All 40 illegal migrants held at the Guantánamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba have been sent back to the United States and are now being held in Louisiana, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News.
The group includes 23 "high-threat illegal aliens" who were held at the detention facility on base and 17 migrants who were held at the migrant operations center on base.
The illegal migrants were transported to Louisiana via Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aircraft and there are currently no migrants being held at the base and no flights scheduled to arrive with more migrants, the officials said.
The U.S. defense officials were not told why the 40 migrants were sent back to the United States, and Homeland Security and ICE have not yet responded to any inquiries about why they were sent back and where in Louisiana they are being held.
It is unclear if the U.S. will continue to hold migrants at the base, commonly known as "Gitmo." None of the 195 tents that were set up to hold migrants have been used because they do not meet ICE standards, according to several U.S. defense officials, such as having air conditioning and other amenities.
In late January, President Donald Trump instructed the Pentagon to prepare 30,000 beds at the base to house "criminal illegal aliens" who pose a threat to the American public, adding that putting them there would ensure they do not come back. The president said the move would bring the U.S. one step closer to "eradicating the scourge" of migrant crime in communities, once and for all.
The 45-square-mile base, located about 430 miles southeast of Miami, is best known for detaining terrorism suspects, including those behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It's been leased from Cuba since 1903 and serves as a key operational and logistics hub for maritime security, humanitarian assistance and joint operations.
News of the migrants being sent to Louisiana comes as President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in an effort to pave the way for faster mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
Trump will use the law to target members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, the New York Post reported, citing two sources close to the administration.
Trump campaigned on invoking the wartime law, which allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX – GOP state attorneys general previewed their upcoming meeting Friday at the Department of Justice, where President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will discuss collaborating with state top cops to combat crime.
Fox News Digital is told much of the conversation is expected to focus on fighting the scourge of fentanyl in communities.
Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday previewing his Justice Department speech. He nodded to problems faced in cities, such as subway violence. "We don't want to have crime in the streets. We don't want to have people pushed into subways and killed," Trump said. "We want to have safety in our cities, as well as in our communities, and we'll be talking about immigration. We'll be talking about a lot of things. The complete gamut."
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares championed Bondi's "proactive" approach, saying he had received more calls from the DOJ in Trump's first 30 days in office than he did in his prior three years of service under the Biden administration.
"They keep open lines of communication. Whereas, before, the only time I ever heard from Merrick Garland was if he was trying to sue Virginia for some reason," Miyares told Fox News Digital.
Miyares said he viewed the fentanyl epidemic as both a national security and domestic challenge, citing how an average of 105,000 Americans were dying every 12 months of addiction deaths at the peak of the crisis. By contrast, over 50,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War over the course of 15 years. "It was two Vietnam wars happening every 12 months in this country to absolutely devastating impact. Virginia was not lost on that," Miyares said.
Virginia has seen a 40% reduction in addiction deaths since 2021, one of the most significant drops in the country, Miyares said, arguing he and Gov. Glenn Youngkin's three-prong approach of prosecution, prevention and treatment can be applied nationally. He noted that Trump's nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, is currently serving as Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.
"He's going to be an exceptional, exceptional head of a DEA," Miyares said. "He knows what we've done in Virginia because he's been part of it. I look forward to seeing him bring that nationwide."
Miyares praised Trump's Inauguration Day executive order designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. As for the Biden administration, Miyares said he "never felt that they took it as seriously." He said one federal agent told him the Biden administration discouraged posting about drug busts online, describing the attitude at the top of the bureaucracy as signaling,[ "We don't want to admit we have a drug problem in this country."
"It was almost like an ostrich with its head in the sand. The other problem was the border. More fentanyl was crossing our southern border in one year to kill every man, woman and child in America three or four times over. It was staggering," Miyares said. "The reality is the Sinaloa Cartel is the single most dangerous criminal enterprise, I would argue, in the history of the world, they have a reach that is staggering."
"It was President Trump who has declared the cartels a foreign terrorist organization. The Biden administration could have done so," Miyares said. "These were criminal enterprises that, in my opinion, were conducting chemical warfare on everyday Americans to levels that we don't see even lost in war or happening to our kids, our friends and our neighbors. They are terrorist organizations."
With Democrats having lost control of both houses of Congress, Democratic attorneys general have led their party's charge against the Trump administration's agenda on a number of issues, including immigration. Miyares urged fellow state top cops across the aisle to "lock arms and work together" when it comes to the fentanyl epidemic, because "it affects every American Republican or Democrat, red state or blue state."
"Make sure you do that partnership so we can save lives, because our real enemy is not the other political party," he said. "Our real enemy are the cartels and these dealers poisoning our kids."
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday told Fox News Digital that keeping families together is a crucial component to public safety. He also said that Republicans must have a greater presence in inner cities long controlled by Democrats.
"The only way that we can maximize outcomes to keep people safe in this country is when we all work together. And having a Justice Department that's aligned with my philosophy of public safety, that without safe communities, nothing else matters, it puts us in a position where we can take that collaboration to the next level," Sunday said. "Citizens have the absolute right to demand that their government works to keep them safe."
"As I go into this meeting tomorrow, I view this through a positive lens. This is an opportunity for us," he told Fox News Digital. "This epidemic not only is killing people. It's destroying our economy, and it's tearing families apart. And that's one of the absolute worst parts of this. You know that the family in America is one of the most crucial components to a thriving community and public safety."
"When you have addiction permeating our community, that tears families apart. And it's something that I absolutely do not want to see," Sunday said. "Local law enforcement cannot do the job by themselves."
He said from his experience as a local prosecutor that some of the "most painful meetings I've ever had are with parents who've lost their children to addiction."
"The thought of having to watch a child slip away into the web of addiction and become someone that's not even, you know, the person that you knew. It's so gut-wrenching," he said.
Sunday said part of the conservative values important to him is "keeping families together," explaining that he views his role as a father as "my most important job." And fatherhood and family can be applied through a public safety lens. "There's a lot of kids out there, especially in violent communities, that don't have any mentorship. They don't have anyone that looks after them," Sunday said.
