Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is "not a slam dunk," as President Donald Trump's nominee works to shore up support.
In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Fetterman said he has met with Kennedy twice in his office and that whatever his decision ends up being on the HHS nominee, it will be "an informed view."
"I've invested a lot of time to really understand his background and to learn more about the man," Fetterman said, adding: "I approached with an open mind and I watched the hearing. And that's how the process works."
Asked if he's reached a decision on whether he'll vote "yay" or "nay" for Kennedy, Fetterman said he has spoken to colleagues on both sides regarding the matter.
"It's been challenging for sure. Absolutely. It's certainly not a slam dunk for the nomination," Fetterman told "Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream.
"I've made an investment to really understand and talk to all of the nominees, and I treated everyone with respect and I took the time to listen, and that's been part of my commitment," he added.
Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat who switched his presidential campaign against Biden to run as an Independent before ultimately dropping from the race to back Trump, made it through back-to-back grillings by the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and the Health Committee on Thursday. He still faces crucial committee and full Senate confirmation votes in his mission to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation's food and health.
Most of the tough questions and sparring over his stances on vaccines, abortion, Medicaid and other issues came from Democrats on the two committees, but Thursday's hearing ended with the top Republican on the Health panel saying he was "struggling" with Kennedy's nomination.
"Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me," Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told the nominee.
The physician from Louisiana, who is a crucial vote and who has voiced concerns over Kennedy's past stance on vaccines, asked whether Kennedy can "be trusted to support the best public health." The senator told Kennedy, who seeks to lead key health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, that "you may be hearing from me over the weekend."
Kennedy, whose outspoken views on the pharmaceutical and food industries have also sparked controversy, has said he aims to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases.
A strong pro-life advocate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told "Fox News Sunday" that he is supporting Kennedy despite the nominee's past comments saying he supported codifying Roe v. Wade and abortion "even if it's full term."
"I am now OK to supporting RFK Jr. because I think during the course of the hearing he's committed to a Republican pro-life agenda, President Trump's pro-life agenda," Graham said when asked about those specific past remarks from Kennedy. "So I will take him at his word. I'm comfortable with what he said on the pro-life issue. He has been radically pro-choice as a person. But I do believe that as secretary, he will implement a pro-life agenda that will be pushed by President Trump. I will be a yes, but I'll also watch every move he makes."
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Newly elected Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg has previously called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished and for the defunding of police.
"Defund the police not USPS," Hogg, who first entered the national spotlight after surviving the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, said in an X post on Aug. 15, 2020.
"Abolish ICE," Hogg said in a different post two weeks earlier.
The posts, which were made more than two years after Hogg survived the Florida school shooting, came as he became increasingly involved in political activism, most notably by his staunch advocacy for stricter gun laws.
Now just 24 years old, Hogg took to social media early Sunday to celebrate his election to leadership within the DNC.
"I’ve just been elected as a Vice Chair of the DNC. I’m deeply grateful to the members for their trust and belief in me and I don’t take it lightly. Now it’s time to get to work," Hogg said in a post on X, going on to promise a "Democratic Party that is authentic, relatable, earns people's trust, and wins again."
"It’s time we stop surrendering, go on offense, and take the fight to Donald Trump and every single Republican who is gutting our rights, attacking workers, and rigging the system for the wealthy and well-connected," Hogg said.
But the elevation of Hogg to vice chair of the DNC also comes at a time of deep soul-searching for the Democratic Party, with many analysts blaming the party’s poor 2024 showing on its seemingly soft stances on crime and illegal immigration.
Nevertheless, Hogg called on the party to "rethink the way we've been doing things" in his post on X, arguing that it is vital "to rid our party of its judgmental attitudes, and do the work to win back every group we lost this year, from the working class to young people."
The DNC did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
President Donald Trump repeated his suggestion that Canada become the 51st on Sunday, noting that it would not be subjected to his incoming tariffs should the country join the U.S.
"We pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada. Why? There is no reason," Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. "We don’t need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true!"
"Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State," Trump added. "Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – AND NO TARIFFS!"
Trump has for weeks suggested the United States should take control of Canada through economic pressure.
Citing the flow of illicit drugs across the northern border, Trump signed an order Saturday to implement a 25% tariff on goods entering the United States from Canada. The order, which takes effect Tuesday, also puts a 10% duty on energy or energy resources from Canada. The order states, "gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities," adding that "Canada has played a central role in these challenges, including by failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs."
Trump also said he would implement tariffs of 25% on goods from Mexico, as well as 10% on imports from China due to the flow of drugs across U.S. borders.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum both vowed retaliation on Saturday.
"We categorically reject the White House's slander of the Government of Mexico for having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention to interfere in our territory," Sheinbaum said, adding that she instructed her administration officials to implement "tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico's interests."
Trudeau said Canada would impose 25% tariffs on $155 billion of U.S. goods, including "immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods effective Tuesday, followed by further tariffs on $125 billion worth of American products in 21 days."
"I don't think we're not at all interested in escalating, but I think that there will be a very strong demand on our government to make sure that we stand up for the deal that we have struck with the United States," Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman told ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk ripped alleged "fraudulent" Treasury payments on Saturday as reports circulated that the Department of Government Efficiency has gained acces to the federal government's payment system as the second Trump administration continues cutting what they say is government fat and overspending.
"The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once," Musk, the chair of DOGE, posted early Saturday morning to X.
Musk's post came just ahead of the New York Times reporting Saturday afternoon that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE personnel access to the payment system. The Treasury spends roughly $6 trillion per year on payments for federal agencies.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, posted to social media on Saturday that he has also been informed that DOGE was granted access to the system.
"Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system. Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk's own companies. All of it," Wyden posted to social media site BlueSky on Saturday evening.
DOGE's reported access to the payment system comes after the Washington Post reported on Friday that the former acting director of the Treasury, David A. Lebryk, was planning to exit the finance department of the federal government following a clash over granting DOGE access to its payment system. Lebryk oversaw the Treasury Department in the days between President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 and Bessent's confirmation to lead the department on Jan. 27.
On Friday, reports also spread that civil servants within the Office of Personnel Management, which works as the federal government's HR department, were reportedly locked from the office's computer systems by DOGE.
Musk quipped on X on Saturday that working over the weekend is a "superpower," where the "opposing team" disappear for two days.
"Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days! Working the weekend is a superpower," he posted.
