Vance says we can ‘reclaim’ society from totalitarian left if we ‘keep on fighting’
FIRST ON FOX: Vice President JD Vance said the message in a new docuseries echoed the direction of the Trump administration’s recent actions – and the rest of the world would be wise to take notice. He offered remarks Tuesday night at an exclusive screening of the film adaptation of author Rod Dreher’s “Live Not By Lies” – first-hand interviews with civilian figures throughout the postwar period who embraced Christian values to blunt totalitarian regimes and efforts from Great Britain to Czechoslovakia when it was part of the Soviet bloc Vance said he got to know Dreher after the writer asked to interview him about his book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” before the now-vice president was a fixture on the political scene. Before boarding a flight back to the U.S. from a vacation in the United Kingdom, Vance submitted written answers to Dreher and hoped for the best – his book was hovering around No. 1,000 on the Amazon list. By the time he landed in the U.S., Dreher’s write-up had propelled it to No. 16. “Hillbilly Elegy” later inspired a Ron Howard film, and helped launch Vance into the spotlight as a nationally recognized figure. He would go on to win a seat in the Senate and eventually become vice president. TRUMP TARIFFS LEAD CANADIAN BUSINESS TO OFFER ‘RAGE ROOM’ FOR TRUMP, MUSK, VANCE PORTRAITS Dreher’s book and film, which featured interviews with notable dissidents of communism and totalitarianism in the Soviet bloc and even in England today, is a lesson for people of Christian and democratic values not to lose hope and “never stop fighting,” Vance said. He said that, without the courage to act in the face of government-compelled groupthink, the traditionalist West cannot “reclaim our civilization… rebuild prosperity and opportunity [or] rebuild the kind of society where we teach children the important virtues and skills to thrive; as opposed to trying to tear our kids down, which is what I think our education system does all too often.” Without speaking up, people who seek liberty over tyranny cannot defeat the left-wing foreign policy groupthink that has become the “animating concept” in too many Western nations, the vice president added. “We’re not going to solve any of these problems unless we have the courage to speak the truth, unless we have the courage to live the truth.” One thing the traditionalist right struggles with is submitting to despair, Vance said. “This idea that because things were not going great in 2020, because things weren’t always going in our way electorally, we would give into this sense that the country that we love, the civilization that we love was always on a negative trajectory,” he said. “And I say that as not a criticism of Rod, because I, myself, have sometimes felt in the lowest moments of American politics that, maybe, this country is just not going in the right direction.” “But I think that what we’ve learned over the last few months is that the American people, and I think Western peoples, are a hell of a lot more resilient than our elites give them credit for.” Vance said “Live Not By Lies” – a phrase itself coined by Soviet exile Alexander Solzhenitsyn in one of his famous oratories – means to maintain the same optimism that is at the root of Judeo-Christian theology and therefore the root of American traditions. VANCE CALLS OUT LEFTIST HYPOCRISY AGAINST JILL STEIN, SAYING DEMS CONTRARILY WANT RFK JR OFF BALLOT “You have Western peoples calling out their governments pushing back on issues like migration and religious freedom in a way that we haven’t seen in 20 or 30 years – if we’ve ever seen it,” he said. “If we keep on fighting and we keep working and we keep on having faith and we keep on pursuing the values that we know are right, I really do believe that we are going to see great things happen… all across the West. I know the president knows this.” Vance said the message of “Live Not By Lies” has been proven in the first months of the fledgling Trump-Vance administration. “We’ve gone from a country where we would harass and threaten and investigate and even arrest pro-life protesters to one where we’re encouraging pro-life activists to do what they can to persuade their fellow Americans,” Vance said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The film and book show British pro-life leader Isabel Vaughan-Spruce recounting being arrested essentially for praying outside an abortion clinic, and feature video of London police interrogating her on the street to find out what she was praying about. “A couple of months ago, we had social media censorship run amok. We were threatening people’s right of free expression for not saying the things that Silicon Valley technology companies told them to say,” Vance went on. “Now I believe that we have more free speech on the internet today than we’ve probably had in 10 or 15 years. So we’re making progress.”
