Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants to put the kibosh on President Donald Trump's plan for the U.S. military to accept a Boeing airplane from Qatar to be used as Air Force One.
The Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill that would prohibit utilizing Defense Department funding to procure, modify, restore, or maintain an aircraft for presidential flight if that aircraft was previously owned by a foreign government, foreign government-controlled entity, or foreign government representative.
"None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2025 or fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Defense may be made available for the procurement, modification, restoration, or maintenance of an aircraft previously owned by a foreign government, an entity controlled by a foreign government, or a representative of a foreign government for the purposes of providing presidential airlift options," the text of the measure reads.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to request comment on Tuesday morning but did not immediately receive a response.
"Donald Trump has shown time and again – he will sell out the American people and the Presidency if it means filling his own pockets," Schumer said, according to a press release.
"Not only would it take billions of taxpayer dollars to even attempt to retrofit and secure this plane, but there’s absolutely no amount of modifications that can guarantee it will be secure. It is now on the Senate to prioritize our national security, protect Americans, and ensure that a foreign-owned plane never gets the call sign ‘Air Force One.’"
The proposal stands little chance of passage: Even if it were to clear both chambers of Congress where Republicans hold the majorities, the president could veto the measure, in which case passage would require enough votes to surmount a presidential veto.
"The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years. It will be used by our Government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive," President Trump declared in a Truth Social post last week.
"Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done. This big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump added.
Trump indicated last week that he does not plan to fly in the plane after leaving office, but that the aircraft would be placed in his presidential library.
FIRST ON FOX: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a fiery pre-recorded video to be broadcast before the World Health Assembly, which gathers member states of the World Health Organization, on Tuesday outlining why President Donald Trump is withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO.
"Like many legacy institutions, the WHO has become mired in bureaucratic bloat, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest and international power politics," Kennedy said in a video exclusively shared with Fox News Digital.
"While the United States has provided the lion’s share of the organization’s funding historically, other countries such as China have exerted undue influence over its operations in ways that serve their own interests and not particularly the interests of the global public."
Kennedy’s video, however, did not appear to air during the assembly’s gathering on Tuesday.
Video messages from foreign leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte were aired during a meeting on Tuesday morning, as well as live remarks from Vice Premier of China Liu Guozhong, but Kennedy’s video did not appear to be shown, according to Fox News Digital’s review of the assembly’s livestream.
The World Health Assembly kicked off Monday in Geneva, where the WHO's 194 member states convened its 78th annual meeting. Kennedy's office sent the video to be featured during the assembly's meeting on Tuesday morning, alongside other videos of world and health leaders addressing the body.
This year, the WHO member states are anticipated to sign a "pandemic agreement" that aims "to safeguard the world from a repeat of the suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," according to the body.
Kennedy's video addressed the pandemic specifically, saying the World Health Organization's handling of COVID-19 was riddled with "failures" and exposed that the WHO "capitulated" to China. The WHO is a specialized agency focused on international health that is overseen by the United Nations.
"The WHO, under pressure from China, suppressed reports at critical junctures of human-to-human transmission and then worked with China to promote the fiction that COVID originated from bats or pangolins rather than from Chinese government-sponsored research at a biolab in Wuhan," Kennedy said.
"Not only has the WHO capitulated to political pressure from China, it's also failed to maintain an organization characterized by transparency and fair governance. … The WHO often acts like it has forgotten that its members must remain accountable to their own citizens and not to transnational or corporate interests," he continued.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office this year announcing the U.S.' intention to withdraw from the WHO due to its mishandling of the pandemic, as well as a host of other issues the president took issue with, such as "onerous payments" that didn't match contributions from other member states.
"The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states. In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments," Trump's EO stated.
Kennedy continued in his video that "global cooperation on health is still critically important to President Trump and myself" while knocking the WHO for repeated "failures" during the pandemic that the body has since further embraced through its anticipated "pandemic agreement."
"It isn't working very well under the WHO. As the failures of the COVID era demonstrate, the WHO has not even come to terms with its failures during COVID, let alone made significant reforms. Instead, it has doubled down with the pandemic agreement, which will lock in all of the dysfunctions of the WHO pandemic response."
"We're not going to participate in that," Kennedy said. "We need to reboot the whole system, as we are doing in the United States. Here in the United States, we're going to continue to focus on infectious disease and pandemic preparedness, but we're also fundamentally shifting the priorities of our health agencies to focus on chronic diseases, which are prevalent in the United States."
In the six-to-one Democrat stronghold of Philadelphia, winning a seat as a Republican is tough to say the least. There hasn’t been a Republican mayor since Bernard Samuel in the 1950s, for example.
So it may not be that surprising that the local GOP has a plan it hopes will give a Democrat primary challenger to incumbent District Attorney Lawrence Krasner a crucial second round against the Soros-backed prosecutor should he get knocked out in Tuesday's primary election.
Krasner is facing fellow Democrat and former judge Pat Dugan, who also has the support of several Democrat ward committees and Philadelphia political stalwarts like state Sen. Tina Tartaglione, plus a slew of union groups like IAFF and the Teamsters.
In his pitch to voters, Dugan drafted a "geographic prosecution plan" to crack down on crime in the city.
"This plan is about more than just fighting crime—it’s about rebuilding communities. [It] will hold criminals accountable, provide second chances when appropriate, and ensure every neighborhood feels the impact of a fair and just system they can trust and believe in again," Dugan said in a statement on his campaign site.
Krasner, seeking a third term, has been lambasted for his progressive criminal justice policies and faced impeachment proceedings from Republicans in the now-Democrat-controlled State House of Representatives.
In 2023, a Commonwealth Court judge ruled the GOP-controlled Senate cannot hold a trial because the House’s articles of impeachment didn’t meet the bench’s standards.
One top Republican, 2022 gubernatorial nominee Sen. Doug Mastriano, notably opposed Krasner’s impeachment, quipping, "Philadelphia: They want Krasner – they like him. That’s a huge mandate."
While there was a drop in homicides year-over-year in 2023, Philadelphia saw a spike from 351 the year he took office in 2018 to 562 in 2021. Krasner also ceased charges for certain offenses like marijuana possession, eliminated cash bail for some offenders and has sought generally more lenient sentences than conservatives want.
In the city where then-Mayor James Kenney did a dance on social media to celebrate its inception as a sanctuary city, Krasner has followed up by refusing to honor ICE detainer requests, saying that letting the feds tell him who to jail is unconstitutional.
Krasner’s backing from about $1.45 million in political action committee support tied to Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros has also led to criticism.
Last week, Dugan told PhillyVoice the city is feeling "Krasner fatigue" after eight years.
"Many people come up to me and tell stories about how upset they are with some of the policies with the DA's office," he said.
