WASHINGTON, D.C.—The White House’s Office of Personnel Management notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices by the end of the day Wednesday and place government workers in those offices on paid leave, Fox News Digital has learned.
Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies Tuesday evening directing them to, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22 to:
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly reassigned multiple senior officials across various divisions ahead of the anticipated confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nomination for U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi.
Fox News is told that multiple career staffers in the criminal and national security divisions at the DOJ were removed from their current posts and reassigned.
While it is difficult to fire a career person "just because," reassigning is possible, and that appears to have happened.
Of those who were moved to other positions within the DOJ was Bruce Schwartz, head of the office of internal affairs, which handles extradition matters, a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. The same person reportedly told the wire service that about 20 officials had been reassigned.
Also, reportedly moved was George Toscas, a veteran deputy assistant attorney general in the national security division who not only helped oversee major terrorism and espionage investigations but also was a key figure in politically motivated probes over the last 10 years.
Toscas was involved in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information as well as the investigation into Trump’s possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Toscas’ reassignment was confirmed to The Associated Press by another person familiar with the matter.
"He has seen everything in both counterterrorism and counterintelligence," a former colleague of Toscas’ who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post. "There is no one in the department who knows as much about prosecuting and investigating terrorists and spies as George Toscas."
The Washington Post also learned from sources familiar with the matter that Eun Young Choi, another deputy assistant attorney general in the national security division, was reassigned within the department, and was notified of the change by way of email on Monday afternoon.
Hours after Trump took the oath of office, the DOJ removed at least four senior officials from the division that operates the nation’s immigration courts, which are currently backlogged.
The Washington Post reported that there is a 120-day moratorium on some staff reassignments after newly confirmed leaders begin their appointments, under federal guidelines. Bondi has not yet been confirmed; therefore, the moratorium is not yet in effect in the DOJ.
Currently, James McHenry is running the DOJ as acting U.S. attorney general after Merrick Garland left the department on Friday.
The reasons for the moves were not immediately known, though it is common for a new administration to appoint its own hires to lead the DOJ.
The moves could also foreshadow additional changes, given Trump’s interest in the department, which investigated him during his first term and indicted him twice last year in separate cases that never reached trial and were withdrawn after Trump’s election win in November.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday announced the deployment of personnel and equipment to various maritime borders in the United States, a day after President Donald Trump dismissed the military branch's leader.
In a statement, Coast Guard Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said coast guardsmenwould work to detect and deter illegal migration in support of Trump's executive orders issued this week.
"The U.S. Coast Guard is the world’s premiere maritime law enforcement agency, vital to protecting America’s maritime borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty," Lunday said. "Per the President’s Executive Orders, I have directed my operational commanders to immediately surge assets—cutters, aircraft, boats and deployable specialized forces—to increase Coast Guard presence and focus…"
Key areas where authorities will focus their efforts include the waters off Florida to deter and prevent migrants from Haiti and Cuba from entering the U.S., and maritime borders around Alaska, Hawaii, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Somoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Lunday also wrote in the release that the agency would target the "maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America."
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico. In the federal executive order: "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness," Section 4 rebrands the "area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico… an integral asset to our once burgeoning nation …and an indelible part of America" – as the "Gulf of America."
The reference appears to be the first time a federal agency has acknowledged the name change.
The Coast Guard said it would also target the Bahamas and South Florida, and between the U.S. and Mexico in the Pacific Ocean.
In addition, the Coast Guard will support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities on maritime portions of the southwest U.S. border.
"Together, in coordination with our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense teammates, we will detect, deter and interdict illegal migration, drug smuggling and other terrorist or hostile activity before it reaches our border," a news release states.
On Monday, Trump also issued a flurry of executive orders cracking down on illegal immigration.
Among the many charges was the termination of Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, 61, who was fired by Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman.
Huffman didn't cite a reason for the dismissal, but a senior DHS official told Fox News that Fagan was removed for failure to address border security threats, insufficient leadership in recruitment and retention, mismanagement in acquiring key acquisitions such as icebreakers and helicopters, excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and an "erosion of trust" over the mishandling and cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor, which was the Coast Guard's internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.
Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Todd Young, R-Indiana are urging historical museums in Washington, D.C., to "respect" the First Amendment rights of pro-life protesters who are expected to descend upon the city on Friday.
"This peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights has historically provided participants with a positive, welcoming experience in our nation’s capital," the senators wrote in a letter to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Two years ago, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum booted several Catholic students and their chaperones for wearing pro-life attire. Students and chaperones from Our Lady of the Rosary School in Greenville, South Carolina, traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual National March for Life. The group stood out in matching blue beanies emblazoned with the words "Rosary PRO-LIFE."
At the time, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), representing some students' parents, claimed museum staff mocked the group, used expletives, and argued the museum was a "neutral zone" prohibiting political or religious messages.
In a settlement reached on March 18, 2024, the Smithsonian Institution resolved a lawsuit with students removed from the National Air and Space Museum for wearing pro-life beanies. As part of the agreement, the Smithsonian committed to providing the students a tour and an apology, updating its policy on clothing with religious and political speech for public-facing security staff, sharing video footage and investigative details of the incident, and paying $50,000.
"While we are pleased that the victims of this harassment received justice, it clearly never should have happened in the first place. No sum of money could truly undue the atrocious acts: officers bearing the badge and force of the federal government openly intimidated and violated the First Amendment rights of peaceful students," the senators wrote to the museums last week.
"Moreover, American taxpayers footed the bill for the Smithsonian Institution employees’ egregious behavior and apparent lack of adequate training. This cannot happen again," they said.
That same year, NARA settled a lawsuit in December 2023 after staff reportedly asked visitors to remove pro-life clothing during the March for Life protest earlier that year. The visitors, represented also by the ACLJ, claimed their First Amendment rights were violated. NARA apologized, admitted the incident breached its policies, and agreed to pay $10,000 in legal fees while implementing staff training to prevent future violations.
The senators are urging the institutions to answer questions about whether they have honored prior settlements regarding the treatment of visitors displaying religious or political messages and whether staff have been reminded of policies protecting free speech. NARA is also being asked to commit to maintaining these protections after a key injunction expires in January 2025. Both agencies have been asked to provide detailed explanations of their actions and preparations.
In an email to Fox News Digital, Smithsonian Institution spokesperson Pamela Baker-Masson said, "We will correspond with the Senators."
NARA did not respond to a request for comment by press deadline.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a full and unconditional pardon of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, which the president promised to do on the campaign trail "on day one."
"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross," Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday. "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!"
Ulbricht was convicted because his website, which was founded in 2011 and used cryptocurrency for payments, was used to sell illegal drugs, even though he did not sell any of the illicit substances himself.
Republican Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs announced his interest Tuesday in running for governor in 2026 as the GOP looks to defeat incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Biggs, an ally of President Donald Trump and former chair of the conservative Freedom Caucus, filed a statement of interest, which is required before he can start collecting signatures to qualify for the ballot.
However, filing a statement doesn't mean a candidate will follow through.
In a statement posted on X, Biggs said he "will bring my experience home to my native state to help it fulfill its tremendous capacity. I have a firm understanding of what the state needs to thrive."
Biggs chaired the Freedom Caucus from 2019 to 2021 and was one of eight Republicans who helped oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in 2023.
If Biggs does run, it could result in a fight between him and Karrin Taylor Robson, also a Trump ally.
"Are you running for governor? I think so Karrin, because, if you do, you’re going to have my support, OK?" Trump told a crowd last month at Turning Point USA’s Americafest event in Phoenix.
Robson ran for governor in 2022 but lost to Kari Lake, who Trump endorsed. Lake lost that year's election to Hobbs and recently lost a bid for the U.S. Senate.
In his statement, Biggs said he looks "forward to conversing with my fellow Arizonans as I consider this weighty decision."
State Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican and founding chair of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, endorsed Biggs on X.
"Andy will make an INCREDIBLE Governor and ensure Arizona is safe & prosperous for everyone," he wrote.
President Donald Trump revoked former National Security Advisor John Bolton's Secret Service protection after his inauguration as the 47th president on Monday, Bolton told Fox News Digital.
