He was diagnosed with a seizure, brain bleed and a concussion, adding, "The wound on my head wouldn’t stop oozing, so the doctor punched a couple of staples on the laceration and admitted me."
Cramer described "pretty bad headaches" the following day but said the brain bleed had improved.
"Doctors prefer I rest a little longer before returning to DC, so I do not know exactly when that will happen. It will be day to day this week, but I am ready to return quickly if events require it," he wrote.
Included in the senator's post were photos of bloody snow and his head with staples applied to the wound.
FIRST ON FOX: Attorney General Pam Bondi is warning California, Maine and Minnesota to comply with the federal antidiscrimination laws that require them to keep boys out of women’s sports or face legal action, Fox News has learned.
Bondi sent letters to attorneys general in California, Maine and Minnesota Tuesday, first obtained by Fox News.
"This Department of Justice will hold accountable states and state entities that violate federal law," Bondi wrote. "Indeed, we have already begun to do so."
Bondi was referring to the Justice Department’s move to sue Illinois and New York earlier in February for defying federal immigration laws.
"We also stand ready to sue states and state entities that defy federal antidiscrimination laws," Bondi wrote.
President Donald Trump recently directed the DOJ and the Education Department to prioritize enforcement actions against athletic associations that deny girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against boys.
Bondi said, though, state athletic associations, including in California, Maine and Minnesota, "have issued defiant statements saying that they would continue requiring girls to compete against boys in sports and athletic events."
In Minnesota, Bondi said Attorney General Keith Ellison "issued a legal opinion asserting that the Minnesota State High School League would be violating state law unless it continues this demeaning, unfair, and dangerous practice."
In California, Bondi said the state "should be on notice," amid the Department of Education’s Title IX investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation.
"If the Department of Education’s investigation shows that the Federation is indeed denying girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against boys, the Department of Justice stands ready to take all appropriate action to enforce federal law," Bondi wrote.
Bondi also said "Maine should be on notice," amid the Department of Education’s Title XI investigation into the Maine Department of Education."
"If these or other federal investigations show that the relevant Maine entities are indeed denying girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against boys, the Department of Justice stands ready to take all appropriate action to enforce federal law," Bondi wrote, issuing a similar warning to Minnesota and California.
"I hope that it does not come to this," Bondi wrote. "The Department of Justice does not want to have to sue states or state entities, or seek termination of their federal funds."
Bondi said the Justice Department "only want states and state entities to comply with the law."
"And federal law requires giving girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by ensuring that girls need to compete only with other girls, not with boys," Bondi wrote.
Bondi told Fox News that "this Department of Justice will defend women and does not tolerate state officials who ignore federal law."
"We will leverage every legal option necessary to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump’s Executive Order protecting women’s sports," she said.
Trump’s recent executive order, order 14201, on this subject says that allowing men and boys to compete in women’s and girls’ sports "is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls."
The practice also is illegal under federal law, according to Bondi: It denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports, in violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972.
Bondi's warning comes after Trump sparred with Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills over transgender women in sports, telling her at the White House recently that she must follow his executive order or "you're not going to get any federal funding."
Trump recently threatened to cut off federal funding to Maine before clashing with Mills at a bipartisan meeting of governors.
"Are you not going to comply with that?" Trump asked Mills.
"I'm complying with state and federal laws," she responded, before Trump said "Well, we are the federal law" and "You better do it, you better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't."
"And by the way, your population, even though it's somewhat liberal, although I did very well there, your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports, so you better comply because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding," Trump continued.
"Good, I'll see you in court. I look forward to that," Trump said. "That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor because I don't think you'll be in elected politics."
Twenty-one civil service employees resigned from the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying that they refused to help the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) trim the federal workforce, according to the Associated Press.
The 21 staffers, including engineers, data scientists and product managers, reportedly sent a joint resignation letter stating that they are opposed to using their technical expertise to "compromise core government systems."
"We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services," the 21 employees said in their letter obtained by the AP. "We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions."
DOGE adviser Katie Millier said in an X post that the employees who resigned were "full remote workers who hung Trans flags from their workplaces."
The reported resignations come as DOGE leader Elon Musk has been spearheading the Trump administration's efforts to increase government efficiency by laying off federal employees and eliminating wasteful federal spending.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the resignation letter in a statement to the Associated Press, noting that any court challenges or other protests will not affect Trump from delivering his promises.
"Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits, and lawfare will deter President Trump must have been sleeping under a rock for the past several years," Leavitt reportedly wrote. "President Trump will not be deterred from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers."
Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House about the letter but did not immediately hear back.
The 21 staffers were originally onboarded into DOGE after working for the United States Digital Service, an office established under former President Barack Obama's administration following the botched rollout of Healthcare.gov, according to the AP. The web portal was used by millions of Americans to sign up for insurance plans through the Democrat’s signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act.
The now-former staffers complained about their DOGE onboarding process after Trump took office.
"Several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability," the staffers reportedly wrote in their letter. "This process created significant security risks."
During the transition, 40 staffers were reportedly laid off earlier this month and the 65 remaining staffers were integrated into DOGE. Only 44 employees now remain, according to the AP.
"We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations," the 21 staffers reportedly stated. "However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments."
The victory for Germany’s conservative opposition in Sunday’s election was the latest example of the "Trump effect internationally," according to Ned Ryun, the founder and CEO of American Majority.
"I think you're really seeing is many people waking up and realizing how immoral their leaders are. The moral imperative of every national leader is to prioritize, protect and advance his or her people and nation's interests on every issue," Ryun told Fox News Digital. "To not do that, in fact to sell out your people via terrible trade deals or terrible immigration policy, is deeply immoral."
