The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that is keeping it from restructuring the Department of Education.
"That injunction effectively appoints the district court to a Cabinet role and bars the Executive Branch from terminating anyone, even though respondents conceded that some other [reductions in force] would plainly be proper," the SCOTUS filing reads.
President Donald Trump has made it clear that he would seek to restructure and even dismantle the Department of Education. In fact, when he nominated Education Secretary Linda McMahon, he said her goal should be to "put herself out of a job." The president cited poor performance as one of his reasons for seeking to shut down the DOE.
The Nation’s Report Card, which assesses how American students are performing in various subjects, showed seven out of 10 fourth graders are not proficient readers, which is a worse score than the last report card in 2022. The report card noted that reading scores showed "no significant change" since 1992.
The administration has faced both political and legal pushback on its quest to get rid of the department. In February, several Democrats attempted to enter the Department of Education building in D.C., but were blocked by an employee.
During the incident in February, Democrats repeatedly slammed the Trump administration and accused it of lacking transparency.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
FIRST ON FOX: The chairman of the House Budget Committee is pushing back on Elon Musk's claim that President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" is full of "pork."
Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital it was not possible for "pork barrel spending" to be included in the legislation, called a budget reconciliation bill, because the reconciliation process was simply not the mechanism for such federal funds.
"Reconciliation does not have anything to do with discretionary spending - earmarks, and all of that," Arrington said. "And quite frankly, the [Department of Government Efficiency] findings were, I think, almost entirely an issue for . . . annual appropriations."
"Discretionary spending" refers to the annual dollars allocated by Congress each year through the appropriations process – also known as "spending bills."
It's a process that's historically known to be rife with "pork barrel spending" from both Republicans and Democrats – funding for pet projects or other specific initiatives benefiting a certain member of Congress' district.
But reconciliation deals with the government's "mandatory spending" – largely government welfare programs that can only be amended by changing the law.
"We're dealing with mandatory spending programs – entitlements, health care, welfare and the tax code," Arrington said.
"We did a responsible bill. There's no pork in it. The question, I think, for some folks and the objective of mine and my budget committee members was, whatever we're doing on tax or security to unleash growth and to buy greater security for the American people, we wanted it to be done in a fiscally responsible way."
Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller echoed that sentiment on X: "The reconciliation bill cuts taxes, seals the border and reforms welfare. It is not a spending bill. There is no ‘pork.’ It is the campaign agenda codified."
The vast majority of the trillions of dollars in the bill are aimed at Trump's tax policies – extending his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) while implementing new priorities like eliminating taxes on tips and overtime wages.
There's also $4 trillion in House Republicans' versions of the bill aimed at raising the debt limit.
The legislation is also aimed at amending current laws to enable new funding for border security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – projected to boost those priorities by billions of dollars.
To offset those costs, House GOP leaders are seeking stricter work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps, while shifting more of the cost burden for both programs to the states.
Republicans are also looking to roll back green energy tax subsidies in former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
But Musk and other fiscal hawks' main concern has been that the legislation does not go far enough with those spending cuts.
As part of his social media campaign against the bill, Musk called for both eliminating the tax cuts and removing the debt limit increase from the final legislation.
Musk reposted another X user who wrote, "Drop the tax cuts, cut some pork, get the bill through."
He's also shown support on X for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and his call to strip the debt limit provision out of the bill.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that the bill would cut taxes by $3.7 trillion while raising deficits by $2.4 trillion over a decade.
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said a thorough review of spending from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is warranted, following the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul the agency.
USAID previously was an independent agency to provide impoverished countries aid and offer development assistance, but the agency was upended since February when President Donald Trump installed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to oversee the organization amid concerns that USAID did not advance U.S. core interests. Since then, the agency has faced layoffs and is being absorbed into the State Department.
This increased scrutiny on USAID spending is valid, according to Risch.
"The amount of money that we're spending on that has to be reviewed top to bottom," Risch said during an event Wednesday at the Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute.
Risch said that several weeks into the Trump administration, he and others, including Rubio, evaluated a list of programs that detailed $3 million in funding for "promotion of democracy in Lower Slobbovia." According to Risch, the description didn’t provide enough information and items like these are totaling up to billions of dollars that must undergo review.
"Lower Slobbovia" is a fictional place and a term used by Americans to describe an underdeveloped foreign country.
"We can do so much better, not only in how, how much money we spend, but how we spend it," Risch said. "So if you say, well, we're eliminating this program, be careful you don't say, 'Oh, that means we're walking away from human rights.' Look, America is human rights. If America leads the way on human rights. We are the world standard on human rights. We have no intention of giving that position up."
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted USAID in its push to eliminate wasteful spending. The agency came under fire for many funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities" and a $70,000 program for a "DEI musical" in Ireland.
As a result, Rubio announced March 11 that the State Department completed a six-week review and would cancel more than 80% of USAID programs — cutting roughly 5,200 of USAID's 6,200 programs.
Additionally, Fox News Digital was the first to report later in March that the State Department planned to absorb the remaining operations and programs USAID runs so it would no longer function as an independent agency.
The move means eliminating thousands of staff members in an attempt to enhance the existing, "life-saving" foreign assistance programs, according to a State Department memo Fox News Digital obtained.
"Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies," Rubio said in a March statement to Fox News Digital. "Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high."
"We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens," Rubio said. "We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country."
Meanwhile, Democrats slammed the restructuring of the agency, labeling the move "illegal."
"Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s destruction and dismantling of USAID is not only disastrous foreign policy and counter to our national security interests; it is plainly illegal," the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said in a statement in March. "Congress wrote a law establishing USAID as an independent agency with its own appropriation, and only Congress can eliminate it."
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk may speak to White House aides Friday in an effort to calm his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump, Fox News Digital has learned.
Musk and Trump have been arguing over social media in recent days.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Federal judges are continuing their pushback against the Trump administration by issuing orders blocking a number of actions, including the deportation of the family of Mohamed Soliman, who is facing a hate crime charge in the wake of a firebombing attack in Colorado.
The rulings – some from judges appointed under the Biden administration – come after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that "President Trump had more injunctions in one full month of office in February than Joe Biden had in three years."
"The real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch, where district court judges in liberal districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump's basic executive authority," Leavitt also has said.
Here are seven cases in which federal judges ruled against the Trump administration this week:
A Biden administration-appointed federal judge in Colorado on Wednesday halted the deportation of the wife and five children of Mohamed Soliman, the Egyptian national under federal investigation for the Boulder firebombing attack on Sunday.
The temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher prevents federal immigration authorities from removing Soliman's wife, Hayem El Gamal, and the couple's five children from the country, at least for now.
The ruling will remain in effect until a scheduled hearing on June 13. It came after El Gamal's friend, Susanna Dvortsin, sought emergency legal protection for the family and argued that they faced imminent deportation by the Trump administration without the opportunity to present their case in court.
According to Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, citing sources, El Gamal and her five children have all overstayed their visas. However, an asylum application had already been submitted on their behalf by Soliman.
A federal judge granted a request Wednesday from more than a dozen major news outlets and publishers to unseal certain records in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Salvadorian migrant and alleged MS-13 member who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March in what administration officials have acknowledged was an administrative error.
Separately on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis granted a request from Abrego Garcia's legal team to file a motion for sanctions against the Trump administration.
