The U.S. Pentagon is sending an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border by the end of the month, a U.S. official told Fox News on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear what specific units would be sent, though the Trump administration is expected to make a formal announcement later Wednesday.
There are already 2,500 U.S. service members stationed at the southern border. The troops were ordered there in May 2023 during the Biden administration under title 10 authorities, were approved by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and are planned to be in place until the end of FY2025, according to a U.S. Northern Command spokesperson.
The 1,500 additional service members will deploy to different locations along the southern border by the end of the month, the U.S. official said.
The added troops will act in the same roles as the service members already there, providing aerial reconnaissance, data entry, training, vehicle maintenance, detection and monitoring, and some other logistical support roles.
The announcement will mark the third time that U.S. troops have been sent to the southern border in the last two years.
In May 2023, former President Joe Biden and Austin approved a request from former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to send an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border for 90 days to assist with the influx of migrants after pandemic era health restrictions ended in May 2023.
In March 2024, Austin approved another DHS request for 2,500 service members, including national guardsmen under Title 10 duty status.
Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants – claiming that it is unconstitutional and "unprecedented."
"The President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth," the lawsuit by 18 Democratic-led states said.
"If this unprecedented executive action is allowed to stand, both Plaintiffs and their residents will suffer immediate and irreparable harm," it argues.
Trump signed the order, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," which ends birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants. The order seeks to clarify the 14th Amendment, which states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
It clarifies that those born to illegal immigrant parents, or those who were here legally but on temporary nonimmigrant visas, are not citizens by birthright.
The Trump order argues: "Among the categories of individuals born in the United States and not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."
The states argued that thousands of children are born to parents on temporary or illegal status.
"Under the Order, such children born after February 19, 2025 – who would have been unquestionably deemed citizens had they been born two days ago – will lack any legal status in the eyes of the federal government," the states argue. "They will all be deportable, and many will be stateless. They will lose the ability to access myriad federal services that are available to their fellow Americans. And despite the Constitution’s guarantee of their citizenship, they will lose their rights to participate in the economic and civic life of their own country – to work, vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices."
Signed onto the lawsuit are attorneys general of New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. The city and county of San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., are also signed on.
The lawsuit comes shortly after another one filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) "on behalf of organizations with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order…" and claimed the order is unconstitutional and against congressional intent and Supreme Court precedent.
Four other states, Illinois, Arizona, Washington and Oregon, later filed a separate lawsuit.
"Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda," Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News Digital.
"These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance – and the Trump administration is ready to face them in court," he said.
President Donald Trump is quickly showcasing his accessibility to reporters days after returning to the White House, a stark contrast to his Democratic predecessor who frequently ducked questions and took scripted questions from reporters.
"We'll take a few questions," the president said on Tuesday, after announcing what's said to be a half-trillion dollar investment by top tech companies to vastly expand the nation's artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Trump then took questions for half an hour from reporters gathered at the White House.
It was the second straight day the new president held an informal, off-the-cuff and freewheeling news conference with reporters.
On Monday, hours after he was inaugurated at the U.S. Capitol, Trump took questions for 45 minutes as he sat in the Oval Office and simultaneously signed an avalanche of executive orders and actions. The back and forth with reporters was carried live by Fox News and CNN.
Trump on Wednesday is taking questions from Fox News' Sean Hannity, for his first Oval Office interview since returning to the White House.
"The president is the tip of the spear and he's been active in wanting to go out and communicate both his successes and the challenges that we have, and he's been active in wanting to solve those," deputy White House chief of staff for communications Taylor Budowich told Fox News.
The accessibility with reporters showcases Trump's unscripted nature, and it stands in stark contrast with former President Joe Biden, whose interactions with reporters were more limited and at times tightly stage-managed.
"Did Biden ever do news conferences like this?" Trump asked on Monday, as he appeared to take a jab at the former president.
Trump is known for his extended interactions with reporters. He held two unconstrained news conferences at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, during his transition back to the presidency.
And while for years he has accused reporters of being "fake news" and "the enemy of the people," and while his answers to their questions keep fact-checkers busy, his exchanges with the media are often free-flowing, without any aides selecting reporters to ask questions.
Budowich says Trump's accessibility and off-the-cuff style are contributing factors to his political success.
"The reason we won this election is because of Donald Trump. The reason why we are going to succeed in executing his agenda is because of Donald Trump," he argued.
And he touted that Trump "in the first two and a half days, has accomplished what most presidents fail to accomplish in their first two years."
House Speaker Mike Johnson channeled his inner dad energy as he excitedly recorded Vice President JD Vance’s first time in the Oval Office. The speaker not only celebrated the moment, but he noted Vance’s background, saying his story is one that could happen "only in America."
"As we gathered for our meeting at the White House yesterday, JD Vance mentioned to us that he had never before visited the Oval Office. I told him and President Trump that I HAD to capture the moment on video," Johnson wrote in a post on X. "Only in America can a hardworking young man from Appalachia rise from his humble circumstances to enter the Oval for first time as VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. What a country!"