The comments come after Friedrich Merz of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won the country’s national election Sunday, ousting incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
The election also saw the rise of Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which finished second in the voting, according to exit polls.
The conservative victory in Germany was powered largely by voter discontent with a growing illegal immigration crisis in the country and across Europe, and a revolt against established policy that has been led by President Donald Trump.
"I think more and more politicians are speaking out about it because it's an existential crisis that's dawning on not only some politicians but a growing number of the populace," Ryun said. "This isn't just about the incredible economic costs of immigration being shouldered by the people of a given country. It's about who will we be as a people in the future? What will it mean, if anything, to be a citizen of a country? And what will it even mean to be a country if there are no real borders and mass migration?"
"I think you'll have some indication on the spread of this by what happens with Vox in Spain, AfD in Germany in the next elections, etc.," he added.
Trump himself welcomed the news of the conservative victory in Germany in an all-caps post on social media, calling the result a victory for common sense.
"LOOKS LIKE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN GERMANY HAS WON THE VERY BIG AND HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ELECTION," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "MUCH LIKE THE USA, THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY GOT TIRED OF THE NO COMMON SENSE AGENDA, ESPECIALLY ON ENERGY AND IMMIGRATION, THAT HAS PREVAILED FOR SO MANY YEARS.
"THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR GERMANY, AND FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF A GENTLEMAN NAMED DONALD J. TRUMP," he added. "CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL — MANY MORE VICTORIES TO FOLLOW!!!"
But it remains to be seen just how well Trump will be able to work together with the new German government, with Merz making clear shortly after his victory that it would be an "absolute priority for Germany to "achieve independence" from the United States.
"I would never have thought that I would have to say something like this in a TV show but, after Donald Trump's remarks last week... it is clear that this government does not care much about the fate of Europe," Merz said on Sunday. "My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA."
That skepticism of a new age of cooperating between the U.S. and Germany is shared by Ryun, though he believes Trump will ultimately get what he wants in the form of greater European contributions to its own defense.
"I think Trump will actually have very few opportunities with this new government in Germany," Ryun said. "I think Trump will get what he wants ultimately in forcing Germany and the rest of Europe to grow up. We're not going to fund your national defense anymore so those countries can over invest in social welfare programs. Time to step up to the plate and act like adults and live in reality."
Some of that could change in the future, Ryun stressed, noting that the right-wing AfD party is likely to get locked out of Germany’s coalition government, despite finishing second in Sunday’s election, though the party’s continued momentum could see it make its way into the majority by Germany’s next election.
"I think AfD will be completely shut out, but I think in the next election it could even become the majority party in Germany," Ryun said. "The reason I think AfD will see future success is that Merz and the CDU have already made it abundantly clear that they've no intention of shutting the borders down."
FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is expected to sign a memo Tuesday suspending the security clearances for employees of a top D.C.-based law firm who assisted in former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations, Fox News has learned.
The memo, first reported by Fox News, outlines the administration's sweeping plans to suspend security clearances for all counsel members involved in Jack Smith's dual special counsel investigations into Trump, the White House confirmed.
It's the latest in a string of punitive actions Trump has taken to strip power from his political and legal foes.
The memo orders the federal government to review and terminate the engagement of law firm Covington & Burling by the U.S. government "to the maximum extent permitted by law," and will conduct a detailed evaluation of funding decisions to ensure they with American citizens’ interests and the priorities of this Administration, as detailed in executive directives.
Among those targeted is Peter Koski, the former deputy chief of the Justice Department's public integrity section. Covington vice chair Lanny Breuer, who helped lead the Justice Department's criminal division under then-President Barack Obama, is also expected to be squarely in the crosshairs of the review. Breuer, for his part, had recruited Smith in 2010 to head up DOJ's Public Integrity Section.
The two made headlines earlier this month after Politico reported they had been offering pro bono legal services to Jack Smith prior to his resignation from the Justice Department last month.
The White House said Tuesday that the firm had offered Smith $140,000 in free legal services.
In revoking the government clearances of top Justice Department personnel, the administration said Trump is "sending a clear message that the Federal Government will no longer tolerate the abuse of power by partisan actors who exploit their positions for political gain."
"The Federal Government will review and terminate engagement of Covington & Burling LLP by the United States to the maximum extent permitted by law," the memo is expected to say, according to a White House official.
Smith was tapped by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump's keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence after leaving the White House.
Smith also brought federal charges against Trump in Florida for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Both cases were dropped after Trump's election, in keeping with a longstanding Justice Department memo that states it is against DOJ policy to investigate a sitting president for federal criminal charges.
The memo says it is a violation of the separation of powers doctrine to do so. They have also cited a July Supreme Court decision that widened the criteria for immunity for sitting presidents.
Covington & Burling LLP did not immediately respond to Fox News's request for comment.
This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
When Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk asked federal staffers to respond to a personal productivity email or get fired – not all federal agencies complied.
While some leaders of federal agencies voiced support for the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) email instructing staffers to provide a summary of the tasks they accomplished the previous week by Monday at 11:59 p.m., and participated themselves, others instructed their agencies to ignore it.
One million federal workers did comply with Musk's request, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.
"All federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working and moving," Leavitt told reporters at the White House Tuesday. "We have a country to save, and we want this federal government to be responsive to the needs of the American people who re-elected this president to have historic, massive reform. And that's what the intention of this idea is."
Musk unveiled the email in a post on X Saturday and cautioned that a failure to reply was equivalent to handing in a resignation.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk wrote. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
Although the deadline has passed, it's not over for those who didn't reply. Musk said later on Monday in a post on X that "subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance" to respond. Failure to do so will result in termination, he said.
