demanded a Pardon, and they had to use the power of the Auto Pen, and a Full Pardon, for him and the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, to save them from Expulsion, and probably worse!”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pushed back on Wednesday against claims that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been removing children from school.

In a “100 Days of Fighting Fake News” news release from DHS, the agency responded to many narratives that have been reported by various media outlets since President Donald Trump was inaugurated – one of them being that ICE agents are entering elementary schools to conduct immigration enforcement.

“ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) works relentlessly to protect Americans, especially children, who are put in danger by illegal alien activity,” DHS said. “This includes investigations into potential child sex trafficking.”

Addressing incidents at three elementary schools specifically, DHS explained that ICE agents were on campus for reasons not related to “enforcement action.”

EXCLUSIVE: DHS FIRES BACK AT CLAIMS ICE RAIDED ‘WRONG HOME’ IN OKLAHOMA SMUGGLING INVESTIGATION 

Local news outlets in Washington, D.C., reported at the end of March that HSI agents were seen on the campus of HD Cooke Elementary School, prompting concerns over their presence. 

Though DHS did not share what the agents were doing, the agency said, “ICE did not conduct any enforcement action at the school. HSI agents were present at the school unrelated to any kind of enforcement action.”

TRUMP DHS SLAMS MORE ‘SOB STORY’ REPORTING AFTER TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS SEND SOS SIGNAL 

There were also reports in early April of HSI agents at Russel Elementary School and Lillian Elementary School in Los Angeles.

Agents were “conducting wellness checks on children who arrived unaccompanied at the border” and that the visits “had nothing to do with immigration enforcement,” DHS said.

Homeland Security said it is “leading efforts to conduct welfare checks” on unaccompanied children to “ensure that they are safe and not being exploited, abused, and sex trafficked.”

“Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families,” DHS said.

Nearly 5,000 unaccompanied children have been reunited with a relative or safe guardian in the past 70 days, the agency said, crediting the reunification to Noem and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

President Donald Trump late Thursday announced plans to designate May 8 as World War II “Victory Day” in the United States, which coincides with the “Victory in Europe Day” that has been celebrated in most of Europe since the Germans surrendered in 1945.

Trump acknowledged in a Truth Social that “many of our allies and friends” already celebrate on May 8, but said America should join in because “we did more than any other Country, by far, in producing a victorious result.”

WORLD WAR II’S D-DAY: PHOTOS REVEAL WORLD’S LARGEST AMPHIBIOUS INVASION

On May 7, 1945, the Germans surrendered to the Allied Forces, and agreed to cease all operations the next day. 

World War II officially ended later in the year on Sept. 2 when the Japanese signed an instrument of surrender, though Japan waved a white flag on Aug. 14 – about a week after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The U.S. does not have any public holidays commemorating World War II specifically, but there have been remembrance ceremonies in May, August and September across the country for decades.

WWII VETERAN TURNS 100, REVEALS THE SECRETS OF A LONG, HEALTHY LIFE

Former President Harry Truman, who was in office during the end of WWII, issued a proclamation in August 1946 declaring Aug. 14 as “Victory Over Japan Day.”

“And I call upon the people of the United States to observe Victory Day as a day of solemn commemoration of the devotion of the men and women by whose sacrifices victory was achieved, and as a day of prayer and of high resolve that the cause of justice, freedom, peace, and international good-will shall be advanced with undiminished and unremitting efforts, inspired by the valor of our heroes of the Armed Services,” Truman’s proclamation read, in part.

In the same post, Trump stated that Nov. 11 will also be recognized as World War I “Victory Day.”

“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything,” the president wrote. “That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”

President Donald Trump spoke at the University of Alabama on Thursday night ahead of their official commencement ceremonies starting Friday, and urged students not to consider themselves a “victim” in their futures, noting that far too many young people think that way. 

The special address to graduates also included remarks from the university’s president, Stuart R. Bell, and former Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach, Nick Saban. Trump touted success during his first 100 days as president, and took a few opportunities to jab at his political opponents as well. 

But Trump’s message was largely focused on the graduating class, which he acknowledged as “the first graduating class of the Golden Age of America.”

TRUMP CLAPS BACK AT COURTS FOR ‘INTERFERING’ WITH JOB, ASKS ‘HOW YOU CAN GIVE DUE PROCESS’ TO ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

“Don’t consider yourself a victim. Consider yourself a winner. In recent years, too many of our young people have really been taught to think of themselves as victims and blame people and be angry. Don’t be angry,” Trump said. “In America, we reject that idea that anyone is born a victim. Our heroes are the ones who take charge of their own destiny, make their own luck, and determine their own fate despite the odds, despite all odds.”

Trump shared a range of other advice with the graduating class in addition to touting his political agenda. In between slamming federal judges for blocking him from doing his job and questioning Democrats’ defiance of his directives to keep men out of women’s sports, Trump urged students to beat the odds – hearkening back to his November election victory – and preserver through difficult challenges. 

