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Biden administration to announce $275 million Ukraine weapons package this week

The Biden administration is expected to announce a $275 million weapons package for Ukraine this week, a U.S. official tells Fox News. The package is from the presidential drawdown authority (PDA) money, meaning the weapons will come from U.S. stockpiles and will be delivered to Ukraine quicker than a Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package. The weapons package will include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket (HIMAR) system, but not HIMAR ammunition, and 155 mm artillery shells, drones and Javelin surface-to-air missiles, the official said. Once the announcement on the weapons package is made, the U.S. will have a remaining $6.9 billion in PDA funding and $2.21 billion in USAI funding for Ukraine. UKRAINE FIRES FIRST BARRAGE OF US-MADE LONG-RANGE MISSILES INTO RUSSIA, KREMLIN SAYS Last month, the U.S. provided Ukraine with an additional $425 million in supplies and weapons using PDA money to help Ukraine meet its most urgent needs at the time in terms of air defense, air-to-ground weapons, rocket systems, artillery munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons. The latest package comes in a timely fashion as just two days ago President Biden approved Ukraine to use American long-range missiles on Russian soil. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously indicated that any such act would be considered an act of war. On Tuesday, Moscow said Ukrainian forces took advantage of Biden’s green light and launched six U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or simply ATACMS, into Russian territory. TRUMP’S FIRST CABINET PICKS DECIDEDLY NOT ISOLATIONISTS: UKRAINE, ISRAEL BREATHE SIGH OF RELIEF Russia claims it shot down five of the missiles while damaging a sixth. It added that debris landed in the area of a Russian military facility and that there were no casualties or damage beyond a small fire. Fox News received confirmation of the overnight strike from a U.S. official. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday that Russia escalated the war with Ukraine by bringing in more than 11,000 soldiers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, to fight alongside Russian soldiers in the Kursk region. DOCUMENTS REVEAL RUSSIA’S INITIAL ‘PEACE DEAL’ EQUATED TO THE SURRENDER OF UKRAINE: REPORT She also said the Biden administration has a commitment to continue arming Ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield. “We don’t see that as escalatory,” Singh said. “We see that as a commitment that we set out from the very beginning of this administration.” When asked if the Department of Defense (DOD) has reason to believe that more North Korean troops are headed to Russia, she said the DOD thinks it could certainly see more moving into the area but that there are more than 11,000 DPRK soldiers already embedded with Russian forces. “I mean, they’re moving into the … Kursk region for a very specific region, which is clearly to engage Ukrainian forces,” Singh said. Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Pro-life groups cautious on RFK Jr. nomination after evolving abortion views

