President-elect Trump appears to have helped Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., avoid a messy, drawn-out fight to lead the House of Representatives.
Trump spoke by phone with both Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Keith Self, R-Texas, after they had initially voted for people other than Johnson for speaker, two knowledgeable sources told Fox News Digital.
Self and Norman were seen disappearing into a side room with Johnson and others after the roll call vote was complete, but before the vote was formally closed.
They emerged minutes later and announced they would both vote for Johnson – cementing the Louisiana Republican's victory.
Self then confirmed to reporters that he had spoken with Trump by phone multiple times on Friday.
"I talked to him a couple of times today," Self said. "We had a lively discussion."
Self did not elaborate much further on the contents of the discussion.
But the two people who spoke with Fox News Digital said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., connected Trump with Self and Norman by phone after they voted against Johnson.
Mace would not comment, but Fox News Digital saw her and Johnson share a hug on the House floor after they and others were in the side room with the holdouts.
She was also seen in intense talks with Norman off the House floor earlier.
Norman also later confirmed to reporters that he spoke with Trump on Friday.
"He just made his point about how Mike is the only one who could get elected," Norman said, adding that Trump did not change his vote but rather a "commitment that things are gonna change" from Johnson.
Johnson won the House speakership in the first round of voting, after it initially appeared he was poised to lose.
Self, Norman and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., each voted for people other than Johnson, appearing to put the speaker's gavel out of reach.
But House leaders did not formally close the vote while figuring out a path forward. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers were told to be on the House floor immediately in preparation for a second vote.
That second vote did not occur, however, and Johnson was sworn in as speaker on Friday afternoon.
FIRST ON FOX: President-elect Trump reacted to Mike Johnson’s re-election as speaker of the House, telling Fox News Digital the process brought House Republicans "even closer together," and said it is a continuation of "Make America Great Again."
Sources told Fox News Digital that the president-elect was in "constant communication" with House Republicans throughout the process. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said it was "a great honor to have helped."
"It is all a great continuation of ‘Make America Great Again,’" Trump said.
"Mike Johnson will do a fabulous job as speaker," Trump said. "House Republican membership was fantastic."
"This process has brought them even closer together," he said. "It is all a reflection of the great presidential election of 2024 where we won all seven swing states, the popular vote and everything else there is to win."
"We will all be working together with total benefit going to the people of our nation," he said. "Our country will be run with strength and common sense again."
Speaker-designate Mike Johnson, R-La., was re-elected to lead the House of Representatives on Friday.
The Louisiana Republican won along party lines during the first round of voting, a stark contrast to his predecessor’s drawn-out, 15-round battle in 2023.
It comes despite saber-rattling by some conservatives who threatened to withhold support from Johnson in protest of his handling of government funding and several other issues in the 118th Congress.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who was part of an unsuccessful push to oust Johnson last year, was the speaker-designate’s most vocal critic leading up to the Friday vote.
He told former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on his new One America News Network program, "You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers."
"I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow, and you can take that to the bank," Massie said.
Other detractors included members of the House Freedom Caucus like Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who has expressed interest in chairing the influential House Rules Committee, the panel that directs terms for House-wide votes on legislation.
Johnson's allies warned in return that a prolonged House Speaker fight could delay Congress' joint session to certify President-elect Donald Trump's victory, slated for Jan. 6.
Johnson also had a key backer in Trump, who emphasized his support for the GOP leader hours before the midday vote.
"Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support. A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129 year most consequential Presidential Election!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social app.
Johnson wrote on X in response, "Thank you, President Trump! Today is a new day in America. Congressional Republicans must stay united to quickly deliver President Trump’s America First agenda. Let’s get it done."
His victory marks the start of his first full term as speaker. Johnson won the gavel in October 2023 after three weeks of closed-door talks following the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Washington state Democrats appeared to have accidentally emailed their sweeping revenue plans and internal talking points on tax hikes to the entirety of the upper chamber's members in Olympia, Fox News has learned.
Property tax hikes and a new double-digit tax on firearms are among proposals Washington state Democrats are considering, according to materials originally disseminated to all members by Washington Senate Deputy Floor Leader Noel Frame, D-Seattle, in late December and later obtained by Fox News Digital.
A document titled "2025 Revenue Options" and a PowerPoint presentation describing how to talk to constituents in defense of the plan were included in the messages.
The document lists proposed figures for an 11% tax on ammunition and firearms, reclassifying storage unit rentals as a retail transaction and a lift on the property tax levy lid for certain Washingtonians.