“Graduates of the Alabama class of 2025 standing here before you in this magnificent arena, it is clear to see the next chapter of the American story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson. It will be written by you – The Crimson Tide,” Trump told the students as he concluded his address. “Because this is Alabama. And in Alabama you fight, fight, fight and you win, win win. That’s what you know how to do.”

TRUMP MOCKS TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS TO ROARING APPLAUSE AT ALABAMA COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

Trump’s address was the first at the University of Alabama by a sitting president.

It was met with pushback from both students and non-students. The university’s College Democrats chapter held a “Tide Against Trump” rally that featured former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke and former Alabama senator Doug Jones. The chapter also released a statement several days before Trump’s visit to campus, expressing their “shock” and “disgust” that the “unpopular, divisive, and authoritarian President will be involved in commencement.”

The Alabama NAACP slammed Trump’s appearance at the University of Alabama as well, comparing the president’s rhetoric to “the segregationist rhetoric of George Wallace” in comments about his address on their website.

The Justice Department (DOJ) has filed lawsuits against four Democrat-led states: Hawaii, Michigan, New York and Vermont, over what it calls unconstitutional climate policies that threaten U.S. energy independence and national security.

The move follows President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14260, Protecting American Energy from State Overreach, directing federal action against state laws that burden domestic energy development.

“These burdensome and ideologically motivated laws and lawsuits threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“The Department of Justice is working to ‘Unleash American Energy’ by stopping these illegitimate impediments to the production of affordable, reliable energy that Americans deserve.”

DOGE SAYS IT’S REFERRED DOZENS OF POTENTIAL VOTER FRAUD CASES TO DOJ

The DOJ filed complaints Tuesday against New York and Vermont over newly passed “climate superfund” laws, which would impose strict liability on fossil fuel companies for alleged contributions to climate change.

New York’s law alone seeks $75 billion in damages from energy firms. According to the DOJ, these laws are preempted by the federal Clean Air Act, violate the Constitution, and infringe on federal foreign affairs powers.

“These state laws assess penalties on businesses for global activities that Congress has not authorized states to regulate,” the DOJ argued in its filings.

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS SEEK TO STRIP DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OF ITS SANCTUARY CITY POLICIES

Separate lawsuits were filed Monday against Hawaii and Michigan to block those states from suing fossil fuel companies in state court over past climate harms. The DOJ argues that those states’ litigation would place unconstitutional burdens on energy producers.

“When states seek to regulate energy beyond their constitutional or statutory authority, they harm the country’s ability to produce energy and they aid our adversaries,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson.

“The Department’s filings seek to protect Americans from unlawful state overreach that would threaten energy independence critical to the wellbeing and security of all Americans.”

The Justice Department is asking federal courts to declare the four states’ laws unconstitutional and prevent their enforcement.

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The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is looking for support from fellow Democrats with her eyes on a possible run for the top Democratic spot on the House Oversight Committee, according to reports.

Although Semafor first reported about Crockett’s plans, Politico also reported that two people familiar with the matter claim the congresswoman has been making calls, sending text messages and having conversations on the floor in search of support for her quest to take the seat held by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.

Connolly is reportedly planning to step aside as he fights a resurgence of esophageal cancer, though he has not made an official announcement, Politico reported.

Still, Crockett reportedly told her colleagues she is “made for the moment,” the sources told the publication, referring to the Democratic Party’s desire to resist President Donald Trump in a more forceful way.

JASMINE CROCKETT ROASTED FOR WORRYING ABOUT EFFECT OF DEPORTATION ON OTHER COUNTRIES

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

Politico reported that Crockett told the outlet in a text message that even though a vacancy does not currently exist, “knowing that Rep Connolly doesn’t plan to seek re-election & knowing that our oversight powers are broad, I’m ready to shine a light on the very dark things taking place in our country under this administration.”

Crockett, a first-term progressive, has made headlines for several controversial comments this year.

SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS OVER JASMINE CROCKETT ‘GASLIGHTING’ ABOUT CALLING ABBOTT ‘GOVERNOR HOT WHEELS’

Her most recent comments came this week as she expressed sympathy for countries that may be affected by mass deportations from the U.S. after remaining largely silent on millions of migrants pouring into the country under the Biden administration.

“As far as I’m concerned, you randomly kidnapping folk and you throwing them out of the country against their civil rights, against their constitutional rights,” Crockett said in a video posted to her Instagram page, which has 1.3 million followers. 

“And, frankly, how would they feel if some other country decided that they were gonna just start throwing people randomly in our country? Like that is absolutely insane.”

Crockett lambasted Republicans who had voted down an amendment to a massive budget bill being hammered out by lawmakers that aims to clarify that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot detain or deport U.S. citizens under any circumstances.

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT SAYS DEMOCRATS NEED TO BE ‘OK WITH PUNCHING’ IN RACES AGAINST TED CRUZ, REPUBLICANS

The Republicans’ actions incensed Crockett, who cited a case last week when a U.S. citizen child was deported with her noncitizen mother. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the child and her siblings were deported because their mothers are not citizens and wanted to take them with them back to Honduras.

Crockett made the comments alongside Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who also panned Republicans. 

