Democrats have named their members to serve on the House Oversight Subcommittee for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and warn they will "fight back" against cuts to critical federal programs.
The newly minted agency, a key promise of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, is tasked with slashing government waste and providing increased transparency when it comes to government spending. It was created via executive order on Monday.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M. announced on X Tuesday that she will serve as the ranking member.
Stansbury will be joined by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D- Mass., Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, as well as Eleanor Holmes Norton, a non-voting congressional delegate for Washington, D.C., per Politico. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the ranking member of the full Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will be permitted to sit on the subcommittee in an ex officio capacity, the outlet reports.
Stansbury vowed to "use every tool available to work across the aisle and combat policies that are harmful to Americans."
She said in a video on X that Democrats are "100% in" on DOGE if it operates to improve government efficiency and make federal agencies work better. But if it’s going to be "political theater to do the bidding of President Trump and his billionaire allies," then they are prepared to "fight back."
"I know what good government looks like and am not afraid to fight for it," Stansbury said in a separate statement, per Politico. "At the same time, I am prepared to fight to protect the vital programs, services, and employees that keep our communities safe and the economy running."
Garcia, too, said he will use his position on the oversight subcommittee to "fight back" against the House GOP’s plans to "attack the federal workforce." He said Republicans plan on cutting critical federal programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and give tax cuts to billionaires and the wealthiest corporations.
He took aim at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who is chair of the subcommittee.
"Marjorie Taylor Greene and her extremist allies are helping push a radical agenda in this subcommittee that includes eliminating the Department of Education and programs for seniors and veterans," Garcia said in a statement.
"We’re ready to fight back on day one, call out attempts to slash our social safety net, and make sure we take care of working families and the middle class."
Earlier on Tuesday, Greene announced Republican members selected to serve on the subcommittee; Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas; Rep. William Timmons, S.C.; Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas; Rep. Brian Jack, R-Ga.; Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.; Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo.; and Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas.
She said they bring a wealth of experience and are dedicated to providing a more efficient, effective and accountable federal government.
"Together, we will strive to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement within federal agencies, ensuring that the government operates efficiently and transparently for the American people," Greene said in a statement.
The announcements come amid news that former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is leaving the newly created department.
Ramaswamy, who along with Elon Musk, the world's richest person, was tapped in November by Trump to steer DOGE, is expected to launch a Republican campaign for Ohio governor early next week, according to a Fox News source.
Running for elected office requires him to remain outside of DOGE, based on its structure. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday described the letter former President Biden left him inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as "inspirational" and teased reporters that he may release the "very nice" note at some point.
Trump was asked about the letter, which he found inside the Resolute Desk on Monday with a little help from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, during a press conference announcing a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
"It was a very nice letter," Trump told reporters. "It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is."
The president added that he appreciated the letter so much that he may release it to the public.
"It was a positive, for him, in writing it," Trump continued. "I appreciated the letter."
Trump found the letter – addressed to "47″ – after Doocy asked if President Biden left him a letter while he was signing a flurry of executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday in front of a gaggle of reporters.
"He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know," Trump told Doocy before discovering the white envelope. "Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing."
Trump had then teased reporters that they should read it together before pulling back the reigns. He said he’d open the letter later Monday night.
The presidential tradition of leaving a letter to their successor began in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left the White House after two terms in office, with former President George H. W. Bush taking over.
Bush continued the tradition despite losing the White House to former President Bill Clinton after just one term in office. The tradition has carried on to this day through Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden.
Biden, however, was the first president to find himself in the unique position of writing a letter to someone who is both his successor and the predecessor who left him a note four years earlier. Trump became the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
Biden has said Trump left him a "very generous letter," but has so far declined to share the content of what Trump wrote, deeming it private.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump blasted Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, after she directed politically charged remarks towards him during an interfaith service of prayer for the country at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, the day after Trump's inauguration.
"Let me make one final plea, Mr. President," she said. "In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and [transgender] children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives."
She went on to say that "the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors."
