The Biden administration's State Department authorized more than $1 million in taxpayer funds for renovating swimming pools at U.S. embassies and mission residences in war-torn countries such as Haiti, Sudan and Iraq, a report from Sen. Joni Ernst's office found.
"The Biden State Department threw a blowout summer pool party on your dime," Ernst, R-Iowa, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
"Bureaucrats might think wasting millions is a drop in the bucket, but I am sick and tired of taxpayers getting tossed in the deep end by Washington," Ernst added. "I will continue working with the Trump administration to put a stop to the splashy spending of the Biden years."
Ernst's office found that the State Department under the Biden administration authorized that two pools in Haiti, five in Iraq, three in Sudan, one in Russia, one in Zimbabwe and one in Ghana be renovated, totaling more than $1.2 million, according to the New York Post, which first reported on the pool renovations on Thursday.
Taxpayers spent $41,259 to rehabilitate the pool at the U.S. embassy in Moscow in a contract inked three months after Russia invaded Ukraine in a war that has continued raging. The purchase order was dated June 3, 2022, through Aug. 15, 2022, after the war began in February that same year.
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was awarded a whopping $444,000 to replace its indoor dehumidification system for its pool in a contract that began on Sept. 27, 2024. While the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq received over $10,000 to conduct mechanical repairs to its pool, according to the Ernst report reviewed by Fox News Digital.
In Sudan, taxpayers spent $24,000 in 2021 for the installation of a pool deck. Sudan has notably been under a State Department do not travel advisory "due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping," with the embassy in Khartoum suspending operations in 2023 over the ongoing violent conflicts in the nation.
Some of the contracts detailed in the report have not been fully paid out, such as a $173,000 award to conduct work on a swimming pool in Indonesia at the embassy in Jakarta.
The federal government has previously been criticized for the amount of taxpayer funds spent on U.S. embassies overseas, including spending hefty sums on artwork under the Obama administration, Fox Digital reported at the time.
U.S. embassies are primarily funded through congressional appropriations to the U.S. Department of State.
Ernst's report follows months of the Department of Government Efficiency reporting it has saved the federal government billions of dollars amid its ongoing investigations into various federal agencies in search of corruption, overspending and mismanagement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been at the forefront of gutting departments and programs under State's purview, including shuttering USAID earlier in July for failing to ensure its programs actually supported America's interests.
"This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end. Under the Trump administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies – and which advance American interests – will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency," Rubio said in comment regarding shuttering USAID.
California has become the epicenter of the immigration debate under the Trump administration, which is leading to questions about what cultivated the protests and riots that happened in the area in June and continue to pop up around the country.
Heather Mac Donald, a Manhattan Institute fellow and author of "When Race Trumps Merit," said she believes that the border crisis under the Biden administration paved the way for civil unrest.
"It shows that lawlessness in one area breeds lawlessness in another. We've had an absolutely lawless situation going on with regards to the border. We've had California and Los Angeles tolerate criminal lawlessness, and so it's not surprising that activists and protesters and immigrant rights activists felt that they were entitled to wreak absolute chaos and havoc in the streets," Mac Donald said in the wake of riots in Los Angeles last month.
Mac Donald added that the large amount of immigration could lead to cultural assimilation woes.
"This is nothing new, but Americans have turned their eyes away and have bought into the narrative that the more diversity, the better, the more demographic change, the better," she said.
Mac Donald added that a cap on the number of people allowed to come into the United States could be beneficial in the long term.
"Well, for assimilation, a cap would definitely be necessary. We saw that with the long decades after maximal immigration at the turn of the century, when we did halt immigration. And that allowed the assimilation to go on, that it did. With nonstop immigration coming in, you're running a losing race to assimilate. So that would absolutely be ideal."
"We should reform the agriculture sector. You know, we have temporary worker programs for that, and whether we want to carve out any exceptions to a moratorium for very, very high-skilled workers, that is definitely worth considering. But certainly for chain migration, the bringing in of remote family members, that should be ended now until we are confident that we are creating Americans and not people who will get out in riots and wave flags of non-American countries," Mac Donald continued.
When it comes to the overall stance of the American population on immigration, she explained that mass deportations, which the Trump administration has said they are working toward while highlighting those with criminal convictions and charges, could be the best path forward in the short-term aftermath of the border crisis.
"We should not make the distinction between criminal illegal aliens, who are legitimately deported and those who have committed lawbreaking on entry and by staying here but have not got a criminal record. The received wisdom is it's OK to deport the first, but the second, we shouldn't even make them fearful of deportation, that that's cruel," she said. "I think they're all legitimately eligible for deportation. Nevertheless, I'm not sure that the American people have a stomach for that degree of immigration enforcement."
In addition to ICE and Border Patrol arrests and busts, the Department of Homeland Security has encouraged self-deportation through the CBP Home app, which was swapped from the CBP One app people used to request asylum under President Joe Biden. DHS is offering $1,000, travel out of the U.S., as well as scrapping fees and a chance to return to the country legally as part of the deal.
In Los Angeles, Democratic Mayor Karen Bass has been a significant voice of opposition to federal immigration sweeps, at one point saying ICE should "go home."
"We are a proud city of immigrants, and with the Trump Administration signaling that they will ratchet up their chaotic approach, I’m making sure we deploy every resource and tool available within the City to ensure that we are supporting immigrant communities," Bass said recently, according to a news release.
When it comes to potential civil unrest in other cities, Mac Donald says it could happen.
"Ithink there will be civil unrest in other cities, because it was justified, it was trivialized by our elected leaders as, ‘Oh, we've got the situation under control,’" she said.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner blasted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for spending billons of dollars renovating the Fed's headquarters amid a housing crisis he said Powell is helping perpetuate.
The Federal Reserve's headquarters has been undergoing a major renovation that has been plagued by cost overruns and now has a price tag of $2.5 billion. Meanwhile, the Trump administration faults Powell for not cutting interest rates, even with inflation seemingly under control.
"It’s rich that an unelected bureaucrat like Powell is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on building renovations while Americans struggle to buy homes due to high mortgage rates, which are directly impacted by his refusal to lower interest rates," Turner told Fox News Digital.
HUD became the first Cabinet agency to announce a move out of Washington, D.C., with Turner reporting in June that the department was moving to the already existing National Science Foundation (NSF) in nearby Alexandria, Virginia. Turner said the move will free up millions in taxpayer funds that were spent on the massive, longtime HUD headquarters at D.C.'s L’Enfant Plaza that also included "health hazards, leaks, and structural and maintenance failures" for staffers.