“Literally they just voted, they being the other ones, not us, because we were all on the right side of history,” Crockett said. “They just voted to give Trump the legal ability to deport U.S. citizens. That is what they voted for. A bunch of elected U.S. representatives, that is how they voted, Am I telling a lie Eric or not?”

She also made news in March after she called her fellow Texan, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, “Governor Hot Wheels.” She later claimed her words were misunderstood.

Crockett continues her viral media streak with incendiary comments aimed at those on the other side of the aisle, including saying DOGE head Elon Musk should be “taken down” and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, should be “knocked over the head, like, hard.”

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Rachel del Guidice, Elizabeth Elkind and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

During a special commencement address to students at the University of Alabama, President Donald Trump questioned how you can give due process to people who have illegally entered the United States, in a rebuke to judges who Trump said were “interfering” with his efforts to do his job as president.  

Trump’s comments came the same day a federal judge permanently barred his efforts to use the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport illegal alien gang members.  

“As you’ve been reading, the courts are trying to stop me from doing the job that I was elected to do,” Trump said during his address to graduates. “They have to let us do the job that the voters want us to do. Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process. But how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally? They want to give them due process. I don’t know.”

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH WEAPONS CONVICTION ARRESTED IN CALIFORNIA AS ICE TARGETS CRIMINALS

Trump issued a proclamation in March asserting the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua could be deported under the AEA. Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration began deporting hundreds of alleged gang members, including one Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 

Opponents of Trump’s deportation efforts have insisted Abrego Garcia was illegally deported and is not a gang member. 

However, evidence has surfaced of Abrego Garcia involved in gang-like criminal activity. 

TENNESSEE BODYCAM OF ‘MARYLAND MAN’ TRAFFIC STOP SHOWS TROOPERS’ HANDS TIED DESPITE SMUGGLING CLUES

Body cam footage from troopers in Maryland show Abrego Garcia being involved in an alleged human trafficking incident in 2022. In the footage, officers can be heard building the case that Abrego Garcia was engaged in human smuggling, which the troopers refer to as “hauling” in the video.  

Vice President J.D. Vance said in an interview with Fox News that the Trump administration is aggressively appealing the federal court order blocking their deportation efforts.

“The judge doesn’t make that determination, whether the Alien Enemies Act can be deployed,” Mr. Vance told Fox News anchor Brett Baier. “I think the President of the United States is the one who determines whether this country is being invaded.”

The Trump Department of Homeland Security is slamming Reuters for what it is calling “sob story” reporting about illegal gang members after the outlet reported on suspected Tren de Aragua members forming an “S-O-S” sign at a Texas detention center.

The DHS released a statement on Wednesday saying that “the mainstream media’s latest attempt at a criminal gang sob story includes a self-admitted member of Tren de Aragua” and that “the real story here is that the previous administration was releasing gang members into American communities.”

Tren de Aragua – also known as “TdA” – is a brutal international criminal group linked to Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. The group is linked to some of the most high profile migrant crime cases in recent years including the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and the seizure of an entire apartment building in Aurora, Colorado. The Trump State Department has declared Tren de Aragua a “foreign terrorist organization.”

Reuters reported on Wednesday that 31 Venezuelan illegals and suspected TdA members formed an SOS sign in the yard of the Bluebonnet illegal immigrant detention center in Anson, Texas.

TRUMP TO NAME HAITIAN GANGS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS: REPORT

According to the outlet, the men at the facility are facing possible deportation and had been set to be deported to the high-security Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador before a judge’s ruling delayed that fate. Despite this, Reuters wrote that the “Venezuelan detainees in Texas fear the Trump administration will send them to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT maximum security prison.”

The outlet identified two of the migrants in the detention center as Diover Millan Leon, 24, and Jeferson Escalona Hernandez, 19. Reuters interviewed Escalona Hernandez, who claimed, “I fear for my life here” and “they’re making false accusations about me.”

Reuters also reported Millan Leon’s wife saying, “he is desperate” and that he “sat down and looked at the sky and asked God to get him out of there soon.”

DHS pushed back against this characterization of the situation, identifying both men as confirmed members of Tren de Aragua.

‘PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT’: TRUMP CELEBRATES FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE WITH HIGH ENERGY MICHIGAN RALLY 

The statement said that Escalona Hernandez is a “self-admitted Tren de Aragua member” who illegally entered the U.S. in 2024. DHS said that the Biden administration “released this gang member into our country” and that he was later arrested for felony evading arrest with a vehicle and put in a Denton County, Texas, jail.

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Meanwhile, DHS said that Millan Leon is a documented member of Tren de Aragua who illegally entered the U.S. on an unknown date and location. The department said that U.S. Border Patrol arrested Millan Leon on May 3, 2023, near Brownsville, Texas, but he was given a notice to appear and released on his own recognizance. Nearly two years later, ICE officers operating under the Trump administration arrested Millan Leon in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on March 12, 2025.

Commenting on the story, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that “Tren De Aragua is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth,” adding that “they rape, maim, and murder for sport.”

