A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that would cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman blocked the Trump administration from implementing the order following a lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 160,000 federal employees.
The union claims in the lawsuit that the order would violate federal workers’ labor rights and is unconstitutional, adding that it would lose two-thirds of its membership and half of its dues if they order is allowed to go through.
The order exempted more than a dozen agencies from the requirement to bargain with unions, including the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services departments.
It affects around 75% of the nearly one million federal workers represented by unions and expands an existing rule that exempts national security agencies like the FBI and CIA from collective bargaining requirements.
The U.S. Treasury Department also filed a lawsuit against the NTEU following the order to invalidate a collective bargaining agreement involving IRS employees.
The order is part of the administration’s efforts to lessen the size of the federal government, by making it easier to discipline and fire workers and change working conditions.
The temporary injunction will remain in place pending the outcome of the NTEU lawsuit.
Friedman said he would issue an opinion explaining his ruling in the next few days.
He also gave attorneys on both sides a week to propose how the lawsuit should move forward.
States that allow illegal immigrants to collect unemployment benefits could lose federal funding, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Friday.
In a letter to all governors, Chavez-DeRemer urged them to comply with President Donald Trump's directives to ensure that tax dollars aren't used to benefit those in the U.S. illegally.
"Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them," Chavez-DeRemer wrote. "To qualify for unemployment, one must be able and available to work, actively seeking work and be legally authorized to accept employment in the United States. Unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in our country illegally."
Chavez-DeRemer urged the states to use SAVE, an online database for registered federal, state and local government agencies, to verify the immigration status of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.
The move comes as the Trump administration continues to clamp down on illegal immigrants who receive taxpayer benefits.
On Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) is taking action to ensure that illegal immigrants no longer receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, widely known as food stamps.
"USDA's nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans," Rollins said. "To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous."
Last month, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner warned illegal immigrants living in government-funded housing that HUD is prioritizing only Americans under the Trump administration.
"At HUD, we only serve one out of four Americans that we should be serving, and that has to come to an end," Turner told Fox News Digital at the time. "And so we're not only making it a priority, but we are making that our only priority, that American citizens will benefit from hard-working American taxpayer dollars."
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday the Department of Justice (DOJ) will change the policy that allows journalists to hide records and testimony related to suspects in a criminal investigation.
In a memo obtained by Axios, Bondi wrote that federal employees intentionally leaking sensitive information to the media undermines the ability of the Department of Justice to keep America safe.
"This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop," Bondi wrote. "Therefore, I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland's policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks."
She noted investigative techniques relating to news-gathering are "an extraordinary measure to be deployed as a last resort when essential to a successful investigation or prosecution," according to the memo.
She added the protections were being abused, with officials using "media allies" to leak sensitive information for political gain, and the policy often put their phone and other electronic records out of reach of prosecutors, Politico reported.
The memo comes after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday referred two intelligence community professionals accused of leaking classified information to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
The professionals allegedly shared classified information with the Washington Post and the New York Times, according to previous reporting.
A third criminal referral is expected, the DOJ said.
Former Attorney General Merrick B. Garland under former President Joe Biden in 2022 made significant revisions to the Justice Department’s regulations regarding obtaining information from members of the news media.
Garland's policy prohibited the DOJ from seeking information from members of the news media, acting within the scope of news-gathering, except under limited, specified circumstances.
Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of Press wrote in a statement that he had not seen the language of the new policy, but stressed the importance of reporters being able to protect the identities of confidential sources.
"We’ll wait to see what the policy looks like, but we know reporters will still do their jobs, and there is no shortage of legal support to back them up," Brown wrote in the statement.
Bondi said the department will continue to limit the use of forced legal action to obtain information from or records of the media, which includes enhanced approval and advance-notice procedures.
The Office of Legal Policy is tasked with creating new language to reflect the rescission of Garland's policies.
Several Democrats who have argued that "no one is above the law" in President Donald Trump’s cases are now condemning the arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, warning it could threaten the rule of law.
"This is not normal," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., tweeted of Dugan’s arrest by the FBI on proceeding obstruction charges for allegedly shielding an indicted Mexican migrant from ICE agents.
"The administration's arrest of a sitting judge in Wisconsin is a drastic move that threatens the rule of law," Klobuchar added, saying it's a "grave step and undermines our system of checks and balances."
During Trump’s 2019 impeachment, Klobuchar said his first impeachment case marked a "somber day for our country."
"In America, no one is above the law, and the American people deserve to hear evidence and witness testimony during a full and fair trial in the Senate. If the president has any facts to present in his defense to the articles of impeachment, we should hear them," she said.
After the 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, Klobuchar said, "The law is king, and the former president isn't."
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., also condemned Dugan’s arrest, saying, "If [FBI Director] Kash Patel and Donald Trump don’t like a judge, they think they can arrest them.
"This is stunning — we must stand up to this blatant power grab. Republicans: How is this not a red line for you?"
Commenting in 2020 on her vote to remove Trump from office over abuse of power allegations, Smith said she took her constitutional oath seriously and that "to condone corrupt behavior such as this undermines the core value that we stand for as a nation -- that no one is above the law, including and most especially our president."
Smith said she pored over presentations and evidence to reach that conclusion.
Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., who represents Dugan’s county, lambasted the White House, saying its "willingness to weaponize federal law enforcement is shocking and this arrest has all the hallmarks of overreach."
"I will be following this case closely and facts will come out. However, I am very alarmed at the increasingly lawless actions of the Trump administration, and in particular ICE, who have been defying courts and acting with disregard for the Constitution."
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., commented on an apparently deleted tweet from Patel, writing on X, "Donald Trump and JD Vance are arresting judges now. Deleting the tweet won't undo the constitutional crisis you have just thrust us into."
In a 2023 interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Khanna said of the Trump impeachment, "You can't just say, 'OK, because someone was president or someone is a candidate, that you're above the law.' Everyone is under the law, and that allegations, the evidence needs to be pursued."
When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Khanna said of the contrast that Trump has "waged war on the judiciary" and that there is no public evidence yet regarding Dugan, but "it is deeply concerning given the administration’s attacks on the courts."
"Even Chief Justice Roberts has rebuked Trump’s conduct toward the judiciary," Khanna added.
"This is stuff I expect from Third World countries," he told Axios.
In a December 2019 statement after his vote in favor of impeachment, Pocan said Trump was "never held accountable for his actions" over his 70-plus years of life.
"Today, Democrats sent a clear signal to this president and all future presidents: No one is above the law."
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Klobuchar and Smith for comment.
Pocan’s office said he was on a flight and unable to be reached, while Moore’s offices acknowledged the inquiry.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is once again charging into battle to defend women and basic biology — this time taking aim at Clemson University over a form that listed a whopping 15 gender identities.
In a fiery video posted to her social media on Friday, Mace slammed Clemson for offering a health portal menu that included terms like "genderqueer," "two-spirit," "cis female" and "cis male."
