FIRST ON FOX:President Trump’s "nicotine freedom crusade" rolling back Biden-era policies related to nicotine and tobacco products could be primed to reverse a key rule that experts who spoke to Fox News Digital say would be a critical step forward.
Shortly before Trump was sworn into office, Biden’s FDA proposed a rule that it described at the time as "bold" that "would make cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products minimally or nonaddictive by limiting the level of nicotine in those products."
Cigarettes and "certain other combusted tobacco products" would not be allowed to have more than 0.7 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco under the proposed rule, according to the FDA. The agency said that lower nicotine levels would "be low enough to no longer create or sustain addiction."
While the FDA insisted at the time that the rule "would not ban" cigarettes, critics disagree and are optimistic that Trump will continue his push for nicotine freedom and upend the rule.
"The Biden legacy on tobacco policy is one of hamfisted regulations, crippling bureaucracy, and prohibition fueling massive criminal markets — from cigarettes to Chinese vapes," Rich Marianos, former assistant director of the ATF, executive director of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital.
"President Trump can put the nail in the coffin of that failed era by killing this insane ban on cigarettes and focusing resources on vigilant enforcement."
Peter Brennan, Executive Director of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association (NECSEM), told Fox News Digital that "prohibitionist tobacco policy" ends up punishing small businesses by "taking sales out of our stores and pushing them into the streets and the illicit market."
"Biden’s plan to ban all cigarettes is a real threat that is still hanging over our heads." Brennan said. "We are hopeful that President Trump will help America’s convenience stores by putting a stop to this disastrous idea."
Trump has taken several actions in the nicotine space since taking office, including withdrawing a proposed rule seeking to ban menthol cigarettes, after the Biden administration said it intended to make the ban become a reality after years of advocacy from anti-smoking groups.
Months later, FDA Tobacco Director Brian King, who critics believed was a key figure behind the administration’s efforts against banning menthols and the "war on nicotine" was removed from his post in a move that experts who spoke to Fox News Digital praised earlier this month.
"President Trump has succeeded in his nicotine freedom crusade since taking office, repealing Biden’s misguided menthol ban and firing the FDA architect behind it," a Republican strategist who worked to elect Trump in 2024 told Fox News Digital this week. "The logical next step is to officially repeal a Biden-era rule on banning low nicotine products, which will be the final blow to Biden’s war on nicotine."
Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment.
Biden’s perceived "war on nicotine," along with the surge in illicit Chinese vapes flooding the market over the last few years, is believed by some to have hurt his presidential campaign along with that of VP Kamala Harris, who eventually took his place on the ticket.
"If President Trump withdraws Biden’s disastrous rule that would effectively ban cigarettes, it would be a huge win for his working-class coalition," a person close to the Trump administration told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
A recent profile piece on Alex Soros, the heir to the vast liberal mega donor George Soros' progressive fundraising network, suggested the younger Soros has hurt the family brand with his public profile in recent years.
The article, posted by New York Magazine this week, takes place in Alex Soros' luxury penthouse in Manhattan and characterizes the home as an example of his indifference to public opinion, which the story suggests hasn't been beneficial to the family's Open Society Foundations.
"The setting itself is a testament to a certain indifference to public opinion on Alex’s part — or perhaps a lack of awareness," the story says.
"This past fall, he held a fundraiser at the apartment for vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, then created a PR headache by posting photos from the event on social media, as is his custom after meeting heads of state and elected officials. (As a former OSF higher-up says, Alex likes to collect "shiny objects.")
"It was deemed unhelpful to a presidential ticket straining to underscore its regularness that the son of the 94-year-old hedge-fund billionaire accused of puppeteering the Democratic Party was publicly advertising his centrality to the election effort from a New York City penthouse."
Soros drew strong criticism on social media over the photo with Walz in his penthouse standing next to a vice presidential candidate who had been labeled as someone who would resonate with rural and working-class voters.
"This guy goes around saying he's a small town midwestern guy who understands the struggles of the middle class and then goes to hang out at the floating home in the sky of the world's biggest billionaire nepo baby," digital strategist Greg Price wrote on X at the time.
"A post like this does nothing to help Kamala Harris & Tim Walz win — if anything, it hurts them," journalist Jerry Dunleavy posted on X at the time. "So why would Soros post something like this? To publicly signal his power & influence within the next would-be presidential administration."
New York Magazine wrote that Alex Soros' "fondness for collecting powerful figures embarrasses people at the foundation."
"It also underscores his influence. OSF is by some measures the second-largest charitable foundation in the United States, trailing only the Gates Foundation. It gives out roughly $1.5 billion a year, and it spends its U.S. budget not only on liberal causes but also on some of the big dark-money nonprofits aligned with the Democratic Party, including America Votes, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and the pro-Harris spending group Future Forward USA Action."
Fox News Digital has documented Soros' online presence, which includes all the photos he takes with Democratic politicians in recent years, and his Rolodex includes some of the most powerful politicians in the Democratic Party. During the Biden administration, Soros visited the White House over 22 times and met with both Biden and Harris.
His social media profiles have dozens of pictures of him and leading House and Senate Democrats since 2018. The two who appear the most are Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. Alex had at least nine meetings with Schumer, whom he referred to as his "good friend."