Trump officially created DOGE via an executive order signed on his first day in office. The EO outlines that government agency chiefs provide DOGE with access to internal government platforms such as, "software systems, and IT systems."
"Agency Heads shall take all necessary steps, in coordination with the USDS Administrator and to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure USDS has full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems. USDS shall adhere to rigorous data protection standards," the executive order reads.
Trump and Musk had long previewed the creation of DOGE while on the campaign trail, championing that the team would weed out overspending and fraud within the federal government. DOGE is not a government department, but instead operates as a team within the Trump administration.
Before Trump's win in November, Musk hosted the Republican president for an interview on X in August, where Musk railed against government overspending and inflation that has gripped the nation in recent years.
"A lot of people just don’t understand where inflation comes from. Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it’s written by the government. So if the government spends far more than it brings in, that increases the money supply. If the money supply increases faster than the rate of goods and services, that’s inflation," Musk said during their conversation.
"So really we need to reduce our government spending, and we need to re-examine… I think we need a government efficiency commission to say like, ‘Hey, where are we spending money that’s sensible. Where is it not sensible?’"
Since its official creation last month, DOGE's X account has provided updates on its work to cut government spending, including announcing last week that it has cut more than $1 billion from federal spending through now-defunct diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and personnel.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that many of the Federal Aviation Administration's systems remain "antiquated" and are in need of updates amid a "plummet" in recruitment for air traffic controllers.
Duffy made the statement during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" with host Shannon Bream. The Trump administration official affirmed that America's skies remain the safest in the world, but he also said major changes could be made to improve the FAA's systems.
"We have the safest skies in the whole world. Traveling by air is the safest mode of transportation," Duffy said. "It's not just air traffic controllers, but we do have technologies on airplanes to keep them separated. So, yeah, no, this is the safest system."
Duffy went on to say that the U.S. system "does need to be upgraded." He also noted an outage of the FAA's pilot warning system, the "Notice to Air Mission" or NOTAM system, on Saturday night, calling it "antiquated."
The FAA imposes a mandatory retirement age of 55 for air traffic controllers, causing a large amount of turnover. Duffy noted that the FAA's training academy was bottlenecked during COVID-19, causing small class sizes and delaying the process as trainees could not get in-person experience at control towers.
He said he is focusing on training a new generation of recruits.
"You can't focus on diversity, equity and inclusion when you try to hire air traffic controllers, you focus on the best and brightest," Duffy told Bream. "I mean, again, some people like me like to have this conversation around equity. But if it's your pilots or if it's your air traffic controllers, you want the best. You want the brightest protecting yourself and your family. That's what we're going to do with the department."
Duffy's statements come after two aviation disasters struck the U.S., including the collision of a military Blackhawk helicopter with an American Airlines jet in Washington, D.C., last week. A private plane also plummeted out of the sky in Pennsylvania this weekend.
Investigations are ongoing for both crashes. Duffy said he is particularly interested in the communications that the control tower at Reagan National Airport had with both the jet and the helicopter in last week's crash.
"What happened in the tower? What was going on with the staffing? What should have been done and what was done? What was the language that was used by the air traffic controller? Was it appropriate? Did they appropriately direct traffic consistent with procedures at the FAA?" Duffy asked.
A bill introduced in the Washington state legislature would require drivers with a history of speeding to have a speed-limiting device placed on their cars.
House Bill 1596 was proposed after supporters say an increase in fatal accidents was caused by speeding. The bill was heard in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday and would require an "intelligent speed assistance device" to be installed in the cars of certain drivers, according to Fox 13.
The device limits the speed of the car using GPS technology. These drivers could exceed the speed limit up to three times a month.
Drivers would have the device on their car if they have a new restricted license established by the bill. This is similar to how ignition interlock devices are used for people with a history of drunken driving.
Drivers would also receive the device during the probation period after their license was suspended for racing or "excessive speeding," which is defined as driving at least 20 mph over the limit. Drivers could also be ordered by a court to have a speed-limiting device on their car.
"We’re losing Washingtonians and family members are losing loved ones unnecessarily, tragically and preventably," Democrat state Rep. Mari Leavitt, a prime sponsor of the bill, said.
"These aren’t accidents," she added. "They’re intentionally folks choosing behavior that is harming and often killing folks."
According to data in 2023 from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, one in three fatal crashes in the state involved a speeding driver. The total number of fatal crashes and the number involving speeding has been trending upward since 2019.
"Between 2019 and 2024, tickets to speeding drivers in excess of 50 miles an hour over the speed limit increased by 200%," the commission's Shelly Baldwin testified. "So we know that this is an increasing problem that we’ve been dealing with."
Republican state Rep. Gloria Mendoza questioned how the bill helps keep people safe by allowing speeders to continue driving.
"So we're trying to help them get back their license by giving them this tool," Mendoza said. "So how is this helping save lives?"
Leavitt responded: "We want to find a way for them to be able to drive lawfully, but safely. And having them on the road in a safe manner is going to save lives, because they’re driving anyway, and they’re driving fast. And this device, these speed limiters, are going to ensure that they can't."
DORAL, Fla. — The lawmaker in charge of House Republicans’ elections arm is feeling confident that the GOP can buck historical precedent and hold onto their majority for the entirety of President Donald Trump’s term.
The 2024 elections saw Republicans make significant inroads with Hispanic and Black voters.
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said progress would continue heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
"We’ve done well with African Americans, comparatively," Hudson told Fox News Digital, referring to years prior. "We've put a lot more effort in reaching out to that community as well and letting them know that we want your votes, and we want to represent you, and we care about the issues that matter to you and your family."
"I think we can do better, and we'll continue to attempt to do better. But, look, our message, our values, our principles are all universal."
He said Republicans’ values also lined up with Hispanic and Latino voters, 42% of whom supported Trump, according to the Associated Press.
"We are focused on the issues you care about," Hudson said the pitch was. "It's crime in your neighborhoods. It's education for your children. It's securing the borders. It's the price of things for your family. I mean, these are all things we campaigned on. But we deliberately went out into the Hispanic community and said, ‘We want your vote.’ And they responded."
Earlier in the interview, he credited Trump with delivering on those values in 2024, and argued that Trump’s policies would get Republicans over the line again next year.
Historically, the first midterm after a new presidential term serves as a rebuke of the party in power.
Democrats won the House of Representatives in a "blue wave" in 2018 during Trump’s first term. Four years later, Republicans wrestled it back under former President Joe Biden.
