President Donald Trump announced he will nominate Emil Bove, a Justice Department official and his former defense attorney, to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, a controversial choice that comes as the president continues to attack so-called “activist” judges for blocking his agenda.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised Bove as “SMART, TOUGH, and respected by everyone.”

“He will end the Weaponization of Justice, restore the Rule of Law, and do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump added.

TRUMP CONSIDERS FORMER DEFENSE ATTORNEY EMIL BOVE FOR FEDERAL APPEALS COURT VACANCY

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi also praised his nomination on X. Emil has been “indispensable partner at the Department of Justice” she said, and “has worked tirelessly from day one as we make America safe again.”

“It is hard to imagine going to work without Emil, but our loss here at DOJ will be the country’s gain!” she added.

There are two vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. If confirmed, Bove he would serve a lifetime appointment on the federal bench.

Bove faces an uncertain path to confirmation, as Democrats have sharply criticized President Trump’s efforts to install loyalists atop the DOJ and FBI. His nomination is likely to spark a contentious confirmation battle, with Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats expected to use the process to press Bove on some of the administration’s most controversial actions.

News of his nomination comes weeks after Trump installed Ed Martin, his controversial former nominee to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, to serve as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney. The role gives Martin broad oversight, including leadership of the so-called “weaponization working group” within the Justice Department formed under Trump.

TRUMP’S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE

Prior to his installation at the Justice Department, Bove spent nearly 10 years as a U.S. prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. He also defended Trump in two of his criminal trials following his first term in the White House.

In each of these roles and at DOJ, Bove’s hard-charging tactics have solidified his reputation as a fierce, loyal and, at times, aggressive leader. 

He has emerged as the man behind some of the Justice Department’s most contentious actions during Trump’s second term, prompting some officials to resign rather than carry out his marching orders. 

Shortly after taking office, Bove sent a memo threatening state and city officials with criminal charges or civil penalties if they failed to comply with the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration or slow-walked their orders on enforcement. 

It was also Bove who ordered federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York to file a motion to dismiss charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. That order prompted a string of resignations from personnel, including acting U.S attorney for the section Danielle Sassoon, who chose to leave DOJ rather than drop the case.

‘BOLD AND FEARLESS’: TRUMP LAUNCHES NEW WAVE OF JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

Fox News also reported earlier this year that Bove was behind an exhaustive questionnaire sent to FBI agents detailing their roles in the Jan. 6 investigations. 

Questions ranged from agents’ participation in any grand jury subpoenas to whether the agents worked or responded to leads from another FBI field office or if they worked as a case agent for investigations.

Former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the probe or any retaliatory measures carried out as a result could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices.

The group cited in particular the order from then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to terminate the entire FBI senior leadership team and the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office. 

The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

A federal judge in Maryland scolded Trump administration lawyers on Tuesday for waiting until the eleventh hour to seek an extension in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Salvadorian migrant and alleged MS-13 member deported to El Salvador in what officials have acknowledged was an administrative error.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis denied the Justice Department’s 30-day extension request, noting that Trump administration lawyers waited until “the very day” their response was due to file. She also said they “expended no effort in demonstrating good cause” to comply with her earlier orders.

“They vaguely complain, in two sentences, to expending ‘significant resources’ engaging in expedited discovery,” Xinis said of the government’s efforts. “But these are burdens of their own making.”

JUDGE PRESSES TRUMP DOJ ON ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION; ANSWERS LEAVE COURTROOM IN STUNNED SILENCE

She also noted the number of times the administration has delayed submitting information in the case despite the fact the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration this year to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. 

“The court has conducted no fewer than five hearings in this case and at no point had defendants even intimated they needed more time to answer or otherwise respond,” Xinis said, adding that the defendants are “intimately familiar with the causes of action and of the pending deadline.”

“Thus, to say now that additional time is needed to do that which the law requires rings hollow,” Xinis said in denying the motion. 

Hours later, the Trump administration filed with the court a motion to dismiss the case, citing what it described as a “lack of jurisdiction.” Xinis has not yet responded to the motion to dismiss.

