PHOTOS: GOP delegation provides inside look at controversial El Salvador prison housing U.S. deportees
After visiting the controversial Salvadoran mega-prison known as the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT), freshman Congressman Riley Moore, R-W.Va., says he is “even more determined” to support the president’s efforts to secure the U.S. from criminal illegal aliens. This comes as the Trump administration’s scheme of sending the “worst of the worst” migrant gang members to CECOT has caused national controversy, with some outraged Democrats accusing President Donald Trump of “kidnapping” people for deportation. Moore said that while at CECOT he came face to face with some of the country’s “most brutal criminals, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and terrorists,” and “extremely violent criminals recently deported from the U.S.” After his visit to El Salvador, he said: “I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland.” ‘MARYLAND MAN’ KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA EXPOSED IN POLICE RECORDS AS ‘VIOLENT’ REPEAT WIFE BEATER Moore told Fox News Digital he visited the prison with a congressional delegation led by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo. The delegation toured the prison this week and spoke with several inmates. “These are dangerous individuals,” he said. “We had several of them tell us, and they were not afraid to share it, [that] they are killers and committed homicides.” “It’s not something that it seems that they regret one way or the other, from what I could glean from it,” he explained. While touring the prison, Moore said he spoke with two deportees from the U.S., both of whom were originally from El Salvador and had been deported from Virginia and California. He said one had been in the U.S. for 20 years and was a high-ranking member of the brutal gang MS-13. According to Moore, both deportees “were not afraid to admit” that they had killed people. TOM HOMAN ‘DISGUSTED’ BY DEM SENATOR’S TRIP TO BRING HOME ALLEGED MS-13 GANG MEMBER He said there is a lot of misinformation about the prison, leading the American public to believe that it is a kind of “death camp” for deportees. “That is not true,” he said, pointing out that of approximately 14,000 inmates in CECOT, only a few hundred were deported from the United States. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “They are in austere conditions in that prison, there’s no doubt about that,” he explained, adding, “to be clear, they don’t have the death penalty in El Salvador.” That being said, Moore said the impact of CECOT and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang crime has been “miraculous” for the people of El Salvador. BUKELE SAYS TRUMP HAS 350 MILLION AMERICANS TO ‘LIBERATE’ BY ENDING CRIME, TERRORISM He said he spoke with ordinary people on the streets of El Salvador’s capital city, San Salvador, who told him that “they were living in a terror state, being terrorized by these gangs and controlling their lives and taking their lives many times.” Now, he said, “they have their lives back.” That is why Moore’s resolve to support the Trump administration’s crackdown on gang terrorism is stronger than ever. “It is very tragic that all of these young people have just thrown their lives away because they decided to basically not only destroy themselves, to destroy their own country and community and people’s lives… It’s hard to really wrap your mind around,” he said. “[But] the fundamental building block of any nation state is security. If you don’t have security, you can’t have economic opportunities, civil society, justice, any of those things. The bedrock of it is security. That has to be provided.”
Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in birthright citizenship case
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next month in the case challenging President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, in what is likely to be one of the most highly anticipated cases to be reviewed by the high court since Trump took office. The justices said Thursday that they would hear arguments on the consolidated cases on May 15, roughly four weeks from now. The Trump administration in March asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow a narrow version of the president’s executive order ending birthright citizenship to proceed. Trump signed the order on his first day in office and was immediately met with a flurry of lawsuits across the country. The administration’s appeal concerns three nationwide injunctions brought in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state. TRUMP ADMIN APPEALS RULING BLOCKING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP All three states had issued nationwide injunctions blocking the birthright citizenship ban from taking force – a move that lawyers for the Trump administration argued in their Supreme Court filing was overly broad. Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris asked the justices to limit the scope of the rulings to cover only individuals directly impacted by the relevant courts. “These cases – which involve challenges to the President’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order concerning birthright citizenship – raise important constitutional questions with major ramifications for securing the border,” Harris wrote in their appeal. To date, no court has sided with the Trump administration’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship, though multiple district courts have blocked it from taking effect. NINTH CIRCUIT REJECTS TRUMP’S BID TO REINSTATE BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER Implementation of Trump’s executive order was initially set for Feb. 19. The policy would have affected hundreds of thousands of children born in the U.S. each year. The order sought to reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Under the Trump administration’s proposed interpretation – later blocked by federal courts – children born to illegal immigrants or to those who were here legally but on temporary non-immigrant visas, are not citizens by birthright. More than 22 U.S. states and immigrants’ rights groups quickly sued the Trump administration to block the change to birthright citizenship, arguing in court filings that the executive order is both unconstitutional and “unprecedented.” The states have also argued that the 14th Amendment does, in fact, guarantee citizenship to persons born on U.S. soil and naturalized in the U.S. The U.S. is one of roughly 30 countries where birthright citizenship applies.
