Happy New Year 2025

Category: Politics

8 inspectors general fired by Trump sue to get jobs back

Eight former inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit to get their positions back. In the complaint, the inspectors general claimed that their “unlawful and unjustified purported termination” constituted interference with their “non-partisan oversight duties.”

While President Trump has the authority to remove inspectors general, he did not give Congress the mandatory 30-day minimum notice ahead of removing those who launched the complaint. The eight former inspectors general say that the president also failed to provide a “substantive, case-specific rationale” for their removal.

The complaint, which details the backgrounds of the former inspectors general, insists that “until and unless” President Trump “lawfully removes” the plaintiffs from their positions, they remain “duly appointed” inspectors general.

President Trump removed inspectors general in his first term and gave Congress the required 30 days’ notice, which the complaint acknowledges.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 03, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

INSPECTOR GENERAL DISMISSED BY TRUMP CALLS MASS FIRINGS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY

The inspectors general dismissed by President Trump served in several departments, including the Defense Department, the State Department, the Energy Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

According to the complaint, each of the inspectors general were notified of their termination in what it classifies as “substantively identical” emails. The notices allegedly stated that they were terminated “effective immediately” due to “changing priorities.”

The firings, which occurred last month, were met with criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. In a letter to President Trump signed by several Democrats and one Republican, lawmakers expressed “grave concern” over the firings, saying they were done “unlawfully and arbitrarily.”

“Your actions violate the law, attack our democracy, and undermine the safety of the American people,” the letter reads.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia., a key player in the president’s party, called on Trump to provide a “lawfully-required substantive rationale” for the firings.

Grassley, who serves as the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Il., the committee’s Ranking Member, sent a letter to President Trump urging him to reveal the reasons behind the firings so Congress and the public could be sure that the action was taken due to “real concerns.”

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Getty Images)

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL

Shortly after his firing, Mike Ware, who served as the chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, called the firings a “threat to democracy.” Ware is one of the former inspectors general who filed the complaint.

“We’re looking at what amounts to a threat to democracy, a threat to independent oversight and a threat to transparency in government. This is no doubt. The statute isn’t just a technicality, it’s a key protection of IG independence is what it is,” Ware told MSNBC’s “Ana Cabrera Reports” back in January.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Miami to Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Jan. 27, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt listens. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the mass firings last month, saying the Trump administration would “win in court” when asked if the actions would survive a legal challenge. President Trump said the firings were “a very common” and “a very standard” practice, which the former inspectors general deny in their complaint.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

February 13, 2025
House Dems reintroduce reparations legislation: ‘We refuse to be silent’

House Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced legislation that aims to find ways to deliver reparations to Black Americans who are descendants of slaves.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is co-leading the reintroduction of H.R.40, or the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, to Congress with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Pressley, a progressive member of the Squad, said during a news conference that “reparations are a necessary step in achieving justice.”

“We are in a moment of anti-Blackness on steroids and we refuse to be silent,” Pressley said. “We will not back down in our pursuit of racial justice.”

HOUSE, SENATE REPUBLICANS CLASH OVER MAMMOTH TRUMP BUDGET BILL SEEKING $1.5T IN CUTS

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., reintroduced H.R.40, a bill that aims to create a commission to study the impact of slavery and develop ways to deliver reparations to African Americans who are descendants of slaves. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, File)

The bill aims to create a federal commission charged with investigating the enduring impacts of slavery and its aftermath, along with developing concrete proposals for reparations to African Americans who are descendants of slaves, Pressley said.

Reparations can take different forms but broadly refer to payments or other forms of recompense to the descendants of Black individuals affected by slavery or past racist policies.

Democratic politicians in blue states, including California, in recent years have floated reparations as a way to atone for what proponents describe as a legacy of racist policies that created disparities for Black people in housing, education and health.

HOUSE DEMS ORGANIZE RAPID RESPONSE TASK FORCE AND LITIGATION GROUP TO COMBAT TRUMP AGENDA

Democrats on the Hill and in California have pushed for passage of reparations legislation, with other cities and states proposing ideas for reparations.

In August, however, a pair of reparations-related bills for the descendants of enslaved Black Americans failed to pass in the California legislature after backers said the bills would not move forward and were at risk of being vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said in a statement last month that “we as a nation have not yet truly acknowledged and grappled with the ways slavery, racism, and white supremacy continue to disadvantage African Americans.” (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Booker’s office released a statement last month on the bill’s reintroduction, which 17 Democratic senators are cosponsoring.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We as a nation have not yet truly acknowledged and grappled with the ways slavery, racism, and white supremacy continue to disadvantage African Americans,” Booker said in a statement. “Commissioning a study to better understand where our country has fallen short will help lawmakers better address the racial disparities and inequalities that persist today as a result of generational injustices.”

