President Donald Trump’s administration has signaled there will be no REAL ID exceptions after Kentucky lawmakers requested a deadline extension. 

The Trump administration confirmed in a statement to Fox News Digital that states will need to comply by the May 7 deadline, despite Kentucky’s delay request, as a 20-year standoff between state and federal governments comes to a head with REAL ID’s real deadline.

“Beginning on May 7, passengers will need a REAL ID or another acceptable form of identification to fly, like a passport or military ID. TSA is committed to enforcing the law, as directed by Congress.”

“Non-compliant passengers may expect wait times or additional measures at airports. If you are an illegal alien without a REAL ID, the only way you will be permitted to fly is if you are self-deporting,” a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesperson said when asked if extensions were on the table.

PANDEMIC, PRICE TAGS AND PRIVACY CONCERNS: WHY IT TOOK 20 YEARS TO IMPLEMENT REAL ID

Kentucky lawmakers, including Kentucky’s Senate Transportation Committee Chair Jimmy Higdon and 27 state senate leaders, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on April 17 requesting a delay on REAL ID enforcement, citing concerns among Kentuckians “who are still unable to access driver’s licensing services due to limited appointment availability and long lines for walk-ins.”

‘MASS SURVEILLANCE’: CONSERVATIVES SOUND ALARM OVER TRUMP ADMIN’S REAL ID ROLLOUT

“This simple request is to protect Kentuckians from bureaucratic burdens,” Higdon said. “Rural residents, seniors, and families still have hurdles in front of them, and in a lot of cases, may not be aware of their options. Only about 40 percent of our residents have a REAL ID, but I would also like more time to help Kentuckians understand that they may not need a REAL ID. Kentucky has made a good-faith effort, but we just aren’t there yet.”

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., sent his own letter to Noem on the same day, asking her to “please describe how you will ensure that there are not delays at TSA security checkpoints and what steps the TSA is taking to process travelers who arrive at airport security checkpoints without REAL ID-compliant identification.”

Reed said it seems like many passengers will not be compliant by May 7, pointing out that “20 percent of air travelers still use a form of identification that is not compliant with REAL ID requirements,” and “millions of Americans still do not have a REAL ID-compliant license or an acceptable alternative form of identification.”

Since President George W. Bush signed the REAL ID Act into law in 2005, states and advocacy groups have rejected its implementation for a range of reasons, including costs, states’ rights and privacy concerns.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – a longtime opponent of REAL ID implementation – called it “discriminatory, expensive, burdensome, invasive, and ultimately counterproductive” in 2007 as disapproval grew nationwide. By 2009, at least 25 states had enacted legislation opposing the REAL ID Act. 

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While deadlines have shifted and implementation plans rolled out, Kentucky’s letter revealed states continue to panic over the REAL ID deadline as Americans line up at their local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and make appointments to secure their enhanced identification. 

America’s most notorious federal prison, a terrorist detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, took center stage for a short period in the early days of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days, when the administration began sending some of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens there.

Also known as “Gitmo,” Guantánamo is a 45-square-mile high-security naval base in Cuba and houses some of America’s most deadly enemies, including the al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks.

In one of the first moves of his second term, Trump authorized the detention of illegal immigrants at the facility shortly after taking office on Jan. 20. 

Trump instructed the Pentagon to prepare 30,000 beds at the base to house “criminal illegal aliens” who pose a threat to the American public, adding that putting them there would ensure they would not come back.

PRESIDENT TRUMP BLASTS COURTS FOR GETTING IN THE WAY OF DEPORTATION AGENDA

At the time, Trump explained the decision, saying that some criminal migrants “are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send ‘em out to Guantánamo.”

The president said the move would bring the U.S. one step closer to “eradicating the scourge” of migrant crime in communities, once and for all.

Then, shortly after the State Department declared 10 migrant gangs – including the Salvadoran MS-13 and Venezuelan Tren de Aragua as well as several Mexican cartels – “foreign terrorist organizations,” the administration began sending migrants through Gitmo, with several hundred passing through the base.

Among those sent to the base were several “high threat” illegal members of Tren de Aragua, which is an international terrorist and criminal group linked to Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. Tren de Aragua – also known as “TdA” – has a presence in most major American cities and is linked to the high-profile murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and the seizure of an entire apartment building in Aurora, Colorado.

TRUMP ADMIN FILES FIRST RACKETEERING CHARGES AGAINST MASSIVE MIGRANT TERRORIST GROUP PRESENT IN US

The Department of Defense stated that the migrant criminals sent to Gitmo were being housed in vacant detention facilities and that the arrangement was only temporary “until they can be transported to their country of origin or other appropriate destination.”

Illustrating Guantánamo’s importance in the administration’s eyes, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made Gitmo his first naval installation to visit as secretary. In a social media post, Hegseth called Gitmo “the front lines of the war against America’s southern border.”

Speaking of the troops manning Gitmo, Hegseth said, “These warriors are directly supporting the apprehension and deportation of dangerous illegal aliens.”

However, the administration soon began running into snags, making it difficult to ramp up the naval base’s capacity to accommodate the 30,000 beds that Trump had wanted.

SUPREME COURT POISED TO MAKE MAJOR DECISION THAT COULD SET LIMITS ON THE POWER OF DISTRICT JUDGES

In early March, Fox News Digital reported that none of the 195 tents set up in Guantánamo Bay had been used to house migrants. According to two U.S. defense officials familiar with the matter, this was due to the tents not meeting ICE standards.

The officials said that the U.S. military was told to set up the tents without clear guidance as to what the standards for holding migrants are, and that the military had not received specific guidelines on what the tents need in order to be certified to hold the migrants. The operation to build more tents was halted in February, just several weeks after it started.  

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Despite this, a congressional delegation of Republicans led by House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers visited Gitmo around the same time these difficulties were surfacing.

After the visit, Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital that “it is clear that Guantánamo Bay is operational and equipped to conduct these deportations.”

WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS ICE, SAYS DEMS, MEDIA WANT ‘SICK’ CRIMINAL MIGRANTS LEFT ON STREETS

On March 14, Fox News Digital reported that the 40 remaining illegal migrants being held at Guantánamo Bay had been sent back to the United States to be held in Louisiana. Of those returned to U.S. soil, 23 were “high-threat illegal aliens.”

It is unclear whether the U.S. will again hold migrants at Guantánamo. Representatives for the White House and DHS did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment prior to publication deadline.

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Meanwhile, the U.S. has begun partnering with the government of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to send illegal gang members to El Salvador’s “Terrorist Confinement Center” (CECOT). The U.S. has sent several hundred Salvadoran and Venezuelan migrants to CECOT. 

Fox News Digital’s Cameron Arcand, Michael Dorgan, Liz Friden, Jennifer Griffin and Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are carving out $68.8 billion for President Donald Trump’s border wall and to hire more agents in the field amid talks on a massive bill to advance the commander-in-chief’s agenda.

While Trump spent much of his first term focused on a physical barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, the legislation now under consideration seeks to modernize the task with $46.5 billion for an integrated “border barrier system,” according to details first viewed by Fox News Digital. It would incorporate physical fencing along with updated surveillance tools, roads, and lighting.