FORMER DEA AGENT WARNS TREN DE ARAGUA GANG ‘SPREADS LIKE A VIRUS’

“The previous administration released these gang members into our communities,” she went on. “President Trump and Secretary Noem have ended catch and release and will not allow criminal gangs to terrorize American citizens.”

McLaughlin called Reuters’ reporting “irresponsible,” asking: “Why do they continue to peddle the sob stories of these gang members but ignore their American victims?”

Fox News Digital reached out to Reuters for comment but did not immediately hear back.

EXCLUSIVE: Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said his agency will “ramp” up raids in sanctuary cities if they refuse to cooperate with his agents. 

Todd Lyons sounded off on the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda and a range of other issues, saying ICE agents were going to go after criminal illegal immigrants regardless of sanctuary policies. 

“The more they’re going to double down or triple down, we’re going to ramp it up more,” he told Fox News. “We want to work with you, but if you don’t want to work with the federal government, if you don’t want to work with ICE, then we’re going to make sure that we’re doing all we can do to bring our law enforcement resources to that jurisdiction. And we’re going to take care of those public safety threats.

BIDEN DOJ HANDLED JUDGE AIDING ILLEGAL TO EVADE ARREST DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT THAN TRUMP ADMIN

“If you don’t want to work with us, we’re going to handle the problem,” he added. 

Lyons, however, did praise California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently said his state will work with ICE. 

A sanctuary state, California generally doesn’t cooperate with immigration authorities, but Newsom said it would be willing to work with the agency to honor detainer requests. That followed outrage over a Fox News story about an illegal immigrant convicted of vehicular manslaughter who will be released from prison July 19, over six years before his full sentence is up.

DEPORTED ‘MARYLAND MAN’ CHAMPIONED BY DEMS WAS PULLED OVER DRIVING CAR BELONGING TO HUMAN SMUGGLER

“I really applaud the governor for that,” Lyons said. “When people see exactly the individual that ICE is dealing with, how could you not work with ICE in a case like that?

“We actually saw the details behind this case,” he added. “It’s a commonsense approach to work with ICE to get these public safety threats out of here.”

In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, ICE has arrested more than 6,000 illegal immigrants, the agency said this week. The agency is going to continue to “remove the worst of the worst,” Lyons said. 

“How can anyone argue with you when you’re deporting violent gang members, sex offenders and fentanyl traffickers,” he said. “ICE is out there protecting communities, taking these public safety threats away from our neighborhoods, protecting our children.”

As Congress ponders giving ICE funding for 10,000 agents, Lyons said the additional money would be a “game changer.” 

“I’ll give you an example. When we did the operation in Boston, we had targeted enforcement when we knew these criminal aliens that had been released from jails, from courts, from sanctuary jurisdictions where detainees weren’t honored,” he said. “But while the teams were out there conducting this operation, in real time, more criminal aliens were being released.”

Top Democrats announced an effort Thursday to force the Trump administration to provide a report on how it is specifically complying with a court order to facilitate the return of wrongfully deported U.S. residents to El Salvador.

The resolution to do so from Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Charles Schumer of New York, Alex Padilla of California and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is “privileged,” – meaning it will require a full Senate vote. Kaine cited the specific code under a 1961 foreign assistance law that allowed such.

If passed, and the White House fails to abide by it, U.S. security assistance to El Salvador would be immediately frozen, Schumer, Kaine and Van Hollen said.

NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL

At a press conference outside the Capitol, the three men laid out how the vote would work, and one lawmaker later disclosed a separate effort to schedule a vote on sanctions against El Salvador over President Nayib Bukele’s work with Trump.

“I also send a message to the government of El Salvador,” Kaine said during his remarks, breaking into Spanish midway.

“You might think it’s cute right now to grab attention by a bromance with President Donald Trump. He’s going to be a president for poco mas (a short time) – tres anos mas (three years more).”

Continuing in Spanish, Kaine said the two countries will always have relations, before transitioning back to English to say that the U.S. will not soon forget “you violating the human rights of American citizens, you’re wrong.”

“We will remember this forever,” Kaine pledged. “And there will be significant and challenging downstream consequences for any nation that violates the rights of Americans.”

KILMAR GARCIA NOW GETS 5 TOTAL DEM PROPONENTS IN EL SALVADOR

The move was spurred by the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 gang member who was deported from Maryland to his home country last month.

Van Hollen later said the privileged resolution was not expressly about Garcia, but instead the greater idea that such people could be deported and/or treated without due process.

Echoing Kaine on repercussions for San Salvador’s government from Washington, Van Hollen spoke of plans to also seek a sanctions vote against Bukele “and all those who are part of his government conspiring with Donald Trump to deprive residents of the United States of their constitutional rights.”

Returning again to speaking bilingually, Kaine responded to a reporter’s question by summing up the privileged resolution in Spanish.

“We have a guarantee of a vote after ten days on El Salvador and we are sending a message to President Trump that he needs to follow the law. And we are also sending a message to President Bukele that we are not going to forget if the government of El Salvador is violating American human rights,” he said.

In a statement in English aside from the conference, Kaine said Bukele “has rounded up tens of thousands of Salvadorans without due process and jammed them indefinitely into overpopulated torture centers. And now he’s trying to do the same to people living in the United States,” Kaine said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital prior to the conference.