The one-two punch from Xinis could give plaintiffs new ammunition to pursue more formal punishments against the Trump administration if officials are found to have been acting in bad faith or knowingly defying court orders. The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S.
A federal judge in Washington state on Tuesday granted Denver and other local governments a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s threats to withhold federal funding for transportation programs.
Denver and dozens of other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in May, claiming that the Trump administration’s threats to withhold an estimated $4 billion in critical federal grants exceed the Executive Branch’s authority and were thereby "unlawful and politically motivated funding conditions," according to the injunction order.
The judge ruled that the Trump administration likely violated the Separation of Powers doctrine, and that its threats to cut funding constitute harm.
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore millions of dollars in grant funding for AmeriCorps and to reemploy thousands of employees, ruling that the administration's abrupt dismantling of the organization violated federal law.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman agreed to reinstate thousands of terminated AmeriCorps employees across 24 U.S. states and D.C., which sued the administration earlier this year over the steep cuts to the agency ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
She also ordered the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved funding for AmeriCorps programs, which were also slashed by DOGE earlier this year.
The motion, filed by the National Job Corps Association, was to stop the Department of Labor's closure of 99 Job Corps campuses nationwide, according to a news release.
Job Corps was created by Congress in 1964 and allows 16- to 24-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain high school diplomas or an equivalent, vocational certificates and licenses, and on-the-job training. The program currently serves about 25,000 people at 120 Job Corps centers run by contractors.
When the Department of Labor announced it was pausing Job Corps center operations, it said the program was not cost-effective, had a low graduation rate and was not placing participants in stable jobs. The department also said there had been thousands of instances of violence, drug use and security breaches at Job Corps centers.
A federal judge in Oregon on Tuesday issued an order barring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from removing a Mexican asylum seeker from a Washington detention facility, according to local reports.
The migrant, a 24-year-old transgender woman identified as "O-J-M" in court documents, was arrested outside a Portland courtroom on Monday and transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio, a President Joe Biden appointee, also demanded that ICE provide the exact date and time of the removal from Portland and explain why it was deemed immediately necessary.
A federal judge on Thursday issued a fresh order blocking ICE from arresting Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old Columbia University student whom the Trump administration is seeking to deport back to South Korea after she participated in an anti-Israel protest earlier this year, according to the Washington Post.
The newspaper reported that federal agents first sought to detain Chung in March, yet were unable to locate her. She then sued to block them from doing so.
"This is a win not just for Yunseo and for the legions of people who stand up for Palestinians and oppose the daily atrocities in Gaza that our government underwrites, but also for freedom of speech and the rule of law in our country," Ramzi Kassem, co-director of CLEAR, a legal nonprofit at City University of New York that is representing Chung, told the Washington Post.
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Cameron Arcand, Bill Melugin, Breanne Deppisch, Stephen Sorace, Pilar Arias, Michael Dorgan and Reuters contributed to this report.
EXCLUSIVE: Just in time for the 81st anniversary of D-Day, a House Republican is introducing a bill to allow greater military technology sharing between the United States and the United Kingdom, promising "we will never forget their friendship."
Titled the Special Relationship Military Improvement Act of 2025, Rep. Mark Green said his bill is meant to further build up the U.S.’s relationship with one of its closest allies. Green asserted that in the current climate of escalating global conflict and tension, sharing technological advances with America’s closest allies is "crucial."
"On the 81st anniversary of D-Day, I’m reintroducing the Special Relationship Military Improvement Act of 2025," the Tennessee Republican said in a statement announcing the bill.
"Our nation can never forget the sacrifice of thousands of Allied soldiers who lost their lives on D-Day and the invasion of Normandy. The price they paid ensured that millions could live free from tyranny. And the best way to commemorate this momentous day is to strengthen our partnership with the United Kingdom—and that’s exactly what this bill does," he said.
Under the current rules of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), advances in military technology are the U.S.’s exclusive property when sold to the government. Although Canada is granted exemptions under this regulation, the United Kingdom currently is not.
Green’s bill would amend the Arms Export Control Act to add an exemption for sharing military technology with the United Kingdom as well.
Green called the practice of sharing advancements in American military technology with close allies "common sense."
"The U.S. and the U.K. work together in almost every aspect to share intelligence, fight terrorism around the globe, and ensure that, through our combined military strength, the world can enjoy unprecedented peace," he said.
Green also said that as a veteran and former commander in the 82nd Airborne Division, which made the jump on D-Day, the anniversary "is very personal to me."
He also shared he was "honored" to join several other veterans in Congress in jumping out of original C-47 transport planes over Normandy in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024.
"American and British soldiers have fought shoulder to shoulder for over 100 years," Green said. "There are no better warriors to fight alongside the United States. Our friendship cannot be overstated."
In a statement to Fox News Digital Green added that "on the beaches of Normandy, it was British soldiers who ran in the sand alongside Americans" and that "when we were attacked on 9/11, it was the United Kingdom that sent soldiers into Afghanistan to help us destroy al-Qaeda and the Taliban that gave them safe haven."
It started Tuesday with a hangup between Congressional Republicans and Musk over the Big, Beautiful Bill. Musk characterized it as a "disgusting abomination." He then turned on all 215 House Republicans who voted yes on the bill last month.
"You know you did wrong," declared Musk.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., tried to call Musk to foam the political flames.
On X, Musk posted an iconic picture of Uma Thurman in a yellow jumpsuit, wielding a sword from a Quentin Tarantino movie poster.
"KILL the Bill," read Musk’s caption.
Reach out and touch someone? How about reach out and call your senator or representative?
Musk’s influence – and rapid pivot – frightened Congressional Republicans.
"To say that it's a problem or that it has created a bigger challenge for us, is true," said House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington," R-Tex. "He's got a big voice. He's got a big audience. And more importantly, it's a credible voice. But he's wrong on this issue."
Still, Republicans weren’t budging as Musk demanded lawmakers craft a new piece of legislation.
"Elon, look," said an exasperated Johnson. "We don't have time for a brand new bill."
The Speaker added that Congressional Republicans "can't go back to the drawing board and we shouldn't."
The political contretemps started simmering as Republicans quickly became incensed with Musk.
"Give us some productive feedback that we can operate on. I can't operate on platitudes," said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., of Musk’s vague criticism about the size of the legislation and deficit spending.
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, is one of the two House Republicans who voted no on the Big, Beautiful Bill last month.
"Part of the goal with Musk and conservatives like me that have had reservations about the bill is make it better," said Davidson. "The disappointing thing is this bill does grow deficits in this Congress."
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the other House GOPer who voted nay. He says Musk learned how Congress operates the hard way.
"Trust was misplaced. And so I think he has a right to be upset with our leadership," said Massie.
But Democrats suddenly made strange bedfellows with Musk. They viewed Musk’s opposition as an opportunity to help them sidetrack the legislation.
"He's not my cup of tea, to put it mildly. But Republicans are already listening to him," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of Musk.
But at least one Democrat called out his colleagues for their inconsistency with Musk.
"We've been dumping all over Musk and vandalizing Teslas," said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn. "And now suddenly, now we might be more back into him."
This all came as the Trump Administration asked Congress to chip away at spending. Budget Director Russ Vought sent lawmakers a $9.4 billion "rescissions" request. This measure asks that lawmakers claw back money it already allocated.
