As millions of Americans gather together with loved ones to celebrate the Christmas holiday and ring in the new year, hundreds of thousands of American men and women in uniform will mark the holidays away from family in decidedly less festive corners of the world.
As of June, 165,830 U.S. service members were on deployment across the Middle East, Indo-Pacific region and Europe. That figure has likely ticked higher amid recent unrest across the Middle East, and it doesn’t include service members working at U.S. bases over the holidays and civilian personnel on overseas contracts.
Here’s a look at where service members will spend the holidays on deployment across the world:
Around 43,000 troops are stationed across the Middle East as of October, an increase from the usual 34,000 amid the recent unrest and outbreak of war between Israel and Iranian proxy forces Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Pentagon announced in October it would be moving troops into Cyprus to prepare for escalating unrest in Lebanon. And last week the Pentagon divulged that some 2,100 troops were in Syria — not the 900 they had long claimed. Another 1,000 troops are in Iraq carrying out missions to thwart ISIS.
U.S. forces are stationed across Europe to support NATO forces and deter any potential Russian aggression.
Major areas of deployment include Germany (34,894), Italy (12,319) and the United Kingdom (10,180).
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin thanked U.S. troops for serving over the holiday season in a Christmas message.
"We know firsthand the holidays can be especially hard if you're far away from your loved ones. So for our troops stationed around the globe, we deeply appreciate your sacrifice," he said. "We know that your families serve too, and our military families are the foundation of America's strength."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is calling for the swift trial, conviction, and execution of the man charged in connection with the gruesome murder of a woman burned alive on a New York City subway.
The outspoken Republican took to social media on Tuesday to address the incident, in which Guatemalan national Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is accused of setting a woman on fire while on a train in Brooklyn.
"Death penalty, don’t waste money on a lengthy trial. Convict him and finish him. What he did is so incredibly evil," Greene declared in a post on X. "I can’t watch the video anymore. And how it seems like no one tried to save her is beyond me. Maybe they did but it doesn’t seem like it."
Zapeta faces charges of first- and second-degree murder, and first-degree arson, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with no parole.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., declared in a post on X, "A woman was intentionally lit on fire on the subway today. Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies do not work."
New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch noted during remarks on Sunday that Zapeta allegedly "used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim's clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds." Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg alleged in court on Tuesday that the suspect fanned the fire with a shirt.
Zapeta's next court appearance is scheduled for December 27, according to online records.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson said in a statement that Zapeta had been removed from the U.S. in 2018 and then re-entered the country illegally at some point "on an unknown date and location."
As the smell of pine fills the air and the stockings are hung with care, some liberal media outlets served up advice that’s as hard to swallow as a dry fruitcake. Their mission? Equipping you to survive holiday conversations with Trump-supporting relatives.
From suggested scripts that sound more like hostage negotiations to icebreakers better suited for therapy sessions than a festive family gathering, here are five of the most over-the-top ideas mainstream media is dishing out to keep your Christmas "Trump-proof."
For one HuffPost contributor, the election of Trump wasn't just a political turning point – it was a holiday deal-breaker. Faced with the knowledge that her husband and his family voted for the former president, she decided to cancel both Thanksgiving and Christmas altogether. No lights, no carols, no awkward family dinners.
"But I will not give thanks and hold hands in a circle with people who voted for a party that wants to take rights away from LGBTQ people," guest contributor Andrea Tate wrote. "I will not pass the turkey to someone who supports people who have signaled they will cause harm to people with disabilities and the elderly. I will not sit by a Christmas tree celebrating the birth of Jesus and sipping eggnog when I know how many people may now find themselves in grave – even deadly – danger because they cannot get the reproductive care they need. I will not unwrap gifts given to me by people who voted for a party that has talked about building internment camps and mass deportation."
After a psychologist made headlines last month arguing people should avoid Trump-supporting relatives this holiday season, "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin agreed, saying many people feel "someone voted not only against their families but against them."
Shortly after the election, Yale University chief psychiatry resident Dr. Amanda Calhoun spoke to MSNBC host Joy Reid about how liberals who are devastated by Trump’s re-election can cope with the news, including separating from loved ones.
"There is a push, I think just a societal norm that if somebody is your family, that they are entitled to your time, and I think the answer is absolutely not," Calhoun told the talk show host. "So if you are going to a situation where you have family members, where you have close friends who you know have voted in ways that are against you, like what you said, against your livelihood, it’s completely fine to not be around those people and to tell them why, you know, to say, ‘I have a problem with the way that you voted, because it went against my very livelihood and I’m not going to be around you this holiday.’"
If your holiday feast feels more like a political debate than a festive gathering, Time magazine has your back with a list of 11 carefully crafted phrases to defuse family tension.
The top pick? A simple yet stern declaration: "I won’t be talking about politics today." Framed as a way to create a politics-free safe zone, the advice encourages setting boundaries with relatives whose views you loathe – so you can focus on what really matters.
"Emphasize that you want to keep the focus on the festivities at hand, and ask for a commitment to avoid polarizing topics. If the conversation still ends up turning in that direction, shut it down: ‘OK, that’s enough of that,’ or, ‘We’re not talking about that here today,’" the Time article states.
The Associated Press has a simple solution: take a breather. Whether the conversation veers into a political minefield or Uncle Bob just won’t stop, the AP suggests calmly excusing yourself from the fray. No need for a dramatic exit – just a composed stroll to the kitchen, the porch, or anywhere that isn’t the battlefield of your family table.
"Things getting intense? Defuse the situation. Walk away. And it doesn’t have to be in a huff. Sometimes a calm and collected time out is just what you – and the family – might need," the article recommends.
In a searing MSNBC op-ed, writer Amira Barger challenges the notion that family gatherings should always be sacred if they have different beliefs. The author doesn't differentiate between Trump-supporting family members and liberal voters.
"I have come to realize that being related by blood doesn’t necessarily mean that those gathered will protect you," Barger wrote. "Finding family isn’t always about unity, or forcing yourself to remain in a place that causes you harm. Sometimes, it’s about clarity, and the difficult choices that come with it.
