USAID activists say stopping ‘corporate welfare’ outweighs ending funds to terror-linked groups
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Protesters rallying against the sweep of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) say that ending “corporate welfare” should be prioritized over looking at money being reportedly funneled to terror-linked groups. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been conducting a review of “waste” identified within USAID, the government agency that handles the distribution of foreign aid. According to an analysis by the Middle East Forum, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the USAID and State Department have funneled at least $122 million to groups aligned with designated terrorists and their supporters. A White House report also identified $15 million of taxpayer dollars being spent on condoms for the Taliban, a known terrorist group. On Wednesday, Fox News Digital asked individuals protesting the USAID cuts outside the U.S. Capitol their thoughts about the agency reportedly funding terrorist-aligned groups. ‘SWINDLED THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER’: NEW HOUSE GOP INTERNAL MEMO RIPS DEM USAID UPROAR “I don’t want to hear anything about funding until we stop corporate welfare,” one protester, who was wearing a mask, told Fox News Digital. “I think before we talk about funding that we’re sending off to other countries or devoting to poor people in this country that need help,” he added, “we need to talk about the billions in subsidies that we give to corporations like Tesla, like Space X.” Another individual, also wearing a mask, said giving money to issues that don’t prioritize helping Americans is “crazy.” “We need to be worrying about our people. We’re not out here giving money to help our people here and suffering,” they told Fox. “Any money going toward other issues is just crazy.” Asked about funding to terrorist-linked groups, Michael, a member of Veterans for Peace, said, “Funding has to be looked at, but I would suspect that that’s a very small minority of the funding that the U.S. does.” “Foreign aid is less than 1% of the U.S. budget. So it’s a very small monetary number,” he added. “And like all programs, it needs to be evaluated every so often. And I think that the small number of programs who supposedly are connected with unsavory type groups are in the minority.” WHITE HOUSE FLAGS TOP USAID BOONDOGGLES UNDER ELON MUSK’S MICROSCOPE The protesters all expressed opposition to Musk’s role in the Trump administration as he spearheads efforts to cut costs within the federal government. “If the White House would take the time to look at where the funding goes, I think they’d be more than happy with the results and the impact of U.S. taxpayer dollars to make the U.S. safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” said Mary, who is retired. Several Democratic lawmakers spoke at the rally, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, and Reps. John Garamendi and Lateefah Simon of California. The White House issued a report that revealed where taxpayer dollars have been funneled through the agency, such as over $400,000 to “help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly through USAID.” Musk said on X that he and President Donald Trump came to an agreement that the agency needed to be shut down. Fox News Digital’s Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.
Texas Dem launches first Trump impeachment articles over Gaza
Democratic Rep. Al Green, the Houston, Texas, congressman who made three attempts to impeach President Donald Trump during his first term, initiated his first impeachment effort in 2025. Green rose to address the House on Wednesday and said “ethnic cleansing in Gaza is not a joke, especially when it emanates from the President of the United States.” “And [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] should be ashamed, knowing the history of his people, to stand there and allow such things to be said.” Green went on to say his formal impeachment articles are for “dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done.” REP. AL GREEN SAYS PRESIDENT IS ‘NO BETTER THAN’ KKK IN WAKE OF ‘LYNCHING’ TWEET Trump had announced Tuesday the U.S. would “take over” war-torn Gaza and allow Palestinians to relocate while it is being essentially repaired. “I also rise to say that the impeachment movement is going to be a grass up movement, not a top down… I did it before, I laid the foundation for impeachment, and it was done. Nobody knows more about it than I,” Green went on. “And I know that it time for us to lay the foundation again. On some issues, it is better to stand alone than not stand at all on this issue. I stand alone. But I stand for justice.” Other Democrats appeared lukewarm to Green’s current bid. “It’s not a focus of our caucus,” said House Democratic Caucus Chair Peter Aguilar, D-Calif. Green’s previous attempts were separate from those successful impeachments forwarded by now-California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and others – which related to Trump’s 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the 2021 Capitol riot. One Green resolution centered on 2019 Trump tweets deriding members of the left-wing Squad, wherein the president remarked “they [should] go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” During a House Judiciary Committee hearing at the time of one of Green’s previous impeachment attempts, Republican staff posted a banner of the Democrat’s own words: “I’m concerned that if we don’t impeach this president, he will get re-elected,” Green had said. Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins – then the panel’s ranking member – listed Green’s comments as one of several in remarks criticizing Democrats for trying to usurp the power of the voting booth through political maneuvering. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “For Democrats, it has been and will always be, to paraphrase Lewis Carroll: ‘Sentence first, verdict later,’” Collins said at the time. During the Obama administration, the late Rep. Walter Jones Jr., R-N.C., similarly repeatedly called for President Barack Obama’s impeachment over issues ranging from the use of drones to troop casualties in Syria. Fox News Digital reached out to Green’s office and was told “it is a matter of time” when the articles would be filed. Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