However, the White House said Tuesday that employees should look to their own agency for guidance on how to proceed with the directive.
"Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity," a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken."
Musk is heading up the newly created DOGE, which aims to reduce government waste and fraud.
Here are the agencies that followed Musk’s directive:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy listed five accomplishments he completed for the week, pointing to the Trump administration’s effort to halt New York City's congestion pricing toll program, which charges passenger vehicles $9 to enter certain areas of Manhattan.
"Mr. President, 5 things I did last week:" Duffy posted to X Monday. "1. Terminated NYC elitist, anti-worker congestion pricing. 2. Launched an investigation into the $16 billion in taxpayer dollars wasted on a high-speed rail project that, after 17 years, has yet to lay a single mile of track. 3. Saved $10 million a year by eliminating redundant and outdated landlines."
Other tasks Duffy listed included visiting the Air Traffic Control Command Center in Warrenton, Virginia, and touring the Burbank, California, traffic control tower.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins posted his own productivity report to X Monday, taking credit for processing 1 million disability claims for fiscal year 2025 and identifying "wasteful" contracts to cancel.
"I launched a review of VA’s community care practices so we can maximize Veterans’ health care choices (more on this in the future)!" Collins said in the post.
Kelly Loeffler, who is leading the Small Business Administration (SBA), shared a list with Fox News Digital of five things she accomplished following her Wednesday confirmation.
Among the tasks she cited were supporting "the Office of the Advocate to work across agencies to cut burdensome regulation imposed on small businesses," and establishing the Office of Manufacturing and Trade to advance President Donald Trump’s "America First" agenda.
Other tasks included creating a fraud working group to analyze loan fraud and meeting with governors to discuss SBA’s services at the state level.
SBA aims to provide small business owners with counseling, capital and contracting expertise to advance their businesses.
Here are the agencies that have pushed back on Musk’s email edict:
Darin Selnick, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, issued a letter Sunday to civilian personnel at the Pentagon about how to handle the matter.
"When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM," he wrote. "For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled, 'What did you do last week.'"
The State Department also ensured its staff didn’t need to feel compelled to respond to OPM’s email.
"The State Department will respond on behalf of the Department," Tibor Nagy, the acting undersecretary of management, said in an email Saturday. "No employee is obligated to report their activities outside their Department chain of command."
FBI Director Kash Patel also instructed his employees to disregard Musk’s email.
"FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information," Patel told employees in an email on Saturday. "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses."
Likewise, the Justice Department also issued similar instructions, according to a letter obtained by CNN.
While the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) didn’t order its employees to disregard the OPM email, it did warn its personnel to exercise caution if they chose to respond and use "a high level of generality and describe your work in a manner to protect sensitive data," NBC News reported.
"There is no HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to OPM and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond," the email from HHS said, according to NBC News. "That said, if you choose to respond, here are the guidelines you should follow."
"Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly," the email said.
An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Ohio’s new law, which designates student restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities be categorized for use by biological sex, took effect Tuesday.
The law, signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in November, was a major win for Republicans, and derided by critics, including on the Buckeye State’s many college campuses.
"No school shall permit a member of the female biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room, or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the male biological sex," the text of the law reads.
There are exceptions made for single-person "family restrooms" and other similar latrines.
"The bathroom bill going into effect is a victory for privacy, safety, and common sense. Ohio is standing up for women and girls by ensuring that bathrooms and locker rooms remain single-sex spaces," Ohio House Majority Whip Nick Santucci, R-Niles, told Fox News Digital.
Santucci said just as Texas and Florida led the nation on this issue, Ohio is stepping up as well.
"With the upcoming [midterm] election, Ohio is set to become a state to watch," he said.
"This is a small step in proving that Ohio is a state of common sense and leadership."
The whip said to expect more "bold" legislation from Columbus as the Buckeye State takes the "lead in protecting its citizens and upholding conservative values."
State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Cleveland, the bill's sponsor, said at the time of DeWine’s signing, the policy "protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable."
Among those college students and leaders who are opposed to the policy, the law’s enaction comes at a time for "soul-searching," according to the Associated Press.
Oberlin College published policies saying the school will comply with the law, and is offering counseling. The school is also reportedly allowing pupils to move out of their dormitories, according to the outlet.
A student at Antioch College told the AP the law is bound to cause "uncertainty" on campus.
"It’s in the back of your head that this law is hanging over us."
The White House Correspondents Association will no longer be responsible for determining which outlets get privileged access to the briefing room and the White House, President Donald Trump's administration announced Tuesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the White House press team will now determine the rotations and which outlets get access, upending decades of WHCA supremacy. Leavitt clarified that legacy media outlets that have been prominent within the WHCA will still have a presence at briefings, and that the five major television networks will still be relied on to broadcast White House events.
"I am proud to announce that we are going to give the power back to the people who read your papers, who watch your television shows, and who listen to your radio stations. Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team. Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not. But we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility," Leavitt told reporters during Tuesday's briefing.
The announcement comes just days after the Associated Press sued the Trump White House for denying the outlet access to the briefing room, Air Force One and other exclusive areas. A federal judge ruled in favor of the White House on Monday.
Leavitt argued the WHCA had represented an entrenched monopoly of "DC journalists" who no longer represented the wider media landscape and how Americans get their news.
"A select group of D.C.-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House. All journalists, outlets and voices deserve a seat at this highly coveted table," she said.
The Trump White House had earlier introduced a "new media seat" in the briefing room to provide access to more diverse outlets. The digital outlet Semafor was represented at Tuesday's briefing.