A PowerPoint slide, highlighted by Seattle radio host Jason Rantz, described the "Best way to talk taxes" — with a chart of do’s and don’ts for lawmakers.
Do say: "Pay what they owe" — but Don’t say: "Tax the rich" or "pay their fair share" because "taxes aren’t a punishment," the graph read.
It also suggested using the terms "funding," "providing" and "ensuring" when describing the apparent benefits of tax hikes, rather than the term "investing in [X]."
"Avoid centering the tax or talking in vague terms about ‘the economy’ or ‘education.’"
One of the new proposals is that of a "capital assets ownership tax."
It is described as similar to property taxes, but instead would extend the real estate-type tax to holdings in stocks, bonds and other financial instruments.
"We can ensure that extremely wealthy Washingtonians are taxed on their assets just like middle-class families are already taxed on theirs," the slide reads.
Another line directs lawmakers to proverbially "identify the villain" that is blocking "progress" and lay out "how we can take action to solve the issue."
"We have an upside-down tax code that benefits big corporations and the wealthiest few, that was written 100 years ago and desperately needs an update for the 21st century. If we ensure Washington’s wealthiest pay what they truly owe in taxes, the rest of us will have what we need — like affordable health care, housing, and food."
Rantz said in a column for MyNorthwest.com that the plans accidentally shared present a "direct contradiction" to promises from Democrats during the election cycle and lay out 10 total new taxes on residents.
"These proposals come at a time when the state has seen years of record revenue," Rantz said, going on to claim some of the "tax schemes" may also be unconstitutional.
He added that capital gains taxes actually discourage growth and potentially lead to reduced job opportunities for the same workers pro-tax Democrats claim to want to help.
One example he presented was the departure of Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos from Washington state. Upon establishing his new Florida residency, one of America’s richest men saved about $1 billion in taxes that also no longer go toward funding the Evergreen State’s programs.
Rantz added that the Washington state Democratic electorate often decries the affordability crisis but then goes on to re-elect the same politicians that exacerbate it.
Additionally, as Democratic Gov.-elect Robert Ferguson is set to take office later this month, State Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, slammed outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee’s 2025 budget proposal.
"This budget is not a serious proposal," said Couture, the House budget panel’s top Republican.
"Our state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem," he said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Frame for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
Separate ethics complaints filed by members of Congress and an advocacy group against Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson will not be referred to the Justice Department, federal court officials announced.
The U.S. Judicial Conference said Thomas has agreed to follow update guidelines on listing free private travel and gifts from friends, following previous reporting on undisclosed hospitality.
For her part, Jackson has amended her financial disclosures following complaints about her husband’s consulting income as a physician.
Democratic senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), had asked for an investigation by the judiciary itself into undisclosed hospitality provided to Thomas by billionaire friend Harland Crow. ProPublica had reported on several instances of private travel and lodging over the years.
Judge Robert Conrad—who heads the judicial conference policymaking body said in letters to the lawmakers that Thomas had filed amended financial disclosures "that address several issues identified in your letter."
And Conrad said that it was not clear whether the judiciary itself could make criminal referrals against a sitting Supreme Court member.
"Because the Judicial Conference does not superintend the Supreme Court and because any effort to grant the Conference such authority would raise serious constitutional questions, one would expect Congress at a minimum to state any such directive clearly. But no such express directive appears in this provision," Conrad said.
Conrad noted that Whitehouse and Wyden had separately asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to name a special counsel to investigate Trump. Garland has not acted yet on that request.
Whitehouse in a statement criticized the Judicial Conference’s decision.
"By all appearances, the judicial branch is shirking its statutory duty to hold a Supreme Court justice accountable for ethics violations," said Whitehouse.
The complaint filed against Jackson came from Citizens for Renewing America, led by Russ Vought, who was nominated by President-elect Trump to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Questions over ethics-- including unreported private travel by some justices, have led the court to adopt its first code of ethics last year.
But compliance is left to each of the nine justices, leading to concerns the court is not taking its own ethics enforcement standards seriously.
A two-year investigation by Senate Democrats released last week found additional luxury travel by Justice Thomas in 2021 was not noted on his annual financial disclosure form.
Fix the Court, a group which advocates for greater judicial transparency, urged Congress to act.
"The Conference’s letters further underscore the need for Congress to create a new and transparent mechanism to investigate the justices for ethics violations since the Conference is unwilling to act upon the one method we had presumed existed to do that," said Executive Director Gabe Roth.
On his way out the door, then-North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of 15 individuals on the Tarheel State’s death row.
Cooper, a Democrat whose name has been floated as one of the party’s topline names for the 2028 presidential contest, acted similarly to outgoing President Biden – who caught heat last week for commuting sentences for almost all federal death row inmates.