The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has rankled some abortion opponents, who are concerned about his past statements expressing a liberal position on reproductive rights. Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran for president as an independent before backing Trump, has said in multiple interviews that while he’s “personally pro-life,” he does not believe it’s the government’s role to interfere with a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy. As recently as May, he said a woman should be able to have an abortion when she’s full term, although he later walked that statement back and announced support for some restrictions on abortion. Pro-life groups that spoke to Fox News Digital expressed optimism about Trump’s election win, noting his previous administration’s strong support for their cause. But they are seeking clarification from Kennedy on how he would use the sweeping powers at HHS to shape regulations on abortion pills and control funding to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. “He certainly needs to change his position on abortion just in order to be consistent,” said Shawn Carney, co-founder and CEO of 40 Days for Life. “Look, if RFK wants to take away our Fruity Pebbles and our Cool Ranch Doritos — both of which are great American institutions — because they’re unhealthy, you can’t do that and also deny health care to a baby girl who survives an abortion or support abortion at 40 weeks.” PENCE SAYS HE OPPOSES RFK JR.’S NOMINATION FOR HHS SECRETARY BECAUSE OF HIS STANCE ON ABORTION Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment for this story. His nomination was met with outright opposition from some pro-lifers, including former Vice President Mike Pence. “The Trump-Pence administration was unapologetically pro-life for our four years in office. There are hundreds of decisions made at HHS every day that either lead our nation toward a respect for life or away from it, and HHS under our administration always stood for life,” Pence said in a lengthy statement on the website for his Advancing American Freedom nonprofit Friday. He called Kennedy’s nomination a “departure from the pro-life record of our administration,” citing Kennedy’s past pro-choice statements.   “If confirmed, RFK, Jr. would be the most pro-abortion Republican appointed secretary of HHS in modern history,” Pence wrote. RFK JR. ASKS AMERICANS TO SUGGEST POLICIES FOR NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: ‘TRANSITION TEAM BELONGS TO YOU’ The Department of Health and Human Services has a “major impact on abortion access,” said healthcare attorney Harry Nelson, founder and managing partner at Nelson Hardiman, LLP.  The Food and Drug Administration, a sub-agency of HHS, has direct power over the availability of the abortion pill, Mifepristone. Known by the brand name Mifeprex, the pill is taken with misoprostol in a two-drug regimen that first deprives an unborn baby of hormones it needs to stay alive and then causes cramps and contractions to expel the dead fetus from its mother’s womb. The Biden administration has taken several actions to deregulate and increase access to Mifepristone by making it available via telemedicine nationally. Pro-life groups have fought in court to have that deregulation overturned. “Their efforts earlier this year failed at the Supreme Court but having leadership atop FDA who are sympathetic would be a major impact and make this the biggest abortion issue in the country,” said Nelson. HHS also oversees grant funding via Title X and other programs for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. Pro-life activists have urged the incoming Trump administration to defund these providers. Additionally, HHS is responsible for enforcing federal law that requires emergency care to stabilize patients, including women with health risks from pregnancy. The Biden administration has sought to use the law, called EMTALA, to require states to permit doctors to administer emergency abortions when the life of the mother is at risk. “It will be interesting to see RFK’s impact and also how the Trump team around him change things,” Nelson said. “I don’t think this is an issue RFK is going to be personally passionate about. The Pro-life hardliners are going to be gunning for Mifepristone, and that will be the primary battle to watch.” BIDEN ADMIN TELLS DOCTORS TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY ABORTIONS WHEN NECESSARY FOLLOWING SUPREME COURT RULING Kennedy has said that his position on the issue has evolved since learning about the rates of elective late-term abortions. During an interview with comedians Shane Gillis and Matt McCusker in May, Kennedy acknowledged, “My position on abortion was that it should always be a woman’s choice right up to the very end.”  “In the ninth month, you’re basically killing a child, right? My presumption was that […] no woman is going to deliberately carry a child for nine months, then two days before it’s born, abort it. Who would do that?”  However, he claimed to have changed his view after examining data regarding late-term abortions and finding out they are more frequent than he once believed. “But then I learned I was wrong, that there are actually a huge amount, comparatively, of elective abortions at that time,” he said during the interview. “And my belief at that time is that at that time you have a wholly formed, viable child and the state has some interest in protecting that baby.” RFK JR. WANTS TO CLEAR OUT ‘ENTIRE DEPARTMENTS’ IN THE FDA Some pro-lifers are giving Kennedy the benefit of the doubt because they trust Trump’s judgment. In his first term, Trump kept his campaign promise to nominate pro-life judges to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 after nearly a half-century of anti-abortion activism.  “There’s no question that we need a pro-life HHS secretary, and of course, we have concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I believe that no matter who is HHS secretary, baseline policies set by President Trump during his first term will be re-established,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life President Marjorie Dannenfelser said.  Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, said Kennedy is not “easily labeled.” 

