Happy New Year 2025

Tag: backed

‘I will not rest’: Border state gubernatorial hopeful launches campaign weeks after Trump backed her

FIRST ON FOX: Arizona Republican Karrin Taylor Robson launched her comeback gubernatorial bid on Wednesday, setting up a likely showdown between her and another pro-Trump Republican running to take on the incumbent Democrat governor next year.

Robson, a small business owner and lawyer, launched her campaign with a new ad centered on President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and her desire to help take back her state from incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Robson lost her primary bid in 2022 to Trump-backed Republican nominee Kari Lake, who would go on to narrowly lose the gubernatorial race to Hobbs. However, Robson garnered early support from Trump less than two months ago during his visit to Arizona as president-elect.

TRUMP’S HOUSE ALLIES UNVIEL BILL ‘HAND IN HAND’ WITH DOGE CRACKDOWN

President Donald Trump said less than two months ago that Karrin Taylor Robson would have his “support” if she ran for governor. (Fox News)

“I thank President Trump for his strong endorsement and look forward to working with him to secure our border and make Arizona safe again,” Robson said in a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital. “Katie Hobbs has made it harder to live, work, and raise a family safely in this state. Like President Trump, I know how to create jobs. And like President Trump, I will not rest until our border is secure and Arizona families are safe,” she continued.

“Katie Hobbs and Joe Biden’s insane agenda has made life more expensive and dangerous,” Robson stated. “I will fight every day alongside President Trump for stronger borders, a stronger economy, and a stronger Arizona.

President Trump said Robson would have his support if she ran for governor while he was delivering remarks at Turning Point Action’s AmericaFest in December.

“Are you running for governor? I think so, Karrin, ’cause if you do you’re gonna have my support, OK?” Trump said at the time.

TRUMP BUDGET CHIEF VOUGHT TELLS GOP SENATORS $175B NEEDED ‘IMMEDIATELY’ FOR BORDER SECURITY

This undated photo provided by the Karrin for Arizona Campaign, shows Karrin Taylor Robson. (Karrin For Arizona Campaign via AP)

Cook Political Report ranks the general election race as a “toss-up,” likely making it one of the most competitive races in the upcoming midterms. Border security and the economy are expected to be among the top issues in the state, as the Grand Canyon State is on the frontlines of the major policy changes of the new White House.

Despite a bitter primary battle in 2022, Robson ultimately endorsed Lake and Trump in their general election campaigns in 2024.

However, supporters of Rep. Andy Biggs hope that the president will shift gears and back his campaign instead, given his strong political agreements with him.

The congressman, who helped lead the removal of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has so far gained the endorsements of Reps. Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar and Eli Crane.

“Andy Biggs is the greatest thing since sliced bread,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said on X last week. “Arizonans, do yourselves a big favor and elect this man as your next governor!”

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., speaks at a press conference on the debt limit and the Freedom Caucus’s plan for spending reduction at the U.S. Capitol on March 28, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, the “Building A Better Arizona PAC” launched last month backing Robson, who formerly served on the Arizona Board of Regents. Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham and former Arizona Senate President Karen Fann created the group.

The primary is Aug. 4, 2026. It’s unclear if Hobbs will face a major challenger in the Democratic primary.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment, but they did not respond in time for publication.

February 12, 2025
Judge to weigh Trump federal employee buyout backed by Republican AGs

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

As Big Labor challenges President Donald Trump’s federal employee buyout order, Republican attorneys general from 22 states came to the administration’s defense late Sunday.

On Monday, a federal judge in Boston will weigh the legality of the Trump administration’s U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) “Fork Directive.”

Federal employees have until 11:59 p.m. Monday to decide if they are submitting their deferred resignation in return for eight months of paid leave.

On Feb. 2, 2 million federal employees received an email after business hours closed advising them of a “fork in the road” – they were told they could accept eight months of paid leave if they agreed to resign by Feb. 6. The buyout offer, which came as part of Elon Musk’s effort to reduce federal waste at the Department of Government Efficiency, prompted a swift blow back from federal labor unions, which argued the Fork Directive is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and Antideficiency Act and that they will suffer “irreparable harm.”

Montana Attorney General Austen Knudsen – joined by the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia – challenged those arguments brought by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in court.

SENATE DOGE REPUBLICAN PUSHES BILL TO BRING GOVERNMENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS ‘OUT OF THE STONE AGE’

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The late Sunday amicus curiae brief filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said the federal labor unions “complain” about Trump’s executive orders about the federal workforce and allege the president is eliminating offices and programs supported by congressional appropriations, but “do not challenge the authority to issue the Fork Directive or its constitutionality” because “such a challenge would inevitably fail.”

“Courts should refrain from intruding into the President’s well-settled Article II authority to supervise and manage the federal workforce,” the filing said. “Plaintiffs seek to inject this Court into federal workforce decisions made by the President and his team. The Court can avoid raising any separation of powers concerns by denying Plaintiffs’ relief and allowing the President and his team to manage the federal workforce.”

