DOJ racing the clock to enshrine ‘woke’ policing rules, lawyer says, as judge hears Breonna Taylor reform case
FIRST ON FOX: A Kentucky judge declined to immediately sign a police reform consent decree forged by the Justice Department and city of Louisville during a hearing one courtroom participant described as a hasty attempt by the Biden administration to hamstring President-elect Donald Trump. The Monday hearing was one of at least three instances of ongoing litigation in which the Biden administration is seeking to enshrine progressive policing policies in their 11th hour in a difficult-to-reverse manner. Federal Judge Benjamin Beaton refused to be a “rubber stamp” for a 240-page reform plan spurred by the 2020 police-involved shooting of Breonna Taylor, Oversight Project counsel Kyle Brosnan said in a Tuesday interview. Taylor had been killed in a hail of police gunfire after Louisville officers sought to serve a drug warrant at her boyfriend Kenneth Walker’s house, when her beau fired a “warning shot” through the door and struck Officer Jonathan Mattingly in the leg. WATCHDOG SEEKS HALT TO 11TH HOUR BIDEN DOJ EFFORT TO ‘HANDCUFF’ KY POLICE OVER BREONNA TAYLOR INCIDENT Brosnan noted a consent decree is different from other legal agreements — in that they cannot simply be reversed by presidential order or a change of heart by one of the parties involved. Brosnan characterized the Kentucky decree’s reforms as “woke,” while his colleague, Oversight Project executive director Mike Howell, previously called them a “laundry list of BLM-type standards” the left has long called for. The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund joined the amicus brief filed, as Brosnan noted LELDF’s leader Jason Johnson has “first-hand experience” with consent decrees following the Freddie Gray riots and ensuing investigation. The consent decree alleged a pattern or practice of racial bias in Louisville policing, including in traffic stops, sexual assault probes or use-of-force. “And the judge went through each of those topics and said, ‘OK, what is your basis for this?’,” Brosnan recounted. In court, DOJ attorney Paul Killebrew was asked for data on lethal force incidents to better understand patterns alleged in the consent decree. Killebrew reportedly replied that the DOJ could not provide such information in order to “maintain leverage” in any future litigation. That dynamic was a theme during the marathon hearing, according to Brosnan. However, it was not the only opportunity for the DOJ and city to convince Beaton to sign their decree, as the judge gave until Friday for additional documents to be filed, but time is of the essence. While Inauguration Day is not necessarily a deadline for the Biden DOJ to get the decree approved, it won’t be long after that they will likely run out of time, Brosnan said. He compared the dynamic to how Trump — early in his first term — fired Obama-holdover acting DOJ chief Sally Yates for refusing to enforce his “Muslim ban.” PROPOSED CHICAGO POLICE RESOURCE CUTS COULD LAND CITY IN COURT UNDER CONSENT DECREE, OFFICIALS WARN Outgoing administration officials at various levels will remain in “acting” roles until the Senate confirms incoming nominees. Therefore, the Biden DOJ effectively has until Pamela Bondi as attorney general or Harmeet Dhillon as head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division are in office to get their decree across the finish line, the attorney said. Brosnan said there are at least two other police reform consent decrees matriculating through the legal process: in Maryland and Minnesota. On Jan. 6, the DOJ reached an agreement with Minneapolis — that still requires court approval — to reform the department’s “unconstitutional and unlawful practices” allegedly counter to the Americans With Disabilities Act and 14th Amendment. In October 2024, the feds sued the Maryland Department of State Police alleging Civil Rights Act violations. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The United States claims MDSP violated Title VII when it used a certain physical fitness test and a certain written test to hire entry-level Troopers because the tests disqualified more female and African-American applicants than others and were not job related,” a court document reads. Maryland police dispute the allegations. Monday’s petitioners noted how the last Trump administration began with then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions reexamining Obama-era consent decrees. “You are well within your power as judge to sort of pump the brakes and wait and see what the new administration has to say here,” Brosnan characterized their testimony to Beaton. “Trump has a right to sort of not be handcuffed by the Biden administration — he won by-and-large because of the crime problems of urban America.” Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.