The bill also aims to pay $5 billion for new facilities and personnel for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), something the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sought since Trump came back to the White House.

ACLU APPEALS TO SUPREME COURT TO STOP VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS; BOASBERG HOLDS EMERGENCY HEARING FRIDAY NIGHT

It would specifically dedicate $4.1 billion to fund new front-line personnel to patrol the border, while also incentivizing new and current CBP staff with retention bonuses, among other measures – for which $2 billion is dedicated.

It would also put $813 million into modernizing CBP’s existing fleet of vehicles, with its current tech falling prey to mechanical issues and high maintenance costs.

The bill also seeks $2.7 billion to fund an array of modern technology that agents could use to crack down on illegal immigration at the border, including ground sensors, drones, radar, and remote surveillance technology, among other items.

For people caught crossing illegally, it would fund $673 million in upgrades to the U.S.’s current biometrics system aimed at tracking those illegal migrants.

Just over $1 billion in funding for new and updated air and maritime platforms is also included.

The legislation also puts millions toward threat-assessment and logistical planning for multiple upcoming international events in the U.S. – $1 billion for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and $625 million for the coming World Cup soccer championships.

Other funding items include $1 million to commemorate American victims of illegal immigrant crime, and $500 million to specifically crack down on cartel drug smuggling at the border.

Border security is a core pillar of congressional Republicans’ priorities in the budget reconciliation process. The Homeland Security Committee, which has jurisdiction over significant amounts of U.S.-Mexico border operations, was directed to use up to $90 billion in new spending to achieve those goals.

Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and immigration czar Tom Homan, have emphasized the need for more funding to carry out the president’s agenda.

DHS sent a memo to House and Senate Republicans earlier this month warning that failure to pass the legislation “will undo all the Trump Administration’s Massive Successes.”

DEMOCRAT SENATOR VAN HOLLEN MEETS, SHAKES HANDS WITH ABREGO GARCIA

Budget reconciliation lowers the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51 for certain items relating to federal spending, taxes, and the national debt. It therefore allows a party controlling the House, Senate and White House to pass sweeping reforms while entirely sidelining the opposing party, in this case Democrats.

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Republicans are aiming to use reconciliation to pass broad swaths of Trump’s agenda.

In addition to border security that includes new commitments to fossil fuel energy, the national defense, and Trump’s tax policies – both extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and fulfilling newer promises to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay, and retirees’ social security.

FIRST ON FOX: The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., will host symphony concerts featuring the music and life of American icon Dolly Parton this summer, Fox News Digital has learned. 

“The threads of my life are woven together through my songs. That’s why the project, Threads: My Songs In Symphony, is so special to me,” Parton said in the Kennedy Center’s announcement of the show, which was first exclusively shared with Fox Digital on Sunday. “It’s about sharing my music and my musical journey with audiences in a new way.”

The concert, called “Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony,” made its premiere last year in Nashville and has since toured the nation from Pittsburgh to Portland, Oregon. The Kennedy Center will host the program on June 26 and 27, with the National Symphony Orchestra performing hits such as “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and “I Will Always Love You.”

Parton will not sing during the concerts, but the events will feature “a unique performance that honors her enduring spirit and unparalleled impact on American popular music culture.” The National Symphony Orchestra will perform alongside guest vocalists and musicians to deliver a “fresh symphonic take on the timeless songs of Dolly Parton,” according to the Kennedy Center. 

DOLLY PARTON SUPPORTERS PUSH PETITION TO RENAME NASHVILLE AIRPORT: ‘DEPARTIN’ FROM PARTON!’

“Bringing Dolly Parton’s music to life through the power of a full symphony orchestra has long been a dream of mine,” National Symphony Orchestra Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke said. “Dolly is one of the great storytellers of American music, and I am excited to bring her expansive catalog to the Kennedy Center. Through these unique symphonic charts, her music will be showcased like never before and will surely be an evening no one will want to miss!”

The concert is billed as “multimedia,” and will include imagery of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer on screen that will lead “audiences in a visual-musical journey of her songs, her life, and her stories,” according to the Kennedy Center. 

“Dolly Parton is an American icon whose music resonates with people from all walks of life and we are overjoyed to bring her symphony to the Kennedy Center!” Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations at The Kennedy Center, told Fox News Digital. 

Tickets will become available to Kennedy Center members April 29 at 10 a.m., while the general public can begin purchasing tickets on May 1. 

Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell told Fox News Digital back in February that he and his team will help usher in the “Golden Age of the Arts” with shows Americans actually want to see after years of the performing arts center running in the red. 

DOLLY PARTON WARNS SABRINA CARPENTER SHE DOESN’T ‘MAKE FUN OF JESUS,’ USE SWEAR WORDS AHEAD OF COLLABORATION

“This will be the Golden Age of the Arts,” Grenell said. “The Kennedy Center has zero cash on hand and zero dollars in reserves – while taking tens of millions of dollars in public funds. We must have programs that sell tickets. We can’t afford to pay for content that doesn’t at least pay for itself right now. I wish we didn’t have to consider the costs of production, but we do.” 

KENNEDY CENTER SHAKE-UP WILL USHER IN ‘GOLDEN AGE OF THE ARTS’ UNDER TRUMP, RIC GRENELL PREVIEWS

“The good news is that there are plenty of shows that are very popular, and therefore the ticket sales will pay for themselves,” Grenell added. 

Grenell added during remarks at CPAC that the Kennedy Center will now focus on performances “the public want to see,” such as Christmas-focused productions in December. The Kennedy Center under the Biden administration had rolled out drag show performances, which drew the ire of President Donald Trump earlier this year. 

“We have to do the big productions that the masses and the public want to see, we want to have really good programming,” Grenell said at CPAC. “So the first thing that we’re doing … you’ve got to be at the Kennedy Center in December, because we are doing a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas. How crazy is it to think that we’re going to celebrate Christ at Christmas with a big traditional production to celebrate what we are all celebrating in the world during Christmastime, which is the birth of Christ.”

A Wisconsin judge is threatening not to hold court in protest of federal authorities arresting her fellow judge Hannah Dugan last week.

Judge Monica Isham made the announcement in an email to judges across the state on Saturday. Her email, titled “Guidance Requested or I Refuse to Hold Court,” made clear she had no intention of working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“If there is no guidance for us and no support for us, I will refuse to hold court in Branch 2 in Sawyer County. I will not put myself or my staff who may feel compelled to help me or my community in harms way,” Isham wrote.

“I have no intention of allowing anyone to be taken out of my courtroom by ICE and sent to a concentration camp, especially without due process, as BOTH of the constitutions we swore to support require. Should I start raising bail money?” Isham wrote, referring to the Wisconsin state constitution as well.

NEW MEXICO SUPREME COURT BANS JUDGE AFTER ALLEGED TDA MEMBER ARRESTED AT HOME

“If this costs me my job or gets me arrested then at least I know I did the right thing,” she added.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon reacted to Isham’s ultimatum on social media, saying the threat was “problematic.”