‘America has DOGE fever’: States from NJ to TX draft similar initiatives as federal leaders celebrate
The spread of DOGE-centric legislation and bureaucracies has taken off like a SpaceX rocket in several states across the country since Elon Musk and lawmakers like Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., began their work this year. Bean, chair of the bipartisan DOGE Caucus, was asked about copycat initiatives popping up around the country and remarked, “America has DOGE fever.” “As elected officials, we must ensure we are good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This means we must identify, investigate and eliminate wasteful spending.” With a governor’s race in November and President Donald Trump only losing their state by a historically small margin, Garden State Republicans appeared bullish this week as they put forth a proposal to “bring DOGE to New Jersey.” ‘DOGE MEETS CONGRESS’: LAWMAKER LAUNCHES NEW PANEL ON GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY GOP Assemblymen Alex Sauickie and Christopher DePhillips recently introduced Resolution 213 to create the NJ Delegation on Government Efficiency within the Treasury Department. Sauickie quoted former President Ronald Reagan’s 1985 retort that “government is like a baby – an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.” “Except babies, if raised and disciplined rightly, grow into adults who usually become productive members of society. Those adopting our state budgets show no such discipline,” Sauickie said, adding that it is time for “grownups to take responsibility and say ‘no’” to reckless spending. Some Trenton lawmakers have painted New Jersey’s financial outlook as a “fiscal cliff,” and DePhillips blamed outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy for claiming he inherited the problem from Republican Gov. Chris Christie. “Taxpayers want accountability for how their hard-earned money is spent,” DePhillips said. He also called on Murphy to “stop fighting Trump” and lower New Jersey’s business taxes before the third-founded state in the union “loses out” on the potential upswing of the new administration. Republican state Sen. Joe Pennacchio added in a recent Fox News Digital interview that he would be forming a DOGE committee in the state legislature. “We’re mirroring what the federal government and what [Musk is] doing,” said Pennacchio. TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ALREADY RACKING UP WINS This week, Kentucky lawmakers also prioritized government efficiency measures, with Republican state Rep. Jared Bauman forwarding a bill to establish a working group to help the state treasury modernize its tax collections and accounting. In Texas, lawmakers in both the state Senate and House are working on DOGE-centric initiatives. Senate President Pro-Tempore Brandon Creighton, a Republican, first oversaw the passage of the strongest DEI ban in the U.S. during the 2023 session, which eliminated billions in taxpayer-funded waste and refocused public universities on education over social issues. After DOGE formed at the federal level, Creighton said Texas is already a model for how a jurisdiction that prioritizes government efficiency will work. “Seeing the swift action by President Trump and Elon Musk with DOGE is a welcome and necessary new era in Washington, D.C. – and I know they are just getting started,” Creighton told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Many have said that Washington should take notes from Texas – because the Texas economic engine is proof that when government is committed to efficiency, accountability and conservative results, taxpayers win.” Meanwhile, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, officially the president of the Senate, announced a bill late last month called “Texas DOGE – Improving Government Efficiency,” according to Bloomberg. Another reported bill by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes would form a DOGE office in the executive branch. Meanwhile, the Texas House is considering forming a DOGE committee to analyze government efficiency through a 13-member panel. It would investigate fraud claims, inefficient use of tax dollars, and the use of AI, according to FOX-7. In Missouri, Republican state Rep. Ben Baker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Missourians believe the state government is not as efficient or responsive as it should be. “We want to look into that,” said Baker. Baker recently announced he was named to lead the state’s new DOGE Standing Committee, adding his work will “align with federal efforts.” In New Hampshire, newly-inaugurated Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s first executive order created a 15-member Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE). “COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state,” she said in her inaugural address. It will be led by former Gov. Craig Benson and businessman Andy Crews. North Carolina also sought to get in on the DOGE trend. Republican House Speaker Destin Hall unveiled the new NC Select Committee on Government Efficiency. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP State Reps. Keith Kidwell and John Torbett, both Republicans, will lead the initiative, looking into waste, duplication, mismanagement and constitutional violations. “As the new Trump administration rightfully takes aim at Washington D.C.’s wasteful spending and inefficient bureaucracy, it is time for us in Raleigh to do the same,” Kidwell said in a statement. Bean, the U.S. House’s DOGE leader, further remarked on the collective efforts: “It’s exciting to see states pick up the DOGE baton, and I applaud their efforts to improve government efficiency and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars.” Some in Congress, however, have cast doubt on DOGE. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., said at an anti-DOGE rally that some of the actions at the federal level are “completely illegal.”