UN watchdog project calls on DOGE Caucus to ‘audit’ the International org
UNITED NATIONS – The DOGE Caucus just got a consulting offer from an initiative looking to remove waste in the United Nations. Dynamic Oversight for Global Efficiencies in the U.N. (DOGE-U.N.) is looking to help the caucus identify cost-cutting opportunities and hold the U.N. accountable. “Accountability should extend beyond domestic institutions to global organizations that America funds. And they all should operate with fiscal responsibility and proper oversight,” DOGE-U.N. wrote in a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who founded the Senate DOGE Caucus. ‘UN80 INITIATIVE’ APPEARS TO SHOW WORLD BODY’S PANIC OVER POSSIBLE DOGE-LIKE CUTS Last month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres announced the UN80 Initiative in honor of the 80th anniversary of the international organization. Despite speculation that the initiative was a response to Elon Musk’s work with DOGE, Guterres told reporters that it was completely unrelated. Guterres said the project is meant to handle the U.N.’s ongoing “liquidity crisis.” “For at least the past seven years, the United Nations has faced a liquidity crisis given the fact that not all member states pay in full, and many member states also do not pay on time,” secretary-general spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told Fox News Digital at the time. “This is about prudent spending planning to ensure that we can continue to fulfill our core functions and the mandates given to us by member states.” Hugh Dugan, the head of DOGE-U.N., told Fox News Digital that this is an opportunity to reform the U.N., which has not undergone any significant overhaul since 2000. Dugan also emphasized that the U.N. should be under this type of scrutiny more frequently and not just when the U.S. is “frustrated with” the organization. DOGE USAID BUDGET CUTS HIT UN IN ‘WORST LIQUIDITY CRISIS SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT’ Under Musk, DOGE first tackled waste at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which drew significant criticism. President Donald Trump listed several examples of the ways USAID allegedly wasted U.S. taxpayer dollars, including millions of dollars that went to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in other countries. Dugan told Fox News Digital that a significant portion of USAID funding was “funneled” through U.N. entities. He believes the “money trail will definitely be taking us through many of those entities, whether it’s peacekeeping or a U.N. development program.” In its letter, DOGE-U.N. lists several recommendations for the DOGE Caucus, including decentralizing New York-based U.N. entities to lower-cost countries, which the organization said could save “at least 40% in salaries alone.” DOGE-U.N. also recommends an audit of the U.N.’s ongoing “liquidity crisis.” The U.S. is not the only country rethinking its contributions to the international body. Dugan told Fox News Digital that other countries are also reevaluating their spending, but the U.S. is “the most colorful and biggest” because of Musk. Dugan ultimately pointed the finger at Guterres and told Fox News Digital that there are “whispers and grumblings among ambassadors” who are allegedly dissatisfied with the secretary-general’s performance. Senior U.N. insiders allegedly told Dugan that they too are “very eager” to see things turn around “sooner rather than later.” Ernst’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Pence group lashes out at Trump tariffs ahead of ‘Liberation Day’ event: ‘Tax on American consumers’
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s policy advocacy organization came out against President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day,” arguing his tariff plans “are essentially a tax on American consumers and businesses.” In a post on X on Wednesday, along with a letter to Congress, the group Americans Advancing Freedom (AAF) stated the tariffs “are essentially a tax on American consumers and businesses.” This marks one of the rare occasions when the group, founded in 2021 based on the principles of Trump’s first term, has opposed his policies. “Congress has a constitutional responsibility to reclaim its authority over taxation,” AAF’s general counsel Marc Wheat wrote in the letter. TRUMP’S 11TH WEEK IN OFFICE SET TO FOCUS ON TARIFFS AS PRESIDENT TOUTS ‘LIBERATION DAY’ Wheat said Congress could achieve this by passing Sen. Mike Lee’s Article One Act, which was introduced in 2023 under the Biden administration. The bill would require Congress to approve national emergency declarations declared by the president within 30 days as well as place other barriers around such orders. “The Framers knew from experience the dangers of abuse of the taxing power,” Wheat wrote. Trump is expected to roll out his plan for reciprocal tariffs, which would impose higher taxes on countries that export goods to the U.S. on Wednesday afternoon, dubbing it “Liberation Day.” CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY SAYS ‘OLD RELATIONSHIP’ WITH US ‘IS OVER’ AMID TENSION OVER TRUMP TARIFFS “April 2, 2025, will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Tuesday’s White House press briefing. “Our country has been one of the most open economies in the world, and we have the consumer base, hands