West Point disbands gender-based, race clubs in Trump’s DEI sweep
West Point has disbanded a number of identity-based clubs at the military academy to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders and new Pentagon guidance, Fox News has confirmed. Some of the clubs no longer sanctioned by the university include the Asian-Pacific Forum, the Korean-American relations seminar, the Latin Cultural Club, the National Society of Black Engineers Club and the Society of Women Engineers Club. The U.S. Military Academy communications office said the clubs had been dissolved because they were affiliated with the DEI office. “In accordance with recent guidance, the U.S. Military Academy is reviewing programs and activities affiliated with our former office of diversity, equity and inclusion,” the office told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The clubs disbanded yesterday were sponsored by that office.” ‘INCOMPETENCE’: REP BANKS RIPS WEST POINT AS SCHOOL APOLOGIZES FOR ‘ERROR’ SAYING HEGSETH WASN’T ACCEPTED Trump has instituted sweeping policies to eradicate DEI across the federal government since taking office. A dozen clubs were disbanded, according to the memo, while other clubs have had their activities paused until the directorate of cadet activities can review and revalidate their status. WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY DROPS ‘DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY’ FROM MISSION STATEMENT “More than one hundred clubs remain at the U.S. Military Academy, and our leadership will continue to provide opportunities for cadets to pursue their academic, military, and physical fitness interests while following Army policy, directives, and guidance.” The memo, circulated around the university and verified by Fox News Digital, says such clubs are no longer permitted to “use government time, resources or facilities.” Last year, the Supreme Court eliminated race- and gender-based admissions policies at universities but left a carve-out for military institutions like West Point. It later rejected a challenge to the exceptions for military academies, allowing their affirmative action programs to move forward. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote late last month in a memo that DEI practices are “incompatible” with the values of DOD and instructed the Pentagon to stop celebrating “identity” months like Black History Month and Pride Month.
Michigan Dem who refused to back Harris due to Israel support now blasting Trump Gaza proposal
A Michigan Democratic congresswoman who refused to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential run due to the Biden-Harris administration’s stand on Israel is now lashing out against the Republican who defeated her, citing his proposal on ending the Gaza conflict. Rep. Rashida Tlaib blasted President Donald Trump for his comments on the war in Gaza and urged her allies to ramp up a push for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “This president can only spew this fanatical bulls— because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing,” Tlaib said on Twitter Tuesday. “It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak.” Tlaib’s comments came after Trump proposed a U.S. takeover of war-torn Gaza following the war, saying that Palestinians could be resettled to other countries. SAUDI ARABIA CONTRADICTS TRUMP, VOWS NO TIES WITH ISRAEL WITHOUT CREATION OF PALESTINIAN STATE But Tlaib’s calls for other lawmakers to “speak up” comes after she declined to take a stance on last year’s presidential election. Tlaib’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the presidential race came during a time of severe backlash against the Biden administration’s policies in Gaza by many constituents in her district, with some Muslim leaders going so far as to endorse Trump despite their traditional support for Democratic candidates. One such leader, Bishara Bahbah, chaired a group known as Arab Americans for Trump. But Bahbah announced on Wednesday that he was changing the name of the group, according to a report from the Associated Press, citing Trump’s comments on Gaza. THE HISTORY OF GAZA AMID TRUMP’S PLAN TO REBUILD ENCLAVE “The talk about what the president wants to do with Gaza, obviously we’re completely opposed to the idea of the transfer of Palestinians from anywhere in historic Palestine,” he said in a statement announcing the group’s name would be changed to Arab Americans for Peace. “And so we did not want to be behind the curve in terms of pushing for peace, because that has been our objective from the very beginning.” But the sudden outcry in reaction to Trump’s comments wasn’t well received by all Democrats, with Democratic strategist Julian Epstein telling Fox News Digital that Trump’s proposal was a lot more positive than anything Tlaib appears to be offering as a solution. “Whether you agree or disagree with Trump’s proposal, at least he is proposing something that could lead to a bright future for Gaza,” Epstein said. “Tlaib, on the other hand, has advocated for policies that would keep the neo-Nazi, terrorist, race-hating Hamas in power while mimicking their rhetoric rom ‘river to sea,’ for which she was sanctioned by the House, including with Democratic support.”
Dems, family of Officer Sicknick push for resolution condemning Trump over J6 pardons: ‘We do feel powerless’
House Democrats and the family of a U.S. Capitol Police officer who died a day after confronting rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection scolded President Donald Trump Wednesday over his actions related to the unrest since taking office. U.S. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and the family of Brian Sicknick gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol to push for a resolution condemning Trump over the blanket pardons for the Jan. 6 defendants and the firing of federal prosecutors on those cases. “They pardon criminals for violently assaulting cops, and they fire FBI agents and prosecutors for doing their jobs,” Raskin said. “That’s where we are in America today.” FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION He added that Trump initially denounced the actions of the rioters before the “process of trying to redefine the meaning of the events of January 6th, to whitewash the atrocities that took place that day, to cover up and to shroud in doubt the violent assaults that took place on the police officers to make people believe that it wasn’t Donald Trump’s mega mob that attacked us.” Last month, Trump granted clemency to those charged in the riot, even those accused of violently assaulting police officers. In an interview with Fox News, he said the prison sentences for the defendants were excessive. “These people have served, horribly, a long time,” he said. Thompson said the prosecutors who worked on the Jan. 6 cases were being scapegoated by the Trump administration. “The people who did the hard work of tracking these 1,500 people down are now being told you didn’t do your job,” he said. “Now these people either pleaded guilty or they were found guilty, and so many of them assaulted law enforcement people and for now they are being rewarded and the people who are being patriots are being punished.” Ken Sicknick, brother of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, said Trump’s pardons reopened wounds from his brother’s death. FBI AGENTS DETAIL J6 ROLE IN EXHAUSTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE EMPLOYEES ‘WERE INSTRUCTED TO FILL OUT’ “On January 20th, 2025, a convicted felon and twice-impeached politician pardoned approximately 1,600 criminals responsible for the destruction of property and the destruction of the lives of law enforcement and their families, such as mine,” Sicknick said. “They were all convicted through due process. The investigations were thorough. The rule of law that the POTUS and the Republican cronies will tell you they stand for was smashed apart. “It was smashed apart by the very same person who claimed that he is a friend of the police more than any president who’s ever been in office.” Brian Sicknick, 42, suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the day after he confronted rioters during the riot. A medical examiner’s report showed that Sicknick was sprayed with a chemical substance around 2:20 p.m. on Jan. 6 and collapsed at the Capitol around 10 p.m. that evening. He died around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, according to the examiner’s office. Ken Sicknick noted that most of the defendants released have shown no remorse for their actions. “We do feel powerless in a lot of cases,” he said. “What are we going to do? It’s a tiny blue-collar family going against the president of the United States.” Coleman said a purge of Justice Department veteran prosecutors only benefits criminal groups that engage in drug trafficking and terrorism. “If they were not suddenly the targets of a political takeover of the federal law enforcement, they would be working to stop terrorist attacks, stop drug trafficking and drug dealers, impede human traffickers and prosecute crime across this country if they were not targeted otherwise,” she said. “Now, those efforts will be weakened.”
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.