"These reviews are among the most difficult decisions a governor can make and the death penalty is the most severe sentence that the state can impose," Cooper said in a statement.
"After thorough review, reflection, and prayer, I concluded that the death sentence imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while ensuring they will spend the rest of their lives in prison."
No executions have occurred in North Carolina since 2006 due to ongoing litigation.
One of the inmates who saw his sentence commuted to life was felony murder inmate Hasson Bacote. Bacote had originally filed suit in 2010 challenging his death sentence under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act – which reportedly allows defendants to challenge sentences if they can determine racial bias.
Bacote, who is Black, had been convicted of shooting an 18-year-old by a White-majority Johnston County jury.
Rayford Burke, an Iredell County murder convict who received a commutation, also reportedly sought relief under the Racial Justice Act, according to WCNC.
Another commutation recipient, Christopher Roseboro, has been in prison for about 30 years. In 1994, Roseboro was indicted on first-degree rape and other charges stemming from allegations he and another man robbed an elderly neighbor who was later found dead along with evidence she had been sexually assaulted.
The co-defendant, Roger Bell, is already serving a life sentence.
A Union County man, Darrell Strickland, was convicted of manslaughter following a tragic Jan. 1, 1995 argument. He also saw his sentence commuted to life without parole.
Vincent Wooten, a Pitt County man sentenced for the 1993 murder of Edward Wilson, also saw his sentence commuted, according to the Greenville Daily Reflector.
Wooten, then 20, saw evidence presented at his trial alleging he shot Wilson with a modified-to-automatic AR-15 rifle after a safe, filled with cocaine and cash, was stolen from the mother of Wooten’s girlfriend.
Another commuted convict, Guy T. LeGrande, had been sent to prison following a murder-for-hire incident. LeGrande was later diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to Mother Jones, and had previously claimed to be able to communicate with Oprah Winfrey through a television.
Cooper’s commutations follow Biden’s flurry of orders reclassifying death sentences to life without parole for 37 convicts.
"President Biden has dedicated his career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system," the White House said in a December statement.
"He believes that America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder – which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases."
"I resolved not to squander this act of mercy, this grace of life. I resolved to be part of Biden's legacy—by the way I contribute to the betterment of society and prisons," Rejon Taylor told Newsweek.
"Biden doesn't realize this now, but his act of mercy will resound through me, bearing fruit that will outlive his time on this earth."
Some of Biden’s other commutations, including a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, judge jailed in a "kids-for-cash" scandal where juveniles were aggressively prosecuted and sent to for-profit prisons, have sparked bipartisan outrage.
Cooper’s 77 total pardons and commutations over his two terms, however, are dwarfed by the nearly 700 from fellow Democratic Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., who served four terms in two non-consecutive eight-year periods, according to NC Newsline.
Only three men remain on federal death row after Biden’s actions: Robert Gregory Bowers, Dzhokar Anzorovich Tsarnaev and Dylann Storm Roof. Bowers was convicted in the 2018 Pennsylvania synagogue shooting, Roof massacred several Black churchgoers in South Carolina and Tsarnaev – along with his now-deceased brother Tamerlan — masterminded the Boston Marathon bombing.
Then-North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, was sworn into the governor's office to succeed Cooper in Raleigh on Wednesday.
The FBI has remained silent on whether it will fire or discipline the agent who initially told the media and public that the shocking New Year's Day attack in New Orleans was "not a terrorist event," before the agency quickly backtracked and reported the attack was in fact under investigation as a terror incident.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI's press office and press secretary on Thursday and Friday, inquiring whether New Orleans field office FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan would face termination or disciplinary action over her initial claim the attack was not connected to terrorism, but did not receive replies. Fox Digital also called the FBI press office on Friday morning but could not leave a message regarding the inquiry as the voicemail box was full.
After chaos unfolded on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning as New Year's revelers celebrated the holiday, Duncan spoke during a press conference, declaring the attack was not connected to terrorism.
"We'll be taking over the investigative lead for this event. This is not a terrorist event," Duncan said during the presser.
During that same press conference, however, the mayor of New Orleans told the media and public that the city did in fact suffer a terror attack.
"Know that the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack. It's all still under investigation," Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat who has served in the role since 2018, said at the presser.
On Thursday, the FBI responded to Fox Digital's request for comment regarding criticisms surrounding Duncan's initial assessment that the attack was not connected to terrorism, detailing to Fox Digital that, on the day of the attack, the FBI released three different statements that all said that the FBI was investigating the incident as an act of terrorism.