"$9.4 billion is a teardrop in the ocean," said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. "If we can't get this now, then God help us on getting the true deficit numbers down."
The rescissions plan targeted foreign aid and public broadcasting.
"You've sent us a rescission package worth $9 billion that goes after Big Bird and Cookie Monster," lamented Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., at a hearing with Vought.
The Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Big, Beautiful Bill found that it adds $2.3 trillion to the deficit over a decade. But Republicans say those figures are wrong. The CBO also issued an analysis – specific to President Trump’s tariffs. The CBO projects a $3 trillion decrease in deficits over the next decade because of the tariffs. The CBO cannot evaluate the tariffs under the One Big, Beautiful Bill – because, well, they’re not part of the legislation. But, proponents of the One Big Beautiful Bill say that measure, coupled with the tariffs, decreases deficits by $500 billion over the next decade.
Some Republicans believe that the CBO estimate about the deficit is what set off Musk.
"I think their assumptions are wrong. We have long complained about it," said Johnson.
But remember, this is the CONGRESSIONAL Budget Office. And REPUBLICANS run Congress.
"Why are you not getting the numbers that you want?" asked yours truly of the Speaker.
"They use a different scoring," replied Johnson.
"Would you consider a rescission for the CBO in the legislative branch appropriations bill?" I followed up.
"I would," answered Johnson.
But the CBO is the least of Johnson’s worries as the battle between the president and Musk went supernova on Thursday.
"What is the message you need to hear from him to make sure you are on the same page?" I asked Johnson of Musk – who still hadn’t connected.
"I just want to answer any questions Elon has and make sure he fully understands this is not a spending program," said Johnson.
"Do you think he just misperceives this?" I inquired.
"I do," said Johnson.
Senate Republicans who are noes on the bill applauded Musk’s staunch opposition to the One Big, Beautiful Bill.
"We both seem to be on the same wavelength and that we're very, very skeptical," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
On Thursday afternoon, Musk argued that President Trump would have lost the White House and Democrats would control the House and Senate were it not for the $280 million he poured into the 2024 campaign.
"He obviously played a positive role," said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., another no on the bill. "He helped spend that much money. He attracted a lot of people."
But Democrats weren’t so sure of Musk’s political rainmaking.
"It’s just crocodile tears that are being shed by Elon Musk," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Democrats saw the breakup coming between the president and Musk.
"It's a divorce that was predictable, if not inevitable," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Some Senate Republicans claimed they weren’t worried about Musk torching the bill – and even President Trump – on X. They believed the president wielded an inherent advantage over Musk in the ultimate "Twitter" cage match.
"President Trump has the biggest platform on Earth," said Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio.
It’s too early to tell if Musk’s incineration of the One Big, Beautiful Bill will hamper efforts to pass the legislation – especially with tight vote margins in the House and Senate.
"It's not helpful," conceded Mike Johnson. "But I don't think it's changed the trajectory in any way."
But Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said Republicans stand at an unenviable crossroads.
"They have a choice of going against Trump or Musk," said Burchett.
A federal judge late Thursday blocked the Trump administration's decision to ban foreign students from attending Harvard University.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs came hours after the Ivy League filed an amended complaint in court, arguing that the administration's move was unconstitutional. Over 7,000 students at Harvard hold F-1 or J-1 visas. Without those certifications, they can’t study, teach, or conduct research in the U.S. The ban also affects their families and dependents.
According to the university's lawsuit, the proclamation "lacks any lawful basis" and does not apply to any broad group of immigrants.
"Nonimmigrants may enter the country unabated, as long as they do not attend Harvard," the complaint states.
Harvard argues the measure does not target a "class of aliens," but instead singles out Harvard-bound students, calling it a "government vendetta" rather than a national security measure.
In April, a federal task force led by the Trump administration sent the university a list of demands, including ideological screening of students and faculty, "viewpoint diversity" quotas in hiring and admissions, and punishment of student activist groups.
The administration also demanded Harvard report foreign funding sources and allow government oversight of internal policies.
When Harvard refused, the government froze $2.2 billion in research funding. Trump later posted on Truth Social that Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status if it continued to "push radical ideology." In another post, he accused the school of hiring "woke, Radical Left, idiots" and claimed it was no longer a great university.
The Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard’s SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certification a few days later, which allows the school to sponsor international students, but a federal judge blocked that decision.
Harvard now says that the administration is using Trump's proclamation to do what the courts have already stopped.
The government claims Harvard failed to provide complete information on its international student population, but the university says it has submitted all records required by law and that the revocation is a pretext.
"There is no lawful justification for the government’s unprecedented actions," the university said in Thursday's filing.
The amended complaint also reveals that Harvard is being represented by Robert Hur, the former special counsel who interviewed former President Joe Biden.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to the lawsuit by saying it "seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II. It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students.
"The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system; no lawsuit, this or any other, is going to change that. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side."
International students now face uncertainty as the legal battle wages on. Jing, a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student interning in Asia, told The Associated Press: "It is tiring; we all feel numb now."
Another student, Yonas Nuguse from Ethiopia, who was accepted after surviving war and a school shutdown, also told The AP, "I hope the situation is temporary and I can enroll on time."
Fox News' Louis Casiano and David Spunt contributed to this report.
Maverick Democratic Sen. John Fetterman dissed members of his own party Thursday for suddenly backing Elon Musk during his feud with President Donald Trump.
Democrats have found an unlikely ally in Musk this week, given his public rejection of Trump's "big, beautiful bill" and a subsequent call for Trump's impeachment.
The president has championed the legislation as fulfilling his key campaign promises, including border security, American energy production and tax cuts.
The megabill is under consideration by both a Republican-led White House and Congress. But it has faced hiccups in the Senate this week as Republicans, including some who helped pass the bill through the House, have indicated they do not support the bill in its current form. Every House Democrat voted against the bill.
Amid the setbacks, Musk has thrown a wrench into the Republican's reconciliation process through a series of fiery posts on X, the platform he bought in 2022. And Democrats were quick to coalesce behind Musk's rejection of the bill, seizing on the GOP's intraparty conflict despite their outright rejection of Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) this year.
In the first of several posts targeting the bill, and then Trump directly, Musk said, "I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Fetterman, who has built a reputation for bucking his own party on issues like immigration and support for Israel, was quick to call out the inconsistency of his fellow Democrats Thursday.
"The Dems, we've been dumping all over Musk and vandalizing Teslas or whatever, and now, suddenly, we might be more back into him," Fetterman said.
Democrats began staging protests at Tesla dealerships early into Trump's second term. Tesla vehicles and dealerships have also been targeted this year in a string of violent attacks against the company, another business owned by Musk. Trump's Justice Department labeled the attacks "domestic terrorism."
And while the Pennsylvania Democrat said Musk is right for rejecting Trump's megabill, Fetterman said Thursday Democrats have to decide what they think of Musk and stick with it.
"It wasn't that long ago that Tesla was like the virtue-signaling kind of accessory for Dems," Fetterman said. "I would never want to vandalize Teslas, and the ‘big, beautiful bill’ is wrong for America. So, from my perspective, I've just tried to be consistent through that."