NEW MEXICO JUDGE RESIGNS AFTER ALLEGED TDA MEMBER ARRESTED AT HIS HOME

Dugan was arrested and charged with obstruction of an official proceeding on Friday after evidence came to light that she had shielded the migrant from ICE agents, according to a criminal complaint. She was also charged with concealing an individual to prevent discovery and arrest.

Federal agents from ICE, FBI, CBP and DEA attempted to arrest the undocumented male – Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz – following his scheduled criminal court appearance before Dugan on April 18 to face three misdemeanor battery charges for allegedly beating two people.

Dugan demanded that the officers proceed to the chief judge’s office and – after his hearing ended – escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a restricted jury door, bypassing the public area where agents were waiting in order to help him avoid arrest, per the complaint.

Dugan has worked with legal aid organizations and as executive director of Catholic Charities in the past. She was elected to Branch 31 of the Circuit Court in 2016 and ran unopposed in the 2022 election. She primarily oversees cases in its misdemeanor division, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

In a dramatic move to protect America’s cattle industry, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has warned Mexico that the U.S. will halt imports of live animals — including cattle and bison — if Mexico doesn’t step up efforts to combat a dangerous pest creeping northward.

In a letter sent Saturday and obtained by Fox News, Secretary Rollins put the Mexican government on notice to act immediately to fight the spread of the New World screwworm or face serious economic consequences on the border. 

The USDA has set a firm deadline of April 30 for Mexico to address the growing crisis, or U.S. ports of entry will slam the door on key animal commodities.

FEDERAL DIETARY GUIDELINES WILL SOON CHANGE FOR AMERICANS, HHS AND USDA ANNOUNCE

“I must inform you that if these issues are not resolved by Wednesday, April 30, USDA will restrict the importation of animal commodities, which consist of live cattle, bison, and equine originating from or transporting to Mexico to protect the interest of the agriculture industry in the United States,” Rollins wrote.

The New World screwworm, a flesh-eating fly whose larvae can decimate livestock populations, has been spreading rapidly from Central America into southern Mexico. USDA officials have long relied on a sophisticated sterile insect technique (SIT) program — using specially equipped aircraft to release sterile flies — to keep the deadly pest in check. But that strategy is now in jeopardy.

MAINE’S FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE FROM TRUMP’S USDA REVERSED

At the heart of the conflict is Dynamic Aviation, a U.S. government-contracted carrier tasked with aerial fly dispersals. According to the letter, Mexican aviation authorities are limiting Dynamic’s operations to just six days a week under a temporary 60-day permit, a move the USDA says undermines the urgent, around-the-clock response needed to stop the screwworm’s advance.

Even more troubling, Rollins said Mexican customs officials are imposing hefty import duties on critical supplies like sterile flies, aviation parts and dispersal equipment — all fully funded by U.S. taxpayers to benefit both nations. These delays are expensive and threatening to cripple the campaign just when speed is most vital.

Rollins is demanding immediate action from Mexico, including long-term operational clearance for Dynamic Aviation, full duty waivers on all emergency materials and the appointment of a senior-level liaison to fast-track solutions.

Every day lost, Rollins warned, gives the screwworm a bigger foothold and risks devastating American ranchers and the broader agricultural economy.

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In a bid to salvage cooperation, Rollins also proposed an emergency U.S.-Mexico summit with government leaders, technical experts and operational partners to get back on track.

The message from Washington is clear: Mexico must move — and fast — or face tough new trade restrictions designed to protect America’s food supply and farming communities.

President Donald Trump has expressed doubts that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end its war with Ukraine which has raged for more than three years.

Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to express his frustration with the Russian leader in a week that saw Russia launch a deadly missile attack on Kyiv. The Thursday attack on Ukraine killed at least 10 and injured at least 90, including children, Ukraine said.

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump wrote, shortly after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on Saturday at Pope Francis’ funeral. 

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“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

It’s virtually illegal to make a left turn in many parts of New Jersey, and bipartisan lawmakers there are outraged at how equally difficult it is to make a REAL ID appointment as of late.

“We’ve known for years that this deadline was coming,” state Assemblymember Nancy Muñoz, R-Union, told Fox News Digital on Friday.

“There’s no excuse for the Motor Vehicle Commission to be this unprepared. Constituents are waking up early, refreshing their screens, only to watch appointments vanish in seconds,” Muñoz, the Budget Committee’s minority leader, said.

“Some are driving over an hour just to find an available slot: It’s outrageous.”

REAL ID SEES NATIONWIDE STATE GOVERNMENT COMPLIANCE AHEAD OF THE DEADLINE BUT IT WASN’T ALWAYS THAT WAY

New Jersey, like all states and territories, is fully legally compliant with the Department of Homeland Security’s new standards, which require a driver’s license to have a star affixed to a corner to confirm the holder has provided additional identifying documentation in order to board a domestic flight.

But the Garden State ranked last out of 49 states that responded to a CBS News survey on the percentage of residents who have actually obtained REAL IDs.

Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Cherry Hill, told Fox News Digital he understands residents’ concerns and panic, noting the deadline has been pushed back several times since President George W. Bush signed the law in 2005.

“Now we’re heading into summer, folks have travel plans, and they’re being told they’ll have to wait months just to get an appointment,” Greenwald said.

NO ‘REAL ID’ APPOINTMENTS OPEN IN NEW JERSEY AS RESIDENTS SOUND OFF: ‘GET WITH THE TIMES, NJ’

“There’s no reason in the 21st century that we should still be relying solely on in-person appointments, which are time-intensive, often require residents to take off work or travel long distances, and where a single forgotten document means starting the process all over again.”

Greenwald said New Jersey’s appointments system is more troublesome than other states like neighboring Pennsylvania, which allows residents to apply for REAL IDs online, and which he called a “common sense” tweak that’s not prohibited by the feds.

In that regard, Greenwald said he will introduce a bill in Trenton to direct the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) to begin online processing of REAL ID applications to help fix the backlog and other issues.

“[That way,] New Jerseyans can obtain their REAL IDs easily and conveniently, without unnecessary delays,” he said.

A source familiar with New Jersey’s REAL ID rollout told Fox News Digital that because it is one of a handful of states where illegal immigrants can get “status-neutral” licenses, its low personal compliance proportion differs from states where only citizens can get drivers’ licenses — so there is a baseline percentage of drivers who cannot get a REAL ID to start with.

Only green-card holders and U.S. citizens can get a REAL ID. Passports also remain acceptable for travel for people without a REAL ID.

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The MVC has noted it holds weekly “REAL ID Thursdays” — where only REAL ID applications are processed, not learner’s permits or renewals — and employees are also required to work two weekends per month to better serve the public.

Nonetheless, Muñoz said the state has had enough time to plan for the rush of New Jerseyans who need one.

When reached for comment, Gov. Phil Murphy’s office directed Fox News Digital to the MVC.

An agency spokesperson said the MVC has been working “nonstop” to help as many residents as possible.