Soros had at least eight visits with Pelosi, whom he has called the "greatest Speaker of the House in American History!"
Soros has donated millions to Democrats over the past several years, albeit far less than his father. In 2020, he contributed over $700,000 to the Biden Victory Fund, making him among its top donors. For the 2024 cycle, he maxed out $6,600 in donations directly to Biden's campaign, federal filings show.
Since the 2018 elections, he has poured more than $5 million into federal political coffers. Records show that his largest contribution was $2 million to the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC during this time.
He's also contributed hundreds of thousands in cash to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He has given tens of thousands more to state Democratic parties and individual campaigns, many of which were maximum contributions.
The article notes that the Soros network spent hundreds of millions in the last election cycle trying to elect Democrats and push progressive causes and that Soros was "probably the biggest liberal donor of the most recent election cycle" but that it is "hard to know for sure because of untrackable dark-money spending."
President Donald Trump is closing in on the first 100 days of his administration this week, wrapping up three months marked by an unprecedented use of executive orders, and continued discussions surrounding a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump met with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store at the White House Thursday, where he said that he and other allies are trying to wrap up a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in the near future. Still, he said he would stick to his own timeline.
"I have my own deadline," Trump told reporters Thursday. "And we wanted to be fast. And the Prime Minister's helping us."
"He wants it to be fast, too," he said. "And I think everybody in this, at this time in NATO, they want to see this thing happen."
The White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital regarding details of the deadline.
Trump’s team has signaled optimism about a deal this week, and Vice President JD Vance disclosed on Wednesday that a proposal is on the table. However, he said that time is limited and if neither party agrees, the U.S. will withdraw itself from advancing those discussions.
The deal would require both Russia and Ukraine to give up some of their territory, but that the lines would remain "close to where they are today," according to Vance.
Here’s what also happened this week in the Trump administration:
The White House went to bat for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has come under additional scrutiny following a New York Times report that Hegseth shared information about a March military airstrike against the Houthis in a Signal messaging app group chat that also included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
In March, the Atlantic reported about an initial Signal group chat that included Hegseth and Vance to discuss the same attack on the Houthis. In that chat, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidently included.
The most recent incident has prompted lawmakers to call for Hegseth’s resignation, even though Hegseth maintains no war plans were disclosed in the chats. Despite a report from NPR that said the White House was considering finding a new secretary of defense amid the controversy, the Trump administration has voiced support for Hegseth this week.
"He is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there's a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that's why we've seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.
"Let me reiterate: The president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth and the change that he is bringing to the Pentagon, and the results that he's achieved thus far speak for themselves," Leavitt said.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump departed Washington Friday morning to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome Saturday. The Vatican announced that Pope Francis died Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.
"Rest in Peace Pope Francis!" Trump said in a Monday post on Truth Social. "May God Bless him and all who loved him!"
The pope’s death came a day after Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with him in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel just hours before his death.
Additionally, Trump signed an executive order Monday ordering all U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels to remember Francis. The order also applies to all U.S. embassies, legations, consular offices and other facilities abroad, including military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
Former President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are also planning to attend the Rome funeral.
Trump also signed seven executive orders pertaining to education, including several that would incorporate artificial intelligence into K-12 school curricula, modify school discipline and accreditation guidelines, and update requirements for the disclosure of foreign funding to schools.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Education Department also announced Monday it would resume collections on defaulted federal student loans in May for the first time since 2020.
The first Trump administration paused referring federal student loans to collections in March 2020 during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Trump administration officials are concerned that the pause has led the federal student loan portfolio to be "headed toward a fiscal cliff if we don't start repayment in collections," according to a senior department official.
"The result has been that the federal government student loan portfolio has continued to grow, and we've got a record number of borrowers that are at risk of or in delinquency and default," the senior department official told reporters Monday.
President Donald Trump recently hyped a new national poll which indicates an increasing percentage of Republicans now identify as MAGA supporters.
The president, in a social media post, pointed to what he said was "tremendous support" for MAGA, which is the acronym for Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement.
"I am not, at all, surprised!!!" Trump wrote, days ahead of the 100-days milestone.
The poll indicated that 71% of Republicans now identify as MAGA supporters, up from 55% in November.
The NBC News survey is the latest piece of evidence of Trump's extremely firm grip over the GOP, and his remaking of the Republican Party in his image, a transformation that started with the president's initial White House victory in 20216.
While the president repeatedly teases the possibility of running for re-election in 2028, the reality is that serving a third term is clearly prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment.
So what happens to Trump's MAGA movement and America First agenda after he departs the White House?
"The Republican Party will never go back to what it was. The old Republican Party of [former longtime Senate GOP leader] Mitch McConnell run by Washington elites died forever in 2024," longtime Republican consultant Alex Castellanos told Fox News Digital.
Castellanos, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, emphasized that "the Republican Party of Donald Trump is alive and growing out in America."
And he made the case that "what happened in 2024 is that what was a man became a movement."
David Kochul, another longtime Republican strategist with plenty of experience on the presidential campaign trail, concurred that "we’re not going back to what the party looked like in 2012. That’s for sure. We’re going forward to something new and different."
Even a vocal Republican critic of Trump agrees.
Former congressman and former two-term Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who launched an unsuccessful 2024 Republican presidential nomination bid, acknowledged that "those who want the GOP to go a different direction from the MAGA leadership of President Trump are now fighting an uphill battle."