TRUMP’S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE

That filing comes amid a monthlong court fight over the status of Abrego Garcia, who remains in El Salvador. 

Xinis in April ordered the Trump administration to comply with an expedited discovery schedule to determine whether they were complying with the directive to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.

Since then, lawyers for the government and Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have sparred with Xinis in court over what exactly it means to “facilitate” his return. Xinis most recently described the process as beating a “frustrated and dead horse.”

She previously took aim at what she deemed to be the lack of information they submitted to the court as part of an expedited discovery process she ordered last month, describing the government submissions as “vague, evasive and incomplete” responses, and which she said demonstrated “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.”

She also chastised their efforts to invoke the state secrets privilege, noting at a status hearing this month that the administration tried to invoke the privilege via a footnote that referenced a filing in a different case before a different federal judge.

100 DAYS OF INJUNCTIONS, TRIALS AND ‘TEFLON DON’: TRUMP 2ND TERM MEETS ITS BIGGEST TESTS IN COURT

She said that would not pass muster in her court.

The order comes as Trump officials have repeatedly alleged that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, though any formal ties have not been proven. 

Xinis has indicated growing impatience with the Trump administration’s apparent failure to comply with her orders and submit the requested information.

This month, she sparred multiple times with DOJ lawyers over their assertions that Abrego Garcia was lawfully detained and deported.

“I can’t count the number of ‘I don’t knows’ my wonderful clerks and I have heard,” she said of depositions from Trump administration officials. 

The order is the latest development in the ongoing feud between Trump officials and the courts over the use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law used earlier this year to quickly deport migrants from the U.S. 

To date, the Trump administration has not knowingly complied with any court orders to return migrants who were removed and sent to El Salvador in the early wave of deportation flights, despite earlier court orders from Xinis, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and others.

It is unclear whether Xinis plans to begin contempt proceedings against the administration, though the federal judge in D.C. said earlier this year that he had found probable cause to do so.

FIRST ON FOX: The conservative watchdog group American Principles Project is sounding an alarm over what the group is describing as a “massive loophole” being utilized by Planned Parenthood to give transgender hormone therapy to minors. 

In a wide-ranging report chronicling how Planned Parenthood is propping up the trans agenda, the American Principles Project accused the group and its affiliates across the country of manipulating the definition of contraception in order to provide transgender hormone therapy to minors without parental consent. 

“Using contraception as a ‘gender-affirming’ treatment is a massive loophole,” the report stated. “Most states allow minors to consent to these contraceptives on their own, and many states allow minors to do so without even notifying parents.”

UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION: PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESCRIBING HORMONES TO MINORS WITH MINIMAL OVERSIGHT

Some blue states, like Washington, Oregon and Minnesota, have laws permitting minors to obtain puberty blockers, or cross-sex hormones, for the purpose of transitioning genders, without parental consent. However, most states do require parental consent in order for minors to access these drugs, while others take an even stricter approach of banning the medications for minors outright, regardless of whether their parents approve or not.  

The American Principles Project points to a “Gender Affirming Care Patient Guide” from Planned Parenthood’s Mar Monte chapter, the national organization’s largest affiliate serving parts of central California and northern Nevada. 

In both states, parental consent is required for minors to access any type of medical intervention aimed at aiding a minor’s gender transition, but it does permit minors to obtain various forms of contraception, such as birth control, without it. 

“People 15 and younger who have periods can come to us for birth control options to stop periods,” the patient guide on “gender-affirming care” states. It then notes in the following sentence: “Parent/guardian consent is not required to get birth control.”

A 2022 case study from Seattle Children’s Hospital, which has come under scrutiny for providing transgender medical care to minors, highlights the case of a 14-year-old biological female who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and was “very distressed by bleeding cycles” that the patient began experiencing at age 12.

