President Biden set to deliver farewell speech to the nation
President Biden is set to deliver his farewell address to the nation Wednesday evening as he closes out four years in the White House. Biden will deliver the address at 8 p.m. ET from the Oval Office, having earlier Wednesday published a farewell letter to the country. “Four years ago, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War,” Biden wrote. “But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure.” PRESIDENT BIDEN RELEASES FAREWELL LETTER, SAYS IT’S BEEN ‘PRIVILEGE OF MY LIFE TO SERVE THIS NATION’ Biden will officially exit the Oval Office on Jan. 20, when President-elect Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president around noon that day. BIDEN SAYS HE’S BEEN CARRYING OUT ‘MOST AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE AGENDA’ IN HISTORY AS HE DESIGNATES CALIFORNIA MONUMENTS Biden has spent more than 50 years in public office, making his mark on the national map in 1972, President Richard Nixon’s landslide re-election year, when he beat a Republican incumbent in a long-shot Senate race in Delaware at the age of 29. “I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case,” he added in his farewell letter. BIDEN STILL REGRETS DROPPING OUT OF 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, BELIEVES HE COULD HAVE BEATEN TRUMP: REPORT “America is an idea stronger than any army and larger than any ocean. It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.” Biden served 36 years in the U.S. Senate, one of the longest Senate careers in the chamber’s history, before joining former President Barack Obama’s ticket during the 2008 election and serving as vice president for eight years. DONALD TRUMP ELECTED AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES The 46th president defeated Trump during the 2020 election, and was set to square up against him again last year, but abruptly dropped out of the presidential race as concerns surrounding his mental acuity mounted. Vice President Kamala Harris was soon quickly endorsed by Biden and other high-profile Democrats to take up the mantle as the party’s presidential nominee, but lost the election as Trump swept all seven battleground states. Biden has been an outspoken and repeated critic of Trump’s, calling him a “genuine threat to this nation,” but vowed to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and that “of course” he will attend Trump’s inauguration. Ahead of his final address to America, Biden also delivered a foreign policy-focused farewell address at the State Department on Monday. “The United States is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago,” Biden said in his final foreign policy speech Monday. “America is stronger. Our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker,” he added.
Majority say Biden will be remembered poorly as president says farewell to the nation: poll
More than half of Americans say that President Biden will be remembered as a below-average or one of the worst presidents in the nation’s history, according to a new national poll. Just over a third of adults nationwide questioned in a Marist poll released on Wednesday said Biden will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history, with another 19% saying he will be considered a below-average president. Twenty-eight percent of participants offered that Biden’s legacy will be considered average, with 19% saying he would be regarded as an above average or one of the best presidents in the nation’s history. The poll was released just hours before the president delivers his farewell address to the nation, with just days left before Biden’s term ends and he is succeeded by President-elect Trump in the White House. WILL HISTORY BE KIND OR UNKIND TO PRESIDENT BIDEN? In his Oval Office speech, Biden will likely aim to cement his legacy as a president who pushed to stabilize politics at home while bolstering America’s leadership abroad, and as a leader who steered the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic and made historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy. Biden, in a letter to Americans released early Wednesday morning, emphasized that when he took office four years ago “we were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” And he touted that “today, we have the strongest economy in the world and have created a record 16.6 million new jobs. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down. The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years.” But the Marist poll is the second straight national survey to indicate history will likely not view Biden kindly. According to a USA Today/Suffolk University survey released on Tuesday, 44% of voters nationwide said history will assess Biden as a failed president, with another 27% saying he will be judged as a fair president. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING RESULTS Twenty-one percent of those questioned said history will view Biden as a good president, with only 5% saying he will be seen as a great president. The president’s single term in the White House ends next Monday, Jan. 20, as Trump is inaugurated as Biden’s successor. However, according to the USA Today/Suffolk University poll, 44% also said that Trump will be seen by history as a failed president. One in five said that Trump would be viewed as a great president, with 19% saying good and 27% saying he would be judged a fair president. Trump ended his first term in office with approval ratings in negative territory, including 47% approval in Fox News polling from four years ago. In Marist polling four years ago, as Trump finished his first term, 47% thought he would be remembered as one of the nation’s worst presidents. A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SAY THIS IS HOW THEY’LL VIEW BIDEN’S PRESIDENCY Biden stands at 42% approval and 50% disapproval in Marist’s new survey, as the president departs the White House. He stood at 43%-54% approval/disapproval in the USA Today/Suffolk University poll. Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House. However, the president’s numbers started sagging in August 2021 in the wake of Biden’s much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and following a surge in COVID-19 cases that summer that was mainly among unvaccinated people. The plunge in the president’s approval rating was also fueled by soaring inflation – which started spiking in the summer of 2021 and remains to date a major pocketbook concern with Americans – and the surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. along the southern border. Biden’s approval ratings slipped underwater in the autumn of 2021 and never reemerged into positive territory. As Trump gets ready to once again assume the presidency, the Marist poll indicates opinions of him remain low, with 44% of Americans viewing him favorably and 49% holding an unfavorable opinion of the incoming president. However, opinions about Trump’s first term have risen in numerous polls conducted since his convincing victory in November’s presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris. The vice president succeeded Biden in July as the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer after the president dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. The poll also indicates that Americans have high expectations for Trump when it comes to the economy. “While many Americans feel the current economy is not working well for them, residents nationally have grown more optimistic about the future of their own finances,” the poll’s release highlights. The survey also indicates Americans are divided about Trump’s proposed mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. According to the poll, more than six in 10 disapprove of Trump’s pledge to pardon his supporters who were convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Marist poll was conducted Jan. 7-9, with 1,387 adults nationwide questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
‘Reflects entire tradition of spirituality and knowledge’: PM Modi inaugurates ISKCON temple in Mumbai
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new International Society for Krishna Consciousness’ (ISKCON) temple at Khargar area of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on Wednesday.
Tennessee AG optimistic about SCOTUS case after ‘radical gender ideology’ reversal in lower court
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is cautiously optimistic about the future success of his Supreme Court gender case after he secured another legal win in Kentucky that will reverse the Biden administration’s Title IX rewrite nationwide. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Northern Division made the ruling in Cardona v. Tennessee on Thursday. Skrmetti told Fox News Digital in a Tuesday interview, “Every win we get is another break in the wall of ensuring that the law means what the people who voted for it thought it meant.” GOP AG PREDICTS WHICH SIDE HAS ADVANTAGE IN HISTORIC SCOTUS TRANSGENDER CASE WITH ‘DIVIDED’ JUSTICES The ruling came months after the Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration’s emergency request to enforce portions of a new rule that would have included protections from discrimination for transgender students under Title IX. The sweeping rule was issued in April and clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covered discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions.” The rule took effect Aug. 1, 2024, and the law stated, for the first time, that discrimination based on sex includes conduct related to a person’s gender identity. “The Title IX rule was the height of overreach, administrative overreach by the Biden administration, and we were very happy to be able to stop that,” Skrmetti said on Tuesday. SOTOMAYOR COMPARES TRANS MEDICAL ‘TREATMENTS’ TO ASPIRIN IN QUESTION ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS DURING ORAL ARGUMENTS Now, he is looking ahead to the court’s highly anticipated decision in the United States v. Skrmetti case, which is expected by June. The Supreme Court is weighing whether the equal protection clause, which guarantees equal treatment under the law for individuals in similar circumstances, prevents states from banning medical providers from offering puberty blockers and hormone treatments to children seeking transgender surgical procedures. The lawsuit against Tennessee’s law banning transgender