GOP rebels switch vote to Johnson after Trump’s 11th hour calls, pushing him over the finish line
President-elect Trump appears to have helped Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., avoid a messy, drawn-out fight to lead the House of Representatives. Trump spoke by phone with both Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Keith Self, R-Texas, after they had initially voted for people other than Johnson for speaker, two knowledgeable sources told Fox News Digital. Self and Norman were seen disappearing into a side room with Johnson and others after the roll call vote was complete, but before the vote was formally closed. They emerged minutes later and announced they would both vote for Johnson – cementing the Louisiana Republican’s victory. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ Self then confirmed to reporters that he had spoken with Trump by phone multiple times on Friday. “I talked to him a couple of times today,” Self said. “We had a lively discussion.” Self did not elaborate much further on the contents of the discussion. But the two people who spoke with Fox News Digital said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., connected Trump with Self and Norman by phone after they voted against Johnson. REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY Mace would not comment, but Fox News Digital saw her and Johnson share a hug on the House floor after they and others were in the side room with the holdouts. She was also seen in intense talks with Norman off the House floor earlier. Norman also later confirmed to reporters that he spoke with Trump on Friday. “He just made his point about how Mike is the only one who could get elected,” Norman said, adding that Trump did not change his vote but rather a “commitment that things are gonna change” from Johnson. Johnson won the House speakership in the first round of voting, after it initially appeared he was poised to lose. Self, Norman and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., each voted for people other than Johnson, appearing to put the speaker’s gavel out of reach. But House leaders did not formally close the vote while figuring out a path forward. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers were told to be on the House floor immediately in preparation for a second vote. That second vote did not occur, however, and Johnson was sworn in as speaker on Friday afternoon.
Trump cheers Johnson winning speaker vote: ‘America is back’
FIRST ON FOX: President-elect Trump reacted to Mike Johnson’s re-election as speaker of the House, telling Fox News Digital the process brought House Republicans “even closer together,” and said it is a continuation of “Make America Great Again.” Johnson was re-elected speaker of the House Friday. Sources told Fox News Digital that the president-elect was in “constant communication” with House Republicans throughout the process. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said it was “a great honor to have helped.” “It is all a great continuation of ‘Make America Great Again,’” Trump said. MIKE JOHNSON RE-ELECTED HOUSE SPEAKER AS GOP MUTINY THREAT DISSOLVES “Mike Johnson will do a fabulous job as speaker,” Trump said. “House Republican membership was fantastic.” “This process has brought them even closer together,” he said. “It is all a reflection of the great presidential election of 2024 where we won all seven swing states, the popular vote and everything else there is to win.” “We will all be working together with total benefit going to the people of our nation,” he said. “Our country will be run with strength and common sense again.” He added: “America is back.”
Mike Johnson re-elected House speaker as GOP mutiny threat dissolves
Speaker-designate Mike Johnson, R-La., was re-elected to lead the House of Representatives on Friday. The Louisiana Republican won along party lines during the first round of voting, a stark contrast to his predecessor’s drawn-out, 15-round battle in 2023. It comes despite saber-rattling by some conservatives who threatened to withhold support from Johnson in protest of his handling of government funding and several other issues in the 118th Congress. TRUMP GIVES JOHNSON ‘COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT’ AHEAD OF SPEAKERSHIP FIGHT Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who was part of an unsuccessful push to oust Johnson last year, was the speaker-designate’s most vocal critic leading up to the Friday vote. He told former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on his new One America News Network program, “You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers.” “I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow, and you can take that to the bank,” Massie said. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ Other detractors included members of the House Freedom Caucus like Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who has expressed interest in chairing the influential House Rules Committee, the panel that directs terms for House-wide votes on legislation. Johnson’s allies warned in return that a prolonged House Speaker fight could delay Congress’ joint session to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, slated for Jan. 6. Johnson also had a key backer in Trump, who emphasized his support for the GOP leader hours before the midday vote. “Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support. A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129 year most consequential Presidential Election!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social app. Johnson wrote on X in response, “Thank you, President Trump! Today is a new day in America. Congressional Republicans must stay united to quickly deliver President Trump’s America First agenda. Let’s get it done.” His victory marks the start of his first full term as speaker. Johnson won the gavel in October 2023 after three weeks of closed-door talks following the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Al Jazeera in Palestine: A timeline of coverage against all odds