Los Angeles passes sanctuary city ordinance in wake of Trump election victory

Los Angeles city lawmakers voted Tuesday to formally adopt a sanctuary city ordinance, weeks after President-elect Trump’s victory, amid promises to carry out mass deportation raids.   The 13-0 vote will prohibit Los Angeles from providing any city resources or personnel to be used to help federal enforcement of immigration laws. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, along with Mayor Karen Bass, released the draft ordinance last week that was written with help from immigration groups. ‘NOW’S THE TIME’: TRUMP VICTORY HAS BIDEN ADMIN BRACING FOR MIGRANT SURGE AT SOUTHERN BORDER Council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Monica Rodriguez, who chair the council’s Civil Rights and Public Safety committees, respectively, waived the matter from their jurisdictions to expedite a vote on the matter.  California has been a sanctuary state since 2017 with the passage of SB 54, which prohibits local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest people for immigration violations. During a debate Tuesday, many public speakers pushed for the sanctuary ordinance, saying immigrant communities should be protected from “unimaginable cruelty” of raids that could separate families and target migrants who come to the U.S. to work.  Others raised concerns about the depletion of resources given to help illegal immigrants, given that the city is contending with mass homelessness and a housing crisis.  Sanctuary cities typically don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities, refusing to honor detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which are used to take custody of criminal illegal immigrants for deportation.  Many times, such jurisdictions will release the suspects back onto the street without informing ICE. Some have gone on to reoffend, sometimes violently, before being apprehended again.  HAITIAN MIGRANTS REPORTEDLY FLEE SPRINGFIELD, OHIO The vote will come two weeks after President-elect Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, following a campaign in which he promised to tighten the southern border and carry out mass deportations of millions of illegal immigrants, targeting criminals who’ve committed a variety of crimes after illegally entering the United States.  Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump representatives.  Tom Homan, who previously served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has been tapped by Trump to serve as his “border czar,” previously suggested mass deportations are necessary in the wake of the “historic illegal immigration crisis.” “President Trump has made it clear we will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first. And that’s what the focus should be,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity last week. Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an executive directive in 2019 that offered protections to immigrants. Los Angeles has followed sanctuary city guidelines but an ordinance was never codified into law. Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department mandates that its officers not inquire about immigration status or make arrests related to a migrant’s legal status. Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell has said the department won’t participate in immigration enforcement.  TRUMP SELECTS SOUTH DAKOTA GOV KRISTI NOEM TO RUN DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY The Los Angeles County Republican Party criticized the ordinance, saying sanctuary protection would shield criminals who have entered the United States illegally.  “A country without secure borders isn’t a country at all. So-called ‘sanctuary’ cities and states sound warm and fuzzy, but the protections they offer aren’t for abuelas (grandmothers) getting ice cream, they’re for people who’ve entered the country illegally and committed additional crimes,” LACGOP Communications Director Rozanne Hodge told Fox News Digital. “Whether drunk driving, robbery, sexual violence, assault or murder, none of those should go unpunished. Perpetrators should definitely not be protected by the largesse taken from hard-working taxpayers.” If the City of Los Angeles would like to have thriving, safe, clean streets and businesses in time for the Olympics, maybe they could accept the will of the people who just tossed George Gascon out on his ear and focus on public safety for everyone,” she added.  Trump’s victory has spurred officials in various parts of the country to vow to push back on deportations.  On Sunday, Boston’s Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu said her city won’t cooperate with any deportation operation from ther incoming Trump administration, despite her region seeing a number of illegal immigrants being charged with crimes and released back onto the streets.  Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said her state, which voted for Trump, will not be aiding the incoming administration with its “misguided” plan to launch a mass deportation operation. Following California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration. “Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” he said. 

House passes bill to bolster geothermal energy production by increasing lease sale frequency

A bipartisan group of lawmakers passed legislation in the House to bolster geothermal energy production by increasing the frequency of lease sales. The Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act (CLEAN) passed in the House Tuesday and will amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to require the Department of Interior (DOI) to hold lease sales every year, rather than every two years. Additionally, the bill seeks to speed up the permit process for lease sales by setting a 30-day deadline for the DOI to notify an applicant if a permit has been approved.  The bill also requires the DOI hold a replacement sale if a lease sale is canceled or missed. LEAVE THE OIL TO ME: TRUMP VOWS TO UNLEASH US ENERGY, UNDO KEY BIDEN RULES IN 2ND TERM Democrats arguing against the bill claimed a 30-day deadline to approve leases did not give the Department of Interior enough time to conduct thorough analysis of the projects. BIDEN ADMIN TOUTS JOB WELL DONE REPLENISHING OIL RESERVES DESPITE DEPLETING THEM BY HALF OVER LAST 4 YEARS The bill was approved by a bipartisan vote, securing the support of 213 Republicans and 31 Democrats. “Geothermal energy has tremendous potential to provide reliable, clean energy for millions of Americans,” Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, who introduced the bill, said in a statement.  “As nearly 90% of our nation’s geothermal resources are located on federally managed lands, I introduced the CLEAN Act to unleash these critical resources by cutting red tape and increasing lease opportunities on federal lands. This legislation will hold the Department of Interior accountable and is key to bolstering domestic energy production, reducing our reliance on foreign adversaries and meeting America’s growing energy demands.”  The Western Caucus also praised the bill’s passage. “Geothermal is an important component of our all of the above energy strategy,” said Western Caucus Chairman Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash. “I was very pleased to see the passage of the CLEAN Act out of the U.S. House earlier today to help unlock the full potential of geothermal and boost energy production on federal lands across the west. I applaud Congressman Fulcher’s leadership and work on this important issue.”

