CEO Chris Wright has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as President Donald Trump's secretary of energy, where he will be at the helm of shaping the president's "Drill, baby, drill" agenda.
Wright received bipartisan support from members of the Senate after being selected by Trump to lead the energy agency under his administration.
The Trump nominee, who has served as the CEO and founder of Liberty Energy Inc. since 2011, advanced through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee before his nomination was put on the floor for a final vote.
He was confirmed on Monday night in a bipartisan vote, 59 to 38.
The 47th president has made energy a focus of his first two weeks in office, declaring an "energy emergency" on his first day in office, lifting former President Joe Biden's pause on liquefied natural gas exports and axing climate standards set by the previous administration.
Wright's energy vision aligns with that of Trump's, telling lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that his first focus would be on unleashing American energy and increasing energy production in the U.S.
Moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, revealed her plan to support Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Monday evening.
"After extensive consideration of her nomination, I will support Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence," she said in a statement.
"As one of the principal authors of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that established this coordinating position, I understand the critical role the DNI plays in the Intelligence Community. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, however, has become far larger than it was designed to be, and Ms. Gabbard shares my vision of returning the agency to its intended size. In response to my questions during our discussion in my office and at the open hearing, as well as through her explanation at the closed hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Ms. Gabbard addressed my concerns regarding her views on Edward Snowden. I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to strengthen our national security."
Collins sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which will embark on a pivotal vote on Gabbard's nomination on Tuesday, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The Maine Republican has developed a reputation for occasionally bucking her party, most recently doing so on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's confirmation vote.
Her support for Gabbard at the committee level was thus far from certain.
She joins a handful of other committee Republicans who have already said they will vote to advance Gabbard to the Senate floor, including Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and James Lankford, R-Okla.
However, another GOP senator on the committee is still considered one to watch, as Gabbard is expected to need all of the Republican members' votes to move forward.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., hasn't said how he plans to vote in committee. Because of this, he's managed to garner the criticism of Trump-aligned billionaire Elon Musk, who recently claimed on X that Young is a "deep state puppet" in regard to his uncertainty about Gabbard. The post has since been deleted.
A spokesperson for Young told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Senator Young and Mr. Musk had a great conversation on a number of subjects and policy areas where they have a shared interest, like DOGE."
Musk also shared on X over the weekend, explaining, "Just had an excellent conversation with [Young]. I stand corrected. Senator Young will be a great ally in restoring power to the people from the vast, unelected bureaucracy."
While Collins' support bodes well for Gabbard's fate at the committee level, it also forecasts a better outlook among the full Senate, given her vote against Hegseth. If she advances to a floor vote, Gabbard can afford to lose just three Republican votes, assuming she does not get any Democratic backing.
A coalition of attorneys general are warning federal employees about the Trump administration's "questionable" buyout offer, saying those who choose to resign may not be guaranteed its benefits.
Nearly all federal employees were offered a buyout as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to get workers to physically report back to the office. They have until Thursday to opt in, according to an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) email sent out to all federal workers.
Those who choose to resign under the program will retain all pay and benefits, regardless of workload, and will be exempt from their in-person work requirements until Sep. 30.
However, the attorneys general said unions representing federal employees — the American Federation of Government Employees and National Federation of Federal Employees — have warned their members against accepting the offer, saying they are not guaranteed to be paid the benefits.
"Federal employees provide vital services that Americans rely on every day, and are an essential part of the California economy and communities across the state," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. "The Trump Administration’s so-called buyout offer is a pointed attack aimed at dismantling our federal workforce and sowing chaos for Americans that rely on a functioning government. I urge federal employees to heed warnings from their unions to be very cautious of any buyout offers."
The other attorneys general hail from Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.
The buyout offer was made after Trump mandated all federal employees to return to the office. The email to federal workers noted that the majority of federal employees who have worked remotely since COVID will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week.
"The government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards," a senior administration official previously told Fox News. "We’re five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable."
In a letter to its members, the AFGE noted that the program doesn't guarantee that the employee's resignation will be accepted or that the benefits will be paid.
In a statement last week, NFFE National President Randy Erwin said the buyout shouldn't be treated as a legitimate offer.
"This offer from OPM should not be taken seriously," Erwin said. "The offer is not bound by existing law or policy, nor is it funded by Congress. There is nothing to hold OPM or the White House accountable to the terms of their agreement."
"Federal employees will not give in to this shady tactic pressuring them to quit," added Erwin. "Civil servants care way too much about their jobs, their agency missions, and their country to be swayed by this phony ploy. To all federal employees: Do not resign."
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., slammed President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on Monday for their efforts to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while also accusing the president of starting a dictatorship.
Omar and several other Democratic lawmakers spoke outside the USAID building in Washington, D.C., damning the efforts made by Trump and Musk to take control of independent agencies like USAID and strip them down to cut away wasteful spending.
"It is a really, really sad day in America. We are witnessing a constitutional crisis," Omar said. "We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one. And here we are. This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like when you gut the Constitution, and you install yourself as the sole power. That is how dictators are made."
She continued, saying Trump, Musk and their "cronies" are attempting to take away Congress’ constitutional power of deciding where money is allocated.
Fifty senior USAID staff have been placed on administrative leave, sources told Fox News over the weekend. Staff have also been barred from communicating with anyone outside the agency without approval.
Omar said she was "exceptionally upset" about USAID, explaining she lived in a refugee camp as a child for four years, and in that camp, USAID provided programs that kept her and her family fed and safe.
"Privileged billionaires who don't give a damn about America and Americans should not be making decisions that put Americans at harm," she said. "And a billionaire that hasn't been vetted has not gone through confirmation, has not been elected by the American people who we still do not understand what in the world he's doing should not be telling American employees that they cannot access the building they work at."
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., also weighed in on the matter, telling Musk he did not create USAID, but Congress did.