GOP tax leaders: US small businesses could pay more tax than small businesses do in China if Trump cuts expire
Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee, the House’s chief tax writing committee, pointed out during a Tuesday hearing that if Congress lets President-elect Trump’s tax cuts from his first term expire, millions of small businesses in the United States will see a top tax rate that is higher than what small businesses in communist China pay. Tuesday’s hearing launched debate in the new Congress over how to handle Trump’s expiring tax credits, key provisions of which are slated to expire later this year. Among those key provisions is a new 20% tax deduction ushered in by Trump in 2017, known as Section 199-A, which provides tax relief for qualified trade or business expenses incurred by taxpayers that are not corporations. But, if Trump’s Section 199-A deduction expires later this year, small business owners could see their top tax rate more than double to 43.4%, which is roughly 20 points higher than what businesses in communist China face, Ways & Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., laid out in a report earlier this month and reiterated during Tuesday’s hearing. “If Congress fails to act … 26 million small businesses will be hit with a 43.4 percent top tax rate, more than 20 points higher than what businesses pay in Communist China,” Smith said Tuesday. TRUMP DETAILS STRATEGY TO GET NECESSARY VOTES WITH ONE-BILL APPROACH TO BORDER, TAXES Smith’s concerns were also echoed by other Republicans on the committee during Tuesday’s hearing. “I guess my colleagues want to go back to when we had higher tax rates than communist China,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas. “What’s pro-American about that? How are we going to unleash economic growth, job creation, and prosperity with that kind of tax rate? We reduced it to 21% and we’re not even in the top quarter of the most competitive tax rates. So, I guess my colleagues want to go back to the highest business tax rate in the free world. It makes no sense.” “The 21% rate in the United States of America – when you add the average state rate across the United States – is at 25%,” added Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla. “Our greatest adversary in the world economically – no one is even close – is China at 25%.” Allison Couch, the founder of Ignite Accounting and one of the witnesses present at Tuesday’s hearing, referred to 199-A as “the single most beneficial deduction for small business owners.” “Allowing this deduction to lapse when it has been in place for so many years will not feel like a sunset, but a tax increase,” said Couch, who also submitted a report into the congressional record during Tuesday’s hearing from global accounting firm Ernst & Young, which indicated 25.9 million small businesses in the United States utilize the 199-A deduction. TRUMP TASKS BLUE STATE REPUBLICANS WITH ‘HOMEWORK’ AS GOP PLOTS MASSIVE CONSERVATIVE POLICY OVERHAUL Other provisions that Republicans and the pro-TCJA witnesses at the hearing called on to become permanent included Trump’s beefed up child tax credit, which doubled parents’ eligible deduction, his death tax reforms, which doubled the amount heirs could pass on before being taxed, and lower marginal tax rates for individuals, a move that one witness said Tuesday has helped workers earn more take-home pay. However, Democrats at the hearing argued that an extension of Trump’s tax cuts will benefit the ultra wealthy more than anyone else. They also argued that Republicans are ignoring the deficit impact, and not providing adequate solutions for how to pay for the extended cuts, noting that increased deficits could result in increased interest rates, a grater cost burden for middle-class people and less economic growth. “There’s no free lunch here,” said Brendan Duke, senior director of economic policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress. “The tax cuts will likely be paid for eventually in the form of spending cuts or tax increases down the line. In the meantime, continued, or even higher deficits could mean continued or even higher interest rates. That makes housing, student loans and credit card debt less affordable for working people.” PLANNED PARENTHOOD CHAPTER PROVIDED HARRIS CAMPAIGN WORKSPACE, BREAKING TAX LAW: IRS COMPLAINT “Republican reliance on tariff taxes to off-set their tax breaks for the super wealthy will continue to shift the tax burden to some of the very type of businesses that [Republicans want to protect]” warned Democratic Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett. “The biggest loser of their plan overall will be our debt, but the impact that that has on the solvency of Social Security, and Medicare and other investments, is also very critical. So, as we move forward we need to consider all of these impacts and look for a tax code that is mor fair for working Americans and less of a gift to those at the top.” In response to the battle in Congress over the expiring tax cuts, a fiscally conservative political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, launched a $20 million campaign to urge lawmakers on Capitol Hill “to protect prosperity” by renewing Trump’s tax cuts. The campaign will include ads in all 50 states as the group says Congress is “facing a countdown to crisis that threatens the family budgets of virtually every American.” Notably, Americans for Prosperity, endorsed Trump’s presidential contender Nikki Haley prior to Trump becoming the GOP’s nominee.