"I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service," Bolton said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. "Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden's national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021. "
Bolton has faced threats from Iran going back years, including an alleged plot to assassinate him in 2021 and the Department of Justice subsequently charging a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the plot in 2022. Trump had ousted Bolton from his first administration in 2019, and Biden had granted him a security detail in 2021.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House regarding Bolton's claim, but did not immediately receive a reply.
"The Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hit man to target me. That threat remains today, as also demonstrated by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange for President Trump's own assassination," Bolton continued in his statement. "The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call."
The Iranian threats against Bolton were likely sparked by the January 2020 U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, the Department of Justice reported in 2022.
"I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House," Trump tweeted in 2019. "I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week."
In the following years, Trump repeatedly has slammed Bolton, including claiming he would have sparked "World War Six," and calling him "one of the dumbest people in Government" back in 2023.
Bolton also has taken his shots at Trump, claiming in a 2020 interview that Trump lacks "the competency to carry out the job."
"I don’t think he’s fit for office," Bolton said in 2020. "I don’t think he has the competency to carry out the job. There isn’t really any guiding principle that I was able to discern, other than what’s good for Donald Trump’s reelection."
Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., and Jon Husted, R-Ohio, were sworn in on Tuesday following the resignations of both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
With the two new senators, Republicans officially have 53 members in their Senate conference.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., recently announced Moody to be the next senator from Florida, taking over Rubio's seat. She was the state's attorney general prior.
While the GOP has a several seat majority, they will need the assistance of some Democrats to defeat the legislative filibuster's 60-vote threshold to consider most legislation.
However, on nominations and budget reconciliation, that threshold is lowered to 51.
"Thank you so much. I will bring the same persistence and passion and tenacity as a United States senator that I have brought as Florida's Attorney General," Moody said after accepting DeSantis's appointment.
"If you have worked with me and fought with me over the last six years, you know, I don't think of this as a job. I think of it as a calling," she added.
Following DeWine's announcement, Husted said, "Governor, I just want to say thank you. It is my honor to accept the appointment to serve the people of the state of Ohio in the U.S. Senate. I just appreciate that you have placed so much trust in me. First as a running mate, and then as lieutenant governor, and now as your appointee to the Senate."
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.
Here's what's happening…
- 'Class act' Barron Trump sets social media ablaze for shaking hands with Biden at dad's inauguration
- Trump 'articulated a playbook,' experts say of his policy-oriented inaugural address
President Donald Trump pulled the security clearances of more than 50 national security officials who said Hunter Biden’s laptop had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."
A total of 51 former national security officials released a public letter in 2020 claiming that even though the laptop did not have "any evidence of Russian involvement," it looked like a "Russian information operation."
The letter came after the New York Post reported they had emails showing Hunter Biden coordinated for Joe Biden to meet with a top executive at Ukrainian energy company Burisma months before pressuring Ukrainian officials to oust a prosecutor investigating the company…Read more
FAILED TO DELIVER: Trump did not keep 'Day 1' promise to grant clemency to Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road…Read more
READY, SET, GO: President Trump signed a record number of EOs on his first day in the Oval Office…Read more
'UNACCEPTABLE RISK': Federal judge blocks release of second volume of special counsel report to certain lawmakers…Read more
'COMMON SENSE': Trump DHS repeals key Mayorkas memo limiting ICE agents, orders parole review…Read more
JUST FOR THE TASTE OF IT: Trump brings back famous soda button to Oval Office desk…Read more
NEW HIRES: Trump nominees Collins, Stefanik to face Senate grilling while Bessent gets committee vote…Read more
TRUMP PROSECUTIONS: 4 Trump rivals that Biden didn't pardon…Read more
'READY TO FACE THEM': Trump admin hits back as ACLU launches lawsuit on birthright citizenship: ‘Ready to face them’…Read more
'HEARD AROUND THE WORLD': Stefanik looks back to fiery exchanges with college leaders in Senate confirmation hearing: 'watershed moment'…Read more