Fox News’ Joshua Q. Nelson and Jaime Joseph contributed to this report.

February 13, 2025
DOGE team member ‘mistakenly’ given ‘read/write permissions’ to payment system

Marko Elez — who before resigning from the Treasury Department had been a member of Treasury’s Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) team — was “mistakenly” given “read/write permissions” on the Secure Payment System rather than “read-only,” Joseph Gioeli III of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service declared in a court filing.

The filing is connected to a case in which President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were slapped with restrictions regarding who they can grant access to Treasury Department systems that hold “personally identifiable information and/or confidential financial information of payees[.]”

“On the morning of February 6, it was discovered that Mr. Elez’s database access to SPS on February 5 had mistakenly been configured with read/write permissions instead of read-only. A forensic investigation was immediately initiated by database administrators to review all activities performed on that server and database,” Gioeli noted in his filing.

But he explained that the issue was quickly addressed after it was uncovered.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT SAYS DOGE WILL HAVE ‘READ ONLY’ ACCESS TO PAYMENT SYSTEMS IN LETTER TO CONGRESS

Elon Musk speaks as President Donald Trump looks on in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

“His access was promptly corrected to read-only, and he did not log into the system again after his initial virtual over-the shoulder session on February 5,” Gioeli noted.

“To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Elez never knew of the fact that he briefly had read/write permissions for the SPS database, and never took any action to exercise the ‘write’ privileges in order to modify anything within the SPS database – indeed, he never logged in during the time that he had read/write privileges, other than during the virtual walk-through – and forensic analysis is currently underway to confirm this.”

Fox News Digital reached out on Wednesday to the Treasury Department, the White House, a DOGE spokesperson and the U.S. Digital Service — which Trump, in an executive order, declared to be “publicly renamed as the United States DOGE Service” — but did not receive any responses in time for publication.

TRUMP ADMIN FILES MOTION TO VACATE RESTRAINING ORDER PROHIBITING DOGE ACCESS TO TREASURY PAYMENT SYSTEMS

Thomas H. Krause, Jr. indicated in a court filing that he is “employed as the Senior Advisor for Technology and Modernization at the Department of the Treasury,” and that the post “is currently unpaid,” but that he is “not seeking compensation” for the job.

“I am also designated as a Special Government Employee (SGE),” Krause wrote, noting that “the Treasury Secretary delegated the performance of duties of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary to me, although I have not yet assumed those duties.”

Krause said that he is currently “the only Treasury DOGE team member,” and that he is not a U.S. DOGE Service employee.

“Although I coordinate with officials at USDS/DOGE, provide them with regular updates on the team’s progress, and receive high-level policy direction from them, I am not an employee of USDS/DOGE,” Krause noted.

“A second Treasury DOGE team member, Marko Elez, began working at the Treasury Department on Jan. 21, 2025, but resigned from his role on February 6, 2025,” Krause indicated. “Marko Elez is a highly qualified software engineer who previously worked at several of Elon Musk’s companies, including SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter).”

Trump tasked business tycoon Elon Musk with spearheading the DOGE effort, which aims to root out government waste, fraud, and abuse.

“As noted in the Gioeli Declaration, I understand from BFS that there was briefly an error that provided Mr. Elez read/write access to the SPS system, but that Mr. Elez did not access that system during that time, and was likely unaware that he had any such read/write access,” Krause stated in a footnote of his filing.

TRUMP 100% DISAGREES WITH FEDERAL JUDGE’S ‘CRAZY’ RULING BLOCKING DOGE FROM TREASURY SYSTEM

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Wall Street Journal reported that Elez was tied to a deleted social media account that made racist remarks, such as “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” and “Normalize Indian hate.”

But after Elez’s resignation, Vice President JD Vance advocated for reinstatement, noting in a post on X that he did not “think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life.”

Musk responded, “He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine.”

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

February 13, 2025
DRAIN THE SWAMP Act seeks to move DC bureaucracy ‘out of crazy town,’ House DOGE leader says

EXCLUSIVE: House DOGE Caucus founder Aaron Bean, R-Fla., will put forward the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act this week as part of continuing legislative attempts to target government waste.

The bill aims to require that federal agency heads relocate about one-third of headquarters-based employees “outside the Beltway” while finding ways to save taxpayer money through moves like selling underused Washington, D.C., office space.

Bean, who launched the bipartisan DOGE caucus in November, said his bill, which stands for the Decentralizing and Reorganizing Agency Infrastructure Nationwide To Harness Efficient Services, Workforce Administration and Management Priorities Act is what is needed to bring more accountability to Washington’s bureaucracy.

“The swamp is thick and deep here in crazy town, and I’m here to drain it,” Bean told Fox News Digital Wednesday.

