Climate groups sue Trump administration over EPA’s bombshell deregulation decision
Climate activist groups sued President Donald Trump‘s administration on Wednesday in an effort to block officials from undercutting environmental regulations. The lawsuit targets the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to revoke an Obama-era “endangerment finding” that serves as the underpinning for sweeping climate regulations. The finding, which the administration announced plans to revoke last week, asserted that pollution and climate change constitute harm to the American people. The lawsuit names the EPA and its administrator, Lee Zeldin, as plaintiffs. “EPA’s repeal of the endangerment finding and safeguards to limit vehicle emissions marks a complete dereliction of the agency’s mission to protect people’s health and its legal obligation under the Clean Air Act,” said Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO at the Union of Concerned Scientists, one of the groups behind the lawsuit. “This shameful and dangerous action by the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Zeldin is rooted in falsehoods not facts and is at complete odds with the public interest and the best available science,” Goldman added. TRUMP ADMIN EYES OVERTURNING BIDEN’S GREEN ENERGY LEGACY TO TUNE OF $7B Nearly 20 groups signed on to the lawsuit, including the American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and others. The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The 2009 “endangerment finding” identified six greenhouse gases that the Obama administration said pose “a threat to public health and welfare.” That harm finding was used to justify climate regulations from the EPA such as raising fuel economy standards and limiting power plant emissions. TEXAS CHALLENGES NEWSOM’S GAS CAR CRACKDOWN, WARNING CALIFORNIA CAN’T DICTATE US AUTO MARKET Zeldin hailed the move as cutting through government red tape in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week. “This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,” Zeldin said. Trump held an event at the White House last week with Zeldin and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. There they announced a new initiative for the Department of War to purchase electricity from coal-powered plants. The Washington Coal Club also named Trump the “Undisputed Champion of Coal” during the event. Trump has been consistently critical of global warming claims and climate regulation throughout both of his terms in office, famously withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement when he first took office in 2017.
Strategy session: Trump’s team huddles on midterm messaging with spotlight on economy
It’s all about the economy. That was the message from top members of President Donald Trump’s political team, as they huddled in a closed-door strategy session with Trump administration Cabinet members and their top aides on how best to sell the president’s agenda to voters in this year’s midterm elections. The meeting, which was confirmed to Fox News by sources familiar with the gathering, was hosted by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff James Blair, who is steering Trump’s political strategy. According to sources, the message during a slide presentation by chief pollster and strategist Tony Fabrizio was that the economy will be the top issue on the minds of voters, and that the White House needs to spotlight its efforts on easing affordability. TRUMP HITS THE ROAD TO SELL ECONOMIC WINS, AS REPUBLICANS BRACE FOR HIGH-STAKES MIDTERM SHOWDOWN The meeting was held as the GOP works to defend their control of the Senate and their razor-thin House majority in November’s midterms. Republicans are facing traditional political headwinds in the midterms, when the party in power usually loses House and Senate seats. Republicans are also dealing with the president’s continued underwater approval ratings, and a slew of surveys, including the latest Fox News polling, that indicates Americans are pessimistic about the economy and say things have not improved in the year since Trump returned to the White House. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING Meanwhile, Democrats have scored a series of ballot box victories and overperformances in off-year elections and special elections during Trump’s second administration, thanks to their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. Trump wasn’t at the meeting, according to sources. But he’s expected to spotlight the economy and his administration’s achievements when he holds a political event Thursday in battleground Georgia, which is holding key elections for the Senate and governor this year. IMMIGRATION ONCE FUELED TRUMP’S 2024 WIN — NOW SAGGING APPROVAL TESTS GOP GRIP ON CONGRESS And the president will have an even bigger spotlight next week, when he delivers the annual State of the Union address. Vice President JD Vance offered a taste of the messaging in an interview Tuesday on Fox News’ “The Story.” Pointing to former President Joe Biden‘s administration, Vance argued, “We’re still digging out of the hole the Democrats put us in. And I think the question we’re going to put to the American people is, do you want to give the government back over to the people who, frankly, burned down the house and made most Americans much less wealthy and much less safe? Or do you want to double down on the president’s leadership?” The Tuesday evening meeting took place at the Capitol Hill Club, a private venue popular among political insiders that’s located next to the Republican National Committee’s headquarters, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Besides messaging, sources say the meeting also focused on polling and the 2026 electoral map, with top Trump political aides walking those attending the gathering through new data on key midterm battlegrounds. And they also emphasized the importance of Cabinet officials hitting the trail as key surrogates to sell the president’s agenda.