"I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here," she said.
Trump trashed Budde and her performance in a post on Truth Social, suggesting that she and her church should apologize to the public.
The president also pointed out that there are illegal immigrants who have entered the country and killed Americans.
"The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA," Trump declared in the post on Wednesday.
"Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!" he asserted.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., indicated in a post on X that he is Episcopalian, and objected to Budde's remarks.
"As a conservative Episcopalian who supports President Trump and his agenda, I am profoundly disappointed that Bishop Mariann Budde politicized today’s inaugural Service of Prayer for the Nation. By disregarding President Trump’s appointment of Scott Bessent, a brilliant, openly gay man to serve as Treasury Secretary and Elon Musk, a genius, first generation legal immigrant to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, Bishop Budde’s gratuitous criticisms ring hollow," Barr declared.
"Sadly, the only message Bishop Budde delivered through her unwelcoming and hypocritical words to the President was that the Episcopal Church’s motto of ‘All are Welcome’ apparently doesn’t apply to the majority of Americans who voted for Donald Trump."
FIRST ON FOX: Newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio is advising his department to cease refugee resettlement operations and begin ramping up vetting of visas from certain regions in response to executive orders from President Donald Trump.
After officially becoming its next secretary, Rubio directed the Department of State to halt refugee resettlement programs, a senior department source told Fox News Digital.
He also ordered the department to implement enhanced vetting for visa applications from "dangerous regions."
The secretary cited new executive orders signed by Trump after his inauguration Monday.
Among dozens of executive orders, Trump signed one aimed at "Realigning The United States Refugee Admissions Program" and another to "[Protect] the United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats."
The former dictated that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) be suspended due to its detrimental effect on the country's interests. The latter order calls for increased vetting of all aliens, "to the maximum degree possible," especially those "from regions or nations with identified security risks."
Trump's executive order on refugees further stipulates that "the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit aliens to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as they determine that the entry of such aliens as refugees is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States."
Rubio was the first Trump Cabinet member confirmed, the Senate voting unanimously to do so Monday night.
He was sworn in Tuesday morning, becoming the 72nd secretary of state.
In remarks at the department Tuesday, Rubio said, "There will be changes, but the changes are not meant to be destructive. They're not meant to be punitive.
"The changes will be because we need to be a 21st century agency that can move by — a cliché that's used by many — at the speed of relevance. But we need to move faster than we ever have, because the world is changing faster than we ever have. And we have to have a view that some say is called ‘look around the corner.’
"But we really need to be thinking about where are we going to be in five, seven, 10 or 15 years. Some of the issues that confront humanity today have no precedent. They have no historic precedent. Some of the challenges we face have no historic precedent. We can compare it to another era, to another time, but they're not the same. Things are moving faster than ever," he explained.
Immigration was a top campaign priority for Trump during the 2024 election.
In his inaugural address Monday, Trump promised, "I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted. And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country."
A group of racial justice protesters reached a settlement with the federal government in a lawsuit accusing law enforcement agents sent by President Trump of using excessive force to protect a federal courthouse in 2020.
Under the settlement, the federal government must compensate the plaintiffs for the injuries suffered at the hands of federal agents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said Tuesday.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the ACLU of Oregon for details surrounding the specific compensation amounts.
The plaintiffs included three military veterans, a college professor, several Black Lives Matter activists and a man who said agents grabbed him off a street for no reason while he was blocks from the federal courthouse in Portland.
"We are proud to have represented our courageous clients," ACLU of Oregon legal director Kelly Simon said in a news release. "They suffered serious injuries because of federal law enforcement’s unlawful, aggressive actions, and it is just and fair that they are being compensated. Thank you to our clients and all people who stood up for Black lives and against government tyranny. The ACLU of Oregon will stand with you again and again to make sure everyone is treated with justice and fairness by the government."
Thousands of protesters in Portland and across the country took to the streets for months in 2020 in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. The demonstrators at times clashed with police, and militarized federal agents were ordered to Portland to stop the riots.