Gabbard declassifies Biden counterterrorism strategy, confirms push for information-sharing with Big Tech
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a Biden-era plan to counter domestic terrorism that called for greater information-sharing with tech companies and a legislative push to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Developed in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the plan outlined a government-wide effort to track how foreign actors use disinformation to radicalize Americans and urged coordination with private industry on domestic threats. It also called for measures to curb in-prison radicalization and study extremism within the military. Among its proposals was a plan to “develop awareness training for active service military members, DOD employees and contractors, and those service members separating or retiring from the military on the threat posed by domestic terrorism, the potential targeting of those with military training by violent extremist actors, and relevant reporting mechanisms.” TRUMP THREATENS IRAN OVER NUKES AS DNI GABBARD CLAIMS TEHRAN IS NOT BUILDING BOMBS The strategy had a four-part goal: “Understand and Share Domestic Terrorism-Related Information,” “Prevent Domestic Terrorism Recruitment and Mobilization to Violence,” “Disrupt and Deter Domestic Terrorism Activity” and “Confront Long-Term Contributors to Domestic Terrorism.” The Biden administration plan encouraged “teaching and learning of civics education that provides students with the skill to fully participate in civic life,” and promoted “literacy education for both children and adult learners and existing proven interventions to foster resiliency to disinformation.” It also called for advancing “inclusion” in the Covid-19 response and addressing “hate crime reporting barriers faced by disadvantaged communities by promoting law enforcement training and resources to prevent and address bias-motivated crimes; improve federal hate crimes data and analysis to eliminate hate crimes underreporting; mitigate xenophobia and bias.” DEMS WHO HAVE SPOKEN PASSIONATELY AGAINST DOMESTIC TERRORISM GO SILENT AS TESLA TORCHERS ARE CHARGED Former President Joe Biden’s administration launched the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism in 2021, identifying domestic terrorism as a major national security threat in the wake of the Capitol riot. Gabbard declassified the strategy after prompting from conservative groups like America First Legal. The group wrote to Gabbard earlier this month, asking her to declassify the strategy amid concerns of “weaponization” of power by “censoring disfavored speech on the Internet by labeling such speech ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ ‘hate speech,’ ‘domestic terrorism.’” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Biden’s summer 2021 counterterrorism strategy garnered criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which said it “reflects the government’s ever-expanding authority to surveil and monitor American communities; law enforcement guidance that permits profiling on the basis of race, religion, or national origin; and the use of abusive tools such as the watchlisting system against people for constitutionally protected speech and association.”