‘Thank you Ron’: Trump praises DeSantis over Florida immigration push
President-elect Trump is giving a shoutout to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for pushing a special legislative session to implement Trump’s expected immigration crackdown. And Trump is urging other governors across the country to follow Florida’s lead. “Thank you Ron, hopefully other governors will follow!” the president-elect said Tuesday in a social media post. DeSantis is calling for a special legislative session in Florida on Jan. 27, with the goal of putting the state in a position to help implement Trump’s pledge of a massive deportation of people who entered the U.S. illegally. The governor is calling for more law enforcement funding and other reforms, to assist the Trump immigration effort. TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT SHOULD HEGSETH FALTER “State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation’s immigration laws,” DeSantis told reporters on Monday. The governor said “in order to do that effectively, we are going to need legislation to impose additional duties on local officials and provide funding for those local officials. There also needs to be measures to hold people accountable for violating our anti-sanctuary policies and that Florida needs to make sure that we don’t have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally.” While Republicans enjoy a super majority in Florida’s legislature, some state GOP legislative leaders are calling the request for a special session “premature.” CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE TRUMP TRANSITION AND INAUGURATION The push by DeSantis and the praise by Trump is the latest sign that the two Republican powerhouses are continuing to mend their relationship after a very nasty showdown during the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race. DeSantis, a bitter Trump rival in 2023 and early last year, made peace with Trump after the former president trounced his rivals and clinched the nomination, and helped raise funds for Trump during the general election. DeSantis also spoke at last summer’s Republican National Convention. Last month, Trump briefly considered nominating DeSantis as defense secretary if his nominee, Pete Hegseth, had decided to drop out amid a rough patch in his confirmation drive, according to multiple sources. But Hegseth weathered the political storm and on Tuesday had his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Dustin Burrows voted Texas House speaker in blow to insurgent GOP movement
Burrows defeated Rep. David Cook with a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes.
EPA report says “forever chemicals” in sewage-based fertilizer pose cancer risk
Fertilizers that contain treated sewage tainted with toxic PFAS chemicals can be spread on farmland and pose a health risk to people who consume milk, eggs and beef, the agency says.