ANONYMOUS DEMOCRATS CONFESS TO TIME MAGAZINE THEIR PARTY IS TOO EXTREME ON ABORTION, TRANS ATHLETES 

Despite the minor patient’s gender dysphoria, the child did not want to fully transition into a male. Rather, according to the case study, the female patient was identified as “non-binary” and expressed that she did not want to be subject to the effects of testosterone, such as a deeper voice and facial hair. As a result, the child was given hormonal-based birth control to stop her periods, which the case study said resulted in better mental health for the patient and opened them up to pursuing top surgery in the future.

In addition to blocking periods, certain types of birth control can also suppress testosterone production, according to the Endocrine Society. This makes contraception a viable route for gender-dysphoric biological females who may not want to experience the impacts of testosterone but want to blunt their female-sex maturation, as described in the above case study. It’s also a viable mechanism for biological males who want to block their body’s natural testosterone production, according to the Endocrine Society.     

“While patients under 18 cannot receive hormone therapy, they may have a consultation with a provider to understand treatment options and to receive medications to stop their periods (if desired),” Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest states on its “Gender Affirming Care” web page. The explanation also appears on a FAQ page under the website’s “About Us” section.

“The fact that Planned Parenthood is actively finding and exploiting legal loopholes to begin transitioning minors behind their parent’s backs is downright disgusting,” Terry Schilling, President of the American Principles Project told Fox News Digital. “There is nothing this organization will not do to make a quick buck at the expense of our children and families.”

HOSPITALS NATIONWIDE CHALLENGE TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON TRANSGENDER TREATMENTS FOR MINORS

According to the American Principles Project’s report, around 80 percent of Planned Parenthood clinics offer some form of “gender-affirming care,” which the group says has outpaced abortion services.

The report goes into other extensive details about how Planned Parenthood has prioritized sex-change procedures for young people, which Schilling remarked “isn’t healthcare” but rather “an ideological crusade that undermines families and exploits vulnerable youth.”

“Planned Parenthood’s recent shift to becoming a leading provider of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ exposes their radical agenda to reshape society, starting with our unborn children and now targeting the next generation with dangerous, life-altering medical procedures,” Schilling said.

“Our report reveals that Planned Parenthood now prioritizes irreversible transgender treatments—often without parental consent—OVER their other services, with an estimated 120,000 transgender medical visits annually and growing,” he continued. Their materials, from activity books promoting gender ideology to chatbots targeting kids as young as 13, are designed to sexualize and indoctrinate the next generation.”

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest’s President and CEO, Jenny Black, insisted that its health centers “operate under the highest medical standards,” and said that any accusation it is violating state law “is completely false.”

“We strongly denounce the dangerous spread of disinformation about life-saving gender-affirming healthcare that is fueled by rampant transphobia,” Black said. “We will continue to provide safe and legal health care to those who rely on us for access to quality and compassionate care.”

Planned Parenthood’s Mar Monte chapter did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

President Donald Trump said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy in the coming weeks “if necessary.” 

The president’s comments come just after he condemned Russia’s recent large-scale strike against Ukraine. 

Russian forces launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight Sunday. The attack, which has been called the largest aerial attack of the war so far, targeted the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

TRUMP SAYS HE’S ‘NOT HAPPY’ WITH PUTIN AFTER MASSIVE UKRAINE STRIKE

Ukrainian officials said that at least 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured.

Though past strikes have proven more deadly, the attack is the largest-scale aerial assault of the war in terms of the number of weapons: 298 drones and 69 missiles were launched.

The president on Wednesday was asked if he believes Putin actually wants to end the war with Ukraine, to which Trump replied: “I can’t tell you that, but I’ll let you know in about two weeks.” 

“Within two weeks, we’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office during a swearing-in ceremony for Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney. “And if he is, we will respond a little bit differently.” 

Trump said his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is “doing a phenomenal job” and “dealing with them very strongly right now.” 

“They seem to want to do something,” Trump said. 

But Trump again condemned Russia’s attack, saying he is “very disappointed at what happened a couple of nights now where people were killed — in what you would call a negotiation.” 

“I’m very disappointed by that,” Trump said. “Very, very disappointing.” 

TRUMP WARNS PUTIN IS ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ AFTER DECLARING THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT HAS ‘GONE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed a willingness to sit down again with Trump and with Putin in Geneva. 