“Our challenges are not unique to New Jersey — every state in the nation is facing similar pressures as the deadline approaches,” the spokesperson said. 

“Our state has made REAL IDs available for the past five and a half years — since September 2019. We are currently issuing approximately 23,000 REAL IDs per week and remain focused on delivering efficient service and to ensure that every eligible New Jerseyan can secure one.” 

FIRST ON FOX: President Trump’s “nicotine freedom crusade” rolling back Biden-era policies related to nicotine and tobacco products could be primed to reverse a key rule that experts who spoke to Fox News Digital say would be a critical step forward. 

Shortly before Trump was sworn into office, Biden’s FDA proposed a rule that it described at the time as “bold” that “would make cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products minimally or nonaddictive by limiting the level of nicotine in those products.”

Cigarettes and “certain other combusted tobacco products” would not be allowed to have more than 0.7 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco under the proposed rule, according to the FDA. The agency said that lower nicotine levels would “be low enough to no longer create or sustain addiction.” 

While the FDA insisted at the time that the rule “would not ban” cigarettes, critics disagree and are optimistic that Trump will continue his push for nicotine freedom and upend the rule. 

TRUMP FDA NOMINEE TURNS VACCINE QUESTION ON DEM, RECALLING CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN DECISION

“The Biden legacy on tobacco policy is one of hamfisted regulations, crippling bureaucracy, and prohibition fueling massive criminal markets — from cigarettes to Chinese vapes,” Rich Marianos, former assistant director of the ATF, executive director of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital. 

“President Trump can put the nail in the coffin of that failed era by killing this insane ban on cigarettes and focusing resources on vigilant enforcement.”

Peter Brennan, Executive Director of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association (NECSEM), told Fox News Digital that “prohibitionist tobacco policy” ends up punishing small businesses by “taking sales out of our stores and pushing them into the streets and the illicit market.”

FDA PHASING OUT SOME ANIMAL TESTING IN ‘WIN-WIN’ FOR ETHICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH: COMMISSIONER

“Biden’s plan to ban all cigarettes is a real threat that is still hanging over our heads.” Brennan said. “We are hopeful that President Trump will help America’s convenience stores by putting a stop to this disastrous idea.”

Trump has taken several actions in the nicotine space since taking office, including withdrawing a proposed rule seeking to ban menthol cigarettes, after the Biden administration said it intended to make the ban become a reality after years of advocacy from anti-smoking groups.

Months later, FDA Tobacco Director Brian King, who critics believed was a key figure behind the administration’s efforts against banning menthols and the “war on nicotine” was removed from his post in a move that experts who spoke to Fox News Digital praised earlier this month. 

“President Trump has succeeded in his nicotine freedom crusade since taking office, repealing Biden’s misguided menthol ban and firing the FDA architect behind it,” a Republican strategist who worked to elect Trump in 2024 told Fox News Digital this week. “The logical next step is to officially repeal a Biden-era rule on banning low nicotine products, which will be the final blow to Biden’s war on nicotine.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment. 

Biden’s perceived “war on nicotine,” along with the surge in illicit Chinese vapes flooding the market over the last few years, is believed by some to have hurt his presidential campaign along with that of VP Kamala Harris, who eventually took his place on the ticket. 

“If President Trump withdraws Biden’s disastrous rule that would effectively ban cigarettes, it would be a huge win for his working-class coalition,” a person close to the Trump administration told Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump is closing in on the first 100 days of his administration this week, wrapping up three months marked by an unprecedented use of executive orders, and continued discussions surrounding a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. 

Trump met with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store at the White House Thursday, where he said that he and other allies are trying to wrap up a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in the near future. Still, he said he would stick to his own timeline. 

“I have my own deadline,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “And we wanted to be fast. And the Prime Minister’s helping us.”

“He wants it to be fast, too,” he said. “And I think everybody in this, at this time in NATO, they want to see this thing happen.”

The White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital regarding details of the deadline. 

Trump’s team has signaled optimism about a deal this week, and Vice President JD Vance disclosed on Wednesday that a proposal is on the table. However, he said that time is limited and if neither party agrees, the U.S. will withdraw itself from advancing those discussions. 

The deal would require both Russia and Ukraine to give up some of their territory, but that the lines would remain “close to where they are today,” according to Vance. 

Here’s what also happened this week in the Trump administration:

The White House went to bat for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has come under additional scrutiny following a New York Times report that Hegseth shared information about a March military airstrike against the Houthis in a Signal messaging app group chat that also included his wife, brother and personal lawyer. 

In March, the Atlantic reported about an initial Signal group chat that included Hegseth and Vance to discuss the same attack on the Houthis. In that chat, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidently included. 

HEGSETH FACES LATEST BATTLE DEFENDING HIS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE POST AT THE PENTAGON 

The most recent incident has prompted lawmakers to call for Hegseth’s resignation, even though Hegseth maintains no war plans were disclosed in the chats. Despite a report from NPR that said the White House was considering finding a new secretary of defense amid the controversy, the Trump administration has voiced support for Hegseth this week. 

“He is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there’s a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that’s why we’ve seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.

“Let me reiterate: The president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth and the change that he is bringing to the Pentagon, and the results that he’s achieved thus far speak for themselves,” Leavitt said.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump departed Washington Friday morning to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome Saturday. The Vatican announced that Pope Francis died Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. 

“Rest in Peace Pope Francis!” Trump said in a Monday post on Truth Social. “May God Bless him and all who loved him!”

POPE FRANCIS AND US PRESIDENTS: A LOOK BACK AT HIS LEGACY WITH THE NATION’S LEADERS

The pope’s death came a day after Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with him in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel just hours before his death. 

Additionally, Trump signed an executive order Monday ordering all U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels to remember Francis. The order also applies to all U.S. embassies, legations, consular offices and other facilities abroad, including military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

Former President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are also planning to attend the Rome funeral.

Trump also signed seven executive orders pertaining to education, including several that would incorporate artificial intelligence into K-12 school curricula, modify school discipline and accreditation guidelines, and update requirements for the disclosure of foreign funding to schools.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Education Department also announced Monday it would resume collections on defaulted federal student loans in May for the first time since 2020. 

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO RESUME COLLECTIONS ON DEFAULTED FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2020

The first Trump administration paused referring federal student loans to collections in March 2020 during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Trump administration officials are concerned that the pause has led the federal student loan portfolio to be “headed toward a fiscal cliff if we don’t start repayment in collections,” according to a senior department official.

“The result has been that the federal government student loan portfolio has continued to grow, and we’ve got a record number of borrowers that are at risk of or in delinquency and default,” the senior department official told reporters Monday.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

A recent profile piece on Alex Soros, the heir to the vast liberal mega donor George Soros’ progressive fundraising network, suggested the younger Soros has hurt the family brand with his public profile in recent years.

The article, posted by New York Magazine this week, takes place in Alex Soros’ luxury penthouse in Manhattan and characterizes the home as an example of his indifference to public opinion, which the story suggests hasn’t been beneficial to the family’s Open Society Foundations.