California wildfires prompt House Republican talks on conditioning aid: ‘A pound of flesh’
As wildfires rage in California, Republicans in Washington have begun discussing whether to condition federal aid on changes to policies they blame for the blazes. “It’s part of the discussion right now,” Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital. “People are unwilling to just stroke a check for something that, quite honestly, they still have a lot of questions. And obviously, the fires are still burning, so we don’t even know what the total is going to be at the end of the day.” The Los Angeles area has been grappling with multiple deadly wildfires in recent days, with nearly 100,000 Californians under evacuation orders. Officials are far from knowing what the final damage estimates will be, as well as how much additional funding will need to be approved by Congress. ESSENTIAL PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES-AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM But a broad cross-section of Republicans are already blaming the Democratic stronghold state’s policies and management for exacerbating the issue. “I think there’s going to be a lot of questions raised about it, but we also want to work cooperatively with, you know, everybody on both sides of the aisle,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said when asked about conditioning aid. “But I think that’s just the reality. There’s gonna be some questions we’ll be asking.” Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee on housing and insurance, said it was too early to be discussing possible specific conditions but criticized California’s home insurance policies. “I think there’s real issues… For far too long, California state laws have been pushing out insurers from that state, making it even harder to get home insurance,” Flood told Fox News Digital. POWER GRID FAULTS SURGED RIGHT BEFORE LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES BEGAN: EXPERT “I think California’s got to do a couple of things. They have to demonstrate that they are going to create an environment where home insurance, housing insurance, is reflected in the risk, that they understand the risk, and they are pricing accordingly. And then, as it relates to forestry management, I think there’s a lot of members of Congress who will wanna say, ‘How did this happen? What kind of policies led to this?’” Meanwhile, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who typically are adamant about steep cuts to offset any supplemental government spending, are no different on California’s fires. “It’s got to be more than paid for. They’ve got to own it,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told reporters. “California has never been exactly the most conservative state in terms of spending. We’ve got to get a pound of flesh on any dollar spent on California, in my opinion.” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., who also sits on the House Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital, “Why would we continue to fund the same policies that caused the problem? I mean, seriously, why would you do that?” California Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., did not explicitly rule out conditioning aid but said people needed help as soon as possible. “California needs to change the way it approaches issues of water, forest management, and not to mention a lot of other things. I think that absolutely we need to demand those changes take place. At the same time, folks who are suffering, who have lost everything, lost their homes, lost their communities, we need to get them help, and we need to get them help… as soon as possible, and we shouldn’t let anything stand in the way,” he said. Not all Republicans are on board, however. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., whose own home state has seen a fair share of natural disasters, told Huffington Post, “I think we ought to do aid the way we do everybody else.” But the idea has gained traction with the highest levels of GOP leadership — including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who first floated conditional disaster aid to reporters Monday. “It appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty. And in many respects, and that’s something that has to be factored in,” Johnson said. “I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal view. We’ll see what the consensus is.” Democrats, meanwhile, have vehemently attacked the idea. “Conditioning aid for suffering people who have paid beyond their fair share in federal taxes is uniquely reprehensible, even for my colleagues across the aisle,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., wrote on X. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday. “I just want to say it is outrageous for Speaker Johnson to try to tie conditions onto this disaster relief or to tie disaster aid to unrelated concepts like the debt ceiling. We should not be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans to try to force through policy changes.”
Gold Star families devastated by Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal endorse Hegseth for SecDef