Frenemies: Newsom comes hat in hand to meet Trump at White House
Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump — who have very visibly traded political fire but who also have worked together — meet at the White House on Wednesday as the California governor fights to secure more money for people and businesses devastated following last month’s deadly wildfires in metropolitan Los Angeles. The trip is the first by Newsom to Washington, D.C., since Trump took over in the White House and is part of his efforts to obtain additional federal funding to aid in wildfire recovery from the horrific blazes that killed 29 people and destroyed over 12,000 homes and forced tens of thousands to evacuate. Newsom arrived in the nation’s capital on the eve of his visit to the White House, and hours ahead of the meeting he headed to Capitol Hill to hold separate meetings with members of Congress. The governor traveled east a day after California lawmakers approved $25 million in legal funding proposed by the Democratic governor to challenge actions by the Trump administration. And the legislature also allocated another $25 million for legal groups to defend undocumented immigrants facing possible deportation by new Trump administration efforts. TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND Newsom came to Washington, D.C., hat in hand. Late last month, the governor approved $2.5 billion for fire recovery work, which he hopes will be reimbursed by the federal government. And the state will likely need much more help from the federal government, as the bill to cover rebuilding costs is expected to reach into the tens of billions of dollars. “The Governor’s trip is focused on securing critical disaster aid for the survivors of the Los Angeles fires and ensuring impacted families who lost their homes and livelihoods have the support they need to rebuild and recover,” spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement. After the outbreak of the fires early last month, Trump repeatedly criticized Newsom’s handling of the immense crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy and, pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, called on Newsom to step down. “Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!” Trump charged in a social media post on Jan. 8, as he repeated a derogatory name he often labels the governor. Trump also placed blame for the deadly wildfires on Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, another Democrat, and the policies approved by state lawmakers in heavily blue California. In an executive order issued last month, he described management of the state’s land and water resources as “disastrous.” Newsom — the governor of the nation’s most populous state, one of the Democratic Party’s leaders in the resistance against the returning president and a potential White House contender in 2028 — pushed back against Trump, as the two larger-than-life politicians traded fire. Disputing Trump, the governor noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour. Newsom also charged Trump had spread “hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation.” NEWSOM CALLS TRUMP’S CLAIMS ‘PURE FICTION’ AFTER HE POINTED FINGER OVER CALIFORNIA FIRE TRAGEDY Trump met with Newsom as he arrived in Los Angeles late last month — just four days after his inauguration as president — to survey the fire damage. Trump had threatened to withhold wildfire aid until certain stipulations were met in California, including changes to water policy and requiring an ID to vote, but now appears willing to work with Newsom. “Thank you first for being here. It means a great deal to all of us,” Newsom told Trump as he greeted the president upon his arrival in Los Angeles last month. “We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help.” The president declared that “we’re looking to get something completed. And the way you get it completed is to work together.” The wildfires are far from the first time Newsom and Trump took aim at each other. Their animosity dated back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California’s lieutenant governor. The verbal fireworks continued over the past two years, as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Joe Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer last summer. Following Trump’s convincing election victory over Harris in November, Newsom moved to “Trump-proof” his heavily blue state. “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election,” Trump responded. Since their meeting in Los Angeles, Newsom has appeared to be more restrained in his criticism of Trump. Following Trump’s orders, the US Army Corps of Engineers last week opened two dams in Central California, letting roughly 2.2 billion gallons of water flow out of reservoirs. Trump celebrated the move in posts to Truth Social post on Friday and Sunday, declaring, “the water is flowing in California,” and adding the water was “heading to farmers throughout the State, and to Los Angeles.” But water experts argue that the newly released water won’t flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during California’s normally wet winter season. Newsom, apparently aiming to rebuild the working relationship he had with Trump during the president’s first term in the White House, didn’t raise any objections to the water release. Fox News’ Christina Shaw, Elizabeth Pritchett, Pat Ward, and Lee Ross contributed to this story.