Republicans, largely out of power in the city for decades outside of two at-large city council seats that they – or independents – must statutorily be elected to, see Dugan’s candidacy as an opportunity to oust Krasner and have a way to give him a second chance should he fail in Tuesday's primary.
The city’s Republican Party funded a website advising voters to write-in Dugan on the Republican line. By law, if Dugan receives 1,000 write-ins, he will be named the Republican general election nominee unless he declines the opportunity. That would give more city voters a chance to turn out Krasner in the November general election.
As she ran for the White House in the 2024 election cycle, Nikki Haley made her calls for "new generational leadership" a key component of her Republican presidential campaign.
And front and center from day 1 of her campaign as the former South Carolina governor and former United Nations ambassador declared her candidacy in February 2023 was her call for "mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old."
As Haley challenged then-76-year-old former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination in hopes of eventually facing off in the general election against then-80-year-old President Joe Biden, the proposal became one of the most visible and at times controversial parts of her campaign stump speech.
Haley faced charges of ageism from a host of politicians opposed to the idea, including a now-83-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who at the time called her idea "absurd."
While Haley's campaign took off, and she ended up being the last Republican candidate standing against Trump during last year's primaries, she eventually bowed out of the race in March 2024 as Trump marched toward clinching the presidential nomination.
Fast-forward to today, and long-standing questions about Biden’s physical and mental fitness – and whether Democrats should have more forcefully urged him to bow out of the 2024 race – haven’t gone away; they’re front and center.
This as Biden's condition is once again making headlines, courtesy of excerpts from a new book being released this week, "Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," which offers claims of a White House cover-up of the then-president's apparent cognitive decline.
Additionally, last week's leaked audio of Biden’s 2023 interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, in which the then-president appears to suffer memory lapses, is also fueling the conversation.
Hur, who investigated whether Biden years earlier had improperly stored classified documents, made major headlines early last year when he decided not to charge Biden but described the then-president as an "elderly man with a poor memory."
Last week's developments were followed by Sunday's blockbuster announcement that Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
The news, while eliciting sympathy from both sides of the political aisle, is unlikely to sidetrack the current firestorm over the former president's mental acuity.
"While the media may have been shocked by Nikki's call for mental competency tests, Americans never were," a source in Haley's political orbit told Fox News. "It was common sense. Nikki always believed our leaders should be completely transparent and remember who they serve: the American people. After a yearslong cover-up, those who hid President Biden's mental decline must finally acknowledge what Nikki and the American people always knew to be true."
Haley, who was 51 when she announced her candidacy in 2023, reupped her calls for a mental competency test throughout her campaign.
In January last year, during the heat of the primary battle, Haley pointed to some verbal stumbles by Trump on the campaign trail.
"He's not what he was in 2016. He has declined. That's a fact," Haley said at the time.
Trump repeatedly fired back as he touted acing a cognitive test he took five years earlier and said, "I think I’m a lot sharper than her."
A month later, after the release of Hur's written report regarding Biden's mental acuity, Haley said, "Joe Biden can't remember major events in his life, like when he was vice president or when his son died."
"That is sad, but it will be even sadder if we have a person in the White House who is not mentally up to the most important job in the world," she added as she reiterated her calls for Biden to take a mental competency test "immediately."
Haley, in a Fox News op-ed in May 2023, spelled out the specific test she recommended for politicians over age 75.
"The Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test is a widely used tool for detecting cognitive decline," Haley wrote at the time.
And she elaborated, "This is not a qualification for office. Failing a mental competency test would not result in removal. It is about transparency. Voters deserve to know whether those who are making major decisions about war and peace, taxation and budgets, schools and safety can pass a very basic mental exam."
Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, noting the current media spotlight on Biden, said it has "renewed concerns many Americans have about the age and ability of our elected officials. Public service demands clarity of thought, sound judgment, and the ability to manage complex issues."
And Lesperance, president of New England College, said "Americans must conclude that a fair and nonpartisan cognitive assessment, perhaps irrespective of age, is important to ensure all who seek to lead are equipped to serve with the sharpness and clarity the role requires."
Pittsburgh’s mayoral race has not been competitive on a partisan level since the 1930s, but all eyes are on which way the Steel City goes in Tuesday’s primary election as the Democratic Party faces a crossroads.
Incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey, seen as the more progressive choice in the race, is facing stiff competition from Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, himself the son of a Democratic mayor of Pennsylvania’s second-largest city.
Gainey, the city’s first Black mayor, has at times cast himself on the national stage as a critic of President Donald Trump and his agenda, while also working to attract new business to Pittsburgh — including the 2026 NFL Draft. The draft is estimated to bring a $200 million economic boost to the area, according to a source familiar.
He previously pledged not to cooperate with federal ICE operations and has also called Trump’s budget cuts a "direct attack on working families" and the economy of Western Pennsylvania.
"ICE is not going to end the situation of a failed immigration policy. What it’s going to do is create more situations where people feel scared, where people don’t feel safe," Gainey said in January – a sentiment which earned the rebuke of another Pittsburgh politician, U.S. Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa.
"Gainey needs to follow the law and the lead of some other Democratic mayors working to keep our cities safe," said McCormick, according to WTAE.
Gainey’s campaign has highlighted the mayor’s efforts to increase community policing and mental health professionals to assist in police response, while O’Connor also claims the mantle of the pro-police candidate.
Under Gainey, the city ranks first in state population growth and has increased its affordable housing by 1,600 units.
Working with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Gainey secured $600 million for downtown revitalization and improvements to the city's iconic Point State Park.
"Thanks to our people-powered movement, our campaign has all of the momentum in this race. We’ve proven again and again since 2021 that when we come together — across race, across class, religion, age, across every line that’s ever been used to divide us — we are unstoppable," Gainey said in a statement.
On the other side, O’Connor has support from some Republican donors, as well as the "old guard" Democratic base, according to The New York Times.
"This is an election about Pittsburgh, about how we get our city back on the right track. It’s laughable to make arguments about progressive/not progressive. The outside groups that are meddling, I guarantee you – they haven’t looked at the records of either one of us," O’Connor told the paper.
O’Connor’s campaign has also shown support for the resourcing of the police and his own plan to revitalize the downtown area. He has also received large outside contributions from groups like Common Sense Change Action and Democracy Wins, according to the Post-Gazette.
On the Republican side, retired Police Det. Tony Moreno – who lost to Gainey last cycle – is running in the GOP primary against clothier Thomas West.
The city has not had a Republican mayor since Mayor Charles Kline and Mayor John Herron in 1933.
On the other side of Pennsylvania, the third-largest city – Allentown – visited multiple times by both Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 sweeps due to its "swing" congressional district -- will also be holding a primary Tuesday.