But the circumstances are somewhat different this time, something Hudson noted.
"We’re in a unique time in history, where you had a president serve four years with all his policies, and then he was replaced by another president who had completely different policies. . . . And then the two ran against each other," Hudson said. "So the American people sort of had a referendum on which president they wanted, which policies they chose, and they overwhelmingly selected Donald Trump."
Trump is in his second term, and Hudson argued that the 2024 presidential race was a referendum between two clear White House records.
"He has a mandate that I think is unique in history. And so this isn't a first-term president going into his first midterm. I mean, this is someone the American people know, and they've chosen," Hudson said.
Hudson also pointed out that Democrats will be defending 13 lawmakers whose districts Trump won, while Republicans only had to hold onto three seats that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
"The battlefield out there for us going into 2026 favors Republicans," Hudson said.
He spoke with Fox News Digital at Trump National Doral golf course and resort in South Florida, where Republicans held their three-day retreat to strategize their agenda.
Hudson was one of the senior Republicans who gave a presentation to fellow lawmakers during the event, where his message was: "We’re on offense this cycle."
"We're going to lean in. We have a lot of opportunity in those Donald Trump seats," Hudson said he told colleagues. "We're going to hold Democrats accountable for their voting against the policies the American people want."
Parents are "overjoyed" with the trajectory of the education system under President Donald Trump after years of pushing back on so-called woke practices in schools, a parents' rights education group told Fox News Digital.
During his first two weeks in office, Trump signed several education-related executive orders on school funding and antisemitism, and launched a federal review of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices in federally funded institutions.
Additionally, the Trump administration launched an investigation into a Colorado school district for allegedly "discriminating against its female students" after a girls' restroom was reportedly converted into an "all-gender" facility, while the boys' restroom remained for males only.
Nicole Neily, the founder and president of Parents Defending Education, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that the investigation will "open the floodgates" of the Trump administration's expected crackdown on similar policies in schools across the country.
"I think what it is intended to do is to send a signal to families that obviously there's a new sheriff in town. This is a priority. This administration, as the executive orders have made clear, actually views the difference in the sexes to be significant," Neily told Fox News Digital.
On Tuesday, the Department of Education sent a letter to the superintendent of Denver Public Schools to sound the alarm over reports that East High School in Denver was in violation of Title IX after opening up a female-only restroom to all genders.
"For this to be a very clear signal to families, to students, that if your school has engaged in something similar, this is something that the department is interested in looking into and adjudicating," Neily said, adding that the investigation is something "families are going to be really encouraged by."
Neily said that in recent years, parents "have been gaslit by our states, by our local school districts, by the federal government" all because "we want our children to have a colorblind education," but that the educational system is already undergoing "sorely overdue" change under Trump.
During his first week in office, the president launched a federal review of DEI teachings and practices in educational institutions receiving federal funding, in an effort to restore "merit-based opportunity," according to the White House.
Trump, prior to being sworn in, said he was open to considering abolishing the Department of Education in order to give states more individual control over their schools. Asked about the idea, Neily said she believes that states "know their communities, their needs, their values better than anybody in Washington ever can or would."
"I think there's a real opportunity to make sure that the department is focusing on the things it should be, which is educating children, restoring trust in the system and not doing things like giving out the billion dollars in DEI-focused grants," she said.
Yesterday — 1 February 2025Latest Political News on Fox News
The Trump administration announced on Saturday that it is imposing tariffs through its new International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the tariffs Saturday, which will go into effect Tuesday, consisting of a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.
Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff, according to the White House. In a statement obtained by Fox News Saturday, the Trump administration said the legislation is a response to an "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, (that) constitutes a national emergency."
"This challenge threatens the fabric of our society," the executive order states. "Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities.
"Canada has played a central role in these challenges, including by failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs."
In a fact sheet released by Trump officials, the White House said the tariffs are meant to hold the three countries accountable for "their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country."
The move was widely criticized by foreign leaders on Saturday. In an X post, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he "did not want this, but Canada is prepared."
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her country "categorically reject[s] the White House's slander against the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of intervention in our territory."
"Mexico not only does not want fentanyl to reach the United States, but anywhere," the statement read. "Therefore, if the United States wants to combat criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together in an integrated manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is not negotiable."
The changes were widely expected after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday the tariffs would roll out over the weekend.
On the same day, Trump told reporters the U.S. may also increase tariffs on imports from the European Union, arguing the tariffs would make the U.S. "very rich and very strong."
"We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday. "I made a promise on my Campaign to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our Borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favor of it."
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
The Trump administration is implementing tariffs through its new International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
In a statement obtained by Fox News on Saturday, the White House said that the legislation comes amid an "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency.
"President Donald J. Trump is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China. Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff," the statement read.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Saturday elected Minnesota party leader Ken Martin, who once called for President Donald Trump to be tried for treason, as its next national chair in the wake of the party's disastrous performance in the November elections.
The election of Martin is the party's first formal step to try and rebound from the November elections, in which President Donald Trump recaptured the White House, and Republicans flipped the Senate, held on to their fragile majority in the House and made major gains with working-class, minority and younger voters.
"We have one team, one team, the Democratic Party," Martin said following his victory. "The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country."
Martin, over the past eight years, has served as a DNC vice chair and has led the association of state Democratic Party chairs.
He topped Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler by over 100 votes among the 428 DNC members who cast ballots as they gathered for the party's annual winter meeting, which this year was held at National Harbor in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.
Martin O'Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate who served as commissioner of the Social Security Administration during former President Biden's last year in office, was a distant third in the voting.
Among the longshot candidates were Faiz Shakir, who ran the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Marianne Williamson, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 and 2024 Democratic presidential nominations. Williamson endorsed Martin on Saturday, ahead of the vote.
The eight candidates in the race were vying to succeed DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, who decided against seeking a second straight four-year term steering the national party committee.
With no clear leader in the party, the next DNC chair could become the de facto face of Democrats from coast to coast and will make major decisions on messaging, strategy, infrastructure and where to spend millions in political contributions.
In his victory speech, Martin stressed unity and that the party needed "to rebuild our coalition."
"We need to go on offense," Martin said. "We're going to go out there and take this fight to Donald Trump and the Republicans."
Martin has used stronger language against Trump in the past.
In 2020, he called Trump a "traitor" who should be tried for treason.