GOP lawmaker scraps with Democrat in hearing over transgender ‘slur,’ bathroom rights: ‘Not going to have it’
A House Oversight Committee hearing devolved into a fight over words on Wednesday after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., repeatedly used a “slur” to describe transgender people in a hearing on USAID funding. “USAID awarded $2 million to strengthen trans-led organizations to deliver gender-affirming health care in Guatemala,” Mace said. “So to each of you this morning, does this advance the interests of American citizens paying for trannies in Guatemala to the tune of $2 million, yes or no?” When Mace’s five minutes were up, ranking member Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., made a point of parliamentary inquiry to the committee chairman to chide Mace for using the word “trannies,” a term “that is considered a slur in the LGBTQ community, and the transgender community.” “Let me please finish without interruption,” Connolly said, before Mace cut him off and repeated the term several more times. “Tranny, tranny, tranny, I don’t really care, you want penises and women’s bathrooms, and I’m not going to have it OK, no, thank you – it’s disgusting,” Mace barked back. SPEAKER JOHNSON ANNOUNCES NEW CAPITOL BATHROOM POLICY IN RESPONSE TO CONTROVERSY OVER TRANS HOUSE MEMBER Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., interrupted and permitted Connolly to finish his thoughts. “To me, a slur is a slur, and here on the committee, a level of decorum requires us to try consciously to avoid slurs. You just heard the gentle lady actually actively, robustly repeated it,” Connolly said. “And I would just ask the chairman that she be counseled that we ought not to be engaged. We can have debate and policy discussion without offending human beings who are our fellow citizens. And so I would ask as a parliamentary inquiry whether the use of that phrase is not, in fact, a violation of the decorum rules.” Mace – who recently introduced a bill to ban biological men from women’s spaces on all federal property – snapped back that she wasn’t going to be “counseled by a man over men in women’s spaces or men who have mental health issues dressing as women.” The South Carolina Republican also made headlines last November with her push to ban biological males from women’s bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol, inspired by the election of Sarah McBride, D-Del., as the first openly transgender woman elected to the House. TWO HOUSE DEMS JOIN GOP TO BAN BIOLOGICAL MALES FORM GIRLS’ SCHOOL SPORTS With a slight smirk, Comer said, “I’ll be honest with the ranking member – I’m not up-to-date on my politically correct LGBTQ terminology.” “We’ll look into that and get back with you on that. I don’t know what’s offensive and what’s not. I don’t know much about pronouns,” he said. The hearing, which was about government efficiency and called “Rightsizing Government,” began Wednesday morning and included as witnesses Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Citizens Against Government Waste president Thomas A. Schatz. WHITE HOUSE TO IMPOSE TARIFFS ON MEXICO, CANADA AND CHINA DUE TO ‘INVASION OF ILLEGAL FENTANYL’ The hearing also fell into some confusion when Connolly demanded the committee subpoena the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tech billionaire Elon Musk. A review of USAID’s recent history shows that it was repeatedly accused of financial mismanagement and corruption long before Trump’s second administration, Fox News Digital previously reported. Musk has led the charge against USAID – an independent U.S. agency established during the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations – as he leads DOGE’s mission of cutting government fat and overspending at the federal level. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
‘Sesame Street in Iraq’: USAID’s ‘wasteful and dangerous’ spending exposed by senator
Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst published a list of projects and programs she says the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped fund across the years, highlighting it as “wasteful and dangerous” spending that has gripped taxpayers until the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) stepped in. “From funneling tax dollars to risky research in Wuhan to sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, USAID is one of the worst offenders of waste in Washington… all around the world,” Ernst posted to X on Monday before rattling off a handful of examples. Ernst highlighted that the agency “authorized a whopping $20 million to create a Sesame Street in Iraq.” Under the Biden administration, USAID awarded $20 million to a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop to produce a show called “Ahlan Simsim Iraq” in an effort to “promote inclusion, mutual respect, and understanding across ethnic, religious, and sectarian groups.” “As Iraq recovers from years of conflict, communities struggle to find a new sense of normalcy while physical and emotional wounds remain,” an archived link to USAID’s website reads. “The legacy of Iraq’s conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) left many children without a stable home or displaced, especially those from Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities. Additionally, Iraqi youth, who make up over half of the population, are unable to find jobs in an economy strained by war and corruption, creating vulnerabilities to radicalization.” USAID’s website shut down this week as DOGE and tech billionaire Elon Musk put the agency under its microscope. ‘VIPER’S NEST’: USAID ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION, MISMANAGEMENT LONG BEFORE TRUMP ADMIN TOOK AIM The show is styled like the American kids’ show “Sesame Street,” and was granted funding that began in 2021 and runs until 2027, according to the achieved website. The show continues to air in the Middle East, a review of its website shows. In another example Ernst highlighted, USAID was found to have provided millions of dollars to farmers in Afghanistan in an effort to get them to grow food instead of poppy fields and opium. The plan, however, backfired and led to an increase in poppy production, and thus opium production, during the war in Afghanistan. “During the height of the war in Afghanistan, USAID spent millions of dollars to help Afghans grow crops instead of opium,” Ernst posted to X Monday. “The results: opium poppy cultivation across the country nearly doubled, according to the UN.” USAID CLOSES HQ TO STAFFERS MONDAY AS MUSK SAYS TRUMP SUPPORTS SHUTTING AGENCY DOWN USAID, as well as the U.S. military, paid farmers to build or rehab miles of irrigation canals in the Helmand province, Afghanistan, during the Obama administration in an effort to persuade the farmers to grow fruits and other plants, the Washington Post reported in 2019. The farmers, however, used the canals to grow poppies. Poppy production almost doubled in the region between 2010 and 2014, the Post reported, citing U.N. figures. In another example, Ernst said USAID spent $2 million to fund “Moroccan pottery classes and promotion.” Morocco has for thousands of years created pottery, dating back to 6,000 B.C. Former Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who died in 2020, published a government “waste book” in 2012 detailing that USAID “began pursuing a four year plan to improve the economic competitiveness of Morocco” beginning in 2009, which included $27 million in funding. A portion of the funding was directed to a program that “involved training Moroccans to create and design pottery to sell in domestic and international markets,” according to the report. The American pottery instructor hired to teach local artists, however, was unable to communicate with them as a translator for the program was “not fluent in English,” according to the waste book. GOP HARDLINERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP, MUSK SCALING BACK USAID “An American pottery instructor was contracted to provide several weeks of training classes to local artists to improve their methods and teach them how to successfully make pottery that could be brought to market,” the waste book reported. “Unfortunately, the translator hired for the sessions was not fluent in English and was unable to transmit large portions of the lectures to the participants.” Ernst added in another example that USAID “funneled nearly $1 million into batty research on coronaviruses at China’s infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology, which the CIA admits was the likely source of COVID-19.” The Government Accountability Office published a report in 2023 finding that both USAID and the National Institutes of Health directed taxpayer funds to American universities and a nonprofit organization before the money found its way to Chinese groups, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The report found that between 2014 and 2021, U.S. taxpayer funds were redirected to entities, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Wuhan University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which