STEPPING IN: Trump's House GOP allies push birthright citizenship bill after progressive fury at presidential order…Read more
'UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDER': Blue-state governorbashes Trump birthright citizenship move…Read more
DEFENDING 'BINARY REALITY OF SEX': 'Unlawful DEI-motivated' workplace discrimination to be rooted out by Trump's new acting EEOC chair…Read more
UTTER NEIN-SENSE: Stefanik excoriates Dem for Elon Musk 'Nazi salute' accusation…Read more
TAKING IT BACK': Russia sounds off on Trump’s threat to retake the Panama Canal…Read more
'WEIGHS ON ME EVERY DAY': Israeli military chief steps down, citing responsibility for October 7 Hamas massacre…Read more
LAST ACT OF CRUELTY: What was in the brown bags handed to Israeli hostages released by Hamas?…Read more
AMERICA FIRST: World leaders react as Trump re-enters the White House…Read more
DC CRACKDOWN: Bipartisan lawmakers join forces to break up 'out-of-touch' DC power structure…Read more
'WEAPON OF ABUSE': Chip Roy leads House Republicans in effort to repeal law used by Biden administration to prosecute pro-lifers…Read more
TERMINATED: Coast Guard commandant terminated over border lapses, recruitment, DEI focus…Read more
CAUGHT: Massachusetts must pay feds $2.1B after mistakenly using pandemic funds to cover unemployment benefits…Read more
'SKIRTING' SCOTUS: Medical schools evading high court precedent on race-based admissions…Read more
'LOUD AND CLEAR': Border state's legislature moves to back Trump's ICE on deportations….Read more
BACK HOME: 2 Americans released in exchange for Taliban prisoner…Read more
COLD MURDER: Border Patrol agent killed in Vermont identified…Read more
TIDE CHANGE: DeSantis cites ‘Gulf of America’ in winter storm order after Trump rebranding…Read more
NUMBERS GAME: 4 states sue to block illegal migrants from census count used to assign congressional seats, electoral votes…Read more
'LOUD AND CLEAR': Border state's legislature moves to back Trump's ICE on deportations….Read more
Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Democratic senators on the Armed Services Committee are currently reviewing an affidavit that alleges Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth made his second wife fear for her safety.
Fox News has obtained an affidavit from Hegseth's former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, which alleges that he both has an alcohol abuse problem – and he at times made his ex-wife, Samantha, fear for her safety. Danielle Hegseth was married to Pete Hegseth's brother. She is not the sister of Samantha, Pete Hegseth's second wife.
The Senate Armed Services Committee was provided the affidavit and members are in the process of reviewing it.
In a statement to Fox News, Pete Hegseth's lawyer, Tim Parlatore said, "Sam has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview. Belated claims by Danielle Dietrich, an anti-Trump, far-left Democrat who is divorced from Mr. Hegseth’s brother and never got along with the Hegseth family, do nothing to change that. After an acrimonious divorce, Ms. Dietrich has had an ax to grind against the entire Hegseth family. Ms. Dietrich admits that she saw nothing but is now falsely accusing Sam of lying to both the Court and to the FBI because of private, undocumented statements that she allegedly made 10 years ago."
Danielle Hegseth provided an anecdote in the document, recalling that Samantha once hid in a closet from her husband.
But, Danielle Hegseth added that she never witnessed any abuse herself, physical or sexual, from Pete against Samantha.
The affidavit provided additional anecdotes about Hegseth's alleged heavy drinking, referring to several specific occasions, including one in a strip club.
In the document, Danielle Hegseth also concluded her former brother-in-law is not fit to be Secretary of Defense, in her opinion.
The committee's Ranking Member Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement, "As I have said for months, the reports of Mr. Hegseth’s history of alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and public misconduct necessitate an exhaustive background investigation. I have been concerned that the background check process has been inadequate, and this affidavit confirms my fears. The alleged pattern of abuse and misconduct by Mr. Hegseth is disturbing. This behavior would disqualify any servicemember from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense."
Samantha Hegseth denies any physical abuse in a statement first reported by NBC News. "There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you, I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision," she reportedly said.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who is on the committee, told reporters, "This only confirms what we already know about Mr. Hegseth's behavior and the way he has lived his life, and the kinds of opinions that he had towards women."
"So we'll let the Republicans make their own statement, but I think it just confirms we already know that he is absolutely 100% unqualified for this job, his disposition, his demeanor, the issues we have with sexual abuse, with financial mismanagement," she said.
"I am telling you, there is a great deal in this affidavit, and, any part of which would disqualify a candidate to lead our military," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., another member of the committee, told reporters.