More Dems work to join Sen. Van Hollen in El Salvador to push for alleged gang member’s return to US
Several more congressional Democrats have made statements or issued requests to leadership to travel to El Salvador in hopes of bringing imprisoned deportee and accused MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to Maryland. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., remained in the Central American country as of Thursday morning, after Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa rejected his entreaties to contact or free the alleged gang member on Wednesday. A representative for Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that the freshman lawmaker would be taking a trip to El Salvador to essentially aid Van Hollen’s efforts. “Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be home in Maryland right now,” Ansari said in a separate statement. “His illegal abduction and the subsequent complete dismissal of the Supreme Court ruling is deeply disturbing. Our rights shouldn’t be revoked to propagate Trump’s authoritarian agenda. This is a constitutional crisis.” DOJ INDICATES TRUMP ADMIN NOT OBLIGATED TO RETURN MAN DEPORTED TO EL SALVADOR, PUSHING BACK ON JUDICIARY “He’s already said that he’s ready and willing to illegally deport ‘home-growns’ and American citizens. If this can happen to Mr. Garcia, it can happen to any of us. My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran where people ‘disappeared’ – I refuse to sit back and watch it happen here, too. That’s why I plan to join my colleagues in traveling to El Salvador to visit Mr. Garcia and make sure Trump’s war on our Constitution and due process stops here.” Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., also wrote to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., requesting a former CODEL (congressional delegation) authorization to visit Tecoluca, El Salvador, where the infamous El Salvadoran mega prison “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) is located. “Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national legally living and working in Maryland, was subject to a 2019 withholding order from an immigration judge prohibiting his removal to El Salvador,” Frost and Garcia wrote. “A Congressional delegation would allow Committee Members to conduct a welfare check on Mr. Abrego Garcia, as well as others held at CECOT.” Additionally, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is reportedly planning to travel to CECOT, according to reports from Politico and Axios. His office did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry. NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL Fox News Digital reached out to Comer’s office for comment, and whether other lawmakers had contacted him seeking CODEL authorization. “Squad” member Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., also wrote to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., demanding her own CODEL to El Salvador, “given that the Administration’s use of CECOT for illegal and unconstitutional deportations is rife with ‘administrative errors.’” While not party to the letter to Comer, Ansari tweeted Monday that “we need answers now” from either government. She said she is ready to join Van Hollen – and Frost and Garcia if they go – to “demand” the man’s release. BONDI DEFIANT, SAYS ABREGO GARCIA WILL STAY IN EL SALVADOR: ‘END OF THE STORY’ Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., also suggested to Axios that travel to El Salvador may be necessary. “We have to do similar kinds of things for the others who are victims of this dystopian attack on our Constitutional rights. This president is dangerous and we can’t let this go,” she said. Meanwhile, at least two Republicans have also traveled to CECOT, albeit for different reasons. Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., tweeted a photo from the prison, saying he just finished a tour and that many inmates were “extremely violent” recent U.S.-deportees. “I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland,” Moore said. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., appeared to comment on Van Hollen’s trip in his own post from the prison, writing: “It is unconscionable that Democrats in Congress are urging the release of more foreign criminals back into our country.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Homeland Security released new documents this week that it says definitively prove Abrego Garcia, who is imprisoned at CECOT after his deportation from the U.S., is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, which his lawyers deny. Abrego Garcia also allegedly has a record of being a “violent” repeat wife beater, according to records filed in a Prince George’s County, Maryland, district court by his wife. Fox News Digital reached out to Booker, Frost, Balint, Ramirez and Garcia for further comment.