House GOP moves to cement Trump energy agenda by taking sledgehammer to Biden-era regulations
FIRST ON FOX: A newly proposed bill by House Republicans would cement President Donald Trump’s energy agenda by taking a sledgehammer to a vast array of his Democratic predecessor’s regulations. Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Texas, is introducing legislation that would give all future energy-related regulations a five-year sunset window, while requiring many existing rules to be amended with a one-year expiry pending a review process. It comes after Trump levied a similar executive order that would target energy red tape imposed by former President Joe Biden during his first year in office. But if Goldman’s bill becomes law, it would significantly hamstring the ability of future Democratic administrations to impose new long-term energy policies like Biden’s, many of which Republicans have panned as burdensome and unnecessary. TRUMP ADMIN TO REPEAL OBAMA-ERA GREENHOUSE GAS FINDING IN LARGE-SCALE DEREGULATION He argued to Fox News Digital that those regulations were compounding the rising costs Americans have seen in their daily lives. “It is going through and looking at every single cost, basically from start to finish, of energy costs, and how it affects every single American taxpayer,” Goldman said of his legislation. “All anyone has to do is look at where they were a year and a half ago with costs of certain things. It was all based on regulations passed by the Biden administration, and that’s exactly what we hope to cut and codify.” The Texas Republican pointed out that increased energy costs, including prices at the gas pump, bled into other facets of Americans’ daily lives. “My dad and I owned a wine and food store and, yeah, when gas prices went up, the guy who drove the 18-wheeler full of cheese from Chicago, Illinois, charged us an extra $2,000 for that delivery because his gas prices were up tremendously. And so we couldn’t afford to eat that cost, so the cheese prices went up,” he said as an example. “Everything that every single American taxpayer touches — whether they know it or not, when energy prices are high, their cost of living is in turn going to be high.” TRUMP ADMIN’S ENERGY AGENDA HAILED FOR CRUCIAL ‘WINS’ AS GREEN ACTIVISTS LASH OUT His legislation would primarily target regulations issued under major energy and land laws overseen by the Departments of Energy and Interior. The House has already voted to roll back a number of Biden-era regulatory policies so far this term and with bipartisan support. Last month, 11 Democrats voted with Republicans to overturn Biden administration regulations on showerhead pressure. Both the House and Senate passed resolutions early last year to overturn Biden-era regulations targeting water heaters, with six Democrats joining Republicans in the House on that measure. Rising energy costs have been targeted by both parties as they make competing arguments ahead of the November 2026 midterms. But Goldman is arguing that Democrats have less of a footing to talk about affordability with select goods like gas seeing a decrease in prices this year. “We pushed back, and we made people realize, ‘No, wait a minute. Let’s talk about affordability. Let’s talk about where the cost of things were just over a year and two months ago, before Donald Trump came into office and before Republicans could push through good legislation that President Trump signed,” Goldman said. “I kind of find it quite interesting that all of a sudden the buzzword affordability isn’t much talked about anymore.” Co-sponsors of Goldman’s bill include Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Reps. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, Randy Weber, R-Texas, Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., and Barry Moore, R-Ala. A Senate counterpart was introduced by Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho.