However, Republicans on the committee aren't necessarily going to be swayed by the allegations.
New Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., who also sits on the committee, wrote on X: "This is a desperate, last-minute attempt by Dems and the media to smear Pete Hegseth and tank his nomination. Pete’s ex-wife is on record saying the claims are false, but the media doesn’t care because it hurts a Republican. Nobody should fall for this."
Border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday said that the mass deportation operation has already started, as the Trump administration looks to make good on promises to tackle the border crisis and crack down against illegal immigration.
"No, it started [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] teams are out there as of today," Homan said on "America’s Newsroom." "We gave them direction to prioritize public safety threats that we're looking for. We've been working up the target list."
The administration has promised to launch a "historic" mass deportation operation, and sources told Fox News Digital that arrests were being planned on "day one." Some media outlets reported on Friday about an operation in Chicago, but Homan said that was re-evaluated due to the leak of information.
"There was some discussion about Chicago because the specific operational plan was released. So we had to look at and reevaluate, ‘Does this raise officer safety concerns?’ And it does. But we've addressed that and teams are out there, effective today," he said.
As for who will be targeted in the operation, Homan said that the priority are public safety threats, but he has said repeatedly that no-one is "off the table" when it comes to arrests if they’re in the U.S. illegally.
"Right out of the gate it’s public safety threats, those who are in the country illegally that have been convicted, arrested for serious crime," he said. "But let me be clear. There's not only public safety threats that will be arrested, because in sanctuary cities, we're not allowed to get that public safety threat in the jail, which means we got to go to the neighborhood and find him."
"And when we find him, he may be with others. And unlike the last administration, we're not going to tell ICE officers not to arrest an illegal alien. So if they find, others will be arrested. So sanctuary cities will get exactly what they don't want, more agents in their neighborhoods and more collateral arrests," he said.
Homan spoke hours after Fox News reported on two DHS memos, including one that rescinded a 2021 memo by then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas -- which provided an expanded list of areas that are "protected areas" where ICE could not engage in immigration enforcement. It said the policy was designed to make sure enforcement did not limit "people’s access to essential services or engagement in essential activities."
Those areas include schools, universities, healthcare facilities, places of worship, "places where children gather," social service establishments, food banks, religious or civil ceremonies and disaster or emergency response and relief centers.
The memo issued Monday rescinded that guidance and said that common sense should be used instead.
"Going forward, law enforcement officers should continue to use that discretion along with a healthy dose of common sense," the new memo said. "It is not necessary, however, for the head of the agency to create bright line rules regarding where our immigration laws are permitted to be enforced."
FIRST ON FOX: The anti-woke beer company Ultra Right has officially released its annual swimsuit calendar highlighting "MAGA Babes" after the calendar went viral on social media last year.
The calendar, named "Conservative Dad’s™ MAGA Babes: Make America Hot & Healthy Again," is being billed by Ultra Right as "a bold and unapologetic celebration of health, beauty, and American values."
"America is entering a new golden age in 2025—leaving woke culture in the dust. Companies like Sports Illustrated clearly missed the memo," Ultra Right said in a press release. " Their 2025 bikini calendar features a morbidly obese woman, promoting poor health as something to celebrate. The MAGA Babes Calendar is here to set the record straight: it’s time to take health and fitness seriously—and look hot doing it."
The calendar is available for purchase on the company’s website and has over $200 in discounts.
"Each month highlights a different MAGA Babe wearing a MAGA hat and how they stay ‘Hot & Healthy’, hilarious woke-free holidays and fun, includes an exclusive discount or promo code, and showcases the "Dad Joke of the Month,’" the press release states.
Seth Weathers, Ultra Right’s CEO, told Fox News Digital in a statement that "MAGA Babes are in and woke is out."
"The left tried to drag us down to their drab, overweight, blue-haired level—but on November 5th, America said no!" Weathers said. "Throughout history, men have conquered nations and waged wars for the love of beautiful, cheerful women. We're bringing that attitude back. We'll probably start with Greenland, but who knows what we'll conquer for these MAGA Babes!"
"Led by our iconic First Lady, real beauty is finally being celebrated once again."
Ultra Right, a 'woke-free' beer company that was launched as an alternative to Bud Light after its promotion of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney that received significant pushback from conservatives, released a similar calendar last year featuring former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and several other conservative influencers.