"This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism," the FBI said in one of the statements provided to Fox Digital.
Duncan also said in subsequent press conferences that the attack is being investigated as an act of terror.
The FBI confirmed this week that the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, had an ISIS flag in his truck at the time of the attack. The FBI added Thursday that Jabbar had been "inspired" by ISIS but that they have not found any evidence that he was directed by ISIS to carry out the rampage.
Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran from Texas, was killed after exchanging gunfire with police after plowing a truck through crowds of people.
Conservative lawmakers, Trump allies and voters have slammed the FBI for its handling of the investigation, including Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, arguing that the FBI has put a heightened focus on DEI practices rather than fighting crime.
"The FBI has a no-fail mission. There is no room for error. When they fail, Americans die. It's a necessity that Kash Patel gets confirmed ASAP," a source close to President-elect Donald Trump added in criticism to Fox News Digital on Thursday morning.
FIRST ON FOX: Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday demanding answers regarding the top federal law enforcement agency’s "radical" DEI practices following the shocking New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans.
"While the facts surrounding this unconscionable attack continue to emerge, what we know is deeply troubling: the suspect was in possession of weapons, improvised explosive devices, and an ISIS flag. This horrific incident constitutes a blatant act of terror on the American homeland, and the people of our country deserve to know whether federal law enforcement agencies can sufficiently prevent and respond to such incidents," Blackburn wrote in her letter to Wray on Friday, which was exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.
"To that end, I am deeply concerned that—under your leadership—the Bureau has prioritized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives over its core mission of protecting the American people," the Tennessee senator continued.
Chaos broke out on New Orleans's famed Bourbon Street just after 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, when a truck plowed through crowds of revelers celebrating the holiday. At least 14 people were killed and 30 others injured.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a twice-divorced Army veteran from Texas, was armed with a Glock and a .308 rifle during the attack. He was killed after opening fire on police.
After the attack unfolded on Wednesday morning, Blackburn took to social media to call for the confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, and to admonish current leadership at the agency for allegedly putting a greater focus on DEI practices than "fighting criminals and terrorists."
In her letter to Wray on Friday, Blackburn cited a recent report from a group of retired FBI agents who found "law enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading because the FBI is no longer hiring ‘the best and the brightest’ candidates," as well as the hiring of a Chief Diversity Officer at the FBI in 2021, as well as the New Orleans field office hosting a "Diversity Agent Recruiting Event" in July as evidence of the agency’s heightened focus on DEI.
"Most recently, in a striking example of tone deafness, the New Orleans FBI Field office thought it important to brag on X about how many bracelets its agents had collected. Your decision to prioritize politics, pop culture, or almost anything else over your mission to protect the public has put Americans in harm’s way, and the January 1 terror attack was the inevitable consequence," Blackburn wrote in her letter.
"Put simply, your focus on woke DEI initiatives at the FBI has endangered our national security and the lives of all Americans. Americans now feel increasingly unsafe because of incidents like the January 1 terror attack, and the FBI’s prioritization of diversity over competence shows that their concerns are well founded. Fortunately, the American people have spoken, and President Trump will soon bring law and order back to our nation," Blackburn continued.
The FBI took the lead on the case Wednesday, first landing in hot water with Trump allies and voters, including for initially reporting to the public that the attack was not an instance of terrorism.
"We'll be taking over the investigative lead for this event. This is not a terrorist event," said New Orleans field office FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan during a Wednesday morning press conference.
During that same press conference, however, the Democratic mayor of New Orleans contradicted Duncan’s comment and minced no words in detailing that the city faced an act of terror.
When asked about Duncan's comment, the FBI directed Fox News Digital on Thursday to three press releases published the day before, detailing that the attack was being investigated as a terror incident. The press releases also detailed that an ISIS flag was found in the suspect’s truck.
"This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism," the FBI said in one of its three statements provided to Fox Digital.
Blackburn continued in her letter to Wray with five questions surrounding the FBI’s DEI hiring practices, including: How many FBI employees have been hired based on the Bureau’s DEI initiatives; how the DEI initiatives are funded and if any of the FBI’s funds were reallocated to such initiatives; as well as how many individuals were hired during the New Orleans field office’s Diversity Agent Recruiting Event in July.
"Has the Bureau recently terminated the employment of any FBI agents who assist the FBI’s National Security Branch counterterrorism and intelligence components?" Blackburn asked in her final questions. "In the online posting about the July 17 event, FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil is quoted as stating that "the diversity of our staff is the most valuable resource we have in . . . keeping Americans safe." Do you agree with that statement?"