When asked if he was planning to sit down with Putin and Zelenskyy, Trump said he would be willing. 

“Well, if it’s necessary… we have to, I think at this point. I wish you would have been that way a couple of months ago, but at this point, we’re working on President Putin, and we’ll see where we are,” Trump said. “I think we’re doing fine, but we’ll see.” 

Special Envoy Keith Kellogg is preparing for possible talks in Geneva, though it remains unclear when they will be held. Russia has yet to agree to the U.S.’s peace proposal, and its foreign ministry Tuesday claimed it was still working on its memorandum of terms. 

Russia has suggested a possible meeting in Istabul, Turkey. 

Meanwhile, the president again on Wednesday said: “I don’t like what’s happening. It’s one thing I’ll say — I don’t like when I see rockets being shot into cities. That’s no good. We’re not going to allow it.”

The president, over the weekend, blasted Putin, saying he is “killing a lot of people.” 

“I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” he said over the weekend. “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.” 

In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy called for an international response to the attack.

“The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin,” he wrote on Telegram. “Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”

Trump expanded on his comments later Sunday, writing on Truth Social that Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” while also criticizing Zelenskyy.

“I’ve always said that (Putin) wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” the social media post read. “Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”

“This is a War that would never have started if I were President,” Trump concluded. “This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.” 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is revisiting a much-maligned year-old photo from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

The NRSC, which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, marked National Hamburger Day on Wednesday with a new video titled, “We Grill Right,” which spotlights Schumer’s viral social media post from last year’s Father’s Day.

In the photo that appeared in the 2024 post, Schumer appeared to place a slice of cheese on an uncooked burger patty.

ONLY ON FOX NEWS: SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S AIMING FOR IN 2026

“Our family has lived in an apartment building for all our years, but my daughter and her wife just bought a house with a backyard and for the first time we’re having a barbeque with hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill!” Schumer wrote in his post.

Schumer was quickly grilled on X, formerly Twitter, by a chorus of conservatives who pilloried his cooking skills, and the longtime senator soon deleted the post. He was also called out by late-night host Stephen Colbert.

DEMOCRATS’ NEW SENATE CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS KEYS TO WINNING BACK MAJORITY IN 2026

Fast-forward a year and the NRSC, in their video maligning Schumer, urged voters to “join a real party, the Republican Party. We grill right.”

The NRSC was also selling related merchandise on its website, including beer koozies that read, “I grill like I vote. Right.”

The NRSC also used their email release to also highlight recent reports, confirmed by Fox News, that some Democratic strategists and consultants were spending millions of dollars to better communicate with male and working-class voters, whom the party has struggled to court in recent election cycles.

DEMOCRATS’ STRATEGY SESSION TO BETTER COMMUNICATE WITH MALE VOTERS RIDICULED

“Shouldn’t take much to know how to grill a burger or correctly call a pick six, but apparently for Democrats, figuring out how to be a normal American takes at least $20 million — and even that won’t be enough,” NRSC regional press secretary Nick Puglia said in a statement.

Republicans currently control the Senate with a 53-47 majority. The GOP aims to expand their majority in next year’s midterm elections.

Fox News reached out to the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for a response to the new attack by the NRSC, but the DSCC had yet to take a bite at the time this report was posted.

A federal judge in Vermont ruled in favor of a Russian Harvard scientist who was detained by ICE and accused of smuggling goods into the U.S. on Wednesday.

Kseniia Petrova, 31, was first detained by ICE before being transferred to criminal custody earlier this month. Wednesday’s ruling ensures that if she is granted bail and released at her criminal hearing next week, ICE cannot detain her once again.

President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to deport Petrova back to Russia following her detention at Boston’s Logan Airport in February. She has worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School for more than two years, and colleagues at the school testified in her defense at Wednesday’s hearing.

Authorities charged Petrova with smuggling biological material after TSA at the airport allegedly found clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples in her luggage.