down – the best consumer base. But too many foreign countries have their markets closed to our exports. This is fundamentally unfair.” “The lack of reciprocity contributes to our large and persistent annual trade deficit that’s gutted our industries and hollowed out key workforces,” she continued. “But those days of America, beginning tomorrow, being ripped off, are over. American workers and businesses will be put first under President Trump, just as he promised on the campaign trail.” TRUMP PRESSES 4 GOP SENATORS AHEAD OF ANTI-CANADIAN TARIFF VOTE, ACCUSING THEM OF ‘TDS’ The White House has been discreet about Trump’s planned tariff announcement, only explaining reciprocal tariffs will restore fairness to U.S. trading after decades of disproportionate trade deals with other countries. “I think it’s going to be something that’s going to bring a lot of wealth back to our country, tremendous wealth back to our country, actually,” Trump told the media Monday. “And, other countries are understanding, because they’ve been ripping us for 50 years, longer.” Trump and his administration said the tariff plan will boost business in the U.S. by encouraging companies to establish operations on American soil to bypass the tariffs, thereby creating job opportunities for American workers. In February, Trump signed executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on most goods imported from Canada and Mexico – citing national security concerns related to drug trafficking and illegal immigration – with Canadian oil and energy exports facing a 10% tariff. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
FBI flooded with record number of new agent applications in Kash Patel’s first month leading bureau
FIRST ON FOX: The FBI received a record number of new agent applications in Director Kash Patel’s first full month leading the bureau, with the flood of law enforcement job-seekers nearly doubling the monthly average since 2016. There were 5,577 new FBI agent applications submitted in March, Fox News Digital has learned. The last time the bureau saw a monthly figure even close to that number was April 2016, with 5,283 applications. By comparison, the monthly average in 2023 was 2,797 applications, with 3,383 applications per month in 2024, according to FBI data reviewed by Fox News Digital. KASH PATEL TAKES REINS AT SCANDAL-RIDDEN FBI WITH ‘AMERICA ALWAYS’ MINDSET: ‘LET GOOD COPS BE COPS’ “Director Patel and Deputy Director (Dan) Bongino have put a major emphasis on restoring confidence in federal law enforcement and boosting new agent recruiting,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “These record early returns certainly suggest the new FBI is heading in the right direction.” Since January, the FBI has seen more than 10,000 new agent applications, according to FBI data. In January, the first month of the Trump administration and the month of Patel’s nomination and confirmation hearing, the FBI saw 4,143 applications to join the bureau – the first time the bureau had seen a month of new agent applications in the 4,000s since August 2020. TOP FIVE TAKEDOWNS: KASH PATEL’S FBI HITS THE GROUND RUNNING WITH MAJOR EARLY VICTORIES “The record number of FBI job applications in March shows that people are inspired by Kash Patel’s commitment to restoring integrity and effectiveness at the bureau,” Patel advisor Erica Knight told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Americans are putting their trust in his leadership to rebuild the FBI and keep our communities safe.” And, Knight told Fox News Digital, “this is just the beginning.” “Kash is dedicated to creating a stronger, more trusted FBI that serves the American people the way it was always meant to,” Knight said. During his Senate confirmation hearing in late January, Patel illustrated the “erosion of trust” at the bureau, pointing to polling revealing that “only 40% of Americans hold a favorable view of the FBI.” “This must change,” Patel testified. “Public cooperation is vital for the bureau to solve crimes, and its declining reputation is already affecting recruitment efforts.” FBI LAUNCHES TASK FORCE TO CRACK DOWN ON VIOLENT TESLA ATTACKS, MIGRANT THREATS The record number of new agent applications comes as Patel and Bongino put a heavy emphasis on new agent recruiting and restoring law enforcement morale by “letting good cops be cops.” In March, Patel released an FBI recruitment video, showing the director in the field with agents and highlighting footage from the hostage rescue team facility urging people to join the team. The video ends with a graphic showing the FBI seal, and the words: “A renewed mission. A stronger future.” “Apply today at FBIJobs.gov,” the video says. Patel and Bongino also have privately emphasized to their staff the importance of boosting local partner engagement. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Sources familiar told Fox News Digital that Patel has instructed his team to offer full and total support to the families of fallen officers, while Bongino has personally reached out and met with the uniformed officers on FBI ground to thank them for their work that “often goes unnoticed.” “Our team will continue to recruit the best law enforcement personnel in the country,” Williamson told Fox News Digital. “We hope to see even more brave men and women want to be a part of what we’re building.”