is part of the Chinese Communist Party. The three groups each received more than $2 million combined from the U.S. government “through seven subawards,” according to the report. USAID EMPLOYEE SAYS STAFFERS HID PRIDE FLAGS, ‘INCRIMINATING’ BOOKS WHEN DOGE ARRIVED “The selected entities are government institutions or laboratories in China that conduct work on infectious diseases, including pandemic viruses, and have had actions taken by federal agencies to address safety or security concerns,” the report states. “All three selected Chinese entities received funds.” In January, the CIA under the second Trump administration released an updated assessment on the origins of COVID-19, favoring the theory that the contagious disease was due to a lab leak. The CIA previously had maintained that it did not have sufficient evidence to conclude whether COVID originated in a lab or a “wet market” in Wuhan, China. Ernst claimed in the X thread that USAID also provided funds to boost tourism to Lebanon and to send Ukrainian models to fashion week. “The agency spent $2 million promoting tourism to Lebanon, a nation the State Department warns against traveling to ‘due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and the risk of armed conflict,’” she wrote. “USAID spends
Drone footage of cartel warfare is ‘indicative’ of danger still present at border, says Rep. Chip Roy
After drone video footage surfaced of an apparent cartel-on-cartel gunfight just south of the U.S. border with Mexico, Republican Congressman Chip Roy of Texas is calling attention to the danger still present at the border. The footage, which Roy obtained from sources on the border, was taken by a cartel drone and shows two sets of vehicles exchanging gunfire near the U.S. border. Video taken by the drone shows the operator eventually drop some type of missile, seeming to eliminate shooters on one side. Speaking with Fox News Digital, Roy said that the knowledge that cartels own drones with weapon capabilities “open[s] up a whole other frontier that we’ve got to manage and deal with border security.” “Seeing that and adding it into what we know about the extent to which the cartels are heavily armed and have significant resources… it is indicative of the kind of danger that we’re talking about,” said Roy. MEXICAN CARTELS TARGETING BORDER PATROL AGENTS WITH KAMIKAZE DRONES, EXPLOSIVES AMID TRUMP CRACKDOWN: REPORT This comes just days after U.S. Border Patrol agents exchanged gunfire with suspected cartel members near the U.S.-Mexican border in Fronton, Texas. “We’re seeing more of that,” said Roy. He noted that as President Donald Trump and his administration take major steps to crack down on illegal immigration and migrant crime within the U.S., he “would expect the cartels to flex more muscle in Mexico,” requiring the U.S. to work more closely with Mexican authorities to quash any increase in violence. “They recognize now that they’ve got a United States of America that is serious,” he said. “My guess is they’re not stupid enough to have the kind of overt aggression across our border… I’d speculate that they’re going to try to manipulate a great deal of the police and military forces in Mexico.” HEGSETH, HOMAN TOUR BORDER AS MILITARY HELPS WITH DEPORTATION FLIGHTS, OPS AGAINST CARTELS In response, Roy said he expects Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will move to “work in good faith with Mexico to strengthen their ability to have the rule of law and root out cartels.” The congressman, who has introduced legislation to designate cartels “foreign terrorist organizations,” said that Trump’s executive order to do the same is an important step to rooting out the cartel problem both in the U.S. and Mexico. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “This administration has already had more presence at the border than the entirety of the four years of the Biden administration… The cartels now know that you have a president in the country that means business, and they’re probably trying to figure out what their positioning needs to be.” ICE ARRESTS UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP CONTINUE IN MIGRANT ‘SANCTUARY’ CITIES U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declined to comment on the drone footage. A CBP spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “threats and assaults against CBP personnel are taken very seriously.” “We remain vigilant and stand ready to ensure the safety of our personnel, aliens, and local communities, and the security of our borders,” said the spokesperson.
