Happy New Year 2025

Tag: administration

Vice President Vance likely to highlight Trump administration agenda at CPAC

Vice President JD Vance is no stranger to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, better known by its acronym CPAC.

But on Thursday, at the opening session at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital, Vance will address CPAC for the first time since his inauguration last month as vice president of the United States.

Vance has been a regular at the conference in recent years, dating back to his successful 2022 campaign for the Senate in Ohio. And last October, as he crisscrossed the national campaign trail as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, Vance also spoke at a CPAC-hosted townhall in battleground Arizona.

WATCH: JD VANCE SITS DOWN WITH FOX BUSINESS’ MARIA BARTIROMO

JD Vance speaks on stage during CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Texas, on Aug. 18, 2022, in Dallas. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

CPAC, which dates back to 1974, is the nation’s oldest and largest annual gathering of conservative leaders and activists. In the years since Trump first won the White House in 2016, it has been dominated by legions of MAGA loyalists and America First disciples who hold immense sway over the GOP.

The vice president is expected to use his address to highlight and promote the avalanche of activity – both domestically and overseas – by the Trump-Vance administration during its first month in office.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS’ REPORTING, ANALYSIS, OPINION ON VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE

Vance, who served two years in the Senate before being elected vice president, has been considered a key player in helping the GOP-controlled chamber confirm Trump’s Cabinet nominees at a brisk pace.

And Vance made major headlines earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, when he used his first major speech as vice president to deliver a blistering address directed at Europe’s political class.

Vice President JD Vance gives a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Feb. 14, 2025. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

Trump’s naming last summer of Vance – a former venture capitalist and the author of the bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” before running for elective office – as his running was seen as a sign that the now 40-year-old politician was the heir apparent to Trump and his movement.

Trump praised Vance in a recent interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” for “doing a fantastic job,”

WATCH: VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE SITS DOWN WITH FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER ON “SPECIAL REPORT”

But asked by Baier if he viewed Vance as his successor and the Republican nominee in 2028, the term-limited Trump said, “No, but he’s very capable.”

“It’s too early. We’re just starting,” Trump added.

Vice President JD Vance, on Jan. 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP )

Questions about 2028 may be hanging over Vance at CPAC, which has long held a closely watched GOP presidential nomination straw poll.

Vance, in an interview earlier this month with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures,” was asked about the next White House race.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We’ll see what happens come 2028, but the way I think about this is the best thing for my future is actually the best thing for the American people, which is that we do a really good job over the next three and a half years,” the vice president said.

Vance noted that “we’ll cross that political bridge when we come to it. I’m not thinking about running for president. I’m thinking about doing a good job for the American people and I think the best way to do that is to make sure that President Trump is a success.”

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 18, 2025
Trump administration firing hundreds of FAA workers

Boyd Group International President and aviation expert Mike Boyd argues that there is a ‘major problem’ in the aviation industry on ‘Mornings with Maria.’

Hundreds of workers at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have been laid off despite rising concerns about understaffing, as the Trump administration seeks to rein in federal spending.

David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement that several hundred probationary employees were notified Friday evening by messages from an “exec order” Microsoft email address, not an official government email address. The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists is the union that represents the employees.

“Troubled” by the decision, Spero expected more employees to be notified over the weekend and believes it’s possible that some may even be “barred from entering FAA buildings,” on Tuesday.

RECOVERY EFFORTS UNDERWAY AFTER AMERICAN AIRLINES JET, MILITARY HELICOPTER COLLIDE MIDAIR NEAR DC

“These are not nameless, faceless bureaucrats. They are our family, friends and neighbors. They contribute to our communities. Many military veterans are among them. It is shameful to toss aside dedicated public servants who have chosen to work on behalf of their fellow Americans,” he added.

The control tower at the Reagan National Airport. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the aviation safety organization in the U.S. that represents nearly 20,000 workers, said in a statement Monday that it was “analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system and our members,” according to The Associated Press.

FOX Business reached out to the Trump administration for comment.

Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander posted on LinkedIn that he was among those who were fired, The Associated Press reported.

“My unlawful termination from my national security critical position with the National Defense Programs of the FAA – less than a week after DOGE got upset that I criticized Tesla and Twitter on my personal Facebook page – and on my personal time,” Spitzer-Stadtlander posted on the platform.

An air traffic control tower at Miami International Airport in Miami on May 9, 2024. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

He said that “the mass firings of hardworking Federal workers are unlawful” and that “retaliatory firings of national security critical workers and FAA air traffic control specialists are dangerous. We must make our voices heard. This is not okay.”