"Trump has found his stride with his anti-immigrant message and it is overshadowing the chaos from his super-charged tariff war and its impact on the economy," Hutchinson told Fox News Digital.
Whoever succeeds Trump as GOP standardbearer – be it heir apparent Vice President JD Vance or someone else – won't be Trump.
"Trump is such a unique actor and figure. He can’t be replicated," Kochul stressed. "Nobody can be the next Donald Trump. That’s not possible. He’s singular."
But his movement will have some staying power.
"Just like the Reagan Revolution, Trump’s legacy and messaging will prevail beyond his last day in office," Dave Carney, another longtime Republican consultant and presidential campaign trail veteran, told Fox News.
But Carney argued that Trump's legacy may "wane over years unless the next Republican president continues it."
"Is it going to be as hot and heavy as it is now without his personality? Carney asked.
Answering his own question, he said, "No. You need to have a messenger to carry that theme."
But Castellanos noted that Trump has "spawned a new younger generation of MAGA leaders who will carry on the MAGA movement long after Trump."
Pointing to Vance and others, Castellanos described "a fresh generation of MAGA."
"The players on the MAGA farm team are now playing major league ball," he said.
Kochul, looking to the future of the GOP, said that "it will be more populist, whomever emerges."
And as for those future leaders, he suggested that "we’ve got a lot of great leadership and a great bench."
Hutchinson, a former U.S. attorney under Ronald Reagan and high-ranking official in George W. Bush's administration, also weighed in on the future of Trump's MAGA movement.
"Whether Trump’s dominance continues beyond the next few years depends upon the tolerance level of the GOP base on Trump’s view that ‘he is the law’ rather than respecting the separation of powers that have served our country well," Hutchinson said.
It's 2025, but it's starting to feel a little bit like 2028 in New Hampshire, the state that traditionally holds the first presidential primary in the race for the White House.
That's because Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, the billionaire two-term Democrat from the solidly blue Midwestern state, is coming to New Hampshire this weekend to headline the state party's largest annual fundraising gala.
Pritzker, who has become one of his party’s most vocal critics of the sweeping and controversial moves by President Donald Trump during the first three months of his second tour in the White House, is seen as a potential contender for the Democrats' 2028 presidential nomination.
And trips to New Hampshire — which for over a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House — are seen as an early indicator of a politician’s interest in running for the presidency in the next election.
"We’ve got to be ready for the fight," Pritzker said when asked by Fox News Digital what his message will be when he delivers the keynote address at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's annual McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner.
The governor, a member of the Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain and who has started several of his own venture capital and investment startups, argued that the nation is "in a constitutional crisis" and that "we have too many people who are ill affected by the policies of the Trump administration."
"This is the moment for people to stand up and fight," he added.
Pritzker, 60, is the first potential Democratic presidential hopeful to visit New Hampshire, or any other early primary state, since Democrats lost the White House and their Senate majority and failed to retake the House in November.
And Trump and Republicans down-ballot made gains with key parts of the Democrats’ base, including with Black, Hispanic and younger voters.
In the wake of those setbacks, Democrats have experienced increased intra-party tensions with an angry and energized base itching to fight back against Trump. That anger is directed not only at Trump and Republicans, but also at Democrats, with many in the party's base upset that leaders haven't been effective or vocal enough in pushing back against the president.
It’s also led to reflection about what the Democratic Party stands for and its direction moving forward amid flagging favorable ratings in national polling.
Two-term California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another high-profile Democrat who likely also has national ambitions in 2028, said earlier this week in an interview with "The Hill" that he wasn’t sure what the party truly represents.
"I don’t know what the party is," Newsom said. "I’m still struggling with that."
Asked if he's also struggling, Pritzker responded, "I've been clear my whole life. The Democratic Party stands up for working people. Stands up for working families. We're the party of civil rights. We're the party of human rights. No doubt about that, in my mind."
Pritzker, who is not prevented by term limits from running for re-election in 2026, has yet to say if he’ll make a bid for a third term steering Illinois. But the clock is ticking, with the filing period opening up later this year and the state’s primary just 11 months away.
"Given the circumstances of getting on the ballot for people, I would need to make a decision and announce it by, you know, by latest July," Pritzker said when asked about his timetable for making a decision.
But it’s a possible presidential run by Pritzker that is grabbing headlines.
Chicagoan Bill Daley, who served as former President Bill Clinton’s commerce secretary and former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, told The Wall Street Journal last week that "there is no doubt that he [Pritzker] is going to run."
Pritzker, asked about Daley's prediction, said, "I’d guess I'd remind you that he didn't support me when I ran for governor the first time… I don't know where he gets his information."
And on the possibility of launching a national campaign in the 2028 election cycle, Pritzker said, "All I can tell you is, I'm focused on the question of whether I will run for re-election as governor, and on defeating the policies of Donald Trump."
The governor is no stranger to New Hampshire. He headlined the 2022 New Hampshire Democratic Party convention, and he returned last September to campaign on behalf of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced then-President Joe Biden as the party's presidential nominee in July. Pritzker made multiple stops, including addressing union members at the New Hampshire AFL-CIO’s annual Labor Day breakfast.
