Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused President Donald Trump of being too incompetent to lead the country because he suggested the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) played a role in the tragic Washington, D.C., aircraft collision on Wednesday.

"We face the unfortunate reality that we must be honest with the nation about: Donald Trump is unfit to lead during moments of crisis like this," Pritzker said in a statement Thursday night. 

The blue state governor, whom Trump evoked on the campaign trail as an example of the downfall of Democrat-run states, urged the Trump administration to respond to the American Airlines crash with "information and facts to instill confidence in our nation’s aviation safety."

"Before victims have even been identified, Trump is blaming people with disabilities," Pritzker said, referring to FAA DEI hiring practices. "He’s blaming the U.S. service members in the Blackhawk helicopter. He’s blaming hiring programs he can’t even name or offer examples of. The buck stops with him — yet he is failing to demonstrate his role as protector of the American people and head of our government."

TRUMP ATTACKS DEI POLICIES AFTER DC PLANE CRASH, SAYS FAA EMPLOYEES MUST BE HELD TO 'HIGHEST STANDARDS'

The second-term governor is among the long list of Democrats considering a 2028 presidential run. Pritzker has seized opportunities over the past two weeks to play a leadership role in Democrat opposition to Trump, refusing, for example, to follow Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. 

PRITZKER BASHES TRUMP ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: 'WE WILL NOT FOLLOW AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDER'

Pritzker’s comments Thursday were the latest in a long-standing feud between the two. 

"Sloppy J.B. Pritzker… has presided over the destruction and disintegration of Illinois at levels never seen before in any State," Trump wrote on Truth Social in June. "Crime is rampant and people are, sadly, fleeing Illinois. Unless a change is made at the Governor’s level, Illinois can never be Great Again!"

Trump’s attacks have veered into the ad hominem, labeling Pritzker a "rotund Governor from the once great State of Illinois, who makes Chris Christie look like a male model."

In his statement, Pritzker demanded the Trump administration answer his "critical questions," including why the control tower was not fully staffed during the crash; why the Trump administration fired members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee; whether the president now understands fully staffing federal agencies is a "matter of life and death"; and whether he plans to reverse federal workforce cuts. 

Pritzker questioned whether Elon Musk played a role in the removal of the former FAA director; why a replacement for FAA director was not named until after the crash; whether the federal government authorized the Blackhawk helicopter to fly on a commercial flight path; and if the government will continue allowing helicopters to fly at the same altitude as commercial planes.

"Will the President, Vice President, Defense Secretary, and Transportation Secretary cooperate with the independent NTSB investigation and correct any misinformation they spread about the crash?" Pritzker demanded to know.

Trump on Thursday listed headlines about Biden-era FAA DEI hiring that he suggested weakened the agency.

"Here's one," Trump said in the White House briefing room. "The FAA's diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing. And then it says the FAA says people with severe disabilities, the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in. They can be air traffic controllers. I don't think so."

"This was on January 14th, so that was a week before I entered office," Trump said, seeking to push blame onto the Biden administration. "They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA's program."

Trump then expanded his list of conditions allowed among controllers: "Hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability, and dwarfism."

The president drew a stark contrast between Democratic policies and his own first-week executive orders that halted DEI programs in the federal government and restored "the highest standards of air traffic controllers."

"Brilliant people have to be in those positions," he stated.

When asked how he came to the conclusion that diversity had something to do with the crash, the president said, "Because I have common sense."

Pritzker is not the only potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender who took issue with Trump’s comments. After Trump called former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg a "disaster," Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic primary candidate, called Trump’s comments "despicable."

"As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying," he wrote on X. "We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro is urging Colombian nationals in the U.S. illegally to return home, promising to provide loans to those who return, days after being embroiled in a diplomatic controversy with the U.S.

"I ask undocumented Colombians in the US to immediately leave their jobs in that country and return to Colombia as soon as possible," Petro said on X.

"Wealth is produced only by working people.

COLOMBIA PRESIDENT WELCOMES FIRST FLIGHTS OF DEPORTED MIGRANTS AFTER LOSING PUBLIC SPAT WITH TRUMP 

"The Department of Social Prosperity … will seek to provide productive loans to returnees who enroll in its programs," he said. "Let's build social wealth in Colombia."

Petro had initially refused Sunday to take U.S. deportation flights carrying Colombian nationals, saying the U.S. cannot "treat Colombian migrants as criminals." 

The Trump administration, in response, announced the immediate suspension of visa issuance and travel sanctions on government officials. President Donald Trump warned he would slap 25% tariffs on all goods from Colombia.

"Measures will continue until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. "America will not back down when it comes to defending its national security interests."

A VICTORY FOR TRUMP'S 'FAFO': HOW THE WHITE HOUSE STRONG-ARMED ONE-TIME CLOSE ALLY COLOMBIA OVER IMMIGRATION

At first, Petro retaliated with his own 25% tariffs on U.S. goods. Petro insisted he would not accept the return of migrants who were not treated with "dignity and respect" and who had arrived shackled or on military planes. 

But the White House later said Colombia's president had caved "to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay," 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

On Tuesday, two Colombian air force planes carrying deportees arrived in Bogotá. 

On Friday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed that visa processing in Bogotá had resumed.

"Our commitment to work together with Colombia to advance our mutual interests remains steadfast," she said.

Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, has traveled to Venezuela to deliver an in-person message to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro about accepting violent criminals deported from the United States.

On a call with reporters Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. special envoy to Latin America, said Grenell will tell Maduro to take back all the Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua gang members that have been "exported to the United States, and to do so unequivocally and without condition." 

Grenell will also demand that Venezuela immediately release American hostages being held in that country, Claver-Carone said.

TRUMP TAPS RICHARD GRENELL AS PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR SPECIAL MISSIONS, EDWARD S. WALSH AS IRELAND AMBASSADOR

The trip "focuses on two very specific issues. That we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are, to every country in the world, without conditions, and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally," he explained. 

