Former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., has died at the age of 70, his brother and current House member Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., announced.
"Defender of the silenced and oppressed, author of the democracy requirement for the lifting of U.S. sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship, and the author of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA). Lincoln's legacy of achievements will endure for generations, and continues the work of the Congressional Hispalic Leadership Institute (CHLI) which he co-founded in 2003," Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said in a statement about his brother.
Lincoln Diaz-Balart served Floridians as a member of the Republican Party. The Cuban refugee first got into politics by "leading the Florida Young Democrats and running an unsuccessful campaign for the Florida legislature as a Democrat in 1982," his congressional biography states.
He formally switched his party allegiance in 1985 and was elected to the Florida legislature in 1986. Then, he "sponsored laws strengthening sentences for crimes against law enforcement officers, increasing penalties for drug-related money laundering, providing low-interest loans for home construction, creating a statewide program to combat substance abuse, and establishing disclosure rules for Florida companies doing business with Cuba," according to the biography.
He was sworn into Congress in January 1993 and served until his retirement in 2010. That same year, his brother Mario won the election to succeed him in the 21st Congressional District.
Diaz-Balart leaves behind his wife of 48 years, Cristina; his son Daniel; two grandsons and three brothers. He was preceded in death by his first son, Lincoln Gabriel.
"Lincoln's profound love for the United States, and his relentless commitment to the cause of a free Cuba, guided him throughout his life and his 24 years in elected public service, including 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives," Mario's announcement said. "We will miss him infinitely."
FIRST ON FOX: A group closely tied to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is spending millions of dollars on a new ad campaign against 23 lawmakers, accusing Republicans of trying to take away health care from senior citizens and children.
The ads, which begin running on Monday, accuse Republicans of "threatening healthcare for 37 million kids and kicking seniors out of nursing homes just to make billionaires like Elon Musk even richer."
Fox News Digital got a first look at a list of 23 Republican lawmakers being targeted by House Majority PAC (HMP), a fundraising operation aligned with Democratic leadership.
The majority of them won close races across California, Pennsylvania, Arizona and other states that were critical to clinching the House GOP's razor-thin majority in the 119th Congress.
Mike Smith, president of HMP's action arm House Majority Forward, linked the ads to House Republicans' vote last week to advance President Donald Trump's agenda via the budget reconciliation process.
"Last week, Republicans betrayed the American people—breaking their promise and paving the way to strip millions of men, women, and children of their health insurance," Smith said. "We will make sure every American knows exactly who is responsible."
It's part of Democrats' continued pushback against the proposed $880 billion in cuts Republicans are seeking to programs under the jurisdiction of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.
Republicans are looking for at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to government spending to offset the cost of Trump's priorities expected to be included in the bill, including eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages as well as more funding for U.S.-Mexico border operations.
GOP lawmakers have consistently pointed out that Medicaid and other federal aid programs are not mentioned in the text of their framework for that legislation.
Republicans have argued they are only looking to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Trump, for his part, told reporters last week that he would not touch Medicaid.
Mike Marinella, spokesman for House Republicans' campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told Fox News Digital in response to HMP, "Democrats are running the same playbook of resorting to shameless fearmongering and outright lies because they’re trying to hide the fact that they just voted to raise taxes on hardworking Americans. This is a disgusting, pathetic attempt to distract voters from their failures, and they know it."
But Democrats and some moderate Republicans are skeptical that the savings can be found without cutting deeply into those programs.
Democrats also appear to have found a potential new boogeyman in Musk ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, as he and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) work to find at least $1 trillion in cuts to the federal bureaucracy.
HMP's ad strategy was first reported by Punchbowl News last week.
The NRCC pointed Fox News Digital to a memo sent by them last week that accused Democrats of weaponizing the Trump budget bill vote.
"They have turned their backs on the working class and have taken a wrecking ball to America’s fiscal future. This vote is an anvil around the ankles of vulnerable House Democrats, and the NRCC plans to weaponize it to ensure they lose their races in 2026," the memo said.
President Donald Trump, the consummate showman, is shining a spotlight on his primetime address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress.
"TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!," the president touted in a social media post on Monday ahead of his first major speech to Congress during his second presidential administration.
As Trump prepares for his address, he's in a stronger polling position than where he found himself eight years ago when he first entered the White House.
A national survey released Monday by Marist College for PBS News and NPR indicated Trump at 45% approval and 49% disapproval. And a survey from CNN released on Sunday put the president's approval rating at 48%, with 52% disapproving. Both surveys were conducted last week.
But Trump's approval ratings are slightly above water in other new polls, including one for CBS News that was also conducted in recent days and released over the weekend.
Trump has kept up a frenetic pace during his opening six weeks back in the White House with an avalanche of executive orders and actions. His moves not only fulfilled some of his major campaign trail promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles, quickly put his stamp on the federal government, make major cuts to the federal workforce, and also settle some long-standing grievances.
Trump as of Monday had signed 81 executive orders since his Jan. 20 inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, which far surpasses the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their first weeks in office.
"Best Opening Month of any President in history," Trump wrote in a social media post last week, as he touted his accomplishments.
Expect Trump in his address to Congress and the nation to showcase the moves – many of them controversial – that he's taken so far. That includes a high-profile crackdown on immigration, threatening tariffs on major trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, and upending the nation's international agenda and freezing foreign aid.
"We’re seeing a president who is certainly back in the realm of major controversy just over a month since he took the oath of office. And it’s been a flooding-of-the-zone here every day, often multiple times a day," Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, told Fox News Digital.
Miringoff noted, "We’re just seeing a lot of things happening with little time for the public to digest. The net effect of it all is there’s a sense, on the part of the public, that some things are moving just a little too fast."
An average of all the most recent national polls indicates the president's approval ratings are just above water. But Trump's seen his numbers edge down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when an average of his polls indicated the president's approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid 40s.