"Just like Elon Musk did not create USAID, he doesn’t have the power to destroy it. And who’s going to stop him? We are!" Raskin said. "We’re going to stop him. Elon Musk, you may have illegally seized power over the financial payment systems of the United States Department of Treasury, but you don’t control the money of the American people. The United States Congress does that under Article One of the Constitution."
As the lawmakers spoke from outside the USAID building, Musk fired back at them on social media.
"The corrupt politicians ‘protesting’ outside the USAID building are the ones getting money from USAID," Musk wrote on X. "That’s why they’re there – they want your stolen tax dollars!"
While lawmakers on the left side of the aisle are shouting in opposition to the changes being made at the agency, GOP hardliners are in favor of what they say are much-needed modifications.
USAID is an independent agency in the federal government that provides civilian foreign aid to help encourage development, fight poverty and disease and promote democracy overseas.
However, conservatives argue that the agency has strayed from its intended purpose and have called for steep cuts to its multi-billion-dollar budget.
For instance, the White House claims $1.5 million was sent to USAID to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities," while another $2 million was sent to Guatemala for sex changes and "LGBT activism."
The White House also says $6 million was used to fund tourism in Egypt, and hundreds of thousands of meals were sent to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria.
"USAID is a corrupt governmental organization run by unelected bureaucrats created to shovel taxpayer dollars to Democrats' pet projects overseas," Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital.
"At nearly $37 trillion in national debt – and a $1.8 trillion annual deficit – we can't afford to continue giving money to countries that hate America and everything we stand for," he said.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that shutting down USAID "will help reduce our national debt and relieve the burden on taxpayers, while compelling aid-dependent countries to achieve true self-reliance, snapping them out of the dependency cycle USAID has perpetuated under the false banner of ‘development.’"
The U.S. State Department posted on X that USAID has "long strayed" from its mission of responsibly advancing American interests abroad, adding that it is now clear that significant portions of USAID funding are not aligned with national interests.
"As an interim step toward gaining control and better understanding over the agency’s activity, President Donald J. Trump appointed Secretary Marco Rubio as Acting Administrator," a statement from the State Department read on X. "Secretary Rubio has also now notified Congress that a review of USAID’s foreign assistance activities is underway with an eye towards potential reorganization. As we evaluate USAID and ensure it is in alignment with an America First agenda and the efforts of the State Department, we will continue to protect the American people’s interests and ensure their tax dollars are not wasted."
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump will pause additional tariffs on Canadian imports for 30 days after a call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who made some concessions to temporarily stave off the levies.
Trump and Trudeau spoke via phone on Monday, hours before additional 25% tariffs were to take effect on Canadian goods coming into the United States. In a post on X, Trudeau said Canada will implement a $1.3 billion border plan and appoint a fentanyl czar.
In addition, Canada will reinforce its border with new helicopters, technology, personnel and enhanced coordination with American authorities. He added that nearly 10,000 personnel are and will be working on border protection.
"We will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering," Trudeau wrote. "I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million."
"Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together," he added.
Trump has long said Canada and Mexico have failed to do enough to prevent the flow of illegal migrants and drugs, particularly fentanyl, from those nations into the U.S. In addition, Trump claims the U.S. has subsidized Canada to the tune of $200 million annually.
"We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all," Trump wrote in a statement on Saturday, when he imposed the tariffs. "I made a promise on my Campaign to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our Borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favor of it."
Hours before his call with Trudeau, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would deploy 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border over tariff threats.
Trump has promised to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican goods, as well as a 10% tariff on Canadian energy and a 10% tariff on all goods entering the U.S. from China. The tariffs on Canada and China were set to go into effect Tuesday at midnight.
EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) racked up a number of arrests of convicted criminal illegal immigrants over the weekend, including those convicted of murder, robbery and domestic violence — continuing its efforts to deport as many public safety threats as it can.
Agents nabbed over 700 illegal immigrants over the weekend, including more than 500 with convictions or charges, according to information provided to Fox News Digital by a senior Trump administration official.
Among those arrested were Denicela Julia Mejia Thomas, a Honduran national, in San Antonio, Texas. She has a conviction of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to that information.
In Phoenix, Arizona, agents arrested Julio Cesar Garcia-Soto, a Mexican national with a murder conviction who was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Meanwhile, ICE Seattle arrested Daniel De Jesus Lopez, a citizen of Mexico with a conviction for robbery and delivery of methamphetamine, for which he was sentenced to 90 months in prison.
In Detroit, agents nabbed Charles Henry Pusey Mcnish, a Colombian national with a conviction for domestic violence and possession of cocaine.
ICE in Houston nabbed Rutillo Alvarado Carranza, a Honduran national convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, there was a large-scale enforcement operation at several locations targeting those committing fraud via unauthorized cash withdrawals from victims' EBT cards. ICE nabbed nine nationals from Romania and France, three who have extensive histories and one who has an arrest in Romania for murder.
The arrests come after thousands of arrests throughout the country since the Trump administration took office in January. Trump promised to launch a "historic" mass deportation operation. Officials have said they are prioritizing public safety threats but are also not excluding illegal immigrants who do not have criminal convictions or charges.
The administration has lifted a number of Biden-era restrictions on ICE agents, including limits on their ability to enter "sensitive" areas like churches or schools.
On Monday, Fox News Digital reported that the administration has ended Temporary Protected Status — which protects migrants from certain nations from deportation — for over 300,000 deportations. The Biden administration had extended TPS for a number of nationalities before leaving office, a move that makes it harder for ICE to deport them.
The move came after President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela had agreed to take back its illegal immigrants.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday visited the southern border, declaring a "new era of determination" as the Trump administration doubles down on its efforts to secure the border and stop illegal immigration.
"Because of President Donald Trump, this is a new era at the southern border, a new era of determination, a new era of cooperation. And at the Defense Department, we are proud to be a part of it," Hegseth told reporters at a press conference in El Paso, Texas after Hegseth had toured the border.