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., was one Democrat who acknowledged this week that Democrats should work with Musk on their shared objective to stop Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
And GOP Rep. Tim Burchett piled on the criticism of Democrats' inconsistencies, telling Fox News Digital, "It's kind of ironic to me that, a week ago, the Democrats hated Elon Musk's guts … and now they're basing everything they have on him."
Fox News Channel's Chad Pergram and Fox News Media's Dan Scully contributed to this report.
House GOP lawmakers are accusing Elon Musk of going "too far" after he suggested President Donald Trump was "in the Epstein files."
"Hopefully we never have to answer questions about tweets like that from Elon again," said Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, calling Musk's comments "not helpful."
"Elon crossed the line today," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital,
Musk referenced late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in relation to Trump Thursday as part of a larger tirade against the president and Republican leaders over their budget reconciliation bill.
The tech billionaire accused Republicans of adding to the national debt — currently nearing $37 trillion — with legislation they've called Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
"Time to drop the really big bomb. [Trump] is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!" Musk wrote on X. "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said Musk had "gone too far."
"There's just no need for this," Nehls said. "Those conversations should be taking place behind closed doors."
Some Republicans argued that any damning information about Trump and Epstein would have already been revealed if it existed.
"What I would say is, if Joe Biden had Donald Trump in the Epstein logs, there's no question it would have come out during the campaign," Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. "So, I don't know what's prompting it. I think it's all unfortunate."
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., questioned why Musk would let his young son, nicknamed "X," around Trump if he believed he was closely associated with a pedophile.
"The Biden administration would have put it out. There's nobody that Democrats hate more than Donald J. Trump, and he's handing them their lunch every day. So, I don't put much faith into it," Burchett said.
"Why would he let his kid hang out with the president if that was true? That just doesn't make any sense. And now he's calling for his impeachment. I mean, it's just going off to the deep end."
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who is leading a task force on declassifying federal investigations, including Epstein's, told reporters she did not think Musk's suggestion held water.
"Speaking to Jeffrey Epstein, I will be very specific that I do believe that if President Trump was in the Epstein files, they would have released it during the primary, and they didn't," Luna said.
"So, the fact is, is that I do not believe that President Trump is in the Epstein files, the way that it's being implied, but either which way, this is why we continue to push for transparency."
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., however, stood apart in his answer in calling for more transparency into the Epstein files.
"Facts will bear out whatever they will," Norman said. "The Epstein files are bound to come out, and let it come out. We ought to see it. America has a right to know, just like they do with the John F. Kennedy files, the Bobby Kennedy files."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attributed Musk's tirade to Trump's bill, which is focused on working- and middle-class tax relief and not benefiting Musk and his companies enough.
"This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again," Leavitt said.
Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., told Fox News Digital, "I could not tell you what Elon Musk's motivations are, but I can tell you what we're going to do, which is avoid a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people.
And while it's well-known the two men were acquainted, a source familiar with the matter pointed out that Trump had kicked Epstein out of his Palm Beach Golf Club.
Trump had permanently banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for hitting on a teenage daughter of a club member, according to a book, "The Grifter's Club."
"The administration itself released Epstein files with the President’s name included. This is not a new surprise Elon is uncovering. Everyone already knew this," the source said. "If Elon truly thought the President was more deeply involved with Epstein, why did he hang out with him for six months and say he ‘loves him as much as a straight man can love a straight man?'"
Fox News Digital has also reached out to Musk for comment via his office at Tesla.
Mexican drug cartels are getting help from the Chinese to build their drug empire that feeds off American consumers.
Border patrol officials intercepted 50,000 kilos of precursor chemicals this week used in the process of manufacturing methamphetamines, sent from China and intended for members of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. In addition to providing the cartels with the chemicals needed to make illicit drugs, Chinese entities are also one of the foremost actors in helping them launder their proceeds, according to the Treasury Department.
"For far too long, the Mexican drug cartels have raked in billions of dollars at the expense of our local communities leaving nothing but addiction, death and despair in their wake," said Chad Plantz, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge in Houston. "This initiative provides HSI with a game-changing method to stay one step ahead of the cartels by disrupting the flow of chemicals that they depend on to produce illicit narcotics."
The seizure was part of an ongoing initiative launched in 2019 to identify suspicious shipments of precursor chemicals from China, India and other countries that are destined for Mexican drug cartels. Since the initiative was established, officials have interdicted more than 1,700,000 kilograms of chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamines and fentanyl, including a seizure this past March of 44,000 kilograms of precursor chemicals at the Port of Houston, destined for the Sinaloa Cartel.
Immigration officials' bust comes amid news of a spate of other incidents involving Chinese nationals or individuals working for China who have engaged in espionage efforts, ranging from agroterroism and selling military secrets, to infiltrating U.S. universities and utilizing American-based products to sow political divisions online.
In the latest incident, two Chinese nationals were charged with allegedly smuggling a "dangerous biological pathogen" into the U.S. to study at a University of Michigan laboratory. This happened amid controversy over the Trump administration's effort to intensify visa scrutiny for Chinese nationals trying to enter the United States.
Last month, an expansive investigation by a group of Stanford students detailed how there is a culture of students and faculty at their school doing work for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The report highlighted how some students want to work with the Chinese government, such as through sharing intellectual property or aligning their research priorities with Chinese interests, while others are sometimes coerced into doing work for the CCP, particularly if they have family back in Beijing.
Meanwhile, just this week, reports of Chinese efforts to steal U.S. state secrets or sow political divisions have surfaced.
On Friday, the Department of Justice indicted two Chinese nationals and a lawful permanent resident for conspiring to traffic sensitive American military technology to the CCP.
Over the weekend, a British businessman was arrested for attempting to smuggle sensitive U.S. military components to China.
American artifical intelligence company OpenAI this week also shutdown a Chinese-linked influence operation that was utilizing its ChatGPT product to generate social media posts and sow political division related to U.S. politics online.
"The new visa policy is long overdue," Congresswoman Michele Steel said. "After four years of willful ignorance – or gross incompetence – under the Biden administration, President Trump has wasted no time in directing his administration to take the decisive, necessary action to finally thwart the pervasive and growing threat of Chinese communist espionage."
Democrats are moving to embrace former Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk as he publicly spats with President Donald Trump, despite many party voters and lawmakers railing against Musk for months as a "fascist" or "dictator" for taking a hatchet to the federal government's overspending and fraud within the Trump administration.
"If Biden had a big supporter criticize him, Trump would have hugged him the next day," Democrat California Rep. Ro Khanna posted to X on Thursday of Musk's criticisms of the "big, beautiful bill." "When we refused to meet with @RobertKennedyJr, Trump embraced him & won. We can be the party of sanctimonious lectures, or the party of FDR that knows how to win & build a progressive majority."
Khanna told Politico on Wednesday that Democrats should "ultimately be trying to convince [Musk] that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with."
"A commitment to science funding, a commitment to clean technology, a commitment to seeing international students like him," he added.
Democrat New York Rep. Ritchie Torres told the outlet on Wednesday, "I’m a believer in redemption, and he is telling the truth about the legislation."
Torres said Musk has "done an enormous amount of damage" and "there are Democrats who see his decimation of the federal workforce and the federal government as an unforgivable sin."
"Couldn’t agree with Elon more: kill the bill," Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for former President Barack Obama, posted to X in response to Musk calling on lawmakers to "kill" the legislation.