"This is not a quid pro quo. It's not a negotiation in exchange for anything. President Trump himself has made that very clear." 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Grenell had arrived in Venezuela on orders from the president. 

‘WEAPONIZED MIGRATION’: US FACES DEADLY CONSEQUENCES WITH MADURO IN POWER, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION WARNS

Despite widespread belief among Venezuelans and much of the international community that Maduro lost the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, he was sworn into his third six-year term earlier this month.

The U.S. does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called on Venezuelan citizens to protest the Maduro regime and demand that González be installed as the rightful president of Venezuela.

DETAILS OF VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER'S POSSIBLE ARREST REMAIN UNCLEAR AMID MADURO INAUGURATION RESISTANCE

As many as 10 Americans are currently detained in Venezuela, although the State Department has not declared them wrongfully detained. Three are U.S. citizens who allegedly participated in a plot to destabilize the country, according to Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

The State Department has denied any U.S. involvement with a plot to overthrow Maduro. 

It remains unclear how many Americans are currently held in Venezuela following the significant prisoner swap in 2023 when Washington and Caracas negotiated the release of dozens of prisoners, including 10 Americans, in exchange for Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of Maduro.

Saab was arrested during the first Trump administration on charges related to a $350 million bribery scheme. 

The new federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Friday that taxpayers will see just over a $1 billion savings through the elimination of 104 diversity, equity and inclusion-related (DEI) contracts.

As of Wednesday, DOGE had recorded the cancellation of 85 "DEIA" contracts from 25 federal agencies. By Friday afternoon, that number had grown to 104 contracts totaling $1,000,060,792, according to a DOGE news release.

Of note, 21 Department of the Treasury contracts were canceled, saving a total of $25,247,783. In second place was the Department of Health & Human Services, which canceled 15 contracts worth $28,187,448.

While the Office of Personnel Management only had three contracts canceled, the dollar figure was pinned at a whopping $494,956,233, an average of about $165 million per DEI contract.

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ‘ALREADY RACKING UP WINS FOR TAXPAYERS’ WITH EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES

The other agencies with the most contracts canceled by the Trump administration include Agriculture with 11 and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Homeland Security with seven each.

According to a release Monday from the Department of Veterans Affairs, 60 employees whose roles were solely focused on DEI were placed on administrative leave, and spokesperson Morgan Ackley said the administration is "laser focused on providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors."

"We are proud to have abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot back to VA’s core mission," Ackley said.

The rapid-fire DEI contract eliminations come one week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the endeavors, officially described as "ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity."

‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’

However, a consortium of liberal state attorneys general lambasted Trump with a warning that the moves "have nothing to do with combating discrimination."

A  joint statement led by Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha Friday called the executive orders that led to the dismantling of DEI policies and programs "unnecessary and disingenuous."

Neronha and his co-signers — attorneys general from California, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington state — said they would agree to be "willing partners" in cracking down on discrimination if Trump chose instead to utilize "longstanding civil rights laws" rather than the path he has chosen.

"Contrary to President Trump’s assertions, the policies he seeks to end do not diminish the importance of individual merit, nor do they mean that employers are lowering their standards, hiring unqualified candidates, or engaging in race-and-sex-based preferences," the statement said.

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"DEIA initiatives simply ensure that there are fair opportunities for everyone, helping to maximize contributions from all employees and enabling businesses and organizations to succeed in their missions."

In Congress, Rep. Aaron Bean and Sen. Joni Ernst have been leading DOGE efforts to further curtail government waste and abuse.

Bean, a Republican from Jacksonville, Florida, founded the Congressional DOGE Caucus in November, and Ernst, Iowa, has led the charge to lobby for return-to-work requirements for federal employees and sales of unused or underused federal office space.

The Trump administration will put a pause on most federal government websites Friday evening in an effort to eliminate DEI content and any language opposed to President Trump’s agenda, Fox News Digital has learned. 

A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that federal government websites are expected to go dark at around 5:00 p.m. Friday evening.

The official told Fox News Digital that the length of the pause on federal websites is unclear at this time, but will seek to remove content that is "anti-Trump administration." 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick for FBI director, claimed Thursday that he won't stand for federal law enforcement needing a warrant for surveillance in some scenarios because it's plainly impractical in real-time practices. Despite lawmakers’ surprise at his opposition, legal experts say his take is far from unusual within the law enforcement arena.

Patel was peppered with questions Thursday on a provision called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. When asked if he believed that a warrant requirement is "practical and workable or even a necessary element of 702," Patel said he had issues with "those that have been in government service and abused it in the past." Patel said that because of the viability of abuse, "we must work with Congress to provide the protections necessary for American citizens dealing with these matters."

"Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizenry," Patel said during his Senate hearing. "I'm all open to working with Congress on finding a better way forward. But right now, these improvements that you've made go a long way."

4 OF THE BIGGEST CLASHES BETWEEN PATEL, SENATE DEMS AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING

"The fact that the soon-to-be head of the nation's, sort of, top law enforcement agency takes the position that is favored by law enforcement shouldn't surprise anybody," former assistant district attorney and criminal defense attorney Phil Holloway told Fox News Digital. 

"When Mr. Patel answered the question the way that he did, that answer is adverse to the public positions taken by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle." 

Patel, throughout his testimony, emphasized his interest in working with Congress if he were to head the FBI.

"Some lawmakers have absolutely called for the necessity of a warrant in these situations. And so it makes sense that the senators would ask the nominee to run the FBI whether or not he has an opinion on it," Holloway continued. "But, ultimately, it's not his call."

KASH PATEL HAMMERS ‘GROTESQUE MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ FROM DEMS AMID FIERY FBI CONFIRMATION HEARING

"I've always thought that there's a middle ground here where you don't have to. And I think there are some situations that warrant a warrant and deserve a warrantless search," Palm Beach County, Fla., state attorney Dave Aronberg told Fox News Digital. "And I think Patel's remarks show that he thinks the same way."

Aronberg noted that under U.S. law, there is a warrant exception under exigent circumstances, i.e. emergency situations, where it is impractical to obtain a warrant. 