"HUD’s move isn’t about me – our workforce deserves to be in a building that is safe and that fits our workforce. NSF was never able to fully fill their building to occupancy and will move into a building that best fits their workforce. Instead of spending nearly a half-billion dollars on renovating 10 floors of basement with perpetual leaks, HUD and GSA are saving the taxpayers money – something that Chairman Powell, sitting in his ivory tower, thinks he is above – andputting Americans first," Turner continued.
Speculation has swirled that President Donald Trump could try to oust the Fed chief ahead of his term officially ending in May 2026 due to his reluctance to lower the federal funds target rate, which would lower borrowing costs for Americans. The Fed in June held its benchmark interest rate range between 4.25%-4.5%, which Trump has argued stifles American economic growth.
The Fed, which sets monetary policies and oversees banks, has said decisions on interest rates are rooted in its data-dependent approach to managing inflation and economic growth. It acts independently, meaning it does not require approval from the president or Congress when enacting policies.
Trump has amplified his criticisms of Powell in recent weeks, arguing that he already should have lowered interest rates, while calling him a "numbskull" along with the nickname "Mr. Too Late." At the recent NATO summit in Canada, Trump said during a press conference that Powell is "terrible" and is a "very average mentally person" who has a "low IQ for what he does."
Trump said recent, over-budget renovations at the Fed headquarters, the Marriner S. Eccles Building, "sort of is" a "fireable offense."
"I think he's terrible. I think he's a total stiff. But the one thing I didn't see in him is a guy that needed a palace to live in," Trump told reporters last week.
"You talk to the guy. It's like talking to – nothing. It's like talking to a chair. No personality, no high intelligence, no nothing. But the one thing I would have never guessed is that he would be spending $2.5 billion to build a little extension."
Democrat lawmakers have slammed Trump's attacks on Powell over the Fed building's updates, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren taking a swipe at Turner for moving HUD to Virginia.
"If Trump were serious about lowering interest rates, he would rein in his chaotic tariffs," Warren said earlier this month during a speech at the Exchequer Club in D.C. "Instead, he is threatening to fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve. When his initial attempts to bully Powell failed, Trump and Republicans in Congress suddenly decided to look into how much the Fed is spending on building renovations."
HUD is expected to save $22 million per year on operating and maintenance costs by moving out of the Robert C. Weaver Building, while the government is expected to pull in a hefty sum when the building is officially sold due to its prime location in the nation's capital.
The agency's new home at NSF is anticipated to cost the government $35 per square foot, compared to the $86 per square foot at the Weaver building, including operations and maintenance, Fox Digital learned.
The federal government had spent $90 million on repairs for the massive Weaver building in the last 15 years, Fox Digital learned, but the building has "deteriorated well beyond the point of cost-effective repair, creating significant financial obligations for the federal government if occupancy is maintained," HUD reported in June.
The Federal Reserve on Sunday morning declined comment when asked about Turner's remarks to Fox Digital.
The Fed's website includes a frequently asked questions page regarding the building's renovations, including underscoring that the Fed's board "takes the responsibility to be a good steward of public resources," and is subject to a handful of safeguards to ensure transparency.
"The Federal Reserve Chair testifies to each house of Congress twice per year on monetary policy. During two sequential days of hearings, members of the House and Senate have the opportunity to question the Fed Chair on any topic, and then submit questions in writing after the hearings. As part of these hearings, the Federal Reserve publishes a semiannual Monetary Policy Report, detailing recent economic and monetary policy developments," the page states.
Trump, who appointed Powell during his first presidential term, has meanwhile continued slamming Powell on social media for the current interest rates he said are "choking" the housing market for Americans.
"Too Late," and the Fed, are choking out the housing market with their high rate, making it difficult for people, especially the young, to buy a house," Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday. "He is truly one of my worst appointments. Sleepy Joe saw how bad he was and reappointed him anyway."
"The USA is Rockin’, there is VERY LOW INFLATION, and we deserve to be at 1%, saving One Trillion Dollars a year on Interest Costs. I can’t tell you how dumb Too Late is – So bad for our Country!"
Fox News Digital's Eric Revell and Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
Minnesota's branch of the Democratic Party endorsed far-left Minnesota State Sen. Omar Fateh's campaign for mayor of Minneapolis on Saturday.
Fateh announced the endorsement from the Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL) party on social media. He secured the endorsement over incumbent mayor Jacob Frey, also a Democrat.
"I am incredibly honored to be the DFL endorsed candidate for Minneapolis Mayor. This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual. It’s a mandate to build a city that works for all of us," Fateh wrote on X.
The DFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fateh has received many comparisons to New York City's Zohran Mamdani. Like Mamdani, Fateh is a Muslim Democratic socialist and, at 35, a fellow member of Generation Y.
Fateh, a son of Somali immigrants, became the first Somali-American elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2020. He pledges that, if elected mayor, he would raise the city's minimum wage, increase the supply of affordable housing, and combat what he calls "police violence."
Frey criticized the DFL's endorsement of Fateh in a campaign statement, arguing the party convention where the decision was made had been "irregular."
"This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention," campaign spokesperson Sam Schulenberg said.
"Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey. We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November," Schulenberg added.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
President Donald Trump celebrated six months since he was sworn into his second term on Sunday, saying that the United States has been "totally revived" after being "DEAD" under former President Joe Biden.
"Wow, time flies! Today is that Sixth Month Anniversary of my Second Term. Importantly, it’s being hailed as one of the most consequential periods of any President," Trump wrote on social media.
"In other words, we got a lot of good and great things done, including ending numerous wars of Countries not related to us other than through Trade and/or, in certain cases, friendship," he added on TRUTH Social. "Six months is not a long time to have totally revived a major Country."
Trump continued: "One year ago our Country was DEAD, with almost no hope of revival. Today the USA is the ‘hottest’ and most respected Country anywhere in the World. Happy Anniversary!!!"
Trump's first six months have been marked by a number of significant moments, particularly on the international stage.
After Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen ramped up attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea in late 2024, the Trump administration designated the group a foreign terrorist organization, reinstating a move that had been reversed under Biden.
U.S. and U.K. forces earlier this year pounded Houthi missile and radar sites as part of an operation to ensure freedom of navigation, and the Trump administration secured a ceasefire deal with the terror group in May.