"This fall, after a conversation that spanned more than 1,000 texts in various family group chats, my husband and I made the difficult decision to hold a hard and fast boundary with much of my immediate family, whose stated values and votes made it clear to us that we could not feel comfortable around them."
She adds, "These were decisions we did not make lightly or hastily, but sometimes the best course of action is, in fact, to ban the bad actors."
Fox News Digital's Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
The traditional English carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" has long been a favorite during the holiday season, standing the test of time through the centuries and inspiring amusing parodies like Bob Rivers' "Twelve Pains of Christmas."
But the song – which counts up from Christmas to Epiphany on Jan. 6 – has also become the peg for a whimsical way to gauge year-over-year inflation. Pennsylvania-based PNC Bank and other financial institutions have tracked the costs of each set of gifts from "Twelve Drummers Drumming" to a "Partridge in a Pear Tree" to see exactly how much it might cost a man to deliver each to his true love.
PNC’s Christmas Price Index indicated the overall cost of the song’s gifts increased 5.4% since 2023, totaling just under $50,000.
Meanwhile, the Texas-based business company Swyft Filings noted in 2023 that costs would also vary depending on each state. Taxes, regulations and other factors would be the most likely variables. The company found California, Hawaii and Washington to be the most expensive and Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama to be the least expensive, given that variation.
Here's a breakdown of the costs counting down from the 12th day.
12 Drummers Drumming
PNC Bank cited wage inflation as the driving factor behind the increase in renting a 12-piece drum corps this year. Their estimated cost was $4,017; an increase of 15.6% over 2023.
Several websites estimated the average cost of a drummer for two hours was between $250 and $500, depending on the set. Taking the median of that rate and multiplying by a dozen drummers places the cost around $4,500, plus gratuity, of course.
11 Pipers Piping
Eleven flutists, or hiring an 11-piece wind ensemble, bear a similar cost-per-head as drummers.
In that regard, PNC Bank estimated the same 15.6% increase as the dozen drummers, with a final cost of $3,715.
10 Lords-a-Leaping
In the British political system, a lord is a title of peerage or nobility dating back to feudal England, and the House of Lords is the current name for the upper chamber of Parliament.
Placing the phrase in an American context, it remains illegal to physically or proverbially purchase a senator for any purpose including leaping, and public corruption has often been a topic in the media.
However, some estimates have been published on what the cost would be to pay 10 senators or lords to jump.
PNC reported 10 lords-a-leaping would be the most expensive purchase of the 12, with an estimated 2024 cost of $15,579.65 – an increase of 7.2% since 2023.
Nine Ladies Dancing
According to the website GigSalad, the average cost of a dance troupe for a 30-minute performance is between $200 and $400. The freelancing platform UpWork listed dancers for hire ranging from $30 per hour to more than $100 per hour.
The median cost per dancer per hour multiplied by nine comes out to $405 for a half-hour.
In PNC’s tracking, nine ladies dancing in the form of a professional troupe would cost $8,557 for an undisclosed set time, up 3% in the past year.
Eight Maids-a-Milking
Milk prices are back on the upswing in recent months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In November, the average price-per-gallon of whole milk was $4.14, an increase from a flat $4 that time last year.
The ubiquitous beverage saw a spike during COVID and settled in the two years since, but is on the increase once more.
Adding milkmaids to the equation, PNC Bank estimated a cost of $58, unchanged from 2023.
Seven Swans-a-Swimming
One Midwest swan farm listed the price-per-bird at $400. In 2020, the city of Lakeland, Florida, was dealing with an overpopulation of about 80 swans on a lake in the community outside Tampa. The going price then was also $400, according to CNN.
Listings on BirdsNow ranged from $400 to $2500, with a pair being markedly more expensive than two individuals. Altogether, PNC estimated the total cost to exceed $13,000, with no increase over 2023.
Six Geese-a-laying
While a South Dakota goose farm listed the price of an 8- to 10-pound goose for consumption at $140 each – calculating to $8,400 for a half-dozen, the cost of live geese that can lay eggs was different.
Prices for live goslings averaged $40 each online, or $240 for six.
PNC’s Christmas index, however, calculated the full cost at $900, or 15% higher than 2023.
Five Gold Rings
On Monday, gold futures hovered around $2,600 per ounce. While PNC estimated the total cost of five gold rings to be $1,245, the actual value may vary depending on the carats, size of ring and other factors.
There is some debate over whether the original lyric is really "four colly birds" versus "four calling birds." A colly bird is a blackbird in English vernacular. The term "colly" has its roots in how something looks when blackened by coal dust.
The cost of a live blackbird is between $150 and $225, and PNC estimates four to cost just under $600 – which indicates the lower end of that price spectrum. The bank estimated the cost remained unchanged since 2023.
Three French Hens
The French Bresse hen is considered one of the most sought-after chickens in the world.
Butchers in Paris were selling French hens for €40 per kilo or about $92 per pound. Live poults purchased from farms in the United States ranged from a few dollars up to about $250 as of Monday.
In PNC’s index, the cost of three French hens increased 5% from 2023 to about $347.
Two Turtledoves
In 1992’s "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister visits "Duncan’s Toy Chest" – a play on Manhattan’s iconic FAO Schwarz department store.
The elderly owner, played by Eddie Bracken, offers Kevin any one of his store’s Christmas tree’s ornaments.
Mr. Duncan tells Kevin he should keep one turtledove and give the second to "a very special person."
"Turtledoves are a symbol of friendship and love," he explains. "As long as you each have a turtledove, you’ll be friends forever."
Kevin ultimately gives the second turtledove to Brenda Fricker’s "Pigeon Lady" at the end of the film after she helps capture the movie's villains, Daniel Stern’s Marv and Joe Pesci’s Harry.
While that cinematic pair may have been priceless, PNC’s index placed the price of a pair at $750, and European turtledoves themselves are considered a threatened species.
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree
The Home Depot listed Bartlett pear trees at about $58 this week.
Additionally, in an American context, Alaska’s state bird – the Willow Ptarmigan – is a more common type of western partridge.
"Huns" or Hungarian gray partridges were also introduced in the Lower 48’s northwest in the early 20th century.
Costs of both live ptarmigan and ptarmigan meat were unavailable on Monday, but PNC estimated the combined cost as $160. The bank reported the cost of the bird remained the same, but the pear tree increased in price since 2023.
