Happy New Year 2025

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Dems torched over DOGE security claims after allowing ‘wide-open’ border

As Democrats lob claims that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are a potential national security threat, Republicans are calling them out for what they perceive as hypocrisy after years of weak immigration and foreign policies.

“Being lectured by the Democrats on national security is pretty rich after they spent the last four years sending billions of taxpayer dollars to terrorists, letting suspected terrorists walk through our wide-open southern border and disgracefully retreating from Afghanistan, empowering Iran and kicking off the most destabilizing foreign policy paradigm in a generation,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital.

Democrats, led by Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, recently pressed White House chief of staff Susie Wiles over their “grave concern” that Musk and DOGE were illegally risking “exposure of classified and other sensitive information that jeopardizes national security and violates Americans’ privacy.”

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Republicans slammed Democrats’ claims that DOGE’s actions potentially threatened U.S. national security. (Getty Images)

One GOP Senate leadership aide remarked to Fox News Digital that it was “absurd” to suggest cutting wasteful spending through DOGE amounts to a security threat.

“This is the Russia hoax all over again, with an attempt to scare Americans by making preposterous claims that Elon Musk is going to steal their identity,” the aide said.

Sheehy added in his response, “America is lucky to have President Trump, Elon and DOGE working to restore accountability and fix our government. Perhaps the Dems should just say ‘thank you’ for cleaning up their mess.”

Warner wrote to Wiles that “unauthorized access to classified information risks exposure of our operations and potentially compromises not only our own sources and methods, but also those of our allies and partners. If our sources, allies, and partners stop sharing intelligence because they cannot trust us to protect it, we will all be less safe.”

TULSI GABBARD SWORN IN AT WHITE HOUSE HOURS AFTER SENATE CONFIRMATION

Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Images)

The Democratic letter was sent amid uproar over Musk and DOGE’s shake-up of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), followed by other agencies and departments in the executive branch.

As DOGE has pressed on with the effort, Musk has revealed expenditures considered wasteful and the amount of contracts he is instructing agencies to cancel.

DOGE ‘PLAYBOOK’ UNVEILED BY GOP SENATOR AS MUSK-LED AGENCY SHAKES UP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Intel Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., pushed back on those claims by his Democratic counterparts, writing on X, “The reaction from the Dem and media to DOGE conducting audits and cutting waste has been downright hysterical. It’s reminiscent of the Russia collusion hoax — a sad and dishonest attempt to scare Americans.”

The Senate GOP leadership aide said, “Senate Republicans are going to keep supporting this crucial work” through DOGE.

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While DOGE continues to scrutinize spending, courts across the country have begun to issue rulings and injunctions limiting the agency’s ability.

Trump and Musk have hit several judicial roadblocks, from a temporary halt to DOGE access to Treasury systems and a restraining order on attempts to shut down USAID.

Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner.

Follow Julia’s reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to [email protected].

February 15, 2025
Judge modifies order allowing Senate-confirmed political appointees access to payment systems

‘The Big Money Show’ panel weighs in on Democrats’ pushing back on DOGE’s efforts as they rail against Elon Musk’s role in Trump’s presidency.

A New York federal judge modified a temporary restraining order Tuesday that prevented President Donald Trump and the Treasury Department from granting political appointees and special government employees access to the department’s payment systems.

The amended order was issued by U.S District Judge Jeannette Vargas on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, previously issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE “full access” to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law.

The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

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

Special government employees, including Elon Musk, are still barred from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“This morning, we won a court order blocking Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, from accessing Americans’ private data,” James wrote on X at the time. “Musk and his DOGE employees must destroy all records they’ve obtained. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: no one is above the law.”

The Trump administration filed an emergency motion Sunday, saying the order “unnecessarily restricts Federal Reserve employees and outside contractors” from accessing the payment systems “to perform necessary routine processes and maintenance and provide operational support.”

Both parties were ordered to meet that evening in an attempt to come to an agreement. Both sides ultimately agreed to modify the order, with the plaintiffs opposing any modification to the provision that barred political appointees’ access to the systems.

TRUMP, ELON MUSK BOND OVER PLASTIC STRAWS

The amended order now gives Senate-confirmed political appointees access to the information. Special government employees, including Elon Musk, are still barred from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system.

Hauppauge, N.Y.: New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a press conference in Hauppauge, New York on June 12, 2024. (ohn Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“These unlawful injunctions are a continuation of the weaponization of justice against President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The White House will continue to fight these battles in court, and we expect to be vindicated. The President has every right to exercise his executive authority on behalf of the American people, who gave him a historic mandate to govern on November 5th.”

Shortly after the initial order was handed down, Trump called the order “crazy” in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.

ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT

“Nineteen states attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and early Saturday a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, DOGE, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of ‘irreparable harm.’ What do you make of that? And does that slow you down and what you want to do?” Baier asked Trump in the interview clip.

President Trump called the order “crazy” in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“No, I disagree with it 100%. I think it’s crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there,” Trump responded.

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The parties are expected to reconvene Friday to revisit the matter.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

February 11, 2025
California plans to continue allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports despite Trump executive order

The State of California and its public school athletics association has indicated it will not fall in line with President Donald Trump’s latest executive order to keep trans athletes out of girls’ and women’s sports.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state’s law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey told Fox News Digital that her state’s intent to defy Trump’s executive order has made her feel “disgusted.”

“I am disgusted that CIF is disregarding yesterday’s executive order and instead doubling down on policies that are not only unfair, but dangerous for young women across California. By prioritizing their idol of transgender ideology over the safety and rights of female athletes, they are knowingly exposing high school girls to unsafe competition and stripping them of opportunities guaranteed for them under Title IX,” Lorey told Fox News Digital.

