Happy New Year 2025

Tag: bill

State takes on ‘woke’ language, introduces bill to ban terms such as “pregnant person” and “chestfeeding”

West Virginia lawmakers on Monday introduced a bill that bans “woke words” and agendas from state government content, citing concerns about the terms being “sexist” and “exclusionary.”

The changes, which center around “accurate, female-affirming alternatives,” would restrict wording used in state government documents, websites, literature and in-person, according to legislators.

Specific terms included in the bill include using “pregnant women” instead of “pregnant people,” using “woman” instead of “womxn or womyn,” and using “woman” instead of “birth-giver.”

Wording changes would affect typically female-related topics. (iStock)

LGBT ACTIVISTS MOBILIZE TO CHALLENGE TRUMP’S ‘EXTREME GENDER IDEOLOGY’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS

The phrases were designed for gender inclusivity, as some people do not identify with their biological anatomy.

Other wording changes noted in the bill relate to breastfeeding and other pregnancy-related topics.

Legislators suggested using “breastfeeding” as opposed to “chestfeeding,” “breast fed” as opposed to “body fed” or “person fed,” and “breast milk” instead of “human milk.”

(Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

While supporters claim the gender-neutral terminology can “streamline” communication about various topics, critics allege the wording is “made up” and can lead to confusion.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2023 posted advice on its website for transgender and non-binary people wishing to “chestfeed” their children.

Portions of the guidance detailed instructions for those who had breasts removed in gender-reassignment surgery or for biological men taking hormones to grow breasts on how to feed their newborns.

Several doctors criticized the information, claiming the CDC failed to gauge the risks posed to children drinking milk produced by chemicals used in gender-reassignment medical operations.

FEDS SPENT MILLIONS STUDYING TRANS MENSTRUATION, STRENGTHENING GAY RIGHTS IN THE BALKANS, DATABASE REVEALS

House Bill 2406, which is sponsored by 11 delegates, would take effect on June 1.

On Feb. 7, CDC researchers were told to remove words frequently associated with gender ideology from research manuscripts that they intend to publish.

A screenshot of a leaked internal email sent out to CDC staff, obtained by the newsletter Inside Medicine, showed a list of terms and phrases that must be removed from scientific manuscripts produced by the agency’s researchers and intended for publication.

Those terms included: “gender,” “transgender,” “pregnant person,” “pregnant people,” “LGBT,” “transsexual,” “non-binary,” “nonbinary,” “assigned male at birth,” “assigned female at birth,” “biologically male” and “biologically female.” According to the Washington Post, the list includes about 20 terms. They indicated that the directive also ordered the removal of any use of “they/them.”

The bill will affect language relating to pregnancy and women. (iStock)

West Virginia University is the latest education institution to curb its diversity, equity and inclusion office due to reverse-discrimination claims.

The delegates did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

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Fox News Digital’s Gabriel Hays and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Alexandra Koch is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Prior to joining Fox News, Alexandra covered breaking news, crime, religion, and the military in the southeast.

February 19, 2025
French bill would ban headscarves in sport; Amnesty International says it’s discriminatory
- A bill to ban all “ostensibly religious” clothing and symbols, including headscarves, during competitions will be debated from Tuesday in the upper house of the French parliament.
- Amnesty International is urging French lawmakers to reject the bill, saying it would be discriminatory.
- The French parliament’s lower house will have the final say. To pass there, the bill would need a coalition of forces that don’t usually collaborate.
Amnesty International is urging French lawmakers to reject a bill this week that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions.

The bill is backed by right-wing senators and will be debated from Tuesday in the upper house of the French parliament. Its aim is to ban all “ostensibly religious” clothing and symbols during competitions. Amnesty International says the move would be discriminatory.

The vote is likely to refuel the lingering debate on secularism — still volatile more than a century after the 1905 law on separation of church and state that established it as a principle of the French Republic.

LAFC, FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM STAR OLIVIER GIROUD HAS $500K IN WATCHES STOLEN FROM HOME

Until now, sporting federations have been free to decide whether or not to allow headscarves, with two of the country’s most powerful sports, soccer and rugby, opting to ban them.