"[Donald Trump] should be immediately impeached and then put on trial for treason," Martin wrote on June 29, 2020, citing an anonymously sourced news story. "His actions led to the deaths of American soldiers. He is a traitor to our nation and all those who have served."
Trump, during his first term in office, at times accused Democrats of being "un-American" and "treasonous."
An key Martin supporter, longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley, told Fox News Digital ahead of the chair election that "it's an important opportunity for us to not only refocus the party and what we present to voters, but also an opportunity for us to look at how we internally govern ourselves."
Buckley, a former DNC vice chair and Martin's predecessor as head of the state party chairs, said he's "very excited about the potential of great reform within the party." He emphasized that he hoped for "significantly more support for the state parties. That's going to be a critical step towards our return to majority status."
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who succeeded President Biden last July as the party's 2024 standard-bearer, spoke with Martin, Wikler and O'Malley in the days ahead of Saturday's election, Fox News confirmed. But Harris stayed neutral in the vote for party chair.
In a video message to the audience as the vote for chair was being tabulated, Harris said that the DNC has some "hard work ahead."
But she pledged to be with the party "every step of the way," which could be a signal of her future political ambitions.
The debate during the three-month DNC campaign sprint mostly focused on the logistics of modern political campaigns, such as media strategy and messaging, fundraising and grassroots organizing and get-out-the-vote efforts. On those nuts-and-bolts issues, the candidates were mostly in agreement that changes are needed to win back blue-collar voters who now support Republicans.
But the final forum included a heavy focus on race and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, issues that appeared to hurt Democrats at the ballot box in November.
The forum, moderated and carried live on MSNBC and held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., devolved 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.
The chair election took place as a new national poll spelled more trouble for the Democrats.
Only 31% of respondents in a Quinnipiac University survey conducted over the past week had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, with 57% seeing the party in an unfavorable light.
"This is the highest percentage of voters having an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question," the survey's release noted.
Meanwhile, 43% of those questioned had a favorable view of the GOP, with 45% holding an unfavorable opinion, which was the highest favorable opinion for the Republican Party ever in Quinnipiac polling.
Fox News' Matthew Reidy contributed to this report
Ask many of Congress' frequent fliers, and they'll tell you Ronald Reagan National Airport has sent up red flags for years.
"I've long been very, very nervous about congestion at Reagan National," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
"The congestion of the airspace around Reagan and D.C. as a whole definitely played a part in this," said Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a former firefighting pilot. "The sheer number of aircraft in the air is as high as it's ever been."
"A lot of aircraft transit up and down the Potomac," said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy combat pilot and astronaut. "Getting in and out of certain areas. The Pentagon. Other military installations. Reagan right there in that highly trafficked area."
"Whenever I'm at Reagan and I see new gates being built, the terminal getting larger, I realize that there will never be another inch of runway. The skies are pretty congested," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. "I often think there's too much activity for this small plot of land. And I'm sure there'll be a reevaluation of all of that."
The nation’s worst air disaster in nearly a quarter-century spilled into the Potomac River just short of Washington’s Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night. Sixty-seven people died after American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kan., collided with an Army Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter feet from the runway.
Aviation experts say flying in and out of Reagan National is one of the most complicated airports in the country. The approach from both the north and south is over water. Pilots must navigate a narrow corridor above the river – but not fly over the nearby Pentagon. That’s to say nothing of piercing Washington, D.C.’s super-protective airspace. The White House and U.S. Capitol are clearly visible when planes take off to the north.
Moreover, the airport is known for notoriously short runways. The runway on which the American Eagle flight attempted to land stretches a little more than 5,200 feet. Slightly less than a mile in length.
That’s not even the main runway. Standard commercial runways average around 13,000 feet. The longest runway at Reagan National is about 7,000 feet. Plus, all three runways cross one another. Such a configuration is rarely seen at modern airports.
Last spring, there were two incidents where planes nearly crashed into one another while crossing runways.
The runways are some of the most overused in the entire American flight system. The airport was designed to handle 14 million passengers annually. But that number spiked to 25 million in 2023. The airport accommodates a staggering 800 takeoffs and landings each day.
There were efforts to close Reagan National when Dulles International Airport opened in 1962. Dulles is a monstrosity of a campus. However, it resides nearly 30 miles from Washington, D.C., proper. The nation’s movers and shakers never gravitated to Dulles when it was so easy to fly into Reagan National, deplane, catch a cab and arrive at the State Department for a meeting 15 minutes later.
Lawmakers, aviation, national security officials and the Secret Service conducted serious conversations about permanently closing the airport after 9/11. It was thought that air traffic in and out of Reagan National posed too much of a risk to the seat of government. It wouldn’t take much for hijackers to commandeer an aircraft and reroute it to Capitol Hill.
After all, one plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. The fourth plane – which went down in a field near Shanksville, Penn. – was ultimately bound for the Capitol.
That said, advocates for maintaining Reagan National argued it was nearly impossible to hijack a plane taking off and immediately send it barreling toward the Capitol. It takes a while to engineer a hijacking. There was simply not enough time to execute such a plan seconds after takeoff.
Still, authorities shuttered Reagan National for more than three weeks following 9/11. New safety rules were in place once the airport re-opened. Planes couldn’t have more than 156 seats. All passengers were required to be seated a half-hour before landing. Air marshals patrolled most if not all flights in and out of the airport.
The feds loosened many of those restrictions anywhere from a few months to nearly four years after 9/11. But that didn’t diminish questions about the safety of this particular airport.
However, proponents of maintaining Reagan National had some of the most powerful allies in the nation: Members of Congress.
Lawmakers keep insane schedules. In fact, the invention of the jet airplane contributed to such bedlam. Lawmakers are in high demand in their districts or states – and on Capitol Hill. That’s to say nothing of conferences in Aspen or Halifax – and glitzy fundraisers in New York or San Francisco. So air travel, coupled with access to a nearby airport, is paramount in the modern Congress.
Mondays or Tuesdays are often deemed "fly-in" days. The House and Senate don’t truly get going until late in the day during the first day of the week. Thus, votes on Monday might not unfold until 5:30 pm et in the Senate and 6:30 in the House. Depending on if the House (and sometimes the Senate) convenes on a Monday or Tuesday, Thursdays and Friday are considered "getaway" days. The House might cut town by late morning or noon on a getaway day. If the Senate doesn’t toil for five days (which has happened a lot this year, but not this week), the last vote often hits around 2:15 or 2:30 pm. on a Thursday.