Musk is in the midst of publicly trading barbs with Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is sweeping legislation currently making its way through Congress and aims to fund the president's agenda.
"I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore," Musk posted to X on Tuesday. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
In addition to Democrats who don't support the bill, Musk has also found himself aligned with members of the House Freedom Caucus, which is considered the most conservative voting bloc within the lower chamber, as well as staunch fiscal conservatives in the Senate, such as Republicans Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Wisconsin Sen. Ron. Johnson, who have publicly rebuked the legislation.
Some Democrats posting messages favorable of Musk's comments on the "big, beautiful bill" come after many left-wing voters and lawmakers, as well as federal employees, slammed Musk for months as an unelected billionaire who was helping shape White House policy. Many also took issue with Musk on inauguration day for delivering what dozens of media outlets described as a "Nazi-style salute" to Trump supporters.
"If you’re cool and want to defend the ‘Sieg Heils’ and the Nazi salutes … whatever you want to do, that’s on you," Democrat New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Coretz said in January following the gesture. "I’m on the opposite side of that. I’m not with the Nazis."
"I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal," New York Rep. Jerry Nadler tweeted in January. "This abhorrent gesture has no place in our society and belongs in the darkest chapters of human history. I urge all of my colleagues to unite in condemning this hateful gesture for what it is: antisemitism."
"He's incompetent. He's a thief. He's a Nazi. And people don't trust him," former Democrat New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman said of Musk in March.
"He’s a Nazi nepo baby who breaks everything he touches," Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Ayanna Pressley said in February as Musk announced cuts to the federal government via DOGE. "And right now he’s locked himself in a room with grandpa’s Social Security check."
Fiscal conservatives in Congress have spoken out against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as one that will increase the U.S. debt ceiling by trillions, including Senate Republicans bucking support for the legislation after its passage in the House last month.
"I want the tax cuts to be permanent. But at the same time, I don't want to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion," Paul told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "The GOP will own the debt once they vote for this."
Trump has admonished the criticism from fiscally conservative Republicans, arguing that Paul, for example, was on the verge of siding with the "Radical Left Democrats" and encouraging a 68% tax hike on Americans if he voted against the legislation.
Musk, since stepping down from his DOGE role in May after his 130 predetermined days as a special government employee ended, ramped up his criticism of the bill on Wednesday, including encouraging lawmakers to "kill the bill."
On Thursday, Trump directly addressed Musk's comments, saying in an Oval Office meeting with the chancellor of Germany that he was "disappointed" by Musk's attacks on the legislation and said he was unsure how their friendly relationship would fare through the criticisms. Trump added that Musk's disapproval of the bill was allegedly tied to its cuts to electrical vehicle mandates. Musk is the CEO of electric vehicle company Tesla.
"I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it," Trump said Thursday. "All of a sudden, he had a problem. And he only developed the problem when he found out that we're going to have to cut the EV mandate."
"Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore," Trump added.
The pair later launched attacks on one another on social media.
"Elon was "wearing thin," I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!" Trump posted to X on Thursday.
Republican senators John Cornyn of Texas and Roger Marshall of Kansas shared their thoughts on the sudden, escalating feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, with one senator saying Musk needs to realize "he’s not the CEO here."
After denying "outlandish" Democratic claims that the Trump-backed "big, beautiful bill" would result in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits if passed, Cornyn addressed whether he believes Trump is wise to threaten to cancel all of Musk’s companies’ government contracts.
Musk and Trump have been locked in an escalating war of words over their disagreement about the president’s proposed budget bill, which is being considered by the Senate.
In an X post Tuesday, Musk said: "I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Musk then asserted Thursday afternoon that Trump "is in the Epstein files" and "that is the real reason they have not been made public."
Meanwhile, Trump has said Musk is "wearing thin" during his leadership at DOGE and asserted he "asked him to leave."
"I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!" Trump said on Truth Social.
The president also said Thursday "the easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.
Cornyn stopped short of criticizing either side, telling Fox News Digital Musk "has done a great service to the nation" and "I'm grateful to President Trump for bringing him on board and initiating DOGE."
Even through Musk’s spat with the president, Cornyn said the Department of Government Efficiency is "going to now be a permanent part of our discussions up here."
"Everybody believes, or understands, I should say, that the federal government is too big and too bloated and inefficient, and Elon and DOGE was very effective, I thought, at pointing out some of the most egregious examples of that," the Texas Republican said.
Marshall responded to the controversy by telling Fox News Digital, "We appreciate what Elon did for the government, but it's time to move on.
"What Elon doesn't realize is that he's not the CEO here.
"Working for Congress, working for the people back home is so much different than being a CEO. [When] you're a CEO, you tell people jump, they say, ‘How high do you got to go?’ But President Trump is working with a board."
Marshall described the president’s role as "working with a board of a big business."
"There's 435 across the Capitol way here. There's 100 in the Senate. We've all got opinions. And, right now, this bill, I think 90% of the folks up here, Republicans, thinks that it's where it needs to be," he said.
Though acknowledging "there's opportunities for improvement" and "I agree with Elon that we're still spending too much money, that we need more cuts, I've learned a long time ago to stay locked in on my goal. And I am locked in on getting this one big, beautiful bill across the line."
"I can guarantee you we're not paying any attention to this little feud going on," he concluded.
Regarding Democratic accusations that the bill will drastically cut Medicaid and SNAP benefits, Marshall said, "We’re going to do the right thing, but protect it for those who need it the most."
He posited that the Medicaid system is rife with illegal aliens and other individuals using the program "fraudulently."
Addressing the rest of those not using the system fraudulently, the senator said, "We're not going to take grandma out of the nursing home. We're going to make sure that she has her Medicaid.
"Persons with disabilities, I will fight to keep their Medicaid for them, children as well. But, on the other hand, there's probably 7 million healthy American men out there, working age, that really should be working and not on Medicaid, not on food stamps," he added. "So, let's help those people get a job."
Republican senators John Cornyn of Texas and Roger Marshall of Kansas shared their thoughts on the sudden, escalating feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, with one senator saying Musk needs to realize "he’s not the CEO here."
After denying "outlandish" Democratic claims that the Trump-backed "big, beautiful bill" would result in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits if passed, Cornyn addressed whether he believes Trump is wise to threaten to cancel all of Musk’s companies’ government contracts.
Musk and Trump have been locked in an escalating war of words over their disagreement about the president’s proposed budget bill, which is being considered by the Senate.
In an X post Tuesday, Musk said: "I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Musk then asserted Thursday afternoon that Trump "is in the Epstein files" and "that is the real reason they have not been made public."
Meanwhile, Trump has said Musk is "wearing thin" during his leadership at DOGE and asserted he "asked him to leave."
"I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!" Trump said on Truth Social.
The president also said Thursday "the easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.
Cornyn stopped short of criticizing either side, telling Fox News Digital Musk "has done a great service to the nation" and "I'm grateful to President Trump for bringing him on board and initiating DOGE."
Even through Musk’s spat with the president, Cornyn said the Department of Government Efficiency is "going to now be a permanent part of our discussions up here."
"Everybody believes, or understands, I should say, that the federal government is too big and too bloated and inefficient, and Elon and DOGE was very effective, I thought, at pointing out some of the most egregious examples of that," the Texas Republican said.
