A leading progressive House Democrat is commending President Biden's sweeping commutation order for people on the federal death row, calling the death penalty itself "racist."
"The President’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row is a historic and groundbreaking act of compassion that will save lives, address the deep racial disparities in our criminal legal system, and send a powerful message about redemption, decency, and humanity," Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a statement on Monday.
"The death penalty is a racist, flawed, and fundamentally unjust punishment that has no place in any society."
Pressley argued the death penalty has overwhelmingly targeted Black and Brown communities "and failed to make America any safer."
The Massachusetts lawmaker, a member of the hardline-left group of House Democrats dubbed the "Squad," has been on the forefront of the progressive push to abolish the death penalty.
Biden's clemency order affects nearly everyone on the federal death row in the United States.
Just three of 40 inmates remain – Dylann Roof, who murdered nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina in 2015; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was found guilty for carrying out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 worshipers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018.
Among those whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment are Thomas Sanders, who kidnapped and killed a 12-year-old girl; Jorge Avila-Torrez, who sexually assaulted and stabbed two young girls to death and strangled a 20-year-old female Naval officer four years later; and Anthony Battle, who murdered an Atlanta prison guard with a hammer 30 years ago.
Democrats had been mounting pressure on Biden to use his clemency powers after the controversial and broad pardon he granted to his son, Hunter Biden, just weeks before he was expected to be sentenced on federal gun charges.
Biden heeded that pressure earlier this month when he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 Americans in the largest such single-day order.
It comes as President-elect Trump has touted plans for months to expand the death penalty to drug traffickers, child rapists and illegal immigrants who kill U.S. citizens.
At the tail end of his first term, Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) performed the first federal executions in 20 years, carrying out sentences for 13 federal prisoners on death row.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a top Trump ally, blasted Biden for his order on Monday.
"Once again, Democrats side with depraved criminals over their victims, public order, and common decency," Cotton wrote on X.
"Democrats can’t even defend Biden’s outrageous decision as some kind of principled, across-the-board opposition to the death penalty since he didn’t commute the three most politically toxic cases. Democrats are the party of politically convenient justice."
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is suing to block the release of a House Ethics Committee report on his alleged behavior.
In a complaint filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., the Republican's attorneys maintain Gaetz's innocence, say that the conduct detailed in the report is untrue, and claim the committee does not have jurisdiction over him because he is no longer in office.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
EXCLUSIVE: House China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar told Fox News Digital that President-elect Donald Trump is the "perfect leader" to negotiate and deliver the "deal of the century" to keep TikTok available in the U.S.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on Jan. 10, 2025 on the law that requires a divestment of TikTok from foreign adversary control. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing and connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
That legislation, which was signed into law in the spring, requires a sale of TikTok from ByteDance by Jan. 19. If ByteDance does not divest by the deadline, Google and Apple are no longer able to feature TikTok in their app stores in the U.S.
Supreme Court Justices said they will hold a special session on Jan. 10 to hear oral arguments in the case -- an expedited timeline that will allow them to consider the case just nine days before the Jan. 19 ban is slated to take effect. The law allows the president to extend the deadline by up to 90 days if ByteDance is in the process of divesting.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Moolenaar, R-Mich., said he has been meeting with top investors, and that he has "full confidence" that Trump "will be able to make a great deal for America."
"It will be the deal of the century," Moolenaar said, noting that the divestment "could happen in phases."
"First with a buyout and then a massive IPO—probably the largest IPO in history," he said. "And I believe President Trump is the perfect leader to negotiate and deliver this win."
He added: "President Trump has the opportunity to make the deal of the century because of the leverage of the TikTok legislation passed by Congress."
Moolenaar predicted that the sale of TikTok could be completed quickly after it exhausts its appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court decides the case. He said a "massive" IPO could occur "later, as one piece of the solution."
"I think TikTok and ByteDance have been dragging their feet," Moolenaar said. "Once they realize they’re required to follow U.S. law, I believe this will move forward fairly quickly."
TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency application to the high court earlier this month asking justices to temporarily block the law from being enforced while it appealed a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Lawyers for TikTok have argued that the law passed earlier this year is a First Amendment violation, noting in their Supreme Court request that "Congress's unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and bar them from operating one of the most significant speech platforms in this nation" and "presents grave constitutional problems that this court likely will not allow to stand."
But Moolenaar warned that without divestment, the CCP could attempt to "manipulate perceptions in the United States," and said they have "access to Americans’ data" through TikTok.
"It is very profitable, very popular, and it is a major inroad for the CCP to influence American culture," said Moolenaar.
But as for CCP access to the data of U.S. citizens, TikTok created its "Project Texas" initiative, which is dedicated to addressing concerns about U.S. national security.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says "Project Texas" creates a stand-alone version of the TikTok platform for the U.S. isolated on servers in Oracle’s U.S. cloud environment. It was developed by CFIUS and cost the company approximately $1.5 billion to implement.
Chew has argued that TikTok is not beholden to any one country, though executives in the past have admitted that Chinese officials had access to Americans' data even when U.S.-based TikTok officials did not.
TikTok claims that the new initiative keeps U.S. user data safe, and told Fox News Digital that data is managed "by Americans, in America."
But Moolenaar says that even "Project Texas" "really is not enough."
"When you consider that ByteDance is affiliated with the CCP, and they call the shots for TikTok, the TikTok algorithm is very different in the U.S. than it is in China," he explained. "There needs to be a divestment, and we need to know either an American company or a company affiliated with like-minded nations, friendly nations, not adversarial nations, is in charge of this app."
He added: "Only that will satisfy the law and protect our national security."
Moolenaar said that, until now, the Chinese Communist Party "didn’t have a reason to allow the sale of TikTok."
"But that has changed, and President Trump knows from experience that the only language the CCP speaks is hardball," Moolenaar said. "He is an incredible negotiator, and our legislation is giving him the leverage he needs to make this historic deal."
Yet, Trump has signaled support for TikTok. Earlier this month, he met with Chew at Mar-a-Lago, telling reporters during a press conference ahead of the meeting that his incoming administration will "take a look at TikTok" and the looming U.S. ban.
"I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump told reporters.
Panama's president has responded to President-elect Trump's idea that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal.
After Trump said Sunday that the United States "foolishly gave it away" and is now "being ripped off" at the waterway, Panama's conservative President José Raúl Mulino released a video declaring that "every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong" to his country.
Without mentioning Trump by name, Mulino addressed Trump's complaints over rising fees for ships crossing the canal, saying they are set by experts who take into account operational costs, and supply and demand factors.
"The tariffs are not set on a whim," Mulino said. He noted that Panama has expanded the canal over the years to increase ship traffic "on its own initiative," and added that shipping fee increases help pay for improvements.
"Panamanians may have different views on many issues," Mulino said. "But when it comes to our canal, and our sovereignty, we will all unite under our Panamanian flag."
Trump then took to his social media site to offer in response, "We'll see about that!" He also posted a picture of a U.S. flag planted in the canal zone under the phrase, "Welcome to the United States Canal!"
Trump had previously addressed the canal in a Saturday Truth Social post, where he complained at length about the fees levied on U.S. ships going through the Big Ditch. The Panama Canal's tolls can range from three to six figures depending on how large a vessel is and how much cargo it carries, with the largest ships being charged as much as $500,000.
The United States built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.
The canal depends on reservoirs to operate its locks and was heavily affected by 2023 Central American drought that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships. With fewer ships using the canal each day, administrators also increased the fees that are charged all shippers for reserving a slot.
With the weather returning to normal in the later months of this year, transit on the canal has normalized, but price increases are still expected for next year.
Fox News' Andrea Margolis and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, experienced a "very rapid" decline since moving into a retirement facility, her son said, after it was discovered over the weekend that the congresswoman had been absent from her duties in the Capitol for nearly six months.
Brandon Granger told the New York Post that his mother made the decision to move into the retirement community on her own, though she has since shown signs of dementia over the past three months.
