Happy New Year 2025

Tag: GOP

House GOP elections chair reveals which voter blocs Republicans are targeting ahead of 2026

DORAL, Fla. — The lawmaker in charge of House Republicans’ elections arm is feeling confident that the GOP can buck historical precedent and hold onto their majority for the entirety of President Donald Trump’s term.

The 2024 elections saw Republicans make significant inroads with Hispanic and Black voters.

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said progress would continue heading into the 2026 midterm elections.

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

NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson spoke with Fox News Digital about efforts to keep the House in 2026. (Getty Images)

“We’ve done well with African Americans, comparatively,” Hudson told Fox News Digital, referring to years prior. “We’ve put a lot more effort in reaching out to that community as well and letting them know that we want your votes, and we want to represent you, and we care about the issues that matter to you and your family.”

“I think we can do better, and we’ll continue to attempt to do better. But, look, our message, our values, our principles are all universal.”

He said Republicans’ values also lined up with Hispanic and Latino voters, 42% of whom supported Trump, according to the Associated Press.

“We are focused on the issues you care about,” Hudson said the pitch was. “It’s crime in your neighborhoods. It’s education for your children. It’s securing the borders. It’s the price of things for your family. I mean, these are all things we campaigned on. But we deliberately went out into the Hispanic community and said, ‘We want your vote.’ And they responded.”

Earlier in the interview, he credited Trump with delivering on those values in 2024, and argued that Trump’s policies would get Republicans over the line again next year.

Hudson credited Trump with Republicans’ victories in Congress. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Historically, the first midterm after a new presidential term serves as a rebuke of the party in power.

Democrats won the House of Representatives in a “blue wave” in 2018 during Trump’s first term. Four years later, Republicans wrestled it back under former President Joe Biden.

But the circumstances are somewhat different this time, something Hudson noted.

“We’re in a unique time in history, where you had a president serve four years with all his policies, and then he was replaced by another president who had completely different policies. . . . And then the two ran against each other,” Hudson said. “So the American people sort of had a referendum on which president they wanted, which policies they chose, and they overwhelmingly selected Donald Trump.”

NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY HOUSE GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

Trump is in his second term, and Hudson argued that the 2024 presidential race was a referendum between two clear White House records.

“He has a mandate that I think is unique in history. And so this isn’t a first-term president going into his first midterm. I mean, this is someone the American people know, and they’ve chosen,” Hudson said.

Hudson pointed out that just three House Republicans are in districts won by former Vice President Kamala Harris, compared to 13 House Democrats in seats Trump won. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hudson also pointed out that Democrats will be defending 13 lawmakers whose districts Trump won, while Republicans only had to hold onto three seats that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

“The battlefield out there for us going into 2026 favors Republicans,” Hudson said.

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He spoke with Fox News Digital at Trump National Doral golf course and resort in South Florida, where Republicans held their three-day retreat to strategize their agenda.

Hudson was one of the senior Republicans who gave a presentation to fellow lawmakers during the event, where his message was: “We’re on offense this cycle.”

“We’re going to lean in. We have a lot of opportunity in those Donald Trump seats,” Hudson said he told colleagues. “We’re going to hold Democrats accountable for their voting against the policies the American people want.”

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 2, 2025
Fauci potentially to be deposed as GOP continues investigations into COVID

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he wants answers from Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In his new position as chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security committee, Paul issued subpoenas to 14 agencies from the outgoing Biden administration aimed at building on past congressional investigations into the COVID-19 virus and risky taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research. It is unclear who exactly from each agency will ultimately be deposed, but a Fauci deposition is possible.

“In the wake of Anthony Fauci’s preemptive pardon, there are still questions to be answered,” Paul said in a statement after announcing the issuance of his subpoenas. “Subpoenas were sent from the Committee to NIH [National Institutes of Health] and 13 other agencies regarding their involvement in risky gain-of-function research. The goal of the investigation will be to critique the process that allowed this dangerous research, that may have led to the pandemic, to occur in a foreign country under unsafe protocols and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight and review going forward, making sure a mistake of this magnitude never happens again.”

FORMER NASCAR STAR DANICA PATRICK SUPPORTS TRUMP REVOKING FAUCI’S SECURITY DETAIL

While former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci to protect him from political retribution under the new Trump administration, legal experts have questioned the validity of such a pardon. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baily suggested to Fox News that since Biden’s own Justice Department indicated he lacked the mental faculties to be held criminally liable for improper handling of classified documents, it could be argued he also lacked the mens rea to issue pardons to people like Fauci. Additionally, the pardon Fauci received only covers his actions from January 2014 to the date of his pardon. As a result, a refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena could also potentially result in criminal charges.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., questions former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci during a hearing about the U.S.’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Paul’s investigation will build on a previous bipartisan probe launched by the Senate’s Homeland Security committee last year looking into the national security threats posed by “high-risk biological research and technology in the U.S. and abroad.”

A second investigation being launched by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the chairman of the Permanent Select Subcommittee on Investigations, will similarly probe concerns in the new Congress surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and will include a review of email communications from Fauci.

MISSOURI AG SAYS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ANTHONY FAUCI IS STILL ON THE TABLE

Since the pandemic began, Paul has sent dozens of requests for information related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus and gain-of-function research. Last year, his efforts revealed documents that he said show that government officials from at least 15 federal agencies knew in 2018 that China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was working on creating a coronavirus similar to COVID-19.

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

The WIV has been a centerpiece in the debate over the origins of COVID-19, as it was eventually discovered that American scientist Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance was using taxpayer dollars to conduct risky research on the novel bat virus out of the WIV prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services barred Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance from receiving federal funding for five years.