Booker called filibuster an ‘abuse of power’ years before setting Senate speech record
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., condemned the Senate filibuster as an “abuse of power” in 2022, years before his party praised him for launching the “longest filibuster in U.S. Senate history” on Tuesday. Booker set the record for longest Senate floor speech at 25 hours and 5 minutes after starting to speak at 7 p.m. on Monday. The filibuster has been a deeply controversial tool for the Senate in recent years, with many Democrats condemning the practice during President Joe Biden’s administration as Republicans used it to foil his agenda. “The filibuster has been abused to stop reforms supported by the vast majority of Americans—from background checks to protecting the right to vote. We must stop this abuse of power,” Booker wrote on X in January 2022. Booker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. DEM SENATOR SAYS PARTY BRAND IS ‘REALLY PROBLEMATIC’ AND LED TO THE LOSS OF TRUST OF WORKING-CLASS VOTERS Former Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who was the lone Democrat to oppose abolishing the filibuster during Biden’s administration, has poked fun at Democrats who criticized her at the time. DEM SENATOR BEHIND SOCIAL MEDIA FAIL RESPONDS TO ELON MUSK’S OFFER “Maybe it isn’t an old Jim Crow relic, after all,” she quipped about Booker’s performance on Tuesday, referencing President Barack Obama’s description of the filibuster. Sinema specifically called out Rep. Pramila Jayapal. D-Wash., who condemned the “Jim Crow filibuster” just last year. Jayapal changed her tune when Republicans were trying to pass a continuing resolution in March, urging Democrats in the Senate, “Don’t betray working families. Don’t give Trump and Elon Musk a blank check. Don’t be complicit in the slashing of government programs. Vote NO on cloture and NO on final passage of Republicans’ bad bill.” WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS? Cloture is the Senate term for ending a filibuster, causing Sinema to chime in, “Just surprised to see support for the ‘Jim Crow filibuster’ here,” she wrote. Booker himself has flipped on the issue multiple times. He gave a firm defense of the filibuster in 2019 before his call to remove it in 2022. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He said at the time that Democrats “should not be doing anything to mess with the strength of the filibuster.” “I will personally resist efforts to get rid of it,” he said.
Dem AGs take Trump-Kennedy HHS to court over cuts to COVID-era grants
More than 20 Democratic attorneys general are joining forces to take Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to court to halt spending cuts he has authorized within the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department in alignment with President Donald Trump’s goal of cutting waste and downsizing the federal government. “I cannot overstate how reckless and illegal these cuts are,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement Tuesday. The cuts, which were announced last week and began Tuesday, include firing some 10,000 federal health employees across its major agencies – roughly 20% of its workforce – as well as slashing billions of dollars in public health grants. HHS DOWNSIZING BEGINS AMID RFK JR. ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ PUSH: ‘WIN-WIN FOR TAXPAYERS’ Those public health grants, amounting to $12 billion, were earmarked for states during the COVID-19 pandemic for testing and vaccinations. The HHS justified the cuts because the “COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.” HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a media statement last week that “HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.“ However, Mayes, alongside 23 other Democratic state attorneys general, argue the cuts will impact the health of their states. “By slashing these grants, the Trump administration has launched an all-out attack on Arizona’s public health system—harming the entire state, but hitting rural communities the hardest. These cuts target the very places that rely most on this critical funding,” Mayes said. “Eliminating it would devastate our already precarious system and cost jobs across Arizona, from doctors to tribal health workers. I will fight this every step of the way.” RFK JR BACKS WV PUSH FOR SNAP WAIVERS, WORK MANDATES UNDER ‘MAHA’ The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island, claims the “unlawful withholding of funds has already caused substantial confusion and will result in immediate and devastating harm” to the residents of 23 states and the District of Columbia. Attorneys general from Rhode Island, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., are listed as plaintiffs. The department has been preparing to make major cuts in recent weeks across its health agencies, especially pertaining to administrative costs and DEI-related spending. HOSPITALS WARNED THEY MUST PROTECT CHILDREN FROM CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL MUTILATION: HHS AGENCY MEMO On Tuesday, federal health employees began receiving notices of termination. The Associated Press also reported there were lines wrapped around the HHS building of employees trying to find out whether they still had a job. According to the HHS, the layoffs “will save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year” and “streamline” functions of the department while ensuring that essential services like Medicare and Medicaid continue without disruption. “We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” the HHS secretary said in a statement. “This Department will do more – a lot more – at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”