Mysterious 2020 explosion in China had hallmarks of nuclear test, US official alleges
A senior U.S. official offered new details Tuesday night about an alleged nuclear bomb test conducted by China in June 2020. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Yeaw spoke at a Hudson Institute event in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, and said evidence of the explosion came from a seismic station in Kazakhstan. The station detected a magnitude 2.75 explosion located at China’s Lop Nur test grounds on June 22, 2020. “I’ve looked at additional data since then. There is very little possibility I would say that it is anything but an explosion, a singular explosion,” Yeaw said, adding that data was not consistent with mining detonations. “It’s also entirely not consistent with an earthquake,” he added. “It is… what you would expect with a nuclear explosive test.” DEMOCRATS FIGHT TO BLOCK TRUMP’S ‘RECKLESS AND UNNECESSARY’ CALL TO RESTART NUCLEAR TESTING China’s embassy in Washington has rejected the Trump administration’s claim, telling NBC News that the report is “political manipulation,” and the U.S. is “evading its own nuclear disarmament responsibilities.” “China urges the U.S. to reaffirm the five nuclear-weapon states’ commitment on refraining from nuclear tests, uphold the global consensus against nuclear tests, and take concrete steps to safeguard the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu told the outlet. U.S. officials warned that Beijing may be preparing tests in the “hundreds of tons” range — a scale that underscores China’s accelerating nuclear modernization and complicates efforts to draw Beijing into arms control talks. WORLD ENTERS UNCHARTED ERA AS US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR TREATY EXPIRES, OPENING DOOR TO FASTEST ARMS RACE IN DECADES Thomas DiNanno, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said recently that the United States has evidence China conducted an explosive nuclear test at its Lop Nur site. “I can reveal that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons,” DiNanno said during remarks at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament. He added, “China conducted one such yield-producing nuclear test on June 22 of 2020.” DiNanno also accused Beijing of using “decoupling” — detonating devices in ways that dampen seismic signals — to “hide its activities from the world.” China’s foreign ministry has denied the allegations, accusing Washington of politicizing nuclear issues and reiterating that Beijing maintains a voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing. The accusation has sharpened questions about verification, deterrence and whether the U.S. stockpile stewardship program — which relies on advanced simulations rather than live detonations — remains sufficient in an era of renewed great-power nuclear competition.
Immigration judge blocks deportation of Columbia anti-Israel agitator
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump‘s administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a pro-Palestinian protest leader who led anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University. Judge Nina Froes terminated the case after saying federal authorities made a procedural error and failed to certify a document they attempted to submit as evidence. “I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government’s attempts to trample on due process,” Mahdawi said in a statement. “This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice.” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin condemned the ruling on Tuesday, saying the Trump administration remains committed to removing Mahdawi’s visa. TRUMP ADMIN CRACKS DOWN ANTISEMITISM AS DOJ OFFICIAL EXPOSES ‘VIOLENT RHETORIC’ OF RADICAL PROTESTERS “No activist judge, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that,” she said. Froes’ ruling relates to a document submitted as evidence by federal attorneys. The document referenced Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying noncitizens can be expelled from the country if their presence may undermine U.S. foreign policy interests. Froes wrote in her ruling that government attorneys submitted a photocopy of the document to the court, but they failed to certify it as required under federal law. FEDERAL JUDGE SIDES WITH ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL, HALTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DEPORTATION BID Mahdawi, 34, was detained in April 2025 during a citizenship appointment in Vermont and spent more than two weeks in custody. He was later released on bail after filing a habeas corpus petition. A federal judge ordered that he not be deported or removed from the state and was released under an order issued by U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford in Burlington. According to the 2025 court filing, Mahdawi co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack. He founded the group with Mahmoud Khalil. MORE THAN A DOZEN ANTI-ICE AGITATORS HAULED AWAY BY NYPD NEAR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Mahdawi’s deportation case also stems in part from allegations dating back to 2015, when he was interviewed by the FBI after reportedly making antisemitic remarks at a Vermont gun store and a firearms museum. According to court documents previously cited by Fox News Digital, the store owner said Mahdawi expressed interest in purchasing firearms, including a sniper rifle and an automatic weapon. The owner said Mahdawi claimed he had experience building modified 9mm submachine guns “to kill Jews while he was in Palestine.