Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said during a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) event Thursday that the Trump administration is making history with its approval of numerous waivers that will eliminate junk food from food stamp programs. 

Rollins was in Nebraska on Monday to sign the first alongside Republican Gov. Jim Pillen. She has also signed a waiver for Indiana and Iowa, “with half-a-dozen more coming down the line,” she said.   

“We are on track to sign multiples of snap waivers to get junk food and sugary drinks out of our food stamp system,” Rollins said at the Thursday afternoon event, centering around the release of a 69-page report from the Trump administration’s MAHA Commission on how to effect change around childhood chronic disease. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNVEIL NEW FOOD STAMP WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“That has never happened before under Republican or Democrat administrations,” Rollins added. “We have never made that happen before. So I am so proud and so grateful.”

On average, 42 million low-income Americans receive food stamp assistance each month, according to the MAHA report released at Thursday’s event. It added that 1 in 5 American children under 17 receive SNAP benefits.

With Nebraska’s waiver, it became the first state in the nation to bar recipients of federal food stamp programs from using the money to buy junk food, soda and other high-sugar items. The exemption will begin as a two-year pilot program, local media reported.

REPUBLICAN BILLS PUT TAXPAYER-FUNDED JUNK FOOD ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

Other GOP-led states, including Texas and West Virginia, have applied for this waiver.

“SNAP was created to increase access to nutritious food; however, many SNAP purchases are for food with little to no nutritious value,” Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott wrote in a letter to Rollins requesting a waiver last week. 

“Under the Trump administration, for the first time since the program was authorized, states can take steps to eliminate the opportunity to buy junk food with SNAP benefits and assure that taxpayer dollars are used only to purchase healthy, nutritious food.”

West Virginia’s Governor Patrick Morrisey, one of the leaders requesting a waiver, has also been spearheading other MAHA efforts in his state. In March, Morrisey signed House Bill 2354 into law, which made it the first state in the nation to begin prohibiting certain synthetic dyes and additives used in food items sold in the state.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.  Here’s what’s happening…

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is eliminating the student visa program at Harvard University due to “pro-terrorist conduct” at campus protests, Fox News Digital has learned. 

It’s a severe consequence for what DHS claims is Harvard’s refusal to comply with its requests for behavioral records of student visa holders. 

“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”…READ MORE

GRADING TRUMP: Trump’s 2nd-term approval ratings dip despite border security gains

YOU’RE NOT FIRED: Federal judge blocks Trump admin moves to dismantle Dept of Education

WHITE HOUSE WHITEWASH: New book exposes how top Biden comms staffer was ‘tip of the spear’ covering up Biden’s cognitive decline

WORLD CLASS: First lady embarks on ‘new frontier’ in publishing with audiobook of memoir

FOREIGN TAKEOVER: New law would stop foreign adversaries from ‘buying up our country’ while Americans can’t afford homes

HERE TO HELP: Red Cross fighting to reach hostages, alleviate ‘catastrophic’ situation in Gaza

‘CHEATED’ AMERICA: Republicans look to stop China’s ‘backdoor’ tariff-dodging scheme

‘A PRICE TO PAY’: Democrats predict passing Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ will cost many Republicans their seats

BIG BILL, BIGGER DRAMA: Winners, losers, and grab-bags from House GOP’s narrow passage of ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

‘I’M GOING TO GO’: Ilhan Omar refuses to answer reporter questions on fatal shooting of Israeli Embassy workers

NANCY VS NANCY: Mace sounds off on stock trading in Congress, Pelosi remains silent: ‘Something doesn’t add up’

BORDER BOLSTER: Bipartisan Senate bill targets border human, drug trafficking with innovative technology

‘EVIL OF ANTISEMITISM’: White House decries ‘evil of antisemitism,’ vows justice after fatal shooting of Israeli embassy staffers

NEW TACTIC: ICE begins new, nationwide effort to arrest illegal aliens at immigration hearings

SICKEST GENERATION: RFK Jr.’s highly-anticipated MAHA report paints dismal state of child health, national security concerns

SPLIT DECISION: Supreme Court upholds Oklahoma decision, in blow to religious charter schools

‘DID THIS FOR GAZA’: Who is the suspect in the killing of 2 Israeli embassy staffers?

HISTORY OF TERROR: Gunman kills Israeli embassy couple in Washington, following decades of embassy-targeted attacks

TERROR AT HOME: Antisemitic shooting of Israeli diplomats adds to alarming rise in domestic terrorism

ENFORCEMENT FIRST: This state just became the latest in the country to ban sanctuary cities

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

EXCLUSIVE: The Trump Department of Homeland Security is calling out a Biden-appointed “activist” judge in Massachusetts who paused the deportation of an illegal alien who DHS says sexually assaulted a disabled woman with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old.