“The setting itself is a testament to a certain indifference to public opinion on Alex’s part — or perhaps a lack of awareness,” the story says. 

ALEX SOROS FUMES AT LEFT-WING CLIMATE GROUP OVER ‘PALESTINE’ OBSESSION: ‘WHAT THE HELL’

“This past fall, he held a fundraiser at the apartment for vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, then created a PR headache by posting photos from the event on social media, as is his custom after meeting heads of state and elected officials. (As a former OSF higher-up says, Alex likes to collect “shiny objects.”) 

“It was deemed unhelpful to a presidential ticket straining to underscore its regularness that the son of the 94-year-old hedge-fund billionaire accused of puppeteering the Democratic Party was publicly advertising his centrality to the election effort from a New York City penthouse.”

MEET THE FAR-LEFT GROUPS FUNDING ANTI-DOGE PROTESTS AT GOP OFFICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Soros drew strong criticism on social media over the photo with Walz in his penthouse standing next to a vice presidential candidate who had been labeled as someone who would resonate with rural and working-class voters.

“This guy goes around saying he’s a small town midwestern guy who understands the struggles of the middle class and then goes to hang out at the floating home in the sky of the world’s biggest billionaire nepo baby,” digital strategist Greg Price wrote on X at the time.

“A post like this does nothing to help Kamala Harris & Tim Walz win — if anything, it hurts them,” journalist Jerry Dunleavy posted on X at the time. “So why would Soros post something like this? To publicly signal his power & influence within the next would-be presidential administration.”

New York Magazine wrote that Alex Soros’ “fondness for collecting powerful figures embarrasses people at the foundation.”

“It also underscores his influence. OSF is by some measures the second-largest charitable foundation in the United States, trailing only the Gates Foundation. It gives out roughly $1.5 billion a year, and it spends its U.S. budget not only on liberal causes but also on some of the big dark-money nonprofits aligned with the Democratic Party, including America Votes, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and the pro-Harris spending group Future Forward USA Action.”

Fox News Digital has documented Soros’ online presence, which includes all the photos he takes with Democratic politicians in recent years, and his Rolodex includes some of the most powerful politicians in the Democratic Party. During the Biden administration, Soros visited the White House over 22 times and met with both Biden and Harris.

His social media profiles have dozens of pictures of him and leading House and Senate Democrats since 2018. The two who appear the most are Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. Alex had at least nine meetings with Schumer, whom he referred to as his “good friend.” 

Soros had at least eight visits with Pelosi, whom he has called the “greatest Speaker of the House in American History!” 

Soros has donated millions to Democrats over the past several years, albeit far less than his father. In 2020, he contributed over $700,000 to the Biden Victory Fund, making him among its top donors. For the 2024 cycle, he maxed out $6,600 in donations directly to Biden’s campaign, federal filings show.

Since the 2018 elections, he has poured more than $5 million into federal political coffers. Records show that his largest contribution was $2 million to the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC during this time. 

He’s also contributed hundreds of thousands in cash to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He has given tens of thousands more to state Democratic parties and individual campaigns, many of which were maximum contributions. 

The article notes that the Soros network spent hundreds of millions in the last election cycle trying to elect Democrats and push progressive causes and that Soros was “probably the biggest liberal donor of the most recent election cycle” but that it is “hard to know for sure because of untrackable dark-money spending.”

Then share your results with friends. 

President Donald Trump recently hyped a new national poll which indicates an increasing percentage of Republicans now identify as MAGA supporters.

The president, in a social media post, pointed to what he said was “tremendous support” for MAGA, which is the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

“I am not, at all, surprised!!!” Trump wrote, days ahead of the 100-days milestone.

The poll indicated that 71% of Republicans now identify as MAGA supporters, up from 55% in November.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

The NBC News survey is the latest piece of evidence of Trump’s extremely firm grip over the GOP, and his remaking of the Republican Party in his image, a transformation that started with the president’s initial White House victory in 20216.

While the president repeatedly teases the possibility of running for re-election in 2028, the reality is that serving a third term is clearly prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment.

So what happens to Trump’s MAGA movement and America First agenda after he departs the White House?

“The Republican Party will never go back to what it was. The old Republican Party of [former longtime Senate GOP leader] Mitch McConnell run by Washington elites died forever in 2024,” longtime Republican consultant Alex Castellanos told Fox News Digital.

SCOOP: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE SHOWCASES RECORD FUNDRAISING AS PARTY BUILDS 2026 WAR CHEST

Castellanos, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, emphasized that “the Republican Party of Donald Trump is alive and growing out in America.”

And he made the case that “what happened in 2024 is that what was a man became a movement.”

David Kochul, another longtime Republican strategist with plenty of experience on the presidential campaign trail, concurred that “we’re not going back to what the party looked like in 2012. That’s for sure. We’re going forward to something new and different.”

Even a vocal Republican critic of Trump agrees.

Former congressman and former two-term Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who launched an unsuccessful 2024 Republican presidential nomination bid, acknowledged that “those who want the GOP to go a different direction from the MAGA leadership of President Trump are now fighting an uphill battle.”

“Trump has found his stride with his anti-immigrant message and it is overshadowing the chaos from his super-charged tariff war and its impact on the economy,” Hutchinson told Fox News Digital.

Whoever succeeds Trump as GOP standardbearer – be it heir apparent Vice President JD Vance or someone else – won’t be Trump.

“Trump is such a unique actor and figure. He can’t be replicated,” Kochul stressed. “Nobody can be the next Donald Trump. That’s not possible. He’s singular.”

But his movement will have some staying power.

“Just like the Reagan Revolution, Trump’s legacy and messaging will prevail beyond his last day in office,” Dave Carney, another longtime Republican consultant and presidential campaign trail veteran, told Fox News. 

But Carney argued that Trump’s legacy may “wane over years unless the next Republican president continues it.”

TRUMP, MUSK FACE BLAME FOR SETBACKS, BUT ARE WISCONSIN, FLORIDA ELECTIONS CRYSTAL BALL FOR 2026 MIDTERMS?

“Is it going to be as hot and heavy as it is now without his personality? Carney asked.

Answering his own question, he said, “No. You need to have a messenger to carry that theme.”

But Castellanos noted that Trump has “spawned a new younger generation of MAGA leaders who will carry on the MAGA movement long after Trump.”

Pointing to Vance and others, Castellanos described “a fresh generation of MAGA.”

“The players on the MAGA farm team are now playing major league ball,” he said.

Kochul, looking to the future of the GOP, said that “it will be more populist, whomever emerges.”

And as for those future leaders, he suggested that “we’ve got a lot of great leadership and a great bench.”

Hutchinson, a former U.S. attorney under Ronald Reagan and high-ranking official in George W. Bush’s administration, also weighed in on the future of Trump’s MAGA movement.

“Whether Trump’s dominance continues beyond the next few years depends upon the tolerance level of the GOP base on Trump’s view that ‘he is the law’ rather than respecting the separation of powers that have served our country well,” Hutchinson said.

It’s 2025, but it’s starting to feel a little bit like 2028 in New Hampshire, the state that traditionally holds the first presidential primary in the race for the White House.