Nancy Mace’s effort to ban transgender Delaware Democrat from Capitol women’s restrooms gains support

Delaware set off a firestorm this month after it elected the first transgender woman to Congress, leading some Republicans to demand the new lawmaker be barred from women’s bathrooms. Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, currently a Democrat state senator for President Biden’s hometown of Claymont, Delaware, defeated retired Delaware State Trooper John Whalen III, 58%-42%. McBride succeeds Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, D-Del., who won the retiring Tom Carper’s open U.S. Senate seat. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., led the charge against allowing McBride from using the women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill. McBride is a biological male who identifies and presents as a woman. Mace said Tuesday she is now receiving death threats, adding that she is the one being “unfairly targeted.” Mace drafted resolution H.R. 1579 on Monday which would prohibit members, officers and employees of the House from using facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex. MACE FACES BACKLASH OVER EFFORT TO BAN TRANSGENDER MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM WOMEN’S BATHROOMS As of Tuesday afternoon, it had been referred to the House Administration Committee currently chaired by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., but did not appear to have come to a vote yet. The bill would direct House Sergeant-at-Arms William McFarland to enforce the new provision. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told reporters she supports Mace’s resolution and called McBride “mentally ill.” “Sarah McBride, as he calls himself, formerly Tim McBride, is a biological man, and he should not be using any of our restrooms in the Capitol and those in our office buildings,” Greene said. “Nancy Mace’s resolution doesn’t go far enough. Her resolution is just a statement by Congress saying that Congress disagrees with something. We need something more binding.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R–La., a noted social conservative, said he’s “not going to get into this.” “We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people. I believe it’s a command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect, that we will. And I’m not going to engage in silly debates about this.” Johnson added that the issue of gender identity in locker rooms and bathrooms is not something Congress has had to address before and thus deserves honest deliberation and “member consensus.” “And we will accommodate the needs of every single person,” the speaker added. Greene said the situation reminds her of how student-athletes were forced to compete against biological males who are physiologically stronger as a baseline. “There is a volleyball player that has brain damage today because of a biological male spiking a ball into her head.” In that regard, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who was forced to compete against a transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer, slammed McBride’s pointed response to criticisms. “And even after his temper tantrum, he’s still a man,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Gaines is an OutKick.com contributor and the host of the “Gaines for Girls” podcast. In a 2015 story in American’s college magazine, McBride said, “My father said to me that he was not losing a son but gaining a daughter. That was one of the most profound moments in my transition. It was a major relief when it was clear that both my parents saw me as who I am.” In earlier comments about her resolution, Mace said she is a rape survivor and still has PTSD from her abuse at the hands of a man. Later Tuesday, Mace said the issue is protecting women and girls and making sure Congress acts in accordance. “[McBride] doesn’t get a say. This is about real women and women’s rights and the far-left radical left. They want to erase women and women’s rights, and I’m not going to let them,” she said.  “Here’s the deal: Biological men shouldn’t be in women’s private spaces, period, end of story,” she said. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., defended McBride on Tuesday, telling reporters he was “sick to his stomach” by Mace’s resolution. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In a statement, McBride called the situation “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.” “Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on.” Fox News Digital reached out to McBride’s campaign and Dover office for additional comment on the new criticisms and was provided with an initial statement. Fox News’ Daniel Scully, Tyler Olson and Ryan Schmelz contributed to this report.