In its reporting on its own estimations, PNC officials said on the bank’s website that the internet has made the calculation and potential availability of the items in the ancient English carol much more accessible in the 40 years it has calculated their costs.
"Believe it or not, we're still seeing the cause and effect of the pandemic-inflation hangover, even nearly five years later," PNC Asset Management Group chief investment officer Amanda Agati said in a statement.
"With years of steep price increases, we'd think inflation has nowhere to go, but we'd be wrong. This latest PNC CPI is an accurate reflection of what we're seeing in the market."
Online purchases of the lyrical items were calculated to be more expensive online than at a brick-and-mortar store due to shipping costs.
The overall cost of the 12 Days of Christmas increased 133% in the past four decades, with factors such as minimum wage increases particularly affecting the for-hire gifts such as pipers and drummers.
If an enterprising fellow were to purchase his beau the song's 364 total gifts from the 12-day giving spree, it would rise from 2023 by 3.6% to an estimated cost of $209,272.
Christmas Day is a time for Americans and others across the world who celebrate the holiday to spend time with loved ones while participating in time-honored traditions – and members of Congress are no exception.
Far away from the bustle and drama of Capitol Hill, lawmakers opened up to Fox News Digital about their favorite ways to spend the Christmas holiday, both past and present.
"Jacquie and I are excited to have the whole crew under one roof for an ice cold Minnesota Christmas, complete with four grandkids who're getting a crash course in the joy (and noise!) of an Emmer family holiday," House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital. "The Christmas Village is all set up, and ugly sweaters are a must."
In South Dakota, Republican Sen. Mike Rounds has more than 100 members of his family in attendance each year for Christmas Eve to eat homemade chicken noodle soup, his office told Fox News Digital.
"Senator Rounds’ late wife Jean was also very talented at making cross stitch and needlework art, and Senator Rounds and his children decorate the whole house with all of her handmade Christmas art," his office said.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., recalled a Christmas scavenger hunt that her parents orchestrated.
"My parents always set up a treasure hunt on Christmas Eve. My four siblings and I had to de-code a series of clues that led us to various parts of the house to find the next clue, that eventually led us to the final clue, which was where the presents we opened were found," Tenney said.
She said locations included "the trunk of the car, the dryer, or a storage closet."
"It was really fun, and my parents made the clues more and more clever and challenging each year," Tenney said. "Then we went to our neighbor's across the street for their annual Christmas Eve party. The entire neighborhood was invited. Afterward, many of us, including our Jewish neighbors, went to midnight mass at the Presbyterian Church."
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., meanwhile, said her favorite Christmas tradition was skiing with her grandchildren in Star Valley in western Wyoming.
And for Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Christmas means family dinners and board games.
"We go to Christmas Eve Mass at the parish I grew up in and go to dinner at my parents' house," Schmitt told Fox News Digital. "Larger family gets together after Christmas for [an] epic game of RISK."
Presidents have historically developed their own Christmas traditions as they make their unique marks on the White House during their terms. In recent years, Christmases have been spent in an array of places by commanders in chief, from Hawaii, to Texas to Mar-a-Lago.
President Joe Biden opted in 2021 to move his family's Christmas celebration to the White House, rather than its usual location in his home state of Delaware. The extended Biden family reportedly attended Mass on Christmas Eve and then returned to the White House where they enjoyed a pasta dinner and had a sleepover, which are traditions in the family.
Before him, former President Donald Trump — who will soon take office again — spent Christmases in Florida at his Mar-a-Lago estate, per reports. During their holidays in Florida, Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended Christmas services at a local Episcopal church in Palm Beach, where the two married in 2005.
Former President Barack Obama established a tradition as president of spending the Christmas holiday with his family in Hawaii. As reported, the president's Christmases in the state were relatively quiet, spent with friends and family. However, they established a tradition of visiting a local Marine base to thank soldiers for their service on Christmas Day.
Prior to Obama, President George Bush chose to spend his Christmases near to the nation's capital at the Camp David presidential retreat. This was something first established by his father, former President George H. W. Bush. In 2008, the Bush family reportedly celebrated what was their 12th Christmas at Camp David.
Further back, U.S. presidents have held a variety of events to mark the Christmas season at the White House, some more elaborate than others. In 1835, President Andrew Jackson famously hosted an indoor "snowball" fight for children at his "frolic" party. The party included games, dancing and a festive dinner and ended with a snowball fight, during which the participants used specially made cotton balls.
President Franklin Roosevelt had his own tradition of reading Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" aloud after a Christmas Eve meal.
According to the White House Historical Association, there is a popular myth suggesting that President Theodore Roosevelt banned trees from being cut down and placed in the White House as decoration. This was prompted in part by the fact that the Roosevelts did not mark the holiday with a tree.
The WHHA noted that Christmas trees in every home is a relatively modern tradition.
Per the association, Roosevelt's son Archie started his own tradition by sneaking a small tree into the White House and placing it in a closet. He decorated it before revealing the tree to his family and starting a new holiday tradition.
The White House announced on Christmas Eve President Joe Biden signed a bill officially designating the bald eagle as the national bird.
The bill, signed Monday after being passed unanimously by Congress, amends Title 36 of the United States Code, officially appointing the predator one of the country's national symbols.
The bald eagle, which has been featured on the Great Seal of the United States since 1782 and has its own holiday and protection act, was never technically assigned the title of "national bird."
It was, however, designated as the national emblem by the U.S. Congress in 1782, according to USA.gov. In addition to its appearance on the Great Seal, it is featured on official documents, the presidential flag, military insignia, and currency.
A document previously published by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to VA.gov improperly noted the bird as the national bird.
"Thank you to Senators Klobuchar, Lummis, Mullin and Smith, and Representatives Finstad, Craig and Emmer for their leadership," the White House wrote in a statement Tuesday announcing the signing of the bill.
"John is a highly successful entrepreneur in the automotive industry, and a champion golfer. For over thirty years, he has been an incredible leader in business in West Palm Beach, and is respected by all," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "I have known John for a long time. He will do an incredible job for our Country, and always put America FIRST."