Trump intervened in the Israel-Iran war in June, ordering U.S. military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and infrastructure that pummeled Tehran's capabilities and forced the regime into quick submission.
Though Trump had promised on the campaign trail to end the Ukraine-Russia war within 24 hours, a peace agreement between the two sides has so far failed to materialize.
Earlier in his second term, Trump had slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a perceived lack of gratitude for billions of dollars in U.S. support to his war effort under Biden's presidency. Trump more recently has sharpened his criticism of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, slamming Moscow for the massive loss of life on both sides during the more than three-year-long conflict.
Trump issued a new deadline in mid-July that Russia had 50 days to agree to a ceasefire or face "maximum tariffs." He also recently approved the sale of additional U.S. Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
In its first six months, the Trump administration had also brokered a ceasefire between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in late June.
Beyond "ending numerous wars," Trump has celebrated other accomplishments during his first six months back in office, including securing the passage of his "big, beautiful bill," which made the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent. The legislative package also earmarked funding for the president's other initiatives, including for his mass deportation campaign and border security.
On overseas trips and at home, Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. is the "hottest" country, claiming to have restored America's reputation both domestically and on the world stage with his "America First" foreign policy.
Delivering on his 2024 pledge to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet," Trump on Friday signed landmark legislation that creates a regulatory regime for dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins.
Trump on Sunday also appeared to dismiss concerns that his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files could cost Republicans control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections and beyond.
"My Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain ‘troublemakers’," Trump wrote in another post Sunday morning. "They have hit 90%, 92%, 93%, and 95%, in various polls, and are all Republican Party records. The General Election numbers are my highest, EVER! People like Strong Borders, and all of the many other things I have done. GOD BLESS AMERICA. MAGA!"
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Eric Adams took aim at each other in separate interviews, as each tries to position himself as the right choice for those who do not want their far-left opponent Zohran Mamdani to be the city's next mayor.
During a Saturday breakfast event in the Hamptons hosted by businessman and conservative radio host John Catsimatidis, Cuomo took a veiled shot at Adams by arguing that New York City hasn't had a "competent" mayor since Michael Bloomberg left office in 2013, the New York Post reported.
Cuomo – who, like Adams, is running as an independent against Democratic nominee Mamdani and Republican Curtis Sliwa – added that the city currently "feels out of control."
Adams, meanwhile, was not shy about criticizing Cuomo while making his own case as the choice for moderates and conservatives who do not want the democratic socialist Mamdani.
"Andrew Cuomo is running from his record. Bail reform. I had to fix that. Cannabis Law. I had to fix that. Raise the Age [which ended automatically prosecuting 16- and 17-year-olds as adults]. I had to fix that," Adams said in a Thursday interview with the Post.
"You look at my record, and then you compare it to his record. I had to fix his mess. He created a mess for our city, and I got to fix it," the mayor added.
Both men also took their fair share of shots at Mamdani, as well.
Cuomo warned that he would "move to Florida" if Mamdani is elected, although his campaign insisted to the Post that this was a joke.
"Governor Cuomo would never give up on New York," Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi told the newspaper. "That said, the line underscored the stakes in the upcoming election and the risk of electing a dangerously inexperienced, hate-spewing 33-year-old socialist whose campaign consists of unrealistic bumper sticker slogans."
"Look at [Mandani’s] policies: once you empty out Rikers Island, that’s a major impact," Adams told The New York Post, referencing Mamdani's plan to reduce the prison's population. "It’s going to go back to the communities that crime came from."
Adams, a former police officer, went on to criticize Mamdani's plan to have social workers respond to domestic violence calls rather than police.
Adams referenced NYPD Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, and his partner Jason Rivera, 22, who were shot and killed responding to a domestic violence call in 2022.
"Mora and Rivera, the two cops who were shot in the beginning of my [mayoral] career, they died and were assassinated responding to a domestic violence call," Adams said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Adams, Cuomo and Mamdani campaigns for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Mamdani secured the Democratic nomination last month, leaving voters who are not among the far left to choose between two Democrats-turned-independents in Adams and Cuomo, and the Republican Sliwa.
From "super genius" to "CRAZY," President Donald Trump has changed his tune about SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a matter of months, while the tech mogul has backpedaled his support for the Republican Party and called for a new, third American political party instead.
"Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom," Musk said in a July 5 X post.
While there is an appetite for a third party in the U.S., Musk’s so-called America Party is not likely to pick up steam and the tech mogul would have better luck driving reforms in the Republican Party, according to experts.
"Elon's effort will go nowhere," Republican strategist Matt Gorman said in an email to Fox News Digital. "But I don't doubt it'll make a lot of consultants rich in the process."
Meanwhile, Gorman said candidates undoubtedly would prefer an endorsement from Trump over financial backing from Musk – the largest donor in the 2024 election cycle who contributed approximately $295 million to Republicans.
"If given a choice between a Trump endorsement or $20 million in ads from Elon, it's not even a contest," said Gorman, who previously served as the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "They'd take the Trump endorsement every single time."
Political columnist Kristin Tate said that while Musk was helpful in driving public support from wealthy Silicon Valley Americans for Trump, it’s unlikely these same tech leaders would abandon Trump and follow Musk instead.
"Trump is the beating heart of the Republican Party right now," Tate said in an email to Fox News Digital.
"Elon Musk would be better off trying to shape politics from within the Republican Party," Tate said. "A third party effort is doomed to fail. Most of President Trump's supporters see the effort as hostile to Trump and will not support Musk. Meanwhile, all Democrat voters have been conditioned to despise Musk, so they will not support him either."
Tate said Trump and Musk should attempt to repair their relationship because "both men bring something important and unique to the GOP.
"By leaving Trump, and the GOP generally, Musk will chisel off a small fraction of Republican Party voters – a fraction that will not be nearly big enough for his new party to win elections, but could be a spoiler for Democrats in elections with extremely tight margins," Tate said.
Alex Keyssar, a history professor at Harvard Kennedy School of public policy, said that given dissatisfaction with the two-party system right now, it’s possible that more third-party candidates could win state and local elections. But it’s unclear if that would translate over to national elections because the rules governing elections and who may appear on ballots pose additional limitations for those candidates, he said.
"There's a lot of popular sentiment looking for something else that is creating pressures for a third party," Keyssar told Fox News Digital. "In that sense, Elon Musk is on to something."