Marshall responded to the controversy by telling Fox News Digital, "We appreciate what Elon did for the government, but it's time to move on.
"What Elon doesn't realize is that he's not the CEO here.
"Working for Congress, working for the people back home is so much different than being a CEO. [When] you're a CEO, you tell people jump, they say, ‘How high do you got to go?’ But President Trump is working with a board."
Marshall described the president’s role as "working with a board of a big business."
"There's 435 across the Capitol way here. There's 100 in the Senate. We've all got opinions. And, right now, this bill, I think 90% of the folks up here, Republicans, thinks that it's where it needs to be," he said.
Though acknowledging "there's opportunities for improvement" and "I agree with Elon that we're still spending too much money, that we need more cuts, I've learned a long time ago to stay locked in on my goal. And I am locked in on getting this one big, beautiful bill across the line."
"I can guarantee you we're not paying any attention to this little feud going on," he concluded.
Regarding Democratic accusations that the bill will drastically cut Medicaid and SNAP benefits, Marshall said, "We’re going to do the right thing, but protect it for those who need it the most."
He posited that the Medicaid system is rife with illegal aliens and other individuals using the program "fraudulently."
Addressing the rest of those not using the system fraudulently, the senator said, "We're not going to take grandma out of the nursing home. We're going to make sure that she has her Medicaid.
"Persons with disabilities, I will fight to keep their Medicaid for them, children as well. But, on the other hand, there's probably 7 million healthy American men out there, working age, that really should be working and not on Medicaid, not on food stamps," he added. "So, let's help those people get a job."
EXCLUSIVE: A former top aide in New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office is the daughter of a former Chinese journalist whose archived biography says he worked for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) "Education Department of the News Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department" as a deputy director and served in multiple leadership roles at state-run media outlets, a Fox News Digital investigation found.
Fan Xiaojiang, or Elaine, is currently serving as the chief of staff for Democrat Scott Stringer’s mayoral campaign and has been involved in Democrat politics in New York for more than a decade, including serving as Hochul’s director of Asian affairs between October 2021 and November 2023, according to her Linkedin profile.
The latest campaign finance filing shows that she has been paid more than $120,000 by the Stringer campaign since last August. Stringer's campaign declined to comment for this story.
Fan, who is originally from Beijing, was recognized by the City University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Communication Research in a 2021 press release promoting her role in the Hochul administration. The press release called her an "alumnus" and boasted about her being "one of the very few Asian-American leaders who hold a senior position in the state’s government."
The press release went on to quote professor Jonathan Zhu, a former supervisor, who said that "Elaine is the third generation of a journalist’s family in China, with her grandfather and father each playing a distinguished role in the respective eras of the nation’s history."
Fox News Digital can now exclusively confirm that this press release was referring to Fan Dongsheng, her father, and Fan Changjiang, her late grandfather.
When reached for comment on whether Elaine’s father influenced her to go into the media, Zhu confirmed to Fox News Digital that Dongsheng was her father and said, "Although I have never eyewitnessed what Fan Dongsheng told his daughter about career choice, his influence on her is obvious and imaginable."
He went on to say that Dongsheng visited the university that his daughter attended a "few times, including a talk to our faculty members and graduate students on his experience in launching and operating Huasheng Monthly, one of the earliest online news websites in China."
Prior to jumping into state government in 2014 as the "Queens Borough Director & Citywide Asian American Affairs" for Stringer’s comptroller office, Elaine was the "Chief Reporter" for Ming Pao Daily News for almost a decade between 2005 and 2015, according to her Linkedin profile.
A few years before she joined the media outlet, the Jamestown Foundation, a nonpartisan defense policy think tank, sounded the alarm about the media outlet being "heavily influenced" by the Chinese government and revealed that sources told them that the Chinese Consulate in New York was their "true boss."
This would not be the first time that someone from the Fan family would work for a media outlet influenced by the Chinese government. Fan’s father served as the president and editorial director of China Press, or Qiaobao, in New York between 1999 and 2005, according to multiple archived online bios.
China Press was not only designated by the State Department during President Donald Trump’s first term as "state-backed propaganda" and a "foreign mission," but the Hoover Institution also sounded the alarm, saying in a 2020 report that the "state-owned China News Service and the Overseas Chinese Office of the State Council dispatched editorial personnel to the United States" to found Qiaobao.
The elder Fan also served as the "director of the Special Editorial Department of the Chinese News Agency," which now refers to the Xinhua News Agency, a top state-run propaganda outlet, according to the Hoover Institution. Multiple bios said he was also the deputy director of the "Education Department of the News Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department."
According to a Chinese government website reviewed by Fox News Digital, the CPD is the "organization primarily responsible for monitoring content to ensure that China's publishers, in particular its news publishers, do not print anything that is inconsistent with the Communist Party's political dogma."
After leaving state-owned media, Dongsheng held multiple leadership roles at the Cheung Kong School of Journalism and Communication at Shantou University, a Chinese university that has sections on their website that promote the CCP "Party Building Work" and hosted a themed life meeting a few years ago on "Strive like an outstanding Communist Party member"
The editor of China Brief at the Jamestown Foundation expressed deep concerns when Fox News Digital reached out about Fan’s familial ties to the CCP, saying she "comes from an illustrious family of CCP journalists."
"Her grandfather was one of the more prominent propagandists of the CCP's struggles from the 1930s onwards, while her father worked for a range of party publications managed under the central propaganda department in Beijing," Arran Hope told Fox News Digital. "This included a stint in the United States, where her daughter now works as chief of staff to mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, following a stint as a reporter for another party outlet here. Fan has not distanced herself from her family legacy, quite the opposite. In 2017, for example, she delivered a speech at a journalism school in the PRC (People's Republic of China) named in her grandfather's honor."
"More concerning for New York City's voters, she appears to be actively involved in the party's United Front system, which seeks to promote the party's preferences and control both within and without the PRC. She has given speeches at events organized by the PRC Consulate in New York that celebrate United Front organizations in the city," he continued. "These events call for promoting reunification with Taiwan as well as advocating for the ‘motherland’ and its interests. To have somebody whom PRC diplomats clearly view favorably in such a senior role in New York politics should be cause for concern."
Elaine Fan's late grandfather joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1939 and had leadership roles at multiple state-owned media outlets, including as the editor-in-chief of the Xinhua News Agency, deputy director of the General Administration of Information and president of the People's Daily News Agency, according to multiple bios on Baidu. In addition to her father and grandfather, Fan's uncle, Fan Xiaojian, joined the CCP in 1976 and has held multiple roles in the CCP, including as the chief economist and director of the finance department of the ministry of agriculture between 1998 and 2000.
He was also a delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and was a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which Fox News Digital previously reported was "designed to liaise with non-Communist Party members – and ultimately see them work with the CCP to advance its interests," according to a 2021 report from The Diplomat.
During her tenure in the Hochul administration, Elaine attended several events hosted by the Chinese Consulate in New York City and multiple groups that make up China's United Front, which works to "co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling," according to a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report.
Elaine was a guest of honor at an event last September at the consulate in New York City to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the U.S.-Fujian Western Overseas Chinese Association, which is a United Front group, according to the Chinese government.
She also attended an event called "An Evening of Chinese Culture" hosted by the New York Mets and Sino-American Friendship Association in 2023, which received backlash. According to an August 2022 op-ed from the Washington Post’s deputy opinion editor, "China experts have identified" SAFA as "being involved in United Front work – a global effort to propagandize on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party."
