Dem divisions erupt over Trump spending bill to avoid shutdown, despite Schumer claim of unity
Senate Democrats are in disagreement over how to proceed on the House-passed stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, with some inclined to help advance it and others apparently willing to risk a lapse in funding. “They’ve been debating what to do, and there’s been people who feel strongly on both sides,” a Democratic source familiar told Fox News Digital, in reference to several lengthy Senate Democratic caucus meetings in the past couple days. The senators have remained tight-lipped about the content of the meetings. SENATE REPUBLICANS COIN ‘SCHUMER SHUTDOWN’ AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE ON TRUMP SPENDING BILL As of Thursday afternoon, multiple lawmakers, including Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., posted videos to inform social media that they were voting against the short-term spending bill, or continuing resolution (CR). “I’ve seen the videos that they’re going to shut it down,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., a staunch advocate of keeping the government open, told reporters. “I’m like, that’s spicy. Spicy, I don’t know,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t know if they’ll do it or not.” CANADA EXPLOITING ‘LOOPHOLE’ HURTING US DAIRY FARMERS AMID TRUMP TARIFFS, SENATORS SAY According to Fetterman, “Any party should never shut the government down.” He said it would be “a gift for the Republicans” for Democrats to block the House-passed CR. “In fact, if anything, I think, they’re effectively daring us to do that.” The Pennsylvania Democrat further criticized his colleagues, recalling, “It wasn’t that long ago before we were lecturing that you can never shut the government down. So that’s kind of inconsistent.” “We can all agree that it’s not a great CR, but that’s where we are and that’s the choice.” Warner defended himself to reporters Thursday, explaining there are “no good choices.” Asked if he thought a shutdown would be better for his constituents in Virginia, he said, “I’m saying both are awful.” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who serves a state won by President Donald Trump, said he hasn’t “made a decision” on the House’s short-term spending bill. FETTERMAN MAVERICK PERSONA DOESN’T TRANSLATE AS SENATOR HELPS BLOCK TRANS SPORTS BILL He claimed the bill has “significant problems,” also noting he is concerned “things could actually get worse” due to the CR, in reference to the administration’s collaboration with Elon Musk. “I also recognize that government shutdowns are not good,” Kelly added. Shortly afterward, Kelly shared a post on X, revealing he won’t support the spending bill. “I cannot vote for the Republican plan to give unchecked power to Donald Trump and Elon Musk. I told Arizonans I’d stand up when it was right for our state and our country, and this is one of those moments,” the post read. “Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in floor remarks on Wednesday. MEET SANDRA WHITEHOUSE, WHOSE HUSBAND’S VOTES FUNNELED MILLIONS INTO NGO THAT PAYS HER The leader’s office did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital on whether the caucus is in fact unified. Asked about the claim of unity, Kelly referred reporters to Schumer’s office. Fetterman, who openly disagrees with many of his colleagues on the House-passed stopgap bill, remarked that Schumer is “entitled to his own views,” but said, “I’ve been consistent with mine.”
Trump remains optimistic about odds of acquiring Greenland: ‘I think it’ll happen’
President Donald Trump remains optimistic that the U.S. will acquire Greenland, despite the fact Greenland has said it’s not interested in becoming part of the U.S. Trump’s remarks coincide with a visit from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who said that he didn’t want to “drag NATO” into negotiations about the U.S. acquiring the Danish territory. “I think it’ll happen,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “And I’m just thinking, I didn’t give it much thought before, but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security, not just security, international.” Rutte said he didn’t want to weigh in on the matter. However, he agreed with Trump that the Chinese and Russians were active in shipping routes near Greenland and stressed that Arctic countries must work with the U.S. to preserve security in the region. “But when it comes to the High North and the Arctic, you are totally right,” Rutte said. “The Chinese are now using these routes.” DEM SEEKS TO HALT TRUMP FROM ‘INVADING’ GREENLAND, CANADA AND PANAMA Trump has discussed acquiring Greenland, Canada and Panama for months — and regularly has referred to Canada as the U.S.’ 51st state. Additionally, Trump asserted in a joint address to Congress March 4 that the U.S. would acquire Greenland for national and international security. “And I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland,” Trump said. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.” “One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said. “We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to new heights.” Greenland is rich in natural resources, including oil and natural gas, and both Russia and China have bolstered their presence in the region in recent years. For example, the U.S. Navy released a “Blue Arctic” strategy in 2021 cautioning that Russia was reopening old bases in the region, and urged the sea service to operate more aggressively there as a result. TRUMP SAYS US WOULD WELCOME GREENLAND DURING JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS Trump has discussed the possibility of expanding American territory for months and said in a post in December 2024 on Truth Social that “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” Meanwhile, leaders from Greenland, which is a territory of Denmark, pushed back on Trump’s remarks to members of Congress. “We do not want to be Americans, nor Danes, we are Kalaallit (Greenlanders),” Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede said in a March 5 post translated by Reuters. “The Americans and their leader must understand that.”