The DHS shared a filing from the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry that says Burmese illegal Nyo Myint was convicted of attempted first-degree sexual assault of an individual incapable of consent.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that Myint, who was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman “with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old.”

“This ‘Lincoln man’ is an illegal alien and one of the monsters that the activist Massachusetts district judge is trying to bring back to the United States after he was deported yesterday,” McLaughlin said.

IMMIGRATION EXPERT WARNS CHINESE ILLEGAL ALIENS USING CANADIAN CITY AS GATEWAY TO US

DHS has said Myint had a final order of removal issued against him Aug. 17, 2023.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts issued the ruling Tuesday night, ordering President Donald Trump’s administration to maintain custody of eight illegal immigrants deported to South Sudan in case he rules the removals unlawful and they must be transferred back to the U.S.

Murphy’s ruling said the government must “maintain custody and control of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or to any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful.”

After the ruling, McLaughlin called the decision “deranged,” saying “these depraved individuals have all had their day in court and been given final deportation orders.”

MOM OF GIRL ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGALS SAYS WILDLIFE REFUGE RENAMING ‘MEANS THE WORLD’ TO FAMILY

“A reminder of who was on this plane: murderers, child rapists, an individual who raped a mentally and physically disabled person,” McLaughlin added. “The message this activist judge is sending to victims and their families is we don’t care. President Trump and Secretary Noem are working every day to get vicious criminals out of our country while activist judges are fighting to bring them back onto American soil.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

According to DHS, the other illegals on the plane were Enrique Arias-Hierro, a Cuban national convicted of homicide and other crimes; Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, another Cuban convicted of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon; Thongxay Nilakout, a citizen of Laos, convicted of first-degree murder and robbery; Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, a Mexican national convicted of second-degree murder; Dian Peter Domach, a citizen of South Sudan convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm; Kyaw Mya, a citizen of Burma convicted of lascivious acts with a child victim less than 12 years of age; and Tuan Thanh Phan, a Vietnamese national convicted of first-degree murder.

The White House also issued a statement in response, saying the ruling is “another attempt by a far-left activist judge to dictate the foreign policy of the United States — and protect the violent criminal illegal immigrants President Donald J. Trump and his administration have removed from our streets.”

ICE CAPTURES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WANTED FOR ALLEGEDLY KILLING MOTHER IN DUI CRASH

Trump chimed in on Truth Social, saying the ruling has forced the deportation flight to pause in Djibouti.

Trump slammed Murphy as “a Federal Judge in Boston, who knew absolutely nothing about the situation, or anything else,” and “ordered that EIGHT of the most violent criminals on Earth curtail their journey to South Sudan.”

The president urged the Supreme Court to end the trend of judges inhibiting his administration’s deportation agenda.

“The Judges are absolutely out of control, they’re hurting our Country, and they know nothing about particular situations, or what they are doing — And this must change, IMMEDIATELY!” he said. “Hopefully, the Supreme Court of the United States will put an END to the quagmire that has been caused by the Radical Left.”

A former aide to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass who served as the deputy mayor of public safety has agreed to plead guilty to threatening to bomb City Hall last year, the Justice Department said Thursday. 

Brian Williams, 61, of Pasadena, agreed to plead guilty to a single-count of “information with threats regarding fire and explosives”, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.   

“In an era of heated political rhetoric that has sometimes escalated into violence, we cannot allow public officials to make bomb threats,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “My office will continue its efforts to keep the public safe, including from those who violate their duty to uphold the law.”

LA COUNTY DA NATHAN HOCHMAN PROMISES CRACKDOWN ON CRIMINALS: ‘THE FUN IS OVER’

The threat was carried out on Oct. 3, 2024 during a virtual meeting with Williams and others related to his duties, federal prosecutors said. During the call, Williams used the Google Voice application on his personal cellphone to place a call to his city-issued cellphone.

He then left the meeting and called the chief of staff of the Los Angeles Police Department, in which he falsely stated that he had just received a call on his city-issued cellphone from an unknown man who threatened to bomb Los Angeles City Hall.

Ten minutes after the call, Williams texted Bass and several high-ranking city officials in the mayor’s office and falsely reported, “Bomb threat: I received phone call on my city cell at 10:48 am this morning. The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda.’ I immediately contacted the chief of staff of LAPD, they are going to send a number of officers over to do a search of the building and to determine if anyone else received a threat.” 