Judge blocks Trump admin from firing federal probationary workers
A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from firing federal probationary workers in 19 states and Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge James Bredar’s order directs 18 federal agencies to “undo” the “purported terminations” of thousands of probationary federal workers before Tuesday, April 8th, though the order only applies to states whose attorneys general brought the case. The states impacted by Wednesday’s ruling include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Bredar’s order is only the latest move by federal courts to hamper Trump’s agenda, though it falls short of the nationwide injunctions used in other instances. SCOOP: TOP REPUBLICAN CHUCK GRASSLEY SETS PROMPT HEARING ON JUDGES BLOCKING TRUMP Since Trump entered office, he has faced a slew of nationwide injunctions to halt actions of his administration. So far in his new term, the courts have hit him with roughly 15 wide-ranging orders, more than former Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden received during their entire tenures. GOP SENATOR SAYS DR OZ IGNORED HIS QUESTIONS ON TRANSGENDER ISSUES, ABORTION Some of those who have ordered the Trump administration to halt certain actions are U.S. District Judges James Boasberg, Amir Ali, Loren AliKhan, William Alsup, Deborah Boardman, John Coughenour, Paul A. Engelmayer, Amy Berman Jackson, Angel Kelley, Brendan A. Hurson, Royce Lamberth, Joseph Laplante, John McConnell and Leo Sorokin. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich condemned the wave of injunctions as a “judicial coup d’etat” during testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Tuesday. The former lawmaker highlighted that the vast majority of judges filing injunctions or restraining orders against Trump’s executive actions have been appointed by Democrats. ‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO “If you look at the recent reports from various polling firms, clearly a majority of Americans believe that no single district judge should be able to issue a nationwide injunction,” Gingrich responded. “Look, my judgment is as a historian. This is clearly a judicial coup d’etat. You don’t have this many different judges issue this many different nationwide injunctions – all of them coming from the same ideological and political background – and just assume it’s all random efforts of justice,” he continued. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “This is a clear effort to stop the scale of change that President Trump represents,” he added. Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report
Trump, Senate GOP budget leaders huddle at White House on reconciliation bill
President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Budget Committee Republicans are meeting at the White House on Wednesday morning as discussions on how to extend the 2017 tax cuts continue and a key budget process to advance Trump’s agenda hangs in the balance. Notably, the meeting is taking place ahead of a Trump event in the Rose Garden, during which the president will discuss his new tariffs. The Wednesday White House meeting is meant to be less of a debate on how to proceed and more of a final check-in to make sure all parties are on the same page, a source familiar told Fox News Digital. DISTRICT JUDGES’ ORDERS BLOCKING TRUMP AGENDA FACE HEARING IN TOP SENATE COMMITTEE Trump and Senate Republicans’ discussion is just the latest of several meetings on both the House and Senate sides, hammering out details on how to maneuver a House-passed budget reconciliation bill through the upper chamber. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was spotted leaving at least one of the congressional meetings on Wednesday and has been a fixture on Capitol Hill amid the reconciliation debate. Initially, there was stark disagreement between GOP leaders in the House and Senate over how to organize a reconciliation bill, which is a key tool for the Trump administration and Republican majorities, because it lowers the vote threshold in the Senate, bypassing the legislative filibuster. DEMS MUM ON TRUMP’S COURT FIGHTS DESPITE TRYING TO LIMIT BIDEN-BLOCKING JUDGES Senate Republicans largely preferred splitting the priorities of the Trump administration into two reconciliation bills, the first of which would address the southern border’s urgent needs and a later bill would extend Trump’s hallmark 2017 tax cuts. But House Republicans, who have less space for dissent with their slim majority, made it clear they would only accept one reconciliation bill that included border funding and tax cut extensions. The House and Senate both passed separate resolutions, but Trump has voiced his support for one bill on multiple occasions and Senate Republicans themselves described their resolution as a backup plan to the House’s. FORMER DESANTIS OFFICIAL DEFEATS DEM FOR MATT GAETZ’S HOUSE SEAT Now, the Senate is charged with taking up the House’s bill, including border and tax cuts, in order to complete the budget reconciliation process for Trump. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News he would be at the 11 a.m. meeting. He said he planned to bring up the debt limit, which will need to be extended soon. In particular, he wants to discuss raising the debt limit in the budget reconciliation resolution. WHITE HOUSE WARNS OF TRUMP VETO IF TIM KAINE ‘STUNT’ VOTE TO CANCEL TARIFFS PASSES SENATE According to the Republican, Trump hasn’t been highly communicative to Republicans about his position on the debt limit’s inclusion in this particular bill. But Kennedy believes they should raise the debt limit via reconciliation to ensure Republicans don’t need to negotiate with Democrats to avert default down the line.