Arrigo has been a longtime associate of Trump's, a Business Insider report said in 2021.
Farkas, a model and philanthropist, would serve America's interests in the island nation of Malta.
Farkas previously served on Trump's Commission on White House Fellowships.
In his announcement, Trump said she "has raised Millions of Dollars for charity, including for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Alzheimer’s Associate, Lighthouse Guild, the New York Women’s Foundation and, as a Trustee of the New York City Police Foundation where she has always BACKED THE BLUE."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reportedly considering a plan to help illegal immigrants and their families threatened by president-elect Trump's mass deportation plan.
A draft of the plan obtained by POLITICO, titled "Immigrant Support Network Concept," proposes the creation of an Immigrant Support Network comprised of regional hubs to "connect at-risk individuals, their families, and communities with community systems — such as legal services, schools, labor unions, local governments, etc."
Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump's representatives. Newsom's office told Fox News Digital that the draft was prepared by the California Department of Social Services and has not yet been reviewed in Sacramento.
"This document is an internal and deliberative draft document meant for internal discussions as part of a number of possible considerations given the incoming federal administration’s public remarks," Scott Murray, the Deputy Director, Public Affairs and Outreach Programs for the Department of Social Services, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "It is not a final proposal."
The draft is part of an effort by California leaders to prepare for a second Trump administration. After Trump was elected, Newsom called a special legislative session and talked of a $25 million "Trump-proof" legal defense fund.
In addition, state lawmakers were lobbying for additional funds.
Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener proposed legislation seeking $60 million, including funds to create an immigrant detention representation and coordination program, Politico reported.
Under the draft, the state Social Services Department would give state funds to eligible nonprofits and take on administrative duties for the hubs.
The draft does not indicate how much funding the plan requires. However, it said the funds would go toward "community outreach, partnership, legal services staffing positions, and approved administrative costs associated with hub operations," the Politico report said.
"The administration continues to collaborate with the Legislature to finalize a thoughtful special session funding proposal, which is on track to be signed into law before January 20, 2025," department spokesperson Theresa Mier told the publication.
President Biden on Monday vetoed a bill that would have added 66 federal district judgeships over a span of more than a decade, a once-bipartisan effort designed so that neither political party would have an advantage in molding the federal judiciary.
Three presidential administrations, beginning with the incoming Trump administration, and six Congresses would have had the opportunity to appoint the new trial court judgeships, according to the legislation, which had support from organizations representing judges and attorneys.
Despite arguments from the organizations that additional judgeships would help with cases that have seen serious delays in resolution and ease concerns over access to justice, the White House said that Biden would veto the bill.
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Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
President-elect Trump on Monday pledged to seek the death penalty for certain federal criminal defendants, days after President Biden controversially commuted the death sentences for 37 inmates.
Biden's move to reclassify the death sentences to life without the possibility of parole was heavily criticized by Republicans and many Democrats.
"As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!"
In his message announcing the move, the White House said Biden's actions would prevent the incoming Trump administration from "carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice."
Only three men on federal death row failed to meet Biden's requirements for having their sentences commuted.
They are: Robert Bowers, the Tree of Life Synagogue shooter who killed 11 people in 2018; 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 carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds.
Trump spokesman Steven Chueng on Monday said Biden's action was a "a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones."
During Trump's first term, 13 federal prisoners were put to death, the most under any president in a century. Upon taking office in 2021, Biden declared a moratorium on federal executions.
A Pennsylvania woman was arrested on felony forgery, public records tampering and voter registration-related charges based on allegations she tried to fraudulently register dead people, including her own father, to vote in the 2024 election.
Jennifer Hill, from the Chester area, was arrested Thursday and accused of attempting to add four ineligible individuals to the voter rolls, including her late father.
Delaware County's Democratic district attorney, Jack Stollsteimer, said in public remarks that Hill used an app to register 324 people as a staffer for a group called the New Pennsylvania Project.
Stollsteimer said the Pennsylvania Department of State makes the app available for legal voter registration drives. He said Hill successfully registered 181 people, but 129 other names – which he called a "big number" – were not successful.
"Literally what this woman did was to pad the numbers for her employment. She started registering people that were dead. One of them was her father."
Hill allegedly tried to register a second deceased individual, whom Stollsteimer said Hill knew was dead because they passed away in 2011 in the house she is currently living in.
"She knows that because she was the person who called the police to come when he died in her house."
"She did register a fraudulent person," Stollsteimer said, adding that particular registrant did not vote this year. The fake person’s identity was a portmanteau of her grandmother’s name and a different birthday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In addition, prosecutors charged an 84-year-old man named Philip Moss with voting both in Florida and by mail in Delaware County.
In a statement obtained by Fox News Digital, an executive at the New Pennsylvania Project called the allegations "heartbreaking" and said the group does not provide financial incentives or bonuses for additional voter registrations.
"Our employees have no quota to meet, and hourly wages paid to part-time canvassing employees remain the same no matter the number of voter registration applications collected," Kadida Kenner said.
Kenner added that the Pennsylvania Department of State notified the group about potential issues with a canvasser and the person – believed to be Hill – was immediately suspended.
"Due to the hard work of many individuals to prevent disruptive actions by bad actors, our voting rolls and elections are secure, and no fraudulent ballots were cast," she said.
"As a nonpartisan organization, our year-round voter registration efforts are not directed, in coordination, or aligned with any political party or candidate. Our registration efforts are not and will never be dictated by an election cycle," Kenner went on.
Of the nearly 10,000 applicants the group successfully canvassed for, 48% registered as Democrats, 34% as unaffiliated or third-party and 18% as Republicans.
Hill reportedly faces up to 10 counts for each of the four registrations that led to the indictment by prosecutors in Media.
The Democratic-majority Philadelphia suburb was once more a "swing" county – often voting Democratic on the presidential level while electing state legislative Republicans like then-Senate leader Dominic Pileggi in the 2000s.
But, "Delco," as it is often called, along with neighboring Chester and Montgomery Counties, has swung heavily leftward in the age of Donald Trump.
Vice President Kamala Harris won the county with 61% of the vote.
A hostage rescue operator in Syria offered a glimmer of holiday hope in the case of a missing U.S. journalist, telling Fox News Digital he believes Austin Tice is alive and is hopeful that he will be found soon.