Wray announced that he would step down from the FBI at the end of President Biden’s term this month, after Trump nominated Kash Patel to the role. Wray was first nominated under the first Trump administration and was in the midst of a 10-year term that would not have ended until 2027.
"Until the President-Elect’s nominee to lead the FBI is confirmed, the American people deserve to know the full extent to which your radical DEI agenda has compromised our national security," Blackburn wrote to Wray, calling on him to answer her questions by Jan. 10.
A strong majority of Americans believe that President-elect Donald Trump will control illegal immigration, as the president-elect eyes a historic mass deportation campaign and additional border security measures when he takes office this month.
A Gallup poll released Thursday found that 68% of Americans predict that Trump will control illegal immigration. Just 28% of those polled said he would not.
Trump made tackling illegal immigration the cornerstone of his presidential bid, as the country reeled from a historic migrant crisis at the southern border.
"We're going to fix our borders. We're going to fix everything about our country," he said after winning the election in November.
Trump has promised to launch the "largest domestic deportation operation in American history."
The former president has also promised to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to "remove all known or suspected Gang Members, drug dealers, or Cartel Members from the United States" and shift law enforcement to immigration enforcement. He has also promised to resume construction of a wall at the southern border. Construction started in his first administration but was largely stopped by the Biden administration.
Fox Digital has previously reported on plans to increase the use of ankle monitors among those unable to be detained and the possibility of expanding immigration detention near major metropolitan areas. Trump has appointed former acting ICE Director Tom Homan as border czar and nominated South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be the next Homeland Security secretary.
Other issues which those polled believe Trump will find success with include reducing unemployment (60%), keeping the U.S. safe from terrorism (60%), improving the economy (58%) and keeping the country out of war (55%).
Majorities also believe that Trump will cut taxes, reduce the crime rate and "increase respect for the United States abroad."
Those polled were less convinced, however, that Trump will improve healthcare (40%), improve the environment (35%) and heal political divisions in the country (33%).
A Fox News Poll in December found that a majority of voters were excited about the incoming administration. At least half said they were hopeful (54%) or relieved (50%), and just under half feel excited (48%).
The survey found the economy remains the most important issue (34%), with immigration and border security a distant second (21%). No other issue reached double digits, including abortion (7%), which was a top issue all year.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who unsuccessfully sought to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from the speakership last year, said that she will vote on Friday for Johnson to retain the gavel.
Last year, the congresswoman lambasted Johnson as "the Uniparty Speaker," asserting that he "is exactly what is wrong with the Republican establishment" and had "done nothing for conservatives and given everything to Joe Biden and Democrats."
But she now plans to vote on Friday for Johnson to remain in the leadership post.
"Let's put aside our pride, let's put aside our egos, and let's put aside the infighting," she said in a video, adding that it is time for the GOP to join together and "do whatever it takes to make sure that we deliver the mandate that the American people told us to do."
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who supported the effort to oust Johnson last year, has declared that he will not support the speaker's bid to remain in the role.
"You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers, I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow," Massie declared during an appearance on "The Matt Gaetz Show."
President-elect Donald Trump endorsed Johnson for the job earlier this week.
"Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement," Trump declared in a Truth Social post.
Johnson's path to victory is precarious, and could be derailed if another Republican opts to join Massie in opposing Johnson's bid.
Fox News Senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has explained, "The winning candidate must secure an outright majority of all Members voting for a candidate by name."
Pergram described a possible scenario in which just two Republicans could prevent Johnson from reaching the threshold necessary to win.
"So let’s say there are 434 members and all vote for someone by name. The magic number is 218. If Johnson gets the votes of all 219 Republicans, he wins. If Johnson gets 218 votes, he also wins. But 217? No dice," Pergram noted.
During an interview on Fox Business' "Kudlow," Johnson indicated that he believes he'll win the gavel in the first round of voting and is "hopeful" about that outcome.
Former President Jimmy Carter served just a single term in the White House, but it proved to be an impactful one for the federal courts, which saw the appointment of more than 260 federal judges across the country, including some who would go on to wield considerable influence in the nation's top courts.
His appointments were barrier-breaking and diverse, helping reshape the federal bench and paving the way for women and minorities to serve on the Supreme Court.
Here are just some of the ways Carter helped reshape the federal judiciary during his four years in office.
Diversifying the bench
Carter appointed a total of 262 federal judges during his four years in the White House, more than any single-term president in U.S. history. And despite never getting to appoint a Supreme Court nominee, Carter's judicial appointments were history-making in their own right. That's because he appointed a record number of minority and female jurists during his presidency, announcing 57 minority judges and 41 female jurists during his four years in office.