Investigators determined that Williams never received a call and had made the bomb threat himself. Federal prosecutors noted that Williams never intended to carry out the threat. 

MENENDEZ BROTHERS’ RESENTENCING MOVES FORWARD AS DA CALLS OUT ‘DECEIT, ‘NARCISSISTIC TENDENCIES’ IN PRISON

The LAPD responded to City Hall to search for any suspicious devices. None were found, prosecutors said. 

Williams described the threatening call he claimed to have received to police and showed them the record of an incoming call that appeared as a blocked number on his city-issued cellphone. 

That incoming call record was the call Williams had placed to himself from the Google Voice application on his personal cellphone, investigators determined.

Williams then texted Bass and other city officials. 

“At this time, there is no need for us to evacuate the building, I’m meeting with the threat management officers within the next 10 minutes,” he allegedly wrote. “In light of the Jewish holidays, we are taking this thread a little more seriously. I will keep you posted.”

“Mr. Williams, the former deputy mayor of Public Safety for Los Angeles, not only betrayed the residents of Los Angeles, but responding officers, and the integrity of the office itself, by fabricating a bomb threat,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “Government officials are held to a heightened standard as we rely on them to safeguard the city. I’m relieved that Mr. Williams has taken responsibility for his inexplicable actions.”

Williams is expected to appear in court in the coming weeks, prosecutors said. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Bass’ office. 

House Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” on Thursday morning, working through overnight committee meetings, last-minute huddles in the speaker’s office and even a last-minute assist from the president. 

But while House GOP leadership preached party unity as they passed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act by just one vote, two House Republican holdouts were unwavering in their concerns about the $36 trillion national debt crisis and ultimately voted “no.” 

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, took their concerns to social media on Thursday, telling their constituents exactly why they bucked the Republican Party on Trump’s key legislative agenda. 

“While I love many things in the bill, promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending. Deficits do matter and this bill grows them now. The only Congress we can control is the one we’re in. Consequently, I cannot support this big deficit plan. NO,” Davidson said early this morning before the vote was final. 

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

Massie responded soon after, telling Davidson he agreed and “if we were serious, we’d be cutting spending now, instead of promising to cut spending years from now.”

HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER PASSING TRUMP’S ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“I’d love to stand here and tell the American people, ‘We can cut your taxes and increase spending and everything is going to be just fine.’ But I can’t do that because I’m here to deliver a dose of reality. This bill dramatically increases deficits in the near-term, but promises our government will be fiscally responsible five years from now. Where have we heard that before?” Massie said on the House floor. 

The Kentucky congressman, who regularly sports a national debt clock pin, presented a bleak reality for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on Thursday as most Republican holdouts rallied behind the final manager’s amendment. “This bill is a debt bomb ticking,” Massie said. 

When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Massie and Davidson voting against the bill, she said the president believes they should be primaried. 

“I don’t think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress. What’s the alternative? I would ask those members of Congress. Did they want to see a tax hike? Did they want to see our country go bankrupt? That’s the alternative by them trying to vote ‘no.’ The president believes the Republican Party needs to be unified,” Leavitt said. 

GOP HOLDOUTS UNMOVED BY TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ TRIP TO CAPITOL HILL

Massie, who has been campaigning on Trump calling him a grandstander, even fundraised on Leavitt’s comments, writing on X, “The big beautiful bill has issues. I chose to vote against it because it’s going to blow up our debt. For voting on principle, I now have the President AND his press Secretary campaigning against me from the White House podium. Can you help me by donating?”

Former Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who served as Chair of the House Freedom Caucus, has spoken out against the country’s debt crisis amid House negotiations, piled on the national debt criticism on Thursday, writing, “The Big Ugly Truth is that the Big Ugly Bill will push the Big Ugly Debt over $60 trillion.”

Good found himself out of the job when he lost the Republican primary to now-Rep. John McGuire of Virginia last year. 

He was one of just a handful of House Republicans who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries, and then Trump threw his political might behind McGuire.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a multi-trillion-dollar piece of legislation that advances Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. 

While the bill seeks to make a dent in the national debt crisis by cutting roughly $1.5 trillion in government spending, the United States still has over $36 trillion in debt and has spent $1.05 trillion more than it has collected in fiscal year 2025, according to the Treasury Department.

“I think the most essential truth in American politics is that nobody actually really cares about the national debt or deficit. It’s too abstract to saturate public sentiment,” Fox News Digital columnist David Marcus said after the bill passed. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.