Thus, lawmakers have a vested interest in keeping Reagan National operational. Even after 9/11.
Congress reauthorized programs for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years in 2024. But one of the most contentious issues in the bill was whether Congress should authorize additional daily "slots" for Reagan National. New, regular flights commence in a few weeks to Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, San Antonio and San Francisco. Lawmakers have blessed an increase of about 50 additional daily "slots" at Reagan National since the turn of the century.
It’s telling that only four senators opposed the FAA bill last year. All four were the local Washington, D.C., area senators: former Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., – who just retired – along with Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Kaine.
The Senate confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on a bipartisan vote Tuesday. Duffy faced a crisis by Wednesday night. By Friday, the new secretary tightened up airspace around Reagan National for helicopters.
But like everything in Washington, the key to Reagan National is all about access. It’s hard to find any major airport on the planet located so close to the levers of power.
And as long as the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a myriad of federal agencies and lobbying shops exist in Washington, it’s doubtful that Reagan National is going anywhere.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hit back at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Friday, after the activist group sent a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club promising to send them a vegan "weather reveal cake" if they agreed to stop pulling Punxsutawney Phil out of his burrow for his Feb. 2 prognostication.
"Come and take it," Shapiro tweeted in response to a New York Post story on PETA's demand.
Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro, told Fox News Digital the governor stands by his comments and said he will again make the trip to Gobbler's Knob in Jefferson County on Sunday to witness Phil's 138th meteorological prediction.
Shapiro has been on-hand for every Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney since taking office in 2023.
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk told the Post that Phil is denied the traditional lifestyle of a groundhog "for a tired old gimmick."
Visitors to Punxsutawney year-round can visit Phil and his "wife," Phyllis, at the borough library. On this reporter's last visit to the area, the rodents had recently become proud parents to a new baby groundhog, as well.
While Groundhog Day is considered a national holiday and has even been popularized in the classic 1993 Bill Murray film of the same name, the day — and Phil himself — hold a special place in many Pennsylvanians' hearts.
In addition to the large ceremony in western PA, throughout the rest of the Commonwealth, many historically Pennsylvania German communities are home to a "Grundsau Lodsch" or Groundhog Lodge.
Each lodge holds an annual banquet or "Versommling" in honor of their totem – Phil – with "Lodsch Nummer Ains an de Lechau" (Lodge #1 on the Lehigh River) in Allentown hosting theirs annually on the February 2 holiday itself since 1934.
Nineteen other lodges based around the state have held "Versommlinge" for decades, as well.
However, three — "#2, Schibbach" in Montgomery County, "#3, Temple U." in Philadelphia County and "#5, Bind Bush" in Schuylkill County — have gone defunct in recent years as the Pennsylvania German language and culture see a decline in younger generations.
A March 2024 Versommling for "Lodge #18 an de Forelle Grick" (on Trout Creek) in Slatington featured local beer on tap, a traditional Pennsylvania German supper, stories and riddles from lodge elders told in the Pennsylvania German language, and, of course, representations of Phil himself.
Until recently, it was the custom of groundhog lodges to forbid English-speaking in favor of "Pennsilfaanisch," lest the violator toss a nickel in a donation jar on their table.
Other states' groundhogs have been less lucky than Phil, as then-New York Mayor Bill de Blasio infamously dropped Staten Island Chuck during a 2014 ceremony in West New Brighton. Chuck later died from internal injuries after appearing to land on his head.
With the importance Groundhog Day and Phil himself hold to Pennsylvania past-and-present, Bonder said Shapiro will continue to defend the groundhog and his tradition, and will be on hand for future wintertime prognostications in Punxsutawney.
LGBT activists and groups are already mobilizing to block gender-related executive orders President Donald Trump signed since taking office to fulfill one of his key campaign promises to crack down on "gender ideology extremism." And more legal challenges are expected in the coming weeks.
The executive orders, signed in late January, include a reinstatement of the ban on transgender troops in the military, a ban on federal funding for sex changes for minors and a directive requiring federal agencies to recognize only "two sexes," male and female, in official standard of conduct.
"This ban betrays fundamental American values of equal opportunity and judging people on their merit," Jennifer Levi, director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), said in a statement about the trans military ban.
"It slams the door on qualified patriots who meet every standard and want nothing more than to serve their country, simply to appease a political agenda."
GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), were among the first groups to file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration for its military ban. The lawsuit, Talbott v. Trump, was brought forward on equal protection grounds by six active-duty service members and two individuals attempting to enlist, according to the groups' announcement.
The plaintiffs include a Sailor of the Year honoree, a Bronze Star recipient and several who were awarded meritorious service medals. They were identified as U.S. Army Reservist Lt. Nicolas Talbott, Army Maj. Erica Vandal, Army Sgt. First Class Kate Cole, Army Capt. Gordon Herrero, Navy Ensign Dany Danridge, Air Force Master Sgt. Jamie Hash, Koda Nature and Cael Neary. The latter two are civilians who are seeking to enlist in the military.
Another lawsuit, filed by a transgender inmate receiving taxpayer-funded medical treatments, is challenging Trump's executive order that ends medical transgender treatments – such as hormones, sex changes and grooming accommodations – for federal prisoners.
The unnamed inmate, who goes by "Maria Moe" in court documents and is represented by GLAD Law, NCLR and Lowenstein Sandler LLP, is claiming Trump and the Bureau of Prisons are violating the Fifth and Eighth amendments and claims to be "at imminent risk of losing access to the medical care she needs to treat her gender dysphoria."
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston temporarily blocked BOP officials from transferring "Maria Moe" to a men's prison, according to a ruling released by the inmate's attorney Thursday. The temporary restraining order was issued Sunday, the same day the suit was filed.
Prison officials are expected to keep the inmate in the women's prison general population and maintain her transgender medical treatments, NBC first reported.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Trump's other executive orders, too, especially Trump's immigration-related policies. More are expected in the coming weeks.
A memo released Wednesday by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management provided guidance on directing federal agencies to acknowledge that women are biologically female and men are biologically male, Reuters reported. Trump said last week federal funds would not be used to promote "gender ideology."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the litigation but did not hear back before publication.
Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: One of the top Republican lawmakers in the key swing state of Arizona has sent a letter to President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting that the administration "prevent California from dictating the country’s energy policy."