Pritzker was among those vetted by the Harris presidential campaign as a possible running mate.
The governor, who led a successful effort to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, was also among the potential 2028 White House contenders to speak during the convention week at the New Hampshire Democratic Party delegation's daily breakfasts.
Veteran New Hampshire-based Democratic consultant Jim Demers noted that "for many New Hampshire Democrats, his [Pritzker’s] visit is an early audition for 2028."
"It comes at a time when voters are really looking for leadership, someone who will challenge what Donald Trump is doing. So, what he says will be weighed very heavily," he added.
Demers, pointing to Pritzker’s handful of trips to the Granite State over the past couple of years, said that "every time he has visited with New Hampshire voters, he has delivered a message that has resonated very well."
Neil Levesque, the longtime director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, said that "Pritzker is coming into a highly political state at an opportune time because of how fired up and charged up Democrats are in opposition to President Trump."
And he noted that the stop "will kick off the first of multiple visits by multiple potential candidates, considering that Democrats are hungry for an opposition."
While Pritzker’s visit is the first as the very early moves in the 2028 White House race get underway, behind the scenes there’s already action.
A Granite State-based Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely shared that activists in New Hampshire are receiving fundraising emails on a regular basis from some of the potential candidates for 2028.
"Every week I receive a dozen," the strategist said, adding that the messages are signed by Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Rep. Ro Khanna of California and other potential 2028 contenders.
The strategist said the possible White House hopefuls are "driving messaging and their names through this constant barrage of emails."
While the stop by Pritzker may seem very early, it's actually occurring later in the calendar than the first stop in an early-voting state in the 2024 presidential election cycle.
Mike Pompeo, the former congressman from Kansas who later served as CIA director and then Secretary of State in Trump's first administration, spoke in Iowa in late March 2021.
Pompeo, who took a hard look at running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before deciding against launching a campaign, was the first of the potential Republican White House hopefuls that cycle to visit one of the early-voting primary and caucus states.
The Kennedy Center has canceled a week’s worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ people for the World Pride festival in Washington, D.C., amid a change in focus and the Trump administration firing the center's leadership.
Multiple artists and producers involved in the center’s Tapestry of Pride schedule said their events had been quietly canceled or transferred to other venues. The Tapestry of Pride was planned for June 5 to 8 before the cancellation.
Washington’s Capital Pride Alliance disassociated itself from the Kennedy Center in response to the canceled events.
"We are a resilient community, and we have found other avenues to celebrate," the alliance's deputy director June Crenshaw told The Associated Press. "We are finding another path to the celebration … but the fact that we have to maneuver in this way is disappointing."
The Kennedy Center’s website still has a section for Tapestry of Pride with a general description and a link to the World Pride site. No other information is provided on the website.
The cancellations come in the wake of massive changes at the Kennedy Center, including President Donald Trump firing both the president and chairman in early February. Trump replaced most of the board with loyalists, who subsequently elected him the new chairman of the institution.
The World Pride event is held every two years and this year's event runs from May 17 through June 8 with performances and celebrations planned across the nation's capital. But concerns arose about what kind of reception attendees will receive due to Trump administration policies targeting transgender people and comments about Kennedy Center drag performances.
"I know that D.C. as a community will be very excited to be hosting World Pride, but I know the community is a little bit different than the government," said Michael Roest, founder and director of the International Pride Orchestra, which had its June 5 performance at the Kennedy Center canceled just days after Trump’s took control of the institution.
Roest told The Associated Press he was in the final stages of planning the performance at the center. He was waiting on a final contract when Trump revealed on Feb. 7 the leadership changes and his plans to amend the institution's programming.
The center then became unresponsive, he said.
On Feb. 12, Roest said he received a one-sentence email from a Kennedy Center staffer saying that they "are no longer able to advance your contract at this time."
"They went from very eager to host to nothing," he told The Associated Press. "We have not since heard a word from anybody at the Kennedy Center, but that’s not going to stop us."
After the cancellation, Roest said he was able to move the International Pride Orchestra performance to the Strathmore theater in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.
Roest said he was never given an explanation for why the performance was canceled so late in the planning stages. He said his orchestra would no longer consider performing at the Kennedy Center and that most queer artists would likely make the same choice.
"There would need to be a very, very public statement of inclusivity from the administration, from that board, for us to consider that," he said. "Otherwise it is a hostile performance space."
Crenshaw said some other events, including a drag story time and a display of parts of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, would be transferred to the World Pride welcome center in Chinatown.
Monica Alford, a veteran arts and culture journalist and event planner, was set to organize an event on June 8 as part of Tapestry of Pride, but said she also experienced an abrupt end to communication within days of Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center.
Alford has a long history with the Kennedy Center and organized the first-ever drag brunch on its rooftop last year. She said she viewed the institution as her "home base" and "a safe space for the queer community." She also said she was disappointed to lose the partnership she had with the Kennedy Center.
"We’re doing our community a disservice — not just the queer community but the entire community," she told The Associated Press.
She said she was still finalizing the details of her event, which she said was "meant to be family-friendly, just like the drag brunch was family-friendly and classy and sophisticated."
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that would cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman blocked the Trump administration from implementing the order following a lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 160,000 federal employees.
The union claims in the lawsuit that the order would violate federal workers’ labor rights and is unconstitutional, adding that it would lose two-thirds of its membership and half of its dues if they order is allowed to go through.