This was aided in part by Carter's creation of the Circuit Court Nominating Commissions during his first year as president, which he tasked with identifying potential judicial candidates as part of an overarching effort to make the U.S. courts look more like the populations they represented.
These judges helped diversify the federal judiciary. More broadly, they also helped shape the hundreds of court opinions handed down at the district and appellate court level.
Supreme Court impact
Speaking to NBC News’s Brian Williams in 2005, Carter revealed that he had planned to nominate a woman to serve on the Supreme Court if a vacancy had opened up during his presidency.
In fact, Carter even had a name in mind: Judge Shirley Hufstedler, who in 1968 was appointed by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was the first woman to serve as an appellate court judge.
"Had I had a vacancy," he told Williams, Hufstedler was "the foremost candidate in my mind."
Carter did go on to choose Hufstedler for another role: the nation’s first secretary of education.
"If I had had a Supreme Court appointment, she was the one in my mind that I had in store for the job," Carter said.
It would instead be Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan, who would go on to nominate the nation’s first female Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, in 1981.
Though Carter did not directly appoint any judges to the Supreme Court as president, two of his appellate court nominees would go on to serve on the nation's highest court: Stephen Breyer, who he tapped for the U.S. Appeals Court, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who Carter appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Both were tapped by former President Bill Clinton to serve on the Supreme Court in the early 1990s and both were subsequently replaced by women jurists. Breyer retired in 2022, replaced by President Biden's sole nominee to the court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Ginsburg died in September 2020 and was replaced by Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Ginsburg was praised for her trailblazing work on gender discrimination. In nominating her to the Supreme Court in 1993, Clinton lauded Ginsburg for being "to the women's movement what Thurgood Marshall was to the movement for the rights of African Americans."
In public speeches, Ginsburg often credited Carter for his work in reshaping the judiciary.
"Women weren’t on the bench in numbers, on the federal bench, until Jimmy Carter became president," Ginsburg said in a 2015 speech at the American Constitution Society.
In the 1942 film "Holiday Inn," legendary crooner Bing Crosby describes the stroke of midnight on New Year’s as "one minute to say goodbye before we say hello." In 2025, Americans in several states around the country are "saying hello" to many new laws and changes in tax codes.
In West Virginia, for example, residents saw an automatic 2% personal income tax cut taking effect on New Year's Day.
"If anybody says there’s something [else] that could drive more growth to West Virginia than that, you’re out of your mind," outgoing Republican governor and Sen.-elect Jim Justice quipped of that particular policy change.
However, other states’ residents may face more proverbially "draconian" policies and regulations. Here's a look at some of them.
"Congestion pricing"
The Empire State’s heavily-debated congestion pricing law will take effect on Sunday, Jan. 5.
While Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA Chair Janno Lieber have been supportive of the change, which charges the average driver crossing or entering Manhattan below Central Park a photo-enforced $9 toll, many New Yorkers remain outraged.
"Congestion pricing, the latest in a long string of tyrannical taxes, has been pressed forward through consistent opposition about the burden on New York families and workers," several New York Republican federal lawmakers wrote in a December letter.
Meanwhile, Democrats like State Sen. Andrew Gounardes of Bay Ridge had urged the congestion-pricing plan to begin "immediately, before [Donald] Trump can block it."
Lather up
Visitors to one of the most popular tourism states in the country will no longer be welcomed by travel-sized shampoo and lotion bottles, as they will be prohibited come the New Year.
The Empire State's ban took effect on Jan. 1, while a similar ban in Illinois goes into practice on July 1 for larger hotels and Jan. 1, 2026, for smaller ones.
While many hotels across the country have transitioned to affixing bulk shampoo dispensers into shower walls, many tourists still prefer the tiny bottles.
Tax hikes
California’s SB-951 of 2022 stipulated that workers will have slightly more money withheld from their paychecks in 2025. The state’s disability insurance program rate is to increase from 1.1% to 1.2%.
The average California worker will see $8 less per month in their net pay.
Gas prices
California Republicans estimated that new regulations taking effect in the New Year will cause "major sticker shock" for drivers in the Golden State.
"I’m concerned Californians will … be unprepared for the rapid gas spike in 2025, which could be an additional 90 cents per gallon," said state Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones.
The law prohibits schools from enacting policies that require parental notification if their child changes their gender identity.
In December remarks to FOX-11, bill sponsor Assemblyman Chris Ward said "politically motivated attacks on the rights, safety, and dignity of transgender, nonbinary and other LGBTQ+ youth are on the rise nationwide, including in California."