Like Pittsburgh, Allentown was historically an industrial center and home to both progressives and "old guard" Democrats.
Mayor Matt Tuerk, like Gainey, faces a challenge from a conservative Democrat – Councilman Ed Zucal -- in another swing-state test of which wing of the Democratic Party is gaining prevalence. That city’s last Republican mayor, Bill Heydt, left office in 2002 and died in April at 86.
Fox News Digital reached out to O'Connor via the controller's office and a campaign email, but he could not be immediately reached for comment.
Put aside politics for a moment, which I know is basically impossible in this supercharged environment.
There is no way not to feel sympathy for Joe Biden as a human being after his prostate cancer diagnosis was made public on Sunday. He has a serious, life-threatening disease.
I have plenty of medical questions about why Biden and his doctors waited so long to treat this particularly "aggressive" form of cancer until it spread to his bones. This is inexplicable to me. Now the Stage 4 cancer can’t be cured, though it could possibly be contained.
Was this part of the coverup of Biden’s dramatic decline in mental acuity, as documented in the new book "Original Sin"? How would voters have reacted if they had known that not only was Biden too old and feeble to run for a second term, but also had cancer?
But on a personal level, Biden’s life has been marked by tragedy, from the car accident that killed his first wife and daughter to the brain cancer that claimed his son Beau – which is why he announced a "Cancer Moonshot" as president.
Look, I’ve known Joe Biden for 40 years, and whatever you think of his politics, he’s a likable guy. I covered him as Senate Judiciary chairman. As vice president, he once sent my then-8-year-old daughter a handwritten note after she wrote a poem about them sharing the same birthday. He used to love talking to reporters. He would throw parties for the press and run around with a super soaker, spraying little kids. That was then.
But by 2023, he had no business running for president again, not when aides were debating whether he’d need a wheelchair in a second term, according to the Jake Tapper-Alex Thompson book. Many Democrats are angry that he’s reemerged in a rehab tour, wishing the 82-year-old man would just get off the stage.
The former president put out a photo with his wife yesterday, saying: "Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places."
Dr. Zeke Emanuel said on "Morning Joe" yesterday that the cancer has "been around for a very long time in President Biden – years… It is a little surprising to many of us oncologists that he wasn’t diagnosed earlier… He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021."
But none of this matters to the far-right types, many of them based in Florida.
Conservative influencer Roger O’Handley, writing under the name DC Draino ("America First"), wrote a screed that was retweeted or liked 10,000 times: "Some people seem to forget that he is a career criminal who almost destroyed America."
According to Mediaite, another far-right commentator, Brenden Dilley (Warlord Dilley, "media personality"), says: "In order to believe the Biden cancer diagnosis, you have to first believe that Biden and his family would willfully tell you the truth about anything. In order for that to happen, you have to be f---ing retarded."
His solution: "Stage 5 prostate cancer." In other words, death.
Presidential adviser Laura Loomer called this "a PR strategy to shame the Democrats who are coming out with a book about the cover up of Biden’s health crisis."
Breanna Morello, a self-described "independent journalist": "They want all the Monday morning shows talking about it because Jake Tapper has a book to sell. It’s a PR move."
What these and other posts have in common is the lack of even a milligram of compassion for Joe Biden as a human being. Biden is evil, everything he does is evil, and if he dies, good riddance.
I find this inexplicably sad – win-at-all-costs politics is so all-consuming that human life is meaningless.
Even President Trump dropped his usual attacks on his onetime opponent: "Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family and we wish Joe a fast and speedy recovery."
See, that wasn’t so hard.
Elon Musk, who’s faded from the news, shared a post from Clint Russell, who tweets as Liberty Lockdown ("a podcast for those who demand freedom")::
"So the plan was to run Biden, lie about his cancer and dementia, get him back in the WH, and then have him immediately step aside so Kamala's reign of terror could begin.
"All while trying to jail or kill DJT. Just making sure we're all on the same page, here. These people are evil."
"Look, I mean, first of all, of course, we wish the best for the former president’s health. But hopefully he makes the right recovery. Look, I will say, whether the right time to have this conversation is now or at some point in the future. We really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job."
Taylor Lorenz, who worked for the New York Times and Washington Post before going independent, was joyful about Biden’s news: "Hopefully he rots in hell and rests in piss."
I have defended her at times, but this is beyond appalling. Lorenz has disgraced herself.
Then again, she cheered when UnitedHealtcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered on the street, and refused to criticize the alleged shooter. What about his family? Too bad. Just zero regard for human life.
Now is it likely that some on the left will celebrate once Trump passes, which I don’t see happening until after he’s long out of office? Sure. This disease goes both ways. But that doesn’t make it right.
It was Bill Clinton, during his impeachment over Monica Lewinsky, who accused his opponents of "the politics of personal destruction." And that’s been used against the presidents who followed him. It’s a sickness that says human beings don’t count, only winning at all costs.
Footnote: The Biden announcement prompted some equally sad news from Scott Adams, the brilliant "Dilbert" creator and conservative, pro-Trump voice who hosts a morning coffee for subscribers:
"Well, I’ve decided today’s the day I’m going to take the opportunity — since a lot of you are here — to make an announcement of my own. Some of you have already guessed, so it won’t surprise you at all, but I have the same cancer Joe Biden has. So I also have prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones. I’ve had it longer than he’s had — well longer than he’s admitted having it.
"My life expectancy is… maybe the summer. I expect to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer."
House Republicans are channeling Edward Hopper this week as they try to pass President Trump’s big, "beautiful bill."
Hopper is known for "Nighthawks," one of the most iconic paintings in American history. The 1942 painting depicts four people in a diner in the middle of the night. A deserted streetscape commands the foreground. Two men – heads festooned with fedoras – sit separately at the counter, nursing coffee. One of the men has a cigarette tucked between his index and middle fingers. He’s positioned next to a woman with scarlet hair and a red dress. She appears to holding a bite of a doughnut or sandwich, studying it as though it were a rare artifact. She seems to debate whether she should eat it. A young counterman – attired in white with a crisp envelope hat – leans downward in search of glassware or dishes hidden underneath.
It's the dead of night. Everyone is distant and detached. Even the couple – even though they sit side-by-side – don’t look at each other.
In Nighthawks, everyone appears as though they’re just trying to make it through the night to dawn.
It’s kind of what House Republicans are going through this week.
The House Budget Committee convened at 10:26 p.m. ET Sunday night to advance the tax cut and spending reduction package after a hiccup stalled the measure Friday afternoon. At 10:39 p.m. ET, the committee approved the bill 17-16 – with four House Republicans voting "present."
The next stop is the House Rules Committee, the final parliamentary way station before depositing a piece of legislation on the floor.