DOGE MEETS CONGRESS: FL REP LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK

The Congressional DOGE Caucus was founded by Florida Congressman Aaron Bean. (House of Representatives/Getty Images)

“It is time to remind Washington that our duty is to serve the American people,” the Fernandina Beach lawmaker added.

Agencies exempt from the legislation include the Pentagon, DHS, CIA and NSA, which is based at Fort George G. Meade near Glen Burnie, Maryland.

The remaining 70% of the federal workforce allowed to remain in and around the district would be required to work in person 100% of the time under the legislation.

EDUCATION BILL WOULD REQUIRE PARENTAL NOTIFICATION TO TRACE FOREIGN FUNDING OF CURRICULUM AS CHINA LOOKS ON

The Office of Management and Budget, an executive cabinet agency, would then be directed to work toward selling — or not renewing leases on — office space vacated by the relocated bureaucrats, saving taxpayer funds.

Bean quipped that the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act will ensure the federal government works for the people “and not the other way around.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Bean’s DOGE counterpart in the upper chamber, also put forward companion legislation, which helps speed up the process of reconciling House and Senate versions of a bill to make it to the president’s desk.

Washington, D.C.-bound commuters sit in traffic on I-270 near the Capitol Beltway in Bethesda, Md. (Getty)

“The federal workforce has shown they clearly don’t want to work in D.C., and I am going to make their dreams come true,” said Ernst, who previously highlighted waste, fraud and abuse through her “Squeal Awards” that root out government “pork.”

Since founding the DOGE caucus, Bean has added two GOP co-chairmen to the ranks — representatives Pete Sessions of Texas and Blake Moore of Utah.

Sessions, chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, previously highlighted the $2.7 trillion in reported fraud and improper government payments over the past 20 years.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This is an absolutely unacceptable misuse of taxpayer dollars. Hardworking Americans deserve a government that works efficiently and effectively,” Sessions said at the time.

In that regard, the executive branch’s DOGE leader, Elon Musk, said Tuesday from the Oval Office that finding and ending improper and sometimes anonymous payments will save U.S. taxpayers a lot of money.

Musk added DOGE oversight led to the discovery that, in at least one instance, Social Security payments were being made to people recorded to be 150 years old.

Moore holds key roles on the Budget and Ways & Means Committee.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

February 13, 2025
‘Clawed back’: DHS chief Noem secures eye-popping sum sent to NYC for migrant hotels

The Department of Homeland Security says it has taken back $59 million in FEMA funds earmarked for hotels housing migrants in New York City, a day after it fired those involved in making the payment.

“Secretary Noem has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” they said.

FEDERAL AGENCY IN DOGE’S CROSSHAIRS PLAYED KEY ROLE IN HARRIS’ STRATEGY TO CURB MIGRANT CRISIS

Migrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on July 31, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The announcement came after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it had uncovered $59 million in payments for luxury hotels for migrants who had flooded into the sanctuary city during the recent crisis at the southern border. Elon Musk said the payments had been sent in the last week.

DHS announced Tuesday that it had fired four employees “for circumventing leadership” and making the payments unilaterally. The firings included FEMA’s CFO, two analysts and a grant specialist.

The use of FEMA to make payments related to immigration has been a topic of controversy in recent months. The funding comes via the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). It is congressionally appropriated and requires FEMA to use funding shifted over from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Biden administration pushed back last year over claims that disaster funding was being diverted, noting that the funding is appropriated to CBP and administered by FEMA.

A New York City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday that the city had received funds “through the past week” that were allocated by the Biden administration for the purpose of housing and supporting illegal immigrants.

TRUMP’S ICE LIMITS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASES AMID MOVES TO SHAKE OFF BIDEN ‘HANGOVER’

Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security. According to NY City Hall, the funds were not part of a disaster relief grant.

“The previous administration left New York City largely on its own to manage an international humanitarian crisis. At its height, we took swift emergency action to house thousands of migrants arriving in our city every week – including in completely vacant hotels – ensuring that no family slept on our streets and that the public safety of longtime New Yorkers was not compromised,” a spokesperson said. “Thanks to our smart management of the crisis, we have helped over 184,000 migrants leave the city’s shelter system since the spring of 2022. But, we are not out of the woods yet.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan speak with reporters at the White House, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A spokesperson said that it never paid luxury hotel rates, that the city applied for funding in April and FEMA allocated the funding last year.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

On Wednesday, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander responded to the revocation of funds by saying that NYC “cannot take this lying down.”

“I call on the Mayor to immediately pursue legal action to ensure the tens of millions of dollars stolen by Trump and DOGE are rightfully returned. If instead Mayor Adams continues to be President Trump’s pawn, my Office will request to work in partnership with the New York City Law Department to pursue aggressive legal action,” he said, according to the New York Post.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Mayor Eric Adams later said on X that his office “learned about the federal government clawing back more than $80 million in FEMA grants applied for and awarded under the last administration, but not disbursed until last week.”