The firings come amid calls to ramp up staffing in the air traffic control system and weeks after a U.S. Army Black Hawk collided with an American Airlines regional jet on Jan. 29 in what was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years. Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River after the collision. Sixty-seven people were killed.

TRUMP FIRES 17 GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS AT VARIOUS FEDERAL AGENCIES

The sun flares next to the sign marking the location of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) headquarters on Feb. 9, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (J. David Ake/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association acknowledged the “chronic understaffing” of the air traffic control system earlier this month, saying that focusing on this issue as well as “modernizing the nation’s air traffic control infrastructure, would better serve the safety and reliability of the aviation system.”

The Trump administration already fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration and gutted the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, which advised on aviation security matters, including the development, refinement and implementation of policies, programs, rulemaking and security directives pertaining to aviation security.

The group was established in 1989 after a terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Shortly after his re-election, Trump also ordered the Transportation secretary and FAA administrator to immediately stop Biden-era diversity hiring programs and return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring.

February 17, 2025
Trump administration fires nearly 50 nuclear security office employees

The Trump administration dismissed fewer than 50 workers from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) over the weekend after fears of wider layoffs that caused chaos among staff were quickly rescinded.

Reuters learned from sources on Friday that 325 NNSA workers were sent notices that they had been laid off from the agency, which is responsible for maintaining the country’s nuclear weapons arsenal.

The NNSA reportedly employs about 2,000 people and works around the world to secure nuclear materials, including in Ukraine, despite its ongoing war with Russia.

Hours after receiving the notices on Friday, some of the layoffs were rescinded, creating a chaotic situation at NNSA offices in Washington, D.C., and other places around the country as many employees were worried about their employment status, sources told the wire service.

‘WHAT A RIPOFF!’: TRUMP SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER CUTTING BILLIONS IN OVERHEAD COSTS FROM NIH RESEARCH GRANTS

U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

On Sunday, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy confirmed with Fox News Digital that fewer than 50 employees were actually dismissed from their positions.

“Less than 50 NNSA employees were dismissed. These staff members were probationary employees and held primarily administrative and clerical roles,” the DOE spokesperson said. “The Energy Department will continue its critical mission of protecting our national security and nuclear deterrence in the development, modernization, and stewardship of America’s atomic weapons enterprise, including the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nonproliferation.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN IMMIGRATION JUDGES

President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk are shown during an exclusive “Hannity” interview, which is scheduled to air Feb. 18 on Fox News Channel. (Fox News)

The cuts are the result of the Trump administration’s push to cut wasteful spending across the federal government.

President Donald Trump has tasked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with seeking out and producing a solution to cut wasteful spending, and part of that has included the reduction of workforce in places like the Departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services.

US MUST EXPAND NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN FACE OF RUSSIA AND CHINA THREAT, WARNS TOP OBAMA DEFENSE ADVISER

The P tunnel in Area 12 of the Nevada National Security Site (National Nuclear Security Administration)

An NNSA source told Reuters that managers were called on Thursday evening to inform employees they had been let go, though on Friday they received emails saying things had suddenly changed.

Democratic lawmakers have blasted the NNSA layoffs, calling them “shocking.”

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Until such time as we are briefed on these developments, we will not know the damage to our country and the world as a result of these haphazard and thoughtless firings,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, said in a release.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

February 16, 2025
Trump administration fires more than a dozen immigration judges

Join Fox News for access to this content

You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

Having trouble? Click here.

More than a dozen immigration judges were fired on Friday, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s promise to trim the federal workforce.

A union official told the Associated Press that 13 judges who were set to be sworn in, and five assistant chief immigration judges, were fired on Friday without warning.

The move comes after two other judges were dismissed this week, the AP reported. No replacements have been announced.

The Trump administration dismissed more than a dozen judges on Friday. (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

US IMMIGRATION BACKLOG REACHES NEW RECORD OF 3 MILLION PENDING CASES: REPORT

Fox News Digital previously reported the U.S. immigration court backlog surpassed three million pending cases.

Immigration judges currently average 4,500 pending cases each, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

The AP reported five top court officials were replaced by the Trump administration, including Mary Cheng, the agency’s acting director.

Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. (iStock)

TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER BLOCKED BY THIRD FEDERAL JUDGE

In a memo released on Jan. 27, Sirce Owen, acting director of the Department of Justice, noted the Biden administration “severely undermined” core values of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

“An effort to restore those values and to re-establish EOIR as a model administrative adjudicatory body is well underway,” Owen wrote. “If all employees are willing to join that effort, then there will be no limit to what EOIR can achieve.”

FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice,” is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)

The Trump administration on Thursday instructed agencies to lay off most probationary workers without civil service protection, the AP reported.

The International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, which represents federal employees, and the U.S. Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Saturday.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 15, 2025
Reagan’s ‘peace through strength’ doctrine can aid Trump administration with Taiwan policy, group says

A group led by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute (RRPFI) has issued a series of takeaways following its recent visit to Taiwan. The takeaways can be seen as a roadmap of ideas for the Trump administration.

The eight-member delegation consisting of U.S. national security and business leaders concluded their strategic visit to Taiwan last month amid the presidential transition in Washington, D.C., a new administration in Taipei and ongoing Chinese coercion and aggression in East Asia.

The series of meetings was designed to strengthen ties between the United States and Taiwan across Taiwan’s political leaders and business elite. Members of the RRPFI delegation identified several key takeaways from the trip that could compliment the Trump administration’s policies toward strengthening the U.S.-Taiwan partnership.

TRUMP MUST DUMP ‘ONE CHINA’ POLICY AND RECOGNIZE ‘FREE’ TAIWAN, HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAY

The delegation said that while a number of President Donald Trump’s selections for top administration roles have expressed previously held views about policy involving Taiwan, there is a general mix of optimism and uncertainty over the direction the administration will take on security and economic matters relating to Taiwan.

A member of the Taiwanese coast guard monitors a Chinese coast guard boat as it passes near the coast of the Matsu Islands, governed by Taiwan, on Monday, Oct. 14. (Taiwan Coast Guard/AP)

Increasing defense spending, particularly with NATO allies, was a centerpiece of Trump’s first term. The delegation stressed national unity on defense and said elected officials from all parties need to live up to the intent to increase defense spending. The delegation emphasized to Taiwanese partners that the American public expects U.S. allies and partners to shoulder the primary burden of their own defense, a notion that will certainly appeal to the Trump administration.

The delegation asserted that Russia’s war in Ukraine and how the West handled it since Russia’s full-scale invasion are on the minds of Taiwanese leaders. The Biden administration used the Presidential Drawdown Authority on at least 55 occasions since August 2021 to provide Ukraine with military assistance from Department of Defense stockpiles, according to the State Department. The RRPFI delegation argue that the Presidential Drawdown Authority along with Foreign Military Sales are valuable tools for enhancing Taiwan’s capabilities and ensuring peace and stability in the region.

TAIWAN FM HAILS IMPORTANCE OF US RELATIONSHIP, SAYS GROUP VISITS ‘CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE AND STABILITY’

President Lai Ching-te meets a delegation from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. (Official Photo by I Chen Lin / Office of the President)

At last month’s meeting, David Trulio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, told Taiwanese leaders that, “especially with President Trump’s mandate in returning to office, Taiwan, the PRC, and the world are watching how the United States addresses China’s ongoing aggression in the South China Sea and malign online influence.”

He said that the security situation across the Taiwan Strait demands a continued commitment to peace through strength, including through robust partnership with Taiwan and sustained U.S. deterrence.

President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Getty)

TRUMP CABINET PICKS DELIGHT TAIWAN, SEND STRONG SIGNAL TO CHINA

“Taiwan has made, and is making, serious investments in its security,” Trulio told the audience.

“That said, given President Trump’s and the American public’s expectation that U.S. allies and partners shoulder the primary burden of their own defense, it is critical that Taiwan’s leaders deliver on their stated intent to increase defense spending and enhance their operational capabilities,” Trulio added.

Taiwan currently spends 2.45% of its GDP on defense, and Taiwanese leaders have expressed their intention to continue to increase their defense budget. Defense spending has increased by 80% since 2016, and their defense budget accounted for 15% of its total budget in 2024, according to Taiwan’s government.

The U.S. has been arming Taiwan for seven decades and Taiwan has consistently been one of the largest purchasers of U.S. weapons through the Foreign Military Sales process.

China’s military fired missiles into the water off eastern Taiwan on Aug. 4, 2022 in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting the island. (China Military)

The delegation warned that not receiving weapons diminishes Taiwan’s security and enables the PRC to claim that the United States is an unreliable partner.

China takes these arm sales very seriously. China warned the U.S. that it was making “dangerous moves” by providing Taiwan with an additional $571 million in defense materials, which was authorized by then-President Joe Biden in December just prior to leaving office.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement at the time urging the U.S. to stop arming Taiwan and to cease what it referred to as “dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

February 13, 2025
Zeldin demands return of $20B in taxpayer money wasted by Biden administration

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday that his team has located $20 billion in tax dollars that the Biden administration purposely wasted.