EXPLAINER The network has continued to report on the plight of Palestinians, despite intimidation. Al Jazeera Media Network has strongly condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA) ban on its operations in the occupied West Bank this week, calling it an action that “aligns with Israeli occupation practises”. Since its launch in 1996, Al Jazeera’s reporters have covered the Middle East, from the Arab Spring to Israeli settler violence in the West Bank and the brutal war on Gaza, even when other news organisations pulled their journalists out. From the start, Al Jazeera has faced attempts to silence its reporting through arrests, imprisonment and attacks on its journalists. And since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, the channel has faced even more attempts to stifle its reporting on Palestine. Al Jazeera’s determination to provide round-the-clock, firsthand reporting on the horrors in Gaza and the deadly raids in the occupied West Bank has come at a high cost, with at least six Al Jazeera journalists killed in the Palestinian territory since 2022. The PA’s decision to ban Al Jazeera mirrors Israel’s announcement last year that the channel would be banned in Israel and then its closure of the bureau in Ramallah. Advertisement Here’s a breakdown of how Al Jazeera has been targeted by both the PA and Israel: Israeli soldiers raid and order the closure of the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah, September 22, 2024 [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] When did Al Jazeera start reporting from the West Bank and Gaza? Al Jazeera has been reporting in Palestine since 2000, marking Al Jazeera Arabic’s first attempt to launch a foreign bureau. There are Al Jazeera bureaus in Ramallah and occupied East Jerusalem in the West Bank, although both have now been suspended by the Israeli government or the PA. In 2021, Israeli forces bombed the Gaza bureau. How many times has the PA shut Al Jazeera down? The PA controls parts of the occupied West Bank and has suspended Al Jazeera’s operations there three times: In March 2001, the PA, led at the time by President Yasser Arafat, invaded Al Jazeera’s Ramallah offices and prevented staff from accessing the building. No official reasons were provided. However, bureau chief Walid Al-Omari said at the time that a security official had called the bureau and accused the network of airing footage “offensive” to Arafat, demanding that it be removed. On July 15, 2009, PA security officials stormed Al Jazeera’s Ramallah offices and banned its 35 employees from broadcasting. Officials alleged the network had broadcast “false information” because late Palestinian politician Farouk Kaddoumi, in an interview, accused PA President Mahmoud Abbas of involvement in an Israeli plot to kill Arafat. The office was allowed to reopen four days later following an outcry from journalists’ rights groups. Advertisement In December 2024, Fatah, the Palestinian party that dominates the PA, banned Al Jazeera from reporting from the governorates of Jenin, Qalqilya and Tubas in the occupied West Bank, citing its coverage of clashes between the Palestinian security forces and Palestinian armed groups. Since mid-December, PA security forces have cracked down on the armed groups in what analysts say is an attempt to endear the PA to the Israelis and the United States. The crackdown has led to the killing of several civilians as well as the West Bank journalist Shatha Sabbagh, 22. On January 2, 2025, the PA suspended all Al Jazeera broadcasts from the West Bank and placed restrictions on anyone working for the network. How many times has Israel shut Al Jazeera down? Israeli authorities have repeatedly attempted to muzzle Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long accused the network’s coverage of “inciting violence”. The network refutes these claims as “arbitrary and hostile”. In July 2017, Netanyahu threatened to close Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office in a Facebook post because the network covered a fallout between Palestinians and Israeli authorities over Al-Aqsa Mosque. In May 2021, Israel bombed Al Jazeera’s Gaza office. Israeli forces gave Al Jazeera and other media organisations in the same building just one hour to evacuate the tower. In May 2024, Al Jazeera’s occupied East Jerusalem bureau was raided and closed after the Israeli parliament passed a law allowing the government to suspend the operations of foreign media that pose a “threat”, for 45 days at a time. The ban, including a ban on Al Jazeera’s website in Israel, has been renewed multiple times and remains in place. Al Jazeera now reports from Amman, Jordan. In September 2024, heavily armed and masked Israeli security forces raided Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah at 3am and shuttered its operations as the bureau was broadcasting live. Israeli officials alleged that the network supported “terrorism” and ordered operations to be closed for 45 days. Al Jazeera staff were forced to stand on the