The lawsuit accused federal agents of exceeding the limits of their authority, making illegal arrests and using tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray when trying to stop the riots. Nearly all the plaintiffs alleged they suffered physical injuries and some were treated at hospitals.
A video showed Navy veteran Christopher David, a plaintiff in the suit, outside the courthouse being struck by an agent with a baton and another dousing him in the face with pepper spray. David suffered two broken bones in his hand during the protest.
The lawsuit alleges that then-Acting Director of Homeland Security Chad Wolf did not have the authority to send more than 100 agents to Portland because he was improperly appointed. Wolf abruptly resigned in 2021 — shortly before Trump was set to leave office — saying he was compelled to leave by "recent events," including court rulings that found his appointment to be unlawful.
A federal investigative report later found that the militarized federal agents did not have the proper training or equipment and that there was no plan for responding to protests without local police assistance.
Local police arrested hundreds of protesters over three months and federal agents arrested nearly 100 more during the height of the demonstrations.
"It shocked the conscience that this level of force was used against veterans, moms, and other nonviolent protesters. The way our own government treated us violated everything we learned in the military," plaintiff and veteran Nichol Denison said in the news release.
This was one of several lawsuits the ACLU of Oregon filed against the federal government on behalf of protesters and other groups, including journalists and legal observers.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., showed frustration with Democrats on Tuesday after a confirmation vote for President Trump's pick for CIA director in John Ratcliffe, who has bipartisan support, was blocked.
Speaking on the Senate floor after the vote was blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Thune said the Senate can remain in session all weekend to confirm Trump's picks if progress continues to be delayed.
"Do we want a vote on these folks on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that's what we're going to do. This can be easy or this can be hard," Thune said. "This is about America's national security interests, and we're stalling, so that's not going to happen."
Ratcliffe was approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee by a bipartisan vote of 14 to 3. Because of that, Thune said the vote to confirm him "shouldn't be hard."
"Democrats and Republicans, in a very big bipartisan fashion, agree that he is very qualified for this job," Thune said, adding that he isn't sure what stalling accomplishes.
When blocking the vote, Murphy said many Democrats have "serious concerns" about Ratcliffe's ability to work as CIA director because he "repeatedly politicized intelligence" during his eight months as National Intelligence director in 2020.
"I don't think it's too much to ask to make sure that we have a full, real debate that lasts two days on the Senate floor," Murphy said on Tuesday.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the delay is for "no good reason" and is simply an attempt "to drag out all of these nominations to play procedural games."
Cotton noted that while the Democrats acted in similar fashion in 2017 with Trump's first administration and the Republicans in 2021 with Biden's picks, that this didn't happen during confirmation votes prior to the past two elections.
"We should especially get back to that practice when it is a highly accomplished, well-qualified nominee of integrity, like John Ratcliffe," Cotton said. "Now we're going to spin our wheels for two days. But, as I said, don't make plans for the weekend. Don't have any dinner dates scheduled starting on Thursday night because we're going to get these nominees done the easy, collegial way. Or apparently the hard way."
Only one of Trump's Cabinet nominees has been confirmed thus far, and that was former Florida senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. He was confirmed on Monday by a unanimous vote.
Several nominees have advanced out of committee votes while others still await confirmation hearings.
A day-one order from President Donald Trump puts on pause the plans of Afghan allies who have been approved for resettlement in the U.S., a delay that advocates say could be the difference between life and death at the hands of the Taliban.
A pause on refugee resettlement in the U.S. will include Afghans who are in hiding after the Taliban takeover and the family members of U.S. troops.
"There are lawyers, doctors, journalists stuck in Pakistan who have been waiting for three and a half years to relocate to the U.S. We finally got the program moving, and we got the U.S. government to agree to allow them to relocate," Shawn VanDriver, president of resettlement group AfghanEvac, told Fox News Digital.
The executive order, entitled "Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program, will take effect on Monday and will immediately pause the resettlement of those who have worked their way through a system to get approval to move to the U.S.