Hegseth emphasized that, rather than focusing on foreign territory, the administration wanted to focus first on U.S. sovereignty.
"Guys and gals of my generation have spent decades in foreign countries guarding other people's borders. It's about time we secure our own border," he said.
Trump deployed the U.S. military to the border on his first day in office, with over 1,500 troops joining forces already there. It’s part of a blitz that has correlated with a sharp drop in encounters at the southern border.
Hegseth said the men and women dispatched to the border are excited to be there.
"They're motivated to be here because they're defending their friends, their family, their communities, their church, their schools, their loved ones from an invasion of people whose intentions we don't know," he said. "We are going to get control of this border."
Hegseth’s visit to the southern border is the latest migration-focused trip by a Trump Cabinet official.
His trip comes after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was at the southern border in Del Rio, Texas on Saturday. She said she was there to see "firsthand what’s happening and how we can best support our Border Patrol agents."
"Under President[Trump] the days of open borders are over," she said.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had a migration-packed first week in office, left Saturday for his first overseas trip to Latin America.
His visit includes trips to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. He is expected to return Thursday, and issues including migration, drug trafficking and gang violence are expected to be at the top of his agenda.
Hegseth spoke alongside border czar Tom Homan, who said what was occurring with the use of the military and other government agencies to facilitate security and deportations is a "game changer."
"We will finally succeed and have an operational control of our southern border with this president in charge," he said.
The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments will establish a sovereign wealth fund in accordance with a new executive order President Donald Trump signed on Monday.
The sovereign wealth fund, a state-owned investment fund with various financial assets like stocks and bonds, could foot the bill for purchasing TikTok, according to Trump.
"We're going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok, and perhaps not," Trump told reporters Monday. "If we make the right deal, we'll do it. Otherwise, we won't."
"But we could put that as an example in the fund," Trump said. "And we have a lot of other things that we could put in the fund. And I think in a short period of time we'd have one of the biggest funds."
Countries like Norway and Saudi Arabia utilize sovereign wealth funds, as do multiple U.S. states.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the sovereign wealth fund would be created within the next 12 months.
"I think it’s going to create value and be of great strategic importance," Bessent told reporters Monday.
Bessent and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick are instructed to devise a plan in the next 90 days for the creation of the fund, according to the White House. The proposal will include recommendations on funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure and a governance model.
More details on the sovereign wealth fund were not immediately available, and it's unclear whether Congress will sign off on it.
However, Trump signaled on the campaign trail in 2024 that he was interested in a sovereign wealth fund, using revenue from tariffs to pour into the wealth fund and then use that money to pay for projects like highways, airports and medical research.
Additionally, Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., introduced legislation in September 2024 called the American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act to research ways to create a sovereign wealth fund in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump has weighed in a few times on the future of TikTok in recent weeks and said that he's spoken with multiple parties who are interested in purchasing the app.
Although TikTok briefly went offline for U.S. users in January after the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the social media platform, Trump signed an executive order just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20 delaying a ban on TikTok for 75 days.
The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on the TikTok ban cited national security concerns, specifically due to the "relationship with a foreign adversary" and the app’s data collection practices.
But Trump said in the executive order delaying the ban that he has "the unique constitutional responsibility for the national security of the United States, the conduct of foreign policy, and other vital executive functions."
"To fulfill those responsibilities, I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans," Trump said in the executive order. "My Administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date."
The Associated Press and Fox News’ Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX— The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent’s Association (FBIAA) sent a letter to House and Senate leaders Monday raising "urgent concerns" over recent actions taken by acting DOJ and FBI personnel, which they say threatens careers of thousands of employees and risks disrupting the bureau's essential work.
The FBIAA, a voluntary professional association representing more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, cited in particular the order from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to terminate the entire FBI senior leadership team, and the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office, as well as the order for bureau employees to compile lists of all current and former personnel who worked on investigations related to January 6, 2021, and a Hamas-related case.
The lists, the group said, "will be used to determine whether those individuals should face additional personnel actions."
"Put simply, Special Agents who risk their lives protecting this country from criminals and terrorists are now being placed on lists and having their careers jeopardized for carrying out the orders they were given by their superiors in the FBI," the group said, saying the actions both lack "transparency and due process," and "are creating dangerous distractions, imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again."
This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s fate is hanging in the balance as the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is working on an apparent overhaul of the agency.
A review of USAID’s recent history shows that it repeatedly has been accused of financial mismanagement and corruption long before Donald Trump's second administration, Fox News Digital found.
Tech billionaire and DOGE Chair Elon Musk has been on a warpath against USAID — which is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations — as he leads DOGE’s mission of cutting government fat and overspending at the federal level.
Musk announced in an audio-only message on X overnight on Sunday that "we’re in the process" of "shutting down USAID" and that Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency.
"With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down," he said. "I actually checked with him a few times [and] said, ‘Are you sure?’"
He added that Trump responded, "Yes."
As of Monday morning, hundreds of USAID employees reported they were locked out of the agency’s computer system and that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed on Monday.
On X, Musk has railed against the organization as rife with "marxists" and is operating as a "criminal organization."
"USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die," Musk posted to X on Sunday.
"USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America," he said in another message.
Trump repeatedly proposed slashing the nation’s foreign aid budget for USAID and the State Department during his first administration, including proposing in his first year in office to slash the budgets by 37%, which Congress rejected.
"With $20 trillion in debt, the government must learn to tighten its belt," Trump said back in 2017 while advocating for the cuts.
His rebuke of foreign aid stretches back even further to his 2016 presidential run, outlining in his famed candidacy speech next to the golden elevator at Trump Tower that the nation must "stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us."
"It is necessary that we invest in our infrastructure, stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us and use that money to rebuild our tunnels, roads, bridges and schools — and nobody can do that better than me," he said in his 2015 speech announcing his candidacy for president.