The 81-year-old congresswoman, who did not seek re-election and is retiring at the end of this congressional term, has largely remained absent from the Capitol in recent months, having last cast votes on July 24. She was not present for over 54% of votes this year.
Granger’s absence was first reported by the Dallas Express on Friday in a piece that quoted a constituent of her district who said that Granger was residing in a memory care facility in Texas.
A source in Granger’s office spoke to Fox News on Sunday, denying that the congresswoman was in the facility’s memory care unit. The source said Granger was residing in the retirement facility where memory care is provided, though not in the memory care unit itself.
Brandon Granger excoriated the reports that said his mother was in the memory care unit after she was found wandering as "a load of bulls–t."
"They have a memory care facility there, but she’s in [an] independent living facility," Brandon Granger told The Post. "It’s a nice condo. I helped her move in."
Brandon Granger added that his mother’s decline has been "very rapid and very difficult," though he did not say whether she had received treatment at the memory facility, the Post reported.
Granger released a statement Sunday saying that she has faced "health challenges" and is "deeply grateful for the outpouring of care and concern" over the weekend.
"As many of my family, friends, and colleagues have known, I have been navigating some unforeseen health challenges over the past year," Granger said in the statement. "However, since early September, my health challenges have progressed making frequent travel to Washington both difficult and unpredictable. During this time, my incredible staff has remained steadfast, continuing to deliver exceptional constituent services, as they have for the past 27 years."
While Granger appears to not have cast a vote since July, she did return to the Capitol in November for the unveiling of her portrait as Appropriations Committee Chairwoman, and a reception that followed. House Speaker Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., were both present at the event.
Granger has served in the House since 1997. She previously served as the first female mayor of Fort Worth, Texas.
Republican congressman-elect Craig Goldman will succeed Granger in January.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a conservative-leaning ethics watchdog, released a year-end round up of 2024's worst ethics violations committed by public officials that the group investigated this year.
The theme for this year's report was ethics violations tied to efforts to win elected office. The violations ranged from failures to disclose financial information and violations of federal contribution limits, to "blatant" Hatch Act violations and officials seemingly using campaign funds for their own personal pleasure.
FACT is a nonprofit based in the nation's capital that was formed in 2014, and describes itself as "dedicated to promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas." At the end of each year, the watchdog unveils its top ten worst violators.
"It is important to note the alarming detail that there is not one particular ethics rule implicated among them, rather they cover a wide variety of fronts, including the laws enforced by the Office of Special Counsel, the Federal Election Commission, and the Office of Congressional Ethics," the 2024 report states. "It’s clear these top violators too often prioritize themselves over serving their constituents."
One of the examples FACT cited involved Wisconsin Democratic member of Congress, Gwen Moore, whose political action committee under her control spent 94.8% of its funds on things like food and travel, such as catering, food delivery, restaurants, hotels, a resort in California's wine country and alcohol, according to the report.
The report said that Moore's leadership PAC spent almost eight-times more on this than it did on its required purpose of supporting candidates.
Moore ultimately beat her GOP challenger in November by a wide margin, keeping her in control of the Milwaukee-area congressional district. The congresswoman's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Two other violations from the report included Hatch Act violations. The Hatch Act is aimed at ensuring that the government functions in a nonpartisan manner and bars certain public officials from engaging in political activities while they are on duty.
FACT's report charged President Joe Biden's Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, with sending "a blatant political email," two months before November's election, which was described in a media report at the time as "a sales pitch for Kamala Harris."
The official email from HHS was sent to people who signed up to receive updates on the government's Medicare program, which means it could have reached up to 67.5 million recipients, according to FACT. While the email did not directly say "vote for Harris," it lauded Harris for casting a tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, noting that the move from Harris served to lower healthcare costs.
HHS did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Other ethics violations included in FACT's round-up were several instances of misused or misrepresented campaign funds.
The report highlighted outgoing Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone, who earned backlash during this year's election cycle for allegedly funding his campaign with money earned through his Total Wine empire despite claiming he had stepped away from his family's wine business after being elected to Congress in 2018. Trone, who left the House to run for Maryland's open Senate seat this year – losing in the primary – failed to disclose his interest in numerous Total Wine franchises in the lead up to the election, the report alleged.