In 2021, Hochul gave a shout-out to Fan while announcing that Chinatown was a $20 Million New York City region winner for revitalization, saying she "forgot to mention Elaine Fan is now my Director of Asian Affairs." She then told the crowd to "Make sure you get to know Elaine Fan as well."
Hudson Institute Fellow Michael Sobolik spoke to Fox News Digital about the totality of Fan's links to the CCP, saying, "This isn't complicated."
"If Elaine Fan ever worked for CCP-controlled state media, she shouldn’t be welcome in U.S. electoral politics. If Scott Stringer lacks discernment to insulate a campaign from potential vectors of CCP influence, how can he protect New York City from that malign influence in public office?"
In September 2023, Chinese Consul General Huang Ping in New York hosted a reception at the consulate to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which included several officials, including Fan, who delivered remarks at the reception.
Hochul’s ties to Elaine Fan aren’t the first time that her office has faced scrutiny over concerns about CCP influence. Hochul faced backlash last year after it was revealed that her former deputy chief of staff, Linda Sun, was indicted on charges of "violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy," according to a Department of Justice press release in September.
Sun’s lawyers have repeatedly denied the charges, but the indictment revealed some damning communications between Sun and Huang Ping, who left his role as the consul general of the New York City Chinese consulate weeks after the indictment against Sun was announced.
Fox News Digital has extensively reported on Ping, who was spotted making visits to top universities, speaking with elected officials and carousing with top media outlets despite his long history of pushing CCP narratives and publicly denying human rights violations against China's Uyghur population. The unsealed indictment revealed that a speechwriter for then-Lt. Gov. Hochul wanted to mention the "Uyghur situation" in China for her 2021 Lunar New Year message, but the plight of the minority group being persecuted by the Chinese government was ultimately omitted after Sun overruled the speechwriter.
The indictment says Sun revealed to Ping what the speechwriter wanted to include but insisted that she would not let her boss mention Uyghurs after admitting that she was "starting to lose her temper" with the speechwriter. Ping appeared to chalk up the speechwriter’s suggestion as a clueless American who had never visited China and that U.S.-China relations could "sour" because of "people like the speechwriter," the indictment said, prompting Sun to concur that the speechwriter had never visited China. Ping would go on to post Hochul’s Lunar New Year message days later on his Facebook page, which did not mention Uyghurs.
Fox News Digital reached out to Fan and Hochul's office but did not receive a response.
EXCLUSIVE: The White House is backing legislation to expedite the timeline for executing removal orders for illegal immigrants.
The Rapid Expulsion of Migrant Offenders who Violate and Evade (REMOVE) Act, led by senators Marsha Blackburn, Ted Budd and Ted Cruz would give the Department of Justice a quick 15-day timeframe to finish "removal proceedings" after the process has "commenced."
"Under Joe Biden’s failed leadership, we saw the largest wave of illegal immigration in our nation’s history, forcing communities across Tennessee and America to bear the consequences," Blackburn said in a statement Thursday, when the bill was introduced.
"With a record number of illegal aliens now living in the United States, President Trump must have every tool necessary to remove them quickly from our country. Our REMOVE Act would require these illegal aliens to begin removal proceedings within 15 days of a Notice to Appear being served," she added.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said the bill will help with the administration's deportation goals, adding the administration is aiming for 3,000 arrests daily. Immigration and Customs Enforcement broke single-day arrest records Tuesday and Wednesday with well over 2,000 arrests.
"Under the Biden Administration, the American people witnessed a full-scale invasion of our country that directly threatened our national security and sovereignty. With untold millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. due to Democrats’ open-border policies, we must take strong, decisive measures to remove those who have been ordered to be removed from the United States," Miller, who's also a Homeland Security advisor for the White House, said in a statement.
"The REMOVE Act is critical legislation that will help us fulfill our mass deportation operation and get gang members, cartels, and violent criminals off the streets. Passing this legislation, in conjunction with the largest mass deportation investment in American history provided by our One Big Beautiful Bill, will ensure we permanently secure the border. Thank you to Senator Blackburn for her leadership."
Millions of people were estimated to have entered the country illegally during the Biden administration, including through the southern border.
Federal authorities have stressed removing those with criminal convictions and ties to gangs like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, which the administration designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
Others have been encouraged to self-deport before facing a potential arrest, and the federal government will pay for their exit flight and provide $1,000 after their exit from the United States is confirmed.
During Trump’s first 100 days in office, over 65,000 illegal immigrants were removed from the country, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Now, President Trump is stepping in to restore order. I’m proud to stand with Senator Blackburn and my colleagues to fast-track the removal of those who have been ordered to be removed. It's time we uphold the integrity of our immigration system to protect our nation," Budd stated.
A Pew Research Center poll from March indicated the majority of American adults back deportations of illegal immigrants to at least some extent, including 32% who back the removals of all of them, regardless of whether another crime was committed.
As the once-strong alliance between President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk rapidly disintegrates, the two titans are not only trading fire over the president's "big, beautiful" tax cuts and spending bill.
Trump and Musk, who spent the first four months of the president's second administration as a special White House advisor steering the recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are also blasting each other over which one of them should get the credit for Trump's decisive 2024 election victory.
The president, speaking with reporters Thursday, argued, "I think I would have won" even without Musk's help on the campaign trail last year.
He endorsed the GOP presidential nominee in July right after the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Musk became the top donor of the 2024 election cycle, dishing out nearly $300 million in support of Trump's bid through America PAC, a Trump-aligned super PAC. Much of the money was used for get-out-the-vote efforts and ads in the crucial battleground states as Trump and Kamala Harris faced off for the presidency.
Musk concentrated much of his efforts on Pennsylvania.
He joined Trump for the first time on the campaign trail at an Oct. 5 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, then held five town halls in the Keystone State later in October.
And Musk set up a war room of sorts in Pittsburgh.
Trump, mentioning how Musk campaigned for him in Pennsylvania, pointed to his White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who was co-chair of Trump's 2024 campaign.
The president noted that "Susie would say I would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway."
Musk, apparently watching Trump's comments in real time, quickly fired back on X, which Musk renamed after buying Twitter.
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk wrote. "Such ingratitude."
Tom Eddy, the GOP chairman in Erie County, a longtime crucial swing county in northwestern Pennsylvania, told Fox News that Musk "helped Trump significantly. I really think so. He had money and he had a name."
But Eddy added that "my gut feeling would be that Trump is basically saying, ‘Look. I won the election. These people helped me, but I won.’ That's what he's trying to bring across."
Veteran Republican strategist John Brabender, who served as a media consultant to the 2024 Trump campaign, told Fox News Digital that "Elon and many others played an important role in helping the president win states all across America."
"But the bottom line is there’s only one constant and one person who is most responsible, by far, and that’s President Trump. That’s who people voted for," Brabender added.
Longtime Republican consultant Dave Carney, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns over the past few decades, said the president and Musk are both right.
Carney, who steered Preserve America, another top-spending Trump-aligned super PAC, told Fox News that Trump "might have won without the help, but you can't underestimate how important that help was."