"California’s radical rules will harm Arizona families by increasing costs, impacting jobs, and limiting consumer choice," Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen said in a letter to the EPA. "By taking swift action, EPA can reverse the Biden Administration’s erroneous approval of California’s extreme rules."
In the letter, Petersen praised Trump’s reversal of burdensome regulations thus far, saying that his executive orders, including rolling back the EV mandate, are "important energy steps that will help usher in America’s Golden Age."
However, Petersen warned in his letter that California environmental waivers and regulations create a ripple effect that harms other places in the country, including Arizona.
"Victims of California’s war on fossil fuels include Arizonans who conduct business or make purchases in California," Petersen wrote. "California’s radical rules also will indirectly affect Arizonans by increasing the cost, and decreasing the availability, of vehicles and products. Even Governor Katie Hobbs has been forced to recognize that California’s extreme policies can negatively impact Arizonans."
"California’s radical rules raise serious legal concerns relating to equal state sovereignty19 and the major "questions doctrine, among many others. EPA should take immediate action to remove these legal concerns, starting by submitting the approvals for California’s rules to Congress for evaluation under the Congressional Review Act," he continued. "According to legal experts, ‘Congress can quickly disapprove the waivers and send a resolution to the White House for presidential signature. Ballgame over.' As those experts note, Congressional Review Act decisions are final and unassailable in court because the Act expressly provides that ‘[n]o determination, finding, action, or omission under this chapter shall be subject to judicial review.’"
Petersen's letter continued, "Like it did during President Trump’s first administration, EPA also should revoke California’s ability to independently regulate greenhouse gases."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Petersen said, "Over the past four years, the State of California and the Biden Administration teamed up to impose a radical environmental agenda on the United States, compromising our energy independence, crushing freedom of choice, and endangering our national security."
"I, like many of my fellow Arizonans and Americans, am thrilled to see the Trump Administration putting an end to these schemes. The State of Arizona looks forward to assisting our new president, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Members of Congress in their efforts to prioritize and protect our country's interests," he said.
Petersen, who has filed paperwork to run for attorney general in Arizona, also sent a letter to Arizona's congressional delegation voicing the same concerns.
"As President of the Arizona State Senate, I write to urge you to block radical California rules that ban gas-powered cars and leaf blowers," he wrote.
"These policies will harm Arizona families by increasing costs, impacting jobs, and limiting consumer choice. The Congressional Review Act empowers you to reverse the Biden Administration’s last-minute approval of these extreme policies, which I encourage you to do."
Georgia’s Republican lieutenant governor has introduced a plan similar to the DOGE efforts taking place with the Trump administration that he tells Fox News Digital will bring much-needed government accountability to his state.
"I own my own business employing thousands of people, and I know one of the biggest things that we run into as small business owners is regulatory burdens. And that's regulatory burdens at the local, state and federal level," Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones told Fox News Digital of his Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025.
"We've been fortunate here in Georgia to be the No. 1 state to do business for 11 years running, and if we want to stay like that, we're going to have to always be retooling how we do things, improving how we do things, making government more efficient, making it try to work more like business."
Jones introduced the plan last year but was unable to move it through the Georgia Legislature. But he said Trump’s DOGE efforts provided an opportunity to pair the plan with the new DOGE brand that has become increasingly popular with Republicans and some Democrats in Washington, D.C.
"That's what the essence or the genesis behind red tape rollback, which is our state version of DOGE that the Trump administration is doing, and I'm excited about what they're doing with the first week of that administration," Jones said.
Jones explained to Fox News Digital what the priorities of his statewide DOGE plan would entail if successfully passed through the Legislature.
"The first thing we'd like to do is basically have a reset on all regulatory issues at every state agency. And what I mean by that is, instead of always adding more regulations, we'll start back at zero and then the agencies just add what they need," Jones said.
"There are so many regulations that are on the books that have been put there from decades worth of, you know, legislative laws that were passed or whatever. What our bill will do is basically have a reset just like you would on a computer game or whatever.
"And say there's a lot of things that are unneeded, whether we're talking about on the educational front, on the environment front, transportation, whatever it might be, just the entire blanket. Have a reset, and then make the agencies tell us what regulations are needed and which ones they're glad to get rid of."
Jones said in a press release his bill will "also give legislators the ability to request a ‘Small Business Impact Analysis’ for pending legislation to better understand how a bill might impact Georgia’s most important job creators."
Jones told Fox News Digital that statewide spending waste is at a much "smaller scale" than federal government waste, but he said he hopes his statewide efforts will help shine a light on waste in the federal government.
"There's no question D.C. is the elephant, so to speak, in the room that has gotten so bloated through duplicate agencies, duplicate services, whatever it might be," Jones said. "There's a lot of ways to trim the fat at the federal level.
"State government, it won't be anything like what you have at the federal level, but there's definitely inefficiencies that need to be addressed, whether it's in licensing, permitting processes, whatever it might be, regulatory codes and things that need to be repealed. Those are all things that are going to be on the table."
Oakland's $129.8 million budget deficit could eradicate up to 30% of its firefighting capacity, depleting a strapped department already stretched thin by station closures, according to sources on the ground.
Fire response times in the Democrat-controlled California city are already three times the national average after budget cuts that recently closed two fire stations and kept a newly renovated station from reopening.
City Councilmember Zac Unger, who was an Oakland firefighter for 27 years, told Fox Digital that four more stations could face closures because of deficits.
"We have three firehouses currently closed and another four slated to close ... which would represent about 30% of our firefighting capacity here in Oakland, an absolutely catastrophic potential for the city of Oakland," Unger said. "We simply cannot afford to lose 30% of our fire and emergency medical response."
Firefighters and city officials have been working overtime in "an all-hands-on-deck moment," Unger said, to identify available funds in the city’s budget and keep Oakland’s firehouses open. Fire Chief Damon Covington told Fox Digital inroads have been made to prevent the additional four fire stations from closing, but that's not to say closures won't come down the road.
"Seven firehouses would represent about 30% of our fire department," Covington said. "It's a tremendous threat because, ultimately, we need more fire service to cover our city adequately, and to lose two firehouses and a third that was under renovation, it taxes our workforce."
The fire department’s limited capacity has slowed response time, creating the potential for a disaster like the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, President of Oakland Firefighters Local 55 Seth Olyer said.