"The honeymoon is over, and he's actually governing, and that typically does bring numbers down," veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New Hampshire-based New England College, told Fox News Digital. "I expect the numbers to continue to slip as the changes in Washington really do begin to impact people's everyday lives."
It's no surprise that the polls indicate a massive partisan divide over Trump's performance. In the CNN survey, 90% of Republicans gave Trump a thumbs up, while nine out of 10 Democrats disapproved of the job he's been doing. Independents by a 59%-41% margin disapproved.
While Trump's approval ratings for his second term are an improvement from his first term – he started in 2017 in negative territory and remained underwater throughout his tenure in the White House – his numbers are below where former President Joe Biden began his single term in office.
Biden's approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to low to mid 40s.
However, Biden's numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan and amid soaring inflation and a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation's southern border with Mexico.
Biden's approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency.
The Pentagon is urging transgender military personnel in the Air Force and Space Force to "separate voluntarily" by the end of the month, saying that individuals with gender dysphoria are "incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service."
Troops have until March 26 to resign, according to a memorandum filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as part of Talbott v. Trump – one of the first lawsuits filed against President Donald Trump's executive order barring transgender troops from the military – by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
"Service members eligible for voluntary separation pay will be paid at a rate that is twice the amount for which the service member would have been eligible under involuntary separation pay," the memo, signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn R. DeFilippi on March 1, states.
Cross-sex hormone treatments will continue for service members who have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria that began prior to a separate memo issued last week until the "separation is complete" by direction of a Department of Defense medical provider "in order to prevent further complications."
However, transgender service members are required to adhere to conduct matching their biological sex, "effective immediately," including in showers, bathrooms and living quarters, until their withdrawal is completed. Physical dress and fitness standards must also match service members' biological sex, the memorandum states.
Last week's internal Pentagon memo states that service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption.
"The Air Force memo is consistent with this purge of highly accomplished, dedicated transgender service members," attorney Jennifer Levi of Glad Law told Fox News Digital in a statement Monday. "It is shameful. The memo also demonstrates the chaos and havoc being wreaked by this administration in ways that undermine our national security."
The Trump administration's transgender military ban is currently facing legal challenges, and the Justice Department filed a complaint against the presiding judge, Ana Reyes, accusing her of potential bias and misconduct. There are currently a handful of lawsuits specifically challenging Trump's gender-related executive orders.
FIRST ON FOX: The number of immigrants protected from deportation by a controversial Clinton-era immigration program nearly quadrupled under the Biden administration, according to a new House report obtained by Fox News Digital.
The House Judiciary Committee report looks at the use of Temporary Protected Status under the previous administration. The program was implemented in the 1990s and grants protection from deportation and allows work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned, due to armed conflict or natural disasters.
The first Trump administration moved to limit the number of migrants protected by the program, but it then expanded massively under the Biden administration, with more than 1.4 million aliens from 16 different countries granted TPS as of January.
The report found that the Biden-Harris administration added one million aliens in four years, after just 410,000 benefiting from TPS at the end of the first Trump administration,
"What was intended by Congress to be a temporary status has become, over time, a permanent, automatically renewed designation, with some countries being designated for TPS for decades despite changed country conditions," the report says. "The Biden-Harris Administration vastly expanded this de facto amnesty to hundreds of thousands of new aliens, many of whom are in the country illegally."
The report found that roughly 725,000 of those with TPS initially entered during the Biden administration, with the majority from Haiti and Venezuela.
There were no Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries during the BIden administration as it was not designated, with designations coming in 2021 and 2023. As of January 2025, there were 614,044 Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries -- nearly half of the total. The report also found that 95% of Venezuelans protected were not admitted with a visa, and so either entered illegally or via humanitarian parole.
Meanwhile, for Haiti, TPS beneficiaries jumped from 55,000 in Jan. 2021 to 342,260 in Jan. 2025, with 91% having entered without a visa.
The report does not solely criticize the Biden administration and says that prior administrations have "abused [TPS] for decades."
But it says with the expansion of TPS came a great deal of fraud "potentially in [the Biden administration's] rush to prevent the Trump Administration from being able to remove vast swaths of illegal aliens." It says it found multiple instances of aliens brought in claiming one nationality for parole and another for a grant of TPS, including 99 Afghans who later were granted TPS as nationals of Haiti.
Since the Trump administration took office, there have already been dramatic changes in policy on TPS. The administration last month vacacted a decision by the Biden administration to extend TPS for Haitians.
"President Trump and I are returning TPS to its original status: temporary," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
That move came after an earlier move that revoked the TPS status of more than 300,000 Venezuelan nationals. But the Judiciary Committee report says that more needs to be done, calling the moves by Noem a "critical first step" in restoring integrity to the program.
"However, far more work is needed to root out fraud, end TPS designations that violate the statute and thus are no longer in the interest of the American people, and institute appropriate reforms to ensure such abuse can never again be inflicted on the country by a future open-borders Administration," it says, adding that Congress has a "critical role" to play in such reforms.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave some advice to Democrats ahead of President Donald Trump's Tuesday address to both chambers of Congress: "Let him stew in his own juice."
"Any demonstration of disagreement, whether it’s visual or whatever, just let him stew in his own juice," Pelosi told the Washington Post in a Thursday interview. "Don’t be any grist for the mill to say this was inappropriate."
Trump is set to deliver an address before both chambers of Congress at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday – his first speech before Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January. The speech, though similar to the State of the Union, does not carry the same official title as Trump has not been in office for the past year.
Trump's speech is expected to champion his "Make America Great Again" policies and further preview his administration's priorities. The 45th and 47th president previewed on Monday morning in a Truth Social that, "TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!"