The White House originally blocked The Associated Press last week from the Oval Office and Air Force One because the news organization has refrained from renaming the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America."
"The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press' commitment to misinformation. While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One," White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich wrote on X.
"Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration," Budowich continued. "Associate Press journalists and photographers will retain their credentials to the White House complex."
AP senior vice president and executive editor Julie Pace wrote to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles last week after a reporter was blocked from attending a White House event.
"The actions taken by this White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech," Pace wrote, according to an AP report. "It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say."
Federal employees within the intelligence community are under investigation for allegedly misusing an internal agency messaging board to dish on their sexual fantasies under the guise of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), officials say.
Chat logs from the National Security Agency's (NSA) "Intelink" messaging platform, obtained by researchers from the conservative Manhattan Institute reportedly via sources within the NSA, revealed employees from various intelligence agencies discussing their experiences with gender-reassignment surgery, artificial genitalia, hormone therapy, polyamory and pronoun usage. Some of these agencies reportedly include the Defense Intelligence Agency, U.S. Naval Intelligence and the NSA.
One Defense Intelligence Agency officer who had gender transition surgery appears to have written messages about experiences "being penetrated," while other messages included graphic descriptions of laser hair removal, hormone replacement therapy and breast augmentation, among other procedures. Some discussions included talk about sexual arousal post-operation and other lewd sexual experiences.
After the Intelink chat logs were released Monday, an NSA spokesperson indicated to Fox News Digital that it was "actively investigating" potential abuses of the agency-operated messaging platform.
"NSA hosts the Intelink service for the Intelligence Community. As the service provider, NSA takes very seriously the allegations in this reporting, and, if accurate, they would be violations of longn-standing Intelligence Community policy," the agency spokesperson said. "The Intelligence Community places great trust in those personnel that we authorize to access U.S. Government systems, and in return we expect full compliance with all laws, policies and regulations which govern our work."
Meanwhile, recently confirmed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called the uncovered behavior "unacceptable," writing on social media that "those involved WILL be held accountable."
"These disgusting chat groups were immediately shut down when [the president] issued his EO ending the DEI insanity the Biden Admin was obsessed with," Gabbard wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday evening. "Our IC must be focused on our core mission: ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people."
The chat logs in question stemmed from DEI-focused groups hosted on the NSA's Intelink Messenger, titled "LBTQA" and "IC_Pride_TWG," according to the Manhattan Institute's Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow. Rufo said the sources that approached him indicated the sexually explicit chats were given legitimacy through the NSA's DEI efforts, which the agency has described as "not only mission critical, but mission imperative."
The messages were part of DEI-focused employee resource groups that had been hijacked by activists who "spent all day" holding meetings with titles such as "Privilege," "Ally Awareness," "Pride," and "Transgender Community Inclusion," the source who leaked the chat logs reportedly informed the Manhattan Institute.
The source recounted, according to Rufo, that they were particularly "disgusted" by a chat that included discussions of weekend group sex.
Other discussions included conversations about spending thousands of dollars in countries like Italy and Thailand to obtain gender-reassignment surgery, experiences of being publicly "groped" at a concert, and using "it/its" pronouns.
The NSA source highlighted to Rufo that the chat logs raised questions about some intel officials' mental fitness for their jobs. "These are folks with top secret clearances believing they are an IT!" the source said to Rufo.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report Tuesday detailing areas of the federal government especially vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse, hours ahead of a House Oversight Committee hearing to discuss its findings.
The government's chief watchdog releases a report at the start of each Congress to identify which federal programs are most susceptible to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.
Tuesday's report, which includes recommendations to executive branch agencies as well as Congress, is the first delivered during the age of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency.
The GAO’s 2025 High-Risk List highlights 38 areas across the federal government "that are seriously vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or that are in need of transformation."
The report cites $84 billion in savings as a result of GAO recommendations over the past two years, but the watchdog adds that "the progress made overall varied."
The watchdog added a new section this year dedicated to federal disaster assistance in the wake of California wildfires and back-to-back hurricanes that pounded the Southeast over the past several months.
GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the report.
Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has billed the report as a "roadmap" provided to the Trump administration and DOGE, led by Elon Musk, to "take on the runaway federal bureaucracy."
"Despite GAO’s recommendations to protect taxpayers and their comprehensive reports released each year, bloated federal programs continue to squander taxpayer funds and fail to meet basic objectives. Americans are tired of the federal government failing its report card and demand action," Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement last week. "Americans are demanding action and President Trump, DOGE, and Republicans in Congress are delivering on that promise."
Last year, 27 natural disasters caused at least $1 billion in economic damage and 568 deaths. The GAO assessed that the "federal approach to disaster recovery is fragmented across over 30 federal entities," meaning "many entities involved with multiple programs and authorities, differing requirements and timeframes, and limited data sharing across entities could make it harder for survivors and communities to navigate federal programs."
"FEMA and other federal entities – including Congress – need to address the nation's fragmented federal approach to disaster recovery," according to the report summary. "Attention is also needed to improve processes for assisting survivors, invest in resilience, and strengthen FEMA's disaster workforce and capacity."
President Donald Trump surprised guests at the first White House tour of the year Tuesday, drawing a "USA!" chant after thanking them for visiting.
"I want to thank you very much for coming. The tour is so great... the First Lady worked very hard in making it perfect and I think you are going to really love it," Trump was heard telling the group in a video shared by the White House. "And I heard you were here and I said ‘let’s stop by and say hello.’"