The bill is at an early stage and this week’s vote marks the beginning of a long legislative process with an uncertain outcome. Even if senators vote in favor, the bill’s future will remain unclear since the lower house has the final say.

To pass, the bill would need a coalition of forces that don’t usually collaborate in the deeply divided lower house.

Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina walks around the ground during a familiarization tour ahead of her Women’s World Cup Group H match with Germany in Melbourne, Australia, on July 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Victoria Adkins, File)

Amnesty International’s calls come after French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla said last summer she was barred from the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics because she wears a hijab. She was eventually allowed to take part, wearing a cap to cover her hair.

France enforces a strict principle of “laïcité,” loosely translated as “secularism.” At the Games, the president of the French Olympic Committee said its Olympians were bound by the secular principles that apply to public sector workers in the country, which include a ban on hijabs and other religious signs.

“At the Paris Olympics, France’s ban on French women athletes who wear headscarves from competing at the Games drew international outrage,” said Anna Błuś, an Amnesty International researcher on gender justice.

“Just six months on, French authorities are not only doubling down on the discriminatory hijab ban but are attempting to extend it to all sports.”

Experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council have previously criticized the decision by the French soccer and basketball federations to exclude players wearing the hijab, and the French government’s decision to prevent its athletes wearing headscarves from representing the country at the Paris Games.

Amnesty International said the bill in reality targets Muslim women and girls by excluding them from sporting competitions if they wear a headscarf or other religious clothing.

“Laïcité…which is theoretically embedded in the French constitution to protect everyone’s religious freedom, has often been used as a pretext to block Muslim women’s access to public spaces in France,” Amnesty International said.

“Over several years, the French authorities have enacted laws and policies to regulate Muslim women’s and girls’ clothing, in discriminatory ways. Sport federations have followed suit, imposing hijab bans in several sports.”

Two years ago, France’s highest administrative court said the country’s soccer federation was entitled to ban headscarves in competitions even though the measure can limit freedom of expression.

Wielding the principle of religious neutrality enshrined in the constitution, the country’s soccer federation also does not make things easy for international players who want to refrain from drinking or eating from dawn to sunset during Ramadan, an Islamic holy month.

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Supporters of the bill cite growing attacks on secularism in sport, arguing that its core values are based on a principle of universality. To protect sports grounds from any non-sporting confrontation, they say, a principle of neutrality needs to be implemented to ensure that no political, religious or racial demonstration or propaganda can be promoted.

The bill also states that using part of a sports facility as a place of worship would be a misuse of its purpose, and bans the wearing of religious clothing, such as the burkini, in public swimming pools.

“By placing the wearing of a headscarf on the spectrum of “attacks on secularism,” which range from “permissiveness” to “terrorism,” this legislation, if passed, would fuel racism and reinforce the growing hostile environment facing Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim in France,” Amnesty International said.
February 18, 2025
Red state bill seeks to force local compliance with federal immigration law

The Indiana House Judiciary Committee voted to advance a bill that gives the governor authority to punish local governments that fail to comply with federal immigration authorities.

Indiana House Bill 1531, which allows local law enforcement agencies the ability to carry out federal immigration laws and threatens to withhold funding from local governments who fail to comply with federal immigration laws, passed through the committee on a party line vote after hours of tense testimony and now moves to the full House, according to a report from the Indy Star Monday.

The bill would also allow the state’s attorney general to impose civil penalties if a local government agency fails to comply with a federal immigration detention request, requires state judges to report any non-U.S. citizen convicted of a crime to federal authorities, prohibits employers from recruiting or hiring illegal immigrants, and grants immunity to government bodies or employees for action taken on immigration detainer requests.

RED STATE AG PROMISES LEGAL FIGHT WITH ICE-RESISTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk down a street during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We’ve been doing as much as we can with existing authority under labor trafficking laws to go after this issue of illegal aliens being employed in the state,” Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Blake Lanning told the Indy Star. “But in many ways, Indiana law was not designed for this problem, to address this problem.”

Lanning said the attorney general’s office worked closely with the state’s GOP legislature to craft the bill, which comes after Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita threatened to sue local jurisdictions who do not comply with federal immigration orders.