Trump admin guts AmeriCorps, Clinton-era volunteer agency that failed 8 consecutive audits
The Trump administration placed roughly 75% of full-time AmeriCorps employees on administrative leave on Wednesday as the administration looks to rebuild the Clinton-era volunteer agency from scratch, Fox News Digital learned. A total of 535 full-time AmeriCorps employees out of the agency’s 700 staff were placed on leave, an administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital Thursday. Volunteers with AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps, a program that focuses specifically on volunteer opportunities for youth between the ages of 18–26, were preemptively pulled out of the field ahead of the Trump administration placing the agency’s full-time staffers on leave Wednesday, Fox Digital learned. Roughly $250 million in AmeriCorps contracts have also been canceled. AmeriCorps is expected to remain in existence, according to the admin official, but the operations will essentially restart from scratch. IRS CUTTING ITS WORKFORCE BY 25%, ELIMINATING AGENCY’S CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICE Former President Bill Clinton created the AmeriCorps National Service Program in 1993, during his first year in office, as a volunteer arm of the government to help aid communities nationwide. The agency has received roughly $1 billion in taxpayer funds every year, the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee previously found, but had failed eight consecutive audits across the past decade. “Unfortunately, AmeriCorps has a long history of abusing taxpayer dollars,” chair of the House subcommittee, Republican Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, said in a statement in December 2024. “AmeriCorps is entrusted with over $1 billion of taxpayer funds every year, with the result of failure of eight consecutive audits,” he continued. “In 2023, the AmeriCorps Inspector General issued a ‘Management Challenges’ report detailing significant challenges AmeriCorps faces. This includes being unable to detect fraud. We have no real idea when AmeriCorps will be able to have a clean audit again. In fact, this year’s audit includes 78 recommendations still open, even after AmeriCorps said it addressed 20 last year.” Fox News Digital examined AmeriCorp’s budget in recent years and found its 2023 fiscal year budget stood at $1,312,806, which included $99,686,000 in expenses and salaries, while fiscal year 2024 saw a budget of $1,262,806, which included the same figure for expenses and salaries. The Biden administration proposed a budget of $1,342,093,000 for fiscal year 2025. The agency’s annual management report for fiscal year 2024 showed that it had $3.7 billion in assets, including over $1.5 billion in investments. Diversity, equity and inclusion and climate change initiatives have been a top priority for the volunteer-focused agency, with the 2024 annual management report identifying “advancing racial and economic equity” as one of its top priorities, Fox Digital found. “AmeriCorps has a decades-long commitment to advancing racial and economic equity through national service and volunteering,” the report stated. “These efforts are designed to expand pathways to opportunity for all Americans. Racial and economic equity will be central to AmeriCorps’ planning and implementation of all priorities, ensuring AmeriCorps members and volunteers reflect the diversity of the American people and the communities in which they serve.” Owens said in 2024 that while some of the agency’s programs are “well-intentioned,” taxpayers should not continue funding the office and called for it to land on the Department of Government Efficiency’s chopping block. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It makes no sense to expand this agency or give it more money when it continuously fails to meet basic accountability standards,” he said. “Every time its representatives come before this Committee, AmeriCorps assures us that they will implement reforms, and year after year nothing changes. We can tell AmeriCorps to modernize and reform until we are blue in the face, but nothing will change unless we recognize the system is built on a flawed idea. It is time to admit that this is a failed program that needs a complete overhaul or elimination. It should be on DOGE’s chopping block.”
‘Mass surveillance’: Conservatives sound alarm over Trump admin’s REAL ID rollout