Vance’s background took center stage in the campaign as then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Min., made a joke about no one from his small town going to Yale, where Vance got his law degree.
"Now, I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale," Walz said during his remarks at the Democratic National Convention.
The Trump campaign was quick to call out Walz’s remarks on social media, calling it a "weird flex."
Before he was chosen as President Donald Trump’s running mate, Vance served as a senator from Ohio after winning the seat in 2022. However, the current vice president entered the public eye in 2016 when he published his book, "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis." In the book, he details his challenging upbringing in Middletown, Ohio.
Surrounded by poverty, and grappling with his mother's drug addiction, Vance worked his way into a position to make change.
In 2020, years after the memoir was published, it was turned into a Netflix movie, which was directed by Ron Howard and starred Glenn Close and Amy Adams. "Hillbilly Elegy" faced fierce criticism, which both Close and Adams rejected. Recently, while on "The View," Close praised the vice president’s "very generous family."
Vance’s mother, Beverly Aikins, has been sober for a decade. Aikins briefly addressed the crowd at the Ohio inaugural ball, which was held in Washington, D.C., on Sunday night. She informed the crowd that she officially hit 10 years of sobriety that day and that the next day was her birthday, in addition to it being her son’s inauguration, Cincinnati.com reported.
Vance returned to his hometown for a rally held at Middletown High School, from which he graduated in 2003. He told the crowd that the town was "so good to me," and that he was "proud" to be from Middletown.
In an apparent swipe at President Donald Trump, Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested the Los Angeles fires were the result of climate change, urging skeptics that, "If you don’t believe in science, believe your own damn eyes."
He wrote those words in a press release issued on Tuesday in response to Trump's executive orders around the environment and paired them alongside horrifying images of the fires raging in California, which have so far killed 27 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes and structures.
Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, signed several executive orders to reverse parts of former President Joe Biden's climate agenda, including withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement – a legally binding treaty between nearly 195 parties who are committed to international cooperation on climate change.
In response to Trump distancing from the climate pact, which sought to reduce emissions 61-66% by 2035, the California governor suggested that withdrawing from the global emissions agreement contributes to environmental incidents such as the West Coast fires.
Several other Democratic lawmakers across the country have also tried to pin the disastrous fires on climate change, despite residents fuming at local officials after some fire hydrants were not producing water in areas impacted by the fires.
"The scale of damage and loss is unimaginable. Climate change is real, not 'a hoax.' Donald Trump must treat this like the existential crisis it is," Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a social media post in January.
The claims come as California officials continue to receive backlash for funding diversity, equity, and inclusion in the city, while the fire department budget was slashed by $17.6 million this year.
"When you just look at water not coming out of fire hydrants and then nobody seems to know why. And then the governor says, 'Well, I'm going to investigate it,' it's just kind of a sideshow in a time when we need real definitive, strong leadership," Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital of Newsom.
Actor Michael Rapaport also blasted Newsom for talking about "Trump-proofing" California ahead of his inauguration instead of focusing on "fire-proofing" the state.
"If you are going to run a city or run a state, you have to take care of the basics, and that's to make sure that your fire and your police department are well-funded," filmmaker and former "Family Ties" star Justine Bateman told Fox News' Jessie Watters.
Newsom extended an invitation to Trump to visit the areas in California that were impacted by the fires.
Trump told attendees at a pre-inauguration rally that he plans to visit southern California later this week, marking his first trip to the state since being sworn-in as president.
Fox News' Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
House Republicans have no plans to allow President Donald Trump’s key executive orders to expire at the end of his four-year term.
Trump marked his first day in office Monday with dozens of new executive orders, and signaled that he is aiming to use the commander in chief’s unilateral power to enact policy when possible.
Executive orders, however, can be easily rescinded when a new administration enters the White House. They can also be subject to legal challenges that argue they run afoul of existing U.S. law, as is the current case with Trump’s order limiting birthright citizenship.
But several House GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital are signaling they intend to stop that from happening for at least several of Trump’s key policies.
"I see him doing things by executive action as a necessity to signal… but they’re not the best way to do things," former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital. "The best way to do things is the legislative process with a signature on a bill."
Perry suggested starting with Trump’s orders on the border and energy.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., confirmed at his weekly press conference that Trump’s orders will be a roadmap for the House.
"This is an America First agenda that takes both of those branches of government to work in tandem," Johnson said. "And so what he's doing is kickstarting what will ultimately be our legislative agenda."
Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., a close ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital, "I think the executive orders are easy because it requires one person."
"Equally important in our discussions with him is the legislative piece, that we permanently enshrine some of these things or that we correct mistakes in the law that maybe have been abused in the past," Fry said.
Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., suggested enshrining Trump’s rollback of Biden administration energy policies into law.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s border subcommittee, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., said he wanted Congress to back up Trump’s immigration executive orders.
"We need to codify what President Trump has put in place by executive orders – Remain in Mexico, doing away with the CBP One app," Guest said. "When President Trump leaves office in four years, those executive orders can be undone."