Representatives for Trone did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The report also claims that Rep.-elect Eugene Vindman, who recently took over Virginia's seventh congressional district with a win last month, received campaign contributions significantly exceeding those allowed under federal law. VoteVets PAC, a political action committee supporting left-leaning veterans running for Congress, was reportedly engaging in illegal campaign work for Vindman's campaign by acting as their press liaison.
Vindman's campaign manager did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Together, all of these examples and more lay out what FACT's Executive Director Kendra Arnold called "a preview" of what elected officials are like when nobody is looking.
"We uncover and file complaints on all types of ethics violations, but this year the ones committed in the campaign stage unfortunately stood out," Arnold told Fox News Digital. "Of all the types of violations it could easily be argued that those committed to get into office are among the very worst."
Nebraska's Republican Gov. Jim Pillen was injured and transported to a hospital on Sunday after he was bucked off a horse.
Pillen, 68, is expected to be hospitalized for several days.
The first-term governor was riding horses with his family when he was thrown off a new horse and suffered injuries, according to the governor's office.
Pillen was rushed to Columbus Community Hospital in Columbus, Nebraska, before he was transported, out of an abundance of caution, to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
"The Governor is alert and is in continuous touch with his team," Pillen's office said.
Pillen's office did not detail what injuries he suffered or the severity.
The GOP governor was elected in 2022, running in the gubernatorial election that year because former Gov. Pete Ricketts, also a Republican, was term-limited.
Pillen then appointed Ricketts to the U.S. Senate to fill the seat vacated by former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, who resigned in 2023 to become president of the University of Florida. Sasse has since stepped down as the university's president.
Pillen worked as a veterinarian and owned a livestock operation before he was elected as governor.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has ordered the firing of more than a dozen prison staffers in connection with the fatal beating of an inmate earlier this month.
Hochul said in a statement Saturday that she has directed the state's corrections department commissioner to begin the process of terminating 14 workers involved in a Dec. 9 incident at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County that led to 43-year-old Robert Brooks' death the following day at a hospital.
Brooks had been in prison since 2017 and was serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault.
The governor's office said the decision came after an internal review, but did not offer details on the circumstances leading up to Brooks' death.
"The vast majority of correction officers do extraordinary work under difficult circumstances, and we are all grateful for their service," Hochul said. "But we have no tolerance for individuals who cross the line, break the law and engage in unnecessary violence or targeted abuse."
The corrections department provided a list of 13 employees, including corrections officers, sergeants and a nurse who have been suspended without pay. It also included another corrections officer who resigned.
State Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III condemned the staffers' involvement and said the suspensions are "in the best interest of the agency and the communities we serve."
"There is no place for brutality in our department and we will vigorously pursue justice against the individuals who committed this senseless act," he said in a statement to The Associated Press. "These investigations are ongoing and additional suspensions may be issued."
Brooks' family said in a statement from their lawyer that they are "incredibly shocked and saddened" about the death, according to The Times-Union in Albany.
"We are grateful that Gov. Hochul is taking swift action to hold officers accountable, but we cannot understand how this could have happened in the first place," the family said. "No one should have to lose a family member this way."
State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said her office is also investigating the use of force by corrections officers that led to Brooks' death. She said her staff has obtained video of the incident and it will be made public after Brooks' family has seen it.
"Law enforcement professionals must be held to the highest standards of accountability, and I am committed to providing New Yorkers with the transparency they deserve," James said in a statement.
President Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly all the inmates on federal death row, a move that comes not even two weeks after he went through with the "largest single-day grant of clemency" in American history, the White House announced Monday.
Of the 40 inmates on federal death row, according to DeathPenaltyInfo.org, Biden is commuting 37 men sentenced to death, reclassifying their sentences to life without the possibility of parole.
The three inmates not included are: Robert Bowers, who is responsible for the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018, which left 11 people dead; Dylann Roof, a White supremacist who killed nine Black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who worked with his now-dead brother to perpetuate the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds.