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sanders-endorsed Senate candidate knocked for alleged flip-flop to ‘have it both ways’ on key issue
A Democratic Senate candidate endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is being slammed for allegedly flip-flopping on one of his primary campaign issues. Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive candidate who previously ran an unsuccessful bid for Michigan governor, has made “Medicare-for-all” a hallmark of his Senate campaign. However, as the Michigan Senate primary race heats up, El-Sayed’s Democratic opponent, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, is accusing him of backing down from a full “Medicare-for-all” stance and of “rewriting definitions to have it both ways.” MEET THE NEW ‘SQUAD’: THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRUMP-ERA PROGRESSIVE CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES Roxie Richner, an El-Sayed campaign spokesperson, responded by telling Fox News Digital, “Dr. El-Sayed is and has always been for ‘Medicare-for-all’ — guaranteed public health insurance for every American. Cradle to grave. No premiums, deductibles, or co-pays.” “Dr. El-Sayed would be the first Democratic doctor elected to the U.S. Senate since 1969, and he looks forward to passing ‘Medicare-for-all’ into law,” added Richner. El-Sayed’s campaign website page on “A Healthier America” cites a book he co-authored in 2021 in which he wrote that limiting private alternatives to “Medicare-for-all” would be important to ensuring providers accepted the insurance. The book advocates for “Medicare-for-all” as a type of “monopsony” in healthcare, in which there is only a single buyer of medical services, the government. “By insuring all Americans, M4A becomes a monopsony in healthcare. This is different from a monopoly, where there’s only one seller of a good; in a monopsony there’s only one buyer of a good. That gives the single buyer considerable negotiating leverage, which Medicare could use to rein in the cost of drugs, hospital stays, and physician services,” the book reads. In a November post on X, El-Sayed explained that this monopsony “would instantaneously create a disciplining feature against rising prices,” because it “takes out the profit motive on the payer end of the transaction.” The book further states that “because alternatives to M4A [Medicare-for-all] would be limited, participation of providers would be virtually guaranteed.” “Instead of spending time and money dealing with the arcane requirements of hundreds of different health plans […] providers could use one streamlined system that would free up resources to focus on clinical care,” the books reads. The latest version of the federal “Medicare-for-all” Act, introduced in the Senate by Sanders, includes language that would effectively ban most comprehensive private insurance plans and relegate private insurers to providing limited supplemental care. The legislation would make it unlawful for “a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act; or (2) an employer to provide benefits for an employee, former employee, or the dependents of an employee or former employee that duplicate the benefits provided under this Act.” MICHIGAN FAMILY SAYS COUNTY SEIZED HOME OVER TAX BILL THEY DIDN’T OWE — CASE NOW HEADS TO THE SUPREME COURT El-Sayed testified before the Senate in support of the “Medicare-for-all” Act in 2022, calling it “the clearest pathway to universal, durable healthcare insurance, bar none” and saying that “cradle to grave coverage would do away with the premiums, co pays, deductibles that leave even privately insured Americans rationing their healthcare today.” The year before, in an interview with NerdWallet, El-Sayed said that under a “Medicare-for-all” plan, the government would be “buying you out” of your private insurance plan but would allow “a few insurance companies that offered a sort of concierge-level service for folks who wanted to pay for that.” In a 2024 episode of the “America Dissected” podcast, El-Sayed emphasized that “we don’t really need private health insurance in this country.” He said that “private health insurance is a system by which you have a middleman in