TUNE IN: LIVE COVERAGE OF TRUMP'S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS TUESDAY NIGHT ON FOX NEWS
Pelosi came under fire from conservatives during Trump's 2020 State of the Union address, when she ripped up a copy of his speech while standing behind the president on the House dais.
Pelosi reflected on tearing up the speech in 2020 during her interview with the Washington Post, explaining she made little tears on each page when she disagreed with a comment from Trump.
"Then, when I saw that every page was a lie, I had to tear it up," Pelosi said, adding that "Parchment is very hard to tear."
Pelosi continued in her advice to Democrats, that only those in safe districts should make big political splashes about fighting Trump's policies, instead of a cacophony of Democrats vowing to take on Trump and the GOP.
"The most important thing in all of this is to prioritize. And (House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries), he has that down. I have every confidence that he has that down," Pelosi said. "Again, members will say I want this, I want that. Yeah, that’s interesting, talk about that at home."
She said Democrats should hold back any outbursts during the speech, maintaining that it was appropriate in 2020 to rip up a copy of Trump's speech because she was provided an opportune "moment" in the spotlight to protest the president's policies.
"Unless you have something that is a moment," she told the Washington Post. "That’s what a moment was, when I tore up the speech."
Pelosi argued that Democrats should not focus on Trump's next four years in office, but instead on rallying support for Democrats during the 2026 midterm cycle.
"It’s not four years, it’s not even two years. It’s between March and September. Where are the numbers?"
"This fall is everything. And we only need three seats," she said. "I don’t want three seats, I want many more than that."
Fox News Digital reached out to Pelosi's office on Monday morning for additional comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.
In response to the killing of an elderly South Texas rancher and U.S. citizen by a suspected cartel explosive, the Trump administration is promising to continue being "ruthlessly aggressive" in responding to cartel threats to Americans.
After 74-year-old U.S. citizen Antonio Céspedes Saldierna was killed in the blast, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told Fox News Digital that the administration will be relentless in working to fully secure the border.
He said that President Donald Trump’s recent designation of eight cartels – including MS-13, Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua and several Mexican cartels – as foreign terrorist organizations, "makes clear his intention to treat violent cartel members exactly as they should be treated – as terrorists."
Hughes did not offer any specifics on whether the administration is considering a military response to the suspected cartel killing but noted that the "administration has proven to be ruthlessly aggressive in pursuing criminal gangs that threaten our homeland."
He said that "President Trump will stop at nothing to secure our border, protect our communities, and dismantle terrorist organizations."
As reported by local outlet KRGV-TV on Tuesday, Saldierna was driving in his truck about two hours south of the border in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas when he drove over an IED which exploded, taking his life.
His death comes after weeks of growing concerns among border leaders about an increase in cartel violence and activity just south of the U.S. border.
On Jan. 27, U.S. Border Patrol agents took fire from cartel members near Fronton, Texas.
In early February, footage obtained by Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy’s office revealed the cartel also has drone capabilities and the capacity to drop airborne missiles on targets on the ground.
After Saldierna’s killing, Roy called for the U.S. to finally "take the fight to the cartels."
"The results of Biden's pathetic border policies have now culminated in the death of a Texas rancher driving to his ranch in Mexico through a cartel-planted IED – an explosive device commonly used by terrorist organizations in the Middle East," Roy told Fox News Digital. "This savage display of violence is further evidence that these cartels must be treated as the terrorists that they are."
Roy said Congress must act now to solidify the Trump administration’s designation of cartels and other migrant criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
"President Trump issued an Executive Order to designate Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Since 2019, I have introduced legislation to designate these lawless groups as FTO," he said. "Now is the time to codify President Trump’s EO to take the fight to the cartels and wipe them out once and for all."
Stressing the urgency of responding to the persisting cartel violence at the border, Mayra Flores, a former Republican congresswoman from South Texas, told Fox News Digital that Saldierna’s death "highlights the challenges that many face daily."
Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz, another South Texas Republican, emphasized ICE's role in reducing the cartel's ability to inflict violence on Americans. She told Fox News Digital she would "work with the Trump Administration to support the Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol and ICE Agents as they work to arrest every criminal and cartel member in our country and secure our border."
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district covers vast portions of the Southern border, also commented on the deaths, telling Fox News Digital that "cartels have no regard for our laws, let alone the sanctity of life."
Gonzales said that he "fully" supports the Trump administration designating cartels as terrorist groups, which he said, "gives our government more resources to shut down their operations."
"They are terrorists and deserve to be designated as such," he explained. "This tragic death in South Texas is just another example of that."
Fox News Digital also reached out to South Texas Democrat Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez but did not receive a response by publication.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer put forward a framework for a peace plan between Ukraine and Russia on Sunday, though he acknowledged it relies heavily on assumed U.S. support.
Starmer revealed the plan along with French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday. In a concession to President Donald Trump's administration, Starmer emphasized that European countries would need to "step up their own share of the burden" toward security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.
Starmer said the U.K. is prepared to deploy boots on the ground in Ukraine as well as air force assets to ensure Russia does not infringe on a peace agreement. He nevertheless stated that the plan would rely heavily on U.S. backing as well.
Macron told French media that European leaders were discussing a plan that would freeze strikes from the air, sea and on energy infrastructure for 30 days in Ukraine. He said the window could be used to negotiate a wider peace deal.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy himself has been on damage control since a disastrous meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the White House on Friday. Zelenskyy has emphasized that he is still willing to sign a rare earth minerals deal with the White House.
The Ukrainian leader remains largely unapologetic, however, saying after Sunday's meetings in Europe that the "best security guarantees are a strong Ukrainian army."
"The failure of Ukraine would not just mean Putin's success, it would be a failure for Europe, it would be a failure for the U.S.," he said.
Many Republicans on Capitol Hill have rallied behind Trump's criticism of Zelenskyy. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called on the Ukrainian leader to resign on Sunday.
"He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change," Graham said after Friday's meeting.