Ward, D-San Diego, said school districts had wrongly adopted policies to "forcibly out" students and that parents should love their children unconditionally in all cases.
Immigrant health insurance coverage requirements
A 2022 bill relating to health insurance coverage for Coloradans regardless of immigration status will take effect next month, according to the Denver Post.
HB-1289 requires the state to provide "full health insurance coverage for Colorado pregnant people who would be eligible for Medicaid and the children's basic health plan (CHIP) if not for their immigration status and continues that coverage for 12 months postpartum at the CHIP federal matching rate," according to the bill text.
Abortion
As of July 2025, Delaware colleges will be required to provide emergency abortion access and contraception or direct the patient to an external facility, according to the Wilmington News-Journal.
A law is also primed to take effect in the First State that mandates insurance coverage and eliminates deductibles for abortion procedures, according to multiple reports.
State Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Blades, ripped the new law after it passed the legislature earlier in 2024.
"This is a procedure you want my tax dollars to pay for. I’m sorry, I think this is evil," he said.
Stop light
Washington, D.C., will institute a ban on right-turns-on-red within District boundaries. The law is a rare regulation in a blanket context, with New York City being one of the few other major cities with a similar law.
Signage denoting the otherwise tacit law is typically posted when entering New York City from highways like Major Deegan or one of the city's many river crossings, but it is often lacking on the hundreds of small streets on the grid that traverse into Westchester or Nassau Counties.
In the same vein, the District of Columbia reportedly lacks funding for signage on most of the streets entering the nation’s capital from Maryland or Virginia, which may or may not affect enforcement, according to reports.
The $385,000 in district funds allocated to notifying residents and drivers of the law was never identified, a DDOT official told WTTG.
Bird watch
D.C.’s Migratory Local Wildlife Protection Act of 2023 imposes a new building restriction as of Jan. 1.
Permit applications or glazing alterations will require bird-friendly materials on exterior walls and fenestration within 100 feet of grade level, according to WTTG.
The district is also one of a handful of places where the sales tax will see an increase. In the capital’s case, it will rise to 6.5%.
Firearms
Minnesota will institute a ban on "binary triggers" on personally owned weapons, according to reports. That is, the function that allows a gun to fire multiple rounds with one press of the trigger.
Vaping ban
The Ocean State is set to enact a ban on sales of and possession-with-intent-to-sell flavored vape products in 2025. The law is currently facing litigation but will be able to preliminarily go into effect, according to the Providence Journal.
Global warming
Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which initiates limits on greenhouse gas emissions, will take effect in the New Year.
It requires a 26% reduction in 2025 emissions reduction versus 2005 levels, according to the Vermont Public.
The law, however, also opens the state up to legal action from green groups and more if it fails to reach the required reduction level.
That aspect led Republicans to question the new law. Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the bill in 2020, saying it does not propose or create a good framework for "long-term mitigation and adaptation solutions to address climate change."
Meanwhile, Vermont Republican Party Chair Paul Dame recently said it opens up the state and taxpayers’ money to undue risk from such lawsuits.
"These goals were unattainable given the currently available technology, but now the state is getting dragged in to court for completely avoidable reasons," Dame told Fox News Digital.
No coal in your stocking
Oregon’s HB-4083 will direct the state onto a path toward divesting in coal firms and market instruments that include coal interests.
The laws that weren't
With many states, like those above, enacting tax hikes, new regulations and the like, Republicans in states with divided government are expressing cautious optimism that their trend of bucking liberal legislative interests can continue.
While Vermont’s Scott has seen key vetoes like the Global Warming Solutions Act overridden by the Democrat-dominated legislature, some states have the opposite dynamic where a Republican-majority chamber stymies the goals of Democrats.
With the state Senate in Republican hands, the State House one vote short of a 50-50 split and the governorship held by Democrats, Republicans expressed relief that legislation such as a 100% carbon-neutral 2050 Clean Energy Standard did not make it to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk.
In the gun control realm, both an assault weapons ban and proposed repeal of the state Stand Your Ground Law drafted by state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-Bristol, died in the legislature.
"It is time we take an evidence-based approach to our gun policy. ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws encourage gun violence. As such, it is time that we repeal ‘Stand Your Ground’ here in Pennsylvania," Santarsiero said in a memo.
Another bill enacting a firearms "Red Flag Law" languished through the legislative term.
A policy that would fund cost-free telephone calls from state prisoners also did not make it through, as did a bid for an "abortion protection package."
Those and several other top-line "draconian" bill failures are a product of GOP persistence, said state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg.