"What Kash Patel is saying is that there may be some situations that may be in that gray area where you shouldn't have to get a warrant," Aronberg said. "And I am encouraged by his comments because I do think that law enforcement needs flexibility when it comes to national security matters, especially with the very real threat of terrorism here on our shores."

KASH PATEL FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEM SENATOR AFTER BEING GRILLED ON J6 PARDONS: 'BRUTAL REALITY CHECK'

Congress voted to pass a renewal of FISA's Section 702 last April. The legislation serves as a governmental tool in gathering intelligence on foreign subjects using the compelled assistance of electronic communication service providers. 

If the renewal had not been passed, the expiration would have meant companies would not be forced to comply with the government's requests for surveillance aid under the bill. 

Without the FISA section's reauthorization, the government would be required to seek a warrant to compel any such assistance, which is a process that can span extended periods of time. 

Earlier this month, a federal district court ruled that the federal government had violated the Fourth Amendment when it searched the communications of an Albanian citizen residing in the U.S. at the time of his arrest without a warrant. The information had been collected under FISA's Section 702. 

"The individual rights of people in the United States under our Constitution come first," Holloway said. "So having constitutional requirements that sort of frustrate or perhaps slow down law enforcement, this is a tension that is not new at all. And so what we're seeing is this playing out."

Fox News Digital's Liz Elkind and Julia Johnson contributed to this report. 

A documentary about bridging the political divide in one of the most hotly contested battleground counties in the United States debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this week, leading some to conclude that the historically liberal festival is moving toward the center. 

"One of the things that is fascinating about ‘Bucks County, USA’ being chosen as an official selection at Sundance is it appears, in the era of Trump being re-elected, the well-known left-leaning Sundance Film Festival is moving to the middle," Paul Martino said. "There is a new openness to dialogue," 

Martino, the founder of Bullpen Capital, told Fox News Digital about the documentary series "Bucks County, USA" being screened at Sundance, a Utah festival known for screening films promoting liberal causes and being a place for anti-Trump demonstrations.

KELSEY GRAMMER SAYS CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT IS LOOKING ‘MORE ATTRACTIVE’ TO HOLLYWOOD

Martino, who is featured in the film, told Fox News Digital that the five-part docuseries is "all about the political divisions that happen in the United States focused on where I live, Bucks County, USA."

"It is about all of the post-COVID policies and all of the things that happened at the school board level once a lot of the parents' rights movement started, and the film dives into a lot of detail about the political division that happened, and it focuses, ironically, on the friendship of my daughter and her best friend, who is what I would describe as my political rival's daughter," Martino explained. 

Martino, a conservative, told Fox News Digital walking around Sundance was a "fascinating" experience and that he encountered many people who seemed to be open to the movie's message of listening to the other side.

"Obviously, it is a rather left-leaning crowd in general. But even the people behind Sundance, the people who pick the films this year, said that they felt this film, ‘Bucks County, USA,’ was very important because it was in a Trump re-elected era," Martino said. 

"Understanding and speaking to the other side and understanding who the other side is is important.

MEL GIBSON DOESN’T ‘BLAME’ CELEBRITIES FLEEING HOLLYWOOD BUT VOWS TO ‘FIX’ AS TRUMP’S SPECIAL AMBASSADOR

"One of the amazing stories told by one of the filmmakers at Sundance was there's a guy sitting next to me in a MAGA hat who I would have never talked to on the plane had I not made this movie and realized he had a lot to say to me. And the fact that this film affected even the filmmakers, I think, is a really interesting and important lesson for the rest of the country."

While many people at Sundance were receptive to the film, Martino told Fox News Digital he did encounter some opposition from people at a question-and-answer session after the screening. 

"I would say one of the only disappointments of the experience was I felt that some people in the crowd, you know, it's an honor to be in the Q&A at the end of the series and, look, we had everybody up there. We had people who really don't like each other, who disagree vehemently, and I think it was lost on the audience that all of us were standing there," Martino said. 

"The fact that we all agreed to be part of this, the fact that we were all there and I got asked a question or two that were directed in my direction that I felt were a little bit inflammatory and I kind of chuckled to myself thinking, 'Did you just watch the movie? And did you just see the fact that we're all here? Maybe you missed a little something there.'"

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Here's what's happening…

-Noncitizen voter crackdown led by GOP ahead of 2026 midterms

-4 of the biggest clashes between Kash Patel, Senate Dems at his confirmation hearing

-Trump health secretary nominee RFK Jr survives heated hearings ahead of crucial confirmation votes

The White House is blasting House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries after pledging to fight Republicans' agenda "in the streets."

"While President Trump remains focused on uniting our country and delivering the mandate set by the American people, the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, incites violence calling for people to fight ‘in the streets’ against President Trump’s agenda," White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai told Fox News Digital.

"This unhinged violent rhetoric is dangerous. Leader Jeffries should immediately apologize."…Read more

'CONCERNING' CRASHES: Military aircraft collisions raise questions about training and equipment, expert says…Read more

'COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE': What to know about the mistakes made leading up to the fatal collision…Read more

BUTTI-JUDGMENT: Biden Transportation secretary blasts Trump after president excoriates him in press briefing…Read more

DANGER ZONE: Two planes aborted landings at Reagan National Airport due to helicopters in flight path in week before crash…Read more

'BAD DECISIONS': Trump orders assessment of aviation safety, names acting FAA administrator after deadly DC plane crash…Read more

'CONCERNING' CRASHES: Military aircraft collisions raise questions about training and equipment, expert says…Read more

NOWHERE TO RUN: Trump's migrant DHS FBI crackdown leaves killers, rapists nowhere to run…Read more

GETTING THE BOOT: Trump issues unexpected ultimatum to senior FBI ranks…Read more

NICE TRY: Trump to sign memo lifting Biden's last-minute collective bargaining agreements…Read more

'VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM': Trump facing first test in Africa amid bloody battles ‘over electric vehicle battery minerals’…Read more