Fox News Digital looked back at the controversies USAID has faced in recent years, finding a bevy of allegations, including that the agency reportedly helped fund terrorist organizations and Chinese groups, and that its watchdog allegedly omitted negative findings from publicly published reports.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment regarding the following USAID allegations in light of DOGE’s targeting of the agency, but did not immediately receive a reply.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a blistering letter to Biden-era USAID administrator Samantha Power in October 2024, sounding the alarm on the "likely misuse of more than one billion dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid sent to Gaza since October 2023," Fox Digital reported at the time.
"As I predicted would happen from the outset, credible reporting indicates that Hamas terrorists have diverted this aid; indisputable evidence demonstrates that the aid was always at high risk of diversion," he continued, pointing to U.S. aid that was delivered to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), whichhe said has apparent ties to Hamas.
Trump ended funding to UNRWA in 2018, when his first administration described the UN agency as an "irredeemably flawed operation."
Cotton pinned blame on the Biden-Harris administration for the "likely misuse," seething that "in all likelihood," the "administration has prolonged the Gaza war, allowed aid to flow to Israel’s enemies, and misused taxpayer funds."
"Your agency announced approximately $336 million in additional humanitarian funding for Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. On the same day, the United Nations acknowledged that Fateh al-Sharif, a Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in an Israeli airstrike, was employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. UNRWA, a major USAID partner before October 7, remains a chief conduit for UN humanitarian assistance in Gaza despite extensive evidence of its ties to Hamas," he continued.
USAID pushed back on the claims in comment to Fox Digital at the time, saying it does not fund UNRWA. President Joe Biden halted U.S. funding to UNWRA in March of 2024 for one year.
"USAID does not provide any funding to UNRWA, nor did we do so prior to October 7, 2023," the spokesperson said in October 2024. "In addition to extensive risk mitigation procedures, USAID works closely with the Government of Israel to assist with the coordination of and discuss potential risks to all humanitarian assistance entering Gaza. USAID has not received evidence from the Government of Israel, our partners, or other sources to support the claims in Senator Cotton’s letter."
Cotton’s office responded to the statement: "Administrator Power and USAID do not have an adequate vetting process to ensure that American taxpayer dollars do not end up with terrorists. If a terrorist front organization like UNRWA is the only 'distribution system' in Gaza, Power should reconsider sending aid there in the first place. Our tax dollars should not fund a group that has assisted in the kidnapping and murder of Americans."
A Syrian national named Mahmoud Al Hafyan, 53, was charged in November 2024 for allegedly diverting more than $9 million in U.S.-funded humanitarian aid to terrorist groups, including the Al-Nusrah Front. The Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, is a designated terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaeda, according to the State Department.
USAID’s office of the inspector general outlined in its press release on Al Hafyan’s 12-count indictment that the U.S. had awarded $122 million to the Syrian national’s NGO between 2015 and 2019. The funds were intended for food kits to bolster citizens amid Syria’s bloody civil war. He is accused, however, of directing the food kits to the Al-Nusrah Front, as well as selling them on the black market, according to the press release.
"This defendant not only defrauded the U.S. government, but he also gave the humanitarian aid he stole to a foreign terrorist organization," said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said at the time. "While this foreign terrorist organization fought with the cruel al-Assad regime, the people who were supposed to receive the aid suffered. This office has a history of pursuing criminals around the globe, no matter how many years it takes, and will do all it can to ensure that Mahmoud Al Hafyan is held accountable for these crimes."
Samantha Power — the Biden administration’s USAID administrator and former U.S. ambassador to the UN under former President Barack Obama’s tenure — was discovered to have repeatedly met with left-wing groups such as George Soros' Open Society Foundations while serving as the foreign aid agency’s administrator, Fox Digital reported in 2023.
Power met with George Soros' Open Society Foundations at least two times and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at least five times, Fox Digital reported. She also held meetings with other powerful groups, such as the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, according to 700 pages of internal calendar entries that stretched back to 2021 and were obtained by Fox News Digital in 2023.
USAID brushed off Power’s string of meetings with powerful left-wing groups as part of her official role and USAID’s mission to fight a spate of global issues ranging from poverty to education.
"Administrator Power meets with a wide variety of officials and sectors to discuss USAID's mission to reduce extreme poverty, fight child malnutrition, spur economic growth, expand educational opportunities around the world, and build resilient global health systems," a USAID spokesperson told Fox News Digital in 2023. "Working with philanthropies and the private sector to catalyze resources to tackle these complex global challenges is important to improving the quality of life for people around the world."
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report in 2023 finding that both USAID and the National Institutes of Health directed taxpayer funds to American universities and a nonprofit organization before the money found its way to Chinese groups, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The report found that between 2014 and 2021, U.S. taxpayer funds were redirected to entities including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Wuhan University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which is part of the Chinese Communist Party. The three groups each received more than $2 million combined from the U.S. government "through seven subawards," according to the GAO report.
"The selected entities are government institutions or laboratories in China that conduct work on infectious diseases, including pandemic viruses, and have had actions taken by federal agencies to address safety or security concerns," the report states. "All three selected Chinese entities received funds."
In January, the CIA under the second Trump administration released an updated assessment on the origins of COVID-19, favoring the theory that the contagious disease was due to a lab leak. The CIA previously had maintained that it did not have sufficient evidence to conclude whether COVID originated in a lab or a "wet market" in Wuhan, China.
Eight auditors and employees for the USAID inspector general’s office sounded the alarm to the Washington Post in 2014 that negative findings surrounding the agency’s work were removed from final reports and audits.
In the wake of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, for example, USAID established NGO-led, pro-democracy programs in the nation, though the NGO workers were not registered to work in the country, the Washington Post reported in 2014. Egypt arrested 43 NGO workers, including 16 Americans, for operating illegally in the country, with USAID quietly paying Egypt $4.6 million to bail out the Americans, according to the report.