treatment for minors was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of several transgender minors and their parents. The families argue the law infringes on parental rights to make medical decisions for their kids and forces them to go out-of-state to receive transgender procedures. “It seems like the momentum has really shifted almost culturally on these issues,” Skrmetti said. “And when you see people trying to rewrite laws through creative judging, through creative regulating, that alienates the people from the laws that bind them, and it’s bad for America.” FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN BIDEN ADMIN’S TITLE IX REWRITE Skrmetti described the recent developments as part of a broader “vibe shift” in the country, noting that they reflect a “great data point” indicating a decline in efforts to reshape American law through “non-democratic” processes. “We’ll know what the Supreme Court does when the Supreme Court does it,” he said. Fox News Digital’s Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
Trump Energy Sec pick to share American ‘energy dominance’ vision at confirmation hearing: ‘Agent for change’
Chris Wright, President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Energy, is planning to tell senators in charge of his confirmation that he will focus on restoring American “energy dominance” at home and abroad. Wright, a fossil fuel executive who in the past has been critical of the media blaming climate change for repeated wildfires, is expected to deliver his opening statement before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday morning. Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the statement in advance ahead of the hearing scheduled to start at 10 a.m. ET. “I am humbled by the great responsibility this position holds,” Wright is expected to say in his opening statement. “America has a historic opportunity to secure our energy systems, deliver leadership in scientific and technological innovation, steward our weapons stockpiles, and meet Cold War legacy waste commitments.” Describing himself as a “science geek, turned tech nerd, turned lifelong energy entrepreneur,” Wright will tell the committee how his “fascination with energy started at a young age in Denver, Colorado.” His opening statement discusses how he enrolled at MIT “specifically to work on fusion energy” and later started graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley where he worked “on solar energy as well as power electronics.” TRUMP EYES AN END TO NEW WINDMILL PRODUCTION UNDER SECOND TERM, SAYS THEY ARE ‘DRIVING THE WHALES CRAZY’ “Energy is the essential agent of change that enables everything that we do. A low energy society is poor. A highly energized society can bring health, wealth, and opportunity for all,” Wright will say. “The stated mission of the company that I founded – Liberty Energy – is to better human lives through energy. Liberty works directly in oil, natural gas, next generation geothermal and has partnerships in next-generation nuclear energy and new battery technology.” “Energy has been a lifelong passion of mine, and I have never been shy about that fact,” Wright plans to tell the committee. “Then again, I have never been shy about much. President Trump shares my passion for energy and, if confirmed, I will work tirelessly to implement his bold agenda as an unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable and secure American energy.” On Tuesday, committee Democrats led by Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico called for Wright’s confirmation hearing to be delayed by at least a week, citing how they had not yet received “the standard financial disclosure report, ethics agreement, or the opinions from the designated agency ethics officer and the Office of Government Ethics stating that the nominee is in compliance with the ethics laws.” Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, has already pushed back the confirmation hearing for Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for interior secretary, by two days until Thursday due to an OGE paperwork delay, but Wright’s remained on the schedule Wednesday. If approved as secretary, Wright would manage energy policy and production in the United States, as well as the nation’s nuclear weapon stockpile. He would also work with Burgum on the National Energy Council, where they would develop Trump’s energy dominance policy involving increased production of U.S. oil and gas. Wright has indicated that he plans to resign as CEO and chairman of his fracking company, Liberty Energy, if approved. DEMS BLAME LA FIRE ON ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ DESPITE CITY CUTTING FIRE DEPARTMENT BUDGET In his opening statement, Wright identifies three “immediate” tasks that he would focus his attention on if confirmed. “The first is to unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore energy dominance,” Wright will say. “The security of our nation begins with energy. Previous administrations have viewed energy as a liability instead of the immense national asset that it is. To compete globally, we must expand energy production, including commercial nuclear and liquified natural gas, and cut the cost of energy.”