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“We will use this resolution to force accountability,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, a House supporter of the resolution – though Kaine said it does not require their blessing.

Van Hollen, who took a junket to El Salvador to attempt to bring Garcia to Maryland – where his family lives – said Trump has failed to comply with the order to facilitate his return.

Both Trump and Bukele appeared to agree in an Oval Office meeting last month that returning Garcia would be “preposterous” and that the court order didn’t quite say what critics said it did.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., for comment.

House Republicans have subpoenaed USA Fencing (USFA) board chair Damien Lehfeldt in an effort to compel him to testify in front of Congress during a hearing examining the participation of transgender women in biologically women’s sports. 

The subpoena comes after USA Fencing’s Chief Executive Officer Phil Andrews told the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, which intends to hold the hearing on May 7, that Lehfeldt would be unavailable to testify for unspecified reasons, according to a letter sent in tandem with the subpoena. Lehfeldt’s apparent refusal to cooperate comes after he allegedly made public statements online indicating he had intended to be present at the hearing. 

“Under the Ted Stevens Act, an [National Governing Body]—such as USFA—is required to provide equal opportunities to athletes regardless of sex when engaged in developing interest and participation in the sport it governs throughout the United States,” the letter accompanying the subpoena, signed by GOP House Oversight Chairman James Comer. “The Subcommittee is concerned that the policies of USFA may not uphold these obligations and that the underlying law is not accomplishing its intended purpose. Therefore, the Subcommittee is investigating whether additional legislation regarding requirements of NGBs of amateur sports, like USFA, is necessary to address these issues.”

FEMALE FENCER DEFENDS PROTEST AGAINST TRANSGENDER OPPONENT 

Lehfeldt and Andrews have both publicly expressed their support for allowing transgender women to compete on biological women’s sports teams. House Republicans’ decision to subpoena Lehfeldt follows an incident when a female fencer named Stephanie Turner was punished by USA Fencing for refusing to compete against a transgender competitor earlier this year.

Turner, during a regional meet in March, refused to compete against a transgender competitor who previously had competed in the men’s division. A video of her taking a symbolic knee at the start of the match, eventually earning her a “black card,” fencing’s most severe penalty, went viral following the incident. 

ENGLAND SPORTS GOVERNING BODY BANS TRANSGENDER ATHLETES FROM WOMEN’S SOCCER FOLLOWING UK COURT RULING

“In fencing, personally, I see it quite often,” Turner said following the incident. “I have witnessed transgender fencers in women’s tournaments and girls’ tournaments in different age categories, specifically Y-14 (the youngest age group).”

Fox News Digital reached out to USA Fencing for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

FIRST ON FOX: Leaked video obtained by Fox News Digital shows school administrators at an Illinois school of medicine rejecting multiple Trump executive orders, including on combatting DEI, and outlining how the school plans to fight back against them. 

Trump’s executive order on gender ideology “is an attack on women” and on “basic human rights,” according to Dr. Jerry Kruse, Dean, Provost, and CEO of SIU School of Medicine. Kruse recently gave a speech in a small group discussion about Trump’s executive orders and actions that was obtained by the medical and policy advocacy group Do No Harm.

“We will resist obeying in advance. We won’t do any anticipatory obedience,” Kruse said. “The existing laws have not changed, no court directives will require any change in compliance at this time.”

Kruse added that “these executive orders and actions and the general philosophy that they espouse constitute direct attacks on all that is important to us” while mentioning science, higher education and healthcare. 

‘WOKE’ HOSPITAL COULD BE IN CROSSHAIRS OF TRUMP ADMIN AFTER SCATHING COMPLAINT ALLEGES DEI DISCRIMINATION

“More importantly, these orders and actions constitute a direct attack on the people we serve, the people to whom we are accountable.”

Kruse explained that the school of medicine is “very fortunate” to be part of a university system that is “on top of it” in terms of pushing back on Trump’s executive orders.

Kruse also claimed that the executive orders on immigration and DEI from the Trump administration are “an attack on human rights and on justice and fairness” that “have engendered fear among large segments of the population of law-abiding people.”

At one point in his speech, Kruse said he would provide employees with the “resources” to “fight back.”

The SIU school system has been active in promoting DEI in recent years, and it was a topic discussed in the presentation. 

TRUMP’S CRACKDOWN ON HARVARD, ‘WOKE’ COLLEGES WILL TAKE MORE THAN 100 DAYS TO LEAVE LASTING REFORM: PROFESSOR

“The work that we are doing around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a life or death issue for some people,” Dr. Wendi El-Amin, Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, said during the presentation.

The school’s website hosts a page featuring its work on DEI that says it works to “ensure that our students, residents, faculty, and staff reflect the demographics of central and southern Illinois while also equipping them with the knowledge and skills to address health disparities through culturally responsive care, patient access, education, and health literacy initiatives.”

In February of this year, the SIU Board of Trustees reaffirmed its commitment to DEI and the school’s VP of anti-racism and DEI, Sheila Caldwell, claimed that DEI is “lifesaving” and has had measurable improvements for minority students in retention rates.