While refusing to divulge sensitive details, Grey Bull Rescue’s Bryan Stern asserted that he has intelligence that leads him to believe the 43-year-old Marine veteran and reporter who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 is alive, or at least was up until recently.
"I would say 100%, I would bet that he is alive, or at least was as of two weeks ago," Stern told Fox News Digital from his hotel room in Syria. "I would bet that he's being cared for and tended to," he went on.
"I further submit that, he's findable," he went on. "We don’t recover dead bodies. Not to say that we wouldn’t, but we’re a nonprofit, we wouldn’t be putting resources toward that, freezing to death, missing my fourth Christmas with my family, if I didn’t believe he was alive and findable."
Stern has led high-level rescue missions in some of the most dangerous corners of the world, including Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, Israel, Haiti, Lebanon and the U.S. during natural disasters.
"We have done 12 jailbreaks from Russia," said Stern. "That is 12 more than the CIA."
The ousting of Bashar al-Assad and subsequent takeover of Syria by HTS has offered the Biden administration and Tice’s family a renewed sense of hope that the journalist could be found.
"He could have died of a stomach bug three years ago. And we just don't know. I don't think that that's the case," said Stern. "I have no reason to believe that that's the case. There's not a single piece of information, circumstantial or otherwise, that indicate anything near that. In fact, everything I have is counter to that."
The Syrian government for more than a decade refused to negotiate the release of Tice, who was abducted while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime during the early stages of the Syrian civil war, which ultimately ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted and fled to Moscow.
The mood in Syria is "cautiously happy" after decades of brutal oppression, according to Stern, and while the new governing force HTS is "not standing in the way" of finding Tice, they’re more preoccupied with learning how to govern than assisting in the search efforts.
The most likely scenario, according to Stern, is that Tice is being detained in a home in a neighborhood, looked after by Assad-friendly Alawites, the same branch of Islam as the former leader. Many of the country's prisons have now been searched or emptied and he doesn't believe President Vladimir Putin would hold Tice in Russia.
"The relationship between Assad and Putin is significantly overblown. [Assad] has been there over two weeks and they haven't even seen each other," said Stern.
"The Russians are like we don't need this problem, that is a great way to p--- off soon-to-be-President Trump, I mean who was obsessed with the Austin Tice case years ago."
Investigators believe Tice escaped years ago but was found in just such a neighborhood in Damascus and thrown back in detainment.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice office is offering a $10 million reward for any information leading to the finding of Tice, but Stern said he believes anyone with information is more driven by tribal loyalty than monetary reward.
"Assad is living the good life in the tower in Moscow. But make no mistake, he still has reach inside of Syria," said Stern. "Half of the new government were Assad guys last week."
"That tribal nexus plus the fear of Bashar Assad being able to reach out and touch people still in Syria, why would they come forward?"
Another group working with Grey Bull asserted this week that they believe Tice is alive.
"We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the U.S. said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive today," Nizar Zakka, president of Hostage Aid Worldwide, said Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
"We are trying to be as transparent as possible and to share as much information as possible."
Zakka offered little evidence to back up its statements made from a press conference in Damascus, though he reportedly used an image to demonstrate the locations where Tice was held from November 2017 to February 2024.
U.S. Hostage Aid Worldwide has engaged with Tice’s family and U.S. authorities in the hunt for Tice, and the Biden administration has echoed a message of hope that Tice is alive, despite months of little word about his whereabouts.
FIRST ON FOX: A top diplomat of the Chinese Communist Party, who recently replaced a controversial official with deep ties to top New York Democrats, recently touted his relationship with an American university president and former top education official in New Jersey.
Chen Li, who assumed the role of consul general of the People’s Republic of China in New York last month, took to social media last week to praise the "warm hospitality" he received from Kean University President Lamont Repollet.
"Absolutely overwhelmed by the warm hospitality from President Repollet. I truly felt at home on this campus," Li wrote on X. "The commitment to bilateral educational exchange and people to people connections is key to the success of Wenzhou-Kean University, a Chinese-American joint institution."
Repollet, who served as New Jersey's commissioner of education under Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy for more than two years, was seen smiling in two of the photos that Li posted. According to Repollet's Kean University biography, he was in charge of "overseeing the shift to remote education amid the COVID-19 pandemic and playing a key role in planning for the 2020-2021 school year."
Despite Biden and Trump administration officials warning about the influence of the CCP, Repollet has developed deep ties to China dating back several years, a Fox News Digital review found. He most recently visited Beijing in October of this year to give a keynote speech at the Triennial Conference of the International Association of University Presidents, which was held in Beijing.
Press releases from the conference emphasized how Repollet was passionate about equity in education and that his keynote speech highlighted how "AI is a revolutionary tool that can foster equity and transform how we engage with students and support their success."
"AI has the power to help close achievement gaps and ensure that every student, no matter their challenges, has access to high-quality educational resources," he continued. "By offering personalized learning experiences, AI empowers historically marginalized students with the tools they need to succeed."
Months earlier, Chinese state media amplified China President Xi Jinping's letter to Repollet, which was in response to a letter he sent to Xi, according to state media.
"Recently, President Xi Jinping replied to a letter from Lamont Repollet, president of Kean University of the United States, encouraging Chinese and American universities to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and contribute to China-U.S. friendship," the Chinese government said in a press release.
"Recalling witnessing the signing ceremony of the China-U.S. cooperation agreement on jointly establishing Wenzhou-Kean University in 2006 at Kean University, Xi Jinping said he is pleased to see that with the joint efforts of both sides, Wenzhou-Kean University has achieved remarkable results and become a landmark project in China-U.S. educational cooperation."
"Xi expressed appreciation for what Repollet said in his letter about deepening cooperation with Wenzhou-Kean University and encouraging American students to come to China for exchange and study, and called on universities of the two countries to step up exchanges and cooperation through different modalities to cultivate young envoys who know both countries well, and build more bridges to promote China-U.S. friendship," the statement continued.
Additionally, a press release from Wenzhou-Kean University touted Repollet's "momentous" visit to China in April 2023.