The Republican attorneys general asked the court to deny the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order.

The Fork Directive reports that Trump is reforming the federal workforce around four pillars: return to office, performance culture, more streamlined and flexible workforce, and enhanced standards of conduct. It is intended to “improve services that the federal workforce provides to Americans” by “freeing up government resources and revenue to focus on better serving the American people,” the filing said.

The filing noted that 65,000 federal workers had already accepted the voluntary deferred resignation offer by its original Feb. 6 deadline.

Protesters rally outside the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Feb. 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images / Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr., who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, on Thursday temporarily blocked the deferred resignation offer until Monday’s hearing, and the Trump administration pushed back the deadline to 11:59 p.m. Monday.

DOGE CANCELS FUNDING FOR FAUCI MUSEUM EXHIBIT

In a statement, AFGE said the Fork Directive “is the latest attempt by the Trump-Vance administration to implement Project 2025’s dangerous plans to remove career public service workers and replace them with partisan loyalists.” The federal labor union said the directive “amounts to a clear ultimatum to a sweeping number of federal employees: resign now or face the possibility of job loss without compensation in the near future.”

“We are grateful to the judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the Administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News last week.

Further defending the Trump administration, the Republican attorneys general wrote that the Fork Directive – which takes similar language used during Musk’s mass layoffs when he took over Twitter – also is in line with public opinion, citing recent polling supporting that “Americans’ confidence in the federal government has reached depths not seen since the Vietnam War” and that “a majority of Americans believe the federal government is too large, inefficient, and wasteful.”

The Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is seen on Feb. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The American people elected a president who repeatedly made clear his desire for a more efficient, smaller government,” they wrote. “The Fork Directive is consistent with those desires. Thus, when weighing the equitable factors, the public interest weighs strongly against Plaintiffs’ requested relief.”

The federal labor unions requested a temporary restraining order so that the OPM could review the legal basis of the directive – something the GOP attorneys general said “makes no sense.”

“If the Fork Directive is unlawful (it’s not), then why are they asking—even in the alternative—for it to be implemented under more relaxed timelines?” they wrote.

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The filing also said the plaintiff’s claim of “irreparable harm” in lost membership and revenues did not hold water, arguing that extending the deadline would increase the harm to the unions by allowing additional employees to participate.

February 10, 2025
Trump USAID moves backed by new House GOP talking points memo

EXCLUSIVE: An internal memo being circulated to House Republicans is urging lawmakers to argue that President Donald Trump’s handling of foreign aid is “already paying dividends” and that the Biden administration spent that money on initiatives like “a transgender opera in Colombia through the State Department.”

The three-page document, obtained by Fox News Digital through a House GOP source, is being sent to members of Republican leadership as well as lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

It includes two pages of recommended talking points, including, “America is spending $40 billion in foreign aid annually. Much of those aid dollars are not even reaching the intended recipients and are instead propping up an NGO industrial complex that has, for years, swindled the American taxpayer.”

The memo urged Republicans to argue Trump’s freeze on foreign aid “is needed because it’s nearly impossible to evaluate foreign aid programs when they are on autopilot.”

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

President Trump rolled back USAID in recent days. (Getty Images/File)

“A 90-day review period, with commonsense waivers for truly life-threatening situations, is the only way to give the State Department the time needed to root out waste,” it said.

The State Department issued a freeze on most federal foreign aid days after Trump was sworn into office. Within recent days, Trump and Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) have also led a significant scale-back of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including making Secretary of State Marco Rubio its acting head.

Opponents of the moves have said it would embolden authoritarian governments that want to see the United States’ stature on the world stage diminished and that it would imperil thousands of lives abroad that depend on the aid.

But Republicans like House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, R-Fla., a top Trump ally, argue that the moves are justified to evaluate what money is actually going to foreign assistance that aligns with Trump’s agenda.

“America’s foreign aid is not charity and its goal should not be to advance DEI abroad,” the committee wrote on X on Monday.

NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY HOUSE GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast is a top Trump ally. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

The memo also encouraged lawmakers to point out existing exceptions for “emergency food assistance” and “life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance.”

The third page is dedicated to highlighting where committee Republicans tracked foreign aid as going toward, including “$39,652 to host seminars at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on gender identity and racial equality through the State Department” and “$425,622 to help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly through USAID.”

Other priorities listed included “$14 million in cash vouchers for migrants at the southern border through the State Department,” “$446,700 to promote the expansion of atheism in Nepal through the State Department” and “$32,000 for an LGBTQ-centered comic book in Peru.”

A group of House Democrats said they were denied entry into USAID headquarters on Monday amid reports of a scale-back in senior officials and others.

“We are not going to let this injustice happen. Congress created this agency with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and if you want to change it, you got to change that law,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images/File)

It’s not clear if all Republicans are on board with Trump’s push, however. A vote to defund USAID last year led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., failed with 127 GOP lawmakers voting against it, compared to 81 in support.