Conservatives are speaking out against the Trump administration’s plans to finally enact long-expected REAL ID laws in a bid to crack down on illegal immigration. “If you think REAL ID is about election integrity, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Someone has lied to you, or you’re engaged in wishful thinking. Please don’t shoot the messenger,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote on X earlier this week. Responding to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s video announcing the May 7 REAL ID deadline, the former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin questioned in a lengthy post: “Or what?? Evidently, existing ID requirements for American citizens just aren’t adequate now, so Big Brother is forcing us through more hoops for the ‘right’ to travel within our own country.” Palin continued: “Other administrations delayed this newfangled, burdensome REAL ID requirement. Are you curious why its implementation is imperative now?? And who came up with this?” NO ‘REAL ID’ APPOINTMENTS OPEN IN NEW JERSEY AS RESIDENTS SOUND OFF: ‘GET WITH THE TIMES, NJ’ The REAL ID Act was passed in 2005, but the federal government has yet to implement it 20 years later. It requires all U.S. travelers to be REAL ID compliant when boarding domestic flights. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last week that REAL ID would go into effect May 7, and that no other state-issued ID cards would be accepted for air travel. TSA senior official Adam Stahl said in the announcement that REAL ID “bolsters safety by making fraudulent IDs harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists.” While an overwhelming majority of Republicans appear to have few issues with the change, some on the right have cried foul. Massie argued in an X post, “As long as the pilot’s door is locked and no one has weapons, why do you care that someone who flies has government permission? REAL ID provides no benefit, yet presents a serious risk to freedom. If a person can’t be trusted to fly without weapons, why are they roaming free?” REAL ID DEADLINE FOR TRAVELERS, SOME FEDERAL BUILDING ACCESS QUICKLY APPROACHING Massie targeted President Donald Trump more directly in response to another X user who asked whether he was opposed simply because of his differences with the commander in chief. The Kentucky Republican has been known for multiple public spats with Trump. “REAL ID is a 2005 George Bush-era Patriot Act overreach that went completely unenforced until Trump got into office. Let me guess: he’s playing 4D chess and I should just go along with it?” Massie wrote. Former presidential candidate and ex-House Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, wrote on X, “Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem announced Friday that the notorious PATRIOT Act-era REAL ID scheme would go into effect at the end of the month. REAL ID is one of the greatest threats to Americans’ civil liberties in decades.” Kentucky state Rep. TJ Roberts, a Republican, agreed with Paul on social media, writing, “Repeal REAL ID!!” New Hampshire state Rep. Joe Alexander, a Republican, added on the accusations, calling REAL ID a “violation of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution,” and writing, “the Federal Government should not be mandating ID for its citizens to travel between states. Just say NO.” Cato Institute senior fellow Patrick Eddington told Fox News Digital, “I’m not aware of a single post-9/11 instance of an alleged or actual terrorist being apprehended, much less successfully boarding an airliner, with false ID credentials – which is the entire-stated rationale for REAL ID.” Eddington argued it imposed unconstitutional burdens on people who are seeking to travel by air versus train. “If you got word that your mother had just had a stroke and her prognosis was uncertain, and you wanted to quickly fly home to be with her but couldn’t because you didn’t have a REAL ID-compliant ID card, that would be one very real-world example of a tangible harm this insane law could cause on literally a daily basis,” he said. “The REAL ID Act effectively institutes a form of mass surveillance and verification that doesn’t discriminate between those who have given reason for suspicion and those who haven’t, which is why it should never have been enacted in the first place.” Meanwhile, Trump ally Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., targeted critics in his own public statement. “The REAL ID Act was passed way back in 2005, 20 years ago!!!! It’s about time everyone stop dragging their feet. Quit scrolling through social media, quit complaining, get your info together, and get down to the DMV to get your REAL ID,” Alford said Wednesday. The DHS has argued that implementing REAL ID now will help the Trump administration further its goals in cracking down on illegal immigration. A DHS memo obtained by Fox News Digital earlier this week argued in favor of its implementation, that REAL ID “closes the gaping vulnerabilities Biden’s policies created, preventing criminals and potential terrorists from exploiting our aviation system, as seen during 9/11 when fraudulent IDs enabled attacks.” Trump administration allies have also pointed out that it is carrying out a directive by Congress that’s long been stalled, but that the current White House took no part in deciding. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and TSA for further comment. Massie’s spokesman said he was not available for an interview when reached by Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital’s Cameron Arcand contributed to this report.