"We had a house fire in the end of east Oakland in Engine 28's area," he said. "Normally, that engine would have been able to get to the fire within four minutes. The closest fire engine took nearly 11 minutes to get there. With a fire doubling in size every minute, you can do the math. This went from a small fire inside the house to a total loss and nearly threatening the surrounding area and potentially starting a wildland fire, much like in L.A."
"Our firefighters do incredible work, and they will make do with whatever difficult circumstances you give them, but yes, we have seen slowed response times," Unger told Fox Digital. "There's simply no way to close firehouses and expect to receive the same level of service."
The interim mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment. But in its current budget proposal, the city cites one-time COVID-19 pandemic costs and retirement benefits, including OPEB liability and CalPERs benefits costs, as the "fiscal challenges leading to [a] projected deficit" of $129.8 million. Oakland’s 2024-2025 fiscal budget proposed fire station "brownouts" for six months beginning January 2025 to save the city $5.5 million.
But local firefighters say brownouts could come at a much higher cost.
"When you close firehouses, it creates a domino effect," Covington said in an interview with Fox Digital. "It's not just the firehouse that you're closing, it's the surrounding jurisdictions, the other firehouses that are close to that firehouse that have to cover the ground of that station."
Oakland firefighters say they face the same cuts that the Los Angeles Fire Department warned about ahead of the devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires in January. Oakland is no stranger to fire devastation itself. The Oakland firestorm of 1991 killed 25 people, injured 150 and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. Olyer said the 1991 fire fundamentally changed fire department response tactics and how fire crews cooperate with surrounding agencies.
"That fire was so massive it took a herculean effort by the Bay Area and basically fire departments from all over the western U.S. to control," Olyer told Fox Digital. "You’re seeing the same thing with Los Angeles. It’s not realistic to think that any fire department would be able to stop any sort of huge fast-moving wildfire with hurricane force winds in conditions like that."
A quick, efficient and collaborative firefighting operation is possible with ample resources. In October, Olyer described how proper staffing and cooperation with CAL FIRE prevented the Keller Fire from becoming another California catastrophe.
"The Keller fire, which happened last October, was a perfect example of what a properly staffed fire department and early intensive action can do to really stop a fire before it gets out of control," Olyer said. The event, he said, showed what "cooperation among agencies looks like, with CAL FIRE doing water drops on top, helicopter drops on it and massive amounts of resources very early on."
"The department has been running bare bones in Oakland for decades," Olyer said. "We have fire engines driving around with nearly 300,000 miles, and they're literally falling apart. It’s just a matter of time until Oaklanders’ luck runs out."
"We're all pushing in the same direction. Everybody wants those firehouses open. It really does come down to dollars and cents," Covington said.
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., whose vote cemented Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's confirmation last month, opened up about the effort to corroborate last-minute allegations against President Donald Trump's nominee.
"Anytime you have an allegation and somebody is willing to put it in sworn testimony, you owe it to the process to review it and not just dispose it out of hand," the North Carolina Republican told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"And that's exactly what I did. And then I arrived at the conclusion that I'd support Pete's nomination"
Hegseth was confirmed after a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, making the final margin 51-50.
Three Republicans — senators Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against Hegseth.
Given the Republican conference's 53-seat majority, nominees can only afford to lose three votes, assuming all Democrats are opposed and each senator is in attendance.
Tillis' decision on whether to back Hegseth was not disclosed until minutes before he cast his vote. If he became the fourth Republican to oppose Hegseth, the confirmation would have failed.
The senator asked Hegseth several additional questions after the new allegations surfaced and the hours until his confirmation vote wound down.
The nominee's response letter, which proved to be to Tillis' satisfaction, was shared on X by Hegseth during the vote.
Speaking on the subject with Fox News Digital, the senator explained he had "developed a reputation for completing due diligence" and that he takes his role seriously.
According to Tillis, he agreed to speak with Hegseth's former sister-in-law, Danielle, before she filed a sworn affidavit alleging that he made his ex-wife Samantha fear for her safety, in addition to claims of alcohol abuse.
Danielle is not the sister of Hegseth's ex-wife. She is the former wife of his brother.
The call between the senator and Danielle was about "what conceptually would be in the affidavit," Tillis said.
"And I said, 'If that's true, and it could be corroborated, then it would carry weight,'" Tillis recalled.
However, he said the lack of corroboration left the allegations without credibility.
"I could never speak directly to a person who could corroborate the testimony of one person," he said.
After Hegseth's confirmation, it was reported that sources said Tillis had "personally assured" Danielle that if she provided the affidavit, it would be significant and might persuade Republicans to oppose the defense secretary nominee, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Asked about the report, Tillis emphasized that he gave the caveat that it must be corroborated in his conversation with Danielle.
"Corroboration means at least two people have to be involved, and they have to be involved in the event, not a bystander. And I was unable to. I attempted to do it, but I was unable to get to that point. And, therefore, I had to make the same judgment that I did with the other allegations," he explained.
Tillis wouldn't divulge whether Danielle or her attorney suggested she had been a witness to the alleged events.
"I'm not going to get into those discussions because I do know that my conversation was leaked a couple of hours after I had it on Sunday. Clearly, I would have no reason to do it. But I don't leak private conversations. I don't even discuss them at any level of detail," he said.
Multiple requests for comment to Danielle's attorney, Leita Walker, from Fox News Digital went unanswered.
The country began to see the effects of President Donald Trump’s policies in his second week in office, with the White House implementing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China; border crossings plummeting; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs shuttering; the federal workforce being faced with the decision to return to the office or to resign; and more.
As promised, Trump’s administration has been moving at warp speed to implement his agenda — signing more than 200 executive actions just hours after taking the Oath of Office.
Trump immediately cracked down on immigration, and by the beginning of his second week in office migrant encounters dropped significantly. The number of migrants arriving at the southern border plummeted by 63% as of Monday, Fox News Digital previously reported.
There were 7,287 migrant encounters at the southern border in the first seven days of the Trump administration — from Jan. 20 through Jan. 26, with a daily average of 1,041 encounters a day.
That compares to 20,086 encounters a day during the final days of former President Joe Biden’s presidency — from Jan. 13 through Jan. 19.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week participated in an immigration enforcement raid in New York City Tuesday targeting "murderers, kidnappers, and individuals charged of assault and burglary." The operation continued through Friday.