‘Anti-Trump activist’: Conservative groups rip former Romney adviser’s attempt to influence MAGA agenda

A prominent economist trying to influence the incoming Trump administration’s economic policies is facing criticism from conservative groups over his organization’s liberal donors and past criticism of President-elect Trump’s agenda. Oren Cass, who previously worked on both of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns, is the founder and chief economist of American Compass, a conservative think tank that has made inroads with multiple prominent Republican lawmakers in Congress. Over the past year, Cass’ philosophy has reportedly gained traction in some pro-Trump circles, but several conservatives have taken issue with his increased influence and worry his policies will undermine the Trump agenda based on his past anti-Trump comments. During a May 2021 interview, Cass likened Trump to “an earthquake” because he believed Trump was a “disaster in many ways.” “Self-proclaimed ‘conservative’ Oren Cass and his American Compass is not, and will never be, viewed as a legitimate voice in Republican policy circles. CNBC’s Joe Kernen got it right when he called them ‘bonkers, walking quacking uniparty progressivism.’ And their funding only proves that,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital. TRUMP’S TREASURY SECRETARY PICK: WHO ARE THE CONTENDERS? “As American Compass continues to stay in business thanks to generous donations from radical left-wing organizations like the Hewlett Foundation and the Omidyar Network, Club for Growth is proud to stand with President Trump and the overwhelming majority of Republican voters who support actual conservative policies, like the proposals described in our Foundation’s recent “Freedom Forward Policy Handbook,” including: tax cuts, spending cuts to reduce the deficit, deregulation to boost American manufacturing, American-first energy policies, school choice and worker freedom,” he continued. A significant chunk of American Compass’ funding comes from a handful of foundations tied to liberal causes, including almost $2 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Omidyar Network, which has provided 11% of American Compass’ funding and is led by a founder described as “notable for funding liberal-in-conservative clothing groups that target former president Donald Trump and his supporters.” American Compass is also associated with the “Reimagining Capitalism Partners” fund, which includes the Center for American Progress, Sixteen Thirty Fund-linked Groundwork Action, Progressive Caucus Action Fund, Tides Advocacy and Demos, a socialist think tank. TRUMP NAMING CABINET OFFICIALS AT ‘WARP SPEED,’ FAR HEAD OF FIRST TERM PACE Cass’ group has also received over $200,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation, a multibillion-dollar foundation that has bankrolled several left-wing causes, including radical environmental groups and “Imagining America,” a “coalition of colleges engaged in left-wing curriculum development,” according to the Capital Research Center.  The San Francisco Foundation, which has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to far-left groups, gave $100,000 to American Compass. When Fox News Digital pressed Cass on his organization’s funding and criticism from rival conservative groups, he blasted the “anti-tax zealots” criticizing his organization. “American Compass advocates for limited government and a commitment to paying for the government that we have rather than leaving the bill to our children,” Cass told Fox News Digital. “Anti-tax zealots can lobby for larger deficits if they want, but conservatives are under no obligation to follow them into the fiscal ditch.”  In addition to the money that American Compass has received from left-wing groups, its advisory board includes multiple Democrats, including Ganesh Sitaraman, who served as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and has been a longtime adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., dating back to her 2012 Senate campaign.  Matt Stoller, the research director at the American Economic Liberties Project, which received at least $500,000 from George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society and at least $230,000 from the Omidyar Network Fund, is also on the advisory board and has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats. Tom Hebert, the director of competition and regulatory policy at Americans for Tax Reform, blasted Cass as an “anti-Trump activist” in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The American people returned Donald Trump to the White House with a strong economic mandate: cut taxes, slash job-killing regulations and promote worker freedom. Oren Cass founded American Compass as a ‘post-Trump’ organization and opposes the Trump economic agenda at every level, even calling the landmark Trump tax cuts an ‘expensive failure,’” Hebert said.  “Cass is not a conservative. He’s an anti-Trump activist that MSNBC has on speed dial to undermine Trump’s second-term agenda.” In addition to Hebert’s quote, Americans for Tax Reform published a piece in July with the headline, “Who Said It, Oren or Warren?” The piece pointed to the tax plans of Sen. Warren and Cass’ American Compass, which were both published a month earlier and include multiple quotes from Warren and Cass, asking readers to identify the source of each quote. “Warren’s plan calls on Democrats to reject extending the Trump tax cuts,” the piece says. “The proposed budget released by Oren Cass’ American Compass, which describes itself as ‘the flagship for a healthier and more responsive post-Trump conservative movement,’ calls for the full expiration of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, would increase the corporate rate to the Biden-preferred level of 28%, and backs Warren’s call for a financial transaction tax.” Americans for Tax Reform went on to call American Compass “left-wing” and said Cass was the “leader of the tax-hiking American Compass” in a separate post from earlier this year due to his opposition to Trump’s tax cuts. Cass was mocked earlier this year after he went on CNBC and suggested that lowering taxes and the corporate tax rate is not “conservative,” adding, “There is nothing conservative about that … absolute radical nonsensical notion.”  The clip prompted Richard Stern, who serves as the director of the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, to sound off on Cass, saying, “[Cass on] CNBC this morning defending the uniparty’s attempt to steal your money and put it in their hands — and to stop capital from flowing to new and small businesses. With ‘friends’ like this, who needs socialists.” During a C-SPAN interview over the weekend, Cass praised some