Sunday praised the Trump administration's prioritization of border security, noting that fentanyl coming across from Mexico "takes probably less than maybe 24 hours to arrive here in Pennsylvania."
As Pennsylvania experienced the turning of a red tide in the last election, Sunday said his focus as attorney general included inner cities plagued by open-air drug markets and other quality of life concerns. He spoke to Fox News Digital on Thursday from Philadelphia, where he was getting ready to attend the mayor's budget address "so that people see the Republican attorney general is a part of Philadelphia."
"I'm here, and I'm not going away, and my resources are going to be here, and they're not going away because the citizens in Philadelphia have every right to demand that I work hard for them, just like anyone else," Sunday said. "When you have, you know, one party like the Democrat control over a city like this, without the influence, you know, of, I'll say, a Republican prosecutor, that creates a situation like we've dealt with."
Sunday said he values both holding people accountable and redemption programs. A former district attorney in York County, Pennsylvania, which sits outside of Baltimore, Maryland, he said he worked every single day with the Black Ministers Association and with Latino organizations "because they're victims of crime, just like everyone's a victim of crime."
"We live in this world right now where, you know, people make judgments about other people solely based on, you know, their political party," Sunday said. "And there are a lot of citizens here that probably have never dealt with a Republican attorney general, even physically being here . . . I have seen amazing things happen when people talk to each other."
Ahead of Friday's meeting at the DOJ, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey championed the Trump administration's crackdown on China in fighting the fentanyl crisis.
"We must address the fentanyl crisis at its source and hold China accountable. They continue to supply Mexican drug cartels and terrorist organizations with the necessary components for fentanyl production, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands and causing untold suffering in our communities," Bailey said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Our recent $25 billion judgment against China for unleashing COVID-19 on the world is just one example of how attorneys general across the nation can begin fighting back against foreign actors who threaten our way of life."
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch also applauded Trump "for using tariffs as tools to take decisive action against the fentanyl crisis and put Americans’ safety and our national security first."
"In Mississippi, we are primed and ready to partner with him," Fitch told Fox News Digital. "We are raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl and equipping citizens with the knowledge and tools to stop an overdose with our One Pill Can Kill Campaign. We are creating a network of law enforcement through our Fentanyl Strike Force to get this deadly drug and its dealers off the streets."
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement to Fox News Digital that "fentanyl has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and kills thousands more Tennesseans each year, a death toll that demands an uncompromising response." He said he was grateful that Trump and Bondi "recognize the urgency of this crisis and are acting forcefully to save lives."
As the prospect of a partial government shutdown looms and the Senate is poised to vote on a House-passed government-funding measure that would avert a shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on Thursday that he "will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down."
He said that while the "bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse."
"I cannot underscore enough how incorrect that is," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said of Schumer's argument. "What voting for this CR does is that it codifies the chaos and the reckless cuts that Elon Musk has been pursuing, the robbing of our federal government in order to finance tax cuts for billionaires is what is happening. And that is what Senate Democrats will be empowering if they vote for this CR."
"Respectfully Senator Schumer, no," Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., wrote on X. "This Republican bill is bad for workers, bad for our veterans, bad for our seniors. Republicans should pull it and let us get back to work crafting a budget that works for all of our families."
"WTF? @SenSchumer please grow a spine. And quickly," wrote Susan Rice, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and then as national security advisor during President Barack Obama's administration. She later served as domestic policy advisor during a portion of President Joe Biden's administration.
"It is clear that some of us understand the present danger & some don’t!" Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, declared on X. "I stand by the NO vote on the blank check for Trump & Elon… I’ve got no explanation nor agreement with Senate Dems being complicit in Trump’s Tyranny."
While Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, even if all GOP senators were on board with the proposal — which they are not, as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has declared himself a "hell no" on the measure — they cannot advance to a vote unless multiple Democrats join with them to surmount a procedural hurdle.
FIRST ON FOX: A baby products manufacturer is challenging a new federal regulation as overly broad and contrary to President Donald Trump's agenda of reigning in three-letter agencies and commissions.
New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed suit Thursday in Washington, D.C. against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) over a new federal safety standard for infant support cushions. NCLA, on behalf of Heroes Technology, says the commission misinterprets the term "durable" in the provision to include items not previously covered by the standard, like cushions and other such products.
NCLA argues that the CPSC previously only included items that fell squarely within the accepted definition of "durable" as delineated by congressional statute – cribs, for example, as well as high chairs, swings, etc.
"We think that this is a pure case of statutory construction that guides agency authority and over here they step their bounds," Kara Rollins, Litigation Counsel at NCLA, told Fox News Digital.
Rollins said that, via the provision in question, the commission is "shortcutting and bypassing really important procedural checks, evidentiary requirements in order to push out a regulation faster."
NCLA had previously sent CPSC a letter requesting to stay the rule, saying it "establishes an arbitrary and ineffective safety standard." NCLA requested "postponement and reconsideration" of the rule in light of one of Trump's executive orders ordering all executive agencies and departments to halt issuing new rules and regulations pending review and approval.
"The president has said to these agencies, ‘you must do X’, and it's not clear that they're actually following through with what's required of them," Rollins said.
Rollins said that the rule not only affects Heroes Technology, but it also extends to "thousands of manufacturers [and] thousands of manufacturing jobs" both in and outside the U.S.
"It's emblematic," Rollins said of the broader implications of the rule. "When an agency is not held to account, when it's not held to the standards set out by the statute, or is independent and doesn't answer to the president in its own mind, then these sorts of self-aggrandizements tend to occur."
Rollins said that while the rule applies to a specific sector of businesses and products, "there's not really anything that stops it from sort of infiltrating further unless there's a check on their power."
"And one thing we're very clear on is that it's not that we don't think our clients' products can't be regulated or shouldn't be regulated, but how Congress said they should be regulated," Rollins said. "Congress said if you're a durable infant good, everything else has to go through the process, and it's our view that it should have went through the other process."
Rollins and NCLA argue that infant cushions such as the ones in the case should undergo a separate process that "is more onerous, more rigorous, requires more data, more fact-finding."