“Now that’s a problem in Indiana, particularly because there’s an Indiana state statute that I enforce that says what you have got to give, whatever level of cooperation is allowed by federal law, you shall give it as a state or local law enforcement official,” Rokita told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday.

“And, so, that’s what’s happening here. That defiance I need to look into now.”

‘CLAWED BACK’: DHS CHIEF NOEM SECURES EYE-POPPING SUM SENT TO NYC FOR MIGRANT HOTELS

Local law enforcement cooperation with ICE is a point of contention in many liberal-leaning jurisdictions, even in red states. (ICE)

DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS

The push comes as President Donald Trump has intensified efforts to both secure the border and deport immigrants already in the country illegally. However, some of those efforts have been hindered by so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, which ban local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Indiana’s legislation faces stiff opposition from Democrats and outside groups, who question the constitutionality of the bill.

“This is unprecedented to have this many anti-immigrant bills in one legislative session for Indiana. So it really is kind of a race to be the most racist. Any argument against that is just disingenuous,” Carolina Castoreno, the co-founder of the Alliance for Latino Migrant Advocacy, told the Indy Star after testifying against the bill.

President Donald Trump on Jan. 31, 2025, with an executive order on his desk. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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“The rhetoric that they are continuing to use in these rooms — the mentioning of cartels, the mentioning of Hispanic men, talking about the Spanish speaking language,” Castoreno added. “They’re not talking about Ukrainian immigrants. They’re not talking about immigrants from any other part of the world, except for Latin America.”

However, efforts to defeat the legislation face an uphill battle in Indiana, where Republicans enjoy supermajorities in both the state House of Representatives and Senate as well as control the governor’s office.

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 18, 2025
South Carolina bill would ban smoking in cars while children are inside

A bipartisan group of senators in South Carolina introduced a bill this week that would ban smoking in the car with a child present.

South Carolina Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Democrat, said it is aimed at protecting kids from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke and is similar to legislation already in place in a dozen other states.

“I think the time has come for us to have a serious discussion, having South Carolina join these other states. Many of them are Southern states,” Jackson said.

SMOKING SHRINKS THE BRAIN AND DRIVES UP ALZHEIMER’S RISK, NEW STUDY FINDS

A South Carolina group of senators introduced a new bill this week that would ban smoking in a vehicle with a child 12 years or younger present. (iStock)

“As a father and grandfather, I believe we have a duty to create a healthier future for the next generation,” Jackson said. “This legislation is not about punishing smokers; it’s about ensuring our kids can grow up in an environment free from unnecessary health risks.”

The bill would make it unlawful for a person to smoke a tobacco product in a motor vehicle with a passenger under the age of 12 present. It goes on to outline “tobacco product” as a product that contains tobacco and is intended for human consumption.

POPULAR ITALIAN CITY OFFICIALLY BANS CIGARETTE SMOKING OUTDOORS

If passed, smoking with a child younger than 12 in the car would result in a fine of no more than $100 for the driver each time the law is violated. (Kids and Car Safety)

The bill suggests a person in violation “must be fined not more than one hundred dollars” each time the offense takes place.

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Jackson filed similar legislation in the state almost two decades ago. Though it passed the state Senate, it never reached the governor’s desk.

February 18, 2025
House Democrat’s smear of Border Patrol bill backfires after dozens of Dems support it: ‘Fearmongering’

A House Democrat’s strategy to demonize legislation aimed at making it a federal crime to try to evade law enforcement within 100 miles of the border backfired last week after dozens of House Democrats voted in favor of the bill.

“I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 35. Let’s call this bill what it is: fearmongering dressed up as officer safety,” Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., said last week about the bill named after late Border Patrol Agent Raul Gonzalez, who died in a pursuit in 2022.

House Resolution 35 would make individuals convicted of “intentionally fleeing” law enforcement in a vehicle subject to up to two years in prison and fines. If the police chase results in a death, the individual could face up to life imprisonment under the legislation, and potentially face deportation if the person involved is in the country illegally.