It will go on "until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States."
A report will be submitted to Trump every 90 days until he determines that refugees should be allowed in.
"They’re getting it wrong here," said VanDriver, worried the pause will be "indefinite."
"It could be any day that the Taliban or ISIS-K shows up at your door," he said. "Can you imagine being a U.S. service member coming to work yesterday thinking that your mom is going to get out of Kabul and then they’re like ‘nope’?"
The family members of roughly 200 U.S. service members will be immediately impacted, according to VanDriver.
Some of those service members worked as combat interpreters for the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan, only to relocate to and join the service in the U.S.
"The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees," the order says.
Since the end of the war in 2021, some 180,000 Afghans have resettled in the U.S.
"How can the US government leave me behind in Afghanistan after I approved thousands of airstrike packages against the Taliban?" one Afghan who was in the final stages of case processing wrote in a text message shared with Fox News Digital.
"Members of Trump’s cabinet are U.S. military veterans and they fully understand what someone in my situation must feel like right now," the Afghan wrote. "This was the only hope for me and my family."
Prior to the executive order AfghanEvac sent a letter to the Trump team and other lawmakers urging them to continue resettling Afghan allies in the U.S. VanDriver said his letter has received no response from the new White House team.
Trump campaigned on the chaos that ensued when the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021. President Joe Biden pointed his finger at Trump, who had agreed to a 2021 deadline with the Taliban, but Trump claimed the Taliban had not held up their end of the deal so he would not have stuck to the agreement.
If the refugee program is paused for 90 days, it would affect some 2,000 people. If it is paused in definitely, it could affect between 25 and 30,000 people, according to Van Driver.
Many of those who are waiting for approval to come to the U.S. are hiding out in Pakistan fearful of deportation back to Afghanistan where their lives are at risk before they get approval to come to the U.S.
Advocates say the decision walks back on a promise the U.S. made to Afghans who aided U.S. troops and non-governmental organizations when the U.S. pulled out and the government collapsed to the Taliban.
"It doesn't have to include the Afghans," Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a Navy SEAL veteran, told Fox News Digital. "I learned a long time ago there's waivers for everything. If you're a man, woman or child and you assisted us in Afghanistan – I'm alive because of our Afghan allies.They’ve earned the right to come here.
"I think the move itself is correct," said Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, another former SEAL, said, adding that Afghan allies should be exempt from the order. "Those Afghan refugees fought alongside us. They have every single right, in my opinion, to be able to navigate these challenging waters to be in our country."
"When you were bringing everybody out of Afghanistan, we were supposed to be targeting the civilians that helped us," said Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a former Army ranger said. "[Biden] flooded everybody that had any proximity to Afghanistan through that program."
"There are people who were inside those C-17s [that evacuated Afghans in 2021] who should not have been there, who had been locked up in prison the day before," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
"So we’re going to look carefully and review that. Are we going to pause it for five years and not keep our promise? No."
The Trump administration "will be abandoning thousands of individuals who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with American service members, and who now, due to their loyal service and commitment to our shared values, remain at great risk in Afghanistan," VanDriver said in a statement.
"Even a temporary pause puts our allies in further danger, compromises our global standing with any current and future allies, and breaks the promises we made as a country," the AfghanEvac letter circulated among lawmakers reads.
President Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony Monday featured the largest, most complex security footprint of any inauguration in U.S. history.
The nation's capital was transformed seemingly overnight from a pedestrian-friendly city into a daunting and impenetrable fortress – the result of a multi-agency task force that erected 30 miles of anti-scale fencing, coordinated aerial surveillance and drones, and saw the deployment of tens of thousands of law enforcement, military personnel, undercover agents, and national guard trucks across D.C.
The impressive, whole-of-government security effort on Inauguration Day was unprecedented, and not without reason: Trump was the victim of two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign — including a shooter who came so close to him as to nick his ear — and a domestic threat landscape that was heightened further by the terrorist-inspired attack in New Orleans and the execution-style killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan late last year.