That’s because Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, the billionaire two-term Democrat from the solidly blue Midwestern state, is coming to New Hampshire this weekend to headline the state party’s largest annual fundraising gala.

Pritzker, who has become one of his party’s most vocal critics of the sweeping and controversial moves by President Donald Trump during the first three months of his second tour in the White House, is seen as a potential contender for the Democrats’ 2028 presidential nomination. 

And trips to New Hampshire — which for over a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House — are seen as an early indicator of a politician’s interest in running for the presidency in the next election.

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

“We’ve got to be ready for the fight,” Pritzker said when asked by Fox News Digital what his message will be when he delivers the keynote address at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s annual McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner.

The governor, a member of the Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain and who has started several of his own venture capital and investment startups, argued that the nation is “in a constitutional crisis” and that “we have too many people who are ill affected by the policies of the Trump administration.”

“This is the moment for people to stand up and fight,” he added.

Pritzker, 60, is the first potential Democratic presidential hopeful to visit New Hampshire, or any other early primary state, since Democrats lost the White House and their Senate majority and failed to retake the House in November.

And Trump and Republicans down-ballot made gains with key parts of the Democrats’ base, including with Black, Hispanic and younger voters.

HEATING UP: PRESEASON MOVES IN 2028 PRESIDENTIAL RACE GETTING UNDERWAY

In the wake of those setbacks, Democrats have experienced increased intra-party tensions with an angry and energized base itching to fight back against Trump. That anger is directed not only at Trump and Republicans, but also at Democrats, with many in the party’s base upset that leaders haven’t been effective or vocal enough in pushing back against the president. 

It’s also led to reflection about what the Democratic Party stands for and its direction moving forward amid flagging favorable ratings in national polling.

Two-term California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another high-profile Democrat who likely also has national ambitions in 2028, said earlier this week in an interview with “The Hill” that he wasn’t sure what the party truly represents.

“I don’t know what the party is,” Newsom said. “I’m still struggling with that.”

Asked if he’s also struggling, Pritzker responded, “I’ve been clear my whole life. The Democratic Party stands up for working people. Stands up for working families. We’re the party of civil rights. We’re the party of human rights. No doubt about that, in my mind.”

Pritzker, who is not prevented by term limits from running for re-election in 2026, has yet to say if he’ll make a bid for a third term steering Illinois. But the clock is ticking, with the filing period opening up later this year and the state’s primary just 11 months away.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND OPINION ON JB PRITZKER

“Given the circumstances of getting on the ballot for people, I would need to make a decision and announce it by, you know, by latest July,” Pritzker said when asked about his timetable for making a decision.

But it’s a possible presidential run by Pritzker that is grabbing headlines.

Chicagoan Bill Daley, who served as former President Bill Clinton’s commerce secretary and former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, told The Wall Street Journal last week that “there is no doubt that he [Pritzker] is going to run.”

Pritzker, asked about Daley’s prediction, said, “I’d guess I’d remind you that he didn’t support me when I ran for governor the first time… I don’t know where he gets his information.”

And on the possibility of launching a national campaign in the 2028 election cycle, Pritzker said, “All I can tell you is, I’m focused on the question of whether I will run for re-election as governor, and on defeating the policies of Donald Trump.”

DEMOCRATS’ VICE CHAIR GETS ULTIMATUM: STAY NEUTRAL IN PRIMARIES OR STEP DOWN

The governor is no stranger to New Hampshire. He headlined the 2022 New Hampshire Democratic Party convention, and he returned last September to campaign on behalf of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced then-President Joe Biden as the party’s presidential nominee in July. Pritzker made multiple stops, including addressing union members at the New Hampshire AFL-CIO’s annual Labor Day breakfast.

Pritzker was among those vetted by the Harris presidential campaign as a possible running mate.

The governor, who led a successful effort to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, was also among the potential 2028 White House contenders to speak during the convention week at the New Hampshire Democratic Party delegation’s daily breakfasts.

Veteran New Hampshire-based Democratic consultant Jim Demers noted that “for many New Hampshire Democrats, his [Pritzker’s] visit is an early audition for 2028.”

“It comes at a time when voters are really looking for leadership, someone who will challenge what Donald Trump is doing. So, what he says will be weighed very heavily,” he added.

Demers, pointing to Pritzker’s handful of trips to the Granite State over the past couple of years, said that “every time he has visited with New Hampshire voters, he has delivered a message that has resonated very well.”

Neil Levesque, the longtime director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, said that “Pritzker is coming into a highly political state at an opportune time because of how fired up and charged up Democrats are in opposition to President Trump.”

And he noted that the stop “will kick off the first of multiple visits by multiple potential candidates, considering that Democrats are hungry for an opposition.”

While Pritzker’s visit is the first as the very early moves in the 2028 White House race get underway, behind the scenes there’s already action.

A Granite State-based Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely shared that activists in New Hampshire are receiving fundraising emails on a regular basis from some of the potential candidates for 2028. 

“Every week I receive a dozen,” the strategist said, adding that the messages are signed by Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Rep. Ro Khanna of California and other potential 2028 contenders.

The strategist said the possible White House hopefuls are “driving messaging and their names through this constant barrage of emails.”

While the stop by Pritzker may seem very early, it’s actually occurring later in the calendar than the first stop in an early-voting state in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

Mike Pompeo, the former congressman from Kansas who later served as CIA director and then Secretary of State in Trump’s first administration, spoke in Iowa in late March 2021.

Pompeo, who took a hard look at running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before deciding against launching a campaign, was the first of the potential Republican White House hopefuls that cycle to visit one of the early-voting primary and caucus states.

The Kennedy Center has canceled a week’s worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ people for the World Pride festival in Washington, D.C., amid a change in focus and the Trump administration firing the center’s leadership.

Multiple artists and producers involved in the center’s Tapestry of Pride schedule said their events had been quietly canceled or transferred to other venues. The Tapestry of Pride was planned for June 5 to 8 before the cancellation.

Washington’s Capital Pride Alliance disassociated itself from the Kennedy Center in response to the canceled events.

“We are a resilient community, and we have found other avenues to celebrate,” the alliance’s deputy director June Crenshaw told The Associated Press. “We are finding another path to the celebration … but the fact that we have to maneuver in this way is disappointing.”

TRUMP FIRES KENNEDY CENTER BOARD MEMBERS CITING DRAG SHOWS, APPOINTS HIMSELF CHAIRMAN

The Kennedy Center’s website still has a section for Tapestry of Pride with a general description and a link to the World Pride site. No other information is provided on the website.

The cancellations come in the wake of massive changes at the Kennedy Center, including President Donald Trump firing both the president and chairman in early February. Trump replaced most of the board with loyalists, who subsequently elected him the new chairman of the institution.

The World Pride event is held every two years and this year’s event runs from May 17 through June 8 with performances and celebrations planned across the nation’s capital. But concerns arose about what kind of reception attendees will receive due to Trump administration policies targeting transgender people and comments about Kennedy Center drag performances.