RUSSIAN SCIENTIST AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL DETAINED BY ICE AT BOSTON AIRPORT

The judge determined on Wednesday that Petrova is not a flight risk and does not pose any danger to the community. Her criminal bail hearing is set to take place next week in Massachusetts.

The judge also noted that Petrova’s work at Harvard has benefited the U.S., as her team is focused on cancer research.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Petrova allegedly denied having the biological material at first but later admitted to carrying it.

Prosecutors also claim that Petrova’s text messages show that she was aware that she needed a permit to bring in the clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples that were allegedly found in her luggage. In one text message exchange cited by the office, Petrova was asked whether she had a plan to get the biological material into the U.S., and she allegedly responded by saying, “No plan yet. I won’t be able to swallow them.”

Gregory Romanovsky, the attorney representing Petrova, argues that customs experts confirmed that his client “did not need a permit to bring her non-living scientific samples that are not considered biological material under U.S. Customs law.”

Petrova said in a recent New York Times op-ed that she was returning to the U.S. after vacationing in Paris when she was detained by ICE in February. She also expressed her fear of being arrested in Russia if deported, as she has been a critic of the war in Ukraine.

While she admitted in the op-ed to not filling out a customs form regarding the frog embryos in her luggage, she believed it would result in a fine or warning, not an arrest.

“At Logan International Airport, I did not complete a customs declaration for frog embryos (for use in our lab’s research) in my luggage. I’m told this would normally result in a warning or a fine. Instead, my visa was revoked, and I was sent to a detention center in Louisiana,” Petrova wrote.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested an illegal immigrant Mexican national in Wisconsin last Thursday after he allegedly mailed a handwritten note to an ICE officer threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump.

Ramon Morales-Reyes, 54, entered the U.S. illegally on a minimum of nine separate occasions between 1999 and 2005. His criminal record includes arrests for felony hit-and-run, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct with a “domestic abuse modifier,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. He said he would self-deport after he shot the president in the head.

An officer got the letter last week. 

MAN CHARGED WITH MAKING THREATS AGAINST ICE AGENTS, DHS SEC KRISTI NOEM IN ‘ALARMING’ SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

“We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans – We have done more for this country than you white people – you have been deporting my family and I think it is time Donald J. Trump get what he has coming to him,” the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, read.

The letter’s authenticity was also confirmed by an additional ICE source to Fox News, reading:

“I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 to shoot your precious president in is head – I will see him at one of his big talleys [sic].” He reportedly appears to be referencing the .30-06 Springfield rifle. 

ICE DEPORTS MIGRANT GANG MEMBER WHO ILLEGALLY ENTERED US 10 TIMES AND IS WANTED FOR MURDER

“Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated.

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“This threat comes not even a year after President Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, and less than two weeks after former FBI Director Comey called for the president’s assassination. All politicians and members of the media should take notice of these repeated attempts on President Trump’s life and tone down their rhetoric. I will continue to take all measures necessary to ensure the protection of President Trump,” Noem added.

TEXAS MAN WHO VOWED TO SHOOT, KILL ICE AGENTS, SAID NOEM SHOULD BE IN ‘GULAG,’ CHARGED IN FEDERAL COURT: DOJ

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Morales-Reyes remains behind bars at Dodge County Jail in Juneau, Wisconsin. He will be deported, DHS said. The arrest comes as DHS has sought to crack down on threats made to ICE officers.

In April, the Department of Justice charged a Texas man with threatening to harm ICE agents. Similar threats made by a man in North Carolina last week also resulted in an arrest on federal charges.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich lambasted his Democratic Party as an unethical organization that collectively bolstered a “coma” patient over other contenders in order to advance their own political ends, and that they feature a “Hall of Fame for Liars” headlined by Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Asked by Fox News’ Jesse Watters about his response to characterizations that Democrats preferred to cover-up former President Joe Biden’s infirmities rather than move on from him or accept President Donald Trump, Blagojevich said, “I’d say that guy hates the American people and hates his constituents and hates even Democratic voters.”

“Shouldn’t we all wish good things for our country? Isn’t it right to hope that a president, even the one from the other party, can succeed to do good things for his country and good things for people?”