"With a Democrat governor and Democrat House, the state Senate is the last line of reason to prevent Pennsylvania from becoming like California," the 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee told Fox News Digital on Monday.
"There has been a litany of extreme legislation coming from Democrats."
As chair of the Emergency Preparedness committee, Mastriano added that the "most egregious" no-pass in 2024 was legislation to address Pennsylvanian effects from the biohazardous East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.
Mastriano, along with state Sens. Elder Vogel Jr., R-Beaver, and Michele Brooks, R-Pymatuning, drafted legislation in July to exempt disaster relief payments from state taxes in one case.
That bill did not make it out of the legislature.
Republicans in the state also lamented the failure of the latest effort to withdraw Pennsylvania from a national "RGGI" Greenhouse Gas pact entered into by former Gov. Tom Wolf.
"Leaving our environmental and economic destiny to the whims of RGGI’s New England states is just bad policy for Pennsylvania," State Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, said after the Senate approved the eventually-failed bill.
"It is time to repeal this regulation and focus on putting forth commonsense, environmentally responsible energy policy that recognizes and champions Pennsylvania as an energy producer."
"Pennsylvania’s greatest asset is our ability to produce energy," State Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Latrobe, added in a statement.
Minimum wage hikes are also primed to take effect in several states.
Washington, Connecticut and California are set to see $16 per hour or higher as the minimum wage for most workers. Rhode Island's will rise to $15, Maine's to $14.65, Illinois to $15 and Vermont will go to $14.
More than a dozen states, including Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Utah, Tennessee and Mississippi, retain the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
House Speaker Mike Johnson stares down a difficult battle to retain the gavel on Friday, even despite an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.
Despite narrowly hanging on to the GOP majority, Johnson's speakership hangs in the balance after a series of moves to fund the government that angered conservatives over the effort's failure to cut spending.
On the opening day of the 119th Congress, the House will vote on a measure to elect a new speaker, and Americans will catch a rare glimpse of the drama that breaks out on the House floor. C-SPAN has been granted permission to run cameras inside the chamber.
If every member votes, Johnson can only afford one Republican defection and still hold on to his job. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has already said he will not vote for Johnson.
While other Republicans have refused to affirm their support for Johnson, none have joined Massie in vowing publicly not to vote for him.
"I’m going to talk to Mike and raise my concerns. As of right now, I’m still undecided," Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital.
Trump this week gave Johnson his "complete and total endorsement," and the speaker vote will test the hold he has on the new Congress.
Compounding the pressure is the uncertainty about what a drawn-out speaker race would mean for the incoming president. Congress has never certified a presidential election without a speaker at the helm.
Rep. Chip Roy said on X that he is also "still undecided" on Johnson for speaker.
"But something MUST change," he added. "We cannot allow what happened right before Christmas, where a 1500+ page bill was attempted to be jammed through over our objections … all of which could have been avoided with any serious planning & communication."
Johnson, however, said that he is confident he will attain enough votes.
"We're going to get this done," Johnson told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" on Thursday. "We're shifting into a brand-new paradigm. We have unified government that begins tomorrow. We have the White House, the Senate, and the House. A totally different situation than we dealt with over the last 14 months since I've been speaker. So, we're excited to deliver on the America first agenda. It begins on day one, and all that begins right here tomorrow."
Johnson met with several potential GOP holdouts in the speaker's office on Thursday, such as Reps. Victoria Spartz, Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, Andy Harris, Andy Ogles, Michael Cloud and Eli Crane.
Last month, Johnson scrambled to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown and once again kick the funding deadline down the road to March. Though he was ultimately successful, the House went through three iterations of a continuing resolution and ultimately settled on one that could pass with the help of Democrats, who made up for the 34 angry GOP defectors.
Congress balked at the original 1,500-page spending bill then defeated a narrow, 116-page bill – which Trump endorsed. Things got worse when the House only mustered a scant 174 yeas for the Trump-supported bill, with 38 Republicans voting nay.
Circumstances grew even more dire when the House actually voted to avert a holiday government shutdown but passed the bill with more Democrats (196) than Republicans (170). Thirty-four Republicans voted nay.
Around a dozen House Republicans have not committed to voting for Johnson, and Fox News projected this week anywhere from four to 10 could ultimately end up voting no.
"The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man," Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. "He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!"
Johnson survived a test to his speakership in May when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., launched a motion to vacate, forcing a vote to reaffirm him as the House's leader. Eleven Republicans voted against him at that time, with another 10 not voting at all.
However, Democrats came to his rescue at that time, a prospect that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has ruled out this time around.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