AMERICAN HOSTAGE: First American hostage to be released from Gaza, Hamas says…Read more

'REFUSE TO BE THEIR PUPPET': Top 5 moments from Tulsi Gabbard's confirmation hearing…Read more

CONFIRMED: Trump VA pick Doug Collins advances to full Senate vote…Read more

'IN THE STREETS': Trump White House demands apology after Jeffries calls for Dems to fight president's agenda 'in the streets'…Read more

FARM TEAM: After stinging election defeats, DNC eyes rural voters as key to midterm success…Read more

DRAFT DODGE: New FOIA on migrants potentially avoiding the draft could open new deportation predicate: attorneys…Read more

'PUSHING RHETORIC': Chicago mayor lambasts Trump, claims US being run like 'had the Confederacy won'…Read more

LESSONS NOT LEARNED?: Democrats rally around lightening rod issue during unruly DNC debate despite voter backlash in 2024…Read more

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

California Democrats are attempting to make state oil and gas companies pay for damage caused by the Los Angeles wildfires, claiming that fossil fuel emissions are to blame for the deadly disaster.

A new Democrat-introduced bill, the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act, if passed, would allow for "victims of climate disasters," such as the L.A. fires, and insurance groups to sue oil and gas companies for damages under the claim that their emissions fueled the raging fires.

Democrat state Sen. Scott Wiener, who introduced the bill this week, said that fossil fuel companies should pay for fire damage, because they are "driving the climate crisis."

"Californians shouldn’t be the only ones to pay the costs of devastating climate disasters. From last year’s floods to the fires in LA, we know that the fossil fuel industry bears ultimate responsibility for fueling these disasters," state Sen. Scott Wiener wrote in a post on X announcing the legislation. 

TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND

The bill, which received the backing of several state lawmakers, comes as Democrats have attempted to blame the recent fires on climate change rather than state and city policies, which have faced heightened criticism in the weeks following the deadly blaze.

Just months before the wildfire, the city of Los Angeles slashed the fire department funding by over $17 million. The L.A. fire chief said that there are "not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude."

NEWSOM THANKS TRUMP FOR COMING TO CALIFORNIA TO TOUR FIRE DAMAGE IN TARMAC FACE-OFF

"We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were empty. Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish. Our fire department budget was cut by our mayor. But thank god drug addicts are getting their drug kits," actress Sara Foster wrote in a post on X. "@MayorOfLA @GavinNewsom RESIGN. Your far-left policies have ruined our state. And also our party."

Trump used the power of his pen this week to sign an executive order to override the state's environmental policies in order to create more water availability in the L.A. area. 

In the executive order issued on Sunday, Trump called on federal agencies to override regulations potentially limiting water availability in the area, such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which seeks to minimize water infrastructure to protect certain fish species, such as the Delta smelt. 

The order comes just weeks after Trump accused Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., of caring more about protecting an endangered fish species than the state's residents amid the wildfires.

President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, has traveled to Venezuela to deliver an in-person message to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro about accepting violent criminals deported from the United States.

On a call with reporters Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. special envoy to Latin America, said Grenell will tell Maduro to take back all the Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua gang members that have been "exported to the United States, and to do so unequivocally and without condition." 

Grenell will also demand that Veneuzeula immediately release American hostages being held in that country, Claver-Carone said.

TRUMP TAPS RICHARD GRENELL AS PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR SPECIAL MISSIONS, EDWARD S. WALSH AS IRELAND AMBASSADOR

The trip "focuses on two very specific issues. That we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are, to every country in the world, without conditions, and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally," he explained. 

"This is not a quid pro quo. It's not a negotiation in exchange for anything. President Trump himself has made that very clear." 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Grenell had arrived in Venezuela on orders from the president. 

‘WEAPONIZED MIGRATION’: US FACES DEADLY CONSEQUENCES WITH MADURO IN POWER, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION WARNS

Despite widespread belief among Venezuelans and much of the international community that Maduro lost the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, he was sworn into his third six-year term earlier this month.

The U.S. does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called on Venezuelan citizens to protest the Maduro regime and demand that González be installed as the rightful president of Venezuela.

DETAILS OF VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER'S POSSIBLE ARREST REMAIN UNCLEAR AMID MADURO INAUGURATION RESISTANCE

As many as 10 Americans are currently detained in Venezuela, although the State Department has not declared them wrongfully detained. Three are U.S. citizens who allegedly participated in a plot to destabilize the country, according to Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

The State Department has denied any U.S. involvement with a plot to overthrow Maduro. 

It remains unclear how many Americans are currently held in Venezuela following the significant prisoner swap in 2023 when Washington and Caracas negotiated the release of dozens of prisoners, including 10 Americans, in exchange for Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of Maduro.

Saab was arrested during the first Trump administration on charges related to a $350 million bribery scheme. 

Since taking office, President Donald Trump and his administration have become the target of multiple lawsuits over the president's agenda and policies. 

The Trump White House has faced numerous legal challenges, including deportation policies, an executive order to end birthright citizenship and a directive to freeze federal funding.

On the day of his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, with many legal experts arguing that the right is enshrined in the Constitution under the 14th Amendment.

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF 'PURGE' OF 'MINORITY' FEDERAL WORKERS

"The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift," Trump says in the order, titled, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration that same day "on behalf of organizations with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order." The ACLU also claimed the order is unconstitutional and against congressional intent and Supreme Court precedent.

Eighteen Democrat-led states then launched their own lawsuit, also claiming the order is unconstitutional and "unprecedented." 

"The President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth," the lawsuit reads.

TRUMP COULD BE ON VERGE OF LEGAL VICTORY AGAINST CBS AS SETTLEMENT SPECULATION HEATS UP

Attorneys general from New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine and others signed on to the suit, along with the city and county of San Francisco, Calif., and Washington, D.C.

A U.S. district judge also temporarily blocked Trump's order in a separate lawsuit filed by the states of Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington, describing the action as "blatantly unconstitutional."

Several Chicago sanctuary city groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its mass deportation policy, saying it violates their First Amendment rights. 