our healthcare system making a tremendous amount of money that is leading to a number of the biggest problems in American healthcare whether that’s the fact that our costs continue to spiral upward, whether that’s the fact that nearly ten million people in our country don’t get health insurance at all, or it’s the fact that we are consistently in this country, unable to guarantee, even people who are insurance access to the health care they need.” In October, El-Sayed knocked McMorrow for advocating for allowing a public option under universal healthcare, writing on X, “a public option can’t deliver healthcare to every Michigander. Medicare for All can.” Politico, in December, reported El-Sayed slamming McMorrow’s call for universal healthcare with a public option as “incoherent.” “Now a public option is exactly that; it’s just an option. There is no reason why it would actually address any of the foundational problems in our system. It wouldn’t bring down the rising costs. It wouldn’t guarantee people healthcare, and we don’t really know how much it would cost,” he said. Yet, while speaking on the Brian Tyler Cohen podcast in January, El-Sayed suggested that under “Medicare-for-all,” “if you like your insurance from your employer or from your union, that can still be there for you.” PROGRESSIVES NOTCH ANOTHER WIN OVER DEMOCRATIC MODERATES AS SANDERS-AOC ALLY NEARS CONGRESS Days later, speaking on radio channel WDET, he again said, “‘Medicare-for-all’ is government health insurance guaranteed for everyone, regardless of what circumstances you’re in. If you like your insurance through your employer or through your union, I hope that’ll be there for you. But if you lose your job, if your factory shuts down, you shouldn’t be destitute without the healthcare that you need and deserve.” He also said, “If you have a public option, what happens is, the private health insurance system will try to dump all of the most expensive patients onto that public option, vastly increasing the cost of that public option and making it unsustainable.” El-Sayed’s campaign website states that he “believes in expanding Medicare to cover every single American from cradle to grave while sustaining the option for workers to keep supplemental private insurance their unions or employers may provide.” Amid criticism from McMorrow, El-Sayed doubled down on his “Medicare-for-all” messaging in a January fundraising message, in
Vance, Harris, Obama issue tributes to Rev Jesse Jackson
Vice President JD Vance, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama were among the prominent political figures who issued statements following the death of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. The civil rights leader and two-time Democratic presidential candidate was 84. Vance indicated that one of his family members voted for Jackson in the 1988 Democratic presidential primary and for Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. “I have a close family member who voted in two presidential primaries in her entire life. Donald Trump in 2016 and Jesse Jackson in 1988,” Vance wrote in a post on X. “RIP Jesse Jackson.” TRUMP REMEMBERS JESSE JACKSON AS ‘GOOD MAN,’ ‘FORCE OF NATURE’ Former Vice President Kamala Harris recalled getting positive reactions from others when she had a “Jesse Jackson for President” bumper sticker on her car when she was a law student. “As a young law student, I would drive back and forth from Oakland, where I lived, to San Francisco, where I went to school. I had a bumper sticker in the back window of my car that read: ‘Jesse Jackson for President.’ As I would drive across the Bay Bridge, you would not believe how people from every walk of life would give me a thumbs up or honk of support. They were small interactions, but they exemplified Reverend Jackson’s life work — lifting up the dignity of working people, building community and coalitions, and strengthening our democracy and nation,” she noted in a post on X. REV JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND RAINBOW PUSH FOUNDER, DIES AT 84 “I was proud to partner with and learn from him on this work throughout my career, and I am so grateful for the time we spent together this January. Reverend Jackson was a selfless leader, mentor, and friend to me and so many others,” she wrote. Former President Barack Obama noted in a statement that he and former first lady Michelle Obama “were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of a true giant, the Reverend Jesse Jackson.” REV JESSE JACKSON RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER TREATMENT FOR RARE BRAIN DISORDER CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Michelle got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager. And in his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land,” Obama noted. “Michelle and I will always be grateful for Jesse’s lifetime of service, and the friendship our families share.”