When auditors questioned the bail payment to the Egyptian government in a draft IG report, the findings were not included in the final report that was made publicly available just months later. Instead, the 21-page draft report was whittled down to a nine-page report. The auditors and employees who spoke to the outlet reported that negative comments were removed from various audits between 2011 and 2013.
"The office is a watchdog not doing its job," a retired audit supervisor at the inspector general’s office told the outlet. "It’s just easier for upper management to go along to get along. The message is: ‘Don’t make waves, don’t report any problems.’"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that he is now the acting director of USAID.
"USAID is not functioning. It has to be aligned with U.S. policy. It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S.," he told reporters while in El Salvador. "They're not a global charity. These are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? We are spending taxpayers money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest."
"I am the acting director," he confirmed when asked if he is now in charge. "Our goal was to allow our foreign aid with the national interest. It has been 20 or 30 years. They have tried to reform it. That will not continue."
Rubio became the Trump administration’s first confirmed cabinet member on Jan. 20. Days after his confirmation, the State Department announced a pause on all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID out of an effort to ensure current American policies reflect Trump's administration's priorities.
"Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary [Marco] Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review," the statement read. "He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda. President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people."
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, Benjamin Weinthal and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
Amid scrutiny over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s pledge to transfer his financial interest in vaccine lawsuits to his family, legal experts have criticized the move but note that Kennedy's approach is not significantly different from actions taken by other public officials in the past.
During Kennedy's confirmation hearings last week, the potential next secretary of Health and Human Services was probed over his financial stake in personal-injury lawsuits tied to vaccines, in particular his ties to a suit against pharmaceutical company Merck and its Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine. While Kennedy would not initially commit to letting go of his stake against Merck, he reversed course in a written response to lawmakers' questions following a hearing, noting he would amend his pledge and "will divest my interest in any such litigation via an assignment to my non-dependent, adult son."
While some legal experts have argued the move does not go far enough to quash potential conflicts for Kennedy, others say this approach is akin to that taken by several other public officials who have found themselves in a similar situation. Meanwhile, one legal expert suggested to Fox News Digital that the pass from Kennedy to his son "is more than sufficient to meet any ethical concerns."
"That may comply with ordinary conflict of interest issues," Jim Copland, director of legal policy at the Manhattan Institute, said. "I just don't think the head of the Department of Health and Human Services has any business being involved in any way with litigation against Merck."
Fellow Manhattan Institute legal expert Ilya Shapiro said he is unsure whether Kennedy's move will suffice in avoiding any real conflict, but added that he did recognize "it's not unusual in light of past examples."
Both Democrats and Republicans have used family to shield themselves from ethics complaints related to their personal business dealings, with former President Joe Biden being a recent and notable example after a multi-year probe into his family business dealings that found both his son and brother were engaged in risky business relationships with foreign entities, such as China. Biden has repeatedly denied his involvement in those business dealings.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi similarly sought to defend her family's business dealings after it was revealed her husband was making money investing in companies that had business in front of his wife. In response to questions from reporters about whether she agreed with efforts to ban federal lawmakers' spouses from trading in stocks, Pelosi replied that "they should be able to participate in that."
Other notable figures who have used their families to shield their personal business dealings include President Donald Trump, who handed over control of his Trump Organization business empire to his sons, and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose investor husband, Richard Blum, managed investments through his firm Blum Capital Partners that often intersected with his wife's work while she was in Congress.
"It is my opinion that RFK, Jr.’s plan to pass on any financial stake in possible vaccine injuries to his son is more than sufficient to meet any ethical concerns," Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "This is particularly true because of the limitations imposed by federal law on any claims made against vaccine manufacturers that severely limit possible compensation for anyone claiming a vaccine was somehow defective."
Spakovsky posited that the federal government's National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which prohibits civil litigation against drugmakers and instead directs the federal government to administer any vaccine-injury payments, serves to buffer the impact Kennedy could potentially have on vaccine-related injury payments.
"RFK would have no authority whatsoever [over this program]," he said. "The point is that all of this is so disconnected from RFK, Jr.’s potential Cabinet position if he is confirmed, that anyone who says this is a ‘serious’ ethics problem is wrong."
Copland, who agreed with Spakovsky that the vaccine compensation program diminishes much of Kennedy's advantage, said RFK Jr. could still benefit in an indirect manner.
"I think it's a more concerning conflict of interest than just saying, ‘Oh, you own a lot of equity interest in some company that may incidentally benefit you know,’" Copland said. "I mean, if you had a Defense Department secretary who was a CEO of a major military contractor, and then he passes that off to his son, I think you'd still have a concern about that due to the obvious conflict of interest there, which is different than a sort of ordinary, 'Oh, I own a company, and it's going to, incidentally, benefit from the government.'"
Fox News legal analyst Andy McCarthy was more critical of Kennedy's decision to pass off his financial interests to his son, noting that the fact he is "struggling to come up with a scheme to retain his stake, rather than doing the obvious right thing by abandoning it, underscores that this is a real conflict of interest."
"The comparison to family asset transfers in other contexts is inapposite and, in any event, misses the point," McCarthy said. "Whatever one thinks of President Trump’s arrangements regarding his family business, voters knew about that business and elected him anyway – and the president is not in a position to recuse himself from executive decision-making based on conflicts of interest. By contrast, Kennedy wasn’t elected by anyone."
McCarthy added that after years "of justifiably complaining that President Biden was corruptly enriched by payments… made to his son and brother," he finds it hard to believe "that Republicans can turn a blind eye to a financial stake, which would create a significant conflict of interest for RFK Jr. as HHS secretary, on the pretext that he plans to transfer the stake to his son."
New York Attorney General Letitia James warned hospitals on Monday not to follow President Donald Trump's directive to prohibit sex-change procedures for minors, arguing that doing so would violate state law.
Trump's executive order (EO), which was signed last week, was titled "Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation." Its aim is to restrict "chemical and surgical" sex-change procedures for minors.
"Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions," the EO states. "This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end."
The declaration goes on to state that the U.S. "will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another."
In the letter, James argued that refusing to provide gender-affirming treatment would violate anti-discrimination laws in the Empire State.
"Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws," she said.
In an email obtained by the Associated Press, the spokesperson for the Greater New York Hospital Association said that his organization was consulting with hospitals about the EO.
"We are collaboratively working through every aspect of the EO to determine its legal and clinical implications," spokesperson Brian Conway wrote. "That work is ongoing."
In a recent interview, Fox News Channel senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel explained that the main treatments that will be discouraged under the EO include puberty blockers and sex reassignment surgery for minors.
"Puberty blockers, the main one is Lupron, which we use for prostate cancer, enough said," Siegel said. "I mean, it interferes with bone growth, it can potentially interfere with fertility if it's combined with hormones and it can interfere with thinking and cognition. I don't believe that we can say the puberty blockers with hormones don't have long-term side effects, they do."
"Surgery, we're talking about mastectomies, we're talking about upper and lower surgeries. I think that that's something that's not reversible and it should never be done on children," the doctor added. "Proponents of this will say, 'Well the longer you wait, the more the child suffers.' I think that there's conflicting research on that. I'm not convinced of that."
Siegel also stressed the importance of mental health treatment for teens and warned about the gravity of the decision to undergo sex-change procedures, which could be irreversible.
"You have a child, they're having gender confusion. Did they get enough mental health counseling?" Siegel said. "Did they get a chance to develop? Are they being pressured politically by somebody in society, their parents? And then, most importantly, is the intervention leading to something that's not reversible?"
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidates during the Garden State’s first primary debate of the year vowed to help illegal immigrants avoid President Trump’s ICE raids.
Five out of six candidates raised their hands when debate moderator Joey Fox, of the New Jersey Globe, asked the Democrats on stage if they "believe that one of the goals of the next governor should be protecting immigrants in New Jersey, even those who are here illegally."
Candidates vowed to stand up to Trump, committed to comprehensive immigration reform, and vowed to prioritize humanity in the deportation process.
However, candidates were less certain when discussing the Laken Riley Act, the first bill Trump signed into law during his second term. It mandates detaining illegal immigrants who are accused of committing dangerous crimes.
"If you are a murderer, a criminal, a rapist, if you're breaking into people's homes in the middle of the night with a gun while the kids are sleeping, and you're undocumented, you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be in the state, you shouldn't be in this country." said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who voted in support of the Laken Riley Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Despite Gottheimer’s support for the act, he was careful to distinguish "innocent undocumented people" from those who commit violent crimes. "When I'm governor, I'm going to use the full force of the state to stop" Trump from rounding up "innocent undocumented people" at restaurants, churches and schools, the congressman clarified.
The Trump administration doesn’t recognize such a distinction. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last Tuesday that anyone in the United States illegally is considered a criminal.
"They illegally broke our nation’s laws, and, therefore, they are criminals, as far as this administration goes," Leavitt said in a now viral moment. "I know the last administration didn’t see it that way, so it’s a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal. But that’s exactly what they are."
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop didn’t share Gottheimer’s support for the Laken Riley Act, calling it "dangerous."
"The Laken Riley Act served to undermine the authority of the attorney general here in New Jersey," Fulop said. "It is a very dangerous piece of legislation as it relates to autonomy of the governor and the attorney general here, and it should not have been supported."
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a vocal opponent of the ICE raids authorized in his city during Trump’s first week in office, took opposition to the bill a step further.
"You can't say you support immigrants in New Jersey but vote for the Laken Riley Act," Baraka said. "We need to stop having this conversation about people being murderers and killers and rapists and criminals. We know that's a lie. There is no crime wave of immigrants in New Jersey."
Baraka went as far as to say Trump’s political agenda is rooted in "White supremacy and racism."
"It’s interesting that we keep saying that people are here illegally when we keep moving the goalpost," Baraka said. "If we take away all of the pathways that people become documented citizens of the United States and then say they're illegal, it’s a problem. We cannot risk the Fourth and 14th Amendment to push this political agenda that Donald Trump has really based in White supremacy and racism."
Former New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney said New Jersey should stand up to Trump’s deportations, emphasizing the lack of legal search warrants in these ICE raids. However, Sweeney agreed that someone with a criminal record who enters the United States or "someone that breaks the law in this country shouldn't be in this country," calling it a "privilege."
"With Donald Trump, we all should stand and oppose what Donald Trump's doing. He's breaking the law. He's doing it illegally. He's doing it without legal search warrants. It’s horrible what he's doing." Sweeney said.
New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller echoed Sweeney’s distaste for Trump’s inhumane deportations, telling New Jerseyans they should be scared.
"They're coming for all of us, and that should scare every single one of us. That's unacceptable. That’s what we stand up and fight back against," Spiller said.
Despite taking a hard line against President Trump, the Democratic candidates recognized immigration reform as a necessity.
"I think that what's missing in the conversation so many times is basic humanity," Sherrill said. "We desperately need comprehensive immigration reform. We need to make sure people have a pathway to citizenship who are here, who are working hard, who are paying taxes, DACA recipients, TPS recipients. We also need better border security. We need to know what's coming across our border."
The bill’s sponsors said in a statement that the measure would address what they called "one of the biggest magnets for illegal immigration," which they believe poses a weakness to national security.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimates there are 33,000 births to tourist women in the U.S. annually. CIS further estimates that there are hundreds of thousands more births to illegal aliens or aliens present on temporary visas.
"It is long overdue for the United States to change its policy on birthright citizenship because it is being abused in so many ways," Graham said in the Friday statement.
He pointed to the practice of birth tourism, which he said was enabling "wealthy individuals from China and other nations to come to the United States simply to have a child who will be an American citizen."