The men being resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole are convicted of various murderous acts against one person or multiple. Among the victims of the 37 men are law enforcement officers, children and other inmates.
A handful of the men on death row were also set to be executed with their co-defendants.
Biden, who only supports the death penalty at the federal level for "terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder," said this move will prevent President-elect Donald Trump's administration from "carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice," according to the White House statement.
The president declared a moratorium on federal executions after taking office in 2021.
The convicted murderers who will now escape execution include: Marcivicci Barnette, who killed a man in a carjacking and his ex-girlfriend; co-defendants Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks, who kidnapped and killed a woman after escaping prison; Anthony Battle, who killed a prison guard; Jason Brown, who stabbed a postal worker to death; Thomas Hager, who committed a drug-related killing; David Runyon, who participated in the murder-for-hire plot of a Naval officer; Thomas Sanders, who kidnapped and killed a 12-year-old girl; Rejon Taylor, who carjacked, kidnapped and killed a restaurant owner; and Alejandro Umana, who killed two brothers inside a restaurant.
Two men were on death row for the murders of witnesses: police officer Len Davis, who ordered the murder of a witness who was part of an investigation into a misconduct complaint against him, and Ronald Mikos, who killed a federal grand jury witness in a Medicare fraud investigation.
Ex-Marine Jorge Torrez was set to be executed for killing another servicemember.
The list also includes men who committed deadly bank robberies, such as co-defendants Billie Allen and Norris Holder, who killed a bank guard during their crime; Brandon Council, who killed two bank employees; and Daryl Lawrence, who killed a special-duty police officer during an attempted bank robbery.
Co-defendants James Roane, Jr., and Richard Tipton committed a series of drug-related murders as gang members with Corey Johnson, who was executed in 2021.
Julius Robinson killed two people over drugs, and so did co-defendants Ricardo Sanchez, Jr., and Daniel Troya, who killed a family, including two children.
Drug lord Kaboni Savage murdered or directed someone else to murder 12 people during a 16-year period – including an arson that killed six members of a federal informant's family.
Edward Fields was on death row for murdering two campers on federal land, while Marvin Gabrion and Richard Jackson were both there for killing a woman on federal land in separate cases.
Co-defendants Jurijus Kadamovas and Iouri Mikhel were convicted of kidnapping and killing five Russian and Georgian immigrants for ransom.
Lastly, the following men were sentenced to death in various cases for killing a prisoner in federal prison: Shannon Agofsky, Carlos Caro, co-defendants Wesley Coonce and Charles Hall, co-defendants Christopher Cramer and Ricky Fackrell, Joseph Ebron and co-defendants Edgar Garcia and Mark Snarr.
Monday's commutations join Biden's list of similar moves during his presidency, which have sparked mixed reactions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and have outpaced any president in modern history when compared to length of service.
Biden faced criticism earlier this month when he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 prisoners placed in home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and pardoned 40 others, including his son, Hunter.
As of Dec. 13, Biden has pardoned a total of 65 individuals and commuted sentences for 1,634 inmates during his time as president, according to the Department of Justice.
"The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms," White House officials said in a previous statement.
Various groups and people, including former corrections officials, praised Biden's decision ahead of the public announcement, calling him "courageous" and thanking him for sending a "strong message."
Biden was urged by 28 former corrections officials in a letter to commute sentences on federal death row for the safety of federal correctional professionals who participate in executions.
"President Biden has made a courageous decision that will benefit many within the federal Bureau of Prisons. Resources can be allocated more rationally, and staff will not face the harm of participating in executions any time soon. I hope state leaders follow suit, for the benefit of their own correctional staff," said Justin Jones, the former Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, was also among those who issued a statement, saying, in part, that this decision "marks an important turning point" and sends a "strong message to Americans that the death penalty is not the answer to our country's concerns about public safety."
Biden said he does condemn the murderers and their "despicable acts," and he grieves for the victims and families who have suffered "unimaginable and irreparable loss," but he "cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted," according to the White House statement.