"Hey everyone, just learned this morning from Libs of TikTok, not from your state legislature, that Clemson University in South Carolina has 15 genders on one of their applications," Mace said in a video on Instagram. "We want to make sure South Carolina is following science and not some radical, woke, leftist, lunatic ideology. Not on my watch."
Mace wasn’t just venting online.
She immediately took action, leaving a voicemail and sending a text to Clemson President Jim Clements demanding answers. "Since there are only two genders," she said, "I just had this issue with USC, and I would like to make sure that you guys are following suit."
The form in question, first flagged by Libs of TikTok, showed a dropdown menu allowing students to select from 15 different gender identities.
However, Clemson responded exclusively to Fox News Digital, clarifying that "Clemson University does not have this type of menu in its housing application."
Instead, the menu appeared in an external vendor's health services portal, was optional, and has since been taken down. The university said it is now "consulting with medical professionals to determine what information is needed for medical care purposes."
Mace made it clear in her social media posts that she believes state universities should reflect two genders, male and female, if they want to keep receiving taxpayer dollars. "If it were me and Clemson University had 15 genders, they would not get a dime in the state of South Carolina," she warned.
"Cis is a slur," Mace emphasized in her Instagram video, adding, "Women are women, men are men."
This isn’t Mace's first stand in the gender wars. She recently made headlines by leading the effort to block Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., a biological man who identifies as a woman, from using women's restrooms on Capitol Hill. Her campaign to "protect women’s spaces" has not come without backlash.
"All the violence and threats keep proving our point," Mace posted on X. "Women deserve to be safe. Your threats will not stop my fight for women! Not now, not ever," she declared.
Late last year, Mace reported being physically accosted on Capitol grounds, an incident that led to the arrest of a 33-year-old Illinois man. She is the first woman to graduate from the Citadel.
Mace's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Sen. John Ossoff of Georgia has become the latest Democrat in Congress to signal that President Donald Trump deserves to be impeached, even though he has only been in the White House this term for less than 100 days.
During a town hall Friday in Cobb County, Georgia, Ossoff took questions from the audience, including from a fired-up local mother who questioned Ossoff about why there has not been a more concerted effort to impeach Trump.
"Why are there no calls for impeachment?" Ossoff was asked. "Do something more!"
Ossoff told the woman at the top of his response that "there is no doubt" Trump has exceeded the standard for impeachment.
"I saw just 48 hours ago, [Trump] is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin," Ossoff said. "There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense. And the reality is that that's just one of many [examples] — defying a federal court order, for example. So, I agree with you."
Ossoff's remarks make him the latest Democratic lawmaker in Congress who has either explicitly called for Trump's impeachment or signaled their willingness to support such a move just 100 days into his presidency. While most Democrats have been willing to publicly admit the country is facing a constitutional crisis under Trump, most of them have refrained from going so far as to use the "I" word.
Some though, such as progressive Sen. Al Green, D-Texas, have not shied away from supporting calls for impeachment. He was the first congressional lawmaker to call for it just weeks into the president's second term. Green's calls have been supported by other Democrats, such as Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Maxine Dexter of Oregon; Sam Liccardo and Maxine Waters of California; Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; Shri Thanedar of Michigan; and Hank Johnson of Georgia, all of whom have gone publicly on the record regarding their support, according to NBC News.
"Right now, it's 218 to 215, so if you can find me two Republicans, I'll go to work tomorrow," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led impeachment efforts against Trump during his first term, told a reporter when asked about the matter.
Trent England, a presidential elections expert and founder of the nonprofit Save Our States, bashed Democratic lawmakers for "claiming to be all about democracy," but when they don't get what they want, "suddenly democracy is not what they're all about."
"It really undercuts Democrats' message about elections when as soon as they get an election result they don't like, they're out challenging it through impeachment. Especially when Democrats claimed after 2016 that part of their issue with Trump was that he only won the Electoral College," England added. "Well, now he's won a resounding popular vote, in addition to winning the Electoral College. And, yet, they're still out there trying to impeach him at the very beginning of his administration."
England also opined that the calls for impeachment were an easy way for Democrats to help boost their fundraising efforts.
"Efforts like this show how a lot of members of Congress are really operating as personal fundraising machines, as opposed to legislators," England said. "They're not trying to get things done. They know that using platforms like Act Blue, they can fly the impeachment flag and raise a lot of money from left-wing donors without ever believing that any of this is going to have any effect."
The first-term Democratic senator is facing re-election later this year, as his term ends early next year. Ossoff's office declined to comment for this story.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Ossoff's push for impeachment illustrates "the desperation of his re-election campaign."
"Not even 100 days into President Donald J. Trump's terms, and Ossoff is already pushing impeachment," Scott said. "His obsession makes clear just how out of touch he is with Georgia voters. The desperation in his re-election campaign is already showing."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo on Friday calling for a review of Military Equal Opportunity and DoD civilian Equal Employment Opportunity programs. The secretaries of each military department are required under the memo to assess the programs in place within their own departments.
In a video posted on X announcing the memo, Hegseth said that while it’s "a good thing" that the military has multiple avenues for both service members and civilians to complain about harassment and discrimination, the systems have been "weaponized" and used "in bad faith to retaliate against superiors or peers."
The memo's official title is "Restoring Good Order and Discipline Through Balanced Accountability," but Hegseth says he calls it the "No More Walking on Eggshells" policy.
"So, here’s the goal: empower leaders to make tough decisions, enforce standards, and restore good order and discipline," Hegseth said in the video.
The memo directs the secretaries to ensure that complaints that "are unsubstantiated by actionable, credible evidence are timely dismissed." Additionally, "favorable actions," such as awards and promotions, involving the alleged offender are to be considered until the complaint is substantiated. Finally, the memo states that those who "knowingly submit false complaints" may face discipline.
The secretaries have 45 days to complete their reviews.
Hegseth is no stranger to controversy and has faced several allegations since being tapped to lead DoD. It is not a stretch to imagine that he might have empathy for those facing false or unsubstantiated allegations.
Prior to his confirmation, Hegseth faced allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of veterans’ organizations. This included an affidavit by his former sister-in-law in which she alleged that Hegseth was physically abusive to his ex-wife, Samantha "Sam" Hegseth. However, Sam denied the allegations, saying she did not experience physical abuse during her marriage to Hegseth.
Hegseth told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that he is not a "perfect person," but asserted that he was the subject of a "coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media."
Additionally, since becoming secretary of defense, Hegseth has been involved in two scandals regarding the encrypted messaging app Signal.
The first scandal occurred when The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal chat in which there were discussions about plans for the U.S. to strike Yemen. While National Security Advisor Mike Waltz took a lot of heat for the situation, Hegseth was not spared from criticism. In the end, the Trump administration insisted that the discussions in the group did not actually involve "war plans."
On Sunday, Hegseth was accused of sharing military information in a Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal attorney. The New York Times reported that people with knowledge of the situation said the information "included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen."