The suit, filed by Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Organized Communities Against Deportations, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Inc., and Raise the Floor Alliance, states that "the threat of ICE agents flooding into communities has already impacted Chicagoans and chilled their rights to freely exercise their religion and assemble."

Trump also signed an executive order ending all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. On Monday, the president signed an order stating that the "adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life."

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS STRIPPING FEDERAL FUNDING FROM SCHOOLS THAT TEACH CRT, SUPPORTING SCHOOL CHOICE

Six transgender military members filed suit against the Trump administration, arguing that the order is unconstitutional and violates the Equal Protection component of the Fifth Amendment.

"Rather than being based on any legitimate governmental purpose, the ban reflects animosity toward transgender people because of their transgender status," the suit claims. 

The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo on Monday with a directive to pause all federal grants and loans aiming to eradicate "wokeness" and the "weaponization of government" in an effort to improve government efficiency. The memo claims that nearly $3 trillion was spent in 2024 on such assistance programs. 

The White House shortly thereafter insisted that the freeze did not affect programs such as Social Security, Medicare or other entitlement payments.

Alongside Senate Democrats announcing a coordinated response with Democratic governors, blue state attorneys general, along with advocacy and non-profit groups, filed their own suits over the directive. 

On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general suing to stop the implementation of the memo.

Likewise, a handful of non-profit organizations and health associations, including a LGBTQ+ advocacy group, filed a lawsuit Tuesday over the directive.

A federal judge on Tuesday imposed a stay on Trump's action, delaying it until Monday.

Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw, Breanne Deppisch and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

Congressional Democrats are dismissing the White House's demand for an apology after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., urged people to "fight" President Donald Trump's agenda "in the streets."

"Right now, we're going to keep focus on the need to look out for everyday New Yorkers and everyday Americans who are under assault by an extreme MAGA Republican agenda that is trying to cut taxes for billionaires, donors, and wealthy corporations and then stick New Yorkers and working class Americans across the country with the bill," the Democrat said during a press conference. 

"That's not acceptable. We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. We're going to fight it in the streets," he continued. 

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A spokesperson for Jeffries, Christie Stephenson, told Fox News Digital, "The notion that Leader Jeffries supports violence is laughable. Republicans are the party that pardons violent felons who assault police officers. Democrats are the party of John Lewis and the right to petition the government peacefully."

She also referred to the comments as promoting "nonviolent protest" on X.

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"You should really get a quote from one of the violent criminals President Trump just let on the streets. Or the one who immediately got picked up on child pornography charges," a spokesperson for House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital.

The lawmakers were likely referencing Trump's recent move to pardon nearly all defendants with charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.

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Jeffries' remark was quickly shared by the Trump White House's rapid response team Friday on X before Republicans began calling for an apology. 

A senior White House official told Fox News Digital, "Hakeem Jeffries must apologize for this disgraceful call to violence."

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., also demanded an apology, writing on X, "House Minority Leader [Jeffries] should promptly apologize for his use of inflammatory and extreme rhetoric."

"President Trump and the Republicans are focused on uniting the country; Jeffries needs to stop trying to divide it."

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Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital in a statement, "The Democratic Leader’s comments are deranged but not unexpected. Senate Republicans are fighting to make America safer and more prosperous while the Democrats remain obsessed with protecting criminal illegal aliens, identity politics, and unhinged attacks on President Trump."

On social media, rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers remained silent on the comment from Jeffries. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump will execute tariffs upon Mexico, Canada and China starting Saturday.

Trump’s economic plan during his campaign called for extending the 2017 tax cuts and imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% on all imported goods. For countries like China, that number could go up to 60%.

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These countries will face these tariffs because they have allowed an "unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens," according to Leavitt. 

"The president will be implementing tomorrow a 25% tariff on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans," Leavitt told reporters Friday. "These are promises made and promises kept."

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While Canadian President Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada was prepared to respond to any tariffs executed, Leavitt said that the tariffs are not expected to spark a trade war with Canada and that Trump would respond to Trudeau in "due time." 

There was a heavy focus on systemic racism and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs during the final debate among the eight candidates vying to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC), as the party aims to exit the political wilderness.

The forum, moderated and carried live on MSNBC and held at Georgetown University in the nation's capital city, develed into chaos early on as a wave of left-wing protesters repeatedly interrupted the primetime event, heckling over concerns of climate change and billionaires' influence in America's elections before they were forcibly removed by security.

Thanks in part to their repeated targeting of DEI efforts under former President Joe Biden's administration, President Donald Trump recaptured the White House in November's elections, with Republicans also retaking control of the Senate from the Democrats and the GOP holding onto its razor-thin majority in the House.

Jaime Harrison, the DNC chairman for the past four years, declined to seek another term steering the Democrats' national party committee. The DNC will vote for a new chair on Saturday, as they hold their annual winter meeting this year at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.

FIRST ON FOX: AFTER 2024 ELECTION SETBACKS, DEMOCRATS EYE RURAL VOTERS

"Unlike the other party, that is demonizing diversity, we understand that diversity is our greatest strength," Harrison said at the start of the debate before bringing the candidates out.

Biden and many Democrats portrayed DEI efforts as a way to boost inclusion and representation for communities historically marginalized. However Trump and his supporters, on the 2024 campaign trail, repeatedly charged that such programs were discriminatory and called for restoring "merit-based" hiring.

DEMOCRATS' NEW SENATE CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS KEYS TO WINNING BACK MAJORITY IN 2026

Since his inauguration on Jan. 20 and his return to power in the White House, Trump has signed a slew of sweeping executive orders and actions to end the federal government's involvement in DEI programs, reversing in some cases decades of hiring practices by the federal government. Trump's actions are also pushing large corporations in the private sector to abandon their diversity efforts.

At Thursday's showdown, there was plenty of focus on diversity and racism.

At one point, the candidates were asked for a show of hands about how many believed that racism and misogyny played a role in former Vice President Kamala Harris' defeat in the 2024 election to Trump.