The order exempted more than a dozen agencies from the requirement to bargain with unions, including the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services departments.
It affects around 75% of the nearly one million federal workers represented by unions and expands an existing rule that exempts national security agencies like the FBI and CIA from collective bargaining requirements.
The U.S. Treasury Department also filed a lawsuit against the NTEU following the order to invalidate a collective bargaining agreement involving IRS employees.
The order is part of the administration’s efforts to lessen the size of the federal government, by making it easier to discipline and fire workers and change working conditions.
The temporary injunction will remain in place pending the outcome of the NTEU lawsuit.
Friedman said he would issue an opinion explaining his ruling in the next few days.
He also gave attorneys on both sides a week to propose how the lawsuit should move forward.
States that allow illegal immigrants to collect unemployment benefits could lose federal funding, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Friday.
In a letter to all governors, Chavez-DeRemer urged them to comply with President Donald Trump's directives to ensure that tax dollars aren't used to benefit those in the U.S. illegally.
"Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them," Chavez-DeRemer wrote. "To qualify for unemployment, one must be able and available to work, actively seeking work and be legally authorized to accept employment in the United States. Unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in our country illegally."
Chavez-DeRemer urged the states to use SAVE, an online database for registered federal, state and local government agencies, to verify the immigration status of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.
The move comes as the Trump administration continues to clamp down on illegal immigrants who receive taxpayer benefits.
On Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) is taking action to ensure that illegal immigrants no longer receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, widely known as food stamps.
"USDA's nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans," Rollins said. "To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous."
Last month, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner warned illegal immigrants living in government-funded housing that HUD is prioritizing only Americans under the Trump administration.
"At HUD, we only serve one out of four Americans that we should be serving, and that has to come to an end," Turner told Fox News Digital at the time. "And so we're not only making it a priority, but we are making that our only priority, that American citizens will benefit from hard-working American taxpayer dollars."
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday the Department of Justice (DOJ) will change the policy that allows journalists to hide records and testimony related to suspects in a criminal investigation.
In a memo obtained by Axios, Bondi wrote that federal employees intentionally leaking sensitive information to the media undermines the ability of the Department of Justice to keep America safe.
"This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop," Bondi wrote. "Therefore, I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland's policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks."
She noted investigative techniques relating to news-gathering are "an extraordinary measure to be deployed as a last resort when essential to a successful investigation or prosecution," according to the memo.
She added the protections were being abused, with officials using "media allies" to leak sensitive information for political gain, and the policy often put their phone and other electronic records out of reach of prosecutors, Politico reported.
The memo comes after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday referred two intelligence community professionals accused of leaking classified information to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
The professionals allegedly shared classified information with the Washington Post and the New York Times, according to previous reporting.
A third criminal referral is expected, the DOJ said.
Former Attorney General Merrick B. Garland under former President Joe Biden in 2022 made significant revisions to the Justice Department’s regulations regarding obtaining information from members of the news media.
Garland's policy prohibited the DOJ from seeking information from members of the news media, acting within the scope of news-gathering, except under limited, specified circumstances.
Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of Press wrote in a statement that he had not seen the language of the new policy, but stressed the importance of reporters being able to protect the identities of confidential sources.
"We’ll wait to see what the policy looks like, but we know reporters will still do their jobs, and there is no shortage of legal support to back them up," Brown wrote in the statement.
Bondi said the department will continue to limit the use of forced legal action to obtain information from or records of the media, which includes enhanced approval and advance-notice procedures.
The Office of Legal Policy is tasked with creating new language to reflect the rescission of Garland's policies.
Several Democrats who have argued that "no one is above the law" in President Donald Trump’s cases are now condemning the arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, warning it could threaten the rule of law.
"This is not normal," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., tweeted of Dugan’s arrest by the FBI on proceeding obstruction charges for allegedly shielding an indicted Mexican migrant from ICE agents.
"The administration's arrest of a sitting judge in Wisconsin is a drastic move that threatens the rule of law," Klobuchar added, saying it's a "grave step and undermines our system of checks and balances."
During Trump’s 2019 impeachment, Klobuchar said his first impeachment case marked a "somber day for our country."
"In America, no one is above the law, and the American people deserve to hear evidence and witness testimony during a full and fair trial in the Senate. If the president has any facts to present in his defense to the articles of impeachment, we should hear them," she said.
After the 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, Klobuchar said, "The law is king, and the former president isn't."
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., also condemned Dugan’s arrest, saying, "If [FBI Director] Kash Patel and Donald Trump don’t like a judge, they think they can arrest them.
"This is stunning — we must stand up to this blatant power grab. Republicans: How is this not a red line for you?"
Commenting in 2020 on her vote to remove Trump from office over abuse of power allegations, Smith said she took her constitutional oath seriously and that "to condone corrupt behavior such as this undermines the core value that we stand for as a nation -- that no one is above the law, including and most especially our president."
Smith said she pored over presentations and evidence to reach that conclusion.
Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., who represents Dugan’s county, lambasted the White House, saying its "willingness to weaponize federal law enforcement is shocking and this arrest has all the hallmarks of overreach."