Hegseth told "FOX & Friends" that the allegations were meant to "sabotage" President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Despite an op-ed suggesting that Hegseth could be on the way out, the White House has stood behind him.
"He is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there's a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that's why we've seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.
But only on Capitol Hill would the day after the pope visited become even more memorable.
The late Pope Francis came to Washington, D.C., to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress on Sept. 24, 2015. He wasn’t the first pontiff to descend on Capitol Hill. But the pope is a head of state, ruling the Vatican City and the Holy See. As such, Francis became the first pope to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress in the House chamber.
Lawmakers showered the Holy Father with applause and two standing ovations during his address. Two Catholics were perched behind Pope Francis on the dais: then Vice President Joe Biden and former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. As vice president, Biden served as President of the Senate. As speaker, Boehner was the Constitutional officer for the legislative branch.
Boehner blotted his eyes with a handkerchief several times during the 3,400-word speech.
Pope Francis implored lawmakers to treat each other — and their constituents — with dignity.
"We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays. To discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’" he said.
One thing I remember about the Pope’s visit was the choreography. Congressional workers affixed small, green strips of tape to the Capitol’s marble floors. Names were emblazoned on the tape in black Magic Marker at different points around the complex. "McCarthy" or "Pelosi" or "McConnell." All part of the political — and papal — stagecraft.
The tape dictated where key political leaders would stand as they escorted Pope Francis into the House chamber or in front of the statue of Junipero Serra in Statuary Hall.
A duct-taped "X" marked the floor in front of Serra. The pope canonized Serra the day before he visited the Capitol at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Serra became the first American to become a saint on U.S. soil. Pope Francis blessed the statue of Serra. The statue depicts the saint hoisting a cross in his right hand, looking skyward toward the heavens.
Someone taped a green arrow over the black and white tiles of Statuary Hall, pointing toward the Speaker’s Office.
That signaled the pope’s next stop on Capitol Hill.
Pope Francis and the entourage then walked toward Boehner’s office and onto the Speaker’s Balcony overlooking the West Front of the Capitol and down the National Mall toward the Washington Monument.
A throng assembled on the Capitol grounds.
"Buenos dias," said the Pope, greeting the crowd like he would from the "Pope’s Window" at the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on a Sunday. "I am grateful for your presence."
He then blessed the pilgrims on the ground below.
"Papa! Papa!" the crowd chanted.
When the pope first arrived at the Capitol, he met with Boehner in the Speaker’s ceremonial office just off the House floor.
Boehner paced nervously awaiting Pope Francis on the 19th century Minton Tiles, which adorn the office.
"He’s on Boehner time," said the former speaker. "Which is on time."
Boehner wore his signature Kelly green tie for the occasion — a vintage piece of Boehner apparel, which dates back to when he served in the Ohio state legislature and first ran for Congress in 1990. When Pope Francis arrived, he told the former speaker the tie bore a "color of hope."
A few days later, Boehner choked up as he relayed a story about what Pope Francis said to him when they were about to exit the Capitol.
"We found ourselves alone," said Boehner of himself and Francis.
The pope grabbed the speaker’s arm.
"The pope puts his arm around me and kind of pulled me to him and said, ‘Please pray for me,’" said Boehner. "Wow. Who am I to pray for the pope?’ But I did."
Boehner left the Capitol that night. But his encounter with the Holy Father seemingly transformed the speaker — and altered the trajectory of the House for years to come.
The speaker decided to resign the next morning.
"He had been trying to get out of here for years," said one source close to the speaker at the time.
Boehner’s plans to depart were thwarted when the heir apparent, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., stunningly lost his primary in the spring of 2014.
So Boehner soldiered on.
By late July 2015, former Trump White House chief of staff and former Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., prepped a "motion to vacate the chair." Those who follow Capitol Hill know all about such a motion now. But it was novel a decade ago. Such a motion would require the House to take a vote of confidence in the speaker in the middle of the Congress. Lawmakers had never used the tactic before. It was hardly discussed.
Meadows released his resolution just before the August recess — but never triggered it.
That gave Boehner and the House a month to stew over whether Meadows might try to oust the speaker when lawmakers returned in September.
On the night after the pope’s visit, Boehner called his chief of staff, Mike Sommers, to tell him he planned to step aside. Boehner also told his wife, Debbie, of his plans.
"This morning I woke up, said my prayers, as I always do, and thought, ‘This is the day I am going to do this,’" said Boehner.
Boehner then astonished a meeting of the House Republican Conference that he intended to resign.
The move sent a shock wave through Washington.
"My first job as speaker is to protect the institution," Boehner said. "It had become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution."
The Boehner departure — the day after his encounter with Pope Francis — set into motion what some might regard as the very "prolonged leadership turmoil" that the former speaker hoped to avoid.
It was believed that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. — then the House Majority Leader — would ascend to the job. But as startling as Boehner’s departure was, McCarthy supplanted that. Moments before House Republicans were set to tap McCarthy as the next speaker, McCarthy withdrew from the contest. He lacked the votes.
McCarthy’s decision roiled Capitol Hill for weeks. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., eventually took the job. But Ryan was reluctant. He even put out a statement that he didn’t want it.
Others jumped in: Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., along with former Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Bill Flores, R-Texas.
But Ryan finally came around. Fox was told at the time that if Ryan hadn’t come around, "there would be blood on the floor" of the House as Republicans waged an internecine donnybrook.
Ryan remained as House speaker until he retired in early 2019. Democrats won the House in the 2018 midterms. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., returned to the speakership she held eight years before.
But Democrats lost the House in the 2022 midterms. And even though McCarthy touted a 40-plus-seat rout for the GOP, Republicans controlled the House by a thread.
Thus, it set into motion a five-day battle in early 2023 as McCarthy struggled for 15 rounds before winning the speakership. It was the longest speaker’s race since the mid-19th century.
But McCarthy was gone by early November.
Remember that "motion to vacate the chair" mentioned earlier?
Meadows never activated his motion in 2015. But former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., did in 2023.
McCarthy was done. And the House spent three weeks trying to elect a new speaker.
First they tried House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Then House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Then House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.
The House of Representatives has never quite been the same since Boehner made his surprise announcement after his encounter with Pope Francis. The speakership seems to teeter on an edge these days — at least when Republicans run the chamber. Johnson periodically endures threats to "vacate the chair." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tried to bounce him just last year.
During the speaker succession fight of 2015 and the three-week speaker debacle of 2023, friends asked if "white smoke" would emanate from the Capitol Dome. They facetiously suggested that it would signal the election of a new House speaker.
The College of Cardinals will begin a conclave in Rome in a few days to select a successor to Pope Francis. It’s a political process. Not unlike what happens in Congress when there’s a vacancy in the speakership. We’ll know there’s a new pope when white smoke wafts out of a duct atop the Sistine Chapel.