Daughter of late Dem congressman launches campaign for father’s seat: ‘Building something powerful’
The daughter of the late Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., will run for her father’s seat in the upcoming special election for the solidly Democrat-leaning district. Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva announced her campaign for Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District on Monday, making good on the promise to make her decision clear after her father’s funeral. She noted in her launch video posted to X that she is the daughter of “a man who spent his life fighting for justice, equity, and dignity for the most vulnerable communities.” DEMOCRATIC REP. RAUL GRIJALVA DEAD AT 77 “From working as a vaquero to serving the people in the halls of Congress in a single generation. That’s the promise of this country, and that’s the legacy that’s helped shape me,” she added. “This is the America that I want to raise my three beautiful children in. But today, that idea of America is under a serious threat,” the Democrat added, saying that President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and a “gang of billionaires” are taking aim at the “most sacred rights” in the country. Grijalva quickly reached the signature threshold necessary to make the Democratic primary ballot within the day. The primary election is on July 15, and the general election is on Sept. 23. TRUMP NOMINATES FORMER ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR US AMBASSADOR TO SERBIA “In less than five hours since launching our campaign, we have collected enough signatures to be on the ballot,” she said in a video shortly following her launch. For Democrats, a minimum of 798 verified signatures is required to make the ballot in the race and a maximum of 31,906 signatures, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The Democratic congressman died last month after a battle with lung cancer. Grijalva will be facing off against former state Rep. Daniel Hernandez, who recently touted over $200,000 in campaign coffers. “WOW!!! We just hit $200,000 raised since we launched on Monday. I’m BLOWN AWAY by the support—and ready to get to work. We’re building something powerful in Arizona. Let’s keep it going!!!!!!!” Hernandez posted last week. BORDER COMMUNITY REVEALS WHAT TRUMP ADMIN STILL NEEDS TO ACCOMPLISH AS CRISIS CALMS DOWN: ‘UNDUE BURDENS’ Secretary of State Adrian Fontes was mulling a bid for the seat, but decided against it and expressed plans to run for re-election instead. “I will continue to defend America as Arizona’s Secretary of State,” Fontes said in a statement on March 26. The district itself spans much of the southern border of the Grand Canyon State.