street and were threatened with a laser weapon during the raid. Solidarity gathering at Al Jazeera for journalists killed in Gaza [Al Jazeera] How many Al Jazeera journalists have been killed or injured in the West Bank and Gaza? At least six Al Jazeera journalists have been killed by Israeli authorities in the West Bank and Gaza while on duty. In most cases, the journalists were wearing marked press vests or were in clearly marked cars. Advertisement Shireen Abu Akleh: Veteran journalist Abu Akleh was shot and killed by a bullet to the head on May 11, 2022, while reporting on an Israeli raid on Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. Despite the fact she was wearing a helmet and a vest clearly marked with “Press”, the bullet from an Israeli sniper penetrated just below her helmet. Israeli forces at first tried to blame “crossfire” from Palestinian fighters but were forced to backtrack when ample video evidence proved no Palestinian fighters were nearby. No action has been taken against the sniper. Israeli forces attacked her funeral procession attended by thousands of Palestinians paying their respects – at one point causing her coffin to slip and nearly hit the ground. Samer Abudaqa:
Panama reports sharp drop in irregular migration through Darien Gap
The number of migrants and asylum seekers traversing the Darien Gap — the treacherous strip of jungle connecting South and North America — has fallen by nearly 41 percent in the last year. On Thursday, Panama’s right-wing President Jose Raul Mulino announced the decline, touting it as a success for the country’s efforts to limit irregular migration. “We have achieved a 41 percent reduction in the flow of migrants crossing the Darien jungle,” Raul Mulino told Panama’s Congress in a speech. “We work every day to ensure that illegal migration does not reach [Panama City] or the rest of the country.” Panama faced pressure to crack down on irregular migration in recent years, as the number of migrants and asylum seekers travelling north hit record highs. In fiscal year 2023, the United States reported 2.48 million “encounters” with migrants and asylum seekers at its southern border with Mexico. That was a new high-water mark for the US, and it led to a political backlash, with immigration featuring prominently in the country’s general elections in 2024. Advertisement For instance, President-elect Donald Trump — the victor in the 2024 presidential race — has pledged to pursue a “mass deportation” campaign upon taking office on January 20. Likewise, in Panama, 2023 broke records for migrants and asylum seekers navigating the Darien Gap. An estimated 520,085 people passed through the perilous jungle, known for its steep terrain, swift rivers and criminal networks. But in 2024, Panama’s immigration authorities saw a steep drop in the number of people risking their lives in the jungle. Some 302,203 crossed the Darien Gap last year. The US has similarly seen falling numbers at its southern border. In the fiscal year 2024, US Customs and Border Protection documented 2.14 million irregular “encounters” with migrants and asylum seekers, down 14 percent. November alone saw the lowest monthly total of irregular border crossings in the four years of US President Joe Biden’s term. But the US has attempted to clamp down on irregular migration in recent months. Last year, Biden implemented stiff measures limiting asylum access to those who cross the US-Mexico border outside official channels. Penalties included a five-year ban from the US and possible criminal prosecution. Biden also threatened to suspend asylum petitions altogether if the average daily number of irregular border crossings reached 2,500 per day. Critics warned these measures could violate international and US humanitarian law, by limiting the ability of asylum seekers to urgently flee persecution. Advertisement But supporters of the new policies argued they were necessary to rein in irregular migration. The US has also pushed its allies in South and Central America to limit irregular migration northwards. Panama and the US, for instance, signed an agreement in July to “close the passage of illegal migrants” through the Darien Gap, with the US offering to fund deportation flights and other logistics. Approximately 1,548 migrants and asylum seekers have since been repatriated on US-backed deportation flights from Panama. The US also established “Safe Mobility Offices” in countries like Costa Rica, Guatemala and Colombia in an effort to dissuade would-be migrants and asylum seekers from making the dangerous trek to the border. Mulino revealed in December that at least 55 migrants and asylum seekers had died while navigating the Darien Gap in 2024, and an estimated 180 children were abandoned. Given the inhospitable nature of the terrain, some bodies are never reported or found. Critics point out that efforts to stamp out irregular migration often overlook the fundamental issues that spur migrants and asylum seekers to make life-threatening trips in the first place. This past year, for instance, an estimated 69 percent of the migrants and asylum seekers documented in the Darien Gap were from Venezuela. There, human rights experts warn of government abuses, particularly in the wake of a contested presidential race that saw 2,000 arrested and 23 killed in post-election protests. Advertisement Venezuela has also suffered from economic turmoil that has put access to basic supplies like food and medicine out of reach for many residents. Some 7.7 million people have fled the country. Adblock test (Why?)