Pointing to Preserve America, Musk's America PAC and MAGA Inc, which was the main Trump-aligned super PAC, Carney said they all deserved "a tremendous amount of credit" and "just made it easier" for Trump to sweep all seven battleground states and win the White House.
Carney also highlighted the Musk-aligned super PAC's "unprecedented field effort, mail and other communications … to turn out these low-propensity Trump voters."
President Donald Trump’s sweeping new travel ban may prove more legally durable than its 2017 predecessor as immigration advocates prepare for a likely court battle they’re not expected to win.
Trump’s latest travel ban expands on the policy he imposed during his first term targeting seven Muslim-majority nations, a measure the Supreme Court upheld in a 5-4 ruling. Like its predecessor, the new order relies on the same immigration statutes but may rest on firmer legal ground this time.
Attorney Neama Rahmani, a California-based former federal prosecutor who specializes in immigration, told Fox News Digital he anticipated that immigration rights groups would likely sue over Trump's new order.
"But they’ll lose," he said, because "it’s stronger than the last ban."
Rahmani pointed to allegations that the last ban violated religious liberties because it singled out Muslims. This new one included "all sorts of countries," Rahmani said. Trump imposed full or partial bans on 19 countries in his new proclamation, including Muslim-majority countries like Afghanistan and Iran but also non-Muslim-majority countries like Haiti, Venezuela, Eritrea and Burundi.
"You don't have Trump saying that he's imposing a Muslim ban. Those words during the campaign, and even after he was elected, were used against him," Rahmani said, adding that the Supreme Court is also "slightly different" and a "better audience" for Trump this time around.
The 5-4 split in Trump v. Hawaii fell along ideological lines and came before Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, both Trump appointees, were confirmed to the bench.
Although the Supreme Court has historically given presidents wide latitude over foreign policy and national security, in 2017 the dissenting justices argued the ban amounted to unjustified religious animus disguised as national security.
"The Court’s decision … leaves undisturbed a policy first advertised openly and unequivocally as a 'total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States' because the policy now masquerades behind a façade of national-security concerns," the dissent read.
Democrat lawmakers and immigration rights critics have argued that Trump's new proclamation is rooted in bigotry.
Sarah Mehta, deputy director of policy and government affairs for immigration at the American Civil Liberties Union, told Fox News Digital in a statement that she believed it was designed to "further eviscerate lawful immigration pathways under the false guise of national security."
"We saw the chaos that ensued from the first Trump administration’s Muslim ban, and this executive order will only build on that reign of terror to target people solely based on their nationality or religious beliefs," Mehta said.
Trump said in his proclamation that the restrictions were necessary to prevent terrorist attacks and mitigate other public safety risks because the countries had unreliable screening and vetting processes. Additionally, some had a high occurrence of visa overstays or were uncooperative when it came to accepting their citizens back from the United States, Trump said.
Ilya Somin, who is one of the attorneys challenging Trump’s sweeping tariffs in the U.S. Court of International Trade, wrote in an op-ed that it would be "nearly impossible to challenge this new travel ban on the grounds that it is motivated by ethnic or other bigotry" because of the Supreme Court’s prior ruling.
Somin floated the possibility of challenging the ban on other grounds, including the nondelegation doctrine, which puts limits on how much power Congress can transfer to the executive branch. He noted as an example that two courts have thus far shunned the president’s attempts to bypass Congress and take tariffs into his own hands.
However, Somin conceded that the travel ban presents a higher hurdle than the tariffs case. While the Constitution explicitly gives Congress power over tariffs, Somin said, it "does not clearly" say which branch of government has jurisdiction over immigration restrictions.
Former President Joe Biden's personal doctor is being subpoenaed to testify amid allegations of a cover-up of his cognitive decline during his term in the White House.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is compelling Dr. Kevin O’Connor to appear for a deposition on June 27.
The subpoena is part of the investigation into the cover-up of Biden’s cognitive decline and potentially unauthorized issuance of sweeping pardons and other executive actions.
"No autopen was used in the signing of this subpoena," Comer wrote on X, referring to Biden's use of an autopen to exercise his presidential responsibilities.
Comer recently requested O'Connor to voluntarily appear for a transcribed interview but the doctor refused, according to the subpoena.
Previously, the White House blocked the doctor from appearing for a separate interview to discuss Biden's medical assessments and "involvement in the Biden family’s influence peddling racket, but the Biden White House blocked his testimony," a committee news release states.
"Among other subjects, the Committee expressed its interest in whether your financial relationship with the Biden family affected your assessment of former President Biden’s physical and mental fitness to fulfill his duties as President," the subpoena states. "Given your connections with the Biden family,3 the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people."
Biden's health and mental state were frequent concerns while he was in office, but have been heavily scrutinized following his departure from the White House after his recent prostate cancer diagnoses.
He received clean bills of health while serving as president, according to O'Connor's annual reports on the president's state of health.
O'Connor has overseen Biden's health since 2009 and built a close relationship with the president and his family, Fox News Digital previously reported.
"I have never had a better commander than Joe Biden," O’Connor said in a profile interview with his alma mater, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, when Biden served as vice president. "All politics aside, he approaches his craft with such honor. He’s 100 percent ‘family first.’ He’s ‘genuinely genuine.’"
He remained out of the spotlight during Biden's tenure until the spring of 2024, when speculation mounted among both conservatives and Democrats that the president's mental acuity was slipping, with pundits and the media subsequently demanding to hear directly from O'Connor on the state of Biden's health.
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here's what's happening…
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's feud about the "Big, Beautiful Bill" continued on Thursday when the tech billionaire responded to the president's criticism in a post on X.
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude," Musk wrote in a post responding to Trump's remarks about him.
While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that he was "very disappointed" by Musk’s vocal criticisms of the bill. The president claimed that Musk knew what was in the bill and "had no problem" with it until the EV incentives had to be cut…READ MORE
DOGE REFUND: Federal judge orders Trump to restore funding to Clinton-era agency gutted by DOGE
ELON'S EVOLUTION: Elon Musk's conservative evolution puts him at odds with Trump on key legislation
'FEEL BAD': 'Sick puppy' Tim Walz should never have been on Dems' 2024 ticket, Trump says
SIGNATURE SCANDAL: Trump says Biden didn't have 'much of an idea what was going on' as former president dismisses autopen probe
'DEAD AMERICANS': Expert sounds alarm on CCP's mission to 'kill Americans' after FBI makes shocking arrests
'CHIEF ADVERSARY': Chinese bioweapon smuggling case shows US 'trains our enemies,' 'learned nothing' from COVID
TURNABOUT TACTICS: White House highlights Pelosi hypocrisy after Schiff demands Trump admin financial, ethics docs
TAX WAR ERUPTS: Blue state Republicans threaten rebellion if Senate changes key provision in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
'BAD ACTORS': Ricketts, Fetterman team up for crackdown on China’s attempts to purchase US farmland
JUDGE FORCES RETURN: Migrant deported to third country returned to US after Trump admin yields to judge's order
'SICKENING': Homeland Security says Boston's mayor comparing ICE agents to neo-Nazis is 'sickening'
RECORD ROUNDUP: ICE breaks arrest record two days in a row under Trump's new immigration directives
9-0 RULING: Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of straight Ohio woman who claimed discrimination
CHAOTIC SCENES: False rumors of Minneapolis ICE raid spark protest as police decry ‘irresponsible’ info from elected officials
Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