Holi celebrations in THIS town has a unique twist, it is played without…
There is a place in Rajasthan which does not allow men to play Holi, not just that, according to this 500-year old tradition, men have to leave the village to let only women stay and enjoy the festival of colours.
Texas is running out of water. Here’s why and what state leaders plan to do about it.
The state’s water supply faces numerous threats. And by one estimate, the state’s municipal supply will not meet demand by 2030 if there’s a severe drought and no water solutions are implemented.
Want to understand Texas’ water crisis? Start with the guide to water terms.
Water is complex. So are the terms used to describe it. Get to know the language as Texas debates how to save its water supply.
Democrats are making early moves to line up 2028 presidential bids
The early moves in the next White House race, at least among the Democrats, are getting underway. Pete Buttigieg on Thursday ruled out a run for an open Democrat-held Senate seat in his adopted home state of Michigan. And the announcement by the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, who served four years as transportation secretary in former President Biden’s administration, appears to clear the path for a potential 2028 White House bid by Buttigieg. Buttigieg highlighted that “while my own plans don’t include running for office in 2026, I remain intensely focused on consolidating, communicating, and supporting a vision” that is an alternative to what he called the “cruel chaos” of President Donald Trump’s administration. THESE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 A source familiar with Buttigieg’s thinking told Fox News that the former transportation secretary is in a strong possible position to run for president in 2028 and that running for either senator or Michigan governor “in 2026 would have taken that off the table.” NEWSOM MAKES MAJOR HEADLINES IN INAGURAL EDITION OF HIS NEW PODCAST Across the country, term-limited California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has long been suspected of harboring national ambitions, is grabbing tons of attention and millions of YouTube hits, thanks to a new and very high-profile podcast series. The first two guests were MAGA world superstars Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon. Democrat JB Pritzker, the billionaire two-term governor of blue state Illinois and one of his party’s leaders in opposing President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda, will head to New Hampshire next month to headline the state party’s annual fundraising gala, sparking plenty of 2028 speculation. DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR’S TRIP TO THIS KEY STATE SPARKING 2028 SPECULATION Trips to New Hampshire – which for over a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House – are seen as an early indicator of a politician’s interest in running for the presidency in the next election. But there’s more. There is plenty of focus on former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced then-President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee last summer after he dropped out of the race amid mounting questions over his physical and mental stamina. KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS TIMETABLE FOR MAJOR POLITICAL DECISION Harris, who lost last November’s White House election to Trump, is seriously considering a 2026 bid to succeed Newsom in her home state of California. But a run for governor in 2026 would likely derail her from making a 2028 White House bid. A source in the former vice president’s political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital that Harris has told allies she will decide by the end of the summer about whether to launch a gubernatorial campaign. And Harris recently made a stop in Nevada, an early-voting state on the Democrats’ primary calendar. Harris’ 2024 running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is not ruling out a White House run of his own in 2028. Walz on Friday kicks off a high-profile town hall tour in Iowa, the state that, through the 2020 cycle, kicked off the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar. Meanwhile, three other prominent Democrats considered potential 2028 contenders, Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, on Thursday are addressing the House Democrats annual policy retreat. Even Rahm Emanuel, the former congressman from Illinois, White House chief of staff in President Obama’s administration, and Chicago mayor who most recently served as U.S. ambassador to Japan, is potentially mulling a 2028 run. Emanuel this week was the topic of a feature report by Politico. While 2028 seems like a very long way away, the early moves in the next White House race begin, well, early for the party out of power. VANCE IN ‘CATBIRD SEAT,’ BUT HERE ARE THE OTHER REPUBLICANS WHO MAY ALSO RUN IN 2028 That was the case for the Republicans in the 2024 cycle. The first stop in Iowa, which continues to kick off the GOP’s presidential nominating schedule, in the 2024 cycle by a potential White House contender came in March 2021 – just weeks after Biden assumed the presidency. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who eventually ended up not running for president, grabbed plenty of attention as he spoke to the Westside Conservative Club in suburban Des Moines. “There’s no sense in waiting,” New Hampshire-based political strategist Lucas Meyer told Fox News. “If anyone is serious about running for president, they would probably be well served in getting after it now.” Meyer, a former president of the New Hampshire Young Democrats who chairs the advocacy group 603 Forward, called it a “wide open field” for Democrats. “The crowd of leadership at the top of the Democratic Party isn’t very deep at the moment,” he observed. “There’s oxygen there for someone.”