All eight candidates running for DNC, as well as many people in the audience, raised their hands.

"That's good. You all pass," MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart, one of the moderators of the forum, quipped.

However, far from everyone in the party wants to see such issues dominate the discussion without the added inclusion of economic concerns such as inflation, which were top of mind at the ballot box in November.

DEMOCRATS' HOUSE CAMPAIGN CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS HER PLAN TO WIN BACK MAJORITY

"The Democrats pathway to power runs directly through kitchen table economics and the notion we can fight for economic opportunity and ensuring everyone is treat with dignity and respect," said Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, who is attending the party's winter meeting.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, considered one of the frontrunners in the DNC chair race, in speaking with reporters after the forum, pointed to the gains made by Trump and Republicans among diverse voters in the 2024 election and argued that the party did not spend enough time concentrating on "the kitchen table issues."

"Whether you're Hispanic, whether you're transgender, whether you're gay, whether you're straight, whether you're Black, whether you're White. Everybody needs to eat. And the people we lost in every segment were people who struggled the most to put food on their family's table. And they were the ones we lost across the board," O'Malley argued.

The protests, staged in waves, include calls for the DNC chair candidates to bring back the party's ban on corporate PAC and lobbyist donations that was in effect during former President Barack Obama's administration.

The youth-led, left-wing climate action organization known as the Sunrise Movement, said the first three protesters were affiliated with their group.

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Another protester, who was not believed to be affiliated with the Sunrise Movement, as he was dragged out of the debate hall by security, yelled, "What will you do to get fossil fuel money out of Democratic politics? We are facing a climate emergency!"

Much of the audience, which consisted of many DNC voting members, appeared frustrated by the repeated interruptions.

"Protest the Republicans. Protest the people who are actually hurting you!" a member of the audience shouted out.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House is blasting House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries after pledging to fight Republicans' agenda "in the streets."

"While President Trump remains focused on uniting our country and delivering the mandate set by the American people, the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, incites violence calling for people to fight ‘in the streets’ against President Trump’s agenda," White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai told Fox News Digital.

"This unhinged violent rhetoric is dangerous. Leader Jeffries should immediately apologize."

Republicans are hammering Jeffries for his comments at a press conference in Brooklyn on Friday. 

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The Democratic leader appeared beside Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., to criticize Trump's handling of the recent deadly aircraft collision in Washington, D.C., and his administration's policies freezing federal funding.

At one point, Jeffries was asked about Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams' lack of pushback against Trump, and whether it made him a "good fit" to lead the Big Apple.

Jeffries avoided weighing in directly on Adams, however, responding, "I'll have more to say about the future of the mayorship of the city of New York at the appropriate time."

DOGE SENATOR SEEKS TO ENSURE FEDS CAN CONTINUE PURSUING COVID FRAUDSTERS, DEBTORS AS IG SOUNDS ALARM

"Right now, we're going to keep focused on the need to look out for everyday New Yorkers and everyday Americans who are under assault by an extreme MAGA Republican agenda that is trying to cut taxes for billionaires, donors, and wealthy corporations and then stick New Yorkers and working class Americans across the country with the bill," Jeffries said.

"That's not acceptable. We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. We're going to fight it in the streets."

When asked for clarification, Jeffries spokesperson Christie Stephenson told Fox News Digital, "The notion that Leader Jeffries supports violence is laughable. Republicans are the party that pardons violent felons who assault police officers. Democrats are the party of John Lewis and the right to petition the government peacefully."

She posted similar comments on X where she signaled the comments were referring to "nonviolent protest."

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But GOP lawmakers immediately called on Jeffries to apologize, accusing him of using inflammatory language in an already-tense political environment.

"House Minority Leader [Jeffries] should promptly apologize for his use of inflammatory and extreme rhetoric. President Trump and the Republicans are focused on uniting the country; Jeffries needs to stop trying to divide it," House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., wrote on X.

While legislators in the Democratic trifecta are trying to pass bills to "Trump-proof" the state, California Republican Kate Sanchez plans to introduce a bill that would crack down on what may be a "sanctuary state" loophole protecting criminal illegal immigrants involved in sex-trafficking minors.

"It would eliminate all of the unnecessary restrictions for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal law enforcement in order to go after those that have been accused or convicted of sex trafficking of minors, and currently there is a clause that they cannot communicate as openly as possible," Sanchez told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

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These restrictions are part of California's "sanctuary state" policies, which are designed to limit state and local law enforcement's involvement in federal immigration enforcement. For her part, the specific provisions that Sanchez wants to amend are found in the California Values Act (SB 54), which was enacted in 2017, that restricts local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect or arrest individuals for immigration enforcement purposes. 

There are exceptions in SB 54 for individuals convicted of certain serious or violent crimes. However, sex trafficking is not always classified as a violent felony under California law – making it so that some convicted sex traffickers may not meet the criteria for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities – potentially thwarting deportation efforts.

Sanchez argues this creates a loophole that could allow illegal immigrants who are involved in sex trafficking to remain in the U.S. after serving their sentence. In 2023, Newsom signed Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), reclassifying the trafficking of a minor as a "serious" felony, but other forms of human trafficking may still not be considered violent felonies under state law.

"So, we want to make sure we remove that piece of the penal code and allow them to communicate and do their job fully," Sanchez said. 

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Sanchez's bill may align well with President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan currently underway, but it faces an uphill battle in her state legislature, which is dominated by Democrats. Currently, Democratic assemblymembers – in collaboration with Newsom – are trying to pass a series of bills that would bolster the state's legal defense against the Trump administration. The State Senate already passed the bills last week.

Democrats were set to pass the $50 million special session bill Thursday, but Assembly lawmakers reportedly blocked the package over concerns that there may be changes that need to be made to the immigration-related proposal. At issue is Newsom's $25 million allocation for nonprofit organizations to defend illegal immigrants from deportation, and whether those funds would be used as well for criminal illegal immigrants. 

Newsom's office told Fox News Digital previously that no funds would go to criminal illegal immigrants. 