And Border czar Tom Homan said that as of Monday the Trump administration had removed and returned 7,300 illegal immigrants and had deported them to Mexico, Jordan, Brazil and El Salvador.
The president on Wednesday also signed the Laken Riley Act into law — the first piece of legislation to become law in his second administration.
The measure, which advanced through the House and Senate in January, directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer.
The law also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.
The law’s name honors a nursing student who was killed during a jog on the University of Georgia’s campus by an illegal immigrant, Fox News Digital previously reported. Jose Ibarra, who previously had been arrested but never detained by ICE, received a life prison sentence for killing 22-year-old Laken Riley.
Beyond the border, the president’s action to end DEI programs across the federal government has continued. Last week, the Office of Personnel Management ordered agency heads and directors to close their DEI offices.
And over at the Justice Department, Trump administration officials fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting Trump, after Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in "faithfully implementing the president’s agenda."
On Monday, an Office of Management and Budget memo was released, which aimed to freeze funding to various federal programs that were focused on DEI.
The memo issued a pause on all federal grants and loans aiming to eradicate "wokeness" and the "weaponization of government" to improve government efficiency.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held her first-ever press briefing in the James S. Brady room on Tuesday and fielded many questions from reporters on the memo. She maintained that programs including Social Security benefits, Medicare, food stamps, welfare benefits and other assistance going directly to individuals would not be impacted.
But by Tuesday evening, a federal judge imposed an administrative stay, pausing the Trump administration’s action.
And on Wednesday, the White House opted to rescind the memo, but stressed to Fox News Digital that it was committed to freezing federal grants and loans aimed at woke programs."
"In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage," Leavitt told Fox News on Wednesday. "The Executive Orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments."
Leavitt told Fox News that rescinding the memo "should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending."
Also this week, the Office of Personnel Management sent a note to federal workers offering them the option to resign and receive full pay and benefits through Sept. 30. That option, which the administration referred to as a "Fork in the Road," came after the administration demanded that all federal workers return to in-person, in-office work.
Federal workers have until Feb. 6 to decide if they will return to work or if they will resign.
The only federal workers who do not have the option are postal workers, members of the military, immigration officials, some national security officials, and any positions agency heads decide to carve out.
But the rapid changes came to a quick halt on Wednesday night around 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, after an American Airlines plane and Army helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of Washington, D.C.
The flight had left Wichita, Kansas, earlier that day. All 67 people onboard both aircraft are presumed dead.
Those aboard the plane included "several members" of U.S. Figure Skating, including athletes, coaches and family members who had just attended the U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Wichita, Kansas, from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26.
Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was confirmed on Tuesday and quickly took charge, immediately getting over to the Federal Aviation Administration building and launching an investigation into the horrific incident.
The president said that the deadly midair collision was a "confluence of bad decisions that were made and you have people that lost their lives, violently lost their lives."
The president signed two executive orders appointing a new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) deputy administrator, Chris Rocheleau, and ordering an immediate assessment of aviation safety and an elevation of "competence" over DEI.
Meanwhile, the president also signed an executive order to create a Task Force 250 — a White House task force focused on coordinating the plans and activities surrounding the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The president also signed a memo that would lift the collective bargaining agreements that former President Joe Biden put into effect before leaving office — agreements that White House officials said were designed to "constrain" the Trump administration from reforming the government.
And as for the Cabinet, Duffy was confirmed as Transportation secretary; Doug Burgum was confirmed as secretary of the Interior; Lee Zeldin was confirmed as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Scott Bessent was confirmed as Treasury secretary.
Over in the Senate, Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; nominee for FBI director Kash Patel; and nominee for director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard faced tough questions from senators during confirmation hearings.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he wants answers from Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In his new position as chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security committee, Paul issued subpoenas to 14 agencies from the outgoing Biden administration aimed at building on past congressional investigations into the COVID-19 virus and risky taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research. It is unclear who exactly from each agency will ultimately be deposed, but a Fauci deposition is possible.
"In the wake of Anthony Fauci’s preemptive pardon, there are still questions to be answered," Paul said in a statement after announcing the issuance of his subpoenas. "Subpoenas were sent from the Committee to NIH [National Institutes of Health] and 13 other agencies regarding their involvement in risky gain-of-function research. The goal of the investigation will be to critique the process that allowed this dangerous research, that may have led to the pandemic, to occur in a foreign country under unsafe protocols and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight and review going forward, making sure a mistake of this magnitude never happens again."
While former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci to protect him from political retribution under the new Trump administration, legal experts have questioned the validity of such a pardon. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baily suggested to Fox News that since Biden's own Justice Department indicated he lacked the mental faculties to be held criminally liable for improper handling of classified documents, it could be argued he also lacked the mens rea to issue pardons to people like Fauci. Additionally, the pardon Fauci received only covers his actions from January 2014 to the date of his pardon. As a result, a refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena could also potentially result in criminal charges.
Paul's investigation will build on a previous bipartisan probe launched by the Senate's Homeland Security committee last year looking into the national security threats posed by "high-risk biological research and technology in the U.S. and abroad."
A second investigation being launched by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the chairman of the Permanent Select Subcommittee on Investigations, will similarly probe concerns in the new Congress surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and will include a review of email communications from Fauci.
Since the pandemic began, Paul has sent dozens of requests for information related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus and gain-of-function research. Last year, his efforts revealed documents that he said show that government officials from at least 15 federal agencies knew in 2018 that China's Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was working on creating a coronavirus similar to COVID-19.
The WIV has been a centerpiece in the debate over the origins of COVID-19, as it was eventually discovered that American scientist Peter Daszak's EcoHealth Alliance was using taxpayer dollars to conduct risky research on the novel bat virus out of the WIV prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services barred Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance from receiving federal funding for five years.
Meanwhile, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told Congress in May 2021 that the NIH "has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing an executive order to halt all U.S. funding going towards gain-of-function research.
Federal officials remain split on where the COVID-19 virus originated from. Three agencies — the Department of Energy, the FBI and the CIA — have determined that the most likely origin narrative is the lab leak theory, but others in the intelligence community and throughout the federal government say they can either not conclude that a lab leak was the most likely scenario, or they say that a natural origin scenario is most likely. A declassified intelligence report from 2021, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, posited that if a lab leak did turn out to be the catalyst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was likely the result of an accident.
Representatives for Paul declined to comment for this report, while Fauci did not respond to a request for comment.