Still, voters don’t appear interested in a third party affiliated with Musk. While 49% of U.S. voters said they would consider joining a third party, 77% said they weren’t on board if Musk created it, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
Musk’s relationship with Trump first started to unravel, at least publicly, in May toward the end of Musk’s tenure overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Shortly after Musk’s exit from DOGE, the two traded barbs over the "big, beautiful bill," where Musk said Trump wouldn’t have won the 2024 election without his backing. Likewise, Trump accused Musk of going "CRAZY" over cuts to the electric vehicle credits that benefit companies like Tesla, and said Musk had been "wearing thin."
Meanwhile, Trump isn’t counting on Musk’s political party taking off anytime soon, and told reporters July 6 that he believed another party "just adds to confusion."
"Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it – but I think it’s ridiculous," Trump said.
A top advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has left the Pentagon after six months of service, the Department of Defense (DoD) confirmed to Fox News Digital on Saturday.
Justin Fulcher told Fox News Digital he formally resigned on Thursday evening, describing the decision as entirely his own.
Fulcher said he had originally planned to serve six months in government and, having reached that point, chose to move on "amicably." He also emphasized what he described as the "great work" being done by Hegseth "for our troops and country."
"The Department of Defense is grateful to Justin Fulcher for his work on behalf of President [Donald] Trump and Secretary Hegseth. We wish him well in his future endeavors," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
In addition to advising Hegseth on personnel and policy, Fulcher played a role in several defense initiatives during his tenure, he told Fox News Digital.
Fulcher said he contributed to reviews of major acquisition programs aimed at strengthening lethality and the U.S. industrial base, and helped streamline software procurement timelines "from years to months," modernizing key IT systems across the department.
He also said he supported Hegseth in high-level meetings across the Indo-Pacific, including the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, and participated in efforts that redirected nearly $50 billion from non-lethal line items into readiness and more impactful defense programs.
Fulcher praised the "dedicated men and women of the Department of Defense," cited progress in "revitalizing the warrior ethos" and "rebuilding the military," and thanked both Hegseth and Trump for their leadership. "Still, this is just the beginning," Fulcher added.
Fulcher, who had served as a senior advisor to Hegseth since April, announced his departure Saturday afternoon in a message posted to X.
"As planned, I’ve completed 6 months of service in government to my country," he wrote, calling the experience "incredibly inspiring."
"None of this could have happened without Secretary Hegseth’s decisive leadership or President Trump’s continued confidence in our team," he wrote. "I will continue to champion American warfighters in all future endeavors."
Fulcher joined the DoD earlier this year as part of Hegseth’s inner circle, a cohort of loyal advisers appointed after Hegseth took the helm at the Pentagon in Trump’s second term.
His departure comes amid a broader reshuffling of senior personnel inside Hegseth’s office. At least six aides have left since January, though defense officials have downplayed the moves as standard transitions.
Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell was convicted of felony burglary Friday, more than a year after she was arrested while breaking into her stepmother's home.
Mitchell faced pressure to resign from both sides of the aisle since her arrest but had some defenders who said she deserved her day in court. One of them was Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, who, like Mitchell, is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL).
"Senator Mitchell has been afforded due process, a trial by a jury of her peers, and that jury has delivered a verdict. I am relieved to see the end of Senator Mitchell’s trial. The case’s resolution brings clarity to the situation," Murphy said in a statement issued by the DFL after the verdict.
"Senator Mitchell has told colleagues that she intended to resign if found guilty of this crime, and I expect her to follow through on that pledge. Our caucus remains focused on the issues that matter to Minnesotan families and communities."
The state lawmaker was arrested in April 2024 on suspicion of breaking into her stepmother’s home. Mitchell said she went to the home of her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, to retrieve her late father’s items. The state senator claimed her stepmother was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Mitchell testified she trespassed at her stepmother’s home and admitted lying to police about why she was there but that it was done out of concern for her stepmother, according to Axios.
Footage of Mitchell inside a police cruiser handcuffed and being questioned was shown at her trial. In the video, she told an officer she was "just trying to get some of my dad's things," adding, "Clearly, I'm not good at this." Mitchell told police her stepmom "wouldn’t talk to me anymore," which is why she resorted to breaking into the Detroit Lakes home.
Among the items Mitchell said she wanted to retrieve were her father’s ashes, pictures, clothes and other sentimental items.
When she was arrested, officers found a flashlight covered with a black sock on her. Additionally, officers said they searched a black backpack and found two laptops, a cellphone, a driver’s license, Senate identification and Tupperware products.
While no sentencing date has been set, Mitchell faces a minimum of six months in jail and a maximum of 20 years, according to Axios, citing her attorney.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared to be joking Saturday when he said he would move to Florida if Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayor’s race.
Cuomo lost to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, but is planning to challenge him as an independent in the general election. The line, delivered at a Hamptons breakfast with political insiders, sparked laughter but also highlighted growing unease over the city’s political direction.
"It’s all or nothing. We either win or even I will move to Florida. God forbid," Cuomo said, according to attendees at the event.
The remark came during a private gathering hosted by businessman John Catsimatidis at 75 Main in Southampton. Catsimatidis, a GOP donor and radio host, is also the owner of the Gristedes and D’Agostino supermarket chains, which could be directly affected by Mamdani’s proposal to create government-run grocery stores.
The guest list included RXR Realty Chairman Bruce Mosler, Ambassador George Tsunis, and former top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa. One attendee described the line as a "wow" moment. Multiple guests said it got the room’s attention.
Cuomo’s senior adviser, Rich Azzopardi, defended the comment to the New York Post.
"Governor Cuomo would never give up on New York," he said. "The line underscored the stakes in this election and the risk of electing a dangerously inexperienced, hate-spewing 33-year-old socialist to lead the city."
Cuomo repeatedly referred to Mamdani as "the kid" during the event. He called Mamdani’s rent freeze proposal a "death sentence" for landlords and housing supply, and dismissed his platform as "unrealistic bumper sticker slogans."
Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Cuomo also took aim at Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent, saying, "We haven’t had a competent mayor since Bloomberg." He accused Adams of being unable to focus, citing ongoing investigations and ethics concerns.
Asked about the criticism by the New York Post, Adams responded, "If he’s serious about moving to Florida, he should go ahead. He’s already spent three weekends in the Hamptons."
The race, which also features Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, has become one of the most unconventional mayoral contests in recent memory.