SAN DIEGO MIGRANT SHELTER CLOSES AFTER NO NEW ARRIVALS SINCE TRUMP TOOK OFFICE; OVER 100 EMPLOYEES LAID OFF

Oregon State Rep Janelle Bynum faced off against Rep. Lori Chavez DeRemer, right, in OR-05. ( )

“This bill echoes one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history, ‘The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.’ Just like that shameful law, H.R. 35 forces local authorities and encourages the deputizing of randos to do the federal government’s work, punishing them if they refuse. Back then, it was hunting people down who dared to seek freedom. Today, it’s forcing local police to become federal enforcers,” she continued in her House floor speech.

Regardless, the bill passed 264-155, with 50 Democrats voting in favor, including a handful in border states. The legislation is now in the hands of the Senate, where Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is leading the charge on the proposal.

FLORIDA SHERIFF SAYS ICE PARTNERSHIP ONLY THE BEGINNING IN ILLEGAL MIGRANT CRACKDOWN

Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., leaves the House Republicans’ caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT IMMIGRATION

“This bill delivers a clear message to anyone who endangers our community that they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., said about the legislation he is sponsoring.

Police pursuits near the border are a frequent site as smugglers hope to evade law enforcement. Under the Trump administration, there has been an across-the-board crackdown on border and immigration policies, including sending in the military to the border as well as deportation raids throughout the country.

A Border Patrol agent walks between a gap along the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico in Yuma, Arizona, on June 1, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Bynum started in Congress last month, as she narrowly defeated former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in November. Chavez-DeRemer is now President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as Labor secretary.

The seat will likely be one of the nation’s most competitive in 2026, according to the Cook Political Report, which ranks the seat as “Lean Democrat.”

“Janelle Bynum’s unglued comments reinforced she’s hellbent on pursuing a dangerous anti-police officer crusade in Congress. Bynum’s extremist vote siding with cartel terrorists over Border Patrol puts Oregonians in danger,” National Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Ben Petersen said in a statement.

Cameron Arcand is a politics writer at Fox News Digital in Washington D.C. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @cameron_arcand

February 17, 2025
CA lawmakers introduce bill protecting girls from trans athletes after state refuses to follow Trump’s order

After California took a stance refusing to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order banning trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, state Republicans are taking matters into their own hands.

On Friday, California lawmakers introduced three bills in the state legislature aimed to combat trans inclusion. One bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, focused specifically on sports. His bill would require that students use all school facilities only play on sports teams based on their biological sex and not their gender identity.

“We know the state of California is going to do everything it can to resist and avoid compliance with federal law, so it’s our role to try to force change at the state and local level,” Essayli said at a press conference outside the state capital building in Sacramento Friday.

Former San Jose State University volleyball coach, who was suspended and then let go from the program after filing a Title IX complaint over the school’s handling of a trans player last season, spoke at Friday’s press conference just days after her home was shot at. Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital she believes she was “targetted.” Police have not determined a suspect or motive.

“We need to make sure there’s DNA testing and moving forward there’s only women playing in women’s sports,” Batie-Smoose said at the press conference. “We definitely need to continue this fight and make sure that laws and legislation is changed so that we can have safe spaces for women and women in sports.”

Essayli’s bill would reverse a current law in California that protects trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.

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A law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, and gives 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.”

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow that law, even after Trump’s executive order went into effect, in a previous statement provided to Fox News Digital.

The U.S. Department of Education announced earlier this week that it is launching a Title IX investigation into the CIF over potential Title IX violations for its refusal to comply with Trump’s order.

In addition, residents have held protests and threatened lawsuits in response to the CIF’s current stance.

Essayli’s bill is the second proposal that California has seen to address the issue in 2025 alone.

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.

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND

“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.

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

A 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 cisgenders” by school administrators when they protested the athlete’s participation.

In San Diego, a middle school was recently thrust into local controversy because of a transgender student using the girls’ locker room. San Elijo Middle School previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital, crediting its enabling of the transgender student to access the girls’ locker room to the school’s obligation of following state law.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against a measure to carry out the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prevent trans athletes from competing in girls’ sports or entering girls’ locker rooms, despite pleas from multiple parents at the meeting to take action to protect the girls at the school.