Fierce Israel critic launches Senate bid in Michigan high-stakes 2026 midterm race
A former Michigan public health official and Democratic candidate for governor entered the race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat on Thursday in what could be one of the most watched races in the 2026 midterm elections. Abdul El-Sayed, 40, is the second Democrat to put his name in the running to replace Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is not seeking reelection. El-Sayed, a prominent figure in a movement that was highly critical of support for Israel in the 2024 election cycle, aims to set himself apart from the other Democratic candidates in the race to replace Peters, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. McMorrow has said she would vote against Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., retaining his leadership position should she prevail in the primary and general election to represent the battleground state in the upper chamber of Congress. However, El-Sayed held back criticism of Schumer. “Anybody who tells you that they’re going to unilaterally oppose one potential candidate without knowing who the alternative is, is either unnuanced or unsophisticated,” El-Sayed told Politico. “So I want to know who is available, who is actively seeking the leadership. I’ll make a decision from there.” GRETCHEN WHITMER RIBBED ONLINE FOR SEEMING TO HIDE FACE IN OVAL OFFICE “What we need right now is somebody who’s willing to take the fight directly to Trump and Musk, but then also knows how to rebuild a version of our federal government that better serves working people after the carnage that Musk and Trump are going to leave behind, and I think I offer that,” he told Politico. Other Democrats considering a run to replace Peters include U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. El-Sayed was active in the “uncommited movement,” a group of anti-Israel, traditionally Democratic voters in Michigan, a critical swing state, who threatened to withhold support from then-President Joe Biden, and then then-Vice President Kamala Harris, over the administration’s stance on Gaza. He did say he would back whoever was the eventual Democratic choice for the presidential ticket to oppose now-President Donald Trump, according to Politico. The Israel-Hamas war exposed deep divisions within the Democratic Party last election cycle, and there is concern the conflict could again make for a messy Senate Democratic primary in Michigan if the American Israel Public Affairs Committee intervenes. The powerful pro-Israel lobby group financially backed Stevens in 2022, when redistricting forced a competitive primary run against fellow Democrat, Rep. Andy Levin. “Everybody is unified around leadership that reminds the Democratic Party that we ought to be the party of peace and justice, that we ought not to be the party sending bombs and money to foreign militaries to drop bombs on other people’s kids in their schools and their hospitals, when our kids need more, our hospitals and schools need more, and we should be spending that money here at home,” El-Sayed told Politico. FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN LAUNCHES SECOND STRAIGHT BID TO FLIP DEMOCRAT-HELD SENATE SEAT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND El-Sayed ran for governor in 2018 as a progressive Democrat and was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. He came in second in the Democratic primary, losing to Gretchen Whitmer by more than 20 points and beating now-U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar by more than 12 points. Whitmer went on to win the general election and is in the midst of a second term. She cannot run again because of term limits. A resident of Ann Arbor, El-Sayed recently served as director of the Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services in Wayne County, home to Detroit. Before that, he was the public health director of the city after it declared bankruptcy in 2013. El-Sayed cautioned Democrats against learning the “wrong lessons” from their defeats. “If you cut corners and trim your message, and you triangulate to the least common denominator, you can find something that’s perfectly inoffensive to everyone, and the problem with that is that you’re not actually saying anything,” he told Politico. El-Sayed said he met with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Tuesday. He told Politico that it was his “understanding” that the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm would not get involved in the primary. If that happens, that deviates from how the DSCC previously acted to clear the field of potential primary candidates to make for an easier primary victory for then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin. Now-Sen. Slotkin, D-Mich., easily won the primary over Hill Harper, and then won the general election. El-Sayed is also the second candidate this week to launch a campaign to replace Peters. On the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers launched his bid on Monday after losing the Senate race last year by 19,000 votes to Democrat Slotkin. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Republican uses George Washington, American Revolution to reject notion Ukraine should surrender to Russia
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. – who has advocated for the U.S. and Europe to “arm Ukraine to the max” – pointed to the American Revolutionary War to push back against the notion that Ukraine should surrender to Russia. “I’m glad General George Washington didn’t say ‘Let’s surrender because Great Britain is too powerful and defeating them is unlikely.’ But, that is what some of our leaders are saying to Ukraine, the victim of a Russian invasion. Surrendering to a tyrant is not peace,” Bacon wrote in a post on X. The congressman wants the U.S. to provide arms to help the embattled Eastern European nation repel Russia. PRO-UKRAINE GOP REP. BACON DECLARES ‘REAL REPUBLICANS KNOW THAT PUTIN’S RUSSIA HATES THE WEST AND FREEDOM’ “European Allies and U.S. should arm Ukraine to the max and help them defend their country against the Russians, and now the North Koreans and Chinese,” Bacon declared in a post on X. Some Americans oppose the prospect of providing additional aid to bolster Ukraine’s war effort. But Bacon contends that backing Ukraine is in America’s interests. 2 CHINESE MEN CAPTURED IN UKRAINE, ZELENSKYY CLAIMS “Supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggression is not only morally right. It is also in our national interest, because the future cost of abandoning Ukraine would vastly outweigh the investment we have made in rejecting Russia’s aggression,” he wrote in a New York Times piece. JD VANCE BLASTS ZELENSKYY’S ‘60 MINUTES’ COMMENTS AS ‘ABSURD,’ ‘NOT PRODUCTIVE’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “In recent weeks, too many of my fellow Republicans – including Mr. Trump – have treated Russia with velvet gloves, shying away from calling out Mr. Putin’s flatly illegal war and even blaming Ukraine for starting it,” Bacon declared in the piece.