At 12:31 a.m. ET Monday, the Rules Committee announced it would prep the bill for the floor – with a meeting at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. That session could last all day Wednesday. Literally. The Energy and Commerce panel met for 26 consecutive hours last week to prepare its section of the budget reconciliation measure. The Ways and Means Committee huddled all night long.
The group of House Republicans pushing to state and local tax for high-tax states (known as SALT) scheduled a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for 9 p.m. ET Monday. And it’s entirely possible that the House could be debating or even voting on the measure late Thursday, the wee hours of Friday morning or even Friday night.
This is how Capitol Hill rolls when there’s a big piece of legislation on the clock. The hours are late. The meetings are long. Lawmakers convene different sessions whenever they need to – just to get the measure across the finish line.
The only difference between the halls of Congress now and "Nighthawks" is that the coffee fueled the figures in the painting until dawn. It was 1942. But this is 2025. Edward Hopper would know nothing of Celsius or Red Bull.
There’s an actual parliamentary reason as to why the Budget Committee met so late on Sunday night after its stumble on Friday afternoon. And there’s a method to the Rules Committee’s 1 a.m. madness on Wednesday.
Let’s rewind.
The Budget Committee tried to blend the various provisions from nearly a dozen House committees into one unified legislative product midday Friday. That effort came up short. A total of five Budget Committee Republicans voted nay. They groused about spending cuts, green energy tax credits and the timeframe of work requirements for those on Medicaid.
Four of the five GOP noes were truly opposed. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn., voted nay so he could order a re-vote. Rules allow a member on the winning side of an issue (in this case, the nays), to ask for another vote later. Smucker supported the plan. But he then switched his vote to nay to be on the winning side. That teed up a possible re-vote.
"Calling a vote moves the process forward. I think it's a catalyst," said Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Tex., after the failed vote Friday.
The Budget Committee then announced it would convene at 10 p.m. ET Sunday.
This is where things get interesting:
The key here was for the Budget Committee to finish its work before midnight Friday. Once it got rolling, the process would only consume 15 or 20 minutes. The Budget Committee approved the plan 17-16 with four Republicans voting "present."
"We're excited about what we did," said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who was one of the GOPers who voted nay Friday.
But Norman still wasn’t excited enough to vote yes on Sunday night. He voted present.
"There's so much more that we have to do to rein in government and rein in the costs and the deficits," said Norman on FOX Business Monday.
But regardless, the measure was out of the Budget Committee before the witching hour on Sunday. And then came the Rules Committee announcement – just after midnight on Monday – about a session at 1 a.m. Wednesday to ready the "big, beautiful bill" for the House floor.
There are several reasons House Rules Committee Republicans decided to huddle at 1 a.m. et Wednesday. Let’s begin with the parliamentary one.
The Budget Committee wrapped up just before midnight Sunday. The rules allow Democrats two full days to file their paperwork and viewpoints after that meeting. So, they had all day Monday and all day Tuesday. The Rules Committee needs an "hour" to announce its formally meeting. So, the "official" announcement of the Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday will go out just after 12:01:01 a.m. ET Wednesday. That triggers a 1 a.m. ET meeting on Wednesday.
Here are the other, more practical reasons.
Republicans need all the time they can get. There is talk of trying to vote on the floor late in the day on Wednesday. We’ll see about that. But the early Rules Committee meeting time makes that a possibility.
Second of all, it’s possible the Rules Committee meeting could consume the entire calendar day of Wednesday. Streams of lawmakers from both sides will file into the Rules Committee to propose various amendments. This is a protracted process.
But by the same token, meeting at 1 a.m. ET could diminish attendance. After all, who wants to show up at 1 a.m. ET for a meeting and maybe discuss your amendment at 6:30 a.m. ET? You get the idea.
And once the bill gets out of the Rules Committee, expect late night meetings among Republicans as they try to close the deal. It’s possible the House could vote at virtually any time of day Wednesday, Thursday or Friday to pass the bill. That could be late in the evening. Or even overnight. They will vote when the bill is ready, regardless of the time on the clock.
Such is the lot drawn this week by House Republicans for the "big, beautiful bill." Maybe they’ll have the votes. Maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll pass more spending cuts. Maybe there’ll be a deal on SALT for state and local taxes. Maybe not. Maybe the vote comes at 3 in the afternoon. But more likely, sometime late at night.
Just like in Nighthawks, everyone on Capitol Hill is just trying to make it through the night and to the dawn.
Two South Texas gang members have been sentenced for human smuggling, following a series of high-speed chases at the border that involved one of the gang members crashing his car into the Rio Grande and swimming to Mexico to escape.
A Monday statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the two human smugglers, Juan Miguel Regalado, 28, and Samuel Grajeda Jr., 21, are members of "Puro Tango Blast," a local Texas gang.
The two were sentenced on May 15 after being convicted of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants, following an investigation by ICE, U.S. Border Patrol Laredo Sector and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
U.S. District Judge John Kazen imposed a 66-month sentence for Regalado, while Grajeda previously received a 30-month imprisonment as well as a consecutive six months for violating the terms of his supervised release for a previous alien transporting conviction. Both must also serve three years of supervised release.
Both men admitted to involvement in the human smuggling conspiracy.
According to the ICE statement, the investigation began April 20, 2024, when a group of suspected illegal aliens entered a green Tahoe in a sector of the border just north of Laredo, Texas.
The statement said that Regalado was driving and led law enforcement on a high-speed chase, during which "multiple individuals jumped out of the vehicle."
Driving up to 100 miles per hour, Regalado crashed the Tahoe into the Rio Grande and then proceeded to escape by swimming across the river to Mexico.
Authorities continued to monitor the area over the next several months. In November 2024, another group of illegal aliens entered a white Ford Taurus parked in the area. Authorities followed the vehicle until another vehicle, a black Mercedes, cut them off. ICE said that the two vehicles were driven by Grajeda and Regalado.
A traffic stop of the Ford Taurus led to another vehicle pursuit in which Grajeda crashed into a bystander’s vehicle. Law enforcement eventually discovered the Ford Taurus abandoned in a north Laredo neighborhood. Authorities then found four illegal aliens and Grajeda and Regalado within the vicinity of the abandoned vehicle.
Both gang members are currently in custody.
Craig Larrabee, ICE Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Special Agent in Charge, said that "these sentences reflect the serious consequences awaiting those who engage in human smuggling and endanger public safety."
Larrabee said that "Tango Blast gang members put countless lives at risk during these reckless pursuits" and that "through strong collaboration with our federal and state law enforcement partners, we remain committed to dismantling violent criminal organizations and protecting our communities."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted its first self-deport operation, dubbed "Project Homecoming," with a charter flight on Monday from Texas, and made stops in Honduras and Columbia, taking 64 illegal immigrants who chose to self-deport back to their home countries.