"It's a group of very smart looking people I must say, very smart, maybe someday you'll be here as the president, right?" Trump continued, drawing laughter from the crowd. "Somebody in this group has a chance. Have a good time, have a great tour."
"You are going to get a special tour. Have fun everybody," Trump concluded, before a "USA!" chant broke out.
"Tours of the White House include the public rooms in the East Wing and the Residence, which include the Vermeil Room, the Library, the China Room, the Blue Room, Red Room, Green Room, the State Dining Room, and a view of the White House Kennedy Garden," the White House said.
"Secret Service Officers are stationed along the tour route and are available to answer questions about each room’s history, art, furnishings, current uses, and beyond," it added.
More than one million federal workers participated in the Elon Musk and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directive to provide a bullet-point list of their work accomplishments from the previous week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday in a press briefing.
"I can announce that we've had more than one million workers who have chosen to participate in this very simple task of, again, sending five bullet points to your direct supervisor or manager and CC'ing OPM," Leavitt told Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich when asked about the directive during Tuesday's briefing. "I actually participated in it myself. It took me about a minute and a half to think of five things I did last week. I do five things in about ten minutes, and all federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working and moving."
"We have a country to save, and we want this federal government to be responsive to the needs of the American people who reelected this president to have historic, massive reform. And that's what the intention of this idea is," she said.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish.
Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk's directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management.
Musk added to X on Monday evening that, "subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."
"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!" he wrote in a separate post. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?"
When asked Tuesday about the "actual deadline" for federal employees to comply with the directive following Musk's X post that employees will "be given another chance," Leavitt explained that "agency heads will determine the best practices for their employees at their specific agency."
"This was an idea that Elon [came] up with. DOGE worked with OPM to actually implement the idea. And the secretaries are responsible for their specific workforce. And this is true of the hirings and the firings that have taken place. And we advise federal workers, unless your agency has dictated you not to, to respond to this email," she said.
The White House told Fox News Digital earlier Tuesday that individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week
"Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity," a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken."
A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a "friendly" rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis.
FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email.
"That was done in a friendly manner," Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. "Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they're working on confidential things. And they don't mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They're just saying there are some people that you don't want to really have them tell you what they're working on last week."
Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital.
Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, "Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth," while a caption over the arrow reads, "What did you get done last week?"
Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren't actually carrying out tasks.
"There was a lot of genius in sending it," Trump said Monday from the White House. "We're trying to find out if people are working. And so we're sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person or they're not working."
Congressional Democrats want to make sure President Donald Trump and his administration don't attempt to impound, or choose not to spend some of the money that is allocated in a new spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on the March 14 deadline.
They are specifically demanding assurance that Trump spends the money as Congress has appropriated, and this could take shape in a provision in the bill to stop the government from shutting down next month, four sources familiar with the discussions shared with Fox News Digital.
The demand comes as Trump and congressional Democrats continue to feud over the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which reasserted Congress' power of the purse and barred the executive branch from holding back any appropriated funds.
However, some constitutional scholars have argued this law was unconstitutional, a philosophy that Trump and his Office of Management and Budget (OMB) chief Russell Vought share.
The clash over impoundment could eventually prompt the courts to rule on it.
"The administration will not accept infringement on its lawful or constitutional authorities," White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"Yeah, I think we're looking through and considering all the various possibilities at this point of how to comply with it," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"And again, I remind people, we're in this situation because the Democrats didn't move a single appropriation bill last year across the floor, even though 11 of them had been passed by the committee. So this is a pileup that they created, and now we have to try and figure out how to manage. But we'll sort it out and figure out how to keep the government funded," he added.
As the majority leader referenced, the government has been funded largely through stopgap spending bills in recent years, with the Democrats unwilling to bring appropriations bills to the floor when they were at the helm in the previous Congress.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., spoke up during the GOP conference meeting on Tuesday, telling his colleagues that Democrats were asking for too high a price in negotiations that is restraining Trump's authority, a Republican lawmaker shared with Fox News Digital.
"We cannot just reach an agreement, pass a bill, and then stand by while President Trump rips our laws in half," Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., said recently, her office noted. "There is a serious, bipartisan path forward for our country – but it is one where Congress works together to avoid a shutdown, stops the de facto shutdown that is already happening, and reasserts its authority to protect the funding our communities need."
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, also previously told reporters that Democrats' request for guarantees from the Trump administration is "certainly a major issue," as her office referenced.
She explained, "There's still not agreement. We're close, but there's still not agreement on the topline and the allocation under that for defense and non-defense. I've made four different offers. The last one was a joint offer with Tom Cole, and it was a very fair offer, as were all the others."
Democrats are in a position they haven't been in the first several weeks of the new Congress as the two parties attempt to negotiate a spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown: They have leverage.
Republicans are going to need some level of Democratic support for a spending bill in order to get it through the House and Senate. Sixty votes are needed in the Senate, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to back the bill, provided that all Republicans also support it. In the House, only a majority is needed, but full Republican support of any bill is not guaranteed.
With that in mind, Democrats are using their position to try and rein in Trump's actions as it relates to shaking up the federal bureaucracy and canceling spending and contracts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which billionaire Elon Musk was tapped to lead.
The White House, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Cole did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.
A Biden-era legal win that allowed the president to fire certain board members set the stage for President Donald Trump to can several people who sat on the Kennedy Center board.
Former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer – one of the plaintiffs in that case, Spicer v. Biden – told Fox News Digital that, evidently enough, the suit was "about sending a message to the President of the United States."
With Trump under fire for removing multiple Kennedy Center board members earlier this month, Spicer says his loss is Trump's win.
"The idea was to make sure that the Republican Party in the future had the legal backing to do what President Trump is doing now," Spicer said.