SIUSOM receives millions in active grant funding from NIH and HHS and Dr. Donald Torry, Associate Dean for Research, said during the presentation that none of the grant funding has been affected so far.

In terms of immigration executive orders, Dr. Vidhya Prakash, Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Population Health and Chief Medical Officer, said during the presentation that a school dean recently sent an email to faculty members instructing them not to comply with ICE and that they should call security if a situation arises. 

“So please understand that no member of our school of medicine whether it’s an employee or its a trainee, should have to engage in conversation or discourse with ICE,” she said, adding that the school has patients who are “afraid” and live in fear of being apprehended. 

“Continue doing what you have been doing,” Paulette Dove, Senior Counsel for Health Affairs for the SIU system, said during the presentation, adding that the “law has not changed.”

“These issues demand a strong institutional and collective response,” Kruse said. “Thankfully, the SIU system stands firm with a strong voice. SIU president Dan Mahoney has stated that we will hold our ground and that ‘the executive actions are antithetical to the values of our institution, the SIU system.'”

Lauren Crocks, the university’s director of marketing, communications, and engagement, told Fox News Digital that “Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is committed to following the law.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller touted Trump’s efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs on Thursday.

Miller appeared alongside White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a Thursday morning briefing, declaring that the administration is bringing a “system of merit” back to the U.S.

“This administration is not going to let our society devolve into communist, woke, DEI strangulation,” Miller said. “We are going to have a system of merit.”

“It’s not just a social and cultural issue, it’s an economic issue. When you hire, retain and recruit based on merit, as President Trump has directed, you advance innovation, you advance growth, you advance investment, you advance job creation,” he added.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Republicans control the House and Senate.

But characterizing it as the “Republican Congress” doesn’t do justice to the present circumstances.

This truly is “President Trump’s Congress.”

The president’s relationship with Republican lawmakers is light-years away from the fraught, shotgun marriage of 2017 after he unexpectedly captured the White House. Republicans on Capitol Hill didn’t know what to do with him.

USER’S MANUAL TO WALTZ’S NSA EXIT AND ITS REVERBERATION ON CAPITOL HILL

Congressional Republicans “didn’t read the tweets.” They snickered behind his back. They chortled at what they believed were untenable ideas emanating from the White House.

And Trump also didn’t know what to do with congressional Republicans, either.

He and then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., formed the Odd Couple of politics.

But Trump’s relationship with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was even worse.

So they focused on areas of agreement. Congressional Republicans viewed the Trump presidency as a means to an end. They saw an opportunity to pass some of their legislative priorities.

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

McConnell muscled three of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominees to confirmation, altering the contours of the high court for a generation. Ryan bored deeply into his area of expertise: tax policy. By Christmas 2017, the Republican-led Congress approved the vaunted “Trump tax cuts.”

But they stumbled early on repealing and replacing ObamaCare.

“I will not sugarcoat this. This is a disappointing day for us,” said Ryan when he had to yank an initial plan to end ObamaCare off the floor in the spring of 2017.

The House finally approved a revamped repeal and replace package more than a month later. But the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., torpedoed the effort with his vote against the plan later that summer.

But things are different this time around between Trump and congressional Republicans.

“He’s still the biggest dog in the pound,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.

So now congressional Republicans are teaming with the president to pass his “big, beautiful bill.”

“We are on track to pass the bill out of the House – as we’ve said from the very beginning – and get it over to the next stage by Memorial Day,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t GOP skepticism.

“Seems like that’s a pretty tight timeframe,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., of Johnson’s aspirations. “I’m not aware of any consensus, even within one of the bodies. Let alone a bicameral consensus.”

“A July 4 timeframe will be optimistic,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. “If we can get this done by the end of July, I would count that as a win.”

But deep divides cleave Republicans.

TRUMP NOMINATES WALTZ FOR HIGH-LEVEL POST AFTER OUSTING HIM AS NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR

“I don’t think we’re on the same page even inside the House, much less in the House and the Senate,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.

Roy questioned what was so magical about finishing the bill by “Memorial Day” or “Independence Day.”

“Christmas? Easter? Memorial Day? July 4th? Does that have anything to do with policy? Hell no. It has to do with what? Jet fumes! People leaving town, right?” argued Roy. “Every single policy, as long as I can remember, is based on that more than it is on policy.”

But some Republicans aren’t convinced Congress is moving fast enough.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, relayed what he heard from constituents in Ohio.

“People were like, “What’s taking so long?’ They don’t think it’s rushed by any means. They’re like, ‘Where’s the bill?’” said Davidson. “If we don’t get this by mid-June, I think people back home are going to go ‘What are you guys doing?’”

This is why Democrats say Republicans are fretting privately.

“They’re clearly conflicted about Medicaid cuts,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “They’re conflicted about raising the debt ceiling just with Republican votes. They’ve traditionally wanted to get Democratic votes for that and not do it all on their own. But if they do it in the reconciliation bill, they’re going to have to do it all on their own.”