Families who lost loved ones during the disastrous 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan are throwing their support behind Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth. Hegseth, who Trump tapped to head the Defense Department, underwent questioning from the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, where he faced over four hours of questioning from Republican and Democratic lawmakers. The Abbey Gate Coalition, a group of the parents and families of those who tragically lost their lives in a terrorist attack after President Biden withdrew troops from Afghanistan, penned a letter to senators on Tuesday urging them to confirm President-elect Trump’s defense nominee and doubling down on their criticism of the current administration’s handling of the deadly event. “We have been sitting by watching the current administration do nothing but attempt to take victory laps and thumb their noses at the sacrifice that our children made on that fateful day,” the letter reads. “They have had no interest in giving us any of those answers that we seek, and have attempted to put Afghanistan in the rear view mirror as was further evidenced yesterday in President Biden’s final address on his foreign affairs and his supposed successes. DEM SENATOR’S ‘LIES AND STUPIDITY’ AT HEGSETH HEARING ROASTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ‘CLOWN SHOW’ The coalition has been critical of the Biden administration since the withdrawal, writing in the letter that they have been “stonewalled” by his administration. GOP SENATOR FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEMS FOR ‘HYPOCRITICAL’ GRILLING OF HEGSETH: ‘SO RIDICULOUS’ “We have been stonewalled at every turn and only given ‘bread-crumbs’ to attempt to make us just go away! We feel that there has been a complete coverup at the department of Defense with the current Secretary of Defense leading the way,” the coalition wrote. The families said that the process for accountability for Afghanistan begins with the confirmation of Hegseth to lead the defense department. “We ask that you please hear our words and feel the pain that we do, knowing that it was avoidable in respect to what happened to our children,” the letter reads. HARRIS LEAVES OUT DEADLY BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL IN SOARING PRO-MILITARY DNC SPEECH The Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members defending the Kabul airport during the operation, while hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies were left in the country under Taliban rule. Conservative critics, such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the withdrawal paved the way for adversaries such as Russia to invade Ukraine. The Taliban claimed control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal. GOLD STAR DAD SAYS BIDEN-HARRIS ‘DENIED’ SON’S SERVICE AS FALLEN AFGHANISTAN SOLDIERS HONORED IN CALIFORNIA The families who lost loved ones during the botched withdrawal have previously and repeatedly slammed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over their deaths, including launching a scathing defense attack against Harris — when she was running for president – after the anniversary of the withdrawal last year. Parents and other loved ones claimed that the “administration killed my son” and that they “have not seen any support from you or your administration.” Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly remembered the service members who died, and invited their families to the RNC in Milwaukee in July. TRUMP SUPPORTERS, GOLD STAR FAMILIES FLOOD HARRIS’ X ACCOUNT AFTER ARLINGTON ATTACK: ADMIN ‘KILLED MY SON’ “Look at our faces. Look at our pain, and our heartbreak. And look at our rage. [The Afghanistan withdrawal] was not an extraordinary success,” said Cheryl Juels, the aunt of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, at the RNC. “Joe Biden owes the men and women who served in Afghanistan a debt of gratitude, and an apology.” ”While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster with us,” said the mother-in-law of Nicole Gee at the RNC. “He allowed us to grieve, he allowed us to remember our heroes. Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names, he knew their stories, and he spoke to us in a way that made us feel understood, like he knew our kids.”
CA lawmaker demands federal probe amid fire destruction, as Sacramento seeks unity and accountability
California lawmakers called for unity amid the historic Los Angeles wildfires, while at least one fired off letters to Congress calling for federal investigations into Sacramento’s fire preparedness and environmental policies. Republican lawmakers also said at a news conference Monday that any talk of gaveling-in the special session with the express purpose of buttressing the state against President-elect Trump should be quashed. Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, said he is sending letters to members-designate of the new Trump administration and top oversight lawmakers, suggesting officials in Sacramento will not “get to the truth” on the blazes. DeMaio said tragedies like wildfires are a rare issue that can unite Republicans and Democrats, adding Californians “stand united in wishing the best to these communities for a speedy recovery.” ESSENTIAL PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES-AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM “But I also believe that Californians also stand united on a very important issue of accountability. Why were we not better prepared for this disaster? All Californians are asking that question.” DeMaio said the legislative special session should include oversight hearings on questions he claimed Gov. Gavin Newsom has not sufficiently answered. “He’s given [questioners] nothing but evasion and yes, frankly, dishonesty,” DeMaio claimed. “I do not believe that we are going to get to the truth if we leave