Upon starting his term in 2021, President Joe Biden attempted to remove Spicer, current director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought and others from their positions on the Board of Visitors for the Naval Academy.
Spicer and Vought were serving statutory terms on the Naval Academy board after being appointed by Trump during his first term. Spicer's term was set to expire in December 2021.
At the time, he was also serving on the Commission of White House Fellows, to which he submitted his resignation shortly after Biden entered the Oval Office.
On Sept. 8, 2021, Spicer and Vought received a letter from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, stating, "I am writing to request your resignation from the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy. If we do not receive your resignation by end of day today, you will be terminated," according to the initial complaint.
Spicer said he would not be resigning. America First Legal, founded by current Trump White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, approached the board members with the proposal to pursue a lawsuit against the Biden administration.
"This is about sending a message to make the President of the United States go to court and argue that he had the right to fire any of these people," Spicer said. "It was America First Legal that came up with the strategy, andwe were the two appointees that agreed to be the example."
Spicer said the suit "was not about getting back on the board," and the irony of it all was that the goal was to lose the case in the courts.
"The goal was to make sure that a future Republican president had the legal backing to clean house when they came into office and to be able to point to President Biden as the reason," Spicer said.
The suit was ultimately dismissed by the district court while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in a similar case, Severino v. Biden, that a presidential appointee similar to Spicer and Vought could be removed by the president at will.
"I think it was sort of to acknowledge that, even though it was unprecedented because the Kennedy Center Board had always been bipartisan, there was nothing to prevent Donald Trump from doing exactly that – appointing the trustees whom he wanted, and then having those trustees vote to have him become chairman of the Kennedy Center Board," John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
Since the start of his second term, Trump and his administration have become the targets of over 70 lawsuits over his executive orders and directives, many of which seek to delineate how much power the executive branch truly has.
On Friday, the Supreme Court paused the Trump administration's efforts to dismiss former head of the Office of Special Counsel, Hampton Dellinger, after a lower court reinstated the Biden appointee to his post.
In its initial appeal to the high court, the Trump administration argued that the judiciary is attempting "to seize executive power" as courts have blocked the president from firing certain federal employees.
Likewise, just several weeks back, Trump's Justice Department penned a letter to Congress stating that it was seeking to overturn a landmark Supreme Court case in an effort to give the president greater control over independent three-letter agencies.
"The idea would be [that] we have a unitary executive and all that means is in Article II of the Constitution, that vests all executive branch authority in one president," Malcolm said. "And the idea is that if you are an executive branch official, it is implied that the Constitution gives the president the authority to keep those officials or not keep those officials so that if they are not properly implementing executive branch policies, that the buck stops with the president and he can fire people."
Amid the legal pushback toward the Trump agenda, Spicer said, in hindsight, he and AFL "took a page out of [Trump's] book to begin with."
"I think Trump, from the day he came down the escalator at Trump Tower, basically told conservatives, ‘Stop being such wusses and learn to fight back,’" Spicer said. "So, it was Trump in 2015, 2016 that made it clear that conservatives don't have to sit and take it anymore. We can fight back. And that was kind of the notion of this lawsuit."
EXCLUSIVE: Some House Republicans are increasingly frustrated with Elon Musk's handling of his role in the federal government – frustrations that flared during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., raised concerns about Republican lawmakers not being on the "same page" as the White House and Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), three people in the room told Fox News Digital.
And he's not the only GOP lawmaker who feels that way.
"He wants to see better communication between DOGE, the president, and the House, because we’re getting fed to the wolves, while Elon’s just tweeting," one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital.
A second GOP lawmaker said, "I’m going to echo Austin’s comments about, you know, it would be nice to have some heads up. There’s a lot of questions."
"Words matter, right? So let’s make sure we’re putting out accurate information that’s correct," the second lawmaker said.
Two House Republicans said Scott warned DOGE needed to "measure twice, cut once" in its audits of the federal government.
Two others, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and another lawmaker, said Scott took issue with Musk re-posting a meme on X that referred to people on federal benefits as the "parasite class."
"What Elon was talking about is those who are gaming the system are parasites. But Austin looks at it differently, which is fine, Austin means right. But he said his people took offense to that," Norman said.
Scott told Fox News Digital he supported DOGE's goals but reaffirmed his frustration.
"DOGE's recent requests for federal employees should have been coordinated with the agencies before they were issued. I fully support those agencies working with DOGE to improve efficiency and eliminate tax dollar waste," Scott said in a written statement. "With that being said, referring to Americans who may need government assistance as ‘parasites’ is unacceptable in any circumstance."
House lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday after a week in their home districts, during which more than half a dozen Republicans were confronted by constituents who were searching for more answers on DOGE. Several demonstrations were facilitated by progressive groups.
GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital all said they support the goal of cutting government waste but had issues with Musk's methods – several raised specific issues with his directive that federal employees email five bullet points on the work they did last week.
While the email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) did not mention job status, Musk posted on X that employees who failed to comply could be terminated.
"It’s not how most normal good bosses would lay off somebody," a third House Republican told Fox News Digital. "Some of them may be bad, but most of them are good. Treat them like Americans."
A fourth House Republican, a member of the House DOGE Caucus, told Fox News Digital that Musk's comments were not "helpful."
Another person took issue with Musk's suggestion of stimulus checks for Americans using DOGE savings.
"I think it's childish," that person said. "Now we want to take the money for waste, fraud, and abuse that was collected by the federal government and give everyone $5,000…or we could just pay off the national debt, or we could use that for the next round of appropriations we have to pay for here in Congress."