“I know that D.C. as a community will be very excited to be hosting World Pride, but I know the community is a little bit different than the government,” said Michael Roest, founder and director of the International Pride Orchestra, which had its June 5 performance at the Kennedy Center canceled just days after Trump’s took control of the institution.

Roest told The Associated Press he was in the final stages of planning the performance at the center. He was waiting on a final contract when Trump revealed on Feb. 7 the leadership changes and his plans to amend the institution’s programming.

The center then became unresponsive, he said.

On Feb. 12, Roest said he received a one-sentence email from a Kennedy Center staffer saying that they “are no longer able to advance your contract at this time.”

“They went from very eager to host to nothing,” he told The Associated Press. “We have not since heard a word from anybody at the Kennedy Center, but that’s not going to stop us.”

After the cancellation, Roest said he was able to move the International Pride Orchestra performance to the Strathmore theater in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.

Roest said he was never given an explanation for why the performance was canceled so late in the planning stages. He said his orchestra would no longer consider performing at the Kennedy Center and that most queer artists would likely make the same choice.

“There would need to be a very, very public statement of inclusivity from the administration, from that board, for us to consider that,” he said. “Otherwise it is a hostile performance space.”

Crenshaw said some other events, including a drag story time and a display of parts of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, would be transferred to the World Pride welcome center in Chinatown.

SEATTLE PRIDE FACES BUDGET SHORTFALL AS CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS DWINDLE AMID ANTI-DEI SHIFT

Monica Alford, a veteran arts and culture journalist and event planner, was set to organize an event on June 8 as part of Tapestry of Pride, but said she also experienced an abrupt end to communication within days of Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center.

Alford has a long history with the Kennedy Center and organized the first-ever drag brunch on its rooftop last year. She said she viewed the institution as her “home base” and “a safe space for the queer community.” She also said she was disappointed to lose the partnership she had with the Kennedy Center.

“We’re doing our community a disservice — not just the queer community but the entire community,” she told The Associated Press.

She said she was still finalizing the details of her event, which she said was “meant to be family-friendly, just like the drag brunch was family-friendly and classy and sophisticated.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that would cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers. 

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman blocked the Trump administration from implementing the order following a lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 160,000 federal employees.

The union claims in the lawsuit that the order would violate federal workers’ labor rights and is unconstitutional, adding that it would lose two-thirds of its membership and half of its dues if they order is allowed to go through. 

The order exempted more than a dozen agencies from the requirement to bargain with unions, including the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services departments.

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

It affects around 75% of the nearly one million federal workers represented by unions and expands an existing rule that exempts national security agencies like the FBI and CIA from collective bargaining requirements.

The U.S. Treasury Department also filed a lawsuit against the NTEU following the order to invalidate a collective bargaining agreement involving IRS employees. 

FEDERAL JUDGE PARTIALLY BLOCKS TRUMP’S EFFORT TO DENY FUNDING TO PRO-DEI PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The order is part of the administration’s efforts to lessen the size of the federal government, by making it easier to discipline and fire workers and change working conditions. 

The temporary injunction will remain in place pending the outcome of the NTEU lawsuit. 

Friedman said he would issue an opinion explaining his ruling in the next few days.

He also gave attorneys on both sides a week to propose how the lawsuit should move forward. 

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

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

States that allow illegal immigrants to collect unemployment benefits could lose federal funding, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Friday. 

In a letter to all governors, Chavez-DeRemer urged them to comply with President Donald Trump‘s directives to ensure that tax dollars aren’t used to benefit those in the U.S. illegally. 

“Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them,” Chavez-DeRemer wrote. “To qualify for unemployment, one must be able and available to work, actively seeking work and be legally authorized to accept employment in the United States. Unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in our country illegally.”

HUD TERMINATES OBAMA-ERA HOUSING RULE THAT TRUMP WARNED WOULD ‘DESTROY’ HOME VALUES

Chavez-DeRemer urged the states to use SAVE, an online database for registered federal, state and local government agencies, to verify the immigration status of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.  

The move comes as the Trump administration continues to clamp down on illegal immigrants who receive taxpayer benefits. 

On Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) is taking action to ensure that illegal immigrants no longer receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, widely known as food stamps. 

HUD OFFICES BECAME AS VACANT AS A ‘SPIRIT HALLOWEEN’ STORE UNDER BIDEN: ADMIN SOURCES

“USDA’s nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans,” Rollins said. “To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous.”

Last month, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner warned illegal immigrants living in government-funded housing that HUD is prioritizing only Americans under the Trump administration. 

“At HUD, we only serve one out of four Americans that we should be serving, and that has to come to an end,” Turner told Fox News Digital at the time. “And so we’re not only making it a priority, but we are making that our only priority, that American citizens will benefit from hard-working American taxpayer dollars.” 

Several Democrats who have argued that “no one is above the law” in President Donald Trump’s cases are now condemning the arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, warning it could threaten the rule of law.

“This is not normal,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., tweeted of Dugan’s arrest by the FBI on proceeding obstruction charges for allegedly shielding an indicted Mexican migrant from ICE agents. 

“The administration’s arrest of a sitting judge in Wisconsin is a drastic move that threatens the rule of law,” Klobuchar added, saying it’s a “grave step and undermines our system of checks and balances.”

During Trump’s 2019 impeachment, Klobuchar said his first impeachment case marked a “somber day for our country.”

FBI ARRESTS JUDGE, ALLEGING SHE OBSTRUCTED ARREST OF ILLEGAL ALIEN

“In America, no one is above the law, and the American people deserve to hear evidence and witness testimony during a full and fair trial in the Senate. If the president has any facts to present in his defense to the articles of impeachment, we should hear them,” she said.

After the 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, Klobuchar said, “The law is king, and the former president isn’t.”

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., also condemned Dugan’s arrest, saying, “If [FBI Director] Kash Patel and Donald Trump don’t like a judge, they think they can arrest them.

“This is stunning — we must stand up to this blatant power grab. Republicans: How is this not a red line for you?”

AG PAM BONDI OUTRAGED AT WISCONSIN JUDGE ARRESTED FOR OBSTRUCTING ARREST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

Commenting in 2020 on her vote to remove Trump from office over abuse of power allegations, Smith said she took her constitutional oath seriously and that “to condone corrupt behavior such as this undermines the core value that we stand for as a nation — that no one is above the law, including and most especially our president.”

Smith said she pored over presentations and evidence to reach that conclusion.

Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., who represents Dugan’s county, lambasted the White House, saying its “willingness to weaponize federal law enforcement is shocking and this arrest has all the hallmarks of overreach.”

“I will be following this case closely and facts will come out. However, I am very alarmed at the increasingly lawless actions of the Trump administration, and in particular ICE, who have been defying courts and acting with disregard for the Constitution.”

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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., commented on an apparently deleted tweet from Patel, writing on X, “Donald Trump and JD Vance are arresting judges now. Deleting the tweet won’t undo the constitutional crisis you have just thrust us into.”