DHS said in a post on X that all participants who chose to leave the U.S. were offered the same benefits as any illegal alien who self-deports using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home App.
"They received travel assistance, a $1,000 stipend, and preserved the possibility they could one day return to the United States legally," DHS said.
DHS also shared a video of the events leading up to the first flight, showing families preparing to leave Houston, where they were greeted and offered food, games and stuffed animals for their children.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the first ever self-deportation program which incentivizes illegal immigrants to voluntarily leave the U.S. on a free flight and with a cash bonus.
"Project Homecoming" authorizes government-funded flights and offers money to illegal immigrants who are willing to self-deport.
When Trump announced the signing of the order in a post on Truth Social, he said the program would end up saving taxpayers "billions and billions" of dollars.
"We are making it as easy as possible for illegal aliens to leave America. Any illegal alien can simply show up at an airport and receive a free flight out of our country," Trump said. "Illegals can book a free flight to any foreign country as long as it's not here. You can go anywhere you want."
DHS said days before the executive order was signed that migrants would be offered a $1,000 stipend each to leave. The department said this will be 70% cheaper for American taxpayers, as it currently costs DHS, on average, over $17,000 to arrest, detain, and deport someone.
"This deportation bonus will save American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars," Trump said.
Illegal immigrants are encouraged to use the CBP One app to arrange their deportations. The same app under the Biden administration was used to expedite migrants from scheduling appointments at official ports of entry before they were paroled into the U.S., which was discontinued on the first day of Trump’s second term.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem shared a post about the first "Project Homecoming" flight on X, advising those in the country to take advantage of the program.
"If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home," Noem wrote. "If you don’t, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation and will never be allowed to return. If you are in this country illegally, self-deport NOW and preserve your opportunity to potentially return the legal, right way."
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is launching an investigation into the City of Chicago for allegedly engaging in a pattern of discrimination based on race, which is a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday to notify him that an investigation into civil rights violations was being opened.
"Our investigation is based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race," Dhillon wrote. "In your remarks made yesterday at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, you highlight[ed] the number of Black officials in [your] administration."
Johnson was a guest at the Apostolic Church of God, when he responded to critics who claim he only talks about hiring Black people.
"No, what I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else. We are the most generous people on the planet," he said.
Johnson went on to list top officials in his administration, emphasizing their race.
For example, Johnson said his deputy mayor of business and economic neighborhood development is a Black woman.
Other positions filled by Black women that Johnson spoke about include the deputy mayor of infrastructure, the budget director and the commissioner of the department of planning and development.
Johnson also highlighted the chief operations officer and senior advisor as both being positions held by Black men.
"You then said that you were ‘laying’ these positions ‘out’ to ‘ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business," Dhillon wrote to Johnson. "Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above.
"If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions," she added.
Dhillon stressed that no conclusions have been made on the matter, and she welcomed his assistance with the investigation.
Johnson’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the investigation.
The Chicago mayor has made race-based comments in the past.
After President Donald Trump was elected to a second term, Johnson claimed during a news conference that the new president is a threat to Black families in his city.
"His threat is not just towards new arrivals and undocumented families. His threats are also against Black families," Johnson said. "We’re going to protect Black folks, Brown folks, Asian folks. The City of Chicago will be better, stronger and safer despite who’s in the White House."
Fox News' Patrick McGovern and Elizabeth Heckman contributed to this report.
Following news that the House Rules Committee will convene at 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning to take the next steps in advancing President Trump's "big, beautiful" budget bill, Democrats are accusing Republicans of cowardice for advancing the monumental bill "in the dead of night."
The House Budget Committee reached an initial consensus to pass the bill to the Rules Committee late Sunday evening, after gaveling in at approximately 10:00 p.m. The Rules Committee must now take up the matter to set out the rules for debate and markup that are expected to take place next in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.
Shortly after, the House Budget Committee passed the bill in a late-Sunday night vote, the House Rules Committee announced it would be considering the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning. The announcement, followed by the late-night Sunday vote, has stirred up criticism from Democrats who argue the late-night legislative sessions are the result of GOP cowardice.
"Republicans are scheduling votes in the DEAD OF NIGHT on Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill.’ They advanced their bill last night at 10:30PM. The next vote is scheduled for 1AM on Wednesday. Why hide?" questioned Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. "Maybe because this bill rips away health care from babies, new moms, and seniors."
The legislative negotiations over the GOP's budget bill have circulated around what federal programs, or funding, will need to be cut in order to extend the president's tax cuts from his first term, which are set to expire. Among those cuts are new provisions to federal healthcare programs, like Medicaid, which Democrats have slammed as a move to take away public healthcare programs from those who need them the most.
"Republicans know that their efforts to take away health care from millions of Americans is deeply unpopular. Republicans know that the effort to enact the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history, which will literally take food from the mouths of children, veterans and seniors, is deeply unpopular. Republicans know that providing billionaire donors with a massive tax break for people, like Elon Musk, and at the same time, exploding the deficit by trillions of dollars is deeply unpopular," the Democrats' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said during a Monday afternoon press conference.
"That's why Republicans are going to try to advance this bill in the dead of night at 1 a.m. in the morning."
Republicans, however, have indicated their hope to pass their new budget bill by Memorial Day, and, in order to do that, the lengthy reconciliation process Republicans are using to get the bill passed must move quickly as the date is fast approaching.
As a result of the looming Memorial Day deadline, Republicans appear to be moving the bill forward as quickly as possible, and, to do so, it is reportedly requiring the House Rules Committee to convene early Wednesday morning.
"Under the rules, Budget Dems get two calendar days to file minority views after last night's markup. That could take until midnight Tuesday. Rules then has a one hour notice requirement, hence starting at 1 am," political commentator Brendan Buck said on X, citing someone with expert knowledge of the legislative process.
But that hasn't stopped Democrats from claiming Republicans are engaging in late-night votes to somehow keep the budget bill process out of the limelight.
"Remember when Republicans said late-night sessions were ‘not what the country needs or deserves’ during the American Rescue Plan? Now they’re getting ready to make dramatic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP so they can give tax breaks for billionaires - in the dead of night," Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said following news of the Wednesday morning Rules Committee session. "Hypocrisy on full display."
A bill making its way through the Texas Legislature would ban minors from accessing popular social media apps and websites in an effort to curb what a lawmaker says is an addictive and "harmful product."
Republican state Rep. Jared Patterson's measure, House Bill 186, passed the Texas House with bipartisan support last month and appears poised to be pushed through by the state Senate en route to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk.