The suit comes as the Trump administration works to reel in the administrative state via executive orders, directives, and legal challenges. In February, Trump signed one order in particular that requires federal agencies to evaluate all of their regulations that could violate the Constitution as the administration continues to prioritize slashing red tape.
The administrative state was previously dealt a blow by the Supreme Court in 2024 when it overturned the Chevron doctrine.
In the landmark decision, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court effectively scaled back administrative power by holding that "Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority." The doctrine previously gave deference to an agency's interpretation of a federal regulation.
Fox News Digital's Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
The Trump administration unveiled new sanctions on Wednesday against an Iranian-linked Swedish gang that coordinated an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm in January 2024, according to the Treasury Department.
The sanctions freeze assets for members and those affiliated with the Foxtrot Network, a transnational criminal organization that the Treasury Department said is one of the most "prominent" drug trafficking organizations in the region. The sanctions also single out and target the group’s fugitive leader, Rawa Majid.
"Iran’s brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime’s attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a Wednesday statement. "Treasury, alongside our U.S. government and international partners, will continue to hold accountable those who seek to further Iran’s thuggish and destabilizing agenda."
In addition to trafficking drugs, the Foxtrot Network is a criminal organization that conducts violent acts, including shootings, contract killings and assaults, and is responsible for increased violence in Sweden. It is notorious for employing teenagers to conduct these violent acts, according to the Treasury Department.
Iran has increasingly utilized criminal networks to conduct attacks targeting the U.S. as well as attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe, the Treasury Department said.
For example, the agency accused Iran of colluding with the Foxtrot Network to conduct an attack on the Israeli Embassy in 2024 after Swedish officials identified a "dangerous object" believed to be an explosive device at the embassy. While security forces neutralized the device, Sweden’s security police moved to investigate the attack as a "terrorist crime," according to Reuters.
The Treasury Department also said on Wednesday that Majid has coordinated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which is already under U.S. sanctions, and faces charges in Sweden pertaining to narcotics and firearms trafficking.
The White House referred Fox News Digital to the Treasury and State Department's statements on the sanctions.
The sanctions against Majid and the Foxtrot Network align with President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, which he reinstated in February through a series of sanctions aimed at sinking Iran’s oil exports.
Trump signaled Friday a nuclear deal with Iran could emerge shortly, and he revealed that he sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to push for Tehran to agree to a nuclear agreement. Otherwise, he said Tehran could count on facing military consequences.
"I would rather negotiate a deal," Trump told Fox Business in an interview Sunday. "I'm not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily."
"But the time is happening now, the time is coming up," he said. "Something is going to happen one way or the other. I hope that Iran, and I've written them a letter saying I hope you're going to negotiate, because if we have to go in militarily, it's going to be a terrible thing for them."
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy informed members of Congress on Thursday he has signed an agreement with the General Services Administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget.
In a letter to Congress, DeJoy lamented that the Postal Service has a "broken business model that was not financially sustainable without critically necessary and core change."
"Fixing a broken organization that had experienced close to $100 billion in losses and was projected to lose another $200 billion, without a bankruptcy proceeding, is a daunting task," DeJoy wrote. "Fixing a heavily legislated and overly regulated organization as massive, important, cherished, misunderstood and debated as the United States Postal Service, with such a broken business model, is even more difficult."
DOGE will assist USPS with addressing "big problems" at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has sometimes struggled in recent years to stay afloat. The agreement aims to help the Postal Service identify and achieve "further efficiencies."
USPS listed such issues as mismanagement of the agency's retirement assets and Workers' Compensation Program, as well as an array of regulatory requirements that the letter described as "restricting normal business practice."
"This is an effort aligned with our efforts, as while we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done," DeJoy wrote.
Critics of the agreement fear negative effects of the cuts will be felt across America. Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerald Connolly, of Virginia, who was sent the letter, said turning over the Postal Service to DOGE would result in it being undermined and privatized.
"The only thing worse for the Postal Service than DeJoy’s ‘Delivering for America’ plan is turning the service over to Elon Musk and DOGE so they can undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans’ loss," Connolly said in a statement.
He added: "This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans – especially those in rural and hard to reach areas – who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more. Reliable mail delivery can’t just be reserved for MAGA supporters and Tesla owners."
The National Association of Letter Carriers President Brian L. Renfroe said in a statement in response to Thursday's letter that they welcome anyone's help with addressing some of the agency's biggest problems but stood firmly against any move to privatize the Postal Service.
"Common sense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees' jobs, 7.9 million jobs tied to our work, and the universal service every American relies on daily," he said.
USPS currently employs about 640,000 workers tasked with making deliveries from inner cities to rural areas and even far-flung islands.
The service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to the letter.
The agency previously announced plans to cut its operating costs by more than $3.5 billion annually. And this isn't the first time thousands of employees have been cut. In 2021, the agency cut 30,000 workers.
As the service that has operated as an independent entity since 1970 has struggled to balance the books with the decline of first-class mail, it has fought calls from President Donald Trump and others that it be privatized.
Last month, Trump said he may put USPS under the control of the Commerce Department in what would be an executive branch takeover.
Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member convicted of leaking highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, used his court-martial Thursday to describe himself as a "proud patriot" who was trying to expose the supposed "lies" of the Biden administration.
After pleading guilty to military charges of obstructing justice, the 23-year-old acknowledged he knew his actions were illegal but felt he needed to share the truth about how the Biden administration was, in his view, misleading the American public about the war in Ukraine.
"If I saved even one American, Russian or Ukrainian life against this senseless money-grab war, my punishment was worth it," he said, adding that he was "comfortable in how history will remember my actions."
Teixeira drew parallels with President Donald Trump, alleging he too was a victim of a weaponized Justice Department. He called on the Trump administration to "review my double prosecution and punishments with an eye towards reversing deep-state actions and showing truth, no matter how embarrassing to the Biden administration."
Teixeira was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act following his arrest for sharing classified documents on a Discord chatroom.
The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia's war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a U.S. adversary's plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas.
Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the U.S.
The security breach forced the Biden administration to scramble to try to contain diplomatic and military fallout. The leaks also embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members found to have intentionally failed to take the required action regarding Teixeira's suspicious behavior.
A second judge late Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate probationary workers who were let go in mass firings across multiple agencies.
In Baltimore, U.S. District Judge James Bredar, an Obama appointee, found that the administration ignored laws set out for large-scale layoffs. Bredar ordered the firings halted for at least two weeks and the workforce returned to the status quo before the layoffs began.
He sided with nearly two dozen states that filed a lawsuit alleging the mass firings are illegal and already having an impact on state governments as they try to help those who are suddenly jobless.
The ruling followed a similar one by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who found Thursday morning that terminations across six agencies were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the authority to do so.
Alsup's order tells the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury to immediately offer job reinstatement to employees terminated on or about Feb. 13 and 14. He also directed the departments to report back within seven days with a list of probationary employees and an explanation of how the agencies complied with his order as to each person.
The temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and organizations as the Republican administration moves to reduce the federal workforce.
The Trump administration has already appealed Alsup’s ruling, arguing that the states have no right to try and influence the federal government's relationship with its own workers. Justice Department attorneys argued the firings were for performance issues, not large-scale layoffs subject to specific regulations.
Probationary workers have been targeted for layoffs across the federal government because they're usually new to the job and lack full civil service protection. Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the mass firings.
Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment.
Alsup, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, has found that difficult to believe. He planned to hold an evidentiary hearing on Thursday, but Ezell did not appear to testify in court or even sit for a deposition, and the government retracted his written testimony.
There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers across federal agencies. They include entry-level employees but also workers who recently received a promotion.
Over a two-day period, 239 "wasteful" contracts with a "ceiling value" of $1.7 billion have been terminated, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said Thursday, including a grant intended to teach transgender and queer urban farmers about "food justice."
The elimination of the contracts represents a savings of $400 million, according to a DOGE tweet posted on X.
Among them included an $8.5 million consulting contract for "fiscal stewardship to improve management and program operations in order to drive innovation and improve efficiency and effectiveness of business services; rethink, realign and reskill the workforce; and enhance program delivery through a number of transformational initiatives."
On Tuesday, DOGE announced the National Institutes of Health canceled multiple federal grants related to trans and sexual identity. Those include $699,000 for studying "cannabis use" among "sexual minority gender diverse individuals" and $620,000 for "an LGB+ inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys," DOGE said.
Another included $225,000 in federal funds for the University of Colorado to study the "effects of hormones on headaches in transmasculine adolescents."
On Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted that a $379,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant in the San Francisco Bay Area to educate queer, trans and BIPOC urban farmers and consumers about food justice and values-aligned markets had been canceled.
"By stopping this wasteful spending here at USDA, we are ending identity politics, and we are refocusing our agency on its core mission of supporting American farming, ranching and forestry," she said in a video message.
"Serving on the front lines, in combat zones, and at our borders, these fearless four-legged fighters are an invaluable part of protecting America," Trump said in a Thursday message to commemorate the day.
In the military, more than 30,000 "dedicated working dogs" — with 1,600 working dogs actively serving — have provided frontline support to U.S. service members, according to the White House.
These warriors are trained in detecting explosives and drugs, and assisting in search and rescue operations.
Famous military working dogs include Army Special Operations Forces dog Conan — the 50-combat-mission veteran named after late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien — who helped track Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi when he was killed in October 2019 in Syria. Conan was injured on the mission but made a full recovery.
In 2019 at the White House, Trump gave a medal and plaque to Conan, who had been assigned to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. The doggo later was adopted by his former handler and passed away in 2023.
White House protector and most decorated K-9 in U.S. history, Hurricane, died in February after more than a decade in the Secret Service.
The 16-year-old Belgian Malnois — whose accolades included a Secret Service Award for Meritorious Service, Distinguished Service Medal and Department of Homeland Security Secretary’s Award for Valor — made a national name for himself after taking down an intruder who had breached the White House gate in 2014.
Mere yards away were former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, watching a movie in the White House theater, according to The New York Times.
In 2022, Hurricane was one of three dogs to become the first recipients of the Animals in War & Peace Distinguished Service Medal on Capitol Hill — earning him a spot among the famed Guinness World Records.
He received the award alongside Yorkshire Terrier and World War II Army Air Corps veteran Smoky, who helped lay communication wires in the Philippines, and Coast Guard explosive detection dog Feco, a Hungarian Vizsla who at the time had conducted more than 365 bomb searches, according to the records book.
Trump also nodded to now-deceased SEAL Team Six operator veteran Cairo, who played a significant role in the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011, and Marine veteran Rex, who "saved countless lives by detecting explosives in combat in Iraq."
The German shepherd served alongside Corps Cpl. Megan Leavey, whose heroic service with the dog was depicted in the 2017 film namesake.
Trump said Thursday, "As we remember the fallen, we thank all of the brave veterans of the K-9 Corps who protect the American people and our way of life, living up to the name of man’s best friend."
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
The GOP bill even picked up one Democratic yea: Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.
Passing government funding bills on their own wasn’t always the case for the House GOP. Republicans have held the House majority for more than two years now. The GOP majority consistently leaned on Democrats – serving in the minority – for many of the votes to keep the government open and lift the debt ceiling. But that changed late Tuesday afternoon as House Republicans approved their own bill to keep the lights on.
But before the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., berated Democrats for opposing the temporary spending package, known as a "Continuing Resolution" or "CR."
"If Congressional Democrats refuse to support this clean CR, they will be responsible for every troop who misses a paycheck. For every flight delay from reduced staffing at TSA. For every negative consequence that comes from shutting down the government," said Johnson.
It was unclear if Johnson could pass the bill with just Republicans. Especially as the Speaker upbraided Democrats for vowing to vote nay.
"You continually criticize the Democrats," yours truly said to the Speaker. "Doesn't that imply that you don't have the votes on your side? Because you wouldn’t need Democratic assistance to keep the government?"