“An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago, featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic,’ rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day,” Zeldin said in a video posted to X, citing another video from December. “The ‘gold bars’ were tax dollars and ‘tossing them off the Titanic’ meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it.”

Zeldin said the EPA has plans to recover the “gold bars” that were found “parked at an outside financial institution,” which he does not mention by name.

He said that “this scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposefully designed to obligate all the money in a rush job with reduced oversight” before Inauguration Day.

TRUMP TAPS FORMER NEW YORK REP LEE ZELDIN TO LEAD EPA

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, appears before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Zeldin said “there is zero reason to suspect any wrongdoing by the bank,” but he thinks agreement with the institution “needs to be instantly terminated” and all the money should be immediately returned.

He also said the EPA needs to reassume responsibility for all of these funds, adding that his team will “review every penny that has gone out the door.”

THROUGH THE EPA, WE CAN PURSUE ENERGY DOMINANCE, LEE ZELDIN SAYS | FOX NEWS VIDEO

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. arrives at EPA confirmation hearing. (Fox News Digital/Charlie Creitz)

“The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” Zeldin said. “The American public deserves a more transparent and accountable government than what transpired these past four years.”

He also said that he would be referring this matter to the inspector general’s office and that he would work with the Department of Justice to assist President Donald Trump in regaining control.

FILE – U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New York governor, participates in a debate against incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy, on Oct. 25, 2022, at Pace University in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool, File)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Now we will get them back inside of control of government as we pursue next steps. As President Trump has vowed, we’re going to usher in a new Golden Age of American success for the citizens of every race, religion, color and creed,” Zeldin said at the end of the video.

Elon Musk also commended Zeldin on X for an “awesome job” saving taxpayer money.

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
Trump reveals pick to lead Drug Enforcement Administration

President Donald Trump has nominated a Virginia state official to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in his new administration.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump wrote that he nominated Terry Cole to become the next administrator of the DEA. Cole is currently the secretary of public safety and homeland security for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

According to the Virginia government’s website, Cole was previously the chief of staff and executive officer at the DEA’s Department of Justice Special Operations Division, and also served as the DEA’s representative to the National Security Council. The website also notes that Cole worked for the DEA for 22 years, though Trump wrote that he was employed by the DEA for 21 years.

In a social media post, Trump said that he was “pleased” to announce Cole, who will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as his nominee.

NOEM, HEGSETH, BONDI PLEAD WITH CONGRESS FOR MORE BORDER FUNDING AMID LARGE-SCALE DEPORTATIONS

Trump has nominated Terry Cole to become the next administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. (AP | Virginia.gov)

“Terry is a DEA Veteran of 21 years, with tours in Colombia, Afghanistan, and Mexico City, who currently serves as Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, leading 11 State Public Safety Agencies, with more than 19,000 employees,” Trump’s post read.

Trump also added that Cole holds a degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, as well as certificates from the University of Virginia and the University of Notre Dame.

“Together, we will save lives, and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN. Congratulations Terry!” the president’s post concluded.

TRUMP NOMINEE TULSI GABBARD CLEARS LAST HURDLE, HEADS FOR FINAL CONFIRMATION VOTE

Terry Cole has 22 years of experience working for the DEA. (Virginia.gov)

Trump originally named Florida sheriff Chad Chronister as his first pick to lead the DEA, but Chronister, who serves as the sheriff of Hillsborough County, later withdrew his name from consideration in December.

“To have been nominated by President-Elect @realDonaldTrump to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the honor of a lifetime,” Chronister wrote in a post on X at the time.

“Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration. There is more work to be done for the citizens of Hillsborough County and a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A logo reading DEA Special Agent is pictured in the Office of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)

The DEA is expected to work with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to fulfill Trump’s campaign promises of restoring safety at the Southern border. At the end of January, federal agents conducted nationwide roundups of more than 1,200 illegal immigrants accused of committing crimes in the U.S.

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to [email protected].

February 11, 2025
Trump administration appeals federal judge’s order to unfreeze federal funds

The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s order to unfreeze federal funding in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The motion comes hours after a federal judge from Rhode Island ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to unfreeze federal funds once again, claiming the administration did not adhere to his previous order to do so.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell filed a new motion Monday ordering the Trump administration to comply with a restraining order issued Jan. 31, temporarily blocking the administration’s efforts to pause federal grants and loans.