"I will be following this case closely and facts will come out. However, I am very alarmed at the increasingly lawless actions of the Trump administration, and in particular ICE, who have been defying courts and acting with disregard for the Constitution."
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., commented on an apparently deleted tweet from Patel, writing on X, "Donald Trump and JD Vance are arresting judges now. Deleting the tweet won't undo the constitutional crisis you have just thrust us into."
In a 2023 interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Khanna said of the Trump impeachment, "You can't just say, 'OK, because someone was president or someone is a candidate, that you're above the law.' Everyone is under the law, and that allegations, the evidence needs to be pursued."
When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Khanna said of the contrast that Trump has "waged war on the judiciary" and that there is no public evidence yet regarding Dugan, but "it is deeply concerning given the administration’s attacks on the courts."
"Even Chief Justice Roberts has rebuked Trump’s conduct toward the judiciary," Khanna added.
"This is stuff I expect from Third World countries," he told Axios.
In a December 2019 statement after his vote in favor of impeachment, Pocan said Trump was "never held accountable for his actions" over his 70-plus years of life.
"Today, Democrats sent a clear signal to this president and all future presidents: No one is above the law."
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Klobuchar and Smith for comment.
Pocan’s office said he was on a flight and unable to be reached, while Moore’s offices acknowledged the inquiry.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is once again charging into battle to defend women and basic biology — this time taking aim at Clemson University over a form that listed a whopping 15 gender identities.
In a fiery video posted to her social media on Friday, Mace slammed Clemson for offering a health portal menu that included terms like "genderqueer," "two-spirit," "cis female" and "cis male."
"Hey everyone, just learned this morning from Libs of TikTok, not from your state legislature, that Clemson University in South Carolina has 15 genders on one of their applications," Mace said in a video on Instagram. "We want to make sure South Carolina is following science and not some radical, woke, leftist, lunatic ideology. Not on my watch."
Mace wasn’t just venting online.
She immediately took action, leaving a voicemail and sending a text to Clemson President Jim Clements demanding answers. "Since there are only two genders," she said, "I just had this issue with USC, and I would like to make sure that you guys are following suit."
The form in question, first flagged by Libs of TikTok, showed a dropdown menu allowing students to select from 15 different gender identities.
However, Clemson responded exclusively to Fox News Digital, clarifying that "Clemson University does not have this type of menu in its housing application."
Instead, the menu appeared in an external vendor's health services portal, was optional, and has since been taken down. The university said it is now "consulting with medical professionals to determine what information is needed for medical care purposes."
Mace made it clear in her social media posts that she believes state universities should reflect two genders, male and female, if they want to keep receiving taxpayer dollars. "If it were me and Clemson University had 15 genders, they would not get a dime in the state of South Carolina," she warned.
"Cis is a slur," Mace emphasized in her Instagram video, adding, "Women are women, men are men."
This isn’t Mace's first stand in the gender wars. She recently made headlines by leading the effort to block Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., a biological man who identifies as a woman, from using women's restrooms on Capitol Hill. Her campaign to "protect women’s spaces" has not come without backlash.
"All the violence and threats keep proving our point," Mace posted on X. "Women deserve to be safe. Your threats will not stop my fight for women! Not now, not ever," she declared.
Late last year, Mace reported being physically accosted on Capitol grounds, an incident that led to the arrest of a 33-year-old Illinois man. She is the first woman to graduate from the Citadel.
Mace's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Sen. John Ossoff of Georgia has become the latest Democrat in Congress to signal that President Donald Trump deserves to be impeached, even though he has only been in the White House this term for less than 100 days.
During a town hall Friday in Cobb County, Georgia, Ossoff took questions from the audience, including from a fired-up local mother who questioned Ossoff about why there has not been a more concerted effort to impeach Trump.
"Why are there no calls for impeachment?" Ossoff was asked. "Do something more!"
Ossoff told the woman at the top of his response that "there is no doubt" Trump has exceeded the standard for impeachment.
"I saw just 48 hours ago, [Trump] is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin," Ossoff said. "There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense. And the reality is that that's just one of many [examples] — defying a federal court order, for example. So, I agree with you."
Ossoff's remarks make him the latest Democratic lawmaker in Congress who has either explicitly called for Trump's impeachment or signaled their willingness to support such a move just 100 days into his presidency. While most Democrats have been willing to publicly admit the country is facing a constitutional crisis under Trump, most of them have refrained from going so far as to use the "I" word.
Some though, such as progressive Sen. Al Green, D-Texas, have not shied away from supporting calls for impeachment. He was the first congressional lawmaker to call for it just weeks into the president's second term. Green's calls have been supported by other Democrats, such as Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Maxine Dexter of Oregon; Sam Liccardo and Maxine Waters of California; Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; Shri Thanedar of Michigan; and Hank Johnson of Georgia, all of whom have gone publicly on the record regarding their support, according to NBC News.
"Right now, it's 218 to 215, so if you can find me two Republicans, I'll go to work tomorrow," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led impeachment efforts against Trump during his first term, told a reporter when asked about the matter.
Trent England, a presidential elections expert and founder of the nonprofit Save Our States, bashed Democratic lawmakers for "claiming to be all about democracy," but when they don't get what they want, "suddenly democracy is not what they're all about."