the investigation in the hands of Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state and local politicians.” DeMaio said two of his letters have been sent to Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, both of Kentucky, to probe “a number of failures by state and local politicians on these fire disasters.” He added that he will ask President-elect Trump to also sign an executive order requesting federal agencies investigate California’s lack of brush management, public land maintenance and inadequate water supply and infrastructure in the fire-affected areas. CA DEMOCRATS URGE FEDS TO APPROVE HIGH SPEED RAIL FUNDING BEFORE DOGE NIXES BOONDOGGLE Lawmakers also hammered insurance companies and warned the state’s insurance market could go insolvent if changes aren’t made amid dropped coverages and private companies pulling out of the state. Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, noted his district weathered the 2019 Paradise fire, and offered the caucus’ condolences and support to those dealing with the crisis in Los Angeles. “Our thoughts and prayers are going out to those community members and those first responders who are fighting and doing God’s work fighting these fires as we speak. I want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to help get people safe, to help people recover,” Gallagher said. “[W]e need to do a whole lot more to combat and prevent catastrophic wildfires in our state,” he said, adding that both wildfire prevention and issues with the state insurance market must be addressed in the special session. Gallagher said that in 2021, he and other lawmakers fought for $1 billion in funding for such issues, and that there has been a major reduction in appropriations since then. “We’re calling for immediate action on recovery to help ensure that these communities recover from this disaster, but also on the real solutions that will help us to be a stronger, more resilient state against catastrophic wildfires.” CA DEMS MOVE TO TRUMP-PROOF THE STATE DeMaio, Gallagher and Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, also voiced concerns about the state’s insurance market. Grove listed off almost a dozen insurance companies which she claimed either stopped writing Californian homeowners’ insurance, limited renewals or left the state’s market. She noted homeowners cannot get or refinance a mortgage without proof of insurance and called for “permanently eliminating red tape and expediting cleanup and recovery and rebuild for all Californians affected by wildfires.” For his part, Newsom has reportedly proposed $2.5 billion in additional emergency response and preparedness funding. Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, said seven of the 15 deadliest California wildfires have occurred over the past 10 years, and that little seems to change in the way of preparedness. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson reopened the Santa Monica Freeway only 66 days after a 1994 earthquake-spurred collapse, she said. Under Newsom, CalFIRE’s ranks and budget have both nearly doubled to nearly 11,000 members and $3.8 billion. The state’s forest management budget also increased under the potential 2028 presidential candidate. In a tweet rejecting Republicans’ claims about cuts to fire prevention funding, Newsom’s press office tweeted that it presented a “purposefully misleading graphic that starts when a one-time budget supplemental was injected to respond to the horrific fires in 2019/2020.” Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom, as well as the Trump Transition and Comer for response to DiMaio’s letters.
Dem senator ripped for invoking Hegseth’s young daughter in ‘despicable’ confirmation hearing exchange
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., invoked secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s daughter during a heated hearing, prompting pushback from conservatives on social media who argued that the comments crossed a line. “So you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime?” the former vice presidential candidate said to Hegseth during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday. “That’s your definition of cleared. You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would stand here and say you’re completely cleared. Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child who had been born two months before? And you tell us you are completely cleared? How is that completely cleared?” Kaine was commenting on Hegseth’s behavior in earlier marriages, including an October 2017 incident in Monterey, California, in which Hegseth was accused of sexual assault. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, was later cleared of wrongdoing following an investigation, and has since described the incident as consensual. “I was fully investigated and completely cleared,” he said of the allegation. PETE HEGSETH HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL FOR FIERY HEARING ON HIS RECORD, PLANS TO SHAKE UP PENTAGON “Senator, her child’s name is Gwendolyn Hope Hegseth, and she’s a child of God,” Hegseth responded. “She’s 7 years old, and I am glad she’s here.” “And you cheated on the mother of that child,” Kaine responded. “Less than two months after that daughter was born, didn’t you?” Hegseth told Kaine those were “false charges” and reiterated that he was “completely cleared” and “grateful” to the marriage he has to the “amazing woman” behind him. Kaine persisted, “You’ve admitted that you had sex at that hotel in October 2017. You said