“One day, the CIF board will look back and realize they chose to be on the wrong side of history. They will have to answer for why they sacrificed the safety, fairness, and dignity of young girls to bow to an ideological agenda. But the rest of us will not stand by while female athletes are illegally prevented from competing fairly in their own sports.”

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President Donald Trump signs the No Men in Women’s Sports Executive Order into law in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 5, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

The NCAA announced Thursday that it has amended its policy on gender eligibility so that biological males are no longer allowed to compete in the women’s category in response to Trump’s order.

However, at the youth and high school level, girls may still be at the mercy of state law.

In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

California Code of Regulations section 4910(k) defines gender as, “A person’s actual sex or perceived sex and includes a person’s perceived identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with a person’s sex at birth.”

CIF Bylaw 300.D. mirrors the Education Code, stating, “All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records.”

These laws and the subsequent enabling of trans athletes to compete with girls and women in the state has resulted in multiple controversies over the issue over the last year alone.

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Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, is currently embroiled in one of the most contentious local controversies on the issue.

A recent school board meeting by the Riverside Unified School District on Dec. 19 featured a parade of parents berating the board for allowing a trans athlete on the Martin Luther King girls’ cross-country team. A lawsuit filed by two girls on the team alleges that their T-shirts in protest of that player were compared to swastikas simply because they said “Save Girls Sports.”

The father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school were told “transgenders have more rights than cisgender[s]” by school administrators when they protested the athlete’s participation.

Stone Ridge Christian High School’s girls’ volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament but forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team.

A transgender volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont in Belmont, California, against Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete.

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California State Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced on Jan. 7 that she is introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Sanchez will propose the Protect Girls’ Sports Act to the state legislature. Currently, 25 states have similar laws in effect.

“Young women who have spent years training and sacrificing to compete at the highest level are now forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages. It’s not just unfair – it’s disheartening and dangerous,” Sanchez said in a statement announcing the bill.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

February 7, 2025
Mike Lee floats allowing private parties to target drug cartels for profit

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has floated the idea of the U.S. green-lighting private parties to target drug cartels for profit.

The senator laid out the proposal in posts on X.

“Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime,” Lee explained. “Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they ‘bring home.’”

MIKE LEE CONTINUES CALLING FOR ABOLITION OF TSA

Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Findlay Toyota Center on Oct. 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

The lawmaker pointed out that the U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to “grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal,” and suggested that this power could be leveraged against drug cartels.

“Congress could issue letters of marque and reprisal authorizing private security firms or specially trained civilians to intercept cartel operations, particularly those involving drug shipments or human trafficking across borders,” Lee wrote, adding, “Focus on disrupting supply lines, capturing high-value targets, or seizing assets like boats, vehicles, cash, gold, or equipment used in criminal activities.”

Lee suggested that this method of contending with cartels would lower costs to American taxpayers, since privateers would be paid a portion of what they capture and bring back to the U.S.

SEN MIKE LEE: REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS MUST IMMEDIATELY ADVANCE TRUMP’S MAGA AGENDA

“Dismissing the possible use of letters of marque to combat Mexican drug cartels—either on the basis of ‘international law’ or otherwise—overlooks the clear and present threat posed by those cartels to the U.S.,” he wrote. “This could prove to be an effective alternative to war.”

Lee noted that in such a scenario, privateers would only profit from “non-contraband,” and that cartel drugs would be destroyed, not sold.

“One pitfall as a practical matter might be that a lot of the property belonging to these cartels isn’t … easy to monetize — because the products they sell are illegal,” he wrote.

“That could make it difficult to incentivize and reward them, as ‘prize courts’ (historically the government’s tool used for selling the seized assets and assessing how much money each privateer is able to receive) obviously wouldn’t be able to sell drugs,” Lee indicated. “But these cartels have a lot of non-contraband assets, including many things (gold, cash, etc.) that could be seized by privateers, returned to the U.S., liquidated, and used to reward the seizures.”

SENATE CONFIRMS KRISTI NOEM AS TRUMP’S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah., arrives for the Senate Republicans leadership election in the Capitol on Wednesday, November 13, 2024 (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Rep. Chip Roy responded to Lee’s proposal by describing it in a tweet as “worthy of consideration.”

“This would work very fast,” Elon Musk said of the idea in a post.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

January 28, 2025
Spirit Airlines not allowing passengers with inappropriate clothing, tattoos to fly

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Spirit Airlines has updated its policy to include a stricter dress code for passengers.

The update, which became effective on Jan. 22, says a passenger can be denied boarding or removed from a flight because of their clothing or offensive tattoos.

The additions to the contract now specify that passengers who are inadequately clothed, such as wearing see-through clothing that exposes breasts, buttocks, or other private parts, are subject to being grounded.

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An employee assists travelers at a Spirit Airlines check-in counter at the Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California, U.S. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The contract also makes clear that passengers may not be barefoot, which is a policy on other airlines as well. Another addition to Spirit’s policy, the appearance of offensive tattoos, is not a common cause for removal.

The new policy comes after clothing infractions have reportedly caused issues for some Spirit passengers.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SUED FOR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION FOR REMOVING BLACK MEN FROM FLIGHT

A Spirit Airlines Airbus takes off at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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In October of last year, two women were removed for wearing crop tops on the airline. Last week, a man from Texas was removed from a Spirit flight for wearing what was deemed an offensive hoodie. The passenger eventually removed the article of clothing but was still escorted from the plane.

Fox Business has reached out to Spirit for comment.

January 24, 2025