Zelenskyy retorted that Graham could weigh in on Ukrainian leadership when he became a Ukrainian citizen, to which Graham responded: "Unfortunately, until there is an election, no one has a voice in Ukraine."
According to the senator, he doesn't think Americans saw the Ukrainian president as someone they feel comfortable going "into business with" following the televised dispute.
Graham also stressed that the Ukrainian-American relationship is "vitally important." However, he cast doubt on whether Zelenskyy could ever "do a deal with the United States."
FIRST ON FOX: A House GOP lawmaker is unveiling legislation on Monday to memorialize President Donald Trump on U.S. currency.
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-TX, told Fox News Digital he would be introducing a bill to put Trump's likeness on the $100 note after his current term.
"President Trump could be enjoying his golden years golfing and spending time with his family," Gill said. "Instead, he took a bullet for this country and is now working overtime to secure our border, fix our uneven trade relationship with the rest of the world, make America energy independent again and put America first by ending useless foreign aid."
He said that replacing Benjamin Franklin with Trump on the $100 bill "is a small way to honor all he will accomplish these next four years."
If passed, his bill would direct the treasury secretary to release a "preliminary design" of the bill by the end of 2026, with a goal of circulating the notes beginning in 2029.
Gill, class president of the first-term House Republicans, has been an outspoken Trump supporter since he came to Congress earlier this year.
His legislation comes after a similar push last week by Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., to put Trump's face on a new $250 note. That bill has the backing of three other House conservatives.
But changing faces on U.S. currency is not an easy task. The last time it was done was in 1929, when Andrew Jackson replaced Grover Cleveland on the $20 note.
The Obama administration's plans to replace Jackson's face with Harriet Tubman's never materialized after Trump took office for his first term.
The Biden administration resumed the effort in 2021, but it was not completed.
Current U.S. law would also need to be changed to allow for living people to be depicted on currency.
As President Trump prepares to deliver his first address to joint sessions of Congress since taking office in January, here are several of the wildest moments from joint addresses from presidents in the past.
Dem. Sen. Joe Manchin bucks party to stand and clap for Trump in 2018
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who later became an independent, went viral on social media after he stood when President Trump entered the chamber, and stood and applauded some of Trump’s policy proposals when other Democrats remained sitting.
"That’s the way I was raised in West Virginia. We have respect," Manchin said about his actions at Trump’s first State of the Union address. "There is some civility still yet. There should be civility in this place."
President Biden blasts GOP lawmakers in 2023 address, prompting jeers from Republicans in the crowd
"Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage — I get it — unless I agree to their economic plans," Biden said to Congress, prompting a shake of the head from then-GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the background and shouts from the crowd and shots of other Republicans shaking their heads.
"Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans, want Medicare and Social Security to sunset," Biden continued, which caused an even more pronounced shake of the head from McCarthy, who mouthed "no" as Republicans continued to jeer.
"I’m not saying it’s the majority," Biden continued, which resulted in even more boos from the raucous crowd.
"Let me give you — anybody who doubts it, contact my office. I’ll give you a copy — I’ll give you a copy of the proposal," Biden continued to say over increasingly louder shouting from the crowd, which included GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, stood up and gestured her frustration. " That means Congress doesn’t vote — I’m glad to see — no, I tell you, I enjoy conversion."
Biden’s speech continued to devolve from there as Republican outrage interrupted him on multiple occasions.
Reagan surprises the crowd with first-ever acknowledgment of a guest in the audience
Guests in the audience acknowledged in presidential speeches to joint sessions of Congress have become commonplace in recent years, but President Ronald Reagan’s 1982 address was the first time the practice was rolled out.
Reagan’s speech came just weeks after Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into Washington’s 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River shortly after taking off in an accident that killed 78 people.
Three people survived the crash thanks to civilians on the ground who rushed to their aid, including Congressional Budget Office assistant Lenny Skutnik, who stripped off his shoes and clothes and dove into the frigid waters.
Reagan honored Skutnik in his speech, which made honoring people in the crowd a more common theme in the years to come.
"Just 2 weeks ago, in the midst of a terrible tragedy on the Potomac, we saw again the spirit of American heroism at its finest — the heroism of dedicated rescue workers saving crash victims from icy waters," Reagan said. "And we saw the heroism of one of our young government employees, Lenny Skutnik, who, when he saw a woman lose her grip on the helicopter line, dived into the water and dragged her to safety."
Rep. Boebert heckles Biden over Afghanistan withdrawal during 2022 address
"You put them in, 13 of them," GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert shouted at Biden as he talked about Afghanistan veterans who ended up in caskets due to exposure to toxic burn pits. Boebert was referencing the 13 U.S. service members killed during Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Boebert was wearing an outfit that said "Drill Baby Drill" in opposition to Biden’s energy policies and her outburst drew some boos from the audience.
At another point, Boebert and Greene started chanting "build the wall" when Biden was talking about immigration.
Rep. Joe Wilson yells ‘You lie!’ at President Obama
One of the most remembered outbursts from a State of the Union address came in 2009 when South Carolina GOP Congressman Joe Wilson interrupted President Obama’s address, which at the time was far less common than it later became.
"There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants," Obama said, talking about his controversial Obamacare plan. "This, too, is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally."
"You lie!" Wilson shouted from his seat on the Republican side of the chamber, causing widespread yelling from other members in the audience.
Wilson later apologized to Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.
"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," Wilson said in a written statement. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility."
Speaker Pelosi tears up Trump’s 2020 speech
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sparked a social media firestorm and cemented herself in State of the Union infamy in February 2020 when she stood up and tore Trump’s speech into pieces after he had finished.
When Fox News asked Pelosi afterward why she did it, she responded, "Because it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternatives." She added, "I tore it up. I was trying to find one page with truth on it. I couldn't."