NYC Board of Elections worker says ‘not my job to report anyone’ when asked about registering non-citizens
A New York City Board of Elections worker said it is not his job to report anyone when asked about processing registrations for non-citizens, hidden video footage shows. According to undercover video captured by Muckraker, in which its reporter attempted to pose as a non-citizen, a worker said he would process applications for non-citizens. “Once in a while … we have people come in here … and they register, they weren’t a citizen,” the worker told the reporter. When the reporter claimed to the worker that he was a green card holder from Canada, he was told he needed to be a citizen. OHIO UNCOVERS OVER 1,000 NONCITIZENS ‘APPEARING’ REGISTERED TO VOTE, SENDS CASES TO DOJ FOR PROSECUTION “I wouldn’t fill it out,” the worker said. “You gotta be a citizen to fill it out.” “We can’t stop you from submitting the application,” he added, warning that people have had “legal situations” in which non-citizens attempted to register. When the reporter responded that he really wanted to register, the worker again said it was up to him if he wanted to fill out an application. ELECTION INTEGRITY GROUPS PRESS SUPREME COURT TO REQUIRE BALLOTS BY ELECTION DAY “I can’t tell you what to do. If you want to fill it out, fill it out. But everything is clearly stated, especially at the bottom. It says American citizen. So I’m letting you know, if you fill that out, and you’re not [a citizen]. If it comes back to you, it comes back to you. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” the worker said, appearing to warn the reporter again of legal consequences. “But we accept anything that comes over the counter,” he continued. Asked if he would report him if he submitted an application, the worker said he would not report anyone. “That’s not my job to report anyone,” he said. “My job is just to collect the application and submit it to the department.” In New York, it is illegal for non-citizens to register to vote. A previous measure that aimed to allow non-citizens to vote in local municipal elections in New York City was ruled last year to be unconstitutional.
Mike Lee calls Schumer’s ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ attack on voter ID bill ‘paranoid fantasy’
Senate Democrats have panned the GOP’s push for voter ID legislation as akin to segregationist laws from the Deep South, but the architect of the bill in the Senate says their arguments are detached from reality. “It’s paranoid fantasy,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital. “These are absurd arguments. They should be ashamed to make them.” Lee was responding to comments from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has doubled down on his claim that the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act is “Jim Crow 2.0.” THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’ The bill, which passed the House last week and has been introduced and championed by Lee in the Senate, would require photo ID to vote in federal elections, proof of citizenship to register and would mandate that states keep voter rolls clear of ineligible voters. Schumer and his caucus plan to block the bill, arguing that it is a tool of voter suppression that would disproportionately harm poorer Americans and minority groups. But Lee argued that providing identification or proof of citizenship is routine in everyday life — whether undergoing a background check to buy a firearm or filling out tax forms when starting a new job. COLLINS BOOSTS REPUBLICAN VOTER ID EFFORT, BUT WON’T SCRAP FILIBUSTER “By their logic, it’s Jim Crow to require somebody to establish citizenship before taking a job with a new employer, and that’s insane,” Lee said. “And so then they argue here, well, voting is so fundamental, and we have constitutional protections protecting our right to vote,” he continued. “Well, we’ve got constitutional protections protecting our right to bear arms, and yet that doesn’t cause us to dispense with proving who you are and your eligibility to buy a gun. This has just been insane.” Without Democratic support, however, the pathway to sending the legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk is complicated. GOP REACHES KEY 50-VOTE THRESHOLD FOR TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL AS SENATE FIGHT LOOMS Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has vowed to bring the SAVE America Act to the floor, and Republicans have the votes to move it through its first key procedural hurdle. From there, Democrats can block it with the 60-vote filibuster, which Lee often refers to as the “zombie” filibuster. Eliminating the filibuster is out of the question for several of Lee’s colleagues, but Republicans are warming to reinstating a talking, or standing, filibuster, which would require Senate Democrats to make their case against the bill on the floor over hours of debate. Trump has already suggested he would issue an executive order if the legislation fails, which Lee declined to speculate on without first knowing what exactly would be done. But he noted that it was all the more reason to pass the SAVE America Act, given the ever-swinging political pendulum in Washington, D.C. “It’s still really critically important that we pass this law, because let’s assume that he issued such an order, and that it does most or all of what we needed to do here, that gives us protection for the moment, to whatever degree he’s able to do that through an executive action,” Lee said. “But we need something that can last longer than he’s in office.”