"When you look at the magnets that draw people to America, birthright citizenship is one of the largest," said Graham. "I also appreciate President Trump’s executive order to address birthright citizenship. It is time for the United States to align itself with the rest of the world and restrict this practice once and for all."
Currently, standard practice in the U.S. is to grant automatic citizenship to all children born on U.S. soil. This has been the practice only since the 1960s and is based on what some believe is a flawed interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which reads that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025 would clarify that to meet the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" clause, a person born in the U.S. must have at least one parent who is a citizen, national, legal permanent resident, or legal alien serving in the U.S. military on active duty.
The law clarifies that it would not affect the citizenship of anyone born before the law’s passage and would only restrict the citizenship of those born in the U.S. after.
This comes after Trump signed an executive order titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" on his first day in office. The order, which has since been temporarily blocked by a court ruling, directed government agencies to refrain from issuing any documents recognizing the citizenship of any children born in the U.S. to illegal and temporary migrants.
Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that he believes "if this issue gets to the Supreme Court, and it is highly likely that it will, if the court applies the actual text of the amendment and looks at its legislative history — what the sponsors of the bill said at the time — and follows its own precedents in the three cases that looked at this issue, then they will rule in Trump’s favor. This bill would simply clarify what we already know about the amendment and its intent."
"The most important point here is that this bill is not trying to amend the 14th Amendment," he said. "It is simply explaining what the terms of the 14th Amendment mean."
"I think it is important for Congress to reemphasize what it said when it first sponsored and passed the 14th Amendment: that the phrase ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the U.S. would not apply to the child of an alien who is illegally in the U.S. and is, when born, a citizen of the country of the child’s parents, and therefore not subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S.," he went on. "The current statute, 8 USC 1401, simply repeats the language of the 14th Amendment. It has been totally misinterpreted in recent decades by those who mistakenly say the amendment and the federal law only require birth in the U.S."
Echoing the language used in Trump’s order, Britt said that "the promise of American citizenship should not incentivize illegal migration, but that’s exactly what has happened for far too long."
"It’s time to fix this," said Britt. "Senator Lindsey Graham’s and my Birthright Citizenship Act would codify President Trump’s commonsense stance and end the abuse of birthright citizenship that I do not believe is consistent with the original meaning of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. This will protect our nation’s sovereignty, disincentivize illegal migration, and ensure America’s citizenship practices are stronger and better aligned with peer countries around the globe."
This comes after House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Brian Babin, R-Texas, introduced a bill on Jan. 21 to similarly clarify that the 14th Amendment does not include children of those who are in the country illegally or on a temporary basis.
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.
Here's what's happening…
-Trump admin deporting illegal immigrants convicted of a crime is wildly popular among New York voters: poll
-Trump administrations say tariffs are crucial to combating 'drug war'
-Army saw spike in deadly aviation accidents in year before DC plane crash disaster
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staffers were told in an email that its Washington headquarters would be closed to staffers Monday, two sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Some staffers reported getting locked out of the USAID computer systems overnight, according to The Associated Press. People who remained in the system got emails stating that "at the direction of Agency leadership" the headquarters facility "will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3."
Elon Musk, who is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort, had said during an X spaces conversation that President Donald Trump agreed that USAID, which distributes humanitarian, development and security assistance across the world, should be shut down…Read more
NO MORE PROTECTION: Trump admin ends deportation protections for massive number of Venezuelans amid illegal immigration crackdown…Read more
NARCOTICS CRACKDOWN: Counter-drug sea drones utilized by Navy as Trump ramps up military resources at the border…Read more
NEW MISSION: Biden policies spurred Trump's 'quick and drastic' moves to bolster border security, expert says…Read more
TARIFF PAUSE: Mexico agrees to deploy 10,000 troops to US border in exchange for tariff pause…Read more
FUNDING VEHICLE: Biden admin repeatedly used USAID to push abortion in Africa…Read more
RUBIO IN CHARGE: Secretary of State Rubio confirms he's acting administrator of USAID…Read more
RECORD HAUL: Record breaking haul for Senate Republican campaign committee…Read more
WORKING THE PHONE: RFK Jr. spent weekend talking to key senator who could make or break his confirmation…Read more
THE WRIGHT VOTE: Senate to hold confirmation vote on Trump's pick to lead the energy department…Read more
'TERRIBLE IDEA': Dems claim Trump tariff could 'drive up' costs despite deflecting blame from Biden's inflation…Read more
TARGET LIST: Trump-aligned group putting pressure on Republican senators in push to confirm RFK Jr….Read more
DOGE HOUSE: GOP hardliners rally around Trump, Musk rollbacks to key government agency…Read more
RUNNING THE CLOCK: GOP rebels' fury over spending cuts may force Trump budget bill to miss key deadline…Read more
'HALLOWEEN PARTY': Social media roasts Noem over unique style choices…Read more
'AMERICA FIRST': Largest steel producer in US announces support of Trump tariffs…Read more
MANPOWER BOOST: Texas National Guard deputized to make immigration arrests…Read more
'GOOD LUCK': New Jersey governor houses migrant at his house, tells feds 'good luck' trying to get her…Read more
BATTLE OF THE AGs: Republican state AGs back Trump birthright citizenship order in court filing: 'Taxpayers are on the hook'…Read more
NO SANCTUARY SCHOOLS?: Oklahoma superintendent hits back over CNN clash over ICE raids, rejects ‘sanctuary schools’…Read more
CURING THE 'WOKE VIRUS': DEI office closures at universities pile up after another state orders end to ‘woke virus’…Read more
Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
The Trump administration is revamping agency websites to be rid of climate change-filled content, amid a widespread rebranding of federal departments from content deemed as not aligning with President Donald Trump's agenda.
Since taking office two weeks ago, Trump has ordered federal departments to remove particular content from their websites, including mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and "gender ideology."
A Fox News Digital review found that climate change pages on both the Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) websites appear to be down and are not currently functioning. When accessed, the pages are blank with only the statement, "You are not authorized to access this page."