Blagojevich said that proves Democrats “don’t care about America,” and quoted Tennessee Williams’ line that “the only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite.”

ADAM SCHIFF TELLS EPA’S ZELDIN HE’LL CAUSE CANCER, AFTER SHELDON WHITEHOUSE SHOUTFEST

“If they have any sense of patriotism… they ought to try to … atone for their sins…”

Blagojevich said Democrats could have used the 25th Amendment to oust Biden and keep a Democrat in the White House; then-Vice President Kamala Harris; but instead believed, “maybe we’re better off with a brain-dead Biden as president than her.”

“They’d rather have a comatose Biden than Kamala Harris,” Watters quipped in return.

Blagojevich added that by contrast, Trump has been lied about in regard to Russian collusion and the Stormy Daniels affair, and that it should be Democrats considered the bigger mistruth-tellers.

“Nobody who has any common sense could believe anything they say,” he said.

KASH PATEL ENRAGES ADAM SCHIFF IN CLINTONIAN BATTLE OVER THE WORD ‘WE’, AND A JANUARY 6 SONG

“And the king of the Democratic liars is Adam Schiff. If there was a Hall of Fame for liars, like, let’s say, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Adam Schiff would be Elvis.”

Blagojevich, imprisoned following his 2008 ejection from office by the Illinois State Senate on claims he tried to “sell” then-Sen. Barack Obama’s seat, saw his federal sentence commuted by Trump after eight years served.

The former governor has long maintained his innocence – previously telling Fox News he never tried to sell what became then-Sen. Roland Burris’, D-Ill., seat, and instead was a victim of malicious prosecution grounded in politics over proof.

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He has compared his prosecution to Trump’s own legal issues, as both men alleged politicized proceedings from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, respectively.

“I know what they did to me, and I do know they did the same thing to Trump,” he told FOX-32 in February.

As some health insurance companies have come under fire for allegedly using computer systems to shoot down claims, an Arizona law will soon make the practice illegal in the Grand Canyon State.

Republican Arizona House Majority Whip Rep. Julie Willoughby sponsored the legislation, and it was recently signed into law by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

House Bill 2175 requires a physician licensed in the state to conduct an “individual review” and use “independent medical judgment” to determine whether the claim should actually be denied.  

PROPOSED BALLOT MEASURE IN BLUE STATE RAISES EYEBROWS OVER WHO IT’S NAMED AFTER: ‘ROAD SIDE LUNATICS’

It also required a similar review of “a direct denial of a prior authorization of a service” that a provider asked for and “involves medical necessity.”

“This law ensures that a doctor, not a computer, is making medical decisions,” Willoughby said in a statement. “If care is denied, it should be by someone with the training and ethical duty to put patients first. That decision must come from a licensed physician, not an anonymous program.”

The law will go into effect in July 2026, so insurers will have time to be ready for the changes, if any.

NEW BIPARTISAN PROPOSAL TARGETS ‘ONE OF THE MOST EGREGIOUS’ KINDS OF FRAUD RAVAGING HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

“Arizona families deserve real oversight when it comes to life-changing medical decisions,” Willoughby said. “This law puts patients ahead of profits and restores a layer of accountability that’s long overdue.”

The bill passed both chambers with nearly unanimous support. 

Several healthcare companies, like Cigna and United Healthcare, have faced accusations of using computer systems to deny claims in past years, according to ProPublica and FOX Business.

MEDICAL SCHOOLS ‘SKIRTING’ SCOTUS RULING REJECTING RACE IN ADMISSIONS: REPORT

Fox News Digital reached out to Hobbs’ office for comment. Similar legislation was signed into law in California last year, which was dubbed the “Physicians Make Decisions Act.” 

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The lawmaker in the Golden State was specifically concerned about the rise of artificial intelligence.

“Artificial intelligence has immense potential to enhance health care delivery, but it should never replace the expertise and judgment of physicians,” Democratic state Sen. Josh Becker said in a December statement. “An algorithm cannot fully understand a patient’s unique medical history or needs, and its misuse can lead to devastating consequences.”