Meanwhile, 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.

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Transgender athlete supporter Kyle Harp, left, of Riverside holds the progress pride flag as “Save Girls Sports” supporters Lori Lopez and her dad Pete Pickering, both of Riverside, listen to the debate as they join the overflow crowd converging outside the Riverside Unified School District meeting Thursday night to debate the rights of transgender athletes to compete in high school sports Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Before that, 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.

The two other bills that were introduced Friday, by Essayli and freshman Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, focus on empowering parents to remove their children from settings and situations that promote transgender ideology in public schools.

“Reestablishing the primacy of parental rights over dangerous indoctrination is a critical first step in reestablishing trust in our schools and educators,” Castillo said Friday.

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 14, 2025
Newsom to veto California bill blocking prisons from working with ICE: report

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is vowing to veto a bill that would block his state’s prison system from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a report says.

Assembly Bill 15 argues that “when California’s jails and prisons voluntarily and unnecessarily transfer immigrant and refugee community members eligible for release from state or local custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for immigration detention and deportation purposes, they subject these community members to double punishment and further trauma.”

“The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall not detain on the basis of a hold request, provide an immigration authority with release date information, or respond to a notification request, transfer to an immigration authority, or facilitate or assist with a transfer request any individual who is eligible for release,” reads some of the language of the bill.

However, Newsom’s office told KCRA 3 that the governor would veto the bill if it ever lands on his desk this year. Currently, the legislation has been referred to the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, the station added.

CALIFORNIA CITY PASSES SWEEPING HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT BAN ON ALL PUBLIC PROPERTY

California Gov. Gavin Newsom waits for President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to step off Air Force One upon their arrival at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Jan. 24. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

A spokesperson for Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on Friday. The bill is sponsored by Mike Gipson, a Democratic lawmaker who represents Los Angeles.

Two years ago, Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1306, which called for similar actions.

“This bill prohibits the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from providing any information or responding to a request for coordination from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal law enforcement agency, regarding the imminent release of an incarcerated non-citizen, if the person is being released under specific circumstances,” Newsom wrote at the time.

TRUMP-SUPPORTING CALIFORNIA SHERIFF TO LAUNCH REPUBLICAN BID FOR GOVERNOR IN RACE TO SUCCEED NEWSOM: SOURCES

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement knocks on the door of an alleged suspect during a recent operation in Chicago, Ill. Assembly Bill 15 would prevent California’s prison system from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The bill would prevent information sharing and coordination upon a person’s release from CDCR custody for a significant number of people and, as a result, would impede CDCR’s interaction with a federal law enforcement agency charged with assessing public safety risks,” he continued.

“I believe current law strikes the right balance on limiting interaction to support community trust and cooperation between law enforcement and local communities. For this reason, I cannot sign this bill,” Newsom concluded.

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer holds a pair of handcuffs at the Short-Term Restricted Housing Unit of California State Prison, Sacramento. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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More than 10,500 California inmates have been transferred into ICE custody since Newsom took office in 2019, KCRA 3 reported, citing prison system data.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 14, 2025
Republicans gear up to end Biden EV tax credit that ‘ran up the bill’ on Americans

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are taking steps to repeal the “climate-crazed” Biden administration’s tax credit for electric vehicles (EVs) that “ran up the bill on the American people to the tune of billions of dollars,” Fox News Digital learned exclusively.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, on Friday will introduce the Eliminating Lavish Incentives to Electric Vehicles Act, a bill that aims to eliminate the Biden-era tax credit for new and used EVs and slash “woke and wasteful spending.”

“Under President Biden and the most climate-crazed administration in the history of our country, Democrats ran up the bill on the American people to the tune of billions of dollars, strapping tax subsidies for expensive electric vehicles to the failed Inflation Reduction Act,” Arrington, who currently serves as chair of the House Budget Committee, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

TRUMP REVERSES BIDEN CRACKDOWN ON LIGHTBULBS AND DISHWASHERS, RETURNING TO ‘COMMON SENSE STANDARDS’

Honda unveils its 0 Saloon prototype, a futuristic vehicle concept, during the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 9, 2025. (Getty Images)

Former President Joe Biden implemented a tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of EVs under the Inflation Reduction Act in an effort to push auto buyers to select greener alternatives.