it was consensual. Isn’t that correct?” HEGSETH WAS ‘INCREDIBLY TALENTED, BATTLE-PROVEN LEADER,’ MILITARY EVALUATIONS SHOW The two continued to go back and forth on the veracity of the claims against Hegseth, with Kaine pressing the nominee on whether he honored his wedding vow. “I will allow your words to speak for themselves,” Hegseth said at one point. “As I’ve acknowledged to everyone in this committee, I’m not a perfect person. I’m not claiming to be,” Hegseth said before being cut off by Kaine, who went on to accuse Hegseth of withholding information about the accusation when being vetted by the Trump team. Kaine ultimately moved on to questioning Hegseth about his relationship with drinking and other allegations that Hegseth has dismissed as “false.” Conservatives on social media, along with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., at another point in the hearing, took issue with Kaine’s line of questioning, particularly invoking Hegseth’s daughter. “Senator Tim Kaine really did try to use Pete Hegseth’s 7 year old daughter against him, despicable,” conservative commentator Drew Hernandez posted on X. “IRONY ALERT: Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) tries to lecture Pete Hegseth on adultery,” The First TV posted on X. “Reminder that Tim Kaine ran on the same failed presidential ticket as Hillary Clinton, legal wife of Bill Clinton.” “Tim Kaine has a lot to say about Pete Hegseth’s conduct during his marriage,” Article III Project senior counsel Will Chamberlain posted on X. “Here’s Tim Kaine campaigning with Doug Emhoff, who – while married – impregnated his nanny and forced her to get an abortion.” Fox News Digital reached out to Kaine’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report
White House removes Cuba’s state sponsor of terrorism designation, reversing Trump administration move
The Biden administration lifted Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism on Tuesday, reversing a move made by the Trump administration in 2021. The decision, which is reportedly part of a Catholic Church-sponsored deal to free political prisoners in Cuba, was first reported by the Associated Press on Tuesday. In a certification that Biden issued later Tuesday afternoon, he claimed that the Cuban government “has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding 6-month period,” as well as “provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.” “The United States maintains as the core objective of our policy the need for more freedom and democracy, improved respect for human rights, and increased free enterprise in Cuba.,” a national security memo issued by the White House read. “Achieving these goals will require practical engagement with Cuba and the Cuban people beyond what is outlined in NSPM-5 [National Security Presidential Memorandum 5], and that takes into account recent developments in Cuba and the changing regional and global context.” BIDEN WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES ‘FINAL RULE’ ON AI CHIP EXPORTS BEFORE TRUMP HAND-OFF, DRAWING INDUSTRY BLOWBACK “Accordingly, I hereby revoke NSPM-5.” Cuba was given the designation in January 2021, shortly before Biden took office. At the time, the U.S. Embassy of Cuba accused the country of “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.” “The Trump Administration has been focused from the start on denying the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people at home, and countering its malign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere,” the statement read. “With this action, we will once again hold Cuba’s government accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and subversion of U.S. justice.” The statement referenced Raul Castro, the then-first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and the brother of notorious dictator Fidel Castro. According to the State Department, Cuba was first named a state sponsor of terrorism in 1982, and the designation was rescinded in 2015. “Cuba maintains close and collaborative ties with designated state sponsors of terror such as Iran and North Korea,” the State Department’s 2019 report read. “The Cuban regime continues to host ELN leaders associated with now-defunct peace talks to reside in Cuba, despite Colombia’s repeated requests for their extradition. Cuba also continues to harbor multiple fugitives who committed or supported acts of terrorism in the United States.” SULLIVAN CLAIMS BIDEN ADMIN LEAVES RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN ‘WEAKER,’ AMERICA ‘SAFER’ BEFORE TRUMP HANDOFF “The Cuban people are courageously standing up for their freedoms after 62 years of subjugation under a communist dictatorship,” Rubio said of the 2021 protests. “This is truly a historic moment, and one that as a Cuban American I’m proud to witness. The people of Cuba have made their voices clear. We must stand in support of the Cuban people’s ongoing efforts to live in a nation free from tyranny and censorship.” Before Tuesday’s announcement was made, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, denounced the Biden administration’s move, calling it “unacceptable on its merits.” “The terrorism advanced by the Cuban regime has not ceased,” Cruz said in a statement. “I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage from the decision.” Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department, but officials declined to comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House for confirmation. Fox News’ Caroline McKee contributed to this report.