An Obama-appointed federal judge has largely rejected the Trump administration’s request for the dismissal of a DOGE-related legal challenge, though she did dismiss President Donald Trump as a defendant, while otherwise allowing the wranglings to proceed.

“Defendants seek to dismiss President Trump as a defendant because the court may not enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties,” a memorandum opinion notes, adding, “The court agrees.”

The memorandum opinion and order are signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

ELON MUSK ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL, SAYS IT UNDERMINES WHAT DOGE IS DOING

“Defendants’ motion to dismiss Count I against President Donald J. Trump, in his official capacity as President of the United States, is GRANTED. Defendants’ motion to dismiss Count I against all other defendants and Count II is DENIED,” the order declares.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Justice Department spokesperson said, “This Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s ability to conduct official duties and will continue to do so whenever those actions are challenged in federal court.”

DESANTIS GOADS CONGRESS TO FOLLOW FL’S DOGE BLUEPRINT AS MUSK’S CUTS STILL WAIT FOR VOTE

More than a dozen states lodged a legal challenge regarding Elon Musk’s work on Trump’s DOGE cost-cutting initiative earlier this year. 

“This Court should restore constitutional order and, consistent with the Appointments Clause, enjoin Mr. Musk from issuing orders to any person in the Executive Branch outside of DOGE and otherwise engaging in the actions of an officer of the United States, and declare that his actions to date are ultra vires and of no legal effect,” the complaint filed in February declared.

SPACEX’S STARSHIP FLIGHT 9 ENDS IN FAILURE AFTER BOOSTER LOSS: ‘SUCCESS COMES FROM WHAT WE LEARN’

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After heavily focusing on the effort, Musk later noted that he planned to reduce how much time he spends on it. 

Last week he declared in a tweet, “Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms,” noting that he needed to focus on various business endeavors.

“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” he noted on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.”

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The White House is expected to send a federal spending cut proposal to Congress next week, two Republican sources told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

It’s the latest move by Republican officials to make good on promises to slash government spending, a project spearheaded by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The proposal is called a “rescissions package,” a vehicle for the president to block funds that were already allocated by Congress in its yearly appropriations process. Once transmitted to Capitol Hill, lawmakers have 45 days to take it up before it’s voided.

An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official told Fox News Digital the package is expected to total roughly $9.4 billion.

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It will primarily target federal funding to NPR, PBS, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the official said, confirming details first reported by Axios.

A third GOP source told Fox News Digital that House GOP leaders had asked the White House to wait until their chamber finished consideration of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” to send its spending-cut package.

The House passed the massive piece of tax-and-spending legislation last week after an all-night session of debate and procedural votes, sending it to the Senate for further consideration.

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That bill, which is being advanced under the budget reconciliation process, primarily deals with mandatory government funding that Congress must change by amending the law itself.

A rescissions package targets discretionary government funding, which Congress sets the levels of every year in its annual appropriations process.

The White House referred Fox News Digital to OMB when reached for comment.

The package is expected to get to Congress just as Musk is beginning to step away from his role leading DOGE – but is apparently still keeping a close eye on governmental affairs.

The billionaire tech founder criticized Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” on CBS Sunday Morning, saying in a preview clip that he was “disappointed” by it.

“I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both,” Musk said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., vowed the House would do more to codify DOGE cuts in a statement after Musk’s message.

“The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand. We will do that in two ways,” Johnson wrote on X.

“1. When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts. 2. The House will use the appropriations process to swiftly implement President Trump’s 2026 budget. In the meantime, we have been working around the clock as we prepared for those processes. The House made sure to build on DOGE’s success within the One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Musk’s commentary, meanwhile, divided House Republicans on Wednesday.

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

Meanwhile, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., who voted “present” on the legislation last week, told Fox News Digital that he believed Musk was right.

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

The House is expected to begin working on fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations next week, though the rescission package deals with FY 2025 funding.

And the 45-day deadline for that is not the only marker on the horizon – identical FY 2026 spending bills must pass the House and Senate by the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30 to avert a partial government shutdown.