Others were public with their frustration, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who posted on X, "Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it."
Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said it was up to the executive branch to deal with its personnel.
"Reductions in force are up to the executive branch agencies and the executive branch, which is run by President Trump. So if President Trump wants to make cuts to the executive branch agencies, that’s his prerogative," Rutherford said.
And the vast majority of Republicans are still backing Musk, at least publicly.
"I would say that I think the vast majority, the American people, understand and applaud and appreciate the DOGE effort, the goal to scale down the size and scope of government," Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "The reason we're excited about what Elon Musk and the team at DOGE are doing, the end result of that is going to be achieving the goal that we've always had, and that is to make government more efficient."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House's DOGE spokesperson for comment.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others are advocating relocating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the Sunshine State.
The governor, who expressed support for the idea last month, has continued to do so, saying in comments last week that he thinks relocating the headquarters to Florida would "probably save about a billion dollars, quite frankly."
Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., who DeSantis selected to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, is also pushing the idea — Rubio left the Senate in order to serve as Secretary of State in President Donald Trump's cabinet.
"We need to move @NASA’s headquarters to Florida’s Space Coast. The move would save taxpayers money, encourage collaboration with private space companies, and tap into Florida’s talented workforce in the aerospace industry to spur further innovation," she said in a Monday post on X.
"This is a no-brainer for @DOGE," DeSantis declared when replying to Moody's post in a tweet on Tuesday. "Right now the Feds are planning on a building a new, expensive headquarters in DC for NASA — even though very few NASA employees have showed up to the current DC office over the past four years!"
A November post on NASA's website noted, "The current NASA Headquarters lease expires in August 2028, and the agency already has evaluated multiple options including leasing or purchasing within the District of Columbia."
A NASA spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Tuesday, "The NASA Headquarters building lease is up in 2028, and the agency continues to work through options."
Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., chair of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, responded to Moody's post with several emojis, including the thumbs-up, rocket, and American flag, adding in his tweet on Monday, "Florida is the place for space in America!"
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., issued a letter to Trump last month advocating moving the NASA headquarters to her state.
"While Washington, D.C., has historically been the home of NASA's headquarters, the rapidly evolving space landscape demands a more integrated and efficient approach to space policy. Florida's Space Coast, home to key facilities like the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is uniquely positioned to support this transformation and strengthen America's leadership in space exploration," she said in the letter.
Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week, a White House official told Fox News Digital.
"Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity," a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken."
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish.
Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk's directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk wrote on X Saturday. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
"To be clear, the bar is very low here," Musk wrote. "An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write."
Musk added to X on Monday evening that, "subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."
"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!" he wrote in a separate post. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?"
A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a "friendly" rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis.
FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email.
"That was done in a friendly manner," Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. "Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they're working on confidential things. And they don't mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They're just saying there are some people that you don't want to really have them tell you what they're working on last week."
Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital.
Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, "Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth," while a caption over the arrow reads, "What did you get done last week?"
Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren't actually carrying out tasks.
"There was a lot of genius in sending it," Trump said Monday from the White House. "We're trying to find out if people are working. And so we're sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person or they're not working."
The left-wing groups backing the anti-DOGE protests across the country have been funding a variety of progressive causes in recent years, including defunding the police, pushing socialism, anti-Israel protests and opposing President Donald Trump’s agenda in general.
In a press release earlier this month, MoveOn.org announced that it was mobilizing resources as part of a "Congress Works for Us, Not Musk" initiative "aimed at pressuring lawmakers to fight back against the Trump-Musk agenda."
MoveOn.org has taken millions of dollars from George Soros and his Open Society Policy Center in recent years. Soros is one of the most prominent backers in the United States of left-wing issues, including backing progressive district attorneys that set out to "reimagine policing" in the United States.
Additionally, Fox News Digital has previously reported on the Soros network's ties to the anti-Israel protests that swept the country on college campuses last year.
Elon Musk has ramped up his criticism of Soros in recent months, particularly after former President Joe Biden awarded Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
MoveOn.org has also taken money from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which Fox News Digital previously reported has poured tens of millions of dollars into progressive causes in recent years and is bankrolled in part by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss.
On June 5, 2020, MoveOn was calling for the defunding of police for the "defense of Black life," and the group has been a vocal opponent of U.S. Immigration and Customes Enforcement (ICE) while promoting individuals who want to abolish the outfit and sharing a letter in February 2021 claiming that "ICE and CBP were built to terrorize Black and brown communities."
"It’s no surprise the Biden Administration’s favorite billionaires are paying far-left activist groups to hold events designed to villainize Republicans," Congressional Leadership Fund spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair told Fox News Digital. "Democrats will do anything and everything they possibly can to stop President Trump and House Republicans from accomplishing the work the American people elected them to do."
Another group getting involved in the protests against Musk’s DOGE efforts has long been a major player in progressive politics.
"Constituents braved the bitter cold at recess actions organized by the Working Families Party," a press release from the Working Families Party (WFP) said earlier this month, touting the group’s efforts to organize protests in multiple states at the offices of Republican officials.
"The actions took place in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Rally speakers called attention to Donald Trump and the GOP’s plan to gut Medicaid, Medicare, and abolish the Department of Education."
The WFP, which self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders once said is the "closest thing there is to a political party that believes in my vision of democratic socialism", is a vocal supporter of the progressive "Squad" in Congress and has frequently advocated for defunding the police and ending cash bail in the past.
Maurice Mitchell, national director for WFP, hosted a "Progressives for Harris" video call in August 2024 – calling on his "comrades" to find "solidarity" in the fight against "Trumpism" and "American authoritarianism."