Reporter’s Notebook: April Fools’ on Capitol Hill
These aren’t April Fools’ pranks. Yes, director Oliver Stone actually testified at a House hearing on the JFK assassination on April Fools’ Day this year. It was the first congressional hearing on President John F. Kennedy’s death since 1992. Stone then held a press availability. BOOKER CONCLUDES RECORD 25-HOUR SPEECH AGAINST TRUMP, MUSK MARKING THE LONGEST EVER ON THE SENATE FLOOR Not on the grassy knoll. But in a corridor outside the hearing room. Surely this next item is an April Fools’ prank. Yes, House Republicans scheduled a hearing on what they believe is overreach by federal judges in their rulings against the Trump administration. And then a small group of Republicans blocked the House from even debating a GOP bill to rein in those judges. The reason? A dispute over whether the House should allow members who are pregnant or are new moms to vote remotely. ANNA PAULINA LUNA FORCES HOUSE LEADERSHIP’S HAND ON PROXY VOTING AS GOP WAR ESCALATES House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., then sent the House home for the week Tuesday afternoon – after less than two days of work. You can’t make this stuff up. Or what about Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., giving a speech to rail against the Trump administration on the Senate floor which began at 7 p.m. ET on March 31 – but didn’t conclude until after 8 p.m. ET on April 1? In the process, Booker broke the Senate record for the longest speech in Senate history: 25 hours and five minutes. Booker bested the old mark of 24 hours and 18 minutes set by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., in 1957 over a civil rights bill. But the hardest thing to believe about Booker’s marathon speech? A reporter asked the New Jersey Democrat if he wore a catheter or a diaper to get through the 25-hour stretch. April Fool? “I don’t want my doctor to get mad at me, but I spent time dehydrating myself beforehand so I did not have to go to the bathroom,” said Booker. “My strategy was to stop eating. I think I stopped eating on Friday. And then to stop drinking the night before I started on Monday.” Now, the greatest April Fools’ joke of all? Despite Booker’s protracted oratory, one can argue that he wasn’t “filibustering.” “Filibustering” in the Senate is in the eye of the beholder. Or the mouth of the senator. The Senate features unlimited debate. And the act of “filibustering” carries a negative connotation. Opponents may pejoratively deride the other side as “filibustering” their bill or a nomination. But a senator might claim they’re not filibustering. They’re simply using a Senate prerogative. But it’s an issue of debate whether Booker was actually “holding something up.” That’s the most defining characteristic of a filibuster. A senator can derail or delay Senate business. On the one hand, the Senate had no votes officially locked in for Tuesday. The Senate voted (ironically) to break a filibuster on the nomination of Matthew Whitaker to serve as ambassador to NATO at 7 p.m. ET Monday. That’s when Booker began his speech. By rule, the Senate can take up to 30 hours after cracking a filibuster before the confirmation vote takes place. It was presumed that the Senate would vote at some point on Tuesday to confirm Whitaker. Whitaker’s nomination wasn’t the most controversial thing before the Senate. But if senators consumed all the time afforded them after vaulting the filibuster, the Senate would automatically vote to confirm Whitaker at 1 a.m. ET Wednesday. That’s 30 hours after clearing the filibuster. So, it can be argued that Booker had a window under which to operate – which might make his address just a really long speech – and not a filibuster. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., hoped to force a vote on a resolution to kneecap President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada on Tuesday. It would end the president’s emergency declaration to justify the tariffs. But that roll call vote wasn’t set either. So that means Booker wasn’t necessarily filibustering. WHITE HOUSE WARNS OF TRUMP VEOT IF TIM KAINE ‘STUNT’ VOTE TO CANCEL TARIFFS PASSES SENATE Hollywood and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” imbued the public consciousness with the idea that a lengthy speech is automatically a filibuster. And often very dramatic. But in the Senate, most filibusters are silent. “Filibustering” is frequently the threat that senators will oppose something. Or, at the very least, oppose something so that the majority leader must jump through procedural hurdles to clear a filibuster. That’s what the Senate executed Monday night with a procedural vote to end the filibuster on the Whitaker nomination. So Booker’s stem-winder may have just been a slight delay. But not a filibuster in the most conventional sense. The Senate confirmed Whitaker Tuesday night after Booker concluded. But it’s also worth noting that Booker did not speak consecutively for 25-plus hours. So, was this truly a record-breaking speech? Yes, but a more accurate way to characterize his feat is that Booker established a new record for holding the Senate floor the longest. During his speech, Booker would periodically “yield for a question” to a colleague while “maintaining” his right to the floor. Booker would speak for a while. And when his voice grew raspy, he’d yield to a host of Democrats: Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. They’d each speak for 10 or 15 minutes. And then punctuate the end of their speech with an interrogative – sending things back over to Booker. This is “legal” in the Senate. Booker still had control of the floor so long as he remained standing. But it gave him a timeout to relax and recharge for a few moments. Kind of like calling in a relief pitcher from the bullpen for an inning or two. In track and field, officials sometimes dot a record-breaking sprint with an asterisk – noting that the mark was “wind