New GOP bill seeks to hold private universities to same tax standard as corporations: ‘On notice’
EXCLUSIVE: A GOP lawmaker is seeking to significantly raise taxes on endowment profits being banked by private universities to align their levy with the current corporate tax rate. Many private universities have invested funds for operational use that acquire interest each year, known as an endowment. In 2017, the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted a 1.4% tax on the interest private universities were receiving from these endowments. However, a new Republican bill would raise that tax to hold elite educational institutions to the same tax standard as corporations, which currently see a 21% corporate tax. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, is expected to introduce legislation on Wednesday, the Endowment Tax Fairness Act, to raise the excise tax on annual private university endowment investment returns by nearly 20 percentage points, from 1.4% to 21%. SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE BRACE FOR TRUMP, INCLUDING MEASURES COMPELLING TEACHERS NOT TO COOPERATE WITH ICE The GOP-backed bill would then require the revenue to be deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury, a fund managing the government’s budget, to be used to reduce the national deficit. Nehls tells Fox News Digital he introduced the bill because elite universities should not have “far lower” taxes than working Americans. CONFIDENCE IN COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES REACHES ALL-TIME LOW, NEW POLL INDICATES “Elite private universities have accumulated and sit on massive university endowments and pay a tax less than 2% on the investment earnings of their endowments, which is far lower than what most hardworking Americans pay in taxes. Meanwhile, these universities have significantly increased tuition for America’s youth, which has overwhelmingly surpassed the average annual inflation rate,” he said. The tax would apply to private colleges and universities that meet certain requirements, such as institutions that have 500 or more students. Additionally, universities that would be taxed are those that aggregate fair market value of assets of at least $500,000 per student and that have more than 50% of its student body located in the United States, according to the bill. Endowments subject to the tax, such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia, reportedly hold a combined $270 billion of assets under management. “This is unacceptable,” Nehls told Fox. “My bill would put elite universities with massive endowments on notice by holding them to the same tax standard as corporations.” If passed, the tax would begin effective immediately after the date of the bill’s enactment.
Experts sound alarm on Biden’s offshore drilling ban having reverse effect on environment: ‘Disgraceful’
President Biden’s 11th-hour executive action banning new drilling and further oil and natural gas development in coastal waters in the name of protecting the environment could end up causing harm to the environment, according to experts who spoke to Fox News Digital. Earlier this month, Biden announced the ban will affect more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters while invoking the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which could mean President-elect Donald Trump will be limited in his ability to revoke the action without Congress. Biden released a statement defending his action, arguing that the “relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas I am withdrawing do not justify the environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from new leasing and drilling.” Experts who spoke to Fox News Digital suggested that the environment could ultimately end up being harmed, not helped, by Biden’s decision. TRUMP REPORTEDLY PLANS TO UNLEASH AROUND 100 EXECUTIVE ORDERS AFTER TAKING OFFICE “President Biden’s offshore oil and gas ban is not only harmful to our economy and national security, but also jeopardizes the future of conservation in America,” Gabriella Hoffman, Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy & Conservation director, told Fox News Digital. Hoffman pointed to, among other concerns, the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which is funded in large part by $900 million in royalties from oil and gas companies. “It was a simple idea: use revenues from the depletion of one natural resource – offshore oil and gas – to support the conservation of another precious resource – our land and water,” the fund’s website states. That fund will presumably lose out on those royalties as a result of Biden’s decision, Hoffman warned. ALASKA SUES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR ‘IRRATIONAL’ RESTRICTIONS ON TRUMP-ERA OIL AND GAS DRILLING MANDATE “President Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law in 2020 to permanently fund the LWCF,” Hoffman said. “Biden’s recent actions will weaken this law and set back true conservation efforts by decades.” The Western Energy Alliance, a nonprofit trade association, issued a press release earlier this month warning that conservation funding will take a hit as a result of Biden’s drilling ban. “By attempting to restrict offshore access before walking out the door, President Biden also threatens treasured outdoor spaces across the country. The president completely ignores the fact that the Land and Water Conservation Fund is exclusively funded by offshore oil and natural gas leasing and production,” Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Alliance, said in the press release. “Nearly every community nationwide has a park or outdoor recreation facility that has received funding from the LWCF. National parks that have struggled with dilapidation and damages from overcrowding similarly benefit from offshore revenues. These funds help protect water ways, support wildlife, and build trails and playgrounds. President Biden put the future of these projects at risk with his Executive Order.