In an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, Patterson said the bill came about by speaking with multiple committees and with parents who have young kids about the effect that popular social media sites like X, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat have on children.
These committees and conversations came during the last two interims in the state Legislature that studied the issue of social media and minors.
"Learning more about it, we really came to the realization that this is the most harmful product that our kids have access to in terms of its addictive nature," Patterson said.
Bill 186 would ban minors from signing up for accounts on social media, require parental consent to download applications, and place warning labels about the dangers of social media.
Websites that allow users to create content and share it will be considered a social media platform and thus be banned from minors.
However, websites containing news and sports will be accessible for minors.
While Texas isn’t the first state to put some restrictions on minors' access to social media platforms, it right now would be the strictest.
Currently, only Florida has laws banning minors from using social media, but its laws are not as strict as the proposed Texas Bill 186.
Florida’s age restriction is currently 14 years old, while Texas’s proposed limit would be for those under the age of 18.
However, Patterson said the age restriction isn’t set in stone.
"We'll see what happens with the Senate. When [the bill] left the House, people under the age of 18 will be prohibited from social media. There was broad bipartisan support when the bill left the Texas house," Patterson said. "[The Senate has] every right to adjust it to whatever it needs to get out of that body."
Regardless of what changes are made, Patterson said he still feels strongly that protecting children is the No. 1 priority and that parents will realize just what exactly is happening.
"It starts with the understanding that these parents don’t stand a chance against these algorithms," he said. "It also starts with parents understanding that these apps aren’t for friends sharing information with friends; they are built to harvest data and get people hooked on their products."
Patterson said Texas will continue to "stand in the gap and protect these kids, even when these social media companies refuse to show up.
"They refuse to answer for the harm they’ve caused, and they don't even care to answer questions in a public forum about what they’ve done to our kids."
New Jersey real estate developer Charles Kushner was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Monday for the ambassadorship to France and Monaco.
He was confirmed in a 51-45 vote.
Kushner, the father-in-law of Ivanka Trump, was previously pardoned by President Donald Trump for federal tax evasion and Federal Election Commission violations from 2005, during the mogul’s first term.
In 1985, he founded the Kushner Companies and has long been a philanthropist, particularly to Jewish causes and institutions like Yeshiva University in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
He has also donated to St. Barnabas Hospital in Essex County, New Jersey, which has a wing bearing his family name.
During his May 1 confirmation hearing, Kushner acknowledged his past legal missteps, claiming they sharpened his judgment and better prepared him for both the ambassadorship and life.
"I think that my past mistakes actually make me… better in my values to really make me more qualified to do this job," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Kushner, who just celebrated his 71st birthday, was nominated in November after Trump called him a "tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our country & its interests."
"He was recognized as New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, & served as a commissioner, & chairman, of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, as well as on the boards of our top institutions, including NYU," Trump said.
"Congratulations to Charlie, his wonderful wife Seryl, their 4 children, & 14 grandchildren. His son, Jared, worked closely with me in the White House, in particular on Operation Warp Speed, Criminal Justice Reform, & the Abraham Accords."
Trump added that Kushner will help strengthen America’s partnership with "our oldest ally and one of our greatest."
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba is charging Rep. LaMonica McIver for her alleged misconduct toward law enforcement in front of Delaney Hall earlier this month, but she is dismissing the trespassing charge against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
"Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement," Habba said in a post on X on Monday.
In a letter posted with the comment, Habba announced that after extensive consideration, she was dismissing charges against Baraka.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was charged with class C misdemeanor trespassing at the facility, which is privately operated by the GEO Group, last week, and he had his first court appearance on Thursday, which Habba personally attended.
"We believe that I was targeted in this," Baraka said outside the courtroom after his appearance.
Baraka and three congressional lawmakers – McIver, Robert Menendez Jr., and Bonnie Watson Coleman were outside the ICE facility last week with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. All four officials then allegedly rushed through the gates past security, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security.
"If it was a typical U.S. citizen, and they tried to storm into a detention facility that's housing dangerous criminals or any person at all, they would be arrested," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told "Fox News Live" host Kevin Corke Saturday. "Just because you are a member of Congress or just because you're a public official, does not mean you are above the law.
"The way we were treated at Delaney Hall is almost unbelievable. ICE shoved me, manhandled [Watson Coleman], and arrested [Baraka]. They disrespected us and tried to stop us from conducting the oversight we’re elected to do. But we’ll never back down in our fight for what is right," McIver posted to X last week.
The arrest came as activists had been calling for access to the facility for days, which is a privately run facility that was revamped as an immigration detention facility this year. The city says that the facility is operating without a valid certificate of occupancy, whereas the GEO Group maintains that they are in full compliance with city laws.
After another protest that went right up to the gates of Delaney Hall, large yellow barricades were placed in front of its entrance with signs warning against trespassing on private property.
Fox News Digital reached out to McIver’s office for comment.
A retired four-star admiral who once served as the Navy’s second-highest ranking officer, was convicted of bribery and other conspiracy charges, making him the most senior member of the U.S. military ever convicted of committing a federal crime while on active duty.
Following a five-day trial, retired four-star Adm. Robert P. Burke, 62, was found guilty on Monday of a scheme to direct lucrative contracts to a training company in exchange for a $500,000-a-year job after leaving the Navy, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
Burke is facing up to 30 years in prison for his role in the scheme to direct contracts potentially worth millions of dollars to a New York City-based company that offered training programs to the Navy.
"When you abuse your position and betray the public trust to line your own pockets, it undermines the confidence in the government you represent," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro wrote in a post on X following the conviction.
"Our office, with our law enforcement partners, will root out corruption – be it bribes or illegal contracts – and hold accountable the perpetrators, no matter what title or rank they hold," Pirro continued.
Burke, who served as vice chief of naval operations, was once the Navy’s second-highest ranking officer.
According to court documents and as the evidence proved at trial, from 2020 to 2022, Burke was a four-star admiral who oversaw U.S. naval operations in Europe, Russia, and most of Africa, and commanded thousands of civilian and military personnel.
Yongchul "Charlie" Kim and Meghan Messenger, co-CEOs of a company not named by the DOJ, allegedly participated in the scheme to get a government contract in exchange for offering Burke a position with the company.
The company provided a training program for a small part of the Navy from 2018 and 2019, before their contract was terminated.
The company was told by the Navy not to contact Burke, but the three met in Washington, D.C., in July 2021 and Burke allegedly agreed to use his influence to get the company a sole-source contract and urge other Naval officers to use the company for a more widespread training program that Kim estimated would be worth "triple digit millions."
In December 2021, Burke allegedly ordered his staff to award the company a $355,000 contract to train Naval personnel under his command in Italy and Spain and made an unsuccessful attempt to convince a senior Naval commander to give them another contract.