Some have already taken steps to do just that. House Science Committee Chair Brian Babin, R-Texas, introduced a bill this week to limit birthright citizenship the day after Trump’s order.
Freshman Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, released a bill earlier this month to reinstate Trump’s Remain In Mexico policy.
"I think the border crisis is so egregious and so harmful to American citizens that everybody can see it, whether you're a Republican or Democrat," Gill told Fox News Digital.
Former President Joe Biden rolled back several of Trump's key executive orders on his first day in office and ended enforcement of Remain In Mexico – though that was challenged in court.
President Donald Trump revealed the contents of the letter that President Joe Biden left him upon leaving the Oval Office earlier this week exclusively to Fox News on Wednesday.
The letter, which Trump found inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with a little help from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, is addressed "Dear President Trump" and reads as follows:
"As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation.
"May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding."
The letter was signed "Joe Biden" and dated Jan. 20, 2025.
On Monday, Trump found the letter – a white envelope addressed to "47″ – after Doocy asked if Biden left him a letter while he was signing a flurry of executive orders in the Oval Office in front of a gaggle of reporters.
"He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know," Trump told Doocy before discovering the letter. "Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing."
On Tuesday, Trump responded to further questions from Doocy about the contents of the letter.
"It was a very nice letter," Trump told reporters. "It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is."
"It was a positive, for him, in writing it," Trump continued. "I appreciated the letter."
The presidential tradition of leaving a letter to their successor began in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left the White House after two terms in office, with former President George H. W. Bush taking over. The tradition has carried on to this day through Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden.
Biden, however, was the first president to find himself in the unique position of writing a letter to someone who is both his successor and the predecessor who left him a note four years earlier. Trump became the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
Biden has said Trump left him a "very generous letter," but has so far declined to share the content of what Trump wrote, deeming it private.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says former President Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons of his family members were "shocking" and "disgusting."
"It was shocking. I mean, it was shocking what President Biden did on the way out, pardoning his family for more than a decade of whatever activity, any nonviolent offenses. It was breathtaking to us," Johnson said Wednesday during the House Republican leadership’s weekly press conference.
"I don't think that's anything like that's ever been anticipated. And by the way, go look at the tape. You know, four years ago when it was just implied that President Trump might do something similar, they were apoplectic. Joe Biden himself, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, roll the tape. They all said that would be crazy and unconscionable. And now they're cheering it along," Johnson continued.
"To us, it is disgusting. To us, it probably proves the point. The suspicion that, you know, they call it the Biden crime family. If they weren't the crime family, why do they need pardons? Right?" Johnson also said. "Look, there's a lot of attention that's going to be paid to this. And I think that is appropriate. And we will be looking at it as well."
The pardon applied to James Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John Owens, and Francis Biden, the White House announced. The president argued that his family could be subject to "politically motivated investigations" after he leaves office.
"I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families," Biden said in a statement.
"Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances," Biden added.
The pardons have been widely criticized, with Trump-Vance transition senior adviser Jason Miller describing them to Fox News as "nonsense."
"I think for Joe Biden to do that, I thought that was nonsense," he said.
Biden issued another wave of pre-emptive pardons earlier Monday morning, those going to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and people associated with the House select committee investigation on January 6.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump signed off on releasing more than 1,500 charged with crimes stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.
"The President has made his decision," Johnson said Wednesday when asked about those pardons.
Fox News' Chad Pergram, Anders Hagstrom, Diana Stancy and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
The director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has resigned from her position, while a Biden-era executive order that sought to phase out the use of private prisons has been repealed amid President Donald Trump's efforts to implement drastic reforms to the Justice Department.
Colette Peters, who has led the BOP since August 2022, is out as director of the beleaguered agency, and she has been replaced by William Lothrop, who had been serving as deputy director of the BOP.
Peters was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 and touted as a reform-minded outsider tasked with rebuilding an agency plagued for years by staff shortages, widespread corruption, misconduct and abuse.
The agency has nearly 36,000 employees and is responsible for more than 155,000 federal inmates.
Lothrop, who says he has more than 30 years’ experience working in the BOP, announced the change via a statement on Tuesday, the day after President Trump was sworn into office. The BOP director is not subject to confirmation by the Senate, per the legal news service Law 360.
"On Jan. 20, 2025, Director Peters separated from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and I will be serving as the Acting Director," Lothrop said. "As we face ongoing challenges, including staffing shortages and operational issues, I am committed to working alongside you to find real solutions that strengthen our facilities. We will continue collaborating with our law enforcement partners and stakeholders to maintain robust programming and support services for inmates."
"Our mission remains clear: to provide a safe, secure and humane environment, ensure public safety, and prepare those in our custody for successful reentry into society," his statement added.
Soon after Trump was elected, Peters announced the closure of six male federal prison camps and one female facility, including the scandal-hit Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, per Forbes.