The Justice Department is investigating whether George Mason University (GMU) engaged in discriminatory hiring practices. According to the department, it is focused on determining whether GMU violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
"It is unlawful and un-American to deny equal access to employment opportunities on the basis of race and sex," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement. "When employers screen out qualified candidates from the hiring process, they not only erode trust in our public institutions—they violate the law, and the Justice Department will investigate accordingly."
In a letter to GMU Board of Visitors Rector Charles "Cully" Stimson, Dhillon wrote that the DOJ has "reason to believe" that race and sex were used as "motivating factors in faculty hiring decisions" under GMU President Gregory Washington.
Dhillon stated that on July 23, 2020, Washington emailed a GMU faculty listserv in which he said he planned to create a process for "renewal promotion and tenure" that would benefit "faculty of color and women." Furthermore, Washington allegedly also said in the email that he aimed to "develop specific mechanisms in the promotion and tenure process that recognize the invisible and uncredited emotional labor that people of color expend to learn, teach, discover, and work on campus."
"I have authorized a full investigation to determine whether GMU is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above. We have not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigation," Dhillon wrote.
The investigation into GMU comes just weeks after University of Virginia President James Ryan resigned due to pressure from the Trump administration.
"To make a long story short, I am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University. But I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job. To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld," Ryan wrote in a statement.
The Trump administration has made tacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, particularly in government and educational institutions, a priority. As part of the DEI crackdown, the Education Department launched the "End DEI" Portal in February 2025. It allows parents, students, teachers and even concerned citizens to submit reports on what they believe to be DEI in publicly funded K-12 schools.
President Donald Trump has issued multiple executive orders aimed at ending DEI. This includes "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing" and "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity."
Fox News Digital contacted Mike Fragoso of Torridon Law PLLC, who is handling inquiries on behalf of George Mason University, but did not get a response in time for publication.
Democrats have railed against potential Medicaid cuts since President Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. Now that his "big, beautiful bill" has passed through Congress, they are making Medicaid a top talking point ahead of competitive midterm elections expected in 2026.
Republicans, meanwhile, are doubling down on Medicaid reform included in Trump's megabill, which also includes sweeping legislation on taxes, immigration and energy.
"My policy is if you're an able-bodied worker, get a damn job," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. "If you want government benefits, go to work and get a job."
A provision in the megabill requires able-bodied, childless adults between the ages of 18 and 64 to work at least 80 hours a month to be eligible to receive Medicaid benefits. Individuals can also meet the requirement by participating in community service, going to school or engaging in a work program.
Fox News Digital asked lawmakers on Capitol Hill if taxpayers should have to pay for Medicaid bills for able-bodied workers who are under 65 and unemployed.
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said in both Arkansas and Georgia, where work requirements have already been imposed, it ended up costing taxpayers more money to administer the work requirements.
"We're talking about a very small population, and in the two cases where they tried it, it ended up, number one, disqualifying people who met all the requirements but gave up on the paperwork. These aren't people that are used to filling out a lot of paperwork every month. And it also cost the state a lot to administer," King said.
The New England Journal of Medicine found that Arkansas' Medicaid work requirement from 2018 to 2019 "found no evidence of increased employment … and a significant loss of Medicaid coverage among low-income adults."
Similarly, the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute (GBPI) reported that 80% of the $58 million spent in the first year of Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage program went toward administrative costs.
But Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., emphasized that Republicans "want these programs to be around for the people who need them." She said Medicaid reform is about "strengthening and preserving these programs at the rate that they're growing."
"These programs were intended to be safety nets, not hammocks that people stay in, and the success of these programs should be measured by how many people we get off of them," Britt said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., agreed, telling Fox News Digital, "What you don't want is for somebody to become dependent. I'd tell people: safety nets should bounce you to your feet. They shouldn't be like flypaper in which you stick and can never get off."
"We're not saying, 'Hey, we're not throwing you out.' All right, but you gotta go get a job. You either get a job, or actually you can even volunteer, all right? And that will satisfy the requirements for work," Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., explained.
But Democrats who spoke to Fox News Digital continued to push back against the work requirements included in the "big, beautiful bill."
"I think people [who] are able to work, trust me, they'd rather work than to get the piddling dollars that they get from Medicaid. It's insulting to suggest that a person would rather sit at home rather than work and get this meager amount of money. All of this has just been totally expanded to fit a narrative that allows them to cut into those people who really deserve Medicaid," Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., said.
And Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., said, "We need to be able to have an infrastructure in this country that supports the elderly and the sick and the widows and the child. This bill, it violates all those basic principles."
Fox News' Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Leading Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says President Donald Trump should release the Epstein files, but is silent on why former President Joe Biden did not anytime in his four years in the Oval Office.
Democrats have seized on the issue since the case became a political controversy for the Trump administration. However, despite their current calls for transparency on the case, the Biden Justice Department also failed to release additional documents on Epstein.
Asked by Fox News Digital whether she thought the Trump administration should release the Epstein files, former House Speaker Pelosi responded, "Absolutely."
Fox News Digital then asked, "Why do you think Biden didn’t do it for four years?" to which Pelosi simply turned around and began walking away.
Fox News Digital pressed, "Do you know why they didn’t do it? Do you think they should have?" However, Pelosi ignored the reporter and stepped into a car.
Pelosi served as House speaker, one of the most powerful positions in the country, from 2019 to 2023, two of those years occurring when Biden was in the Oval Office.
Other Democrats have similarly struggled to answer why a president of their party did not release the files as they demand action now.
On Thursday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., was pressed on the issue by "Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough, but he could not give an answer.
"But, Congressman, you could have gotten that from '21 to '25, when Democrats controlled the DOJ. Why — it was a crisis then. It’s a crisis now. Why didn’t Democrats call for it from '21 to '25?" Scarborough asked.
"So, I mean, you’d have to go back and look specifically at particular prosecutorial decisions and what was taking place in terms of the other cases. So, I don’t know, we could try to reconstruct that record," Raskin replied.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., was also caught off guard when a CNN anchor challenged her on why she never called for transparency on Epstein while Biden was president, despite her hammering the Trump administration over the case.
"I would have been happy to raise it then as well. Frankly, we were focused on so many different pieces," Jayapal replied.
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas told Fox News Digital, "What I think is really rich is this, Epstein dies in 2019 and the Biden administration does nothing for four years, absolutely nothing."
"I didn't hear any Democrats call for it. And, you know, I never heard the legacy media on TV saying one thing about it either. And suddenly, it's a code blue. Suddenly, every Democrat and the legacy media wants to see these reports. I think that's hypocritical," he said.