British minister says Musk ‘misinformed’ on UK child grooming scandals
British Health Secretary Wes Streeting says Musk’s views are ‘misjudged and certainly misinformed’. A senior British politician has rejected Elon Musk’s criticism of the government’s handling of historic child grooming scandals. The US technology billionaire on Thursday accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to bring “rape gangs” to justice when he was director of public prosecutions more than a decade ago. In a flurry of posts on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk also suggested that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for refusing a request for a national public inquiry into the Oldham scandal. On Friday, British Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s views were “misjudged and certainly misinformed”. He urged Musk, a close confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump, to work with the government on tackling the issue of child sexual exploitation. “So if he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that,” he added. The widespread abuse of girls, which emerged more than a decade ago in several English towns and cities, including Rochdale, Rotherham and Oldham, has long stirred controversy. Advertisement A 2022 report into safeguarding measures in Oldham between 2011 and 2014 found that children were failed by local agencies, but that there was no cover-up despite “legitimate concerns” that the far right would capitalise on “the high-profile convictions of predominantly Pakistani offenders across the country”. Streeting told ITV News that the government took child sexual exploitation “incredibly seriously” and that it was supportive of an inquiry into the Oldham scandal, but that it should be led locally. Musk appears to be taking a keen interest in the United Kingdom’s political scene since the left-of-centre Labour Party won a landslide election victory in July 2024, bringing an end to 14 years of Conservative rule. He has retweeted criticism of Starmer and the hashtag TwoTierKeir – shorthand for an unsubstantiated claim that the UK has “two-tier policing”, with far-right protesters treated more harshly than pro-Palestinian or Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Musk has also compared British attempts to weed out online misinformation to the Soviet Union, while during summer anti-immigrant violence across the UK, he tweeted that “civil war is inevitable”. On Friday, he also backed calls for a UK general election, barely six months after the last one. “The people of Britain do not want this government at all. New elections,” he wrote on his X platform. Musk also recently expressed his support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the founder of the far-right English Defence League, who is better known as Tommy Robinson and who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Texas Congressman Keith Self opposes Mike Johnson in first vote, blocking him from speakership
Rep. Keith Self voted against House Speaker Mike Johnson’s reelection to lead the lower chamber, paralyzing the U.S. House
Washington state Democrats accidentally email their ‘radical’ tax plan to entire Senate
Washington state Democrats appeared to have accidentally emailed their sweeping revenue plans and internal talking points on tax hikes to the entirety of the upper chamber’s members in Olympia, Fox News has learned. Property tax hikes and a new double-digit tax on firearms are among proposals Washington state Democrats are considering, according to materials originally disseminated to all members by Washington Senate Deputy Floor Leader Noel Frame, D-Seattle, in late December and later obtained by Fox News Digital. A document entitled “2025 Revenue Options” and a PowerPoint presentation describing how to talk to constituents in defense of the plan were included in the messages. The document lists proposed figures for an 11% tax on ammunition and firearms, reclassifying storage unit rentals as a retail transaction and a lift on the property tax levy lid for certain Washingtonians. A PowerPoint slide, highlighted by Seattle radio host Jason Rantz, described the “Best way to talk taxes” – with a chart of do’s and don’ts for lawmakers. DEMOCRAT ATTORNEYS GENERAL PREPARE FOR LEGAL BATTLES WITH TRUMP Do say: “Pay what they owe” – but Don’t say: “Tax the rich” or “pay their fair share” because “taxes aren’t a punishment” the graph read. It also suggested using the terms “funding” “providing” and “ensuring” when describing the apparent benefits of tax hikes, rather than the term “investing in [X].” “Avoid centering the tax or talking in vague terms about ‘the economy’ or ‘education’.” One of the new proposals is that of a “capital assets ownership tax.” It is described as similar to property taxes, but instead would extend the real estate-type tax to holdings in stocks, bonds and other financial instruments. “We can ensure that extremely wealthy Washingtonians are taxed on their assets just like middle-class families are already taxed on theirs,” the slide reads. Another line directs lawmakers to proverbially “identify the villain” that is blocking “progress” and lay out “how we can take action to solve the issue.” “We have an upside-down tax code that benefits big corporations and the wealthiest few, that was written 100 years ago and desperately needs an update for the 21st century. If we ensure Washington’s wealthiest pay what they truly owe in taxes, the rest of us