Pelosi’s outburst came on the heels of Trump’s first impeachment trial, which ended in a Senate acquittal the day after the speech.
"Speaker Pelosi just ripped up: One of our last surviving Tuskegee Airmen. The survival of a child born at 21 weeks. The mourning families of Rocky Jones and Kayla Mueller. A service member's reunion with his family. That's her legacy," the White House tweeted after Pelosi tore up the speech, referencing individuals who Trump mentioned during his address.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw, Joseph Wulfsohn and Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.
Yesterday — 2 March 2025Latest Political News on Fox News
U.S. President Donald Trump criticized his former national security advisor on Sunday and said the U.S. government should spend less time worrying about Russian President Vladimir Putin amid Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine.
Trump made the comments Sunday night in a pair of posts on his social media platform Truth Social after Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who served as Trump's national security adviser during his first administration, criticized the president for "coddling Putin" while putting increased pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"H.R. MCMASTER IS A WEAK AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE LOSER!" Trump wrote.
"We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country - So that we don’t end up like Europe!" he said in a follow-up post.
McMaster had criticized Trump and Vice President JD Vance after their meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. During the negotiations, Trump and Vance heavily criticized the Ukrainian president in a tense exchange between the two countries' leaders before the U.S. president cut the meeting short and sent Zelenskyy on his way.
"It is impossible to understand why President Trump and Vice President Vance seem determined to put more pressure on President Zelensky while they seem to be coddling Putin - the person who inflicted this terrible war in Ukraine," McMaster said Friday on X.
The blowup in the Oval Office was sparked by Zelenskyy's request for security guarantees as the war continues after Russia invaded Ukraine more than three years ago.
Russian leaders and Russian state media appeared joyous after the testy exchange.
But several leaders from Europe and elsewhere came to Zelenskyy's defense after the exchange, and the Ukrainian president thanked each of them for their support on social media.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directed the Department of Defense (DOD)'s civilian workforce to comply with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) productivity email, listing five things they accomplished after initially telling them not to reply.
On Sunday, Hegseth released a video message explaining the shift.
"Our civilian patriots who dedicate themselves to defending this nation working for the Department of Defense are critical to our national security," Hegseth said. "As we work to restore focus on DOD's core warfighting mission under President Trump's leadership, we recognize that we cannot accomplish that mission without the strong and important contributions of our civilian workforce."
Musk, who's heading up DOGE, shared Hegseth's video on X, writing, "Much appreciated @SecDef Hegseth!" He also included a saluting emoji and an American flag emoji.
Hegseth signed a memorandum on Friday to all DOD civilian employees, ahead of an anticipated email expected to be sent from the DOD on Monday requesting the five bullet points of accomplishments.
Hegseth told employees to reply to the email within 48 hours and include their accomplishments and add their supervisors as recipients.
He said in the video that the responses would be collected within the department to satisfy the requirement sent out by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
OPM sent an email last weekend, seeking the same five bullets, though the DOD’s Office of Personnel and Readiness told its civilian workforce to ignore the request.
The DOD is taking a different approach to the request this week after working with OPM to get better guidance on what is expected.
"The Department of Defense initially paused this directive ... but now requires all DOD civilian employees to submit five bullets on their previous week's achievements," Hegseth said in his memorandum.
He told employees Monday's email is something DOD employees should respond to, though responses should not include sensitive or classified information.
Hegseth also said non-compliance may lead to further review.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu raised eyebrows over the weekend after she expressed condolences to the family of a knife-wielding suspect who was shot and killed by an off-duty officer after he allegedly tried to stab two people on Saturday night.
The suspect, whose identity was not released by police, brandished a knife near a Chick-fil-A on Boylston Street, a busy part of the Massachusetts capital. He was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer who saw him targeting the two victims, police said.
During a Saturday night press conference, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said that the officer identified himself to the suspect and asked him to drop his weapon.
"The individual was trying to stab the two individuals in the store, and the off-duty officer identified himself as a police officer, instructing them to drop the weapon, at which point the individual did not comply," Cox explained. "The officer discharged his weapon to stop the threat, and the individual was struck. The armed individual was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead."
Cox added that he was "proud of police officers who activate themselves, whether it's on duty or off duty, to try to save lives."
After Cox and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden both expressed some sadness over the loss of life during the incident, Wu notably did not express sympathy for the two people who were nearly stabbed by the suspect, just those "impacted" by the incident, which happened in "one of the busier parts" of Beantown.
"My condolences, and all of our thoughts, are with the family of the individual whose life has been lost," Wu said. "And I'm also thinking of all the people who were impacted here today in one of the busier parts of the city with this tragedy."
"I'm glad that the officer is safe and very grateful for a quick response from all of our first responders here again," she said.
Wu's remarks were called out by critics across the country on social media shortly after she spoke. Journalist Jonathan Choe wrote that "[i]t's all upside down in Boston."
"When is the last time you heard of a mayor apologizing to the family of a knife wielding attacker who allegedly tried to kill multiple people?" Choe questioned. "What about the people who were nearly killed?"
"Boston, I’m going to say this as simply as I can: You desperately need a new mayor. Trust me," conservative commentator Charlie Kirk said in a different X post.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha, a former Boston resident, also weighed in on the incident.
"How exactly did Boston vote for this again?" Concha wrote. "I lived in the Back Bay area. It was one of the safest parts of the city. And she’s offering condolences????"
"Condolences from the mayor of Boston - wait for it - to a knife-wielding man trying to kill people!" Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said. "Thankfully this guy was stopped in his tracks by a brave law enforcement officer."
The incident came as Boston officials, including Wu and Cox, have attracted criticism from conservatives for implementing sanctuary city policies. Catherine Vitale, a former city council candidate, told "Fox and Friends" last week that she believes Wu "doesn't care" about crime in Boston.