It was an important day when Pope Francis spoke to a Joint Meeting of Congress in 2015. But in sheer Congressional terms, the day afterward was seismic for the nature of the institution. Boehner’s abrupt resignation ushered in an unsettled era about who presides over the House. The visit by Pope Francis and Boehner’s departure forever melded the two together in the annals of Capitol Hill.
And as a result, whenever there’s a House speaker interregnum in the future, political observers will always look for political "white smoke" to find out if lawmakers have settled on a new leader.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted a campaign-style video on social media this week that sparked rumors about her political future. But conservatives quickly struck up a different conversation when she claimed, "We are one," after years of criticism for playing identity politics.
"Don't let them trick us into thinking we are enemies. Don't let them trick us into thinking we can be separated into rural and urban, Black and white and Latina. We are one," Cortez said in the video that's amassed over 7 million views.
While Ocasio-Cortez seems to imply Republicans are seeking to divide America based on race, the four-term New York congresswoman has a long track record of invoking race in politics.
The words highlighted in Ocasio-Cortez's video this week spotlight a fixture of her developing stump speech to record-setting crowds alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. The progressive Democrat has often argued that Republicans weaponize racial resentment to halt Democratic progress.
"The only chance they have to get away with such an unpopular and hurtful agenda is to stoke deep divisions along race, identity and culture to keep us fighting and distracted," she said at a rally in Boise, Idaho, earlier this month.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Ocasio-Cortez told The Independent that "as an elected official, who is a prominent woman of color, I've seen a lot," adding that Vice President Kamala Harris has her own experience with misogyny and racism.
"I think we brace ourselves for some of the unfair misogynistic and racial undertones, overtones, explicit attacks on implicit attacks that she may be subjected to, and it's important for us to keep our eyes open for what is fair, but also what is unfair," she said.
Since Ocasio-Cortez was elected in 2018 to represent parts of Queens and the Bronx in the U.S. House of Representatives, unseating a 10-term incumbent, she has framed her success as shattering barriers to gender and racial justice in the United States.
During her victory speech in Queens in November 2018, Ocasio-Cortez noted she was the "first person of color to ever represent" New York's 14th Congressional District, which she said was 70% people of color, half of them working class.
Then the youngest congresswoman, Ocasio-Cortez said she was mistaken for an intern or a spouse and used the opportunity to spotlight the bias against her, posting on social media, "Next time try believing women + people of color when they talk about their experiences being a woman or person of color."
Jussie Smollett, a Black and gay actor, falsely claimed in January 2019 that he was attacked by two men at 2 a.m. on a cold Chicago night and said the men yelled he was in "MAGA country," used racist and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured an "unknown substance" on him.
Smollet was sentenced in 2022 for faking a hate crime and lying to the Chicago Police about it. Smollett received support of several Democrats before his allegations were debunked, including Ocasio-Cortez, who said it was "a racist and homophobic attack," while urging Americans to work to change what is "happening to our country." Ocasio-Cortez deleted her pro-Smollett tweet when he was convicted of staging the crime.
During a "60 Minutes" interview in 2019, Ocasio-Cortez labeled President Donald Trump "racist."
Later that year, Ocasio-Cortez accused former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of unfairly singling out the freshmen progressive "Squad," calling it an "explicit singling out of newly elected women of color."
She later clarified that she wasn't calling Pelosi racist but maintained that women of color were disproportionately targeted.
But Ocasio-Cortez didn't hold back in her racist allegations when Trump said the "Squad" should "go back" to other countries.
"We don’t leave the things that we love. When we love this country, what that means is we propose the solutions to fix it," she said at a press conference. She later said on social media it was the "hallmark language of white supremacists," warning, "Trump feels comfortable leading the GOP into outright racism."
During the pandemic in 2020, Ocasio-Cortez said on social media, "COVID deaths are disproportionately spiking in Black + Brown communities," adding, "the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap, etc. ARE underlying health conditions," tying health disparities to racial injustice.
After the attacks on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, Ocasio-Cortez said in an Instagram Live she "didn’t even feel safe around other members of Congress" and added that she avoided hiding during the attack where "there were QAnon and white supremacist sympathizers, and frankly white supremacist members of Congress in that extraction point"
And in the aftermath of a shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in a predominately Black neighborhood, she said in a post, "White supremacy has cost countless lives from El Paso to Mother Emanuel and now Buffalo. Our hearts break for the victims. And we demand accountability."
In a GQ interview that year, Ocasio-Cortez reiterated that misogyny and racism shaped her experience as a politician. saying, "I admit to sometimes believing that I live in a country that would never let" a woman become president.
In 2023, Ocasio-Cortez's views on race and gender came to a head during a viral speech on the House floor in support of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., before the House voted to oust Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. She said Omar's ouster had nothing to do with "the condemnation of antisemitic remarks," but "the racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body."
"Don’t tell me this is about objectivity. … This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America," Ocasio-Cortez said as she slammed her notebook on a table.
Ocasio-Cortez faced pushback from conservatives for claiming "We are one" in her video this week while still designating Americans along racial and ethnic lines in the same video.
Colin Rugg, a conservative influencer and co-owner of Trending Politics, responded, "This has to be a joke.
"You capitalized ‘Black’ and ‘Latino’ but not ‘white.’ You guys were always the ones drumming up the race stuff. Everyone was fine," Matt Antar, finance chair of the New York Young Republicans Club, added on X among the flood of furious replies from conservatives questioning why "white" was lower case in her post.
Since 2020, AP Style, the standard for American journalism style preferences, has capitalized "Black" to represent the "shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black." AP Style does not capitalize "white" because white people "generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color," according to the Associated Press.
Ocasio-Cortez's campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment by deadline.
Lawyers for Venezuelan men facing deportation told the Supreme Court on Monday that the Trump administration is defying its order by failing to give proper notice, violating their due process rights under the Constitution.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling in a separate case on April 7, allowing the Trump administration to continue its deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA), proving a significant victory for President Donald Trump's immigration agenda. The justices noted that the deportations could continue so long as the AEA detainees received proper notice.
"More specifically, in this context, AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act," the opinion reads. "The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs."
Due process is a constitutional principle that ensures fairness in legal and administrative proceedings, which includes giving proper notice and an opportunity to be heard in a timely manner by an impartial tribunal. The Supreme Court pointed to Reno v. Flores, a 1993 Supreme Court case, in writing, '"It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law' in the context of removal proceedings."
"So, the detainees are entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard ‘appropriate to the nature of the case,’" the Court wrote, citing another Supreme Court precedent.
Former Palm Beach County, Florida, state attorney Dave Aronberg told Fox News Digital the high court has purposefully avoided "precise language" when issuing such opinions, leaving the lower courts to concretely delineate what proper due process looks like in these cases.
"Chief Justice [John] Roberts is trying to get unanimity within the Supreme Court," Aronberg said. "He wants everyone on the same page. And he also wants to avoid a constitutional crisis with the executive branch. So with all these competing interests in mind, he's trying to be more conciliatory than confrontational with the White House. But that can only go so far."