will have what we need — like affordable health care, housing, and food.” FLASHBACK: NYPD WARNS ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS THAT A ‘SEATTLE-STYLE OCCUPATION ZONE’ WON’T BE TOLERATED Rantz said in a column for MyNorthwest.com that the plans accidentally shared present a “direct contradiction” to promises from Democrats during the election cycle and lay out 10 total new taxes on residents. “These proposals come at a time when the state has seen years of record revenue,” Rantz said, going on to claim some of the “tax schemes” may also be unconstitutional. He added that capital gains taxes actually discourage growth and potentially lead to reduced job opportunities for the same workers pro-tax Democrats claim to want to help. One example he presented was the departure of Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos from Washington state. Upon establishing his new Florida residency, one of America’s richest men saved about $1 billion in taxes that also no longer go toward funding the Evergreen State’s programs. Rantz added that the Washington state Democratic electorate often decries the affordability crisis but then goes on to re-elect the same politicians that exacerbate it. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Additionally, as Democratic Gov.-elect Robert Ferguson is set to take office later this month, State Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, slammed outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee’s 2025 budget proposal. “This budget is not a serious proposal,” said Couture, the House budget panel’s top Republican. “Our state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” he said. Fox News Digital has reached out to Frame for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
Parent’s consent must to create social media accounts of children: Draft data rules
The draft rules, which have been published for public consultations, will be taken into consideration for making the final rule after February 18.
Federal courts will not make criminal referrals to DOJ over separate ethics complaints against Justice Thomas
Separate ethics complaints filed by members of Congress and an advocacy group against Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson will not be referred to the Justice Department, federal court officials announced. The U.S. Judicial Conference said Thomas has agreed to follow updated guidelines on listing free private travel and gifts from friends, following previous reporting on undisclosed hospitality. For her part, Jackson has amended her financial disclosures following complaints about her husband’s consulting income as a physician. Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), had asked for an investigation by the judiciary itself into undisclosed hospitality provided to Thomas by billionaire friend Harland Crow. ProPublica reported on several instances of private travel and lodging over the years. SUPREME COURT CHEIF JUSTICE ROBERTS ISSUES WARNING ON ‘JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE’ WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP’S INAUGURATION Judge Robert Conrad, who heads the judicial conference policymaking body, said in letters to the lawmakers that Thomas had filed amended financial disclosures “that address several issues identified in your letter.” Additionally, Conrad said that it was not clear whether the judiciary itself could make criminal referrals against a sitting Supreme Court member. “Because the Judicial Conference does not superintend the Supreme Court and because any effort to grant the Conference such authority would raise serious constitutional questions, one would expect Congress at a minimum to state any such directive clearly. But no such express directive appears in this provision,” Conrad said. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SPENT OVER $100 MILLION ON DEI EDUCATION PROGRAMS OVER LAST FOUR YEARS Conrad noted that Whitehouse and Wyden had separately asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to name a special counsel to investigate then-former President Donald Trump. Garland has not acted yet on that request. Whitehouse, in a statement, criticized the Judicial Conference’s decision. “By all appearances, the judicial branch is shirking its statutory duty to hold a Supreme Court justice accountable for ethics violations,” said Whitehouse. The complaint filed against Jackson came from Citizens for Renewing America, led by Russ Vought, who was nominated by President-elect Trump to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Questions over ethics, including unreported private travel by some justices, have led the court to adopt its first code of ethics last year. However, compliance is left to each of the nine justices, leading to concerns the court is not taking its own ethics enforcement standards seriously. A two-year investigation by Senate Democrats released last week found additional luxury travel by Justice Thomas in 2021 was not noted on his annual financial disclosure form. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fix the Court, a group which advocates for greater judicial transparency, urged Congress to act. “The Conference’s letters further underscore the need for Congress to create a new and transparent mechanism to investigate the justices for ethics violations since the Conference is unwilling to act upon the one method we had presumed existed to do that,” said Executive Director Gabe Roth.