Marshall went on to say that "beyond that, there may be a lot more going on than meets the eye."
While noting that he does not have any special information, he said, "I think something else is going on that may be affecting national security," and "I think President Trump deserves a little bit of grace here. But hopefully, at the end of the day, everything will be released. I'm all for the transparency."
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., said that while U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi may not need to release all the files, "if there's information in those files that shows that somebody committed a crime, that there's somebody that she has knowledge of that knowingly had sex with an underage girl, they need to be prosecuted and I would hope that she would be doing that."
"Pam Bondi made quite a show out of what she had, and we need a better explanation than what we've got," said DesJarlais.
He suggested that a bipartisan panel be given access to the files for review.
"Do you need to release everything? I don't know. But anything that's criminal, I think, needs to be exposed," he said.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital, "I'm sure that the president is going to want to release whatever he can release."
Johnson went on to say, "I am concerned about the chain of custody" of the files.
"The Democrats have had control of these files. What have they added? What have they deleted? I don't know. I have no idea. I'm as curious as anybody else," he said, adding, "I'll trust the Trump Justice Department to do what is right."
President Trump has been in office for six months, delivering on campaign promises, securing his "big beautiful bill" by his self-imposed deadline and taking decisive action on the world stage.
The president was sworn into office Jan. 20, and the Trump administration has operated at warp speed since Day One.
Key tenets of Trump’s first 100 days included imposing harsh tariffs on Chinese imports, starting and continuing peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and cracking down on border security amid a mass deportation initiative.
The next chapter of the second Trump administration began, with the House of Representatives, as promised, passing Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill," before Memorial Day, sending it to the Senate for weeks of negotiations.
The Senate made its changes, approved the legislation and kicked it back to the House just in time for the lower chamber to pass the bill before Trump's self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.
The president welcomed House and Senate Republican leadership to the White House July 4 for a signing ceremony on his landmark legislation, which included key provisions that would permanently establish individual and business tax breaks included in his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and incorporate new tax deductions to cut duties on tips and overtime pay.
Trump's second administration has also focused on the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was run by Elon Musk. DOGE proposed cuts to programs that the Trump administration chalked up to wasteful and excessive government spending.
Congressional lawmakers prepped a rescissions package — a bill to codify those DOGE cuts into law. Congress passed that package by its deadline.
Trump signed the package Friday, which blocks $8 billion in funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the remainder of the fiscal year. The dollars had been allocated by Congress for the duration of fiscal year 2025.
As for Musk, his "special government employee" window expired, and he returned to the private sector. Shortly after, Musk started a short-lived feud with the president, who chose not to prolong the tensions. Trump only hit his former ally briefly, and carried on with business as usual, leaving Musk to a lonely rant on social media.
Meanwhile, on the world stage, the president ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump's historic precision strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in June hit their targets and "destroyed" and "badly damaged" the facilities’ critical infrastructure — an assessment agreed upon by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Israel and the United States.
But Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently issued his latest threat against the U.S. and "its dog on a leash, the Zionist regime (Israel)," saying that Iran's attack on U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar was just the beginning of what Tehran could throw at Washington. He warned that "an even bigger blow could be inflicted on the U.S. and others."
Iran has until the end of August to agree to a nuclear deal with the United States and its allies, Fox News has learned.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom set the de facto deadline, according to three sources with knowledge of a call Wednesday among the officials.
If Iran fails to agree to a deal, it would trigger the "snapback" mechanism that automatically reimposes all sanctions previously imposed by the United Nations Security Council.
The sanctions were lifted under the 2015 Iran deal.
In his first six months as president, Trump also signed a sweeping order blocking travel to the U.S. from nearly 20 countries identified as high-risk for terrorism, visa abuse and failure to share security information.
The travel restrictions — announced under executive order 14161 — apply to nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen, all deemed "very high risk" due to terrorist activity, weak or hostile governments, and high visa overstay rates.
Domestically, the president has focused efforts on securing the border, with border crossings at a record low.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported the lowest number of border crossings in recorded history in June. Nationwide, there were 25,228 CBP encounters, the lowest monthly number the agency has recorded, including a "historical low" of 8,024 apprehensions. Encounters include legal ports of entry, whereas apprehensions are arrests of those coming into the United States illegally.
As for tariffs, the Trump administration had leveled tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods following the president's reciprocal tariff plans in April, when China retaliated against the U.S. with tariffs of its own. China and the U.S. reached a preliminary trade agreement in May, which Trump said China violated in a Truth Social post at the end of May.
An agreement was reached between the U.S. and China in June, which includes China supplying rare earth materials to the U.S., and that Trump will "work closely" with Chinese President Xi Jinping "to open up China to American Trade."
"Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China," Trump said in June. "Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. Relationship is excellent!"
The president also celebrated the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday with a massive parade in Washington June 14 — kicking off a yearlong extravaganza leading up to America’s 250th birthday.
Outside the White House, Trump administration agencies have delivered on promises.
The Department of Education unveiled plans to scale down its workforce, terminating nearly 1,400 Education Department employees. The Supreme Court upheld Trump's move.
The Justice Department released the audio of former President Joe Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur. Hur was investigating Biden for alleged improper retention of classified records.
Congressional lawmakers had been demanding the audio of that interview be released since 2024, after the transcript of Biden’s interview was littered with mistakes and revealed significant memory lapses.
The Department of Justice also has started an investigation into Biden's pardons his final days in office to determine whether they are valid. Fox News Digital has learned the pardons, in his final weeks in office, were signed by autopen, with just one signed by hand — the pardon for his son Hunter.
Trump has also directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to make public any relevant grand jury testimony relating to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Over at the FBI, CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, intelligence officials and political appointees are in the process of declassifying all records related to the Trump–Russia investigation, also known as "Crossfire Hurricane."
Fox News Digital also exclusively reported that former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan are under criminal investigation relating to their actions tied to the Trump–Russia probe.
Fox News' Emma Colton, Diana Stancy, Elizabeth Elkind and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Edwin J. Feulner, a prominent figure in the American conservative movement and co-founder and former president of the Heritage Foundation, died on Friday at the age of 83.
Feulner served as the organization's president from 1977 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2018. He was well known for transforming the once-obscure think tank into one of the most influential policy powerhouses in Washington, D.C.
He was its longest-serving president after helping to create the Washington, D.C.-based think tank in 1973.