It's notable, then, that this year’s sprawling security footprint did not expressly include one key component considered fundamental to U.S. tradition: The naming of a designated survivor.
In D.C., the tightly coordinated federal protection efforts were carefully planned long ahead of Trump's inauguration ceremony by the Secret Service and many other federal agencies.
It's both a nod to recent security concerns, and more largely an effort to protect the U.S. body politic, foreign dignitaries, donors, and thousands of attendees from any mass catastrophe or threat.
The designated survivor, who in a catastrophic event would bear the responsibility of leading the U.S. in the aftermath of a crisis, is typically a Cabinet officer when major security events put elected officials all in one spot, such as inaugurations and State of the Union addresses.
Previous designated survivors have included former DHS secretary Jeh Johnson, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was tapped for the role during President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009.
Gates, a George W. Bush appointee, was kept on by Obama and served in his Pentagon role until July 2011, according to his official Defense Department biography.
The survivor's location, and sometimes identity, remains confidential until after the event disperses and its attendees have safely returned home. In high-profile events, a broader contingency plan is in place.
As Garrett Graff reported in 2016, Gates's role as designated survivor during Obama's inauguration also included the support of another government heavyweight — James Clapper, then the undersecretary of intelligence — who stowed away during the ceremony deep in an underground government bunker in Pennsylvania, a backup to the backup, if you will, and a nod at the detailed succession plan carefully crafted by a group defense, intelligence, and other federal agencies over the span of some 40-plus years.
So it was notable that no designated survivor was named during the 47th presidential inauguration.
It's also possible the event, which was held indoors and thus restricted to the public and to members of the news media, was limited enough as not to warrant the designated survivor.
Ahead of the event, FBI and Secret Service personnel stressed the stringent security measures in place and the tight vetting of any ticketed attendees.
David Sundberg of the FBI's Washington Field Office told Fox News earlier this week that the bureau was not tracking "any specific or credible threats" for Inauguration Day.
"All attendees will undergo screening," said Matt McCool, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Washington Field Office.
These individuals told Fox News that the fencing alone is more than any other designated National Special Security Event in the past.
"Designated checkpoints will be set up for members of the public interested in attending the inauguration," McCool said ahead of the inauguration — a protocol also applied to attendees of the modified Capital One festivities, which were moved inside due to frigid temperatures.
Neither the White House, DHS nor the FBI immediately responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the absence of a designated survivor.
Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
A reported rising star in the Democratic Party, who is being recruited to run for office in Texas, has a social media footprint littered with racially charged posts as well as numerous crude comments about President Trump.
Accomplished singer and songwriter Bobby Pulido is being "heavily recruited," according to a recent Politico report, to run as a Democrat in Texas’ 15th Congressional District and Pulido himself has said that he intends to put his singing career on hold to run for political office in 2026.
Pulido’s social media presence is littered with examples of racially charged posts along with vulgar posts about President-elect Trump which are likely to be used against him if he decides to run for Congress.
"How convenient that Wikileaks only hacked the democrat party," Pulido said in a reply to the GOP Asian American account on X, then known as Twitter, in 2016. "Open your Asian eyes. That's more rigged than anything."
Numerous examples of Pulido using crude language to attack Trump can be found on his page, which would presumably be unpopular with Republican voters in Texas, a state he won by 14 points in November while making historically significant strides with Hispanic voters in the Lone Star State.
In 2015, a Twitter user asked Pulido in Spanish, "What would you say to people who bully me because I listen to your music?"
It is unclear what specific political race Pulido is planning on entering, but he has made it clear he intends to launch his candidacy in the near future and Politico reported he would likely be considered to run in Texas' 15th Congressional District against Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.
"Growing up I was always intrigued by the idea of public service," Pulido said in a recent livestream discussing retiring from music. "In 2026 I’ll be running for public office in the attempt to fulfill my lifelong dream to serve my people."
Fox News Digital reached out to Pulido, but he did not respond to a request for comment.