"There's tons of crime almost every single day. There's a shooting. We don't always hear about them, but we hear them because we're there. I don't think that most of the crime actually even gets reported on. People don't get arrested. Charges don't get pressed on people who are looting stores," Vitale said.
Wu is expected in Washington, D.C., this week as one of four Democratic mayors slated to testify before Congress on sanctuary policies.
Fox News Digital reached out to Wu for additional comment but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News Digital's Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump's seventh week in office will spotlight his first joint session of Congress address since his return to the Oval Office in January.
Trump is scheduled to speak before all members of Congress on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.
The speech is not officially called the State of the Union, as Trump has not been in office for a full year, though it operates in a similar fashion. The yearly presidential address is intended to showcase the administration's achievements and policies.
Trump and his administration have been working at a breakneck pace to realign the federal government with the president's Make America Great Again policies, including Department of Government Efficiency chair Elon Musk and his team poring through federal agencies in the search for overspending, fraud and mismanagement, and prioritizing border security. The 47th president has signed at least 76 executive orders since his inauguration in January, in addition to dozens of other executive actions and proclamations.
The address comes after Trump and Vice President JD Vance had a fiery meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, which was cut short when Trump asked the Ukraine leader to leave.
The White House meeting grew tense in approximately its final 10 minutes after Vance said that peace would be reached between Russia and Ukraine through U.S. diplomacy efforts.
"You're gambling with the lives of millions of people," Trump added at one point during the meeting. "You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country."
Vance interjected, asking Zelenskyy whether he had "said thank you once this entire meeting." He also added that Zelenskyy "went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October" and that he should "offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country."
Trump said on social media after the meeting that Zelenskyy could return to the White House "when he is ready for peace."
Zelenskyy traveled to the U.K. over the weekend, joining European leaders to hash out a potential peace deal.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told local media that he had spoken with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the U.K. and France taking the reins on crafting a plan for peace that will be presented to the U.S.
"Let me be clear, we agree with Trump on the urgent need for a durable peace. Now we need to deliver together," Starmer said at a press conference on Sunday. He added that the U.K. is willing to put "boots on the ground" in its support of Ukraine.
"The U.K. is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air. Together with others, Europe must do the heavy lifting. But to support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing," he added.
In addition to his address to Congress and the ongoing efforts related to the war in Ukraine this week, Trump is also expected to hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs on Tuesday.
Trump signed an executive order last month authorizing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China through the new International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The tariffs included 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.
Both Canada and Mexico agreed to concessions with Trump the day before the tariffs were set to take effect, pledging to send additional security personnel to their respective borders with the U.S. Trump agreed to pause the tariffs on the two nations for one month in light of the border security concessions.
The month's pause ends this week, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that tariffs will go into effect on Tuesday, but he did not elaborate on what the tariffs will entail.
"That is a fluid situation," Lutnick said.
"There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate," he added.
European leaders are grappling with how to handle icier relations with the U.S. since President Donald Trump regained control of the White House this year.
"The Europeans have a serious problem of readiness … that they’re trying to fix, but it takes time," Camille Grand, a former NATO official who is now with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in a Washington Post report Sunday. "If Trump decides ‘I’m going to pull out U.S. troops from Germany because I’m upset with the trade imbalance,’ that’s much more complicated to manage than to say we have a plan to do this within X years."
The comments come as European leaders have become increasingly anxious about the future of the security of the continent in the second era of Trump, with the Washington Post reporting that leaders are wary that the American president is too friendly with Moscow and that they widely expect him to pull back roughly 20,000 U.S. troops that were deployed to the continent by former President Joe Biden in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"I would not be surprised if at some point [those troops] go back to their home base in America," a NATO diplomat told the outlet while noting that those troops were sent to Europe at the height of an emergency and that their exit "would be, so to speak, a return to normalcy."
The current number of U.S. troops in Europe has fluctuated between 75,000 and 105,000 since 2022, according to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), with the higher end of that number being a result of the surge of forces into the region ordered by Biden.
But fears persist that those numbers could fall even more rapidly than expected under Trump, despite assurances from Trump administration officials that there are no imminent plans for a large reduction of forces on the continent.
Those fears have been buoyed by recent events, including Vice President JD Vance’s remarks at a security conference in Munich in which the American leader scolded European leaders for their alleged break from shared values such as freedom of speech and Trump’s widening rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, American presidents from both parties have been warning European leaders for more than a decade of the potential shift of troops away from the continent as the U.S. seeks to focus more effort on confronting the emerging threat of China in the Indo-Pacific, leaving Europe in charge of a greater share of its own security.
Indeed, the U.S. military footprint in Europe has already fallen drastically since the end of the Cold War, the CSIS data shows. At the height of hostilities between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. had nearly 500,000 troops deployed to the continent. There were still roughly 350,000 U.S. troops in Europe at the start of the 1990s and the end of the Cold War, a number that fell further to more than 100,000 at the turn of the century.
Despite the consistent warnings, European leaders now fear that the timeline to move troops from the continent could accelerate further under Trump, leaving holes in European security countries they are not yet able to fill.
"I just worry that, given, frankly, President Trump’s mercurial nature … how much confidence really can Europe have in any degree of American protection and defense," Nigel Gould-Davies, a former British diplomat and senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the Washington Post.
EXCLUSIVE: A well-known Catholic bishop will be in the audience for President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress, Fox News Digital has learned.
Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Catholic media organization Word On Fire, is coming to the Tuesday night speech as a guest of first-term Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va.
Moore also invited Barron to participate in a Catholic Mass with lawmakers before the address.
"Through Word on Fire, Bishop Barron has helped countless souls discover, strengthen, or return to the Catholic Church by proclaiming the Gospel ‘through the culture.’ His use of contemporary media to reach people is innovative and highly effective," Moore said in a statement first shared with Fox News Digital.