"Ed Feulner was more than a leader—he was a visionary, a builder, and a patriot of the highest order," Heritage President Kevin Roberts and Board of Trustees Chairman Barb Van Andel-Gaby said in a joint statement. "His unwavering love of country and his determination to safeguard the principles that made America the freest, most prosperous nation in human history shaped every fiber of the conservative movement—and still do."
The group had organized Project 2025, a controversial initiative that offered right-wing policy recommendations for the second Trump administration. Feulner co-wrote the initiative's afterward and he and Roberts met with President Donald Trump ahead of last year's election. Feulner was also on Trump's transition team ahead of his first term.
Under his leadership, Heritage instituted a new model of conservative policy advocacy. This helped shape Reagan-era reforms and pushed market-based ideas into political mainstream. Feulner has remained active through Project 2025 and a transition plan for a second Trump term which is drawing praise and criticism for its hardline policy proposals.
An author of nine books and a former congressional aide, he was also involved in various other conservative organizations.
"Whether he was bringing together the various corners of the conservative movement at meetings of the Philadelphia Society, or launching what is now the Heritage Strategy Forum, Ed championed a bold, 'big-tent conservatism,'" Roberts and Andel-Gaby wrote. "He believed in addition, not subtraction. Unity, not uniformity. One of his favorite mantras was 'You win through multiplication and addition, not through division and subtraction.' His legacy is not just the institution he built, but the movement he helped grow—a movement rooted in faith, family, freedom, and the founding. "
"His 'Feulnerisms' still resonate in the halls of Heritage—where they will always be remembered. 'People are policy,' for instance— the heartbeat of his mission—to equip, encourage, and elevate a new generation of conservative leaders, not just in Washington, but across this great country," the statement continued. "And we still remember his adjuration to never be complacent or discouraged: 'In Washington, there are no permanent victories and no permanent defeats.'"
Roberts and Andel-Gaby vowed to honor Feulner's life by "carrying his mission forward with courage, integrity, and determination."
"Thank you for showing us what one faithful, fearless man can do when he refuses to cede ground in the fight for self-governance," the leaders said of Feulner.
Heritage did not disclose Feulner's cause of death.
Feulner is survived by his wife Lina, as well as their children and grandchildren.
At Attorney General Pam Bondi’s direction, the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday formally moved to unseal long-secret grand jury transcripts from the Jeffrey Epstein case, citing what it called intense public interest in the notorious sex trafficking investigation.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche submitted the motion in Manhattan federal court, urging a judge to release the transcripts from Epstein’s 2019 grand jury proceedings and those from the prosecution of Epstein’s convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, as part of a new transparency push by the department.
Earlier this month, the DOJ and FBI issued a memorandum describing an "exhaustive review" of their Epstein investigative files. That internal review sought to determine if any evidence could justify charging additional individuals, but it concluded that "no such evidence was uncovered" against any uncharged third parties.
Since the memo’s July 6 release, officials say, public interest in its conclusions has remained high.
While the department maintains it stands by the memo’s findings, the filing emphasizes that "transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration." Given the intense public interest, the DOJ told the court it is moving to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts to shed light on its investigative work in the Epstein matter.
The DOJ said it will work with prosecutors to redact all victim names and personal identifying information from the transcripts before any release.
"Transparency in this process will not be at the expense of our obligation under the law to protect victims," the motion assured.
Epstein, 66, was indicted by a New York grand jury July 2, 2019, on sex trafficking charges. Just over a month later, on Aug. 10, 2019, he died by suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial, and the case was dismissed.
Epstein’s longtime confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell, was indicted by a grand jury in 2020 on multiple counts related to trafficking and coercing minors.
She was convicted in December 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Maxwell’s convictions were upheld on appeal in 2024, and she is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case.
Grand jury proceedings are ordinarily secret by law, or as the motion says, "a tradition of law that proceedings before a grand jury shall generally remain secret." But the filing notes this tradition "is not absolute."
Federal courts have recognized "certain ‘special circumstances’" where releasing grand jury records is appropriate even outside the usual exceptions, like when a case holds significant public or historical importance.
The DOJ argues Epstein’s case is exactly such a special circumstance given its unparalleled notoriety.
"Public officials, lawmakers, pundits, and ordinary citizens remain deeply interested and concerned about the Epstein matter," the motion notes.
The motion points out that a Florida judge last year ordered the release of some Epstein grand jury records after concluding the financier was "the most infamous pedophile in American history" and that the facts of Epstein’s case "tell a tale of national disgrace."
By the DOJ’s account, the sealed grand jury transcripts are "critical pieces of an important moment in our nation’s history," and "[t]he time for the public to guess what they contain should end."
The motion stresses that Epstein’s death means any privacy interests on his side are now "substantially diminished." And even though Maxwell is still fighting her conviction, prosecutors said the extraordinary public scrutiny around the Epstein saga justifies pressing ahead with unsealing now.
For these reasons, the DOJ is urging the court to conclude that the Epstein and Maxwell cases qualify as matters of public interest and to grant the unsealing of the grand jury transcripts while lifting any protective orders.
The unsealing would shine unprecedented light on one of America’s most notorious criminal cases, a move the department says is legally justified and necessary in the name of public accountability.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
During a celebratory dinner at the White House with a number of Donald Trump's GOP allies, including several Republican lawmakers from Congress, the president signaled that 10 more hostages in Gaza would be "coming very shortly."
The dinner was largely focused on touting the achievements Republicans have had over the last six months, but while praising his administration's work on foreign policy, Trump commented about the hostages.
"Gaza – we got most of the hostages back," Trump said when his comments turned to the Middle East. "We're going to have another ten coming very shortly. And we hope to have that finished pretty quickly," the president added.
So far, the U.S. has brought home five total American hostages captured by Hamas, three of whom were alive, two of whom were dead. Two Americans reportedly still remain in captivity, in addition to dozens of other non-Americans.
The rest of Trump's address Friday night mostly included praise for Congressional Republicans over their work passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with the president stating he doesn't "think anybody's ever come close to" passing such sweeping legislation with such a small majority.
In particular, Trump thanked by name Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, Republican Policy Committee Chair Shelly Moore-Capito, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham.
"Nobody's done so much, so fast. And probably you could say, with so few votes," Trump praised. "You stayed in session for a marathon ten consecutive weeks, and that's the longest of any Senate in 15 years. And you held over 400 votes, more than any Senate in 35 years. And they were successful votes. And just a few weeks ago, we had the biggest victory of them all. When you passed the one big beautiful bill."