Fox News Politics: Trump case may be on hold until 2029

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… – GOP lawmaker launches caucus to help Elon Musk take on ‘Crazytown’ – Massive groups of illegal immigrants caught at border amid fears of pre-Trump border surge – Size of slim Republican House majority hangs on 5 uncalled races New York prosecutors are requesting a stay until at least 2029 in New York v. Trump, as the president’s defense attorneys prepare to move to dismiss the case entirely.   Prosecutors wrote a letter to Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday, who agreed last week to grant a stay on all deadlines associated with the conviction proceedings against Trump in the final months before he takes office.  Merchan granted the request, which issues a stay on all deadlines, including the Nov. 26 sentencing date, to consider the effect of his election as president. Prosecutors had asked for the pause in proceedings, which they said would allow them to better evaluate the impact of Trump’s new status as president-elect…Read more DEFYING DEATH: Pro-Trump prison warden asks Biden to commute all death sentences before leaving…Read more ‘LOGISTICAL ISSUES’: Biden misses G-20 family photo, White House blames ‘logistical’ issues…Read more ‘BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE’: Biden Interior Dept puts together handbook to apply ‘indigenous knowledge’ into agency practices…Read more ‘CHAMPION FOR CONSERVATION’: Environmental groups present differing opinions of Trump’s energy and environment appointees…Read more QUICKER CABINET: Trump naming Cabinet officials at ‘warp speed,’ far head of first term pace…Read more LOYALTY MATTERS: Why Trump is sticking with Gaetz, Hegseth despite new accusations – and his ‘Morning Joe’ meeting…Read more REPORT CARD: House Ethics Committee to meet Wednesday after postponing Gaetz investigation meeting…Read more FACT CHECK: Are Pete Hegseth’s tattoos symbols of ‘Christian nationalism’?…Read more ‘UNFINISHED BUSINESS’: Former Trump education secretary lays out ‘unfinished business’ for new admin on school reforms…Read more BUREAU STONEWALLING: Trump assassination attempt task force subpoenas 2 ATF employees, alleging stonewalling…Read more WON’T BACK DOWN: Mace faces backlash over resolution to keep new transgender member of Congress out of women’s bathrooms…Read more NOT ENOUGH: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wants men banned from women’s spaces in ‘all taxpayer-funded facilities’…Read more SENATE PROTEST: Anti-Israel protesters arrested in Senate office building…Read more EYE OF THE STORM: House Republicans eye FEMA fund overhaul ahead of high-stakes hearing on Helene recovery…Read more SENATE STAND OFF: Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes…Read more FISCAL FIGHT: Speaker Johnson’s government funding play hits the rocks within House GOP…Read more DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: Growing field in race to chair the DNC…Read more ‘RULE OF LAW MATTERS’: Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro side with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots…Read more HEALTH CARE DECISIONS: Wyoming judge strikes down state abortion laws, ruling them unconstitutional…Read more HOMELESS RIGHTS: Washington state Democrat pushes to make homelessness a civil right…Read more SQUATTERS BEWARE: Squatters meet resistance with red state push to protect homeowners…Read more TO FREE OR NOT TO FREE: Gov. Newsom announces decision in Menendez brothers case…Read more WINDY CITY WORRY: Proposed Chicago police resource cuts could land city in court, top officials warn…Read more ‘NO MORALS’: College plan to use ‘creative ideas’ to pay undocumented students blasted by GOP leader…Read more BORDER BATTLE: Border state governor vows to defy Trump’s ‘misguided’ mass deportation push…Read more HOME INSPECTION: FEMA director vows to request IG investigation into order to avoid Trump supporters’ houses…Read more ‘CANADIAN PROMISE’: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada ‘could have acted quicker’ on reining in immigration…Read more END FAVORED NATION STATUS: Bipartisan panel urges Congress to toss out decades of trade policy they say China has been exploiting…Read more 1,000 DAYS: Ukraine war hits milestone as tensions rise over potential Russian escalation…Read more ‘GO IT ALONE’: Netanyahu says he ignored Biden’s war counsel — and threats that Israel would be ‘left alone’ without US help…Read more MISSILE BARRAGE: Ukraine fires first barrage of US-made long-range missiles into Russia, Kremlin says…Read more RUSSIA’S ‘HYBRID’ WARFARE?: US allies accuse Russia of ‘escalating hybrid activities’ against NATO, EU nations after data cables severed…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