FLASHBACK: Liberals are fine with Harvard getting a tax break but were against it for a Christian college
Democrats are now defending elite universities like Harvard and Columbia from threats to their federal funding and tax-exempt status for allegedly violating public policy despite once championing the same legal precedent now being used against them. The left championed the 1983 Bob Jones University v. United States ruling, which upheld the IRS’ decision to revoke tax benefits from a religious college that banned interracial dating. At the time, Democrats agreed with the federal government’s argument that no institution engaging in discrimination should receive public funds, even on religious grounds. Now, as the Trump administration cites that very precedent in urging the IRS to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status over claims the university is tolerating antisemitism and campus unrest, the left is accusing the administration of violating free speech laws to target ideological opponents. ‘SAFER WITHOUT HIM’: COLUMBIA STUDENT CLAIMS CLASSMATE ARRESTED BY ICE ‘HATES AMERICA’ “The Bob Jones case is a very strong precedent in the government’s corner on this,” Joe Bishop-Henchman, vice president of tax policy and litigation at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “The Bob Jones precedent makes it a hard case for Harvard to win. It’d be a lot easier if that case wasn’t there, because I think they’ll have to argue that they’re being singled out, that this is politics,” he said. “If the administration can argue that it’s a violation of public policy, then the Bob Jones precedent follows.” Today, Bob Jones University, a Christian liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, has a student body of more than 2,700. In 1983, it had policies banning interracial dating and marriage among students and expelled students who violated that policy. The IRS said that because of those racially discriminatory policies, the school did not qualify for tax-exempt status. TRUMP ADMIN ASKS IRS TO REVOKE HARVARD’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS The school argued that revoking its tax-exempt status violated its religious freedom and that it was being punished for adhering to sincerely held beliefs. However, the government countered that it should not subsidize organizations—through tax breaks—that defy established public policy, particularly laws against racial discrimination. The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of the federal government in the landmark Reagan-era case. The justices determined the IRS was allowed to deny tax-exempt status to schools that practice racial discrimination since it was against public policy. Even though the school claimed religious freedom, fighting racial discrimination was a “compelling government interest.” “That is the letter of what Bob Jones said, but maybe it shouldn’t just be one university,” Henchman said. The high court held that the institutions failed to provide the “beneficial and stabilizing influences in community life” required to receive special tax status supported by taxpayers, according to the judicial archive Oyez. Because of their bans on interracial relationships, the schools could not meet that standard. The justices concluded that racial discrimination in education conflicted with a “fundamental national public policy.” While acknowledging the schools’ religious beliefs, the Court found that the government may limit religious liberties when it is necessary to serve an “overriding governmental interest,” in this case, prohibiting racial discrimination. As the court noted, “not all burdens on religion are unconstitutional.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP As such, the Trump administration argues that Harvard’s handling of antisemitism on campus should disqualify the university from keeping its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The IRS is expected to make a final decision soon, according to a report from CNN, which first broke the story.