However, President Donald Trump has been walking back the Biden-era green energy policies, and the Republican-led Congress is seeking to end the use of taxpayer dollars for EV purchases.

TRUMP ADMIN HITS BRAKES ON $5B ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION PROGRAM

Arrington’s legislation aims to stop taxpayer money from subsidizing the purchase of luxury electric vehicles and close the “loophole” that allows for individuals to get a tax credit for leasing an EV.

“I will remain on mission to repeal Green New Deal climate handouts along with other woke and wasteful spending programs while we restore fiscal sanity, reignite prosperity, and Make America Great Again,” the congressman said.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. (Getty Images)

The bill, joined by several members of the Ways and Means Committee, aligns with an executive order recently issued by Trump ending Biden’s mandate that 50% of all new car sales be EVs by 2030.

Amid rumblings that Trump was considering eliminating the EV credit in November, Tim Stewart, president of the U.S. Oil & Gas Association, a group promoting public policy on behalf of the natural gas industry, suggested that behind the scenes, automotive groups and consumers could feel relieved if the EV credit was repealed.

“Losing $70,000 on an EV is not a winning business model and U.S. automakers know that,” Stewart told Fox News Digital. “The EV tax credit was the only way to entice consumers to ‘maybe’ purchase something they really didn’t want, but told by the Biden folks they had to buy.”

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order recently ending former President Joe Biden’s mandate that 50% of all new car sales be electric vehicles by 2030. (Scott Olson)

Stewart said axing the EV tax credit gives members of the auto industry the opportunity to shift back to traditional production lines.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is heading Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, revealed in July that he supports getting rid of the credit. “Take away the subsidies,” Musk posted to X, saying “it will only help Tesla.”

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Companies that are financially sound, such as Tesla, could benefit if the playing field for electric vehicles is narrowed, while the smaller companies that rely on the tax credit for consumer affordability could face setbacks, analysts have suggested.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

February 14, 2025
Trump budget bill raising debt limit by $4T advances in House

A mammoth bill advancing a broad range of President Donald Trump’s policy goals survived a key hurdle on Thursday, putting Republicans closer to their goal of passing a bill by sometime in May.

The legislation passed the House Budget Committee on a party-line 21 to 16 vote and is expected to be taken up by the entire chamber for a floor vote later this month.

It comes despite eleventh-hour negotiations that had the bill’s eventual passage in question even as the committee met to discuss the text on Thursday morning.

The 45-page resolution directs various House committees to find a sum of at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, with $300 billion in new spending allocated toward the border, national defense and the judiciary.

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

Speaker Mike Johnson wants the House to advance a Trump budget bill by the end of the month. (Getty Images)

It also directs $4 trillion toward raising the debt limit, and it includes $4.5 trillion to extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and other tax provisions pushed by the president for the next 10 years.

House and Senate Republicans are aiming to use the budget reconciliation process to pass a broad range of Trump policy goals, from border security to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages.

By lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority, it will allow the GOP to use their razor-thin majorities to get legislation signed into law with zero Democratic support, provided the measures included relate to the budget and other fiscal matters.

Conservative spending hawks on the House Budget Committee had demanded assurances that Republicans would seek to cut spending as deeply as possible in the reconciliation process, particularly to offset new spending on Trump’s tax priorities.

House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told reporters early Thursday afternoon that committee Republicans came to an agreement on an amendment that would win over holdouts, however.

House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington ushered the bill through his committee on Thursday.

The proposal would mandate a corresponding reduction in the $4.5 trillion tax allocation if Republicans failed to cut at least $2 trillion in spending elsewhere.

Conversely, if spending cuts exceeded $2 trillion, it would increase the amount of money directed toward tax cuts by the same amount.

“The amendment that will come up is a good amendment,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a Budget Committee fiscal hawk who had issues with the original text, told Fox News Digital. “It’s common sense. It’s doing what we said we’d be doing.”