GOP rebels push for $2.5 trillion cuts in Trump budget bill during tense closed-door meeting
Republican spending hawks in the House of Representatives are pushing their leaders to include at least $2.5 trillion in spending cuts in a massive piece of legislation intended to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda. Republicans held their weekly closed-door agenda meeting on Wednesday where they discussed a path forward via the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority – which the House already operates under – reconciliation allows the party in power to pass sweeping fiscal policy changes while skirting the opposition. Several sources told Fox News Digital there was significant “frustration” within the House GOP conference on Wednesday over a lack of a concrete final plan from Republican leadership. SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN One GOP lawmaker said that tension bubbled up with several “heated exchanges,” with conservatives demanding a concrete plan and minimum spending cuts at significantly higher levels than what was initially proposed. “I think there’s a lot of frustration right now,” the lawmaker told Fox News Digital. “They’ve been trying to be inclusive, but not every open forum they’ve offered is giving members the ability to say, ‘I feel like people are listening to me,’ because I don’t know that’s the case right now.” There’s also concern that the Senate, which is growing impatient with the House, could move forward with its own plan if the House doesn’t release one first – which House Republicans worry will include much shallower spending cuts than what could pass in the lower chamber. “What we’re worried about is losing the opportunity. I think we’re more likely to cut than they are,” a second GOP lawmaker said. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham R-S.C., announced plans to move forward with the upper chamber’s own bill on Wednesday afternoon. He now plans to advance a measure through his committee next week. A third House Republican said GOP lawmakers were fed up waiting for a “play call.” But senior House GOP aides pushed back on the notion there was no play call, pointing out that Republican leaders held countless listening sessions culminating at the recent three-day House GOP retreat in Miami to consult members and emerge with a blueprint for a one-bill strategy that maintains scoring flexibility. The aides said the reconciliation process has had a 95% participation rate among House Republicans. House GOP leaders were forced to delay a key vote on advancing a reconciliation bill through the House Budget Committee, the first step in the process, after spending hawks pushed back on initial proposals for spending cuts between $300 billion and $600 billion. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said on Tuesday night that it would likely be planned for next week, but that leaders’ final goal of having a bill on Trump’s desk in May remained unimpeded. Three sources told Fox News Digital that leaders are floating a plan that would include roughly $1.65 trillion as a baseline for spending cuts, though two people stressed they saw the figure as one of several tentative ideas rather than a final plan. Two other sources said it would also include measures that lead to an additional $1.65 trillion in economic growth. Republicans are trying to pass a broad swath of Trump policies via reconciliation, from more funding for border security to eliminating taxes on tips and overtime wages. Trump has also made clear that he views extending his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 as vital to the process. NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS The tax cuts have proved a sticking point with some spending hawks, however, because several estimates show they could add upwards of $1 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years if extended. Those spending hawks have said they support extending the tax cuts but are seeking deep funding rollbacks elsewhere to offset them. Three people involved in the discussions also told Fox News Digital that House GOP leaders are considering extending the TCJA tax cuts by five years instead of 10 to mitigate those concerns. Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., two conservative members of the House Budget Committee, both told reporters they wanted to see the baseline for spending cuts set at roughly $2.5 trillion. Roy told reporters that $2.5 trillion would amount to roughly $250 billion per year in federal savings over 10 years – while pointing out the U.S. was currently running a $36 trillion national debt. House GOP leaders vowed to seek $2.5 trillion in spending cuts back in December, to get conservatives on board with a bill averting a partial government shutdown. “They said $2.5 trillion of cuts. So, deliver. That will unlock the door,” Roy said. Norman told reporters multiple times this week that he wants between $2 trillion and $3 trillion in cuts.
USAID staffers stunned, angered by Trump admin’s DOGE shutdown of $40B agency
Staffers and contractors who work with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were stunned and angered after President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – the government accountability unit headed by billionaire Elon Musk – effectively shut down the $40 billion agency on Monday. One USAID staffer who wished to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital that 80% of staff across its bureaus learned they lost access to the agency’s systems on Monday morning, including travel, communications, classified information and databases – leading to questions about how to repatriate American citizens in some of the most dangerous places in the world should the need arise. Staffers also feel they were “left high and dry” and “have no idea what to do or where to turn” after being “abandoned by Congress and the government,” the source said, adding they felt the agency was “hostilely taken over by DOGE.” “The richest man in the world is taking this away from the poorest people in the world,” the source said of Musk. WHAT IS USAID AND WHY IS IT IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS? USAID was set up in the early 1960s to act on behalf of the U.S. to deliver aid across the globe, particularly in impoverished and underdeveloped regions. The Trump administration alleges that much of the spending has been wasteful, promoting a liberal agenda around the world. DOGE has particularly criticized a $1.5 million program slated to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities” and a $70,000 program for a “DEI musical” in Ireland. Democrats counter that the agency plays a vital role in U.S. national security interests and say it should remain independent. They point to the work USAID did to counter Soviet influence during the Cold War – a sphere of influence that could remain a concern amid China’s Belt and Road Initiative. “It’s not a generosity project,” the source said of USAID, “this is a national security agency and effort at its core” that “protects borders and cuts threats off,” such as working to contain Ebola and dispersing COVID vaccines to keep such threats outside the U.S. Musk has said that both he and Trump “agreed” that the agency should be “shut down.