FCI Dublin had garnered the nickname "rape club" after the Justice Department in December was ordered to pay almost $116 million to 103 women who say they were abused there.
The prison's former warden, Ray Garcia, and at least seven other employees are now in prison themselves for sexually abusing inmates.
During her Peters, she appeared before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and spoke about the challenges the BOP faced, but she had trouble getting results.
In September 2023, Peters was scolded by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, who said Peters forced them to wait more than a year for answers to written follow-up questions they sent her after she first appeared before the committee in September 2022, leaving them without information critical to fully understanding how the agency runs.
Peters also irked senators by claiming she couldn’t answer even the most basic questions about agency operations — like how many correctional officers are on staff — and by referring to notes and talking points on a tablet computer in front of her.
In 2024, then President Biden signed the Federal Prison Oversight Law, which allowed the Office of Inspector General to conduct more unannounced prison inspections, per Forbes.
Of the inspections OIG has done over the years, it found significant shortages of staff, poor medical care for prisoners, rotten food and dirty living conditions. Peters said she welcomed the law, but that it had not yet been funded.
Trump reversed Executive Order 14006, which had eliminated Justice Department contracts with private prisons. The reversal now allows for new contracts between private prison corporations and the U.S. Marshals Service.
President Donald Trump has revoked a Biden-era order allowing transgender people to serve in the military.
After taking the oath of office on Monday, the new president signed an order revoking former President Joe Biden's order known as Enabling All Qualified Americans To Serve Their Country in Uniform, which was signed in 2021.
On the campaign trail, Trump promised to reinstate the ban on transgender troops he imposed during his first term. In his inauguration speech, he said he would formally recognize that there are only two genders: male and female.
There are an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender service members.
The new executive order was part of a rapid-fire succession of moves Trump has taken to undo Biden's policies. In a statement, the White House called out diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government that "has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy."
The move comes as part of a campaign taken up by Trump and his Defense Department secretary nominee Pete Hegseth to weed out any DEI practices across U.S. forces.
Last week, Trump tapped Matthew Lohmeier to be the Air Force’s next undersecretary. In 2021, Lohmeier, a Space Force lieutenant colonel, was fired after calling out the military’s diversity programs and alleging "Marxism" within its ranks.
Lohmeier has self-published a book, "Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest and the Unmaking of the American Military" and appeared on podcasts claiming the military was being weakened by Marxism, diversity efforts and critical race theory.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, praised the move, "is already restoring the focus of our military on lethality by putting an end to woke DEI programs."
Monday's actions are part of a wider Republican crackdown on transgenderism within the military. GOP lawmakers successfully included an amendment in their 2025 defense policy bill that bans irreversible transgender care for minors in the military healthcare system.
An order requiring the federal government to only recognize two genders has prohibited the use of taxpayer money for "transgender services" following reports that some inmates were receiving transgender care funded by the government. Medicaid, in some states, currently covers such treatments.
Also, under that order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants and rape victims are to be segregated by biological sex. It would block requirements at government facilities and at workplaces that transgender people be referred to using pronouns that align with their gender. Trump’s team says those requirements violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and religion.
The order does not issue a nationwide mandate on which bathrooms transgender people can use or which sports competitions they can participate in, though many states have passed laws in those areas.
The U.S. State Department has adopted a new policy under the Trump administration that effectively blocks U.S. embassies and outposts from flying Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, a report said Tuesday.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported that it obtained a copy of the "One Flag Policy" order, which permits only the American flag to be flown at U.S. facilities at home and abroad, with two notable exceptions: the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) emblem and the Wrongful Detainees Flag.
"Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content," the memo states, according to the outlet. "The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy. These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department for confirmation about the "One Flag Policy," but did not immediately hear back.
The policy comes after the Biden administration courted controversy over the last four years over flying such flags, igniting lengthy debates between Democrats and Republicans.
Former President Joe Biden caught flack for flying the Pride flag outside the White House during a Pride Month celebration in 2023, and in 2021 for a leaked State Department memo that encouraged U.S. embassies to display Black Lives Matter flags on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.
The controversies led GOP lawmakers in 2023 to introduce a bill known as the One Flag for All Act, which proposed to make it illegal to fly, drape or display any flag other than the American flag on federal buildings or properties, with limited exceptions.
Pride flags were first flown at U.S. embassies during former President Barack Obama's administration, according to Forbes, prior to being banned by the Trump administration in 2019. The ability was reinstated by the Biden administration in 2021, Forbes reports.
Pride flags were later banned from being flown outside U.S. embassies in March 2024 as part of a $1.2 trillion spending package Biden signed.
President Donald Trump vowed to immediately shake up the State Department upon taking office, with one source familiar with the situation telling Fox News that the new Trump administration will immediately move new officials into key operational roles at the State Department to ensure the department is carrying out the Trump foreign policy agenda from day one.
Trump's Secretary of State nominee, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, was unanimously confirmed to the Cabinet post on Tuesday.
Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
House and Senate leaders left a meeting at the White House on Tuesday with varying levels of optimism about being able to fit their plans for a massive conservative policy overhaul into one bill.