"No. We will have the votes," responded Johnson. "We’re going to pass the CR and we can do it on our own."
A few hours later, the Speaker made good on his promise.
But he had an assist.
Vice President JD Vance came to the Capitol to assuage fears of skeptical House Republicans Tuesday morning. But Vance didn’t quite close the deal.
"I saw some looks in there that didn't leave me feeling good as to securing the votes of those who may be having questions," said Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., after the House Republican conclave with Vance.
Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and others said they needed more assurances about future spending cuts. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said he would "pray" about how to vote on the bill. But heading into the meeting, Burchett conceded he hadn’t yet experienced any political intercession.
"I'm uncomfortable with giving the Pentagon more money, even though overall, we're cutting," said Burchett.
By afternoon, Burchett told me he was "closer," but still not there.
But what made the difference when it came to convincing skittish Republicans to vote yes?
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox he was "barely" for the CR.
"What's the ‘barely’ part?" I asked.
"The ‘barely" is Donald Trump. He is the difference maker. I would never support this language. But I do trust Donald Trump," said Burlison. "He's not let me down. I think that he is a man of his word. And so I believe him when he's when he says he's going to get it done."
But that was only half of the battle. The bill earned the support of all but one Senate Republican. But 60 votes are necessary to break a filibuster. Republicans only have 53 GOP members. So that would entail assistance from Democrats.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he opposed the bill because it didn’t cut spending. Paul said he didn’t get any blowback from the President or fellow Republicans on his position.
"People know kind of where I am. I'm pretty consistent on opposing debt and opposing spending," said Paul.
Contrast the silence Paul has heard to how President Trump unloaded on his Bluegrass State colleague, Thomas Massie. Mr. Trump argued that Massie should face a primary for his defection.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., is the only Democrat on the record support the stopgap spending bill.
So, it’s about the math.
With only 52 Republicans primed to crack a filibuster, that means the Senate needs eight Democrats to vote yes. That includes Fetterman. Note that they don’t have to vote yes on the bill. Just to overcome the filibuster. Republicans can pass the bill on their own with a simple majority.
This leaves Democrats as badly torn as any party in recently on any issue.
On one hand, Democrats don’t want to shutter the government. They fear that will imperil already skittish federal workers. And it could lead to additional cuts from Elon Musk and DOGE if federal workers aren’t on the job.
On the other hand, they want to be seen as fighting for their base and rally against President Trump and Musk.
Democrats must either go to the mat or try to salvage something before the 11:59:59 pm et government funding deadline Friday.
There are rattlings that Democrats may ask for votes on a universe of amendments – none of which would pass. But at least Democrats could save face – telling their loyalists that they fought for their values and tried to stand up to the President and Musk. They could also make the case that a shutdown is worse than keeping the government open.
Fox is told senators would be interested in votes on the following subjects:
Fetterman appeared to be the only Democrat willing to vote for the GOP interim spending bill, but Thursday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced he would vote for it. And it’s possible that a vote on a set of amendments could unlock a few Democratic votes to break a filibuster on the bill.
But tensions are now running high.
Reporters staking out a meeting of Senate Democrats talking about the shutdown heard who they believe was Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., screaming at her colleagues through he thick Capitol walls.
Multiple Senate Democrats were utterly silent as they left a lengthy Senate Democratic Caucus. None of the senators approached by Fox were willing to talk – even though some are quite loquacious under other circumstances. In fact Fox even asked several of the Democrats if they were told not to say anything. Several replied "no comment."
Quiet on Capitol Hill often means something is up and that lawmakers are trying to broker a very fragile deal. It also means that lawmakers are fuming.
There was genuine fear among Democrats that a government shutdown could permanently imperil the federal government and perhaps trigger additional layoffs of thousands of federal workers.
Here’s the other problem: If the government shut down, no one is quite sure HOW it could re-open. It’s about the math. And the calculus under those circumstances simply did not work to for the House and Senate to eventually pass the same bill and re-open the government. That calculus simply did not seem to work.
That’s why Schumer made the decision to support the Band-Aid spending bill – as risky as it is.
This is why multiple Senate Democrats refused to comment on what Schumer told them at the closed-door caucus meeting today. That’s why tempers flared and Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) was heard yelling through the thick Senate walls.
But this is not without peril for Schumer.
He needs to convince six other Democrats (for a grand total of eight) to support overcoming a filibuster.
There are 53 Senate Republicans. 60 votes are needed to avert a filibuster.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is a no. So the deficit is eight. Schumer and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) are the first two Democrats to say they are willing to vote to overcome a filibuster. So Schumer needs six more.
If he can’t find those votes, the government will close. And Schumer will have committed a tremendous tactical error.
As the saying goes, a leader with no followers is just a man out for a walk.
Former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, used to say that "nothing good" ever happens when Congress has been in session for more than three consecutive weeks.
Members grow angry. Antsy. Tempers are short.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., noted that the Senate has met for ten consecutive weeks.
"Senators have been seeing a lot of each other lately. In fact, too much," said Thune.
That includes three all-night sessions and weekend sessions. This period is the longest stretch of consecutive weeks for Senate activity in 15 years.
The Senate is scheduled to be out next week for the first time this year. A government shutdown trashes the recess. Senators have barely seen their family members. It’s been a frenetic pace.
That’s why the most powerful people in Washington could have the ultimate say about funding the government: Senate spouses.
And if the Senate aligns with the House, they will have averted a government shutdown.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says he will vote to keep the government open, warning that a shutdown has worse consequences for Americans and would only empower President Trump and Elon Musk further.
"I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country to minimize the harms to the American people. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down," Schumer said while speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday.
Democrats have criticized Republicans for their hesitation to pass government funding legislation, while their own party is currently on the brink of allowing a federal shutdown.
On Wednesday, Schumer said that his party would oppose the spending bill that Republicans drafted and passed through the House, as the Friday midnight deadline looms for Congress to take action to avoid a government shutdown.
Schumer called for a one-month spending bill to keep the government open until April 11 so that Democrats can better negotiate a deal. The continuing resolution, which passed through the House on Tuesday on a nearly party-line vote of 217-213, would keep the government open for the next six months, for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in an effort to pave the way for faster mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
Trump campaigned on invoking the wartime law, which allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation.