Aronberg said that "we may see stronger language going forward from the high court" as the legal challenges proceed.
In its Monday filing, plaintiff attorneys argued the notice given to the detainees was "inadequate" in light of the high court's order.
The attorneys wrote that the notice provided was in English, "even though putative class members largely speak only Spanish," and that it "did not inform" the individuals about how to contest their designation and removal under the AEA, or provide a timeline on how to do so.
They argued the notice provided "comes nowhere near satisfying the Court’s directive" issued on April 7.
"Whatever due process may require in this context, it does not allow removing a person to a possible life sentence without trial, in a prison known for torture and other abuse, a mere 24 hours after providing an English-only notice form (not provided to any attorney) that gives no information about the person’s right to seek judicial review, much less the process or timeline for doing so," the filing reads.
"The government cannot plausibly claim that 12 hours is sufficient notice, which could be the reason they tried to keep it from the public and other courts addressing the notice issue, including the U.S. Supreme Court," ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, lead counsel in the case, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Lora Ries, Director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that she expects these deportation cases to "bounce up and down the court system" as litigants work within the confines the Supreme Court specified in its April 7 opinion.
"For now, the Supreme Court is relying on, if there's going to be a habeas suit, it's going to be in the U.S. District Court and then that judge is going to have to rule," Ries explained. "And I'm sure there will be appeals and some or all of it may end up back at the Supreme Court."
Aronberg noted that due process procedures may vary across the district courts as they juggle the various lawsuits. However, both he and Ries said the issue will likely end up in the high court's hands once again.
"It is possible that some courts require notice to be in writing and in the native language of the deportee, whereas others could possibly accept less stringent notice requirements," Aronberg said. "Ultimately, it will lead back to the Supreme Court to dictate what is required."
Ries also said that proceedings will differ in non-AEA cases, saying individuals sought to be removed in those contexts would undergo different types of removals.
"Immigration proceedings are civil proceedings. So you are not innocent until proven guilty," Reis said. "It doesn't apply here. You don't have a right to a public defender. You can have a deportation immigration attorney, but you, the taxpayer, is not paying for it like a public defender."
Fox News' Shannon Bream, Bill Mears and Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
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…
-Ex-GOP congressman George Santos faces up to 87 months in prison in federal fraud case
-Stacey Abrams considers 3rd run for Georgia governor despite back-to-back defeats
-Luigi Mangione heads to federal court as DOJ debuts death penalty 'shift': ex-federal prosecutor
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has crisscrossed the United States with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the "Fighting Oligarchy" tour, and Americans are speculating about whether the New York Democrat is launching a shadow campaign for president.
Ocasio-Cortez's campaign account posted a video on X this week that invigorated those rumors as the four-term Democrat from New York City and a progressive leader proclaimed, "We are one."
"I'm a girl from the Bronx," Ocasio-Cortez said on a campaign-style stage in Idaho. "To be welcomed here in this state, all of us together, seeing our common cause, this is what this country is all about." …READ MORE
POLLING PROBLEM: Judge blocks Trump election order despite overwhelming American support for voter ID
POISON IVY: Trump brands Harvard 'antisemitic' and a 'threat to democracy' amid funding battle
DEAL OR DUEL: Trump says he'll be 'leading the pack' to war with Iran if deal prospects whither away
CROSSED WIRES: Trump says China's Xi called him amid ongoing confusion over trade talks
'IMPORTANT STEPS': Trump admin cheers ‘important steps’ as Paraguay targets Iran and its terror proxies
MOVING FORWARD: Russia 'ready to make a deal' on Ukraine war, Lavrov says
ART OF DIPLOMACY: Putin gifted Trump portrait of the US president, Russian artist reveals mystery painting: report
CAR BOMBING: Russian general killed in Moscow-area car bombing, investigators say
MIXED LEGACY: Pope Francis held line on gender ideology, had welcoming posture to LGBT community
THE OLD GUARD: 80-year-old Democrat senator says elderly lawmakers should leave 'before they're carried out'
ANTISEMITISM DEBATE: Schumer, Schiff accuse Trump of exploiting antisemitism to punish universities
STICKING UP: ICE argues warrantless arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was legal
NO OBJECTION: REAL ID sees nationwide state government compliance ahead of deadline, but it wasn’t always that way
CLASS IN SESSION: California floats plan to allow homeless students to sleep in their cars amid housing crisis
PARADISE LOST: Democrat-run Los Angeles failing wildfire victims’ rebuilding plans months after Trump visit: GOP rep
'GOOD RIDDANCE': New York City destroys more than 3,500 seize illegal firearms in gun chipper
'REVOLT': DeSantis excoriates Florida House leadership amid state GOP civil war
President Donald Trump said in an interview this week that he would "never defy" the Supreme Court and reiterated his respect for the lower district courts, comments that come as his administration tangles with various federal judges and faces accusations of defying their orders.
Trump made those statements in an interview with Time magazine, published Friday, as he nears his first 100 days in office. The wide-ranging interview hit on a number of topics, including the state of the U.S. economy and Trump's plans to enact sweeping reciprocal tariffs, which are slated to take force this summer. One of the major themes, however, was the federal courts.
Trump was pressed several times by Time's political correspondent, Eric Cortellessa, on his view of the judiciary, and whether he still commits to complying with all Supreme Court orders.
"Sure, I believe in the court system," Trump responded, adding later: "I never defy the Supreme Court. I wouldn't do that. I'm a big believer in the Supreme Court, and have a lot of respect for the justices."
Trump also said he is committed to competing with the lower courts.
"Sure. All courts," he said.
The fairly innocuous exchange conceals an otherwise heated debate playing out in courtrooms across the country, as Trump lawyers have gone to bat to defend his early executive orders and halt a wave of lawsuits and emergency restraining orders aimed at blocking or restricting them.
The biggest fights have been centered on the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law, to deport certain migrants to El Salvador.
Trump's use of the law has been kicked up to the Supreme Court for emergency review, most recently in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member living in Maryland who was deported to El Salvador last month. Trump officials have acknowledged his removal was an "administrative error."
Trump officials have resisted court orders to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S., in what a federal judge in Maryland described this week as a "willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations," including daily updates on his whereabouts and efforts to return him to U.S. soil.
"The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that you have to bring back [Abrego Garcia]. You haven't done so," Cortellessa said, referring to a unanimous decision from the high court this month that ordered Trump to facilitate his release.
"Aren’t you disobeying the Supreme Court?" he asked.
Trump said in response that he had left the matter to his lawyers, including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"They feel that the order said something very much different from what you're saying," Trump told him.
"I give them no instructions… frankly, bringing him back and retrying him wouldn't bother me, but I leave that up to my lawyer."
Notably, Trump also told the outlet that he has not asked El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to return Abrego Garcia.