And Republicans are starting to get nervous about the success or failure of the bill. The president – and most congressional Republicans – have banked their entire political calculus on this gambit.

“It’s a job for alcohol. Not coffee,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., noting the anxiety now permeating congressional Republicans. “Some of them would make a Valium nervous.”

Kennedy contends he’s not worrying. But says that even after another two months of hand-wringing, the Senate “won’t reach consensus. Nor will the House.”

But who will forge common ground?

“The president is going to have to be the arbiter because he’s going to put his muscle behind this to sell it,” observed Kennedy.

The sides are much more in sync. But this bill is such a behemoth that 53 Senate Republicans and 220 House GOPers won’t be able to sort this out on their own. They will look to the president to solve this.

“What do you think is the difference between Republicans and how they responded to President Trump during his first term? And what you see now?” yours truly asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

“I think they are much more afraid of him now. He’s done much more in terms of threatening them in both privately and even publicly,” replied Schumer. “They don’t know what to do. They’re between a rock and a hard place. On the one side, Trump threatens. On the other side, there are the American people who hate what Trump is proposing.”

I posed a similar interrogative to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

“Can you characterize the difference in the response from congressional Republicans to President Trump this time around, compared to 2017? They seemed a little skeptical of him in 2017. That’s not the case now,” I observed.

“We all watched what happened in November and the mandate he got from the American people. It was clear. It was decisive,” said Thune. “A lot of us who served with him in the last term also saw the effects and the results of a lot of the decisions that he made with respect to policy. And they were the right ones. And in the end, he was proven right when it came to the economy, the border and national security.”

The point is that Trump enjoys a very different Congress compared to the one he tangled with in 2017. It’s Trump’s Congress now. GOPers will generally do what he asks. But when it comes to the tax cut and spending package, Trump must ultimately make the decisions on specific items he wants in the legislation. The question is whether the president will eventually rule things in or out. Trump’s Congress will respond to that.

“He has been clear to all of the members that this is critical for him. He wants his one big, beautiful bill,” said House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., on Fox. “I wouldn’t want be the one that stands in the way of the president on his agenda.”

But this won’t be easy. Expect a challenging few months.

Kennedy may be right. This is one for alcohol. Not coffee. Grab a dram of the Glenlivet and Lagavulin. Shelve the Starbucks and Nescafe.

That is, unless the tariffs spiked the price of liquor and coffee too much.

If that’s the case, just drink water.

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is setting the record straight after media reports claimed ICE raided “the wrong home” and targeted U.S. citizens, setting Democrats fuming.

The Independent ran a headline on Wednesday reading: “ICE raids wrong Oklahoma home, seizes life savings and leaves family ‘traumatized for life’” writing that an Oklahoma mother and daughters were subject to a “violent and humiliating raid by federal agents last week, despite allegedly not being the intended targets of the operation.”

That same day, Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, claimed that ICE agents mistakenly “terrorized” a family of naturalized U.S. citizens – including children – in a raid at a home in northwest Oklahoma City.

Balint claimed that “this was all a colossal mistake” and placed the blame squarely on President Donald Trump, saying “this is Trump’s America.”

BIDEN DOJ HANDLED JUDGE AIDING ILLEGAL TO EVADE ARREST DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT THAN TRUMP ADMIN

The raid in question occurred on April 24 at a single-family home in northwest Oklahoma City. When ICE agents, assisted by Oklahoma state police, carried out the raid they encountered a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Guatemala as well as three others, the youngest of whom was 17.

A representative for DHS told Fox News Digital that the raid was a “lawful, court-authorized action explicitly targeting a property, which was a hub for human smuggling, not specific individuals as falsely suggested by media reports.”

The representative clarified that the warrant “targeted the property itself, not specific individuals, and its execution was not contingent on the presence of any person.”

According to the DHS spokesperson, the warrant, which was signed by a federal judge the day before, was based on an 84-page affidavit detailing probable cause that the address served as a “stash house” for human and drug smuggling.

DEPORTED ‘MARYLAND MAN’ CHAMPIONED BY DEMS WAS PULLED OVER DRIVING CAR BELONGING TO HUMAN SMUGGLER

From its months-long surveillance of the property, including observations as recently as April 20, DHS had probable cause to believe that the primary targets of the warrant, Cidia Lima-Lopez and V. Lima-Lopez, illegal aliens from Guatemala, were continuing to use the house for illegal activities.

The spokesperson said that Homeland Security Investigations agents further confirmed via utility records that a member of the Lima Lopez transnational criminal organization was still paying utilities at the residence.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

DHS said that the warrant authorized the seizure of evidence, including electronic devices and documents, “regardless of who was present.”  

The representative said that agents “executed the warrant with precision, seizing electronic devices as authorized,” calling the raid “a critical strike against a dangerous human smuggling network in furtherance of our mission to protect American communities from the chaos unleashed by the Biden administration’s open-border policies.”

TRUMP ADMIN BLASTS NY TIMES OVER ‘SOB’ STORY ON DEPORTED KIDNAPPER

Though the family living in the home is no longer in federal custody, the spokesperson said that the investigation is still ongoing and “we have not ruled out current occupants’ involvement in the smuggling ring.”