The president also lauded Republicans for all the work they have done on immigration, border security, foreign diplomacy, speedy cabinet nominations, deregulation and spending cut efforts, calling out Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff specifically for their work on U.S. foreign diplomacy.
Top of mind Friday night was the GOP recission package as well, which Trump praised the passage of. Trump did not indicate when he would sign the GOP bill, but did note that "we have numerous other recissions coming up, adding more, many more $10 billion dollars to it."
Meanwhile, Trump also predicted that, in 2026, the GOP majority "is going to be stronger in both the House and the Senate." Typically, conventional wisdom predicts that the party that won the presidency will not typically perform as well two years later during the midterm elections.
"I don't understand why they say that when you win the presidency, you always almost automatically lose the midterms, because nobody's had a more successful period of time than we have," Trump told the crowd of attendees at the White House Friday evening. "Based on that, we should do great."
Trump added Friday that "We achieved more in six months than almost any administration could accomplish in eight years."
"And we're going to have a lot of good six months left. We're going to have a six and another six and another six. So we'll keep going," he continued. "Over the next year and a half, we'll have an incredible record to share with the American people," he continued. "As long as we continue to keep our promises to the voters, Americans will continue to stand by our side."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Friday it plans to reduce its workforce by 23% and close its research and development office.
The loss of more than 3,000 employees comes after layoffs and incentives to leave the agency amid the Trump administration’s broad effort to streamline the federal government.
"Under President Trump's leadership, EPA has taken a close look at our operations to ensure the agency is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment while Powering the Great American Comeback," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.
"This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars."
The EPA said the cuts will save the government $748.8 million.
As part of the restructuring, the EPA said it plans to open a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions to replace the Office of Research and Development, saying the new office would allow it to focus on research "more than ever before."
This comes a week after the Supreme Court issued a ruling clearing the way for the administration to conduct mass layoffs.
Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA employees, called the research and development office the "heart and brain of the EPA."
"Without it, we don’t have the means to assess impacts upon human health and the environment,'' Chen said. "Its destruction will devastate public health in our country."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the EPA for comment.
This announcement also comes two weeks after 139 employees signed a "declaration of dissent" claiming the Trump administration was hurting the agency’s mission.
New York City’s leading mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist, is raising eyebrows once again for appearing to suggest prisons are not important in a recently resurfaced video.
Mamdani, a New York state assemblyman and the Democratic nominee for mayor, made the comments in a 2020 interview while running for state office.
Asked whether he thought prisons were obsolete, Mamdani responded, "I think that frankly – I mean – what purpose do they serve? I think that we have to ask ourselves that."
The Democratic mayoral candidate added, "I think a lot of people who defend the carceral state, they defend the idea of it and the way it makes them feel. They’re not defending the reality of it and the practices that are part and parcel of it.
"Because if you actually break it down and ask people how many people come out of the prison system better than they went into the prison system, how much harm is actually being prevented versus created, I think when you ask these kinds of questions, people don’t always have clear answers."
Mamdani added that, when discussing the prison system, "What they always want to pivot to is, ‘What are you going to do about murderers? What are you going to do about rapists?'
"Sometimes you have to ask them, ‘What are you doing about them right now?’" he added. "We need a system of justice that will repair the harm that has been caused and address it in a serious way because right now we don’t have it, and it makes everyone more unsafe."
Mamdani also claimed "the power of the executive is almost limitless here in New York State" and criticized then-New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo for refusing to "let people out and letting people go home."
Mamdani, who has promised to overhaul New York City and launch massive new government programs, has been endorsed by progressive politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
As the Democratic nominee in heavily blue New York City, Mamdani is the likely frontrunner to unseat the current mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, who is running for re-election as an independent. Mamdani is also facing off against Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and activist Curtis Sliwa, who is the Republican Party nominee.
Mamdani is seen by many as a controversial candidate, partially due to his socialist policy proposals and heavy criticism of the state of Israel. He has declined to say whether Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state and initially refused to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada." However, he recently began distancing himself from the phrase.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign but did not receive a response.
In a landmark nomination that reshapes nearly two centuries of tradition, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte has been tapped to serve as the next superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
If confirmed by the Senate, he will become the first Marine to hold the top post in the Academy’s 180-year history.
The move was announced Friday by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as part of a broader slate of military leadership nominations. Borgschulte currently serves as the deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs at Marine Corps Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. He is a 1991 graduate of the Naval Academy.
The nomination comes amid an unexpected leadership shuffle. Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, who assumed command of the academy last year, has been nominated for reappointment and reassignment to the Pentagon. She is slated to become the deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans, strategy, and warfighting development (N3/N5/N7), pending Senate approval and a congressional waiver.
"I’m honored to be nominated," Davids said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing to serve alongside America’s strongest warfighters."
Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan praised both officers. He called Borgschulte a "decorated combat leader" with "strategic insight" and commended Davids for her "strategic vision" and "operational depth."
Phelan also noted the significance of the nomination, calling it a powerful signal of "naval integration" as a Marine prepares to lead the Navy’s flagship officer training institution.
Founded in 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy has long been led exclusively by Navy officers. The nomination of a Marine marks a sharp departure and a signal of evolving priorities in joint leadership and force development.
Phelan described the Academy as one of the most "consequential institutions in American public life" and said Borgschulte’s leadership will help shape officers "for an increasingly contested world."
Borgschulte was commissioned in 1991 after graduating from the Naval Academy and has held multiple command and combat roles throughout his career. In his current position, he oversees the personnel policies, readiness and force structure of the Marines.
Davids, a 1989 graduate of the Naval Academy, made history as the first woman and the first Hispanic to serve as superintendent. Her tenure at the academy appears to be ending prematurely.
Superintendents are traditionally expected to serve three-year terms and then retire. A Department of Defense (DOD) news release did not provide an explanation for the sudden change, and her next assignment requires a waiver from Congress. Her next role would typically require a post-retirement transition, which she has not yet completed.
Davids’ husband, Rear Adm. Keith Davids, retired last year as commander of Naval Special Warfare. The couple met at the Academy while they were both plebes.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Navy regarding the timeline of the leadership transition. The nomination is now in the hands of the Senate with no official date yet for confirmation or change of command.
Borgschulte’s nomination is part of a broader DOD leadership shake-up that includes nominations for new service vice chiefs and combatant command heads across the military.
The Navy referred Fox News Digital to the DOD release on the matter when asked for further comment.