Bukele traveled to Washington earlier this month to meet with Trump and other Cabinet officials at the White House. They were asked directly about Abrego Garcia during a short press availability, to which Bondi told reporters it is "up to El Salvador" whether to return him.
Her remarks touched off a wave of fresh concerns and prompted U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to order an "intense" expedited discovery process for the court to determine whether the U.S. was making good-faith attempts to secure his return.
Pressed by Time magazine on why he has not made efforts to facilitate the release, or ask Bukele to release him, Trump told the outlet, "Well, because I haven't been asked to ask him by my attorneys."
"Nobody asked me to ask him that question, except you," Trump told Cortellessa.
"But I leave that decision to the lawyers. At this moment, they just don’t want to do that. They say we’re in total compliance with the Supreme Court."
The United States Department of Agriculture is demanding that states ensure illegal immigrants are not using food stamps.
The department wants states to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order from February that seeks improved methods to check that those in the country illegally do not receive federal benefits, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The measure is meant to crack down on fraud and serve as a safeguard because illegal immigrants are already not allowed to use SNAP benefits. Only citizens and some legal noncitizens can do so.
"We've already made arrests in Minnesota and New York and Colorado, and we're just getting started," Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"We're going to be extremely, extremely aggressive. Now, hopefully it acts as a deterrent also."
The USDA is asking states to cross-check Social Security numbers with a death master file and to use the free Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system provided by the Department of Homeland Security for noncitizens applying for the benefits, among other steps to verify immigration status.
Rollins said it's "the president's vision to ensure that we're being the most efficient and effective with taxpayer dollars."
"So, we think we'll be able to cut down on billions of fraud and save the taxpayers a lot of money," she said.
John Walk, acting deputy under secretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, wrote in a letter Thursday to state SNAP agencies, explaining the existing law.
"By law, only United States citizens and certain lawfully present aliens may receive SNAP benefits. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) established that ‘aliens within the Nation’s borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs.’ SNAP is not and has never been available to illegal aliens," Walk wrote.
The crackdown comes as there is heightened scrutiny on the eligibility of illegal immigrants for benefits, such as California’s Medicaid program that allows people to enroll without their immigration status being considered, even though it's funded by state and federal taxpayer dollars.
California Republicans have said illegal immigrants' eligibility in the program is responsible for its insolvency, whereas Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said it's only a factor in a larger healthcare cost issue nationwide.
"The federal government is now paying attention a lot more closely than ever before on how the states are spending the money," Rollins said. "I am from Texas. I actually have a lot of confidence in the Texas system. I think the red states, honestly, are probably a little more intentional and careful about this. Of course, it's the blue states that tend to want to put everyone on the taxpayers' back. And I think that we'll find a lot more of that moving forward, but hopefully it's a deterrence for everyone."
Outside of immigration, SNAP has also faced calls for reform in several states to no longer allow the purchase of "junk food." Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently asked the USDA to allow the state to prohibit the purchase of candy and soda with SNAP benefits, while adding rotisserie chicken to the list of available options.
"President Trump and his administration have put a laser focus on solving America’s chronic disease epidemic, and reforming our food stamp program is a great place to start," Sanders said in a news release April 15.
"Banning soda and candy from food stamps will remove some of the least healthy, most processed foods from the program and encourage low-income Arkansans to eat better."
The Trump administration is cracking down on colleges that don’t report big foreign donations, with UC Berkeley the latest target following a Department of Education review of the California university’s foreign funding disclosures found that it "may be incomplete or inaccurate."
Education Secretary Linda McMahon ordered the agency’s legal team on Friday to take back control of enforcing a law that requires schools to disclose foreign gifts or contracts worth $250,000 or more.
"The Biden-Harris Administration turned a blind eye to colleges and universities’ legal obligations by deprioritizing oversight and allowing foreign gifts to pour onto American campuses. Despite widespread compliance failures, no new Section 117 investigations were initiated for four years, and ongoing investigations were closed prematurely," McMahon said in a statement."I have great confidence in my Office of General Counsel to investigate these matters fully, and they will begin by thoroughly examining UC Berkeley’s apparent failure to fully and accurately disclose significant funding received from foreign sources."
The investigation comes amid Trump's growing scrutiny over foreign influence in U.S. higher education.
This week, Trump signed an executive order tightening rules on how colleges report foreign funding, directing the Education Department to undo past policies that let universities "obscure details regarding their foreign funding" and to make schools fully disclose where that money comes from and what it’s for.
The Department of Education said this issue gained attention after reports surfaced in 2023 that Berkeley failed to report hundreds of millions of dollars it received from China.
In response to a federal inquiry at the time, Berkeley admitted it didn’t report $220 million received and showed it had been building a long-term financial relationship with foreign government-controlled entities, while also "misunderstanding its legal duty to disclose that funding," the department disclosed in a news release.
An Education Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital they initiated a records request into Harvard for foreign funding last week.
A White House fact sheet this week cited a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report showing nearly $60 billion in foreign gifts and contracts have flowed into universities over several decades, often with little oversight. Federal officials say only a fraction of the country’s roughly 6,000 institutions report such funding.
"President Trump is ending secrecy surrounding foreign funding in higher education to protect students, research, and the marketplace of ideas," the fact sheet reads.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem revealed in a podcast this week how her purse was snatched at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., describing it as "professionally done."
The purse was taken Sunday by a White man wearing a mask, and the bag contained $3,000 in cash as well as personal documents including her passport, keys, driver's license and a DHS badge, an agency spokesperson confirmed.
"It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet. I actually felt my purse, he hooked it with his foot and drug it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it," Noem said on the "VINCE Show."
"I felt it, but I thought it was my grandkids kicking me in the legs. But it was very professionally done, and it tells that this happens all the time to people and that they live in communities where this is a danger and it reaffirms why I am here," she added. "My job is to make sure that I do everything, every day I can to make our communities safer and President Trump recognizes that families shouldn’t have to live with any kind of violence in their lives."
A Homeland Security spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that Noem’s "entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren — she was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts."
Noem said during the podcast interview that she isn’t sure why she was targeted, but an investigation is ongoing.
"I think I was a busy grandma with four grandkids under the age of 4, and I was taking care of them and feeding them food and enjoying my family, but certainly had my purse even touching my feet and that is how vulnerable people can be," she said.
"So I think we need to be aware, but also be making sure there is consequences for people like that that make a living off of harming other people," Noem added.
A woman dining with her family recently had her purse stolen in downtown Washington, D.C., just a few blocks away from the restaurant where Noem’s handbag was swiped, NBC News also reported this week.
Fox News’ Cameron Arcand contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: A new transparency report looking at a popular multibillion-dollar program in the Department of Labor has found a meager success rate, setting the stage for possible cuts amid the Trump administration's push to slash waste.
The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has released a detailed report investigating the financial performance and efficiency of the Jobs Corps Program, a federally funded residential career training and education program popular with unions and designed for eligible low-income young adults aged 16-24.