Fox News Digital reached out for comment from Balint and The Independent but did not immediately hear back.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented a pause on research at one of the nation’s most highly secure research labs, following repeated safety incidents that a source familiar told Fox News Digital have been occurring since the Biden administration.

An HHS official confirmed the pause at Fort Detrick’s Integrated Research Facility, which conducts risky research on deadly infectious diseases like SARS-COV-2 and the Ebola virus, began Tuesday at 5 p.m. 

The facility, which is one of only a handful across North America, is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and is located at the U.S. Army base Fort Detrick, outside Washington, D.C. The research there studies treatment and prevention of deadly, “high-consequence” diseases such as Lassa Fever and Eastern equine encephalitis.

CHINA BLAMES US FOR ORIGIN OF COVID-19 AND TURNING ‘DEAF EAR TO THE NUMEROUS QUESTIONS OVER ITS CONDUCT’ 

According to the HHS official who was willing to speak on the matter under the condition of anonymity, the pause stemmed from a lover’s spat between researchers at the facility, which resulted in one of the individuals poking holes in the other’s personal protective equipment (PPE). That individual has since been fired, the official indicated. 

The HHS official added that the incident is just the latest example of safety incidents at the high-risk laboratory, which they blamed on a poor safety culture at the lab enabled by the previous Biden administration.

“NIH and HHS take the safety of our facilities and research very seriously,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said. “As soon as we found out about this incident, we took immediate action to issue the safety pause until we can correct the safety culture at this facility.”

COVID VACCINE BOOSTERS CALLED INTO QUESTION BY FDA CHIEF: ‘VOID OF DATA’

The latest incident, according to HHS, was preceded by a separate incident that occurred as recently as November.

The facility’s director, Connie Schmaljohn, was placed on administrative leave following the incident. The HHS official familiar with the matter indicated Schmaljohn did not report the incident up the chain of command immediately, causing a delay in remedying the matter.

During this temporary pause, all research at the facility will come to a halt and access will be limited to essential personnel. 

It is unclear how long the pause will remain in effect.   

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is being torched online after she expressed sympathy for countries that may be affected by mass deportations from the U.S. after she remained largely silent on millions of migrants pouring into the U.S. under the Biden administration.

Crockett, a first-term progressive who has made headlines for several controversial comments this year, appeared unaware of the apparent double standard, which drew criticism from conservative accounts and commentators and Republican lawmakers.  

“As far as I’m concerned, you randomly kidnapping folk and you throwing them out of the country against their civil rights, against their constitutional rights,” Crockett said in a video posted to her Instagram page, which as 1.3 million followers. “And, frankly, how would they feel if some other country decided that they were gonna just start throwing people randomly in our country? Like that is absolutely insane.”

SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS OVER JASMINE CROCKETT ‘GASLIGHTING’ ABOUT CALLING ABBOTT ‘GOVERNOR HOT WHEELS’

In the video, Crockett decries Republicans who had just voted down an amendment to a massive budget bill being hammered out by lawmakers that is aimed at clarifying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot detain or deport U.S. citizens under any circumstances.

The Republicans’ actions incensed Crockett, who cited a case last week when a U.S. citizen child was deported with her noncitizen mother. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the child and her siblings were deported because their mothers are not citizens and wanted to take them with them back to Honduras.

Crockett made the comments alongside Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who also panned Republicans. 

“Literally they just voted, they being the other ones, not us because we were all on the right side of history,” Crockett said. “They just voted to give Trump the legal ability to deport U.S. citizens. That is what they voted for. A bunch of elected U.S. representatives, that is how they voted, Am I telling a lie Eric or not?”

Part of the clip was posted to the popular conservative account “End Wokeness.”

“Other countries have been ‘just throwing people randomly’ into our country for decades, Rep. Crockett,” Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., wrote in a comment.

“Hahaha. She is literally one never-ending campaign ad,” wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga. 

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT SAYS DEMOCRATS NEED TO BE ‘OK WITH PUNCHING’ IN RACES AGAINST TED CRUZ, REPUBLICANS

As part of their big tax bill, Republicans in Congress are pumping billions of dollars into President Donald Trump’s mass deportation and border security plan with nearly 20,000 new officers, $1,000 fees for migrants seeking asylum and $46.5 billion for a long-sought border wall.

Overall, the plan is to remove 1 million immigrants annually and house 100,000 people in detention centers.

Trump previously floated the idea of deporting violent criminal U.S. citizens to an El Salvador prison where many criminal migrants have already been sent during his second term.

It’s not the first time Crockett’s comments have been criticized.

In March, she called her fellow Texan, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, “Governor Hot Wheels.” The Democrat claimed her words were misunderstood.

Crockett continues her viral media streak with incendiary comments aimed at those on the other side of the aisle, including saying DOGE head Elon Musk should be “taken down” and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, should be “knocked over the head, like, hard.”

Fox News’ Rachel del Guidice, Elizabeth Elkind and The Associated Press contributed to this report.