The company devoted 10% of its calendar sales to the Riley Gaines Center to defend women's sports from "extreme leftist ideology seeking to destroy women's athletics."
Gaines told FOX Business after the calendar was released that the campaign raised $20,000 for her group.
"Beer companies used to be about great beer, American patriotism, fun, fast cars, and beautiful real women," Weathers said at the time. "We're bringing back all these things, but better than ever."
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Nicole Neily, president of PDE, called the Biden administration’s actions regarding girls’ sports over the previous four years "appalling."
"Let's think about the original intent of Title IX," she said "It was put in place to protect and ensure that women weren't losing out on opportunities as a result of their sex. And now we're watching that happen and we're watching girls’ sex be weaponized against them. It really turns the whole intent of the law upside down."
Neily said that designating an American Girls in Sports day would "commemorate all the sacrifices and the hard work that has been put in to get to a place of equality only to watch it stripped away by the Biden administration that refuses to even respect the definition of the word ‘woman.’"
"We can't keep doing this whiplash back and forth every four years," she said. "It's critical that Congress get involved in these issues because it codifies it and locks it in."
"It turns out all these administrators, all these bureaucrats, any kind of wiggle room they have to reinterpret something they will," she said. "I mean, let’s look at how even Title IX has been weaponized and interpreted by administrative agencies over the past several years. Title IX was part of the education amendments, it was ratified in 1972, and it's 37 words, but we're now watching Democrats interpret one simple word ‘sex.’ They're totally rewriting what that means [to include] sexual orientation, gender identity, and that's not what's in there."
Blackburn introduced the measures in the Senate earlier this month.
The bill – which is titled the "Fair Play for Girls Act" – would require the U.S. attorney general to submit an analysis of violence against women in sports to Congress along with policy recommendations to protect young women competing. The analysis would include impediments to fair and safe competition for biological female athletes, the prevalence of girls losing female sports opportunities to biological males and the prevalence of sexual harassment and abuse of women and girls in athletics.
Another resolution introduced by Blackburn would call on the NCAA – which manages intercollegiate sports for over a thousand universities across the country – to revoke its policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports of the opposite sex and to conform to a biological sex-based policy across all sports.
Finally, the "American Girls in Sports Day" resolution would recognize Oct. 10 as a day to celebrate the accomplishments of female athletes.
In addition to PDE, Blackburn’s measures have also been endorsed by celebrity female sports activist Riley Gaines, Caitlyn Jenner, the Independent Women’s Forum and several others.
Neily believes there should be bipartisan support for these measures, which she said both simply protect vulnerable girls and recognize their achievements.
"Everyone has seen the videos over the past few years of the women in sports who have been physically injured, be it from a volleyball being spiked into their face [or] a field hockey ball being whipped at somebody," she said.
"There are significant biological differences between men and women," she went on. "I mean, even let's think about lacrosse. A male lacrosse player throws a ball an average of 85 to 95 miles an hour. And male lacrosse players wear chest protectors and helmets for that very reason. Female lacrosse players throw a ball an average of 45 to 65 miles an hour, and they do not. And so, if you have a biological male with that muscle mass, with that bone structure, throwing a ball at a girl and it hits her, I mean, there's the real risk of serious severe bodily injury or even death."
All this, she said, works to limit girls' opportunities to fairly compete.
"Having known many college athletes over the course of my life, the amount of effort that it takes to be a D1, a D2, a D3 athlete, I mean, these are students who have spent thousands of hours over the course of their life going back to a very, very young ages to get to this elite position where they are in colleges and universities," she explained. "And so, to have a spot on a team, to have a scholarship opportunity taken away from them by someone who is deemed to be faster, purely because of their biology is something that I think is a real slap in the face to these girls who have sacrificed so much, who have worked so hard."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said President Donald Trump's decision to pardon more than 1,000 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 riots was "un-American."
Schumer told reporters Tuesday that the pardons were "deeply un-American," noting that some of those pardoned were convicted for crimes like seditious conspiracy.