“While we conduct an internal investigation into how this occurred, our office has already engaged with the White House about recouping these funds and we’ve requested an emergency meeting with FEMA to try and resolve the matter as quickly as possible. The Corporation Counsel is already exploring various litigation options,” he said.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

February 13, 2025
Marjorie Taylor Greene shares what’s next for her DOGE subcommittee

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is already planning future hearings for her new subcommittee panel, which was named to correspond with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Greene told reporters after her subcommittee’s first public event that the next two would examine the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and media outlets NPR and PBS.

Musk has also targeted NPR and USAID since leading President Donald Trump’s DOGE advisory team.

“We’re working on filling the calendar with many more important issues, departments, government programs that the American people deserve direct, hard transparency into,” Greene told reporters. “And then we’re going to be coming up with solutions.”

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke with reporters about Elon Musk and her DOGE subcommittee after its first hearing. (AP/Sipa USA)

When asked if one of those hearings could feature Musk himself, Greene suggested that was not in the works.

“I think Democrats want Elon Musk in front of the committee so they can berate him, attack him and harass him,” Greene said. “Right now, President Trump, myself and many others really want Elon Musk to stay focused on what he’s doing, and that is rooting out the waste, fraud and abuse that has continued on for years within the federal government agencies.”

She said her committee would release a report “in a matter of days” on its findings from its first hearing, which focused on government spending through the lens of the $36 trillion national debt.

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

Greene said she intends to hold a subcommittee hearing on USAID. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Greene said the report “is going to highlight what we found in this hearing and the solutions that we have to implement in Congress.”

“I’ll be meeting with chairs of committees of jurisdiction, and I’ll be talking with the speaker, our leader and our whip and all of Congress to put these solutions into practice as soon as possible,” she said.

The hearing, which ran roughly two hours, saw Democrats repeatedly try to shift the focus onto Musk and his activities, earning rebukes from Republican lawmakers in the room.

“You’re having to defend all of this crazy spending, all of this crazy waste. So how do you do it? You do ad hominem attacks, you attack the messenger,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said during the hearing. “Oh, Elon Musk, right? He’s rich. He must be evil, right? That’s the attacks. Really? You can’t do any better than that?”

Rep. Michael Cloud said Democrats’ attacks on Elon Musk fall flat with Americans. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, dismissed concerns after the hearing that Democrats’ focus on Musk would be a potent attack strategy.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I don’t think it’s going to win with the American people,” Cloud told Fox News Digital. “I think what they’ll see is that the American people voted for what is happening right now, and they want to see dramatic change. They know that the federal government is not working for their benefit, and want to see a major course correction.”

The DOGE subcommittee operates under the House Oversight Committee. It’s the first committee gavel for Greene.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

February 13, 2025
Colorado authorities linked crime surge to Venezuelan migrants as early as 2023

FIRST ON FOX: Authorities in Aurora, Colorado, had traced a surge in Venezuelan-linked crime as early as the summer of 2023 in two apartment blocks, new emails show, nearly a year before the rise of Tren de Aragua (TdA) activity came to light.

Emails obtained by America First Legal and provided to Fox News Digital show communications between state and local officials about the threat posed by Venezuelan nationals, including those who may have ties to the bloodthirsty Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

A February email chain between state and local officials included comments from an Aurora Police Department (APD) official about “possible Venezuelan ties in Aurora.” The official mentions two apartment blocks.

TOM HOMAN BELIEVES ICE RAID LEAKS ARE ‘COMING FROM INSIDE’ AS AURORA LEAKER CLOSER TO BEING IDENTIFIED

ICE Denver arrest a suspected Venezuelan gang member in Aurora, Colo. (ICE Denver)

“Both of those addresses are currently having Venezuelan refugees placed there and we have had multiple violent cases involving those addresses with Venezuelan suspects since about June of 2023,” one email said.

The email chain, of which the subject was “Venezuelans stealing and selling stolen vehicles and using fake plates,” included the APD official saying that “it’s difficult to ID people who have no history in the U.S. yet.”

The APD would also say in January that a group called the Papagayo Foundation had been allowed “to place Venezuelan refugees in these properties, most likely leading to possible TdA members moving to Aurora according to HSI,” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI).

At another apartment block, the Aurora police crime request said that there had been a “consistent increase” in calls for service from the police, “nearly doubling from 2022 to 2023 and on track to double again between 2023 and 2024.”

“APD investigated 41 crimes in 2022, 84 crimes in 2023, and 66 crimes in 2024 through July 31. The crimes included various motor vehicle crimes, robbery, drugs, trespass, sexual assault and aggravated assault,” it said, also disputing claims that Aurora police would not patrol the area or send officers to the complex.