"The reason the president talked about the one big, beautiful bill, and the reason we talk about it as well, is because that's the most efficient and effective way to get it done," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News’ Sean Hannity after the meeting.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters, "We're moving forward with one bill on the House."
"We've had a lot of member briefings, but we've also been talking about this with President Trump," Scalise said. "When you look at what gives us the best path to success – to secure the border, lower energy cost and get stable tax policy instead of a tax increase – all of those things we want to do. One bill's the best path."
However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who has advocated for a two-bill approach, couched expectations when asked about Scalise’s comments.
"I think that discussion is always predicated on what we can get done, and we're obviously all interested in getting to the same destination," Thune told reporters. "There's a lot to do, and part of it is just figuring how to stage it, and what's the best way to get all those results."
One Senate GOP leadership source pushed back on House leaders' suggestions that the outcome of the joint discussion was broad agreement on a one-bill approach. Many Republicans in the upper chamber have maintained that their preference would be two reconciliation bills, even after Trump's meeting with the Senate GOP earlier this month.
Dealing with the debt limit, California wildfire aid and the March 14 government funding deadline were also topics that arose at the Tuesday meeting.
The sit-down comes as congressional Republicans are preparing for a massive conservative policy overhaul through the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from 60 votes to 51, reconciliation allows the party controlling Congress and the White House to pass broad policy changes — provided they deal with budgetary and other fiscal matters.
GOP lawmakers are angling to use reconciliation to pass sweeping measures on border security, government spending, defense, energy and to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts – with several key provisions from that bill expiring at the end of this year.
Advocates of the two-bill approach, which include Thune and the House Freedom Caucus, argue that splitting their priorities into separate pieces of legislation will allow Republicans to score early wins on issues like border security and energy, which generally fuel less division within the GOP, while leaving more time for complex matters like taxes.
Critics of that plan include members of the House Ways & Means Committee, who have warned that the complex political maneuvering needed for reconciliation could put two bills out of reach, given the GOP’s razor-thin margins in Congress.
"The last time we had two was when Newt Gingrich was the speaker. He had a much larger majority. That was 1997. We have a majority of one," committee member Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told reporters this month.
Congress is aiming to get a reconciliation plan on Trump’s desk by spring, Scalise said Tuesday.
The Trump administration is significantly expanding its powers to quickly deport illegal immigrants, one of a number of rapid-fire moves made by the administration to fulfill its promise to launch a mass deportation operation.
A Department of Homeland Security notice, issued Tuesday, removes limits put on the power of expedited removal put in place in March 2022 during the Biden administration. Until the new memo, officials were limited in their use of the power to 100 miles of the border or recent arrivals.
Expedited removal allows for the rapid removal of illegal immigrants who have failed to meet the standard for asylum or have not requested asylum. The new power takes off the 2022 limits, allowing agents to remove those who are unable to prove they have lived in the U.S. for at least two years.
"Presently, immigration officers may apply expedited removal to aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States for up to two years after the alien arrived in the United States, provided that the alien arrived by sea and the other conditions for expedited removal were satisfied," the notice, signed by acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman, said.
"In particular, the full application of expedited removal authority will enable DHS to address more effectively and efficiently the large volume of aliens who are present in the United States unlawfully, without having been admitted or paroled into the United States, and ensure the prompt removal from the United States of those not entitled to enter, remain, or be provided relief or protection from removal," it says.
The memo comes a day after DHS rescinded a Biden-era memo limiting the places in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers could arrest illegal immigrants. Another memo ordered a review of the use of humanitarian parole to admit migrants.
That, in turn, came after a slew of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump that declared a national emergency at the border, halted refugee resettlement, ordered a removal process without asylum, ordered border wall reconstruction and deployed the military to the border.
Trump promised a "historic" mass deportation operation, and his border czar, Tom Homan, said on Tuesday that the operation was already underway.
"No, it started [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. Teams are out there as of today," Homan said on "America’s Newsroom." "We gave them direction to prioritize public safety threats that we're looking for. We've been working up the target list."
Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Congressional Republican leaders met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, and the president gave some public remarks after the White House summit.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana are expected to address the press as to what was discussed in their first meeting with the new president since he began his second term.
Trump clashed with some congressional Republicans late last year as the federal government was facing a potential shutdown that was ultimately narrowly averted.
Other Republican leaders present at Tuesday’s meeting include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota and House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan.
On the Senate side, Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming and Conference chairs Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia were also part of the discussion.
While Trump had signed a slew of executive orders on his first day in office, he also signaled eagerness to work with congressional Republicans to pass key parts of his agenda through the legislature.
During a press availability following his meeting with Republicans, Trump mentioned the get-together as well as his new executive orders renaming Mt. Denali and the Gulf of Mexico.
He said President William McKinley was worthy of having his name put back on North America’s highest peak, quipping that his fellow Republican was known as the "tariff king" and presided over one of the strongest economies in U.S. history.