"Kean University President Lamont O. Repollet and his delegation embarked on a momentous visit to Wenzhou, marking the first visit in three years," the press release said. "This visit presented a unique opportunity to strengthen the interactions between the two universities, foster people-to-people exchanges between Zhejiang province and New Jersey in the United States, and enhance the long-standing friendship between the two countries."
The press release said Repollet arrived in China on March 20, 2023, and he "wasted no time" meeting with Wenzhou Party Secretary Shuji Liu Xiaotao.
"Mr. Liu Xiaotao expressed his hope that the two sides would continue to build a model of Sino-US cooperation in education and foster a bridge of friendly exchanges, with a bright future ahead for the university," the press release states. "President Repollet extended his heartfelt gratitude to the Wenzhou government for its unwavering support toward the construction and development of WKU."
Xiaotao has been a member of the Chinese Communist Party since 1991 and has served in various roles over the last few decades.
Additionally, a Chinese state media company held an event in New York City in September of this year that listed Repollet as a speaker where, according to a press release, he "emphasized the importance of cultural exchange and people-to-people diplomacy in fostering mutual understanding between nations."
The slate of speakers included several Chinese officials, including Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., and Shen Haixiong, the deputy minister of the publicity department of the CPC Central Committee. Haixiong also serves as the head of the China Media Group, which is a crucial media conglomerate that plays a major role in the country's state media apparatus.
While Repollet's ties to China have become stronger since he became the president of Kean University, his Facebook profile shows that he made multiple visits to China before he became the top administrator at Kean.
For example, a 2016 Facebook post shows Repollet attending Wenzhou-Kean University's inaugural commencement in China as a member of the university's board of trustees. He attended the 2017 commencement in China also, according to another Facebook post.
Prior to Chen Li taking over the top position in China's New York consulate, that position was held by Huang Ping, who has a long history of promoting CCP propaganda and calling the CCP a "great party," denying the alleged Uyghur genocide, and meeting with officials across the United States at universities, media companies and in elected office.
Ping repeatedly met with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, all Democrats. Earlier this year, Ping was referenced dozens of times in an indictment involving one of Hochul's former top aides.
Repollet also has ties to Ping dating back to 2021, according to a press release from the New York Chinese consulate. Ping and Repollet met virtually in December 2021, where Ping congratulated him on his appointment at Kean University and commended "the university for setting a good example for China-U.S. educational cooperation by its 10-year successful campus in Wenzhou, China."
"[Repollet] highly agrees that education cooperation plays a unique role in people-to-people exchange and in enhancing understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American people," the consulate's press release said. "[Repollet] confirms that the university highly values globalization and diversity, and firmly supports cooperation with China."
Months earlier, Repollet recorded a video on behalf of the New York Chinese consulate celebrating "the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China." In the video, he touted his university's "strong ties" to China and said he was "immensely grateful to our Chinese partners and to the people at Kean USA who continues to work together to help this university and especially our students thrive."
"I look forward to continuing to collaborate with our partners in China to further develop this great institution and to celebrate events like National Day In China together [and] well into the future," Repollet continued.
A 2023 Facebook post also shows Repollet participating in an event marking the final day of the Chinese New Year, which featured Ping.
Michael Sobolik, the author of "Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance," sounded the alarm about this close relationship between Repollet and China, telling Fox News Digital this relationship is a "cautionary tale."
"The university hosts a Human Rights Institute, but it makes no mention of Beijing's ongoing genocide of Uyghurs, its cultural genocide in Tibet, its political crackdown in Hong Kong, or its broader oppression of the Chinese people at home and abroad," Sobolik continued. "This is what happens when American universities partner with the Chinese Communist Party: money and market access incentivize Americans to ignore the party's atrocities and remain silent."
China's New York consulate, which has previously toed the line on the CCP's narrative while responding to multiple Fox News Digital inquiries, dismissed Sobolik's analysis by calling him a "so-called ‘expert’" that "lacks a basic understanding of China."
"The statements regarding Xinjiang, Xizang, Hong Kong, and human rights are factually incorrect and represent typical disinformation. We firmly opposes such slander and smear," the consulate continued. "Educational exchange and cooperation between China and the U.S. align with the laws and common interests of both sides, and are transparent and beyond reproach."
"Kean University is known for promoting educational equity and inclusivity, and its cooperation with China will provide more learning and development opportunities for students of all ethnic backgrounds in the U.S.," the consulate added. "We urge some people in the U.S. to remove their ‘colored glasses,’ view the cooperation objectively and positively."
Fox News Digital reached out to Kean University for comment, but did not receive a response.
President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
Biden said his administration strongly opposes the provision because it targets a group based on gender identity and "interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children." He said it also undermines the all-volunteer military's ability to recruit and retain talent.
"No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our nation," the president said in a statement.
The Senate forwarded the bill to Biden after passing it last week by a vote of 85-14. In the House, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill after House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on adding the provision to ban transgender medical care for children. The legislation easily passed by a vote of 281-140.
Biden also objected to other language in the bill prohibiting the use of money earmarked to transfer detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to some foreign countries and into the United States. He urged Congress to lift those restrictions.
The annual defense authorization bill, which directs Pentagon policy, provides a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others.
The legislation also directs resources towards a more confrontational approach to China, including establishing a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan in much the same way that the U.S. has backed Ukraine. It also invests in new military technologies, including artificial intelligence, and bolsters the U.S. production of ammunition.
The U.S. has also moved in recent years to ban the military from purchasing Chinese products, and the defense bill extended that with prohibitions on Chinese goods from garlic in military commissaries to drone technology.
The legislation still must be backed up with a spending package.
New York’s last Republican governor said this week that sanctuary jurisdictions are reminiscent of the Confederate states that balked at federal law and waged war against the Union.
Former Gov. George Pataki was speaking with businessman and 2013 New York City GOP mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis on 77WABC radio when he was asked about the state of the Big Apple in that regard.
"Right now, I'm concerned and people are concerned and rightfully so. But it comes down to leadership. We've had worse times in the past. I remember back in the '60s and then in the early '80s. And things got infinitely better," Pataki said.
"And it comes down to having the right people with the right policies running the city, running the state and running the country. I think we're going to have the right policies in Washington. Now we just need to have the right leadership doing the right thing in Albany and in New York City."