"It really undercuts Democrats' message about elections when as soon as they get an election result they don't like, they're out challenging it through impeachment. Especially when Democrats claimed after 2016 that part of their issue with Trump was that he only won the Electoral College," England added. "Well, now he's won a resounding popular vote, in addition to winning the Electoral College. And, yet, they're still out there trying to impeach him at the very beginning of his administration."
England also opined that the calls for impeachment were an easy way for Democrats to help boost their fundraising efforts.
"Efforts like this show how a lot of members of Congress are really operating as personal fundraising machines, as opposed to legislators," England said. "They're not trying to get things done. They know that using platforms like Act Blue, they can fly the impeachment flag and raise a lot of money from left-wing donors without ever believing that any of this is going to have any effect."
The first-term Democratic senator is facing re-election later this year, as his term ends early next year. Ossoff's office declined to comment for this story.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Ossoff's push for impeachment illustrates "the desperation of his re-election campaign."
"Not even 100 days into President Donald J. Trump's terms, and Ossoff is already pushing impeachment," Scott said. "His obsession makes clear just how out of touch he is with Georgia voters. The desperation in his re-election campaign is already showing."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo on Friday calling for a review of Military Equal Opportunity and DoD civilian Equal Employment Opportunity programs. The secretaries of each military department are required under the memo to assess the programs in place within their own departments.
In a video posted on X announcing the memo, Hegseth said that while it’s "a good thing" that the military has multiple avenues for both service members and civilians to complain about harassment and discrimination, the systems have been "weaponized" and used "in bad faith to retaliate against superiors or peers."
The memo's official title is "Restoring Good Order and Discipline Through Balanced Accountability," but Hegseth says he calls it the "No More Walking on Eggshells" policy.
"So, here’s the goal: empower leaders to make tough decisions, enforce standards, and restore good order and discipline," Hegseth said in the video.
The memo directs the secretaries to ensure that complaints that "are unsubstantiated by actionable, credible evidence are timely dismissed." Additionally, "favorable actions," such as awards and promotions, involving the alleged offender are to be considered until the complaint is substantiated. Finally, the memo states that those who "knowingly submit false complaints" may face discipline.
The secretaries have 45 days to complete their reviews.
Hegseth is no stranger to controversy and has faced several allegations since being tapped to lead DoD. It is not a stretch to imagine that he might have empathy for those facing false or unsubstantiated allegations.
Prior to his confirmation, Hegseth faced allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of veterans’ organizations. This included an affidavit by his former sister-in-law in which she alleged that Hegseth was physically abusive to his ex-wife, Samantha "Sam" Hegseth. However, Sam denied the allegations, saying she did not experience physical abuse during her marriage to Hegseth.
Hegseth told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that he is not a "perfect person," but asserted that he was the subject of a "coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media."
Additionally, since becoming secretary of defense, Hegseth has been involved in two scandals regarding the encrypted messaging app Signal.
The first scandal occurred when The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal chat in which there were discussions about plans for the U.S. to strike Yemen. While National Security Advisor Mike Waltz took a lot of heat for the situation, Hegseth was not spared from criticism. In the end, the Trump administration insisted that the discussions in the group did not actually involve "war plans."
On Sunday, Hegseth was accused of sharing military information in a Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal attorney. The New York Times reported that people with knowledge of the situation said the information "included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen."
Hegseth told "FOX & Friends" that the allegations were meant to "sabotage" President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Despite an op-ed suggesting that Hegseth could be on the way out, the White House has stood behind him.
"He is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there's a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that's why we've seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.
But only on Capitol Hill would the day after the pope visited become even more memorable.
The late Pope Francis came to Washington, D.C., to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress on Sept. 24, 2015. He wasn’t the first pontiff to descend on Capitol Hill. But the pope is a head of state, ruling the Vatican City and the Holy See. As such, Francis became the first pope to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress in the House chamber.
Lawmakers showered the Holy Father with applause and two standing ovations during his address. Two Catholics were perched behind Pope Francis on the dais: then Vice President Joe Biden and former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. As vice president, Biden served as President of the Senate. As speaker, Boehner was the Constitutional officer for the legislative branch.
Boehner blotted his eyes with a handkerchief several times during the 3,400-word speech.
Pope Francis implored lawmakers to treat each other — and their constituents — with dignity.
"We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays. To discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’" he said.
One thing I remember about the Pope’s visit was the choreography. Congressional workers affixed small, green strips of tape to the Capitol’s marble floors. Names were emblazoned on the tape in black Magic Marker at different points around the complex. "McCarthy" or "Pelosi" or "McConnell." All part of the political — and papal — stagecraft.
The tape dictated where key political leaders would stand as they escorted Pope Francis into the House chamber or in front of the statue of Junipero Serra in Statuary Hall.
A duct-taped "X" marked the floor in front of Serra. The pope canonized Serra the day before he visited the Capitol at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Serra became the first American to become a saint on U.S. soil. Pope Francis blessed the statue of Serra. The statue depicts the saint hoisting a cross in his right hand, looking skyward toward the heavens.
Someone taped a green arrow over the black and white tiles of Statuary Hall, pointing toward the Speaker’s Office.
That signaled the pope’s next stop on Capitol Hill.
Pope Francis and the entourage then walked toward Boehner’s office and onto the Speaker’s Balcony overlooking the West Front of the Capitol and down the National Mall toward the Washington Monument.