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Newsom called a special legislative session quickly after Trump's electoral victory to secure additional funding for the state's legal defense against the administration. Reacting to the development on his TruthSocial account at the time, Trump said, "He is using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the Election."

Sanchez – who says she has been shut out of the legislature's Hispanic Caucus because she's a Republican – said the legislature should be focusing on "fireproofing" the state, or rather, "Newsom-proofing California." 

"Take it for what it's worth, but I genuinely feel like there are victims and there are people in need that we should be advocating for protecting our most vulnerable, protecting the innocence of our children," Sanchez said. "It is an uphill battle in Sacramento, but I do feel the tide is turning, and I know we will be looking to our federal counterparts to be helpful in this matter as well."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom's office for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is expected to sign a memo Friday to lift the collective bargaining agreements former President Joe Biden put into effect before leaving office, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The president’s memo will direct federal agencies to reject last-minute collective bargaining agreements issued by the Biden administration, which White House officials said were designed to "constrain" the Trump administration from reforming the government. 

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The memo prohibits agencies from making new collective bargaining agreements during the final 30 days of a president’s term. It also directs agency heads to disapprove any collective bargaining agreements that Biden put through during the final 30 days of his term. 

The White House said collective bargaining agreements enacted before that time period will remain in effect while the Trump administration "negotiates a better deal for the American people." 

Biden’s Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley in December 2024 came to an agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees guaranteeing that the agency’s 42,000 employees would not have to come into the office during the Trump administration. 

The White House told Fox News Digital that the new policy "ensures the American people get the policies they voted for, instead of being stuck with the wasteful and ineffective Biden policies rejected at the ballot box." 

'GET BACK TO WORK': HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK IN 1ST HEARING OF NEW CONGRESS

"The outgoing Biden administration negotiated lame-duck, multi-year collective bargaining agreements—during the week before the inauguration—in an attempt to tie the incoming Trump administration’s hands," a White House fact sheet on the memo obtained by Fox News Digital states. 

The White House pointed to the Biden administration’s Department of Education’s agreement that prohibited the return of remote employees and agreements for the Biden Small Business Administration and Federal Trade Commission. 

"These CBAs attempt to prevent President Trump from implementing his promises to the American people, such as returning Federal employees to the office to make government operate more efficiently," the fact sheet states. "President Biden’s term of office ended on January 20th. Under this memorandum, he and future Presidents cannot govern agencies after leaving office by locking in last-minute CBAs." 

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The president’s new memo also is aimed to ensure that federal government agencies operate under similar rules as private sector unions and employers. 

The memo comes after the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agency and department heads to notify employees by the new return to in-person work order. That order required employees to work full-time in the office unless excused due to disability or qualifying medical conditions. 

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And this week, OPM sent emails to the full federal workforce offering the option of resignation with full pay and benefits until Sept. 30 if they do not want to return to the office. Those workers have until Feb. 6 to decide. 

The federal workers that did not get that option work as postal workers, military immigration officials, some national security officials, and any positions agencies decide to carve out. 

The Senate’s lead "DOGE" lawmaker said Friday her quest for government efficiency is beginning to come full-circle, as the Agriculture Department instituted a return-to-work mandate she said was first spurred by a 2024 whistleblower who contacted her office.

"The Trump administration, DOGE, and I are already racking up wins for taxpayers," Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital on Friday.

"Growing up on a farm, I know what working from home really means."

President Donald Trump too, highlighted the difference between telework in white-collar jobs and Americans in agriculture and manufacturing who don’t have the luxury of working from a desk.

In remarks to reporters, Trump said federal workers appear less productive when working-from-home and that the dynamic is "unfair to the millions of people in the United States who are in fact working hard from job sites and not from their home."

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He also warned federal workers they would have to report to the office or, "you’re fired."

In that regard, Ernst looked back on a whistleblower who came to her and alleged USDA's District of Columbia offices were largely vacant.

That, she said, spurred her to outline policy proposals that eventually became "DOGE" – a term popularized by Trump ally Elon Musk.

"When I first discovered that the Department of Agriculture was a ghost town, I took action to end federal employees’ abuse of telework and get the agency working for Iowa farmers," said Ernst.

"I have put bureaucrats on notice that their four-year vacation is over, and we are just beginning to get Washington back to work and serving the American people."

A memo from Acting Agriculture Secretary Gary Washington obtained by Politico on Thursday ordered senior staff "with assigned duty stations" to work from their offices full-time. Additional guidance would follow for workers without a preassigned workstation.

Ernst characterized the memo as that full-circle moment.

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Ernst reportedly brought up her early concerns about teleworking bureaucrats and unused Washington office space running up tabs on the federal ledger during a meeting with Trump and Musk at Mar-a-Lago last year.

She previously compiled a report following an investigation into government waste and abuse through which $2 trillion in savings could be realized if the issues were attended to.

In a December statement highlighting that report, the House Budget Committee – now led by Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas -- said the Biden administration’s condoning of mass telework "generated complacency in the workforce while costing taxpayers billions in unnecessary maintenance and upkeep costs."

"Early success means there is much more to come," a person familiar with the Senate’s DOGE work added.

According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, only 11% of the USDA's office space was occupied in the first quarter of 2023, and 75% of available space across 17 federal agencies has remained empty since the pandemic.

Ernst built her initial pre-formal-"DOGE" probes off of the USDA whistleblower, which is why she believes the latest development mandating return-to-work for agriculture bureaucrats is the issue now coming full-circle.

Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., – the chairman and founder of the DOGE Caucus – praised Ernst's work and said taxpayers deserve to have a government operating at "full capacity."

"President Trump’s executive order requiring federal employees to return to work is the first step in improving government efficiency."

"This is just common sense, and the exact type of waste DOGE will continue to crack down on," Bean said.

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Ernst’s first DOGE "win" came with the passage of an otherwise Democrat-favored bill named for former President Joe Biden’s longtime friend Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and signed as both Delawareans were departing public service.

Within the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act was a provision to compel the General Services Administration to sell the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building.