A year before that, the WFP was actively criticizing Israel on social media over its immediate response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack carried out by Hamas that killed over 1,400 people.
"We call on President Biden, Secretary Blinken and the administration to do everything in their power to push for de-escalation, a cease-fire, & adherence to international law," WFP posted on X days after the terrorist attack. "And we renew our call for the occupation to end as the necessary condition for any lasting peace."
Financial disclosures show that WFP gave money to several progressive candidates during the 2024 cycle, including former Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, in addition to Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Pramila Jayapal.
Indivisible, a grassroots progressive organization, put out a memo encouraging activists to use last week’s recess to protest House lawmakers at their home offices amid the left’s backlash against Musk’s DOGE efforts, Fox News Digital previously reported.
"Recess is when Members of Congress go back home to host town halls, meet with constituents, and try to paint themselves as responsive to the people who elected them. It is also when MoCs think they can avoid public scrutiny — especially Republicans who want to dodge tough questions about their complicity in Trump and Musk’s coup," the group’s site said.
Indivisible’s website states that it was originally "brought together by a practical guide to resist the Trump agenda" and has previously supported defunding the police along with ending cash bail.
"The Democrat Party has sold themselves out to the far-left crazies and their mega-donors who are funding these clown shows," NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital.
"This isn’t grassroots — it’s manufactured outrage to distract from their failed and out of touch record."
Fox News Digital reached out to MoveOn, WFP, Indivisible, Open Society Foundations and the Wyss Foundation for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report
Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week, a White House official told Fox News Digital.
"Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity," a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken."
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish.
Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk's directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk wrote on X Saturday. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
"To be clear, the bar is very low here," Musk wrote. "An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write."
Musk added to X on Monday evening that, "subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."
"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!" he wrote in a separate post. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?"
A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a "friendly" rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis.
FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email.
"That was done in a friendly manner," Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. "Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they're working on confidential things. And they don't mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They're just saying there are some people that you don't want to really have them tell you what they're working on last week."
Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital.
Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, "Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth," while a caption over the arrow reads, "What did you get done last week?"
Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren't actually carrying out tasks.
"There was a lot of genius in sending it," Trump said Monday from the White House. "We're trying to find out if people are working. And so we're sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person or they're not working."
Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Monday that $2.1 billion in federal funds had been unfrozen and restored to Pennsylvania, as Democratic governors rely on the courts to challenge President Donald Trump's executive actions.
Shapiro sued the Trump administration on Feb. 13, joining the initial 22 states and the District of Columbia with lawsuits challenging Trump's allegedly "illegal" federal funding freeze. Shapiro said legal action was necessary to restore Pennsylvania’s federal funding.
Shapiro, who was in Washington for the National Governors Association (NGA) last week, said he urged senior members of the Trump administration to unfreeze the federal funds.
"When I was at the White House on Friday, I again raised the issue of our frozen federal funding to President Trump's senior team and members of his Cabinet," Shapiro told reporters Monday. "I urged them to follow the law and to honor their agreements with Pennsylvania. As a result of that direct engagement last week, our funding is unfrozen. They are now following the law, and we will continue to press our case."
Shapiro said his directness earned Pennsylvania access to the funds "duly owed to us."
"I was very direct with them. They were very responsive to me. And as a result, Pennsylvania now has what is duly owed to us," Shapiro added.
The White House Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to halt federal funding on Jan. 27 in compliance with Trump's executive orders. Federal judges had issued a temporary restraining order to block the funding freeze ahead of Shapiro's lawsuit, but only states with litigation against the Trump administration were able to access the unfrozen funds.
"As a result of our lawsuit and our continued pressure and engagement with the Trump administration, in which we demanded that the administration comply with the legal injunctions currently in place, we made clear that we were ready to seek immediate relief from the courts. Every dollar that we identified at the filing of our lawsuit is currently unfrozen and, once again, accessible to all Pennsylvania state agencies," Shapiro said.
The $2.1 billion in federal funding restores what Shapiro described as "critical programs and infrastructure projects that have been jeopardized by this illegal freeze." Those programs include plugging abandoned wells, cleaning waterways, protecting farmers from runoff water, repairing mines and delivering clean water to Pennsylvanians, Shapiro said. He said several projects that were halted have been restored and dozens of federal employees are now back to work.
Shapiro said it is his responsibility as governor to take legal action against the federal government when necessary to deliver for Pennsylvania.
"It is my job to protect Pennsylvania's interests, and I will use every tool at my disposal, from legal action to my direct engagement, to make sure that Pennsylvanians are protected, and that the funds Pennsylvanians rely on every day, the funds that Pennsylvanians pay in federal taxes make their way back to our Commonwealth, and we receive every federal dollar that we are owed," Shapiro said.
The legal dance of Trump’s executive actions is on full display in Shapiro’s litigation as the governor said suing the Trump administration was the only way to unfreeze Pennsylvania’s federal funds. Shapiro’s legal win is the latest in ongoing litigation between the state and federal governments.
During the Governor's Working Session at the White House on Friday, when Shapiro told senior Trump officials to restore his state’s federal funding, Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, was telling Trump, "We’ll see you in court."
Trump told Mills, in a moment NGA Vice Chairman Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., described as "uncomfortable," that Maine would not receive any federal funding if she did not comply with his executive order to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Mills said in a statement that Maine would "not be intimidated by the president’s threats."
"If the president attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of federal funding, my administration and the attorney general will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides," Mills added.
As Trump continues to implement part of his agenda through executive action, Democrats are relying on federal litigation to challenge the Trump administration’s executive authority, that many call a "constitutional crisis."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pennsylvania's unfrozen federal funds.