"I am honored to host him as my guest for President Trump’s joint address to Congress, and am equally thrilled to have him celebrate the Mass for my colleagues and me prior to the speech."
Barron called himself a "student of history" in his own statement shared with Fox News Digital accepting the invitation.
"I want to express my sincere gratitude to Representative Riley Moore for his kind invitation to celebrate Mass for Catholic members of Congress and to attend, as his guest, the State of the Union Address," Barron said.
Barron is bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester in Minnesota. His name has traveled further, however, as a leader in bringing Catholic teachings to more people using digital media.
Trump is making his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night since returning to the White House for his second term.
Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller previewed the speech during "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Sunday morning.
Miller said Trump will discuss getting his 2017 tax cuts extended, "Making sure we get to Mars," our artificial intelligence competition against China, and reversing the high cost of living seen under the previous Democratic administration.
"We need more money for the border to keep it secure," Miller continued, adding Trump would also discuss "making sure we keep peace and stability around the world, but we have to do it with respect and strength."
"Sanctuary mayors owe the American people an explanation for city policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law by releasing dangerous criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets," House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a press release announcing the hearings, which are set to take place Wednesday.
The hearing, which will take place in front of a full committee, comes as so-called sanctuary cities, jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, have come under increasing scrutiny since President Donald Trump regained control of the White House in January.
While Trump has seemingly made quick work of the situation at the southern border, attention has turned to his promised mass deportation efforts, a process that can be helped along if state and local agencies work hand-in-hand with federal authorities.
But some cities have for years now taken the opposite approach, refusing to comply with federal enforcement measures such as detainers placed on illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Those sanctuary policies have often generated controversy, most notably in the wake of a handful of high-profile crimes committed by illegal immigrants who were allowed to duck deportation proceedings.
"These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies," Comer said in the release. "They also endanger ICE agents who are forced to take more difficult enforcement actions in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities."
Now the mayors of four of the biggest sanctuary cities will attempt to justify their policies in front of what could be a hostile Congress, with one report from Politico noting that the mayors will be seeking to sidestep the kind of "embarrassing" episode that plagued several Ivy League presidents who were testifying about antisemitism on their campuses in 2023.
The report notes that all four mayors have been working with advisers and lawyers and prepping to redact documents ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, with the thought of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill being ousted in the aftermath of her appearance at the 2023 hearing fresh in mind as they seek to avoid similar missteps.
The hearing could sway the political futures of Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, New York’s Eric Adams, Boston’s Michelle Wu, and Denver’s Mike Johnston.
Yet the Politico report notes that not all of the mayors will be so quick to cast aside their support for sanctuary laws.
"I just want to make sure that people understand that [this is] a city that has been established by immigrants and migrants who were formerly enslaved," Johnson told reporters last week when speaking of Chicago. "It’s the global capital of the world, and we’re going to continue to show up at our very best."
Adams, meanwhile, may try to tout his recent cooperation, including his decision to sign an executive order that allowed ICE agents back into New York City's Rikers Island jail complex.
That move drew the ire of Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., who threatened to have Adams removed from office, though she later backtracked from that plan for the time being and instead vowed reforms aimed at reigning in the mayor's power in the city.
Just how those answers sit with members of the committee remains to be seen, though Comer promised that the four mayors would be pressed for answers.
"The policies in Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the American people," Comer said in the release. "This is unacceptable and their leaders must be held accountable. We will press these mayors for answers and examine measures to enforce compliance with federal immigration law."
A left-wing political party tapped Democratic California Rep. Lateefah Simon, a longtime friend and mentee of former Vice President Kamala Harris, to deliver its response to President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday.
"I’m honored to speak on behalf of the Working Families Party," Simon said in a statement last week. "We need a government that is run by and for working people, not billionaires—and that’s what the WFP is fighting for. When I see what’s happening in our country right now, it’s essential that we—as Members of Congress—are showing up for our communities and reminding people that it doesn’t have to be this way."
The Working Families Party, which is a small left-wing political party, has featured Rep. Ayanna Pressley, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib to deliver its response to a president's joint address to Congress in previous years.
Simon is a freshman congresswoman representing California who has shared a long friendship with former 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. She spoke to NPR ahead of the November election last year, detailing that she and Harris first met back in the early 2000s when Harris worked in the San Francisco City Attorney’s office.
"I really believed in her. The young women that I worked with believed in her. But never in a million years did I think that I would work for her," Simon told NPR back in August.
She recounted that Harris had encouraged her to earn a college degree, asked her to join her team when she was San Francisco district attorney, given her career advice, and even officiated at her wedding ceremony.
Simon recalled that when Harris offered her a job in the DA's office, she said: "You can either carry this bullhorn on your back for the rest of your life, demanding that elected officials work for you and the young people that you care about, or you can become a part of my team, and we can actually deconstruct some of these inequities."
Simon went on to cement her status as a social justice advocate in California across the years, including amid the defund-the-police movement of 2020. While serving asboard president for theBay Area Rapid Transit system in 2020, she advocated for "defunding and abolishing" policing standards on public transportation in favor of unarmed ambassadors.
Fox News Digital also previously reported that Simon has had a more than decade-long friendship with a top executive of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) front group, including heaping praise on the executive on X.
Simon won her election to serve as California's 12th congressional district representative in November, taking the reins from former Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, and has since been identified as a "rising star" in the Democratic Party by liberal media outlets.
Harris officiated Simon's congressional swearing-in ceremony in January, when Simon lauded her "mentor" as a pivotal influence in her career.
"I am so honored to have my mentor and former boss, Vice President Kamala Harris," Simon said on January 7. "Since our time together in the district attorney’s office in San Francisco, the vice president has played an integral role in shaping my public service career, and I have learned so much from her.
"She has also paved the way for women across the nation like me who aspire to serve their country at the highest levels. It was a special moment to stand with her today, look her in the eye and begin my journey as the Congresswoman for California’s 12th District."