Texas Southern University asks for $120 million to replace aging law school
Law students might lose financial aid if TSU does not address health and safety concerns about the building.
SCOOP: Trump crafts plan to cut spending without Congress after shutdown is averted
The White House has already started mapping out how to make good on its promise to slash federal spending in preparation for a six-month government funding bill to pass through Congress. Two people familiar with the conversations told Fox News Digital that President Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought are working on a strategy for impounding federal funds that Congress is expected to allocate this week, before the partial government shutdown deadline on March 14. Trump and his allies have made no secret of their belief that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is unconstitutionally constraining the powers of the president. But the new development is a significant step toward a likely legal showdown as Democrats warn they will respond if Trump tries to bypass Congress on federal spending. The fight could go all the way up to the Supreme Court. CANADA EXPLOITING ‘LOOPHOLE’ HURTING US DAIRY FARMERS AMID TRUMP TARIFFS, SENATORS SAY It comes as Senate Republicans and Democrats are at an impasse over a Trump-backed government funding bill known as a continuing resolution (CR). The Senate GOP needs as many as eight Democrats to cross the aisle and vote for the bill, which the left has widely panned as an avenue to let Trump and Elon Musk dismantle the federal bureaucracy. The measure is a rough extension of fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding levels, meant to carry the government through the beginning of FY 2026 on Oct. 1. It’s the third such extension since the beginning of FY 2024, but the first to take place under a fully GOP-controlled Washington. Republicans have said it would give them more time to cobble together conservative spending bills for FY 2026, and have celebrated the CR essentially freezing government spending for a year. Trump and House GOP leaders worked overtime convincing holdouts to vote for the CR this week, as some conservatives balked at the idea of extending Biden administration-era funding. DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY REBUKE PARTY MEMBERS WHO JEERED TRUMP DURING SPEECH TO CONGRESS: REPORT But the promise of Trump using Congress’ funding allocations as a ceiling and not a floor ultimately played a big part in convincing conservatives. “We appropriate, that’s an important principle. But then the chief executive can make decisions below that spending level. The chief executive can say, ‘Hey this isn’t the best use of money,’” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. Roy has been a key figure in government spending talks, acting as a liaison between conservative fiscal hawks and leaders in the House and White House. He and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., both agreed with Vought and Trump that the Impoundment Control Act – which was passed in response to Congress at the time believing President Richard Nixon was holding back lawful funding because he disagreed with it personally – was unconstitutional. “The chief executive can say, ‘I don’t have to buy a $500 hammer, I can buy a $100 hammer. I don’t have to buy a $100 million carrier, I could buy $50 million carrier,’ or whatever. He’s the executive. So if that money is then spent properly to carry out the functions of government, why should you have to spend every dollar of it, right? It’s literally unconstitutional,” Roy said. Roy said he believed the same authority would apply to a Democratic president. “By the way, I realize this means that would be true for Joe Biden or that would be true for some future Democrat, and I’m OK with that. There’s always going to be some debate,” Roy said. “There’s going to be some contours the courts would give us. Congress might step in and clarify the law, and that might be deemed constitutional… but to blanket to say the president can’t impound, I think is facially unconstitutional.” Norman told Fox News Digital, “The 1974 impoundment act was against Richard Nixon. It’s a different day now.” He also said Trump and Vought were “going to move forward” on impoundment. “He’s got the constitutional right to do it, so he’s going to push on with it, and thinks the courts will ultimately side with him,” Norman said. “I can’t get in Trump’s mind, but I know he’s hell-bent on interpreting the Constitution as his right to use impoundment.” TOP CONSERVATIVE GROUP VOWS TO WORK CLOSELY WITH PRESIDENT AFTER PAST CLASHES WITH TRUMP Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., who served as House Democrats’ lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment, told Fox News Digital the move would be patently unconstitutional. “It is illegal for the president to act unilaterally and either rescind or change congressionally designated funds,” Goldman said. In the event of likely court challenges – which Goldman pointed out were already going on with Trump moving to cut various programs – House