Trump will use the law to target members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, the New York Post reported, citing two sources close to the administration.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.
The law has been invoked three times during major conflicts: the War of 1812 and World Wars I and II. During World War II, the law was used to detain Japanese Americans.
The move would come weeks into Trump's second term in office, which has seen 32,000 illegal immigrants arrested in the first 50 days.
During his campaign, Trump promised to use the law to combat Tren de Aragua (TdA) members in the United States. TdA is an international gang that has committed a wave of violent acts across American cities, including taking over entire apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado.
The group was recently designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Department of State.
"I'm announcing today that upon taking office, we will have an Operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs, and I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798," he said during an October rally. "Think of that, 1798."
"Yeah, that's a long time ago, right?" he added. "To target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil."
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., his staff and family have been the target of harassment and death threats, according to a memo released by his office on Thursday afternoon.
Voicemails shared by Tillis' team, which were filled with profanity and fueled by discontent with President Donald Trump, reveal a frightening new reality. The senator's senior advisor, Daniel Keylin, said "the volume of threats and harassment directed at members of Congress and their staff is the new normal."
Keylin said Tillis' office in Greenville, North Carolina, received a handwritten and unsigned letter postmarked in Greensboro last month calling his staff members "sacrificial lambs" and insisting they "signed up to be his shield." The anonymous writer, while reiterating "in no way is this a threat," said people are going to start "coming in filled with rage."
The voicemails released by Tillis' office express outrage over Trump's policies and include violent threats to Tillis and his staff.
"You are not going to destroy my country," one woman said. Another caller told Tillis he is "not one of the good guys anymore" and said to "get the f--- out of government."
"…When things get really bad, people are going to stop calling and writing. They’re going to start coming in, and they’re going to be coming in filled with rage… And you signed up to be his shield. Resign, please resign, or find a Groupon for self defense class because America’s transition to oligarchy is going to be a wild ride for us peons," reads the anonymous letter sent to Tillis.
The anonymous writer references "America's transition to oligarchy," a term that has been used by the left to describe the alleged rising power of the billionaire class.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has drawn thousands of supporters to his "Fighting Oligarchy" rallies across the country, with stops in Michigan and Wisconsin this past weekend. The events are billed as an opportunity to "discuss how we take on the greed of the billionaire class and create a government that works for all and not just the few."
Democrats were outraged by Trump inviting billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to sit behind him at his inauguration inside the U.S. Capitol. Former President Joe Biden also used the term "oligarchy" in his farewell address to the nation.
"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," Biden told Americans on Jan. 13.
Two weeks after Tillis' office received the letter, Indivisible Guilford County, a local arm of a progressive political action group, organized a protest at Tillis’ Greensboro office. While the protest's press release encouraged peaceful signs and "solidarity," Keylin said the protesters attempted to break into Tillis' office.
"They angrily yanked and attempted to open the office’s locked door, yelling at Tillis’ staff to open it: ‘Come back, we see you! Open the door!’ and reminding the staff they had no way to exit their office," Keylin said in the memo.
Keylin said Tillis' office received several media inquiries questioning if Tillis would attend the protests or town halls planned in Republican-held districts. Outlining years of targeted threats that have only escalated since Trump returned to office, Keylin said, "I imagine anyone with a modicum of sanity would understand what a silly question that is."
The memo says that "out of an abundance of caution," law enforcement has directed the senator's office to work from home on the days protests are planned.
"We will not make any apologies for prioritizing the safety and security of our staff," Keylin said.
The memo outlines two more instances in which the North Carolina senator was subject to death threats.
"Senator Tillis, his staff, and even his family have long been subject to threats, harassment, attempted intimidation, and verbal abuse from unstable individuals who don’t agree with his political view," Keylin said.
A U.S. citizen living abroad was arrested for threatening to kill Tillis and cut off the hands of his staffers in 2023, and a Minnesota man was indicted in 2022 for threatening to kill Tillis, the memo confirmed.
Protests have shut down town halls and disrupted local legislative offices in the past two months, and Republicans have opted for tele-town halls instead of in-person town halls as a result. Democrats have accused Republicans of ignoring their constituents' concerns by avoiding in-person town halls.
Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., will host town halls on Friday in Republican-held congressional districts in Iowa and Nebraska "to lend a megaphone to the people." Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has reportedly started planning her own rallies in Republican-held congressional districts as well.
MoveOn.org, which has accepted millions of dollars from billionaire George Soros and his Open Society Policy Center, announced in a press release last month 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." The group planned protests at congressional-led town halls and congressional offices.
President Donald Trump, taking questions from reporters on Thursday, touted that "a lot of great things are happening."
But Americans, nearly eight weeks into Trump's second tour of duty in the White House, seem divided on the job he's doing steering the country.
Trump's approval rating stood in negative territory at 42%-53% among registered voters nationwide in a new Quinnipiac University national poll conducted March 6-10 and released on Thursday.
That's down from 46% approval and 43% disapproval in Quinnipiac's survey from late January, in the days after Trump's second inauguration.
The president was also underwater in a CNN poll (46%-53%) conducted March 6-10 and released this week.
But Trump was above water in three other surveys in the field in recent days.
And Trump, who has long kept a close eye on public opinion polling, took to social media on Monday to showcase his "Highest Approval Ratings Since Inauguration."
Trump's poll numbers are an improvement over his first term, when he started out in negative territory and remained there for his four-year term.
An average of all the most recent national polls indicates that Trump's approval ratings are slightly above water. However, Trump has seen his numbers edge down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when an average of his polls indicated the president's approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid 40s.
"A noticeable uptick of discontent can be seen over President Trump's handling of a range of issues: from Ukraine to the economy to the federal workforce," Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy highlighted in the survey's release.
The president's approval rating was underwater in nine of the 10 issues tested in the Quinnipiac survey, with his handling of trade with China the only issue where most respondents gave him a thumbs-up.