In a 2023 interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Khanna said of the Trump impeachment, “You can’t just say, ‘OK, because someone was president or someone is a candidate, that you’re above the law.’ Everyone is under the law, and that allegations, the evidence needs to be pursued.”

When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Khanna said of the contrast that Trump has “waged war on the judiciary” and that there is no public evidence yet regarding Dugan, but “it is deeply concerning given the administration’s attacks on the courts.”

“Even Chief Justice Roberts has rebuked Trump’s conduct toward the judiciary,” Khanna added.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., said norms were being violated on the immigration and legal fronts for Dugan’s arrest.

In a statement obtained by Fox News Digital, Pocan laid out the differences he sees between the Dugan and Trump cases: “Judge Dugan’s arrest is outrageous and a fear tactic to our independent judiciary. Trump has always thought he was above the law, but now he’s enabling his goons to push that limit as far as it can go. His reckless deportations and flaunting of the Constitution will fail,” Pocan said.

“This is stuff I expect from Third World countries,” he told Axios.

In a December 2019 statement after his vote in favor of impeachment, Pocan said Trump was “never held accountable for his actions” over his 70-plus years of life.

“Today, Democrats sent a clear signal to this president and all future presidents: No one is above the law.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Klobuchar and Smith for comment.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is once again charging into battle to defend women and basic biology — this time taking aim at Clemson University over a form that listed a whopping 15 gender identities.

In a fiery video posted to her social media on Friday, Mace slammed Clemson for offering a health portal menu that included terms like “genderqueer,” “two-spirit,” “cis female” and “cis male.”

“Hey everyone, just learned this morning from Libs of TikTok, not from your state legislature, that Clemson University in South Carolina has 15 genders on one of their applications,” Mace said in a video on Instagram. “We want to make sure South Carolina is following science and not some radical, woke, leftist, lunatic ideology. Not on my watch.”

Mace wasn’t just venting online.

She immediately took action, leaving a voicemail and sending a text to Clemson President Jim Clements demanding answers. “Since there are only two genders,” she said, “I just had this issue with USC, and I would like to make sure that you guys are following suit.”

EXCLUSIVE: NANCY MACE TARGETED BY PENNSYLVANIA MAN ARRESTED FOR THREATENING TRUMP

The form in question, first flagged by Libs of TikTok, showed a dropdown menu allowing students to select from 15 different gender identities. 

However, Clemson responded exclusively to Fox News Digital, clarifying that “Clemson University does not have this type of menu in its housing application.” 

Instead, the menu appeared in an external vendor’s health services portal, was optional, and has since been taken down. The university said it is now “consulting with medical professionals to determine what information is needed for medical care purposes.”

Mace made it clear in her social media posts that she believes state universities should reflect two genders, male and female, if they want to keep receiving taxpayer dollars. “If it were me and Clemson University had 15 genders, they would not get a dime in the state of South Carolina,” she warned.

GRAPHIC LANGUAGE: CONGRESSWOMAN’S PROFANE SUPERMARKET ARGUMENT WITH CONSTITUENT CAUGHT ON CAMERA

“Cis is a slur,” Mace emphasized in her Instagram video, adding, “Women are women, men are men.”

This isn’t Mace’s first stand in the gender wars. She recently made headlines by leading the effort to block Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., a biological man who identifies as a woman, from using women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill. Her campaign to “protect women’s spaces” has not come without backlash.

“All the violence and threats keep proving our point,” Mace posted on X. “Women deserve to be safe. Your threats will not stop my fight for women! Not now, not ever,” she declared.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Late last year, Mace reported being physically accosted on Capitol grounds, an incident that led to the arrest of a 33-year-old Illinois man. She is the first woman to graduate from the Citadel.

Mace’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Sen. John Ossoff of Georgia has become the latest Democrat in Congress to signal that President Donald Trump deserves to be impeached, even though he has only been in the White House this term for less than 100 days. 

During a town hall Friday in Cobb County, Georgia, Ossoff took questions from the audience, including from a fired-up local mother who questioned Ossoff about why there has not been a more concerted effort to impeach Trump. 

“Why are there no calls for impeachment?” Ossoff was asked. “Do something more!”

‘BIDEN EFFECT’ HITS THE SENATE: WAVE OF RETIREMENTS CLEARS PATH FOR YOUNGER DEMS

Ossoff told the woman at the top of his response that “there is no doubt” Trump has exceeded the standard for impeachment.

“I saw just 48 hours ago, [Trump] is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin,” Ossoff said. “There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense. And the reality is that that’s just one of many [examples] — defying a federal court order, for example. So, I agree with you.”

Ossoff’s remarks make him the latest Democratic lawmaker in Congress who has either explicitly called for Trump’s impeachment or signaled their willingness to support such a move just 100 days into his presidency. While most Democrats have been willing to publicly admit the country is facing a constitutional crisis under Trump, most of them have refrained from going so far as to use the “I” word. 

DEMS FUME OVER ‘DUE PROCESS’ FOR ABREGO GARCIA DESPITE LONG HISTORY OF PARTY BUCKING THE LEGAL PRINCIPLE

Some though, such as progressive Sen. Al Green, D-Texas, have not shied away from supporting calls for impeachment. He was the first congressional lawmaker to call for it just weeks into the president’s second term. Green’s calls have been supported by other Democrats, such as Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Maxine Dexter of Oregon; Sam Liccardo and Maxine Waters of California; Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; Shri Thanedar of Michigan; and Hank Johnson of Georgia, all of whom have gone publicly on the record regarding their support, according to NBC News. 

“Right now, it’s 218 to 215, so if you can find me two Republicans, I’ll go to work tomorrow,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led impeachment efforts against Trump during his first term, told a reporter when asked about the matter.

Trent England, a presidential elections expert and founder of the nonprofit Save Our States, bashed Democratic lawmakers for “claiming to be all about democracy,” but when they don’t get what they want, “suddenly democracy is not what they’re all about.”

“It really undercuts Democrats’ message about elections when as soon as they get an election result they don’t like, they’re out challenging it through impeachment. Especially when Democrats claimed after 2016 that part of their issue with Trump was that he only won the Electoral College,” England added. “Well, now he’s won a resounding popular vote, in addition to winning the Electoral College. And, yet, they’re still out there trying to impeach him at the very beginning of his administration.”

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: IMPEACHAPALOOZA IS HERE TO STAY

England also opined that the calls for impeachment were an easy way for Democrats to help boost their fundraising efforts. 

“Efforts like this show how a lot of members of Congress are really operating as personal fundraising machines, as opposed to legislators,” England said. “They’re not trying to get things done. They know that using platforms like Act Blue, they can fly the impeachment flag and raise a lot of money from left-wing donors without ever believing that any of this is going to have any effect.”

The first-term Democratic senator is facing re-election later this year, as his term ends early next year. Ossoff’s office declined to comment for this story. 

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Ossoff’s push for impeachment illustrates “the desperation of his re-election campaign.” 

“Not even 100 days into President Donald J. Trump’s terms, and Ossoff is already pushing impeachment,” Scott said. “His obsession makes clear just how out of touch he is with Georgia voters. The desperation in his re-election campaign is already showing.”