The block-long "stripped classicist" building southwest of the U.S. Capitol was designed by Philadelphia architect Charles Z. Klauder in the 1930s, and originally hosted the Social Security Administration.

However, its total occupancy dwindled to 2% -- largely Voice of America workers – by 2025.

Another "DOGE" amendment sponsored by Ernst that requires agency oversight and reporting regarding telework was successfully added to a major appropriations bill passed in December.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment for purposes of this story but did not receive a response by press time. 

There was a heavy focus on systemic racism and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs during the final debate among the eight candidates vying to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC), as the party aims to exit the political wilderness.

The forum, moderated and carried live on MSNBC and held at Georgetown University in the nation's capital city, develed into chaos early on as a wave of left-wing protesters repeatedly interrupted the primetime event, heckling over concerns of climate change and billionaires' influence in America's elections before they were forcibly removed by security.

Thanks in part to their repeated targeting of DEI efforts under former President Joe Biden's administration, President Donald Trump recaptured the White House in November's elections, with Republicans also retaking control of the Senate from the Democrats and the GOP holding onto its razor-thin majority in the House.

Jaime Harrison, the DNC chairman for the past four years, declined to seek another term steering the Democrats' national party committee. The DNC will vote for a new chair on Saturday, as they hold their annual winter meeting this year at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.

FIRST ON FOX: AFTER 2024 ELECTION SETBACKS, DEMOCRATS EYE RURAL VOTERS

"Unlike the other party, that is demonizing diversity, we understand that diversity is our greatest strength," Harrison said at the start of the debate before bringing the candidates out.

Biden and many Democrats portrayed DEI efforts as a way to boost inclusion and representation for communities historically marginalized. However Trump and his supporters, on the 2024 campaign trail, repeatedly charged that such programs were discriminatory and called for restoring "merit-based" hiring.

DEMOCRATS' NEW SENATE CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS KEYS TO WINNING BACK MAJORITY IN 2026

Since his inauguration on Jan. 20 and his return to power in the White House, Trump has signed a slew of sweeping executive orders and actions to end the federal government's involvement in DEI programs, reversing in some cases decades of hiring practices by the federal government. Trump's actions are also pushing large corporations in the private sector to abandon their diversity efforts.

At Thursday's showdown, there was plenty of focus on diversity and racism.

At one point, the candidates were asked for a show of hands about how many believed that racism and misogyny played a role in former Vice President Kamala Harris' defeat in the 2024 election to Trump.

All eight candidates running for DNC, as well as many people in the audience, raised their hands.

"That's good. You all pass," MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart, one of the moderators of the forum, quipped.

However, far from everyone in the party wants to see such issues dominate the discussion without the added inclusion of economic concerns such as inflation, which were top of mind at the ballot box in November.

DEMOCRATS' HOUSE CAMPAIGN CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS HER PLAN TO WIN BACK MAJORITY

"The Democrats pathway to power runs directly through kitchen table economics and the notion we can fight for economic opportunity and ensuring everyone is treat with dignity and respect," said Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, who is attending the party's winter meeting.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, considered one of the frontrunners in the DNC chair race, in speaking with reporters after the forum, pointed to the gains made by Trump and Republicans among diverse voters in the 2024 election and argued that the party did not spend enough time concentrating on "the kitchen table issues."

"Whether you're Hispanic, whether you're transgender, whether you're gay, whether you're straight, whether you're Black, whether you're White. Everybody needs to eat. And the people we lost in every segment were people who struggled the most to put food on their family's table. And they were the ones we lost across the board," O'Malley argued.

The protests, staged in waves, include calls for the DNC chair candidates to bring back the party's ban on corporate PAC and lobbyist donations that was in effect during former President Barack Obama's administration.

The youth-led, left-wing climate action organization known as the Sunrise Movement, said the first three protesters were affiliated with their group.

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Another protester, who was not believed to be affiliated with the Sunrise Movement, as he was dragged out of the debate hall by security, yelled, "What will you do to get fossil fuel money out of Democratic politics? We are facing a climate emergency!"

Much of the audience, which consisted of many DNC voting members, appeared frustrated by the repeated interruptions.

"Protest the Republicans. Protest the people who are actually hurting you!" a member of the audience shouted out.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is being criticized by Republicans after pledging Democrats would fight President Donald Trump’s agenda "in the streets."

"Right now, we're going to keep focus on the need to look out for everyday New Yorkers and everyday Americans who are under assault by an extreme MAGA Republican agenda that is trying to cut taxes for billionaires, donors, and wealthy corporations and then stick New Yorkers and working class Americans across the country with the bill," Jeffries said.

"That's not acceptable. We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. We're going to fight it in the streets."

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., immediately demanded that Jeffries apologize.

"House Minority Leader [Jeffries] should promptly apologize for his use of inflammatory and extreme rhetoric," Emmer wrote on X. "President Trump and the Republicans are focused on uniting the country; Jeffries needs to stop trying to divide it."

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ office for clarification. 

A senior White House official told Fox News, "Hakeem Jeffries must apologize for this disgraceful call to violence."

The House Democratic leader was holding a press conference in Brooklyn on Friday aimed at criticizing Trump’s federal funding freeze and his handling of the tragic aircraft collision in Washington, DC earlier this week.

Jeffries credited Democrats with stopping the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze.

"As was demonstrated this week, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, Democratic governors, and everyday Americans all across the country rose up in defiance as it relates to the illegal, unlawful, and extreme federal funding freeze that is part of the Republican rip-off agenda," Jeffries said. "We fought it, we stopped it, and we will never surrender."

The Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued an order earlier this week pausing most federal funding while directing agencies to conduct thorough reviews of where taxpayer dollars are being spent.

The White House later clarified the memo to mean funding going toward progressive causes that Trump had explicitly blocked through executive orders. 

Nevertheless, it was still blocked by a federal judge, and hours later, the memo was rescinded.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the OMB memo was rescinded in light of the court order but clarified that funding blocks set up by Trump’s executive orders were still in effect.