And on the top issue on the minds of Americans, the economy, Trump stood at 41%-54%.
It was the third poll conducted this month, after the CNN survey and a Reuters/Ipsos poll, to spell trouble for Trump on the economy, which arguably was the most important issue that boosted him to victory in last November's presidential election.
On his handling of the federal workforce, the president stood at 40% approval and 55% disapproval in the Quinnipiac survey.
Trump, through his recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is on a mission to overhaul and downsize the federal government.
Trump named Elon Musk, the world's richest person and the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, to steer the organization.
DOGE has swept through federal agencies, rooting out what the White House argues was billions in wasteful federal spending. It has also taken a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, resulting in a massive downsizing of employees. The moves by DOGE have triggered a slew of lawsuits in response.
Sixty percent of voters questioned in the poll disapprove of the way Musk and DOGE are dealing with workers employed by the federal government, with only 36% approving.
And the survey's release adds that "54% of voters think Elon Musk and DOGE are hurting the country, while 40% think they are helping the country."
The CNN poll indicated that more than 6 in 10 thought the cuts by DOGE would go too far and that important federal programs would be shut down, with 37% saying the cuts wouldn't go far enough in eliminating fraud and waste in the government.
It's no surprise that there's a massive partisan divide in the latest polls when it comes to Trump and DOGE.
Democrats, by a 96%-2% margin in the Quinnipiac survey, gave the president a thumbs-down on the job he's doing in office, while Republicans approved by an 89%-9% margin. Independent voters disapproved, 58%-36%.
There was also a large partisan gap over how Musk and DOGE are performing, with more than three-quarters of Republicans approving and 96% of Democrats and more than two-thirds of independents disapproving.
The poll also asked respondents about Vice President JD Vance's performance in office. Vance stood at 41% approval and 49% disapproval.
Quinnipiac's survey questioned 1,198 registered voters nationwide for their latest poll. The survey's overall sampling error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
-The Hitchhiker's Guide to where we stand to avoid a government shutdown
-Judge orders Trump admin to reinstate probationary workers fired at 6 agencies
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was heard screaming inside Democratic senators' private lunch on Thursday amid ongoing debate over the looming government shutdown.
Democrats remained tight-lipped as they left the meeting, which lasted over an hour, but Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters: "You'll hear from me soon."
Senate Democrats are in disagreement over how to proceed on the House-passed stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, with some inclined to help advance it and others apparently willing to risk a lapse in funding…Read more
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Senate Democrats are teasing a government shutdown this week in protest of a Republican-led funding bill, despite repeatedly stoking fears over shutdowns and criticizing GOP lawmakers for hesitating over funding legislation in the past.
"Funding the government is the most basic responsibility we have in Congress," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in September.
The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) this week to keep the government open until October, but Democratic Senators are holding up the legislation to advocate for a "clean" month-long stopgap bill. Schumer said on Wednesday that Republicans "do not have the votes" to pass the House version of the bill - putting the government at risk as the Friday funding deadline looms.
While Democrats are on the brink of allowing the government to shut down this week, their past comments reveal they have criticized Republicans over the same issue.
In September 2024, Schumer warned of the implications that would follow if the government were to shut down.
"If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans who suffer most. A government shutdown means seniors who rely on Social Security could be thrown into chaos," the Democratic Senator said.
"So what changed, Chuck?" Trump's Rapid Response team said on Thursday in a post on X alongside a resurfaced clip of the remarks.
Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., amid the September spending bill fight, claimed that "MAGA Republicans have exploited each funding deadline to play political games and force their radical Project 2025 policies on Americans while American families’ livelihoods hang in the balance."
"This is no way to govern, but the last thing Florida families need is a government shutdown as Floridians prepare for Hurricane Helene and its difficult aftermath," Castor said.
"We are mere days away from a partial government shutdown on March 1," Schumer said in a February 2024 letter. "Unless Republicans get serious, the extreme Republican shutdown will endanger our economy, raise costs, lower safety, and exact untold pain on the American people."
In another instance, in 2023, Schumer claimed that "a shutdown would be a terrible outcome for the country despite what some on the hard right would have us ludicrously believe."
"It’s hard for me to believe that some, the extreme right in the other chamber, say they actually want a shutdown. What insanity," the New York Democrat said.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a meeting with President Donald Trump in 2018, also cautioned against a government shutdown.
"I think the American people recognize that we must keep the government open, that a shutdown is not worth anything," Pelosi told Trump in the Oval Office.
During the same meeting, Schumer mirrored Pelosi's stance, telling Trump that "we shouldn’t shut down the government over a dispute."
Castor, in response to Democratic opposition to the CR this week, told Fox News Digital, "Elon Musk and Republicans in Congress are exploiting a deadline to continue their illegal shutdowns and firings of public servants who serve veterans, neighbors who rely on Social Security and more."
"Let’s be clear: Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House. This is their chaos, their crisis, and their responsibility," Castor's office said in a statement. "If they want to ram through a funding bill that inflicts pain on the American people, they’ll have to do it on their own."
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaking to reporters, said that if Democrats shut down the government, it would be "a Schumer shutdown."
A spokesperson for Pelosi told Fox News Digital that, given their majority, it is the Republicans' responsibility to fund the government.
"Republicans have control of the House, Senate and White House. Democrats are ready, willing and able to support bipartisan government funding – but Republicans walked away from negotiations, so it is their responsibility to fund the government. Democrats do not have the ability to shut down the government," a spokesperson for Pelosi told Fox.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News' Julia Johnson and Remy Numa contributed to this report.
In the face of pressure from the Trump administration, the Venezuelan government has agreed to resume accepting deportation flights from the U.S., according to Richard Grenell, a special envoy to President Donald Trump.
As Trump cracks down on illegal immigration, with ICE making upward of 32,000 arrests of illegals across the country, some Latin American countries have refused to accept returns.
Grenell announced Thursday the Venezuelan government, led by socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, had agreed to resume the flights.
Maduro had previously threatened to halt deportation flights after Trump’s decision to revoke a Biden-era special license allowing U.S.-based Chevron to produce and sell oil from the country.