The report, which analyzed 124 job centers, looked into the definitions of what constitutes "graduating" from the program and found that the average graduation rate ranges from 32% to 38%, depending on which criteria are used for a program with a budget of $1.7 billion in PY2023.
The report states that the average cost per student overall came out to $49,769.53 in PY2023, and the average cost per student per program year is $79,631.25.
The average total cost per graduate ranges from $155,600 to $187,653, the report states.
Additionally, once those students move through the program, the study found that they are largely being hired in minimum wage positions, with participants earning $16,695 annually on average after they leave the program.
"Taxpayers deserve to know the facts and outcomes of their multi-billion-dollar investment," ETA Acting Assistant Secretary Lori Frazier Bearden said in a statement.
"This report underscores the Department’s commitment to program transparency and accountability — both of which are essential for effective oversight, informed policymaking, and maintaining public trust," she continued.
In a press release, the department said after looking through the highest center costs per graduate, it found that "the 10 least efficient programs average $512,800 per graduate" and "the top 50 least efficient programs average $319,085 per graduate."
Concerns about more than the efficiency of Job Corps have been raised in recent years, including a report from the Daily Wire outlining data that shows criminals and runaway teens were often housed in Job Corps dorms, which resulted in crimes like rape, drug dealing and assault.
The Department of Labor has been active in recent weeks pushing for transparency under the backdrop of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Earlier this month, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced that her department will return over $1 billion in unused COVID-era funding back to the taxpayer.
In February, Fox News Digital reported that the Department of Labor will cancel a $4 million contract for DEI consultation services and training in its Jobs Corps program.
Five Jewish Democratic senators demanded answers from President Donald Trump on the calculus behind penalizing Harvard University, its medical school and other collegiate institutions across the country under what they called the pretext of antisemitism on campus.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut lambasted the president, while saying they agree on the scourge of antisemitism over time.
"Dear President Trump, we write regarding your administration's assault on universities, including threats and actions to withhold funds or otherwise punish certain institutions of higher learning, in what you claim is an effort to eliminate the very real threat of anti-Semitism on college campuses," the Thursday letter began.
"We also write as Jewish senators who have spoken out strongly against rising antisemitism here in the United States, including on college campuses, and who have called on university leaders to do more to tackle antisemitism with accountability and action in the wake of the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel."
The quintet called Trump’s decisions to freeze funding for Harvard and focus on other schools where antisemitic behavior and protests abounded last year "broad and extra-legal attacks" — adding they were "troubled and disturbed" by his decisions.
The lawmakers said Trump’s actions "seem to go far beyond combating antisemitism" and into the range of "using what is a real crisis as a pretext to attack people and institutions who do not agree with you."
Speaking of Harvard specifically, the senators said threatening to revoke the Ivy League college’s tax-exempt status and demeaning faculty as "woke, radical left idiots" goes far beyond constructive efforts to support Jewish students.
"They instead seem to be aimed broadly at changing the way the university functions, exacting huge penalties in ways wholly unrelated to combating anti-Semitism, and we fear are instead aimed at undermining or even destroying these vital institutions while hiding behind claims of tackling antisemitism as a guise," the letter said.
They offered an olive branch in seeking to work with Republicans on combating antisemitism, but reiterated their belief Trump’s overtures are "simply a means to an end" for the mogul to trash his ideological opposition.
They called on the president to respond by Wednesday of next week with data and details as to why specific colleges were targeted for a federal funding freeze, and what the calculus was for doing so.
"In the case of Harvard specifically, what specific charges had the administration made against Harvard in regards to antisemitism? Please describe your charges in specific detail, including naming specific cases and why you believe the steps that Harvard has already taken to strengthen response to antisemitism are insufficient," they wrote.
They also said Trump has targeted Harvard Medical School, lauding its cancer research in questioning that particular decision.
"What is your legal justification … when almost every legal scholar has ruled that you have no basis for doing this?" they concluded.
Separately, Schiff said during a debate last year that he also received several antisemitic attacks, particularly online.
"I take this issue very personally," he said. "What's happening on college campuses, I think, is terrifying."
In February, Rosen joined Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to introduce the Antisemitism Awareness Act.
"Antisemitism is on the rise across the nation, particularly on college campuses, and Congress has a responsibility to do everything in its power to fight back against this hate," Rosen said in a statement.
Schatz, who is seen as a prime potential successor to Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., as Democrats’ No. 2 caucus leader, tweeted in 2023 that he opposes antisemitism and Islamophobia.
"Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. Wanting to disable Hamas is not Islamophobia. Wanting to protect civilians is neither. I may delete this once my comments become a mess," he wrote.
Earlier this year, Schumer published a book, "Antisemitism in America: A Warning," about his own life experiences.
In a tweet about the letter, Blumenthal called antisemitism "a real & horrific threat on campuses — & must be fought — but it should not be exploited as a pretext to target universities & silence dissent."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response to the joint letter.
Florida Republicans are embroiled in a civil war — Gov. Ron DeSantis has excoriated state House leadership, accusing them of revolting against voters who sent them to the legislative chamber and pursuing a "swamp-centric agenda," while Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez has lambasted DeSantis, asserting that the governor has "become the swamp."
With massive majorities in both chambers of the legislature and control of the governorship, Republicans dominate the political landscape in the Sunshine State.
But in a recent post on X, the governor asserted that "the FL House leadership is at war with the voters who provided the supermajority in the first place."
"They do not want to see Florida continue on the conservative path," DeSantis told Fox News Digital during an interview on Wednesday. "They're doing things to empower the left."
"Republican voters are wondering, what the hell is going on in the Florida House of Representatives," he said.
"I think that what they're doing is a formula for Florida to return to becoming a swing state. The reason why we went from a purple state to a red state under my tenure is because we drew sharp contrasts with the left and we defeated the left on issue after issue," DeSantis declared.
"The House is run based on fear and retribution," he said.
Perez, a Republican, pushed back in a lengthy statement provided to Fox News Digital on Friday morning.
"Unfortunately, what we’ve seen in Florida is a Governor who’s turned into exactly what he promised to fight — he’s become the swamp. His latest attacks are nothing more than a distraction from the gross financial mismanagement happening under his watch. We're talking about thousands of missing state vehicles, $160 million unaccounted for at AHCA [Florida Agency for Health Care Administration], and a growing list of problems across agencies and boards — all controlled by the Governor," Perez declared in the statement.
"While the Florida House remains the most conservative body in the Legislature — passing a budget billions lower than the Governor’s, approving larger tax cuts than the Governor, and pushing bold conservative policies like repealing gun laws and passing E-Verify — the Governor seems uninterested in a conservative Legislature. He wants a compliant one. After seven years in office, it’s clear he doesn't want people asking hard questions, especially after neglecting his duties while running for president," he continued.