FEMA must be ‘completely revamped,’ House Republican from hurricane-battered district tells agency chief

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., took aim at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), arguing that its recent response to multiple deadly storms shows the agency needs to be “completely revamped.” “The No. 1 thing that hurts FEMA’s reputation is the fact that so many citizens are denied when they apply the first time they come through the FEMA portal. And if they have to go through congressional offices to get help… if that is going to be the protocol for our citizens to get help, from the emergency management agency, then it needs to be completely revamped,” Donalds said during a House Oversight Committee hearing on FEMA Tuesday. Donalds’ comments came during questioning of FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who was peppered by Republican members of the Oversight Committee to provide answers on FEMA’s response to recent storms and accusations that the agency discriminated against supporters of President-elect Trump. HOUSE REPUBLICANS EYE FEMA FUND OVERHAUL AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES HEARING ON HELENE RECOVERY FEMA has been under fire over the agency’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which earlier this year made landfall in the southeastern U.S. and caused widespread destruction across multiple states. While the agency’s overall performance during the response to the two storms has been the center of controversy, members of the Oversight Committee repeatedly asked Criswell to answer to potential “systemic bias” against Trump supporters in its response. The questions come after now-fired FEMA employee Marn’i Washington told relief workers to skip houses that had signs supporting Trump during the agency’s cleanup and recovery effort after Hurricane Milton, an incident Criswell insisted was isolated in multiple responses during the hearing. FEMA OFFICIAL SAID TO AVOID HOMES WITH TRUMP SIGNS: ‘TO SAY I WAS SURPRISED WOULD BE A LIE’ “There is nothing in any of our policies, our training, or our information sent out to field workers, to avoid any home for whatever reason, especially not because of a political affiliation,” Criswell said in response to questioning from Donalds. “The actions of this one individual are not representative of the work that we do at FEMA.” But Donalds, whose district was hit hard by Milton, said he had “an issue” with the answer, pointing to a New York Post report that featured an anonymous FEMA employee who claimed that such discrimination on the basis of political affiliation is an “open secret” at FEMA. Criswell argued that the incident in question was investigated by FEMA and that an investigation into if such issues are more widespread is still ongoing, prompting even more fierce pushback from Donalds. “You told me at the beginning of this questioning that there is nothing in your policies that would dictate that this is to occur, yet you have one official who was fired, who said it does occur. You have another official under your purview… talking to the press, that it does occur, but you can’t verify to this committee that these practices do or do not occur,” Donalds said. FEMA did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