Democrats would likely move to help, he said. “We can file an amicus brief, and we likely would do that on such a critical issue of congressional power,” he said. At the same time, both Roy and Norman signaled Trump’s congressional allies were discussing rescission as another avenue to spend less than the CR allocates. The Impoundment Control Act provided a mechanism for the legislative and executive branches to enact spending cuts via specific rescissions. Such a bill would only require 51 votes in the Senate rather than the standard 60-vote threshold for passage, meaning Democrats in theory would not be needed. “I think that they are concurrent plans, and we will use all of those tools at the appropriate time, but I say that as an observer from Congress,” Roy said, noting he had no insight into White House discussions on impoundment. Norman said Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will play a role in identifying where the funds could be found. “There’s going to be a lot of things in it. What DOGE has done is identify, but now if he’s just going to identify and we don’t move forward on rescission – it’s gotta have some
Judge orders Trump admin to reinstate probationary workers fired at 6 agencies
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to reinstate probationary workers who were let go in recent mass firings from six different agencies, including the Department of Defense. The administration is expected to file an appeal against the ruling by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco. The judge’s order came during a federal court hearing over a lawsuit from labor unions and other groups challenging the mass termination being directed by the Office of Personnel Management. Those plaintiffs said it violates Administrative Procedure Act requirements and congressional laws that deal with agency hiring and firing practices. BLUE STATE OFFERS TO HIRE FEDERAL WORKERS FIRED BY DOGE The judge earlier ruled OPM lacked the power to fire workers, including probationary employees who normally have less than a year of civil service on the job. The agencies affected included Defense, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. Aslup appeared incredibly frustrated with the government during the hearing Thursday, which lasted around an hour and a half, saying “this is a sham” at least four times. He added that by not having anyone from OPM there to testify today, it was preventing them from getting to the truth. The number of fired workers was in the thousands, according to Reuters. This is a developing story and will be updated. Fox News’ Michael Lundin contributed to this report.
‘Needs to resign’: Blue state blasted for asking for loan amid skyrocketing immigrant healthcare costs
The California Department of Finance cleared a $3.44 billion loan to make up for a gap in Medi-Cal spending, which critics say is due to illegal immigrant healthcare costs, whereas the governor’s office argues it’s not out of the ordinary. It was revealed a few weeks ago that the state had $6 billion in expected costs for Medi-Cal, but it is now roughly $9.5 billion. This comes after it became state law to allow people to qualify for the program regardless of their immigration status. Medi-Cal is the state’s Medicaid system for certain Golden State residents, which takes both federal and state taxpayer dollars, according to a state government website. Critics of allowing the program’s availability to those who are in the country illegally strongly believe it is cause for concern. CALIFORNIA GOV NEWSOM SETS MENENDEZ BROTHERS PAROLE BOARD HEARING DATE IN BID FOR CLEMENCY “Gov. Gavin Newsom lied and cooked the books to gift all illegal immigrants free healthcare and now has stuck California taxpayers with a multi-billion dollar bill,” Rep. Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This is so egregious that he needs to resign,” he continued. DeMaio was the lawmaker who, in a hearing last month, questioned a state budget official who ended up revealing the higher spending figure for MediCal. DeMaio was later removed from the California State Assembly budget committee. CALIFORNIA EXPLOITING MEDICAID ‘LOOPHOLE’ TO PAY BILLIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTHCARE, STUDY SAYS However, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said that California is not the only state facing spending issues with their state-based healthcare programs, such as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Indiana. “This isn’t new — as the administration already outlined in the Governor’s January budget proposal, additional funding is needed to support Medi-Cal,” Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor told Fox News Digital in a statement. BORDER AREA BUSTLING UNDER BIDEN NOW QUIET UNDER TRUMP, SAYS VETERANS GROUP: ‘AMAZING DIFFERENCE’ “Rising Medicaid costs are a national challenge, affecting both red and blue states alike. This is not unique to California.” The border state continues to face scrutiny for its policies pertaining to people in the country illegally, whether it is for healthcare eligibility or “sanctuary” policies.