Air Force One scraps iconic Kennedy-era paint scheme for Trump-approved red, white, blue design
The U.S. Air Force is repainting Air Force One and other aircraft in the presidential and executive fleet in President Donald Trump’s preferred red, white and dark blue color palette — replacing the iconic light blue and white design that has defined the aircraft for more than six decades, an Air Force spokesperson confirmed to Fox News. The updated design will also feature a gold stripe, adding a fourth color to the new look. The scheme will appear on aircraft across the executive airlift fleet, including a donated Qatari 747-8i and the two Boeing VC-25B jets currently being converted to serve as the next generation of Air Force One. An Air Force spokesperson told Fox News the redesign is now an official requirement across the presidential and executive fleet. “The Air Force is implementing a new paint scheme requirement (red, white and dark blue) for VC-25B as well as the additional executive airlift fleet, which will include the new 747-8i and four C-32 aircraft,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. AIR FORCE ONE TURNS AROUND SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF FOR TRUMP’S TRIP TO SWITZERLAND “The C-32s will be painted during regularly scheduled maintenance. The first C-32 has been painted and is expected to be delivered to the Air Force in the next few months.” “We’re painting it red, white and blue like the American flag, which is incredible,” President Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity during an exclusive interview last summer. CBS News first reported that aircraft in the presidential and VIP fleet were being repainted in dark navy blue, deep red and gold as they undergo scheduled repairs and maintenance. Sources told CBS the change applies not only to Air Force One jets but also to other aircraft used for executive transport. AIR FORCE ONE GLITCH REVIVES REPLACEMENT PUSH AS WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT ‘PROVES TRUMP WAS RIGHT AGAIN’ For more than six decades, the familiar robin’s egg blue and white exterior has served as a global symbol of the American presidency. The color scheme dates back to the early 1960s, when it was introduced during President John F. Kennedy’s administration and became one of the most recognizable aviation designs in the world. During his first term, Trump unveiled a model aircraft reflecting his preferred red, white and blue palette. That version of the design was later canceled for the VC-25B program during the Biden administration. Trump’s own Boeing 757, commonly known as “Trump Force One,” carries a dark navy body with a prominent red stripe, a distinct look that closely resembles the palette now being implemented across the executive fleet. The updated paint requirement applies to multiple aircraft types across the executive fleet, including the two Boeing VC-25B aircraft under development, the newly donated 747-8i from Qatar, and four C-32 aircraft used for executive transport. INSIDE THE LAST BOEING 707 TO SERVE AS AIR FORCE ONE: SEE REAGAN’S JET THAT MARKED THE END OF AN ERA The C-32 aircraft carry high-priority personnel such as the first lady and cabinet officials and serve as Air Force Two when the vice president is aboard. Contractor L3Harris has been upgrading those aircraft at its facility in Greenville, Texas, according to CBS. The change represents the first major redesign of presidential aircraft since the Kennedy era. The shift to darker navy tones, bold red accents and a gold stripe marks a sharp departure from the long-standing design of planes that serve as airborne symbols of the presidency. The first C-32 aircraft has already been repainted and is expected to be delivered to the Air Force in the coming months, the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the 747-8i donated by Qatar which is currently undergoing refurbishment, is expected to be ready for presidential use no later than this summer, CBS reported. Boeing signed its contract to build the next generation of Air Force One aircraft in 2018 and continues work on the program. The repainting effort implements the Trump administration’s preferred presidential aircraft design as the new fleet moves closer to operational readiness. The White House referred Fox News Digital to the U.S. Air Force upon request for further comment.