But Trump’s handling of foreign aid has been backed by Republicans known to be national security hawks, including previous House Foreign Affairs Chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

“President Trump and his team are right to scrutinize and revamp U.S. foreign aid distribution to ensure every taxpayer dollar serves its intended purpose. And I am optimistic they will do it in a way that strengthens the intention behind these programs and strengthens our national security,” McCaul said.

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 5, 2025
Trump backed 2024 Republican Senate nominee in Michigan moves closer to making another run in 2026

Former Rep. Mike Rogers is “strongly considering” a second straight Republican run for the Senate in the crucial battleground state of Michigan.

The announcement from Rogers comes two days after two-term Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in the 2026 midterms, which will force the Democrats to defend a key swing state seat as they try to win back the Senate majority from the Republicans.

Rogers won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats’ nominee, in last November’s election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point.

The 61-year-old Rogers made his news in a social media statement released on Thursday in which he spotlighted his relationship with President Donald Trump and the “support” he has received from Michiganders.

GARY PETERS, DEMOCRATIC SENATOR FROM TRUMP STATE, WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION

Republican Senate nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, speaks alongside Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump during a campaign event hosted by Trump at the Falk Productions manufacturing facility on Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Mich. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Rogers is a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress. A one-time GOP Trump critic who mulled a White House run of his own in 2024, Rogers later became a strong supporter of the then-Republican presidential nominee and won his endorsement last year.

“I’ve spent the last two years traveling across Michigan with the support of President Trump and millions of voters,” Rogers wrote in a social media post on Thursday. “What I learned more than anything is that hard-working Michiganders deserve strong and honest representation that will have President Trump’s back.”

MEET THE REPUBLICAN SENATOR TASKED WITH DEFENDING THE GOP’S SENATE MAJORITY IN 2026

Pointing to his 2024 showing, Rogers noted that “since receiving more votes than any other Republican candidate that has ever run for Senate in Michigan, the tremendous outpouring of support and encouragement I’ve received since November proves that our mission to send a real fighter to the US Senate has just begun.”

He added that he and his wife Kristi “are strongly considering joining the fight once again ― to be the ally that President Trump needs and the leader that Michigan deserves. Good news is coming soon.”

Peters, a former House member first elected to the Senate in 2014, announced in a social media post that he would not seek re-election.

“Serving Michigan in the Congress has been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity the people of my home state have given me,” Peters, who steered the Senate Democrats campaign committee the past two elections cycles, said.

DEMOCRATS’ NEW SENATE CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS KEYS TO WINNING BACK MAJORITY IN 2026

Peters was one of three Democratic senators up for re-election in the 2026 midterms that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) was planning to heavily target as they aim to expand their current 53-47 majority in the Senate. The other two Democrats are Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is interviewed by Fox News Digital, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 19, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

While Rogers is the first Republican to publicly make a move toward launching a 2026 Senate campaign in Michigan, GOP sources tell Fox News others who may consider running are Rep. John James -who’s in his second term in the House and was the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan in 2018 and 2020 -, longtime Rep. Bill Huizenga, and former NFL head coach Tony Dungy.

Hours after Peters’ announcement, there were developments in the race for the Democratic Senate nomination.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who moved his residency from Indiana to Michigan a few years ago, signaled that he’s mulling a Senate bid.

Then-Transportation Secy. Pete Buttigieg speaks on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

“Pete is exploring all of his options on how he can be helpful and continue to serve. He’s honored to be mentioned for this, and he’s taking a serious look,” a source familiar told Fox News.

Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan quickly took herself out of consideration.

WHO IS GARY PETERS? 7 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE MICHIGAN SENATOR

“Governor Whitmer is grateful for Senator Peters’ service. She is proudly serving the people of Michigan as governor and is not running for this seat in the Senate,” a spokesperson for her political action committee, Fight Like Hell PAC, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, is term-limited. Whitmer is seen standing for a Fox News Digital interview on July 25, 2024 in Durham, New Hampshire. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Responding to Peters’s news, NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina argued in a statement earlier this week that “Gary Peters is reading the room. After spending years ignoring illegal immigration and destroying his state’s auto industry, Michigan is better off without him.”

Scott emphasized that “we’re committed to giving them a fighter that will stand with President Trump to restore the economic prosperity and security of our country.”

The rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee noted that “no Republican has won a Michigan Senate race in 30 years – including last cycle when Democrats won an open Senate seat even as Trump won the state.”

And DSCC spokesman David Berstein also pledged that “Democrats will continue to hold this seat in 2026.”

Peters, in his statement on Tuesday, pledged “although I will not be on the ballot next year, I will not just walk away. I plan to actively campaign to ensure we elect a dynamic Democratic candidate to be the next U.S. Senator from Michigan.”

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Senate Democrats faced an extremely difficult map in the 2024 cycle as they lost control of the majority. And while an early read of the 2026 map indicates they’ll play defense in Michigan, Georgia, and New Hampshire, they may have a couple of opportunities to go on offense.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is up for re-election in a reliably blue state. And Sen. Thom Tills of North Carolina is also up in 2026, in a battleground state Trump narrowly won this past November.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

January 30, 2025