Trump claimed the U.S. was "the richest country" in the world between 1870 and 1913. McKinley had just begun his second term when he was assassinated in Buffalo, New York, in 1901.
When asked about pardoning Jan. 6 convicts, Trump agreed it is never right to assault a police officer but suggested the press and the left have not expressed the same concern for those involved in the weekslong conflagrations in Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd.
Trump also spoke about stripping Secret Service protection from his former advisor John Bolton, calling the Baltimore native a "warmonger" and a "very dumb person."
Later in his presser, Trump announced he would be visiting North Carolina and California in the coming days.
Trump made implicit reference to areas of the Smokie Mountains decimated by Hurricane Helene, claiming Democrats had abandoned the Tarheel State in the wake of the historic storm that affected a large swath of the U.S. and particularly the area from Damascus, Virginia, to Augusta, Georgia.
Trump also appeared to suggest Democrats and Democratic policy failures in the lead-up to the Los Angeles wildfires have left the party "dead, politically" in California.
"What they’ve done is destroyed [Los Angeles]," he said, speaking of sprinklers without water and hydrants without proper water or pressure.
He said California’s leaders either have "a death wish [or] they are stupid, or there’s something else going on."
When he travels to California, he may notably encounter one of his longtime political foes, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is now the state’s junior senator.
The Washington, D.C., pastor who delivered a liberal sermon during a church service attended by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance is facing fierce backlash from fellow pastors, as well as critics on social media for "weaponizing" the pulpit instead of promoting unity.
"Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. She's the first woman to hold the position. She was given a great honor today, a chance to unify America around a Christian message at the dawn of a new administration. Instead, she disgraced herself with a lecture you'd hear on CNN or an episode of The View. What an embarrassment," Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk posted to X.
Catholic Vote, a conservative nonprofit, added on X, "Liberal Protestant Pastor Mariann Edgar Budde blindsides Trump and Vance, weaponizing her sermon to attack them in front of their families by saying they should ‘have mercy’ on gay, lesbian, and transgender children. Unbelievable."
Trump and Vance, alongside their respective families, took part in a long presidential tradition of attending the National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral the day after the inauguration. The National Cathedral, an Episcopal Church, has hosted the prayer service the day after the presidential inauguration since 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn-in.
This year's service, however, took a turn when the bishop of the protestant church warned that gay and transgender children allegedly "fear for their lives" and that Trump should "have mercy," before turning her attention to illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
Trump and Vance appeared visibly annoyed by the comments, as Trump looked off to his side, while Vance shot a look over at Trump.
"In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives," Mariann Edgar Budde claimed in the church service.
"And the people who pick our crops, clean our office buildings, labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat at restaurants and work the night shifts at hospitals, they may not be citizens, or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals," she continued.
Pastor and former NFL star Jack Brewer told Fox News Digital that the sermon is "just the beginning of Democrats' desperate attempts to race bait America back into the pernicious grips of DEI."
"The fact that President Trump demanded that God remain as the foundation of America should have received non-partisan praise from all of our nation's clergy. We are addressing DEI and wokeness in our government and businesses and it’s time to address wokeness in churches as well," he said.
Pastor Rob Pacienza of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida and founder of the Institute for Faith and Culture slammed the comment in a statement to Fox Digital.
"Ironically, the bishop used the pulpit and the service to not only lecture the president but to promote a secular worldview and her woke ideology. Unity can only be achieved through a commitment to biblical truth, not cultural assimilation. Her sermon was indicative of the heresy being taught by mainline denominations. Our nation was founded upon the truth that there is God, and he alone defines good and evil," he said.
Chicago Pastor Corey Brooks added that he "would like to know … why she didn’t ask for the previous administration to have mercy on these trans kids and immigrants."
"This Bishop asked Trump and his administration to have mercy on trans kids and immigrants. What I would like to know is why she didn’t ask for the previous administration to have mercy on these trans kids and immigrants? Where was she when it counted? We have children who are so young that they do not know the ways of this world and yet we are doing irreversible damage to their bodies — damage that many have since regretted. Where was she when Biden opened the borders and allowed millions of people who knew they were breaking the law to cross over," Brooks told Fox News Digital following the sermon.
"We knew a day of reckoning was coming. Yet where was her request for compassion back then. What the previous administration did was not compassion but ideological malpractice. They operated on children out of ideology. They allowed in people from other countries out of ideology. This was not compassion. Our compassion must be for our citizens first and foremost," he added.
Other critics of the remarks slammed Budde on social media for what they described as an attack on Trump and his policies.
The pastor of Kings Church in New York City, David Englehardt, added in a comment provided to Fox News Digital that "when compassion divorces itself from truth, it becomes a counterfeit virtue—easily manipulated, shallow, and destructive."
"As Christ warned in John 8:44, the father of lies thrives where truth is discarded, twisting kind intentions into tools of hell. True compassion bows to the authority of law and justice-for his throne is established on Justice; without these, it is not compassion at all, but indulgence in sophistry that serves the enemy of God," Englehard said.