Catismatidis said Trump has "put his foot down" against sanctuary policies, and quipped that he now has a "very large-sized shoe" given his overwhelming electoral victory.
Pataki agreed, adding that if the U.S. is to be based on the rule of law, it should apply equally everywhere.
"Cities or states that can pretend that the federal rules don't apply to them are just violating the Constitution and violating our freedom… We had a Civil War over this," he said. "And, it became plain that under the Constitution, every city, every state has to follow the law of this country."
Prior to the war-triggering attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, President James Buchanan, a Pennsylvania Democrat, was critical of Republican abolitionists and lamented his home state's opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law.
Following Illinois Republican Abraham Lincoln's 1860 victory, southern states began to secede, which Buchanan opposed, while believing a military response was the wrong option. The election of Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery into federal territories, alarmed Deep South states, with South Carolina leading the way in declaring secession from the Union on Dec. 20, 1860.
Pataki went on to say the nation’s largest city is bucking the feds in that regard, along with Los Angeles and other cities.
"Trump must make them follow the law or cut off all federal funding. And I think that would be a very positive step to bring America together and to bring us forward," he said.
The two discussed how New York City Council enacted a sanctuary city policy, and whether the state or federal government may step in against it.
"I think [Mayor Eric] Adams may go along with [Trump intervention]," Pataki predicted, as other observers have viewed the mayor as being critical of sanctuary city policy but hamstrung by the 45-6 Democratic-majority city council.
The former governor said he is optimistic about the New Year and that Trump must "dramatically reform" Washington instead of "tinker[ing] around the edges."
He noted Trump does have limits, in that he cannot statutorily rein in New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg or other far-left officials.
Current Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has clashed with the MAGA wing of the Republican Party at times, once vociferously opposed another predecessor’s successful bid to make illegal immigrants eligible to receive driver’s licenses.
In 2007, Hochul balked at Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s policy while she was serving as clerk of Erie County – which includes Buffalo.
However, when she became governor upon the resignation of Andrew Cuomo, she reversed course.
In November, Hochul indicated she would be the "first one" to call Immigration & Customs Enforcement to help the feds capture migrants or illegal immigrants accused of another crime and "get them out of here."
However, she maintained during her remarks in Queens that she supports helping otherwise law-abiding migrants find work in New York.
Trump’s pick for "border czar," Tom Homan, notably hails from the Watertown area and has condemned his home state’s current policies.
President-elect Trump pledged this week to undo former President Obama’s 2015 decision to change the name of North America’s tallest peak to its Koyukon Athabascan name "Denali," meaning "High One" or "Great One."
Speaking to conservatives at a Phoenix conference, Trump made the pledge and noted President William McKinley was also a Republican who believed in tariffs. He first promised to undo Obama's action in August 2015 and called it an "insult to Ohio," where McKinley was born and raised.
During his Phoenix remarks, he also pledged to undo Democrats’ rebranding of southern military bases named for Confederates – like Fort Liberty in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which was formerly named after Gen. Braxton Bragg.
The 20,320-foot mountain was first dubbed Mount McKinley in 1896 by gold prospector William Dickey, after learning the Ohioan had won the GOP presidential nomination – and as a swipe at silver prospectors he met who preferred Democrat William Jennings Bryan and his plan for a silver standard for the dollar.
Six months into his second term, McKinley was visiting Buffalo, New York, when anarchist laborer Leon Czolgosz assassinated him in a gladhanding line. Czolgosz believed the root of economic inequality stood with the government and was reportedly inspired by the 1900 assassination of Italian King Umberto I.
However, many Alaskans have appeared to prefer the historic name Denali:
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski told KTUU that Trump’s plan to bring back "Mt. McKinley" is an "awful idea."
"We already went through this with President Trump back and at the very, very beginning of his first term," she said Monday.
Murkowski said both she and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, – who originally hails from McKinley’s Ohio – support the name Denali.
"[Denali] is a name that has been around for thousands of years… North America’s tallest mountain – shouldn’t it have a name like ‘The Great One’?" Murkowski added.
In 2015, Sullivan told the Anchorage Daily News that "Denali belongs to Alaska and its citizens" and that the naming rights are held by Alaskan Natives.
In a statement to KTUU this week, a spokesperson for Sullivan said he, "like many Alaskans prefers the name that the very tough, very strong, very patriotic Athabascan people gave" the peak.
Meanwhile, then-Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, spent decades in Congress preventing any name change from McKinley to Denali – as the namesake president hailed from his Canton district.
Regula, who died in 2017, lambasted Obama over the name change, saying he "thinks he is a dictator."
Appearing to cite his own work presenting procedural roadblocks and language added to Interior-related bills, Regula said Obama could not change such a law "by a flick of his pen."
However, some Ohio officials have also been deferential to the will of Alaskans.
Current Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told the Dayton Daily News in 2015 that if Denali is what Alaskans want, then he in turn understood, as he wouldn’t want Alaskans dictating Ohio name changes.
"So, I guess we shouldn't tell people in Alaska should do in their own state. But I'm a big fan of Canton and McKinley and I'm glad that he's getting talked about some more," he said at the time.
A top ally of President Biden is "disappointed" after he vetoed a bill that would have increased the number of federal judges currently serving.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who served as a campaign co-chair for both of Biden's recent presidential campaigns, stressed that he and his Republican colleague Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., kept bipartisanship top of mind when crafting the bill.
"I am disappointed by this outcome, for my own state and for the federal judges throughout the country struggling under the burden of ever-higher caseloads. I’ve worked on this bill for years, and thanks to tireless bipartisan effort with Senator Young, it made it to the president’s desk. It’s highly unfortunate that it will not become law," Coons said in a statement on Tuesday.
He then put the blame on House Republicans for the bill's ultimate failure, however, for voting on it after the 2024 election.
"Senator Young and I took pains to make this a nonpartisan process, structuring the JUDGES Act so that Congress could pass the bill before any of us – Republican or Democrat – knew who would occupy the White House in 2025 and therefore nominate the new federal judges," Coons said.
"The Senate did its part by passing the bill unanimously in August; the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, however, waited for election results before moving the bill forward. As a result, the White House is now vetoing this bill."