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been named acting director of the independent agency, on Monday echoed the sentiment, telling reporters, “USAID is not functioning.” “It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S. They’re not a global charity, these are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money?” Rubio continued. “We are spending taxpayers’ money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.” MUSK’S DOGE TAKES AIM AT ‘VIPER’S NEST’ FEDERAL AGENCY WITH GLOBAL FOOTPRINT The scope of work overseen by USAID is vast and ranges from administering foreign aid through humanitarian efforts like famine relief, clean water distribution programs, and medical services, including administering polio vaccines, HIV/AIDS relief and prevention work. It also bolsters democracy, human rights and governance initiatives. The source said the stop work order has left medications for HIV and even vaccines meant for distribution in overseas regions sitting on shelves, saying, “It has all stopped.” Steve Schmida, who runs global consulting firm Resonance, which competes for contracts with USAID, told Fox News Digital that the shutdown is impacting contractors in the form of layoffs, furloughs and a reduction in hours. He also said the stop-work order has prevented his employees from getting paid for work they’ve already done. Schmida said DOGE is “controlling payments” by taking over the payment system. He accused the Musk-led agency of “intentionally defrauding us.” “If not stopped, it will spread to the rest of the government,” Schmida said, adding that the Trump administration’s DOGE could use its takeover of the payment system as “a weapon against American citizens, denying Social Security and Medicare if they step out of line.” Schmida said the foreign assistance community recognizes and shares the desire to reform the system, stating it “could work a lot better,” though he urged the government to work toward improvement rather than the destruction of an agency whose work has been built up over seven decades. Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
White House calls Democrat criticism of DOGE ‘unacceptable’ and ‘incredibly alarming’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Democrats Wednesday for their criticism of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling it “unacceptable” and “incredibly alarming.” “Some elected Democrats are so steamed about DOGE – Congresswoman LaMonica McIver says we are at war. Ilhan Omar says we might actually see somebody get killed. And Chris Van Hollen says we have to fight this in the Congress, we have to fight this in the streets. So what now?” Leavitt was asked by Fox News’ senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy. “It’s unacceptable, the comments that have been made by these Democrat leaders, and frankly, they don’t even know what they’re talking about, because President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people to make this government more efficient,” Leavitt responded. “He campaigned across this country with Elon Musk vowing that Elon was going to head up the Department of Government Efficiency and the two of them with a great team around them were going to look at the receipts of this federal government and ensure it’s accountable to American taxpayers. That’s all that is happening here,” Leavitt continued. “And for Democrat officials to incite violence and encourage Americans to take to the streets, is incredibly alarming, and they should be held accountable for that rhetoric.” DEMOCRAT LAWMAKERS FACE BACKLASH FOR INVOKING ‘UNHINGED’ VIOLENT RHETORIC AGAINST MUSK Leavitt also said during her daily White House press briefing, “If you heard that type of violent, enticing rhetoric from our side of the aisle, from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, I think there would be a lot more outrage in this room today.” On Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said, “What we are witnessing here is the biggest heist in American history.” “This is the most corrupt bargain we’ve ever seen in American history: Elon Musk gives $250 million to elect Donald Trump, and Donald Trump turns over the keys to United States government to Elon Musk and his billionaire friends and his cronies,” Van Hollen said during a protest outside the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. “Are we going to let that stand? Hell no, we are not going to let that stand,” Van Hollen added, later vowing, “We have to fight this in the courts, we have to fight this in the Congress, we have to fight this in the streets. We need to fight this all over America.” USAID EMPLOYEE SAYS STAFFERS HID PRIDE FLAGS, ‘INCRIMINATING’ BOOKS WHEN DOGE ARRIVED “Shut down the city! We are at war!” Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., shouted into a microphone. On Monday morning, hundreds of employees for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reported they were locked out of the agency’s computer system and that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed on Monday. The agency’s fate is hanging in the balance as DOGE is working on an apparent overhaul of the agency. “The level of disrespect actually is criminal because there are crisis response teams that are around the world that really rely on having access to their emails – having access to apps that they can utilize if there’s danger to them,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., told MSNBC, according to The Hill. “All of those accesses are cut off.” “So we might actually see somebody get killed. An American who works for the American government might be harmed in some of those countries that they’re operating in,” she reportedly added. Fox News’ Emma Colton and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.