A throng assembled on the Capitol grounds.
"Buenos dias," said the Pope, greeting the crowd like he would from the "Pope’s Window" at the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on a Sunday. "I am grateful for your presence."
He then blessed the pilgrims on the ground below.
"Papa! Papa!" the crowd chanted.
When the pope first arrived at the Capitol, he met with Boehner in the Speaker’s ceremonial office just off the House floor.
Boehner paced nervously awaiting Pope Francis on the 19th century Minton Tiles, which adorn the office.
"He’s on Boehner time," said the former speaker. "Which is on time."
Boehner wore his signature Kelly green tie for the occasion — a vintage piece of Boehner apparel, which dates back to when he served in the Ohio state legislature and first ran for Congress in 1990. When Pope Francis arrived, he told the former speaker the tie bore a "color of hope."
A few days later, Boehner choked up as he relayed a story about what Pope Francis said to him when they were about to exit the Capitol.
"We found ourselves alone," said Boehner of himself and Francis.
The pope grabbed the speaker’s arm.
"The pope puts his arm around me and kind of pulled me to him and said, ‘Please pray for me,’" said Boehner. "Wow. Who am I to pray for the pope?’ But I did."
Boehner left the Capitol that night. But his encounter with the Holy Father seemingly transformed the speaker — and altered the trajectory of the House for years to come.
The speaker decided to resign the next morning.
"He had been trying to get out of here for years," said one source close to the speaker at the time.
Boehner’s plans to depart were thwarted when the heir apparent, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., stunningly lost his primary in the spring of 2014.
So Boehner soldiered on.
By late July 2015, former Trump White House chief of staff and former Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., prepped a "motion to vacate the chair." Those who follow Capitol Hill know all about such a motion now. But it was novel a decade ago. Such a motion would require the House to take a vote of confidence in the speaker in the middle of the Congress. Lawmakers had never used the tactic before. It was hardly discussed.
Meadows released his resolution just before the August recess — but never triggered it.
That gave Boehner and the House a month to stew over whether Meadows might try to oust the speaker when lawmakers returned in September.
On the night after the pope’s visit, Boehner called his chief of staff, Mike Sommers, to tell him he planned to step aside. Boehner also told his wife, Debbie, of his plans.
"This morning I woke up, said my prayers, as I always do, and thought, ‘This is the day I am going to do this,’" said Boehner.
Boehner then astonished a meeting of the House Republican Conference that he intended to resign.
The move sent a shock wave through Washington.
"My first job as speaker is to protect the institution," Boehner said. "It had become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution."
The Boehner departure — the day after his encounter with Pope Francis — set into motion what some might regard as the very "prolonged leadership turmoil" that the former speaker hoped to avoid.
It was believed that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. — then the House Majority Leader — would ascend to the job. But as startling as Boehner’s departure was, McCarthy supplanted that. Moments before House Republicans were set to tap McCarthy as the next speaker, McCarthy withdrew from the contest. He lacked the votes.
McCarthy’s decision roiled Capitol Hill for weeks. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., eventually took the job. But Ryan was reluctant. He even put out a statement that he didn’t want it.
Others jumped in: Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., along with former Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Bill Flores, R-Texas.
But Ryan finally came around. Fox was told at the time that if Ryan hadn’t come around, "there would be blood on the floor" of the House as Republicans waged an internecine donnybrook.
Ryan remained as House speaker until he retired in early 2019. Democrats won the House in the 2018 midterms. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., returned to the speakership she held eight years before.
But Democrats lost the House in the 2022 midterms. And even though McCarthy touted a 40-plus-seat rout for the GOP, Republicans controlled the House by a thread.
Thus, it set into motion a five-day battle in early 2023 as McCarthy struggled for 15 rounds before winning the speakership. It was the longest speaker’s race since the mid-19th century.
But McCarthy was gone by early November.
Remember that "motion to vacate the chair" mentioned earlier?
Meadows never activated his motion in 2015. But former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., did in 2023.
McCarthy was done. And the House spent three weeks trying to elect a new speaker.
First they tried House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Then House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Then House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.
The House of Representatives has never quite been the same since Boehner made his surprise announcement after his encounter with Pope Francis. The speakership seems to teeter on an edge these days — at least when Republicans run the chamber. Johnson periodically endures threats to "vacate the chair." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tried to bounce him just last year.
During the speaker succession fight of 2015 and the three-week speaker debacle of 2023, friends asked if "white smoke" would emanate from the Capitol Dome. They facetiously suggested that it would signal the election of a new House speaker.
The College of Cardinals will begin a conclave in Rome in a few days to select a successor to Pope Francis. It’s a political process. Not unlike what happens in Congress when there’s a vacancy in the speakership. We’ll know there’s a new pope when white smoke wafts out of a duct atop the Sistine Chapel.
It was an important day when Pope Francis spoke to a Joint Meeting of Congress in 2015. But in sheer Congressional terms, the day afterward was seismic for the nature of the institution. Boehner’s abrupt resignation ushered in an unsettled era about who presides over the House. The visit by Pope Francis and Boehner’s departure forever melded the two together in the annals of Capitol Hill.
And as a result, whenever there’s a House speaker interregnum in the future, political observers will always look for political "white smoke" to find out if lawmakers have settled on a new leader.