British farmers protest against ‘tractor tax’ on inheritance

Farmers say the tax will destroy family farms and threaten food production, while the gov’t says it’s needed to raise funds. British farmers have descended on London to call on the government to scrap inheritance tax rules on land ownership, which they say will destroy family-run farms. On Tuesday, protesters held placards reading “no farmer, no food, no future” and “[Prime Minister Keir] Starmer the farmer harmer” around Parliament Square. The measure, referred to by critics as the “tractor tax”, was announced last month as part of the new Labour government’s budget to raise funds. However, the tax has caused backlash from farming communities, who say the government does not understand rural communities. Before the announcement of the new budget, passing down farms through generations was tax-free. However, from 2026, a 20 percent tax will be paid on the value of a farm above one million British pounds ($1.27 million). Farmers, however, say that while their land and machinery are highly valued, their farms have low profit margins, meaning their children would have to sell their land to cover the tax bill. One protesting farmer, Olly Harrison, told Al Jazeera, “We’re not tax dodgers. If we were making profits, tax our profits. But if we’re not making profits, we can’t pay inheritance tax.” “We do have these huge land resources that have a value on paper, but in reality when you’re farming it doesn’t mean anything,” he said. ‘Disastrous human impacts’ Emma Robinson, 44, a farmer who joined the protests, told the Reuters news agency that her farm in northwest England has been in her family for 500 years and she plans to pass it down to her children. “[Now] it’s being taken out of my hands by someone that’s been in Parliament for literally days,” she said. The government has said the tax change would affect about 500 farms a year, based on the number of inherited farms in 2021-22, with the tax rate payable in instalments over 10 years. Demonstrators listen to speakers during a farmers’ protest against changes to inheritance tax rules for land ownership, outside of Downing Street, on Whitehall in central London [Justin Tallis/AFP] However, farmers say the number of farms affected could be much higher, with the Country Land and Business Association estimating that 70,000 farms are worth more than one million pounds and could be affected. National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw said the latest protests would continue for as long as necessary, telling Sky News that the government “cannot have a policy in place which has such disastrous human impacts and think we’re going to go quiet.” However, the government has reiterated that the actual threshold before paying inheritance tax could be as much as three million pounds ($3.8m) once exemptions for each partner in a couple and for the farm property are considered. Starmer said on Monday that “the vast majority of farms” will not be affected. Adblock test (Why?)

Trump picks pro-tariff billionaire Howard Lutnick for US commerce secretary

US president-elect nominates Lutnick, a Wall Street investment firm CEO, to lead his ‘tariff and trade agenda’. United States President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Howard Lutnick, a billionaire and head of the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, as the next US secretary of commerce. In a statement on Tuesday, Trump hailed Lutnick – who has served as co-chair of the Republican’s transition team – as “a dynamic force on Wall Street for more than 30 years”. “He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” Trump said. The nomination is the latest from Trump, who has named a growing list of Republican allies and other loyalists to cabinet posts since he won the November 5 presidential election over Democrat Kamala Harris. As commerce secretary, Lutnick would be in charge of a sprawling cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Under President Joe Biden, the Commerce Department stepped up export controls on critical technologies like quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing goods, taking aim at access by adversaries like Beijing. Trump’s incoming administration could harden this stance. The Republican has promised to slap 10- to 20-percent tariffs on all imports as well as a 60-percent tariff on goods coming specifically from China, which the US views as one of its top geopolitical rivals. Researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics said in August that a 20-percent tariff across the board alongside a 60-percent tariff on China “would cost a typical US household in the middle of the income distribution more than $2,600 a year”. But Trump and his allies have portrayed the tariffs policy as a key plank of his “America First” foreign policy agenda. Lutnick told CNBC in September that “tariffs are an amazing tool for the president to use – we need to protect the American worker”. A native of New York City’s Long Island suburbs with a background in trading and real estate, Lutnick has been one of Trump’s top Wall Street advocates, hosting fundraisers and touting his policies in the media. Speaking at a Trump campaign rally last month at Madison Square Garden in New York City, he said the US has been “letting the rest of the world eat our lunch”. “And it is time to Make America Great Again,” he shouted. Earlier in his speech, Lutnick said the first reason to re-elect Trump, however, was “because we must crush jihad”. Before Tuesday’s nomination, Lutnick had been considered for secretary of the US Treasury, a role that has been at the centre of high-profile jockeying within the Trump world. Billionaire Elon Musk and others in Trump’s orbit had called on the president-elect to dump the previous frontrunner for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, in favour of Lutnick. “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas [Lutnick] will actually enact change,” Musk wrote in a social media post on Saturday. Trump has yet to name a treasury secretary, but on Tuesday he also named the television doctor and former Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania Mehmet Oz as the administrator for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr Oz, as he is popularly known, is a Turkish American medical doctor who had a daytime talk show from 2009 to 2022. Adblock test (Why?)