Trump is set to address Congress at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, his first joint address since returning to the Oval Office in January. The speech – which is not officially called a "State of the Union" speech as Trump has not been in office for the last year – comes just days after a fiery meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Democratic Party will also issue a response speech to Trump, tapping Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin to speak to voters late Tuesday evening after Trump's speech wraps up.
Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
A handful of European leaders are coming under the microscope of critics on social media for issuing pro-Ukraine messages with the exact same wording following Ukraine President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy's fiery meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday.
"Your dignity honours the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President @ZelenskyyUa. We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace," read verbatim social media posts from at least five different European leaders since Friday.
The president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis, European Parliament member Manfred Weber, and European Council President António Costa all posted the same exact social media message on Friday, a review of X shows.
Fox Digital reached out to the European Parliament and European Commission on Sunday afternoon regarding the posts but did not immediately receive replies.
Social media users quickly caught on that the messages were exactly the same, criticizing them as "kinda creepy" and asking tongue-in-cheek questions such as, "has the EU been bots this whole time?"
Trump asked Zelenskyy to leave the White House on Friday following a fiery meeting in the Oval Office, with Zelenskyy heading to Europe shortly afterward. Trump said Zelenskyy could return to the White House "when he is ready for peace."
Zelenskyy met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday, with the pair spotted on camera embracing upon Zelenskyy's arrival.
"We stand with Ukraine for as long as it may take," Starmer said on Saturday while offering the UK's "unwavering" support for Ukraine.
A group of European leaders met in London on Sunday after Starmer told local media that he had spoken with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the UK and France taking the reins on crafting a plan for peace that will eventually be presented to the U.S.
The UK leader vowed in comments on Sunday that the nation is "ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air" to support Ukraine against Russia and ultimately reach a peace deal.
"We discussed a plan today to reach a peace that is tough and fair, that Ukraine will help shape, that's backed by strength, to stop Putin coming back for more," Starmer said on Sunday. "I'm working closely with other European leaders on this, and I'm clear that the U.K. is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal, working together with our allies, because that is the only way that peace will last."
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard joined "Fox News Sunday" ahead of the London meeting, slamming some European nations for breaking with the U.S. on the value of freedom and reaching peace in Eastern Europe after criticizing Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy.
"I think those who are criticizing [Trump's] efforts in this way are showing that they are not committed to peace, and in the case of many of those European countries, that they're not committed to the cause and values of freedom, even though they speak of this," Gabbard told Fox News' Shannon Bream on Sunday morning when asked about Democrat U.S. politicians criticizing the meeting at the White House and Russia celebrating Trump's tense meeting with Zelenskyy.
"We heard very clearly, during Vice President Vance's speech in Munich, different examples of how these European partners and longtime allies, in many cases, are actually implementing policies that undermine democracy that shows that they don't actually believe in the voices of the people being heard, and implementing anti-freedom policies. We're seeing this in the United Kingdom. We're seeing this in Germany. We saw it with the tossing out of the elections in Romania," she continued.
The rapid reduction of illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border calls into question a key Democratic talking point during the 2024 campaign, when party leaders blamed then-former President Donald Trump for helping kill bipartisan border legislation that they argued was the only way to secure the border.
"President Trump’s fast and successful border security proves Biden’s false claim of needing the Senate’s border insecurity bill was nothing more than Biden’s attempted power grab to codify his open border tools and hamstring a future president who wanted to enforce the law," Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital.
The comments come as evidence continues to mount that Trump’s policies have rapidly improved the situation at the southern border, including news last week that single-day border apprehensions had hit a 15-year low, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents encountering only 200 aliens at the border on February 22.
"President Trump and Secretary Noem have sent a clear message to illegal aliens: Do not come to our country. You will not be allowed in. And if you get in, we will hunt you down and deport you," a DHS spokesperson said in a release at the time.
That news came just days after Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks told CBS News in an interview that southern border crossings were down 94% from the same period last year, a staggering number he credited to the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown.
While Trump has managed to reduce the numbers through his executive authority, many Democrats spent 2024 arguing that the continued crisis at the border was the result of Trump and his allies in the GOP tying the president’s hands by resisting a bipartisan border bill that was working its way through the Senate early in the year and was favored by former President Joe Biden.
"Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends," Biden said in February after the bill failed to pass.
"Frankly, I would have preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation, because that’s the only way to actually get the kind of system we have now that’s broken, fixed. To hire more Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, more judges. But, Republicans left me no choice," Biden said in June while announcing new executive actions on border security Republicans argued didn’t go far enough to alleviate the crisis.
That blame game continued throughout the 2024 campaign, with top Democratic leaders piling on Trump for helping kill the legislation they claimed was vital to ending the crisis.
"If my Republican colleagues truly believe the system is broken, why did they vote against a bill that would have provided more immigration judges, more asylum officers, and had the support of the very conservative Border Patrol Union?" then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer asked in a May press release on border security.
"When Americans ask this year who is to blame for the continued mess at the border, they should listen to the words that came from Donald Trump himself," Schumer added.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris took the torch and continued to blame Republicans for the crisis after rising to the top of the Democratic ticket, arguing that the legislation would have fixed the issues at the border if not for Trump’s intervention.
"Donald Trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to securing our border," Harris said during an August interview.
"He preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem," Harris said during a September debate with Trump. "Because he believed that it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, ‘Don’t put it forward.’"
"He killed the bill, a border security bill that would have put 1,500 more agents on the border," she added.
But Ries argued that not only did Trump’s executive actions help alleviate the crisis once he took office, but Democrats had another legislative option all along in border security legislation that had already passed through the Republican-controlled House.
"The Senate could’ve passed HR-2, the Secure the Border Act … the House had already passed it, and it was collecting dust on the Senate’s desk," Ries said.
