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President Biden releases farewell letter, says it’s been ‘privilege of my life to serve this nation’

President Biden releases farewell letter, says it’s been ‘privilege of my life to serve this nation’

President Biden released a farewell letter Wednesday saying that “It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years.”  “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,” he added ahead of a speech tonight from the Oval Office.  Biden began his letter by writing that four years ago when he took office, “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.   “But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure,” he said.  BIDEN SAYS HE’S BEEN CARRYING OUT ‘MOST AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE AGENDA’ IN HISTORY AS HE DESIGNATES CALIFORNIA MONUMENTS While touting economic growth, Biden said “We’re rebuilding our entire nation — urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities.   “Manufacturing is coming back to America. We’re leading the world again in science and innovation, including the semiconductor industry. And we finally beat Big Pharma to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors,” he continued. “More people have health insurance today in America than ever before.”  Biden said he “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. America is an idea stronger than any army and larger than any ocean,” he declared.  WHITE HOUSE REMOVE’S CUBA’S STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DESIGNATION, REVERSING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVE Biden is now set to leave office next week with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House for a second term.  “It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States,” Biden wrote. “I have given my heart and my soul to our nation. And I have been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people.  Biden concluded his letter by saying that history, power and “the idea of America” is in the hands of its citizens.  “We just have to keep the faith and remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there is simply nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together,” he said. 

DeSantis orders flags at full-staff for Trump’s inauguration despite 30-day mourning period for Jimmy Carter

DeSantis orders flags at full-staff for Trump’s inauguration despite 30-day mourning period for Jimmy Carter

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has ordered flags at state buildings to be raised to full-staff for President-elect Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. This comes despite the official order by President Biden after the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 that flags at all government and public buildings and grounds across the country fly at half-staff for a 30-day mourning period, which just happens to include Inauguration Day. It is a tradition when a former president dies to order a 30-day mourning period and order flags at half-staff. Biden said the U.S. flag “should be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions.” ABBOTT ORDERS FLAGS AT FULL-STAFF FOR TRUMP’S INAUGURATION DESPITE ONE MONTH ORDER TO HONOR CARTER Governors across the country issued their own orders regarding how to fly flags in their respective states on Inauguration Day. DeSantis joins other Republican governors who will break tradition and fly flags at full-staff before the mourning period ends Jan. 28. He ordered that all flags at the Florida Capitol and across all state buildings, installations and grounds to be raised to full height on Jan. 20. “On this unique occasion, where we simultaneously celebrate the service of an incoming president and commend the service of a former president, our nation’s flag will be prominently displayed at full-staff to honor the tradition of our founding fathers and the sacrifices made by those who have served to ensure the torch of liberty continues to bum strong,” DeSantis said in his order. “The following day, on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, all flags at state buildings, installations, and grounds across the State of Florida will once again be lowered to half-staff to honor President Carter’s service,” the governor said. House Speaker Mike Johnson also ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day. Trump has criticized the potential for flags to be displayed at half-staff for his inauguration following Carter’s death. “The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Jan. 3. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.” HONORING TRUMP: SPEAKER JOHNSON SAYS FLAGS TO FLY AT FULL-STAFF AT US CAPITOL BUILDING DURING PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION “Look at what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years – It’s a total mess! In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast,” he continued. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Flags were flown at half-staff when former President Nixon was sworn-in for his second term in 1973 after Nixon ordered the flags to be lowered following the death of former President Truman.

Florida proposal would bar illegal migrants in the US from attending some colleges

Florida proposal would bar illegal migrants in the US from attending some colleges

A Florida state lawmaker has introduced a bill to ban illegal migrants from being admitted to some public colleges and universities. Republican state Sen. Randy Fine proposed the legislation the day after GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a special legislative session to help push President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda. “Is it fair to allow an illegal immigrant to take a spot that could be taken by a Floridian or an American? I would argue no,” Fine said. Fine’s bill would ban public colleges and universities with an acceptance rate under 85% from admitting students who are in the country illegally, which would include the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida and Florida International University. FLORIDA LAWMAKER INTRODUCES BILL TO REQUIRE DACA STUDENTS TO PAY OUT-OF-STATE TUITION There are an estimated 1.2 million illegal migrants living in Florida, according to the Pew Research Center. Migrant students in the U.S. illegally can currently qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. Fine also recently proposed a bill that would require high school graduates with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, status to pay out-of-state tuition. During the 2023-2024 school year, about 6,500 migrant students who were in the U.S. illegally qualified for a waiver from paying out-of-state tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities, according to the nonprofit Florida Policy Institute. Three states prohibit students in the U.S. illegally from enrolling in at least some colleges, while half of states allow these students to qualify for in-state tuition, according to the National Immigration Law Center. DeSantis scheduled the special session to begin the week after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration to fund efforts to address illegal immigration, including for detention and relocation. The governor has said the state must work to support Trump’s promises to tackle illegal immigration and ensure that “we don’t have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally.” Trump, in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, thanked DeSantis for calling a special session, saying “hopefully other Governors will follow!” But the governor has faced criticism from the legislature’s Republican leaders, who described his call for a special session as “premature” and “irresponsible.” GOP REVIVES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DETENTION BILL NAMED AFTER 12-YEAR-OLD MURDER VICTIM: ‘JUSTICE FOR JOCELYN’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fine is among the Republican lawmakers who have vowed to support Trump and his agenda but have criticized the governor’s push for a special session as rushed. “This was not accompanied with a robust bill package for us to consider,” Fine told reporters. “You want to call a special session? Give me the bills you want me to vote for.” Fine, who joined the state Senate in November, is resigning from the legislature, effective March 31, so he can run for the U.S. House seat that is expected to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., who was nominated by Trump to be his national security advisor. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Oversight report says telework is ‘wasting billions’ in taxpayer cash ahead of 1st hearing