Republicans in turn have accused Biden of making threats to veto the bill – which he issued two days before the House voted on it – to avoid giving President-elect Trump new roles to fill.
"This important legislation garnered broad, bipartisan support when it unanimously passed the Senate in August because it directly addresses the pressing need to reduce case backlogs in our federal courts and strengthen the efficiency of our judicial system," Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out in a statement after the bill passed earlier this month.
"At that time, Democrats supported the bill – they thought Kamala Harris would win the presidency. Now, however, the Biden-Harris administration has chosen to issue a veto threat and Democrats have whipped against this bill, standing in the way of progress, simply because of partisan politics."
The bill would have added 66 federal district judicial roles, spreading their creation out over more than 10 years to prevent a boon on new appointments for any one administration.
At the time of its Senate passage, Democrats' morale was high after Biden ducked out of the 2024 race and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris.
It passed the Senate with unanimous consent, however, meaning no Republicans objected to the legislation's advancement.
A group of 51 bipartisan lawmakers is urging House negotiators to keep up the flow of dollars to a visa program for Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover of their country.
Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, wrote to the House of Representatives' top appropriators as they continue to negotiate federal funding for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025.
"We write to urge you to maintain critical provisions for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program1 in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations package. Authorizing new Afghan SIVs is critical to vetting and relocating qualified Afghan principal applicants currently in the processing pipeline," they wrote to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., and others.
It comes as President-elect Trump promised to work toward steep spending cuts in the coming federal funding fights. He wrote on Truth Social last week, "The United States will cut Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in spending next year through Reconciliation!"
People in Trump's orbit, including some House Republicans, are pushing for him to have greater control over how congressionally appropriated funds are spent.
Meanwhile, Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy last month to lead an advisory panel on cost-cutting dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The duo have already positioned themselves as influential players in Congress' spending discussions as well, having led the revolt against a 1,547-page government funding bill that was a product of bipartisan negotiations. They have not, however, said where they want to see Congress pull back on spending.
The 51 lawmakers pushing for the Afghan SIV program to be preserved argue it is "a life-saving path to safety for Afghan nationals who face serious danger as a result of their work alongside U.S. troops, diplomats, and contractors."
"Congress must continue this work so that the State Department is able to issue visas to eligible Afghans who face imminent threats from the Taliban, Islamic State, and other hostile groups because of their service to the U.S. and our allies," they wrote.
The Afghan SIV program was first enacted in 2009, but saw new importance after the Taliban's lightening-fast takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 – which precipitated the U.S.'s withdrawal after decades in the Middle Eastern country.
Congress authorized additional visas under the program every year since FY 2019, according to the letter.
Congressional negotiators have so far failed to come to an agreement on FY 2025 spending, forcing lawmakers to pass two extensions of last year's funding levels to prevent a partial government shutdown.
The most recent extension, called a continuing resolution (CR), gives lawmakers until March 14 to make a deal.
Several prominent California Democrats are calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to approve a grant application for $536 million in federal funds to move forward with the state’s long-awaited high-speed rail network.
The monies would come from funds already allocated in general to "federal-state partnership[s] for intercity passenger rail grants" through the 2021 "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law" and made available via the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.
Democrats urged Secretary Pete Buttigieg to approve the funds, saying progress on the "California Phase I Corridor" is "essential to enhancing our nation’s and California’s strategic transportation network investments."
"The Phase 1 Corridor aims to address climate concerns, promote health, improve access and connectivity, and boost economic vitality, while addressing current highway and rail capacity constraints," a letter to the outgoing Cabinet member read.
Drafted by Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, Sen. Alex Padilla, and California Democratic Reps. Jim Costa, Zoe Lofgren and Pete Aguilar, the letter calls for the funds to go to two projects in particular: tunneling through the Tehachapi Mountains in Southern California and through the Pacheco Pass of the Diablo Mountains in Northern California.
"These investments will continue to support living wage jobs, provide small business opportunities, and equitably enhance the mobility of communities in need – including disadvantaged agricultural communities – all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Schiff and the other lawmakers wrote.
"Please consider the enormous value and meaningful impact that FSP-National grant funding will provide to advancing CAHSR beyond the Central Valley," they told Buttigieg.
The bores are needed, the lawmakers said, to connect with other intercity passenger rail systems including the Brightline West, CalTrain, Metrolink and Altamont Commuter Express.
According to California Republicans, the overall high-speed rail project is nearly $100 billion over budget and decades behind schedule.
Trump’s DOGE duo of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy aren’t keen on the idea of continuing to fund what many Republicans consider a costly and unfruitful endeavor.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., said as much earlier this month in remarks on the House floor.
"I am very happy to report that the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency has honed-in on perhaps the single greatest example of government waste in United States history – and that is California’s high-speed-rail boondoggle," Kiley said.
The official DOGE X account also described both California’s high-speed rail expenditures and requested funding in a November tweet.
Earlier this month, Ramaswamy also called the plans a "wasteful vanity project" that burned "billions in taxpayer cash with little prospect of completion in the next decade."
He said Trump "correctly" rescinded $1 billion in federal funding for the project in 2019 and lamented President Biden’s reversal of that move.
"Time to end the waste," Ramaswamy said.
California’s top state Senate Republican echoed the DOGE leaders’ concerns.
"California's 'train to nowhere' has already wasted billions of taxpayer dollars – now Biden wants all Americans to fund this boondoggle," State Sen. Brian W. Jones of San Diego told Fox News Digital.
"When President Trump returns to office in a few weeks, he must defund the high-speed rail. This wasteful government experiment must end once and for all," he added.
If approved, the federal funds will be bolstered by $134 million in state monies from California’s "cap & trade" program, according to the Sacramento Bee.
At a 2013 conference, Musk floated the idea of a "hyperloop" which was also presented in a white paper. Though it has not yet come to fruition, Musk said at the time he had thought whether there is a better way to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco than what California has proposed.
"The high-speed rail that’s being proposed would actually be the slowest bullet train in the world and the most expensive per-mile," he said. "Isn’t there something better that we can come up with?"
The world’s richest man described Hyperloop at the time as a combination of a Concorde, a rail gun and an air-hockey table.