"I am pleased to announce that Venezuela has agreed to resume flights to pick up their citizens who broke U.S. Immigration Laws and entered the U.S. illegally," Grenell said on X.
Deportation flights to Venezuela will resume Friday, according to Grenell’s post.
Venezuela is home to one of the most notorious migrant gangs in the U.S., Tren de Aragua, members of which have been among the administration’s primary targets for deportation.
John Fabbricatore, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital this development will help improve the administration’s deportation operation.
"President Trump has continued to work diligently to ensure that deportation flights continue to countries that have been recalcitrant in the past," said Fabbricatore. "Venezuela’s acceptance of these flights allows for a smooth deportation process and shorter, overall detention time."
During his first term, Trump pursued a "maximum pressure" sanctions policy against Maduro's government, especially targeting Venezuela's energy business. Trump imposed heavy oil sanctions against Venezuela in 2019, but those sanctions were then relaxed by President Joe Biden.
"The regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to," he added. "I am therefore ordering that the ineffective and unmet Biden "Concession Agreement" be terminated as of the March 1st option to renew."
The Trump administration scored another significant diplomatic victory with Venezuela in January when Grenell visited Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city, and secured the release of six American citizens who were being held by the dictatorship on espionage and terrorism-related charges.
Reuters reported last week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined Maduro’s government is still holding nine Americans hostage under "questionable circumstances and without respect for their rights."
Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., died of lung cancer-related issues on Thursday morning, his office announced in a statement. In Congress, the southern Arizona Democrat was most known for his work on the House Natural Resources committee.
"From permanently protecting the Grand Canyon for future generations to strengthening the Affordable Care Act, his proudest moments in Congress have always been guided by community voices," the statement read.
"He led the charge for historic investments in climate action, port of entry modernization, permanent funding for land and water conservation programs, access to health care for tribal communities and the uninsured, fairness for immigrant families and Dreamers, student loan forgiveness, stronger protections for farmers and workers exposed to extreme heat, early childhood education expansion, higher standards for tribal consultation, and so much more," the statement continued.
"Some of these victories seemed out of reach when he first came to Congress, but with support from community, colleagues, allies, and staff, he helped make them real."
The southern Arizona Democrat was 77 years old, and he had served in Congress since 2003. While receiving treatment, he had undergone local scrutiny for missing dozens of votes on Capitol Hill, KOLD reported.
There was an outpouring of condolences for the late congressman.
"First and foremost, as someone who lost their father recently, I want to express my sincerest condolences to the Grijalva family," Arziona state Rep. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, told Fox News Digital. "Losing a parent is beyond one of the hardest experiences one can face. Outside of this political world we are all normal human beings. May the family find peace in the memories that they lived with the Congressman."
"A genuinely devastating loss," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted to X. "Raúl Grijalva stood as one of the biggest champions for working people in all of Congress. His leadership was singular. He mentored generously and was an incredible friend. I will always be grateful for his lifelong courage and commitment."
The Democrat represented a deep blue district, leaving the door wide open for a competitive primary.
FIRST ON FOX: The White House compiled a highlight reel of Senate Democrats in recent years railing against potential government shutdowns as an attack on democracy, as the same Democrats this week flirt with rejecting a Trump-backed federal funding bill that would avert a looming shutdown.
"This is a democracy, and in a democracy, hostage tactics are the last resort for those who can't win their fights through elections, can't win their fights in Congress, can't win their fights for the presidency, and can't win their fights in the courts," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a clip included in the White House video.
"To hold these people hostage instead of just letting them do their jobs, which they want to do while we work out our differences. So wrong." declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a 2019 video, referring to furloughed federal employees.
A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital Thursday that Democrat "hypocrisy" and "hatred for Donald Trump" has "overpowered" the party's common sense.
"Last week, Democrats refused to stand for a child battling brain cancer and Angel Moms," a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital. "Now, their hypocrisy and hatred for Donald Trump have overpowered a commonsense, reasonable funding measure that their party has historically endorsed. This isn’t principled opposition; it’s a vitriolic response to their contempt for President Trump and the undeniable momentum on Republicans’ side."
The more than two-minute video included clips from Sens. Schumer, Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jack Reed, Corey Booker, Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff and Amy Klobuchar railing against previous shutdowns or threats of government shutdowns.
The Trump administration official added in comment to Fox Digital that Democrats' threats of a shutdown are "purely political theater" and attempts to grandstand.
"Make no mistake: Democrats’ threats of a Schumer Shutdown are purely political theater," the official said. "As President Trump works to fulfill his mandate to the American people, Senate Democrats are grandstanding against a measure to keep the government open — one that supports veterans’ benefits and military pay increases."
The House passed a Trump-backed federal funding bill Tuesday, largely along partisan lines in a 217 to 213 vote. The bill would fund the federal government through the end of September.
The bill is now in the Senate's hands, presenting Democrats in the upper chamber with the option of either passing the bill or triggering a government shutdown Friday at midnight.
Senate Democrats are reportedly at odds on how to proceed, sources told Fox News Digital this week.
"They’ve been debating what to do, and there’s been people who feel strongly on both sides," a Democratic source familiar told Fox News Digital, in reference to several lengthy Senate Democratic caucus meetings in the past couple days.
Though many Senate Democrats have remained mum on the contents of their recent meetings, multiple lawmakers, such as Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., posted videos to social media stating they planned to vote against the continuing resolution.
"This is a shutdown bill that's bad for the economy — let Trump shutdown whatever he wants," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Sunday. "Hurting everyday folks to use money for tax breaks for the uber-rich. Hell no!"
Meanwhile, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was heard by the media screaming inside a private lunch with Senate Democrats on Thursday, which lasted more than an hour.
Gillibrand also was included in the White House highlight reel, where she slammed the 2019 government shutdown as risking children "going to bed hungry."
"If this shutdown continues indefinitely, 39 million Americans will risk not having enough food. They will lose their SNAP benefits in February, so that means American children will be going to bed hungry. It's unacceptable," she said in the video clip.
Fox News Digital's Julia Johnson and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