It also said Biden will use the last few weeks of his presidency to "provide meaningful second chances" and "review additional pardons and commutations."
The fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was the crescendo of a remarkably bad year for the Iranian regime.
The Islamic Republic suffered major blows in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, diminishing the power of its so-called Axis of Resistance. Its currency officially became the lowest valued in the world and when Israel decimated its proxy forces, the U.S. elected a president whom Iran so despises that it spent years trying to assassinate him.
Here’s a look back at blows suffered by Ayatollah Ali Khameini and his regime over the past year:
In April, Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria, prompting Iran to strike back with more than 300 drones and missiles aimed into Israel. But Israel worked with the U.S., Jordan and Saudi Arabia to shoot down nearly every missile and drone.
The late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash while visiting a remote area. Iran has blamed the crash on dense fog. Raisi was a protégé and potential successor of Iran’s supreme leader, Khameini.
While Iran inaugurated a new president this summer, Israel infiltrated to take out Hamas commander Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran for the inauguration. While Haniyeh was staying in a VIP government guest house, Israel detonated a remote-controlled bomb.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took out Hamas head Yahya Sinwar after encountering him on a routine patrol in the Gaza city of Rafah. Sinwar was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and was one of the most wanted men of the war.
Hamas has lost thousands of fighters and much of its leadership ranks to Israel’s attacks and is nowhere near the threatening force on Israel’s borders Iran hoped it would be.
Iran’s currency tanked to an all-time low upon news of the Trump election, and the expectation that he might bring back a "maximum pressure" policy.
The Iranian rial is down 46% this year, making it officially the least-valuable currency in the world.
Iran has long vowed revenge for Trump approving the 2019 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani – and U.S. intelligence revealed Tehran plots to kill the president-elect.
After the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it imposed harsh sanctions on the regime to stop its funding of proxies abroad, banning U.S. citizens from trading with Iran or handling Iranian money.
It also punished entities in other countries that did business with Iran, by cutting them off from the dollar.
President Joe Biden often waived enforcement of such sanctions, keen to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and fearful of driving up global oil prices.
Iran gained access to more than $10 billion through a State Department sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to continue buying energy from Iran, which the Biden administration argues is necessary to keep lights on in Baghdad.
In the fall, Israel reoriented much of its efforts toward pummeling Hezbollah after a series of cross-border attacks from the Lebanese militant group. Israel targeted Hezbollah’s leadership and detonated hundreds of pagers the group had been using to communicate. At the end of November, Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire where it and Israel must both end their armed presences in southern Lebanon.
Both sides have claimed the other has broken the fragile truce, but it has ostensibly held for weeks.
Syrian rebels sent Iran's Quds forces, an extension of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, running as they captured Damascus and pushed out President Bashar al-Assad. Iran's forces had been in Syria propping up Assad since civil war broke out in 2011, but had been diminished since the outbreak of war elsewhere in the Middle East.
Syria's new government is set to be run by Sunni Muslims, hostile to Iran's Shiite government. And Iran lost a key supply line through Syria it had used to arm Hezbollah in its fight against Israel.
The Biden administration has made tightening efficiency standards for household appliances a target as he's built out his climate agenda over the past four years.
"Making common household appliances more efficient is one of the most effective ways to slash energy costs and cut harmful carbon emissions," Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who has spearheaded efforts to push households to adopt green energy alternatives, said in a statement.
However, energy experts and manufacturers have warned that the Biden administration's regulations would lead to more expensive household appliances that are far less effective than current models.
"What these mandates – what these standards do is enforce a level of efficiency that doesn't make sense," said Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "And they compromise product quality. We've already seen this to an extent with the cost of clothes washer standards."
The Department of Energy (DOE) introduced a final rule in February imposing stricter energy standards for residential clothes washers (RCWs), such as washing machines and clothes dryers.
Under the regulations, certain less-efficient models of washers and dryers would be barred from being sold, according to DOE.
The department projected that the energy standards would collectively save American households $2.2 billion per year on utility bills while reducing nearly 71 million metric tons of "dangerous carbon dioxide emissions" over the next three decades.
However, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers argued that DOE's washing machine regulations "would have a disproportionate, negative impact on low-income households" by eliminating cheaper appliances from the market.
"Despite misleading claims to the contrary, these proposals are intended for nothing more than promoting innovation and keeping money in the pockets of Americans everywhere without sacrificing the reliability and performance that consumers expect and rely on," a spokesperson for the Department of Energy told Fox News Digital. "As evidenced in the Department’s testing and analysis, the proposed standards would not reduce product performance or negatively impact cleaning ability or cycle time."
In 2023, the EPA finalized a rule to accelerate a transition to more advanced refrigeration and cooling technologies that don't use hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and proposed a second rule to manage HFCs in existing products. HFCs are chemicals common in household appliances, such as refrigeration, heating, and air conditioning units.
The rule, set to go into effect in 2025, aims to phase out HFCs to achieve an 85% reduction by 2036.
But manufacturers reportedly privately predicted that the regulation would increase prices up to 20%, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
In February 2023, the DOE issued a proposal to target gas-powered stovetops, which was set to take effect in 2027 and affect 50% of current gas stove models.
Under the 2023 proposal, DOE would have banned the future sale of gas stoves that consume more than 1,204 thousand kBtu per year.
Restaurant owners have fumed over potential gas stove ban regulations.
"The majority of New York City restaurants use gas. It’s the most common stove in a high-volume kitchen," Peter Petti, executive chef at Upper East Side restaurant, Sojourn, told the New York Post. "Gas lets us do our job efficiently."
After facing pushback from Republicans and consumer advocacy groups, the DOE issued its final regulations, which will impact 3% of gas stove models, rather than the initial 50%.
The Biden administration doubled efficiency standards for light bulbs, requiring manufacturers to raise the levels for common light bulbs from 45 lumens per watt to more than 120 lumens per watt, a nearly 170% increase. Only LED bulbs will be able to comply with the standards, not compact fluorescent bulbs.
The DOE suggested that the regulations will slash greenhouse gas pollution by cutting 70 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next three decades.
When it takes effect in 2028, the rule will knock most currently available LEDs off the market and increase the average price of the remaining ones from $2.98 to an estimated $5.68, an increase of $2.70 per bulb, according to Lieberman.
Results from a Residential Energy Consumption Survey indicate that fewer than half of households reported using LEDs as their primary or exclusive lighting source.
The DOE implemented efficiency regulations to prohibit new non-condensing gas furnaces by 2028, by requiring that non-weatherized gas furnaces achieve an annual fuel utilization efficiency of 95%.
The American Gas Association, American Public Gas Association, National Propane Gas Association and manufacturer Thermo Products filed a lawsuit against DOE, claiming that costs could increase for 30% of senior-only households, 26% of low-income households and 27% of small business consumers if the regulation were to go into effect.
"Yesterday, the Biden administration finalized a rule that would effectively ban natural gas furnaces and other gas furnaces that are found in more than half of U.S. households," AGA Vice President of Energy Markets, Analysis, and Standards Richard Meyer told The National Desk in a statement. "In five years, around Christmas 2028, if you have to replace your gas furnace, you may be saddled with hundreds if not thousands of dollars of additional costs to upgrade that equipment to comply with this rule."
The Biden administration amended its energy conservation standards, putting into effect stricter energy standards for ceiling fans.
According to an analysis from the DOE, the new rules would save households about $39 over the lifespan of the new energy-efficient fan, Fox Business previously reported.
The regulation faced backlash from the House Small Business Committee, which claimed in a letter to the DOE secretary that it could put between 10% and 30% of small business ceiling fan manufacturers out of business.
Biden's appliance regulations could soon be in jeopardy, as President-elect Donald Trump is expected to overturn much of the current administration's climate agenda when he assumes the presidency in 2025.
President-elect Donald Trump unleashed a slew of nominations on Sunday night, naming several new people to serve in his forthcoming administration.