"There was no connection between this contract and his employment. The math just doesn’t make sense that he would give them this relatively small contract for that type of job offer," Burke's defense attorney, Timothy Parlatore, previously told Fox News Digital.
Burke allegedly implied that he had no role in awarding the contract, and that his discussions with Kim and Messenger didn’t start until after the contract started.
Both Kim and Messenger were arrested in May 2024 and were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery and could face 20 years in prison.
Parlatore told Fox News Digital that they are "obviously disappointed by the verdict," but said "this is a result of the fact that the jury did not get to hear the whole story."
"The investigation was very poorly conducted. It was conducted by the exact same investigator who completely screwed up the Fat Leonard case," Paralore said.
"They didn't do any research and so you have an incompetent and unethical, corrupt investigator relying upon the word of a known liar, building this terrible case. And ultimately, the only way that they could bring it to a conviction was to only present certain evidence to the jury," Paralore continued.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital's Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
Following his phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, President Donald Trump appeared confident that peace talks between the two warring nations will soon be progressing.
In response to a reporter’s question outside the White House on Monday, Trump said that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is genuine in his seeking a peace deal.
"President Trump, do you think Vladimir Putin wants peace?" the reporter shouted across the lawn.
Trump stopped and responded: "I do. Yes."
"Do you still trust Putin?" the reporter continued, to which Trump responded: "I do."
Speaking later that same day, after an event honoring fallen law enforcement officers in the White House, Trump said that he believes Putin has "had enough" of the war.
"I think he's had enough. I think he's had enough. It's been a long time. This has been going on for more than three years. When you think, it's been going on for a long time," said the president.
Meanwhile, Trump seemed less confident in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Asked whether Zelenskyy is doing enough to help the peace talks process along, Trump responded: "I'd rather tell you in about two weeks from now, because I can't say yes or no."
"Look, he's a strong person, Zelenskyy, a strong guy, and he's not the easiest person to deal with," said Trump. "But I think that he wants to stop, and it's a very bad thing that's happening over there. I think he wants to stop. But I could answer that question better in two weeks or four weeks from now. I hope the answer is that he wants to get it solved."
Trump also commented on newly inaugurated Pope Leo XIV, saying he would like to help facilitate peace between the two nations. Trump said that it would be "great" to have the peace talks at the Vatican.
"There's tremendous bitterness, anger, and I think maybe that could help some of that anger," said Trump.
Trump and Putin held a two-hour call on Monday in what the U.S. said was a push to get Russia to end its deadly war in Ukraine.
Both Trump and Putin described the call in a positive light, with the Kremlin chief saying it was "frank" and "useful," but it is not immediately clear what results were achieved.
Trump took to social media to praise the call as having gone "very well" and said, "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War."
"The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of," he added.
Putin, in a statement after the call, also noted that "a ceasefire with Ukraine is possible" but "Russia and Ukraine must find compromises that suit both sides."
Any concrete details on the nature of these compromises remain unclear, despite negotiation attempts in Turkey on Friday, which Trump suggested failed because he needed to negotiate with Putin first.
In the lead up to the talks, Trump also spoke with Zelenskyy, along with other world leaders like U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said they discussed the urgent need for Putin to agree to an unconditional ceasefire or face serious repercussions, including more sanctions.
Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine's landmass. However, the Russian military's advance has significantly slowed to a virtual stalemate.
In October, Fox News Digital reported that Russia has suffered some 600,000 casualties in its war with Ukraine — more than its losses in every conflict since World War II combined.
President Donald Trump spoke candidly about former President Joe Biden's recent prostate cancer diagnosis on Monday, expressing sympathy while also suggesting that the situation should be investigated.
Biden's team announced the diagnosis on Sunday afternoon, saying that the former statesman "was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms."
"On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone," the statement added.
"While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management," Biden's team concluded. "The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians."
Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Trump called the news "very sad, actually."
"I'm surprised that…you know, the public wasn't notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine [sic], that's a long time," Trump said. "I just had my physical… We had the doctors at the White House and over at Walter Reed, which is a fantastic hospital. I did a very complete physical, including cognitive tests."
Trump also referenced Biden's cognitive decline during his presidency, stating that "anybody running for president should take a cognitive test."
"They say it's unconstitutional. But I would say in that particular case, having a cognitive test wouldn't be so bad," the Republican said.
Trump also posited that the general public "wasn't informed" about Biden's medical situation, and suggested that the situation should be investigated.
"I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor if it's the same, or even if it's two separate doctors," Trump said. "Why wasn't the cognitive ability, why wasn't that discussed? And I think the doctor said he's just fine. And it's turned out that's not so. It's very dangerous."
The president concluded by saying that the cancer diagnosis is "a very, very sad situation and I feel very badly about it."
"I think people should try and find out what happened, because I'll tell you….I don't know if it had anything to do with the hospital," Trump added. "Walter Reed is really good. There's some of the best doctors I've ever seen."
"Somebody is not telling the facts," he concluded. "It's a big problem."
News of Biden's aggressive cancer diagnosis shocked the country over the weekend. After receiving bipartisan messages of sympathy, the 82-year-old thanked his supporters on social media on Monday.
"Cancer touches us all," Biden wrote on X. "Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."
White House’s visitor logs reveal that many of the top Democratic leaders who most vocally defended former President Joe Biden’s leadership capabilities were frequent White House visitors and were thus presumably aware of Biden’s worsening cognitive decline.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella slammed Democratic leadership for participating in what he called a "cover-up" and the "political scandal of the century."
This comes as the 82-year-old former president's condition is once again making headlines, courtesy of excerpts from a new book being released this week, "Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," which offers claims of a White House cover-up of the then-president's apparent cognitive decline.
Additionally, last week's leaked audio of Biden’s 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur, in which the then-president appears to suffer memory lapses, is also fueling the conversation.
Hur, who investigated whether Biden years earlier had improperly stored classified documents, made major headlines early last year when he decided not to charge Biden but described the then-president as an "elderly man with a poor memory."
Visitor logs reveal that four top Democrats made a total of 63 visits to the Biden White House between 2022 and 2024.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made 21 visits to the White House in the span of just two years, 2022 through 2024, according to official visitor logs. This means that Jeffries would presumably have been very familiar with the former president’s condition.
Despite these visits, Jeffries continued to assert that he was confident in Biden’s leadership, even saying in a 2023 interview that based on firsthand knowledge of the former president "in a high stakes circumstance," Biden was an "incredible leader, incredible negotiator, incredible strategist, and he's strong, brilliant, understands nuance."
Again, Jeffries claimed that Biden was "one of the most accomplished American presidents in our history, and he has the vision, I believe, the ability, the capacity and the track record to make a case to the American people that will result in us being successful in November."