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, who oversees the LWCF, said, “There would be no effect to any existing leases (or royalties derived from them for the U.S. treasury), nor the LWCF.” The spokesperson added, “The Central and Western Gulf, where funding from LCWF comes from, is not impacted by the President’s withdrawal.” Hoffman told Fox News Digital that Biden’s directive, “won’t impact LWCF in the short-term, with Trump-era leasing grandfathered in, the long-term impact could put $2.8B of conservation funding- including $900M from offshore royalties – at risk.” Additionally, cutting oil drilling in the United States is likely to drive the United States to become more dependent on foreign sources of oil, often in countries with less environmental protections than those that exist in the United States. “Biden’s anti-oil and gas decree could undermine president-elect Trump’s ‘drill baby drill’ agenda and make us more dependent on imports from foreign countries that don’t respect the environment,” Hoffman told Fox News Digital. TRUMP CAN POWER THE US INTO THE FUTURE WITH A MUSCULAR NUCLEAR ENERGY POLICY Power The Future founder and Executive Director Daniel Turner echoed the concerns about the environment as well as human rights to Fox News Digital. “We are driving responsible, ethical, environmentally sensitive resource development out of America and into developing nations, often managed by communist China, where pollution and slave labor are unchecked and accepted,” Turner said. “In fact, oftentimes those conditions help with profit margins, and we say ‘these goods are cheaper made in China.’ They are cheaper because of what China does, and our standards must force us to choose.” Turner continued, “Saudi Arabia and Kuwait flare methane. In most of America, this is illegal. Coal is mined by children in China and Indonesia and across Southeast Asia. Rare Earths are mined by slaves in Africa, and green activists ensure this continues by preventing such mining to occur ethically and responsibly in America.” Turner questioned how the Biden administration can argue that “oil produced irresponsibly in foreign countries and landed on tankers burning millions of gallons of diesel” is considered “green.” “If we truly want to be green, we will do everything we can to produce all our energy and mine all our raw materials here in America,” Turner said. “It is not only greener, it is better for our economy and our national security.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response. Trump has said he plans to immediately reverse the drilling ban along most of the U.S. coastline, but he faces major roadblocks under a 70-year, irrevocable law. “This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill,” Trump’s spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement. Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn eyes gubernatorial bid: report
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has been placing calls and informing people that she is likely to mount a gubernatorial bid, Axios reported, citing D.C. and Tennessee sources. State and federal elected figures have been placing calls in support of Blackburn’s potential run, a source noted, according to the outlet. Fox News Digital emailed Blackburn’s campaign on Wednesday to request a comment from the lawmaker, but did not receive a response in time for publication. GOP SENATOR ANNOUNCES ‘DOGE ACTS’ TO BACK MUSK, RAMASWAMY GOVERNMENT COST-CUTTING OBJECTIVES Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs indicated in a post on X that he will back Blackburn for the role if she runs. “Senator Blackburn has done an outstanding job as a state senator, U.S. congresswoman, and U.S. Senator. She would do an equally outstanding job as Governor and would have my full support if that’s what she decides,” Jacobs noted. TENNESSEE MAYOR GLENN JACOBS, EX-WWE STAR, SAYS HE WOULD ADVISE DWAYNE JOHNSON AGAINST GOING INTO POLITICS Blackburn, who has served in the Senate since early 2019, just won re-election to another six-year term in 2024 — her current term ends in early 2031. “The 2025 Tennessee Legislative Session kicked off day ONE today!” Blackburn declared in a tweet on Tuesday. “It’s time to get to work, protect our state’s conservative values, and fight for all Tennesseans.” ‘WHEN THEY FAIL, AMERICANS DIE’: TRUMP SOURCE BLASTS FBI, URGES SWIFT CONFIRMATION OF KASH PATEL AS DIRECTOR Current Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican who has been in office since early 2019, cannot run in the 2026 contest, which leaves the field wide open for other GOP figures interested in vying for the job.
Tips to increase your home loan eligibility on a Rs 45,000 salary
A home loan on Rs 45,000 salary requires careful planning and management of your finances. Using tools like a home loan eligibility calculator, reducing debts, and maintaining a good credit score could make you a more eligible candidate for lenders. Additionally, consider factors like co-applicants.
‘Roaming like a hirni’: BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri triggers another controversy with jibe at Atishi, AAP responds
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Delhi’s Kalkaji, Ramesh Bidhuri, triggered another controversy, stating that Delhi Chief Minister and his nearest rival Atishi is “roaming like a hirni” (deer).