FEDERAL COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM SENDING DETAINED VENEZUELAN IMMIGRANTS TO GUANTÁNAMO BAY

“The city and the APD are also aware of concerns at the national level that members of a Venezuelan prison gang have arrived in the United States and established organized crime cells in cities throughout the country,” it said. “APD leadership shares in those concerns and is actively working with law enforcement agencies across the metro area to conclusively determine if indeed there is a connection between metro criminal activity and a specific group or organization.”

In a separate document tracking incidents through apartments owned by CBZ management, which owns 11 complexes in Colorado, alleged crimes included an assault on a property manager, the arrest of two men who were armed and allegedly on their way to kill a property manager, a stabbing, and multiple incidents involving armed men.

Police search for evidence at apartment buildings in Aurora, Colo., on Dec. 17, 2024. (Fox News Digital)

CBZ said last year that TdA members commandeered entire buildings in Aurora by threatening employees and trying to extort them for rent money. Local authorities have said those claims were exaggerated.

“Gangs have taken control of several of our properties in Aurora, Colorado,” the company wrote in a thread on X last year. “In an attempt to discredit this fact for political purposes and avoid governmental accountability, some have spread false information about our situation.”

Another email in February 2024 outlined how Aurora police contacted ICE HSI to identify suspects who might be in TdA or be Venezuelan, including wearing red No. 23 jerseys or having gang tattoos.

The revelations come after months of reports about a growing Venezuelan and TdA presence in Colorado and the violent consequences inflicted upon people living there.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

A viral video of alleged Venezuelan gang members carrying guns through an Aurora apartment complex last August put a spotlight on immigration in the Denver area. Now-President Donald Trump visited the city during his re-election campaign last fall, detailing his “Operation Aurora” to expedite the removal of “savage gangs.”

Now-Vice President J.D. Vance also addressed the issue last year and had a viral clash with with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, who attempted to downplay the crime Venezuelan crime by saying they were “limited to a handful of apartment complexes.”

“Martha, do you hear yourself?” Vance fired back. “Only a handful of apartment complexes in America were taken over by Venezuelan gangs, and Donald Trump is the problem and not Kamala Harris’ open border? Americans are so fed up with what’s going on.”

At the height of the controversy last August, then-interim Aurora Police Chief Heather Morris attempted to downplay the issue, arguing that “gang members” had not “taken over” the apartment complex.

“I’m not saying that there’s not gang members that don’t live in this community,” she said. “But what we’re learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex.”

AURORA POLICE REACT TO ALLEGED VENEZUELAN GANG PRESENCE AT APARTMENTS: ‘HAVE NOT TAKEN OVER’

But a former resident of the complex, Cindy Romero, disputed that characterization during an appearance on Fox News last year, arguing that the viral incident was in no way an “isolated” one.

“It is not by any means an isolated occurrence, unfortunately. I have months, almost a year and a half worth of footage from six separate cameras,” the former resident said, adding that some attempts to call police before suspected gang activity broke out were met with little response “unless something happened.”

Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang took over an apartment building in Aurora, Colo., charging rent in exchange for “protection.” (Edward Romero | Aurora Police Department)

Recently, the Trump administration launched an ICE raid in and around Aurora, but leaking of details of the raid is believed to have sent gang members into hiding. Administration officials say the leak is being investigated.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Progressive politicians have been gaslighting the American people for the last four years regarding the presence of illegal migrant criminal gangs,” Michael Ding, America First Legal counsel, said in a statement.

“While the Trump Administration has immediately gotten to work to clean up our communities, America First Legal will continue to investigate why state and local sanctuaries have not done more to help deport these dangerous individuals,” he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Aurora police and the Papagayo Foundation.

Fox News’ Christina Coulter contributed to this report.

Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.

February 13, 2025
Attorney General Pam Bondi stripped Biden, Harris portraits from DOJ wall

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday personally stripped the Justice Department’s walls of portraits of former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and her own predecessor, former Attorney General Merrick Garland, saying it was “ridiculous” for the portraits to still be hanging nearly three weeks into President Donald Trump’s tenure

Bondi’s role in personally removing the portraits, first shared on X by the New York Post’s Miranda Devine, was confirmed to Fox News Digital by a Justice Department official.

Bondi “saw portraits of Garland, Biden, Harris were still up, and she took the initiative to take them off the walls herself and stack them in the corner,” the official told Fox News.

BONDI SWORN IN AS ATTORNEY GENERAL WITH MISSION TO END ‘WEAPONIZATION’ OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

President Donald Trump speaks before Pam Bondi is sworn in as attorney general in the Oval Office of the White House by Justice Clarence Thomas. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The actions come after Bondi, who was sworn in earlier this month, vowed during her confirmation hearing in January not to politicize the Justice Department.