"There is no other way to describe President Trump's pardon of Jan. 6th defenders than un-American," Schumer said. "It is so deeply un-American to do that, to pardon. And let's be clear, President Trump didn't just didn't just pardon protesters. He pardoned individuals convicted of assaulting police officers. He pardoned individuals convicted of seditious conspiracy. And he pardoned those who attempted to undermine our democracy."
Trump signed pardons Monday evening for approximately 1,500 defendants who were charged with crimes stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol, keeping a vow he made in December to move quickly and pardon them.
Additionally, he commuted the sentences of six people on Monday, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups.
Schumer echoed sentiments former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., shared about the pardons. Pelosi characterized the pardons as "shameful" and said to remember the "courage" of law enforcement "heroes" who "ensured that democracy survived."
"The President's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution," Pelosi, who didn’t attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, said in a statement posted to X.
"It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power," Pelosi wrote.
Rioters assaulted approximately 140 police officers from both the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the Justice Department reported.
Trump announced plans to issue the pardon on Monday, labeling those charged with crimes for their involvement storming the Capitol as "hostages."
"Tonight I'm going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out," Trump said at an inaugural parade at Capital One Arena. "I'm going to the Oval Office, and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people."
Trump signed a series of executive orders on Inauguration Day, along with the pardons. Other directives included withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement that the U.S. initially entered under former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015, but that Trump withdrew from during his first term.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance looked visibly irritated during the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday when the sermon took a political turn.
Among the faith leaders who spoke was Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, who had been a vocal critic of Trump and the U.S. government following George Floyd's death.
On Trump's first full day back in office, Budde, of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, delivered a sermon focused on "unity," but her remarks grew pointed when she brought up immigrants and LGBTQ youth.
The reverend spoke directly to the president, saying "Let me make one final plea, Mr. President, millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic and Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives."
"And the people – the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meet packing plants, who wash the dishes at their restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors," Budde said. "They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues… and temples."
The reverend asked Trump to have "mercy on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones of persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome, our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to a stranger."
The vice president and second lady leaned over and whispered to one another during the sermon.
At the start of her remarks, Budde began to "pray for unity as people and nation, not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good."
"Unity, in this sense, is a threshold requirement for people to live in freedom and together in a free society," she said.
"Rather," Budde continued, "Unity is a way of being with one another, and it encompasses and respects differences that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect that enables us in our communities to genuinely care for one another, even when we disagree."
She went on to say, "Those of us gathered here, we are not naive about the realities of politics when power and wealth and competing interests are at stake, when views of what America should be are in conflict. When there are strong opinions across a spectrum of possibilities and starkly different understandings of what the right course of action is there, there will be winners and losers when those witness decisions made that set the course of public policy and the prioritization of resources."
"Not everyone's prayers will be answered in the way we would like. But for some, the loss of their hopes and dreams will be far more than political," she said, adding that "all the faiths represented here affirm the birthright of all people as children of our one God. In public discourse, honoring each other's dignity means refusing to mock and model, discount, demonize those with whom we differ, choosing instead to respect, respectfully, to make our differences, and whenever possible, to seek common ground."
"I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life," he said. "We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based."
The president has promised mass deportations of criminal illegal immigrants and further sparked controversy by signing an executive order eliminating birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.
It's not the first time Budde made her left-leaning political views known. A video clip from 2020 shows Budde speaking to an ABC News reporter while protesting in Washington, D.C.
"It is a message for a call to justice – for swift justice for George Floyd," Budde, wearing a face mask, said at the time. "For systemic justice for all brown and Black people who have been under the knee of this country in ways that we have witnessed time and time again." She went on to say, "This is wrong, and this rising up – this spontaneous uprising of people mostly half my age or younger, they are the ones we should be listening to."
Budde also testified before Congress regarding a June 1, 2020, confrontation between demonstrators and law enforcement near St. John's Church in Lafayette Square.
She said "our government resorted to acts of violence against peaceful protesters" and said the Episcopal church believes the issues of "racial and social justice are core tenants of the Christian faith."
Budde also condemned Trump for holding up a Bible outside the church following the unrest. Testifying virtually at the time, she told a House committee, "When the President held up a Bible outside our church as if to claim the mantle of spiritual authority over what had just transpired, I knew that I had to speak. Nowhere does the Bible condone the use of violence against the innocent."