McConnell’s original restraining order came after 22 states and the District of Columbia challenged the Trump administration’s actions to hold up funds for grants such as the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant and other Environmental Protection Agency programs. But the states said Friday that the administration isn’t following through and funds are still tied up.

The Office of Management and Budget released a memo Jan. 27 announcing plans to issue a temporary pause on federal grants and loans. While the White House later rescinded the memo on Jan. 29, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the move didn’t equate a “recission of the federal funding freeze.”

Specifically, McConnell’s motion calls for the Trump administration to restore withheld funds appropriated in the Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The motion also calls on the Trump administration to restore funding for institutes like the National Institutes of Health.

‘CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS’: THE IMPOUNDMENT ACT TAKES CENTER STAGE AFTER RUSSEL VOUGHT’S CONFIRMATION

The Trump administration unveiled an Office of Management and Budget memo on Jan. 27 ordering a pause on federal funds and grants. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

The motion filed Monday asserts that states have provided evidence that there are still instances where the federal government has “improperly” frozen funds and failed to distribute appropriated federal funds.

While the motion says the Trump administration claims these actions were done to “root out” fraud, McConnell said that the “freezes in effect now were a result of the broad categorical order, not a specific finding of possible fraud.”

“The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,” the judge wrote on Monday.

LEAVITT PUSHES BACK ON MEDIA’S ‘UNCERTAINTY’ ABOUT FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

McConnell said in his original order that evidence suggested the White House’s rescission of the OMB memo may have been done in “name-only” in order to “defeat the jurisdiction of the court.”

As a result, McConnell said Monday that the Trump administration must “immediately restore frozen funding” until the court hears and decides the preliminary injunction request.

“Each executive order will hold up in court because every action of the Trump-Vance administration is completely lawful,” Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News. “Any legal challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha praised McConnell’s ruling and said the order “confirmed what we have been saying from the beginning.”

“It is now time for the Administration to come into full compliance,” Neronha said in a statement Monday. “This is a country of laws. We expect the Administration to follow the law. Our Office and attorneys general across the country stand ready to keep careful watch on the actions of this Administration that follow, and we will not hesitate to go back to Court if they don’t comply.”

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

February 10, 2025
Bill Ackman calls for Trump administration to review UN support

Jack Otter and the ‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists discuss how DOGE is shaking up Washington, D.C.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman on Monday questioned U.S. funding of the United Nations, saying it “deserves careful scrutiny.”

“The more I learn about the @UN, one of the largest NGOs, the more I think our support for the UN deserves careful scrutiny,” Ackman said in a post on X.

The head of Pershing Square Capital Management also said President Donald Trump “would notice, it occupies great waterfront real estate in NYC.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ELON MUSK’S DOGE FROM ACCESSING TREASURY RECORDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC AGS FILE LAWSUIT

According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an independent think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations, all 193 members of the United Nations are required to make payments to certain parts of the organization. The U.S. is the largest donor, contributing more than $18 billion in 2022.

That accounts for one-third of funding for the body’s collective budget, according to the CFR.

PALANTIR CEO TOUTS ELON MUSK’S DOGE, ABILITY TO HOLD ‘SACRED COW OF THE DEEP STATE’ ACCOUNTABLE

The U.N. is the world’s main organization for discussing matters of peace and security. However, its work extends beyond peacekeeping and conflict prevention. It has entities that are focused on addressing health and humanitarian needs and economic and cultural development. The funds help support the United Nations’ regular budget, which covers administrative costs and a few programs, as well as peacekeeping operations, according to the CFR.

Biden increased funding to the organization after Trump significantly cut it during his first term. In 2021, Biden, in particular, resumed funding for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Funding for UNRWA was paused again in 2024 over allegations that some agency employees aided in the October 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel that sparked the current war against Hamas.

Ackman’s comments come as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues sweeping efforts to cut $2 trillion in federal spending, shrink the government’s workforce and increase the efficiency of federal agencies.

Over the past few weeks, DOGE, which was created through an executive order signed by Trump on Inauguration Day, has already canceled a number of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at federal agencies as well as certain consulting contracts and leases for underused federal buildings, while also working to consolidate duplicative agencies and programs. It has thus far only focused on areas included in discretionary spending, which are subject to annual appropriations by Congress.

DOGE – a temporary organization within the White House – will spend 18 months until July 4, 2026, carrying out its mission, which has already fallen under scrutiny. Over the weekend, the government efficiency team was temporarily blocked from accessing certain government systems that included information about Americans’ Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits, tax refund information and more, according to a federal judge’s ruling.

FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.

February 10, 2025