"We are proud to advance conservative reforms, but we won’t cover up mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. The Governor’s comments about retribution are deeply hypocritical. His entire governing style is based on fear and intimidation — if you don’t do what he says or have a difference of opinion he views that as treason. All he does is attack people who disagree with him. I’ve repeatedly indicated my willingness to work with the Governor and all he’s done is insult and attack Members of the House," Perez added.
DeSantis — a former U.S. congressman who was a House Freedom Caucus founding member — notched a dominant gubernatorial re-election victory in 2022.
He mounted a presidential bid in 2023, but ultimately dropped out and endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 after Trump, a GOP juggernaut, scored a huge win in the Iowa GOP presidential caucus.
Before he leaves office, the governor wants a constitutional amendment to lower, or even abolish, property taxes, placed before voters.
"Property taxes are local, not state. So we’d need to do a constitutional amendment (requires 60% of voters to approve) to eliminate them (which I would support) or even to reform/lower them," DeSantis noted earlier this year in a post on X.
"We should put the boldest amendment on the ballot that has a chance of getting that 60%," he noted, adding, "I agree that taxing land/property is the more oppressive and ineffective form of taxation."
The governor explained to Fox News Digital that "the philosophical underpinning is, do you have private property or not?"
He noted that if someone owns property outright but still has to pay property taxes, "you're basically paying rent … to the government."
DeSantis pointed out that property taxes "basically tax unrealized gains," commensurate with increased property value assessments by local government.
"And so you have to pay taxes at a higher basis, even though you never sold the house for that much. There's never been a market transaction that says your house is worth that much," he said.
The governor is committed to seeing a property tax proposal presented to voters before he leaves office.
DeSantis indicated that if he feels the state legislature would not consider putting the matter before voters, a citizens' initiative could be the path to get it on the ballot. But that would require the collection of vast quantities of signatures, and the governor suggested that it would be easier if the legislature acts, though he does not know that lawmakers will do so.
"Why would we not … just do it, right?" he said after noting the GOP's dominance in the state legislature.
"I think that they've just taken the position that they really don't give a damn in the Florida House what their voters think," he declared.
Perez said in his statement to Fox News Digital, "As for property taxes, the Governor introduced the topic months ago, yet has failed to offer a plan, language, or even a basic explanation. Property taxes in Florida are controlled at the local level, but if he wants to bring a constitutional proposal forward, the House is ready to put it on the floor tomorrow. This Legislature has debated bold reforms to property taxes for two decades.
"The truth about late-term Ron DeSantis is that he talks a big game but waits for others to do the work. [Georgia Gov. Brian] Kemp opened his state first after COVID — Ron took credit. [Texas Gov. Greg] Abbott led on immigration — Ron took credit. It’s no different here. If he truly wants action, he should do the work, not just hold empty press conferences."
DeSantis, who is currently serving his second term, is not eligible to run again in 2026, and Trump has already endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., in the gubernatorial contest.
Asked by Fox News Digital whether he thinks he will make an endorsement in the race, the governor indicated that he will be "involved," but noted that it's still quite early in the election season.
DeSantis suggested that the state House has shown in recent months that Florida's "success is very fragile."
President Donald Trump isn’t "trolling" when it comes to efforts to acquire Greenland and make Canada the 51st state.
Trump has discussed acquiring Greenland, Canada and Panama for months — and has regularly referred to Canada as the 51st U.S. state. Despite skepticism from some, Trump said in an interview with Tine magazine published Friday that he is serious about these proposals.
When asked by Time’s Eric Cortellessa whether Trump was "trolling a bit" in suggesting Canada join the U.S., Trump replied, "Actually, no, I’m not."
Cortellessa then asked whether Trump intended to "grow the American empire," prompting Trump to double down on the significance of acquiring these key pieces of territory.
"Well, it depends as an empire, it wasn't, these are not things that we had before, so I'd view it a little bit differently if we had the right opportunity," Trump said. "Yeah, I think Greenland would be very well off if they I think it's important for us for national security and even international security."
Trump also claimed that the U.S. is "losing" money supporting Canada, and that the only solution on the table is for it to become a state.
"We’re taking care of their military," Trump said. "We're taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don't need them to make cars for us. In fact, we don't want them to make cars for us. We want to make our own cars. We don't need their lumber. We don't need their energy. We don't need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state."
The Time piece was published a day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters that Trump routinely discusses Canada becoming a state, claiming that Trump brings it up "all the time." Carney has previously shut down any notions that Canada will become a U.S. state.
Meanwhile, Trump has emphasized that Greenland is key for national security purposes. While the Danish territory has said it is seeking independence from Copenhagen but isn't inclined to join the U.S., Trump has voiced a strong desire to secure Greenland amid increase Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic.
"If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place, and we're not going to be able to do that," Trump told reporters in March. "We're not relying on Denmark or anybody to take care of that situation. And we're not talking about peace for the United States, we're talking about world peace, we're talking about international security."
President Donald Trump slammed Harvard University as an "[antisemitic], far-left institution" and a "threat to democracy" amid growing tensions between his administration and the university.
"Harvard is an [antisemitic], far-left institution, as are numerous others, with students being accepted from all over the world that want to rip our country apart. The place is a liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "Harvard is a threat to democracy…"
In the same post, Trump also expressed his frustration that William Burck, the attorney representing Harvard, was a legal advisor to the Trump Organization. According to The Hill, Burck was fired after Trump posted on Truth Social.
Harvard has become a target of Trump’s broader crackdown on universities, much of which is in response to last year’s anti-Israel unrest that erupted on campuses across the country.
On April 11, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard University President Dr. Alan Garber and Harvard Corporation Lead Member Penny Pritzker outlining the institution’s failures and a list of demands from the White House. In the letter, the administration accused Harvard of failing to uphold civil rights laws and to foster an "environment that produces intellectual creativity."
The Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding if Harvard did not reform governance and leadership, as well as its hiring and admissions practices by August 2025. The letter emphasized the need for Harvard to change its international admissions process to avoid admitting students who are "hostile" to American values or support terrorism or antisemitism.
Harvard refused to comply with the demands, with Garber saying that "no government… should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and areas of study and inquiry they can pursue." The university later filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its "unlawful" freezing of funds.
The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard, and is reportedly looking to slash another billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While Harvard appeared to be quick to reject the Trump administration’s proposal, the New York Times reported that the university’s leaders and major donors pushed for the school to make a deal.
"For weeks leading up to the April 11 letter, the corporation took a very different stance toward the Trump administration. At the urging of some of its biggest donors, the corporation frantically tried to cut a deal with Mr. Trump," the NYT reported.
In December 2023, Harvard was criticized over its handling of antisemitism and anti-Israel unrest on its campus following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre and the war that followed. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. — a Trump ally — grilled the university’s then-President Claudine Gay over whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" constituted bullying and harassment. Gay famously said that it depended on the "context," a sentiment echoed by the other Ivy League presidents who were questioned. Less than a month after the hearing, Gay resigned from her position. However, she remains employed by the university.