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

The House advanced its proposal after being forced to punt the committee vote last week in the face of disagreements over where to set the baseline floor for spending cuts.

Senate Republicans advanced their own plan in the meantime, passing a narrower bill on Wednesday night that included new funding for the border and defense but would leave Trump’s tax cuts for a second package.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called that bill a “nonstarter” in the House.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham moved his own version of the bill on Wednesday (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

But while the House’s bill passed a critical test on Thursday, it’s just the first step in a long process.

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Passing a budget resolution then sends instructions to other committees to seek cuts and policy changes in their respective jurisdictions, before those proposals are added back to one large bill.

The House and Senate must also agree on a compromise between their two versions and pass identical pieces of legislation before they can be sent to Trump’s desk.

Republicans have a three seat majority in the Senate and a one seat majority in the House, meaning they can afford precious little dissent among themselves to pass a final bill.

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 14, 2025
Comer, Lee roll out bicameral bill to fast-track Trump’s government reorganization plans through Congress

FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Sen. Mike Lee are introducing bicameral legislation Thursday that would fast-track President Donald Trump’s federal government reorganizations plans through Congress, Fox News Digital has learned.

Comer, R-Ky., will introduce the Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 in the House Thursday, while Lee, R-Utah, will roll it out in the Senate..

The legislation would ensure Congress takes an up or down vote on the plans submitted to Congress in order to “streamline government operations to better serve the American people.”

DOGE SLASHES MILLIONS MORE IN ‘NONSENSE’ CONTRACTS ACROSS SEVERAL FEDERAL AGENCIES

It also seeks to renew and extend presidential authority to propose executive branch reorganization plans through December 2026 and restores a reorganization authority that was last in effect in 1984. Congressional aides said the bill aims to “modernize and improve government efficiency.”

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., will introduce the Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 in the House Feb. 13, 2025, while Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, will roll it out in the Senate.

Under the bill, Congress must vote on Trump’s proposed reorganization plans within 90 days by using an expedited process that cannot be filibustered.

It also expands the president’s authority to include entire executive departments — not just agencies.

The bill does prohibit, however, reorganization that would increase the size of the federal workforce or its expenditures.

“Americans elected President Trump to reform Washington, and his team is working around the clock to deliver on that promise,” Comer told Fox News Digital, adding that the federal bureaucracy “has grown dramatically in size and scope, creating unnecessary red tape.”

“We must cut through the inefficiency and streamline government to improve service delivery and save taxpayers money,” he said, adding that “Congress can fast-track President Trump’s government reorganization plans by renewing a key tool to approve them swiftly in Congress.”

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

“The Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 does just that,” Comer said. “We owe it to the American people to make government efficient, effective, and accountable.”

And Lee told Fox News Digital that the bicameral legislation allows the president to use his constitutional authority to reorganize federal agencies, “eliminate weaponization” and “right-size the government to better serve the American people.”

Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, said the bicameral legislation allows the president to use his constitutional authority to reorganize federal agencies, “eliminate weaponization” and “right-size the government to better serve the American people.” (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

“Congress cannot afford to sit on its hands in this fight,” Lee told Fox News Digital. “Reauthorizing presidential reorganization authority is the most comprehensive tool that the president can use to restore good governance to Washington.”

The bill comes amid a significant expansion in the federal government, which GOP lawmakers say has led to “inefficiencies, redundancies, and bureaucratic obstacles.”

Its introduction also comes amid a push from the White House to shrink the size of the federal government.

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Trump signed executive orders on his first day in office to do so.

The president also tasked Elon Musk to run the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce government waste, cut the federal workforce and slash costs.

The president also tasked Elon Musk to run the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce government waste, cut the federal workforce and slash costs. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

The Office of Personnel Management offered employees across the federal government the option to resign with full pay and benefits through September in an effort to cut the workforce. Sources say at least 75,000 federal workers have taken the option to resign.

Meanwhile, DOGE has successfully canceled millions of dollars of government contracts that the administration says were a waste of taxpayer dollars.

A senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that DOGE has worked with various agencies to cancel several contracts in the Social Security Administration, the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor, and several other areas.

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

February 13, 2025