In several Truth Social posts on Sunday, Trump introduced various experts to work in the White House on issues ranging from defense to technology to budgeting. The Republican leader began by naming Stephen Alexander Vaden as his nominee for deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
"In my First Term, Stephen was the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, and a Member of the Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, where he won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, relocated and reorganized the Agencies that comprise the Department to better serve Rural America, and engaged in substantial regulatory reform," Trump wrote in a post.
"Stephen joined the USDA on Day One of my First Term, and left in December 2020 after I nominated him, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him, to continue to serve the American People as an Article III Judge on the Court of International Trade," he added. "Judge Stephen Vaden resides in Union City, Tennessee, where he helps manage his family farm. Congratulations Stephen!"
Trump followed up his first post by naming a "slate of America First Patriots" to work with Pete Hegseth, his nominee for secretary of defense and a former "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host. Trump nominated Stephen Feinberg as the next deputy secretary of defense, and said Feinberg would "Help Make the Pentagon Great Again."
"An extremely successful businessman, Stephen is a Princeton graduate, who founded his company, Cerberus, in 1992," Trump wrote. "In addition to his leadership at Cerberus, from 2018 to January 2021, Stephen served as Chairman of my Intelligence Advisory Board."
The president-elect went on to name Elbridge "Bridge" Colby as his pick for under secretary of defense for policy.
"A highly respected advocate for our America First foreign and defense policy, Bridge will work closely with my outstanding Secretary of Defense Nominee, Pete Hegseth, to restore our Military power, and achieve my policy of PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH," Trump said, noting that Colby graduated from Harvard University and Yale Law School.
"Bridge served with distinction in the Pentagon in my First Term, leading the effort on my landmark 2018 Defense strategy…and will make an excellent addition to my team, who will, Make America Great Again!"
Trump then named Michael Duffey and Emil Michael as his picks for under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, and undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, respectively.
"Mike will drive change at the Pentagon and, as a staunch proponent of an America First approach to our National Defense, will work to revitalize our Defense Industrial Base, and rebuild our Military," Trump said of Duffey.
Trump added that Emil Michael would "ensure that our Military has the most technologically sophisticated weapons in the World, while saving A LOT of money for our Taxpayers."
"Emil is a graduate of Harvard University, and has a Law degree from Stanford," Trump wrote. "He is a one of the most respected leaders in the Tech business, and will be a champion for the Troops, and our Great Country."
For his next defense-related picks, Trump announced Keith Bass as his nominee for assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, and that Joe Kasper would serve as chief of staff for the secretary of defense. Kasper worked in the first Trump administration in support roles, in addition to Capitol Hill.
Bass, a retired Navy commander, would be "leading the charge to ensure our Troops are healthy, and receiving the best Medical Care possible," Trump said.
Next, Trump announced Scott Kupor as his pick for the director of the Office of Personnel Management. Trump noted that Kupor was the first employee at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm where he is now a managing partner.
"Scott will bring much needed reform to our federal workforce. Scott graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, with a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy," Trump wrote. "He also holds a Law degree, with distinction, from Stanford University. Congratulations Scott!"
In his final bundle of nominations, the Republican president-elect announced his picks for tech-related roles. Trump began by naming Michael J.K. Kratsios as his new director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Kratsios, who will also serve as an assistant to the president for science and technology, holds a degree from Princeton University. Trump noted that he previously served as an under secretary of defense for research & engineering at the Pentagon, among other roles.
Trump added that Dr. Lynne Parker will serve as executive director of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and counselor to the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
"Dr. Parker previously served as Deputy U.S. CTO, and Founding Director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office," Trump said. "She received her PhD in Computer Science from MIT."
Trump's last two picks were Bo Hines and Sriram Krishnan. Hines will be the executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, which Trump described as a "a new advisory group composed of luminaries from the Crypto industry."
"In his new role, Bo will work with David to foster innovation and growth in the digital assets space, while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed," Trump wrote, adding that Krishnan will serve as senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
"Working closely with David Sacks, Sriram will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in A.I., and help shape and coordinate A.I. policy across Government, including working with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology," Trump wrote. "Sriram started his career at Microsoft as a founding member of Windows Azure."