Additionally, country music artist John Rich responded to the sermon by citing scripture. "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Matthew 12:30"
Trump demanded an apology from the pastor in a Truth Social post early Wednesday morning, describing her tone as "nasty."
"The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!" he posted.
His message followed Budde joining CNN, where she explained that she was speaking directly to Trump in the sermon.
"I was speaking directly to him. I was also, frankly, as you do in every sermon, speaking to everyone who was listening through that one-on-one conversation with the president. Reminding us all that in the people that are frightened in our country, the two groups of people that I mentioned are our fellow human beings, and that they have been portrayed in, all throughout the political campaign, in the harshest of lights that … I wanted to counter as gently as I could with a reminder of their humanity and their and their place in our wider community," she said.
Democrats have named their members to serve on the House Oversight Subcommittee for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and warn they will "fight back" against cuts to critical federal programs.
The newly minted agency, a key promise of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, is tasked with slashing government waste and providing increased transparency when it comes to government spending. It was created via executive order on Monday.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M. announced on X Tuesday that she will serve as the ranking member.
Stansbury will be joined by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D- Mass., Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, as well as Eleanor Holmes Norton, a non-voting congressional delegate for Washington, D.C., per Politico. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the ranking member of the full Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will be permitted to sit on the subcommittee in an ex officio capacity, the outlet reports.
Stansbury vowed to "use every tool available to work across the aisle and combat policies that are harmful to Americans."
She said in a video on X that Democrats are "100% in" on DOGE if it operates to improve government efficiency and make federal agencies work better. But if it’s going to be "political theater to do the bidding of President Trump and his billionaire allies," then they are prepared to "fight back."
"I know what good government looks like and am not afraid to fight for it," Stansbury said in a separate statement, per Politico. "At the same time, I am prepared to fight to protect the vital programs, services, and employees that keep our communities safe and the economy running."
Garcia, too, said he will use his position on the oversight subcommittee to "fight back" against the House GOP’s plans to "attack the federal workforce." He said Republicans plan on cutting critical federal programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and give tax cuts to billionaires and the wealthiest corporations.
He took aim at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who is chair of the subcommittee.
"Marjorie Taylor Greene and her extremist allies are helping push a radical agenda in this subcommittee that includes eliminating the Department of Education and programs for seniors and veterans," Garcia said in a statement.
"We’re ready to fight back on day one, call out attempts to slash our social safety net, and make sure we take care of working families and the middle class."
Earlier on Tuesday, Greene announced Republican members selected to serve on the subcommittee; Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas; Rep. William Timmons, S.C.; Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas; Rep. Brian Jack, R-Ga.; Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.; Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo.; and Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas.
She said they bring a wealth of experience and are dedicated to providing a more efficient, effective and accountable federal government.
"Together, we will strive to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement within federal agencies, ensuring that the government operates efficiently and transparently for the American people," Greene said in a statement.
The announcements come amid news that former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is leaving the newly created department.
Ramaswamy, who along with Elon Musk, the world's richest person, was tapped in November by Trump to steer DOGE, is expected to launch a Republican campaign for Ohio governor early next week, according to a Fox News source.
Running for elected office requires him to remain outside of DOGE, based on its structure. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday described the letter former President Biden left him inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as "inspirational" and teased reporters that he may release the "very nice" note at some point.
Trump was asked about the letter, which he found inside the Resolute Desk on Monday with a little help from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, during a press conference announcing a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
"It was a very nice letter," Trump told reporters. "It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is."
The president added that he appreciated the letter so much that he may release it to the public.
"It was a positive, for him, in writing it," Trump continued. "I appreciated the letter."
Trump found the letter – addressed to "47″ – after Doocy asked if President Biden left him a letter while he was signing a flurry of executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday in front of a gaggle of reporters.
"He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know," Trump told Doocy before discovering the white envelope. "Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing."
Trump had then teased reporters that they should read it together before pulling back the reins. He said he’d open the letter later Monday night.
The presidential tradition of leaving a letter to their successor began in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left the White House after two terms in office, with former President George H. W. Bush taking over.
Bush continued the tradition despite losing the White House to former President Bill Clinton after just one term in office. The tradition has carried on to this day through Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden.
Biden, however, was the first president to find himself in the unique position of writing a letter to someone who is both his successor and the predecessor who left him a note four years earlier. Trump became the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
Biden has said Trump left him a "very generous letter," but has so far declined to share the content of what Trump wrote, deeming it private.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump blasted Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, after she directed politically charged remarks towards him during an interfaith service of prayer for the country at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, the day after Trump's inauguration.
"Let me make one final plea, Mr. President," she said. "In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and [transgender] children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives."
She went on to say that "the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors."
"I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here," she said.
Trump trashed Budde and her performance in a post on Truth Social, suggesting that she and her church should apologize to the public.
The president also pointed out that there are illegal immigrants who have entered the country and killed Americans.
"The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA," Trump declared in the post on Wednesday.
"Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!" he asserted.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., indicated in a post on X that he is Episcopalian, and objected to Budde's remarks.
"As a conservative Episcopalian who supports President Trump and his agenda, I am profoundly disappointed that Bishop Mariann Budde politicized today’s inaugural Service of Prayer for the Nation. By disregarding President Trump’s appointment of Scott Bessent, a brilliant, openly gay man to serve as Treasury Secretary and Elon Musk, a genius, first generation legal immigrant to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, Bishop Budde’s gratuitous criticisms ring hollow," Barr declared.
"Sadly, the only message Bishop Budde delivered through her unwelcoming and hypocritical words to the President was that the Episcopal Church’s motto of ‘All are Welcome’ apparently doesn’t apply to the majority of Americans who voted for Donald Trump."
FIRST ON FOX: Newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio is advising his department to cease refugee resettlement operations and begin ramping up vetting of visas from certain regions in response to executive orders from President Donald Trump.
After officially becoming its next secretary, Rubio directed the Department of State to halt refugee resettlement programs, a senior department source told Fox News Digital.
He also ordered the department to implement enhanced vetting for visa applications from "dangerous regions."
The secretary cited new executive orders signed by Trump after his inauguration Monday.
Among dozens of executive orders, Trump signed one aimed at "Realigning The United States Refugee Admissions Program" and another to "[Protect] the United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats."
The former dictated that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) be suspended due to its detrimental effect on the country's interests. The latter order calls for increased vetting of all aliens, "to the maximum degree possible," especially those "from regions or nations with identified security risks."
Trump's executive order on refugees further stipulates that "the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit aliens to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as they determine that the entry of such aliens as refugees is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States."
Rubio was the first Trump Cabinet member confirmed, the Senate voting unanimously to do so Monday night.
He was sworn in Tuesday morning, becoming the 72nd secretary of state.
In remarks at the department Tuesday, Rubio said, "There will be changes, but the changes are not meant to be destructive. They're not meant to be punitive.
"The changes will be because we need to be a 21st century agency that can move by — a cliché that's used by many — at the speed of relevance. But we need to move faster than we ever have, because the world is changing faster than we ever have. And we have to have a view that some say is called ‘look around the corner.’
"But we really need to be thinking about where are we going to be in five, seven, 10 or 15 years. Some of the issues that confront humanity today have no precedent. They have no historic precedent. Some of the challenges we face have no historic precedent. We can compare it to another era, to another time, but they're not the same. Things are moving faster than ever," he explained.
Immigration was a top campaign priority for Trump during the 2024 election.
In his inaugural address Monday, Trump promised, "I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted. And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country."
A group of racial justice protesters reached a settlement with the federal government in a lawsuit accusing law enforcement agents sent by President Trump of using excessive force to protect a federal courthouse in 2020.
Under the settlement, the federal government must compensate the plaintiffs for the injuries suffered at the hands of federal agents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said Tuesday.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the ACLU of Oregon for details surrounding the specific compensation amounts.
The plaintiffs included three military veterans, a college professor, several Black Lives Matter activists and a man who said agents grabbed him off a street for no reason while he was blocks from the federal courthouse in Portland.
"We are proud to have represented our courageous clients," ACLU of Oregon legal director Kelly Simon said in a news release. "They suffered serious injuries because of federal law enforcement’s unlawful, aggressive actions, and it is just and fair that they are being compensated. Thank you to our clients and all people who stood up for Black lives and against government tyranny. The ACLU of Oregon will stand with you again and again to make sure everyone is treated with justice and fairness by the government."
Thousands of protesters in Portland and across the country took to the streets for months in 2020 in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. The demonstrators at times clashed with police, and militarized federal agents were ordered to Portland to stop the riots.
The lawsuit accused federal agents of exceeding the limits of their authority, making illegal arrests and using tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray when trying to stop the riots. Nearly all the plaintiffs alleged they suffered physical injuries and some were treated at hospitals.
A video showed Navy veteran Christopher David, a plaintiff in the suit, outside the courthouse being struck by an agent with a baton and another dousing him in the face with pepper spray. David suffered two broken bones in his hand during the protest.
The lawsuit alleges that then-Acting Director of Homeland Security Chad Wolf did not have the authority to send more than 100 agents to Portland because he was improperly appointed. Wolf abruptly resigned in 2021 — shortly before Trump was set to leave office — saying he was compelled to leave by "recent events," including court rulings that found his appointment to be unlawful.
A federal investigative report later found that the militarized federal agents did not have the proper training or equipment and that there was no plan for responding to protests without local police assistance.
Local police arrested hundreds of protesters over three months and federal agents arrested nearly 100 more during the height of the demonstrations.
"It shocked the conscience that this level of force was used against veterans, moms, and other nonviolent protesters. The way our own government treated us violated everything we learned in the military," plaintiff and veteran Nichol Denison said in the news release.
This was one of several lawsuits the ACLU of Oregon filed against the federal government on behalf of protesters and other groups, including journalists and legal observers.