Bondi, a longtime state prosecutor in Florida and two-time state attorney general, used her roughly five-hour confirmation hearing last month to vow that, if confirmed, the “partisanship, the weaponization” at the Justice Department “will be gone.”

FBI AGENTS SUE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN. 6 INVESTIGATIONS

Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris (AP Photo/Getty Images)

“America will have one tier of justice for all,” she said.

Trump, for his part, praised Bondi during her swearing-in ceremony earlier this month as “unbelievably fair and unbelievably good,” and someone who he said will “restore fair and impartial justice” at the department.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Attorney General Merrick Garland (AP/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I know I’m supposed to say, ‘She’s going to be totally impartial with respect to Democrats,’” Trump told reporters then, “and I think she will be as impartial as a person can be.”

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.

February 13, 2025
‘Mr. Brexit’ advocates for UK DOGE over ‘complete waste’ of taxpayer money

DOGE backup: Trump’s latest executive order

Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich shares President Donald Trump’s latest executive order to ‘significantly’ reduce the federal workforce on ‘Special Report.’

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has dominated headlines during President Donald Trump’s second term. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK party leader who initiated Britain’s departure from the European Union, has been taking notes.

Farage posted a social media video on Tuesday proclaiming, “Britain needs its own DOGE!” He said it was the “first in a series” of videos that will highlight the misuse of British taxpayer money.

“Do you ever wonder where your taxes go, whether your money is being spent properly?” Farage asked. “Well, have a look at what’s come across my desk. Oh, you’ll like this. The environmental impact of filmmaking using Star Wars to improve sector sustainability practices. No, I’m not even making it up – over £200,000. Try this. The cultural legacies of the British Empire, classical music’s colonial history 1750-1900 – £1.2 million funded by U.K. Research and Innovation, a non-departmental government body.”

Farage said Elon Musk’s DOGE investigations inspired him to reevaluate where British taxpayer money is going. Farage said programs, like studying the impact of Star Wars on the environment, are a waste of federal funds and keep workers “in jobs who don’t deserve them.”

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE

Reform UK Party leader Nigel Farage attends Trump’s campaign rally at the Santander Arena on Nov. 4 in Reading, Pennsylvania. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“When you see what they’re doing in America, do you get the feeling we ought to be doing it here? This is all a complete waste of your taxpayer money. It’s keeping people in jobs who don’t deserve to have them.”

NIGEL FARAGE RESPONDS AFTER ELON MUSK DECLARES HE ‘DOESN’T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES’ TO LEAD REFORM UK PARTY

In December 2024, The Times of London first reported Musk was considering a $100 million donation to Farage’s Reform UK Party. A photo at Mar-a-Lago of Musk, Farage and Nick Candy, the party’s treasurer, released by Reform UK confirmed talks were underway.

Nigel Farage and Elon Musk (Getty Images)

On Jan. 5, Musk created a rift when he advocated for the release of Tommy Robinson, a British political figure controversial for his views on free speech. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is imprisoned for releasing a documentary with defamatory comments about a Syrian refugee.

Farage was quick to distance himself from Musk’s view on Robinson, maintaining that “Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform.” In response, Musk called for a new leader of Reform, saying Farage “doesn’t have what it takes.”

Despite the social media tension, Farage was one of several European political leaders at Trump’s inauguration in January. He joined Éric Zemmour of France, Tom Van Grieken of Belgium and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Washington, D.C.

Farage’s post aligns with the growing “woke waste” movement in the United Kingdom, a group advocating for government transparency and a DOGE of their own. Since the end of 2024, The Procurement Files has been searching through over 300,000 contracts on the United Kingdom’s public government database to show Brits where their taxpayer money is going.

Nigel Farage speaks next to Donald Trump during a campaign rally in October 2020 in Arizona. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Operating much like DOGE’s X account, The Procurement Files searches the government’s database to reveal wasteful spending. Much like we’ve seen play out with Musk cutting DEI and USAID spending, many posts spotlight spending on sustainability initiatives and international humanitarian aid.

One post revealed U.K. taxpayers spent £50,000 to study “shrimp health in Bangladesh.” Another post highlighted a £15.5 million U.K. investment in a “Climate Smart Jobs Programme in Uganda.”

Charlotte Gill, who runs DOGE UK on social media, is working alongside The Procurement Files to reveal government waste and misuse of taxpayer money. Trump granted Musk the executive authority to investigate and implement the DOGE agenda to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Gill has created an online community in the absence of an official DOGE UK.

When Mete Coban, the deputy mayor of London for environment and energy, announced a program giving away 70,000 trees, Gill took her frustration to social media.

The United Kingdom proposed government spending regulations in November 2024. With a goal of saving £1.2 billion by 2026, the new plan increases government oversight to cut unnecessary spending.