House Oversight report says telework is ‘wasting billions’ in taxpayer cash ahead of 1st hearing

FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight Committee found that prolonged pandemic-era telework has been “detrimental” to government agencies and new employee training, and it laid out in a new report proposed recommendations for the Trump administration to bring federal workers back to unused and vacant federal office buildings.  Fox News Digital obtained the House Oversight Committee’s report on the Biden-Harris administration’s policy of keeping federal workers in a telework, work-from-home format, even after COVID restrictions were lifted across the country and private-sector workers returned to in-person work settings. ‘GET BACK TO WORK’: HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK IN 1ST HEARING OF NEW CONGRESS The report, titled “The lights are on, but everyone is at home: Why the new administration will enter largely vacant federal agency offices,” is 41 pages and was prepared by Republicans on the committee. During the last Congress, the committee investigated the extent of federal telework and remote work, the degree of oversight over its use and its impact on mission outcomes. The committee found that American taxpayers wasted “billions to pay for owned and leased federal office space that remains largely vacant.”  The report states that “physical and anecdotal evidence suggests the [Biden] Administration’s self-reported telework data exaggerates in-office attendance.”  “But even the self-reported data is striking: of the 2.28 million federal civilian employees, approximately 228,000 are never required to show up to the office, and nearly all of the other 1.1 million employees technically-eligible for telework are engaged in telework,” the report states. “Further, telework-eligible employees at several agencies collectively spend less than half their work hours in the office—below the Administration’s own RTO target.”  The report added, “American taxpayers are wasting billions to pay for owned and leased federal office space that remain largely vacant. The Biden-Harris Administration did little to reduce the federal footprint despite maintaining massive telework levels.” The committee also found that the Biden-Harris administration worked with federal labor unions and their allies to maintain “unsupportable high telework levels,” which investigators say undermine the ability of the incoming Trump administration to reduce them.  “The lights may be on in federal buildings, but too many federal bureaucrats continue to work from home,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into prolonged pandemic-era telework reveals the Biden-Harris Administration has ceded too much authority to the federal union bosses, allowing their preference to work from home to take precedence over fulfilling agencies’ missions and serving the American people.”  Comer also told Fox News Digital that President Trump “was elected in a landslide to bring accountability to Washington.”  “Our report not only identifies the many problems with massive federal telework but also proposes solutions to get federal employees back to their offices, dispose of unused and vacant federal property, and prioritize the needs of the American people over the wants of federal bureaucrats,” Comer said. “We look forward to working with President Trump and his administration to ensure the federal bureaucracy is fully accountable to the American people.” Comer and committee investigators said the Trump administration should base telework and remote work policies “on achievement of mission outcomes, not employee preferences or union demands.”  They also recommended establishing automated systems for tracking the use of telework and creating “clear, measurable metrics to evaluate its costs and benefits.”  Comer also recommends the Trump administration impose “more frequent and timely reporting requirements on agency-level telework” to better inform executive branch officials and members of Congress.  Meanwhile, Comer also recommends using the White House and central management agencies to implement an enterprise-wide approach to telework that prioritizes the public interest. He said the administration should “not permit a telework bidding war among agencies looking to attract federal workers that transfer between them based on which will let them stay home the most.”  SENATE DOGE LEADER ERNST TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK ABUSE AT FIRST MEETING WITH MUSK, RAMASWAMY The House Oversight Committee’s report comes just hours before it holds its first hearing of the new Congress.  The hearing, titled “Stay-at-Home Federal Workforce: Another Biden-Harris Administration Legacy,” is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley, Federal City Council Board of Directors President Tom Davis and Rachel Greszler of the Economic Policy Innovation Center are set to testify. O’Malley, before the end of his tenure, locked in telework agreements for 42,000 Social Security employees until 2029.  “It’s past time for the federal workforce to get back to work in-person for the American people,” Comer told Fox News Digital last week, upon announcing the hearing. “The House Oversight Committee remains committed to ensuring federal employees show up for the American people they serve.” NATION’S LARGEST LABOR UNION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES REBUKES GOP’S EFFORTS TO END TELEWORK According to a Senate report authored by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the federal government owns more than 7,000 vacant buildings and nearly 2,500 buildings that are partially empty.  The report also states that government buildings average an occupancy rate of 12%.  During the hearing, the committee plans to examine how the Biden-Harris administration “failed to return federal workers to the office” and that failure could “hinder” the incoming Trump administration’s ability to bring them back due to long-term guarantees of telework in deals signed with federal employee unions.