The scrub comes after it was reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ordered officials to review references to climate change on their websites.
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not list climate change on the drop bar of its "environmental topics." Climate and climate change are still referenced on some parts of the website, but they are linked or mentioned on the homepage.
The scrubbing comes after the Trump administration put a short pause on most federal government websites on Friday evening in an effort to eliminate DEI, Fox News Digital previously reported.
The move mirrors a similar rebranding of government websites during Trump's first term, where he also removed references to climate change or climate change effects from several federal departments online pages.
Trump targeted the Biden administration's green energy agenda in his first slew of executive orders, withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, getting rid of the electric vehicle (EV) mandate, and doing away with its climate emissions target.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, USDA and EPA for comment.
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
A nonprofit voter engagement group founded by high-profile Georgia perennial candidate Stacey Abrams reportedly suffered dozens of layoffs two weeks after facing a six-figure state ethics fine for campaign finance violations.
Scores of workers at the New Georgia Project (NGP) have been laid off since Dec. 27, with a dozen more being pink-slipped at the end of January, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
The group describes itself as a "nonpartisan effort to register, civically engage, and build power with the New Georgia Majority… the growing population of Black, brown, young and other historically marginalized voters."
It received attention for helping Democrats flip Georgia in 2020 – when Republicans lost both the presidency and its two Senate seats within three months’ time.
NGP could not be reached by phone and did not respond to a comment request through its contact form.
However, a GoFundMe for affected employees set up by NGP policy director Stephanie Ali described the layoffs and said those subject to the latest round had only three days' notice.
The GoFundMe description said the NGP "has stated these reductions in force (RIFs) are due to economic downturns, reductions in fundraising in an ‘off’ election year, and other contributing factors."
Last month, the state ethics commission found both the organization and its political action fund unlawfully performed work for Abrams’ 2018 gubernatorial bid while failing to report donations and expenditures.
The Georgia Ethics Commission probed the groups and discovered more than $7 million combined was raised for Abrams – a former state House minority leader from Atlanta – and others that cycle.
It administered a Peach State record $300,000 fine via a settlement that involved admission of 16 examples of illegal activity, according to Atlanta News First.
The panel also found that the groups stepped out of legal bounds in connection to a 2019 voter referendum aimed at expanding transit services in Gwinnett County, Georgia's second-most populous county after Fulton, which includes Atlanta.
Abrams founded the NGP in 2014, but told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she left the group in 2017 when she decided to run against now-Gov. Brian Kemp.
"The setbacks at NGP are disappointing, and my thoughts are with those laid off," she told the paper’s "Politically Georgia" vertical. "Regardless of [NGP’s] structure, I will never stop believing in the mission of ensuring every Georgian can make their voice heard."
After Abrams’ departure, Ebenezer Baptist Church Rev. Raphael Warnock led the group until 2019. Fox News Digital reached out to the now-Democratic U.S. senator for his reaction.
Cody Hall, a senior advisor to Kemp, told Fox News Digital he wondered: "What did Stacey Abrams know and when did she know it?"
"Abrams founded NGP, her people ran it for years, and we're all supposed to believe she knew nothing? Give us a break," Hall said.
"Everything we said for the last 10 years about Abrams and her organization was true."
When asked for comment, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones slammed Abrams for using "activists in the mainstream media to try to pull the wool over Georgians’ eyes."
The likely future candidate for higher office added Abrams was "embarrassed" by Kemp two cycles in a row and is "embarrassed again" that her group’s "illegal grift is being exposed."
"The people of Georgia are good judges of character, and the liberal national media are not. Stacey Abrams will go down as one of the biggest frauds in the history of Georgia politics, but I have no doubt the media will learn nothing from this," Jones said.
"We as Georgia Republicans must stay ready to defeat whoever the next Marxist grifter is in 2026."
Georgia's Republican Senate President John F. Kennedy called the NGP news "the tip of the iceberg" for Abrams.
"How many more millions will she fleece from donors to enrich herself or skirt campaign finance rules until the spigot turns off?"
Georgia Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II, a Democrat, declined comment.
According to Atlanta’s FOX affiliate, NGP helped 55,000 Georgians register to vote, more than 80% of whom were Black and 40% were ages 18-25.
FIRST ON FOX: Republican Sens. Tim Scott and Bernie Moreno rolled out a measure to provide President Donald Trump with tools to sanction bad actors "fueling" illegal immigration, Fox News Digital has learned.
Scott, R-S.C., and Moreno, R-Ohio, rolled out the Stop Madness Act on Monday, which they said would give the president the power to place economic sanctions on foreign entities facilitating illegal immigration into the United States.
Specifically, the bill would ensure the president can impose sanctions on foreign governments that refuse to accept the return of their citizens who have unlawfully entered the U.S. — denying them access to the U.S. financial system.
The bill also would sanction individuals and entities that knowingly facilitate unlawful immigration, including human smuggling networks and financial institutions that enable their operations.
It would also authorize Trump to invoke his authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to block assets and restrict transactions related to sanctioned individuals and entities.
The bill also would mandate a report from the president on actions taken pursuant to the bill, providing transparency to Congress for further legislative action.
"If a foreign entity shows resistance to repatriation or enables illegal immigration to the United States, they should be met with the full force of our economic and national security tools," Scott told Fox News Digital on Monday. "The American people gave President Trump — and Congress — a mandate to crack down on illegal immigration, and this bill will ensure the president has important tools to hold accountable countries and criminal organizations who refuse to comply with our immigration laws."
Scott added: "I’m proud to lead this important effort to help protect the safety of Americans."
Moreno told Fox News Digital that the bill will give the president "all the authority he needs to apply maximum pressure against corrupt individuals within foreign governments who refuse to allow the US to secure our borders."
"Socialist dictators like Gustavo Petro are going to learn they have two options with President Trump when it comes to migrant reparations: the easy way and the hard way," Moreno told Fox News Digital.