“We’re taking immediate action to stop all non-essential government consultancy spend in 2024-25 and halve government spending on consultancy in future years, saving the taxpayer over £1.2 billion by 2026,” Georgia Gould, parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, announced in November. “It comes alongside our work to develop a strategic plan to make the Civil Service more efficient and effective, with bold measures to improve skills and harness digital technology.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives an interview on Feb. 6, 2025, in Preston, England. (Oli Scarff – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer referenced Trump’s long-standing commitment to “draining the swamp” during a speech promising “change and reform” for the United Kingdom in December 2024.

“I don’t think there’s a swamp to be drained here, but I do think too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline,” Starmer said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

DOGE UK, Farage and Starmer did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

February 13, 2025
Biden administration slow-walked Marc Fogel designation as ‘wrongful detainee,’ Republicans say

The Biden administration slow-walked its designation of American Marc Fogel as a “wrongful detainee” in Russia, Republicans and officials who previously worked on the effort to free Fogel told Fox News Digital.

“Marc Fogel was viewed by the Biden administration as just an average White guy from flyover country in Western Pennsylvania,” House Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “He didn’t have any celebrity status; he wasn’t a military veteran; he wasn’t a journalist. So, the Biden administration overlooked him, and I think that’s absolutely appalling.”

FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL LANDS IN US AFTER YEARS IN RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY

Fogel, an American teacher from Western Pennsylvania, returned to the United States late Tuesday, after President Donald Trump secured his release.

Fogel had been arrested at an airport in Russia in 2021 for possession of medical marijuana and was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison.

President Donald Trump welcomes Marc Fogel back to the United Stated after being released from Russian custody, on Feb. 11, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Biden administration did not designate Fogel a wrongful detainee until October 2024 and did not make that designation public until December 2024 – weeks after Trump was elected and the month before his inauguration.

Reschenthaler was first notified in 2021 of Fogel’s detention and began leading efforts with congressional colleagues to work with the Biden administration to bring Fogel home.

Along with a group of bipartisan lawmakers from Pennsylvania – including Reps. Brendan F. Boyle, Mike Doyle, Dwight Evans, Fred Keller, Mike Kelly, Conor Lamb, Dan Meuser, Glenn “GT” Thompson, Susan Wild, and Sen. Pat Toomey — Reschenthaler penned an August 2022 letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to classify Fogel as having been “wrongfully detained.”

MOTHER OF FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL THANKS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: ‘HE KEPT HIS PROMISE’

Ellen Keelan, center, and other family members rally outside the White House in July 2023 for the release of Marc Fogel, who had been detained in Russia since August 2021. (Stephanie Scarbrough, The Associated Press)

The lawmakers argued that Fogel’s case was similar to that of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who had been imprisoned for a drug offense in Russia in February 2022. Griner, however, quickly was designated as being wrongfully detained and was returned home in December 2022.

Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital he spoke to Blinken “multiple times” about Fogel but said the secretary of state “refused to give me or my colleagues any kind of explanation for why (Fogel) was not put on wrongfully detained status.”

When determining whether an American is wrongfully detained, the individual’s case is measured against criteria established by the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. There were 11 criteria established by that law, and lawmakers said Fogel had met at least six of the criteria.

Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania history teacher who was working at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, returns to U.S. soil on Feb. 11, 2025. (The White House via X)

But the secretary of state has discretion over designations.

“There are a lot of things that President Trump brings to the table that secured the release of Fogel,” Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital. “For one, the Biden administration knew that Marc Fogel was going to be put on wrongfully detained status under Trump – and they didn’t want to give him the win, so they went ahead and did it on their way out the door.”

But Reschenthaler said Trump “has a lot more gravitas in talking to foreign leaders and adversaries.”

“Because when President Trump talks – when he makes a threat or draws a red line – he will actually deliver on that promise,” Reschenthaler said. “Biden would not make bold assertions, and there was nothing to back them off. The Russians did not take Biden or Tony Blinken seriously – and there was nothing to compel them to release Fogel.”

A former Biden administration official pushed back and defended Biden and Blinken’s work.

FLASHBACK: AMERICAN HELD IN RUSSIAN PENAL COLONY FOR MONTHS BUT STILL NOT LABELED ‘WRONGFULLY DETAINED,’ FAMILY SAYS

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., penned an August 2022 letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pictured here, urging him to classify Marc Fogel as having been “wrongfully detained.” (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

“Whether someone is designated or not doesn’t change our level of advocacy, which is how we brought home over 70 people who’d been detained abroad,” the former official told Fox News Digital. “We fought day after day to secure Marc’s release and we celebrate his return home.”