Jeffries insisted as late as February that Biden was "the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump."
The last several documented visits Jeffries made were shortly before Biden’s disastrous debate with President Donald Trump. Biden’s shockingly poor performance at this debate led to calls for him to step down, ultimately leading to his dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
In addition to Jeffries, several other top Democrats were also frequent White House visitors, including House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., as well as Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.
Amid the Democratic turmoil in the wake of Biden’s poor debate performance, DelBene, who made five visits to the White House between 2022 and 2024, expressed continued support for Biden, saying: "The stakes are incredibly high this election, for all of us. That hasn’t changed after last week."
"The choice this November is crystal clear," said DelBene. "Democrats who want to govern responsibly versus extremist Republicans obsessed with tax breaks for billionaires, rolling back reproductive freedom, and defending Trump’s attacks on our democracy."
Aguilar, who made 10 documented visits to the White House in the span of two years, continued to defend Biden even after the debate, saying in a July 9 press conference that "right now President Biden is the nominee, and we support the Democratic nominee."
Meanwhile, Clark, who made 27 visits to the White House between 2022 and 2024 and was among Biden’s most vocal supporters up until his poor debate performance, refrained from taking a strong stance on whether Biden should remain in the race, saying, "The decision is up to the president."
After Biden announced he was dropping out of the race, Clark praised the former president, saying that "around the globe, he is admired for his steady, experienced leadership — always honoring America’s crucial role as a facilitator of peace, democracy, and human rights."
Jeffries, Clark, Aguilar and DelBene did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Marinella commented that "while Americans were asking questions, Democrat leaders lied to their faces and worked overtime to cover up the political scandal of the century."
Marinella told Fox News Digital that "voters will never forget their disgusting deception."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was ripped on social media over the weekend for suggesting President Donald Trump was partially to blame for a Mexican Navy ship losing control and crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge.
"After being fully briefed on last night’s Brooklyn Bridge accident, one thing is predominantly clear: there are more questions than answers as it relates to exactly how this accident occurred," Schumer said in a press release after a 150-foot-tall Mexican Navy training ship, Cuauhtémoc, reportedly experienced a mechanical issue before its masts crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, killing two cadets on the ship.
"Bridges serve as critical transportation arteries for commerce, emergency response, and daily travel, and many span key waterways that are vulnerable to both natural and man-made threats. The Coast Guard plays a crucial role in monitoring and securing these areas, deterring potential terrorist attacks, preventing illegal activities, and responding quickly to emergencies," Schumer wrote. "At the same time, maintaining the structural integrity and safety of America’s bridges is critical to the economy and the well-being of communities. A failure or attack on a major bridge could disrupt supply chains, endanger lives, and cause massive economic losses. It is unacceptable that the Trump administration is potentially jeopardizing our national and economic security – as well as American lives."
Schumer went on to point to the DOGE-implemented hiring freeze at the Coast Guard, arguing it could have impeded the Coast Guard's Vehicle Traffic System, which works in a similar fashion to the air traffic control system.
Schumer’s claim drew immediate criticism from conservatives on social media as well as the Department of Homeland Security.
"Minority Leader Schumer’s accusations that a hiring freeze led to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services not being adequately staffed are FALSE," the official DHS account posted on X.
"The US Coast Guard has been fully supported and been exempt from hiring freezes. Additionally, this incident had nothing to do with Vessel Traffic Services— when a ship loses propulsion in a high current area, the vessel needs to engage all capabilities to stop and ideally tugs are nearby to support. We encourage Minority Leader Schumer to get his facts straight before he misleads the American people."
"Mexican vessel: Loses control, hits bridge," Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X. "Schumer: I’ll never forgive Drumpf for this!"
"Schumer is a stupid, evil man," conservative radio host and Fox News host Mark Levin posted on X.
"I, too, question Donald Trump's leadership of the Mexican Navy," substack writer Jim Treacher posted on X.
"Elon and Trump Derangement Syndrome is out of control," conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X. "Schumer is trying to pass the blame from the Mexican Navy onto them…"
"He is an idiot," senior counsel to Trump's assistant AG Leo Terrell posted on X.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.
"The U.S. Coast Guard’s New York Vessel Traffic Service was fully functional during the incident, operating in accordance with established procedures to manage commercial traffic and facilitate safe navigation," a Coast Guard spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to lift a lower court injunction that blocked President Donald Trump's decision to terminate the protected legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants living in the U.S., in a win for the administration as it looks to deliver on its hard-line immigration enforcement policies.
The decision clears the way for the Trump administration to move forward with its plans to terminate Biden-era Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for roughly 300,000 Venezuelan migrants living in the U.S. and allows the administration to move forward with plans to immediately remove these migrants, which lawyers for the administration argued they should be able to do.
U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued as much when he asked the Supreme Court to lift the injunction this month, arguing in an emergency appeal that a lower court judge had overstepped their authority by blocking the administration from ending the program for certain Venezuelans…READ MORE
LITMUS TEST: Spotlight on Biden's cognitive decline forces Democrats to run the gauntlet
KUSHNER VOTE: Trump-pardoned real estate mogul Charles Kushner up for key diplomatic post
'VILE': Walz ripped for 'sickening' use of Nazi era language describing Trump's immigration policy: 'Anti-American'
NO CONCERNS: Trump remains confident in White House doctors despite Biden cancer diagnosis
'HUGE ADVANTAGE': Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' wins support from police for overtime tax elimination
GRIM NEWS: Obama reacts to Biden diagnosis: 'Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer...than Joe'
'NOT SEEKING WAR': Iranian president calls for negotiation and dialogue as nuclear talks continue
HISTORIC DEAL: UK, Europe strike post-Brexit deal on defense, trade issues
UKRAINE BOMBARDED: Russia bombards Ukraine with drones hours after Trump announces talks with Putin
'GOD BLESS US ALL': Trump to call Putin in a bid to end Russia's 'bloodbath' war with Ukraine
FORCED RESET: Trump's tough policies push UK, EU to significantly expand trade and defense
GAMBLING TAX DOLLARS: Republicans demand probe into DOD’s taxpayer-funded charges at casinos, bars and nightclubs
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: A user’s manual to where we stand with the 'big, beautiful bill'
BRIDGE TOO FAR: Schumer slammed for claiming DOGE might be to blame for Mexican ship crashing into Brooklyn Bridge
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY: FBI director opens up files on Nashville school shooting to rep for first time
'ONLY PERSON ARRESTED': Blue state political battle intensifies after Dem mayor's arrest at ICE facility: 'Outraged'
TAKE-HOME PAY DAY: New projection signals good news for families, workers in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