Democrats’ vice chair ignites civil war, targeting ‘asleep at the wheel’ incumbents in primaries
A move by a top Democratic Party official to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to primary-challenge some older Democrats in blue districts is further igniting intra-party tensions that have rocked the party since President Donald Trump’s convincing election last November. The reverberations started instantly after Leaders We Deserve, a political organization led by recently elected Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chair David Hogg, announced on Wednesday that it will spend $20 million to help elect younger Democrats. The effort includes supporting primary challengers to House Democrats in safe seats that Hogg argues “are asleep at the wheel.” The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in south Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats is seen as an unprecedented action by a DNC official. FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN PARTY SHOWCASES MASSIVE HAUL “There are strong opinions on both sides,” a DNC voting member told Fox News Digital. The voting member, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely, said that “behind the scenes, people are expressing their strong opinions towards each other. There’s certainly not a consensus.” DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S FAVORABLE RATINGS DROP TO HISTORIC LOWS DNC chair Ken Martin, who along with Hogg and other party officials, were elected to their positions at the beginning of February, praised Hogg in a statement but also spotlighted the DNC’s longstanding position of staying neutral in primaries. “David Hogg is a passionate advocate and we are grateful for his service to the Democratic Party, whether it be in his role as a DNC Vice Chair or in an outside capacity,” Martin said in his statement. But Martin added, “In order to ensure we are as effective as possible at electing Democrats to office, it is the DNC’s longstanding position that primary voters — not the national party — determine their Democratic candidates for the general election.” The move by Hogg comes as the party’s base is angry, and very energized, in fighting back against Trump’s sweeping and controversial moves, since returning to the White House three months ago, in upending the federal government and longstanding national policies. That anger is directed not only at Trump and Republicans, but also at Democrats many in the party’s base feel haven’t been effective or vocal enough in pushing back against the president. CASH DASH: BERNIE SANDERS, AOC, AND OTHER LEADERS ON THE LEFT LEADING FIGHT AGAINST TRUMP SEE SURGE IN FUNDRAISING The energy has been evident at town halls this winter and early spring held by both Democratic and Republican members of Congress. And progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have drawn very large crowds to their “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies across the country over the past six weeks. Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and other politicians who are leading the fight against Trump — including Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut — have seen a surge in their fundraising over the past three months. Another leader on the left who has been among those vocal in their resistance to the Trump administration, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview that “we have to have a whole rebrand of the Democratic Party with a coherent platform and a future-oriented platform, and many leaders need to do that, new leaders, not the old guard. And I hope to be part of that.” Khanna, who was interviewed on Tuesday, ahead of Hogg’s news, added that “we need Democrats speaking out, not just on the economy. We need them speaking out on civil liberties, on the rights of immigrants and on the rights of universities.” While Democrats are increasingly energized to resist Trump, a slew of national polls earlier this year indicated the favorability ratings of the Democratic Party sinking to all-time lows. Hogg, in a series of social media posts, pointed to one of those polls as he explained his move. “The party has hit an all-time low approval rating of 27%,” Hogg wrote on X. And he argued that “too many elected leaders in the Democratic Party are either unwilling or unable to meet the moment and are asleep at the wheel while Trump is demolishing the economy, challenging the foundations of our democracy, and creating new existential crises for our country by the day.” Pointing to Democrats whom his group may target, Hogg said “through all of this, some incumbents will rise to the challenge and emerge stronger. Others will demonstrate why they should be replaced. Either way, we all win. Especially when we are not challenging frontline Democratic incumbents — we all want the House back.” A Democratic Party operative who works on campaigns and who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital that “this is unusual, but we do need some better Democrats in office and there’s been a push to have a new generation come in and replace the 70- and-80-year-olds who have been in elective positions and shown that they’re not up to the fight.” Chris Moyer, a Democratic strategist and communicator who is a veteran of presidential and statewide campaigns, noted the timing of Hogg’s move. “It’s all about how you break through, and the old ways of doing things have not worked. And this is an inflection point,” Moyer said. “So it’s understandable that there’s a desire to get some new blood into important roles and take the party in a more effective direction.” But a DNC voting member who was granted anonymity to speak more freely said that “because we are so close to winning the [House] majority, having that money spent picking up seats to win the majority is probably a better use of the funds.”