By June 2023, two years into Fogel’s detention without the wrongful detainee designation, Reschenthaler, Rep. Mark Kelly, R-Pa., and Pennsylvania Democrat Reps. Chris Deluzio and Brendan Boyle introduced the Marc Fogel Act, which would require the State Department to provide Congress with copies of documents and communications on why a wrongful determination had or had not been made in cases of U.S. nationals detained abroad within six months of arrest.

House Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler was first notified in 2021 of Marc Fogel’s detention and began leading efforts to bring him home. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images )

“When you talked to career State Department officials, they understood what they were waiting for was a green light from the executive branch – but they could never say why they wouldn’t do these things,” Kelly told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “They would say, ‘Well, we’re working on it. We’re working on it.’ But the stopping point was that they would not designate him the right way, and it seemed like they had no interest in getting it at all.”

Kelly told Fox News Digital that, within the “political State Department,” there “just didn’t seem to be any energy toward getting that designation done.”

FLASHBACK: GOP REP INTRODUCES BIPARTISAN ‘MARC FOGEL ACT’ PUSHING STATE DEPT FOR ANSWERS ON AMERICANS JAILED OVERSEAS

“There have been so many things since I’ve been in Congress that you get stonewalled on, and that was just one of those things I felt at the beginning – we were just getting stonewalled,” Kelly said. “They were just giving us conversation.”

Kelly said, though, that he could “feel that the career State Department personnel wanted to do something.”

“But the political State Department was disinterested,” Kelly said.

Rep. Mike Kelly said within the “political State Department,” there “just didn’t seem to be any energy toward getting that designation done.” (Ben Curtis/The Associated Press )

It wasn’t just Republican and Democratic lawmakers trying to aid the Biden administration in securing the return of Fogel to the United States.

Former White House national security advisor Robert O’Brien, who served during the first Trump administration, also got involved.

O’Brien told Fox News Digital that he sent a letter to the Russian ambassador as “a humanitarian gesture.”

“I sent a letter to the Russian ambassador during the Biden years asking if they would consider a humanitarian release of Mr. Fogel,” O’Brien told Fox News Digital. “The Russian ambassador sent a cordial, but non-committal, letter of response.”

Former White House national security advisor Robert O’Brien, who served during the first Trump administration, also got involved in the effort to bring Marc Fogel home. (Eloisa Lopez/AFP via Getty Images)

O’Brien told Fox News Digital that he informed Ambassador Roger Carstens, Biden’s special envoy for hostage affairs, of his outreach. O’Brien told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration encouraged that outreach.

Carstens told Fox News Digital that he was “well aware that O’Brien sent the letter on Marc Fogel’s behalf.”

FLASHBACK: MARC FOGEL: FAMILY OF AMERICAN MAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA BEGS BIDEN, BLINKEN TO ADD HIM TO BRITNEY GRINER DEAL

“Robert O’Brien and his predecessor, Jim O’Brien, and I all worked together quite closely over the last four years to keep doing the hard work of bringing Americans home,” Carstens, who also served during the final year of the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital.

Hostage negotiator Roger Carstens said the Biden administration did “work tirelessly to bring home Marc Fogel.” (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

“Robert’s efforts on Marc’s behalf, and his efforts on behalf of others that are unsung, showcase the bipartisan nature of these efforts and the importance that the senior leadership in this country places on bringing Americans home,” Carstens said, calling O’Brien a “good personal friend and mentor.”

“We worked hand-in-hand throughout my entire time in the Biden administration to devise ways to bring people home,” Carstens said.

But as for Fogel, Carstens told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration did “work tirelessly to bring home Marc Fogel on the sides of negotiations of humanitarian release; negotiated separately as humanitarian release; and when designated, we included him in ongoing negotiations with the Russians.”

“Fogel’s return is fantastic news, and the Trump administration is to be commended for bringing this American home and bringing so many Americans home in just the last few weeks from places like Venezuela, Gaza and now Russia,” Carstens told Fox News Digital.

President Donald Trump greets former detainee Marc Fogel as he arrives at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025. (Ting Shen/AFP via Getty Images)

He added: “Bringing Americans home might very well be the last nonpartisan issue in this country and any administration that brings an American home should be congratulated for their efforts and their successes.”

And O’Brien, reacting to the news of Fogel’s return to the United States, told Fox News Digital: “If you asked me to define ‘America First,’ I’d define it as President Trump’s commitment to bringing Americans who were held overseas home.”

Meanwhile, Reschenthaler was at the White House Tuesday night with Trump to welcome Fogel back to the United States.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I was honored to be alongside President Trump at the White House to welcome Fogel back to the United States,” Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital. “President Trump promised to bring him home and kept his word – building on the already great success of his weeks-old presidency.”

Reschenthaler added: “While President Biden refused to prioritize this Pennsylvanian, President Trump delivered and secured his release. The American people are overjoyed to have strong and skilled leadership back in charge.”

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

February 13, 2025