Meanwhile, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told Congress in May 2021 that the NIH “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

DR. FAUCI SAYS HE APPRECIATES PRESIDENT BIDEN’S PARDON BUT INSISTS ‘NO CRIME’ WAS COMMITTED

Dr. Anthony Fauci is sworn-in before testifying in front of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing an executive order to halt all U.S. funding going towards gain-of-function research.

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Federal officials remain split on where the COVID-19 virus originated from. Three agencies — the Department of Energy, the FBI and the CIA — have determined that the most likely origin narrative is the lab leak theory, but others in the intelligence community and throughout the federal government say they can either not conclude that a lab leak was the most likely scenario, or they say that a natural origin scenario is most likely. A declassified intelligence report from 2021, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, posited that if a lab leak did turn out to be the catalyst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was likely the result of an accident.

Representatives for Paul declined to comment for this report, while Fauci did not respond to a request for comment.

February 1, 2025
Republicans angered with GOP senator who says he’s ‘struggling’ to confirm RFK Jr

The top Republican on the Senate health committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, faced criticism from fellow Republicans after he suggested his vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary is not a lock.

Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said during closing remarks at Kennedy’s second confirmation hearing of the week that he was “struggling” to confirm the HHS secretary nominee over his inability to admit vaccines are safe and don’t cause autism. “A worthy movement called ‘MAHA,’” Cassidy said Thursday, “to improve the health of Americans, or to undermine it, always asking for more evidence, and never accepting the evidence that is there … That is why I’ve been struggling with your nomination.”

GOP Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., did not hold back his anger over Cassidy’s remarks, saying, “RFK is going to run HHS whether you like it or not.” The post included a photo of Cassidy and Kennedy shaking hands at Thursday’s confirmation hearing.

TOP REPUBLICAN ON SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE SAYS HE’S ‘STRUGGLING’ TO CONFIRM RFK JR

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., center, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services, talks with Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., left, following his testimony during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. ( AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“The Senate is ours, and the moment Trump decides he’s had enough of random senators delaying our mission, JD [Vance] is walking in and taking the gavel as president of the Senate,” Higgins said. Vice President JD Vance would be the tie-breaking vote if the resulting tally goes along party lines and Cassidy and two other Republicans defect. Vance did so after GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination.

“There’s zero you can do about that,” Higgins said. “We, the people, will not be stopped. We’re saving the country and RFK is part of the formula. So, vote your conscience, senator, or don’t. Either way, we’re watching.”

TRUMP HEALTH SECRETARY NOMINEE RFK JR SURVIVES HEATED HEARINGS AHEAD OF CRUCIAL CONFIRMATION VOTES

GOP organizer and strategist Scott Presler said that if Cassidy did not vote for Kennedy, that he would “personally come to Louisiana” to organize a primary challenge against Cassidy in an effort to oust him. “We already have a home base in Iberia Parish,” Pressler said. Meanwhile, a chapter of the Louisiana Republican Assembly replied to Pressler’s threats, noting they were “ready to mobilize when needed.”

GOP Activist Scott Presler speaks to Republicans at a victory party following President Donald Trump’s election win that same month.

Charlie Kirk, another GOP organizer and activist who is also a close ally of President Donald Trump, shared a slightly more measured condemnation of Cassidy. “I believe this was a sincere moment from Chairman Bill Cassidy,” Kirk wrote in response to the senator’s closing remarks at Thursday’s hearing. However, Kirk added that he “respectfully” thinks that Cassidy “has this backwards.”

“Many already don’t trust vaccine manufacturers who enjoy legal immunity for any injuries they cause. Many already don’t trust our big food producers and the ingredients they use. Many already don’t trust big medicine, big hospitals, or big pharma,” Kirk said. “RFK Jr. has said repeatedly he’s pro-vaccine, but he’s willing to ask the same questions millions of parents are asking right now about ramped-up vaccine schedules, harmful ingredients, and a blind trust in the manufacturers that are enriched by government mandates, even after COVID.”

RFK JR RIPS DEM SENATOR FOR PUSHING ‘DISHONEST’ NARRATIVE ON PAST VACCINE COMMENTS: ‘CORRECTED IT MANY TIMES’

While Republicans were incensed by Cassidy’s remarks, the president of Advancing American Freedom (AAF), a conservative nonprofit founded by Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, applauded Cassidy’s critical approach to Kennedy’s nomination.

Then-Vice President Mike Pence receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building while still serving as vice president during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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“It’s refreshing to see senators taking their advise and consent role seriously,” AAF President Tim Chapman said when asked about Cassidy’s comments. “We have separate branches of government for a reason, and nominees, such as RFK, who will be handling the largest amount of taxpayer dollars and controlling the federal response to the life issue deserve serious consideration. Every senator must treat this nominee with the same gravitas that Senator Cassidy is.”

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Cassidy but did not receive a response by publication time.

January 31, 2025
Noncitizen voter crackdown led by House GOP ahead of 2026 midterms

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are rolling out a new package of election security legislation this week, with GOP lawmakers already setting eyes on 2026.

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, introduced the bills this week, with four lawmakers co-sponsoring the entire package and various other members supporting specific pieces.

The three pieces of legislation are a bill to prohibit noncitizen residents of Washington, D.C. from voting in local elections, a bill to block noncitizens from helping administer elections, and a constitutional amendment to prevent noncitizens from voting.

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Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger is rolling out a series of bills to crack down on noncitizens voting. (Getty Images)

It’s currently illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Though the law does not apply to state and local elections, there is currently no state in the U.S. that allows noncitizens to vote in statewide elections.

Some areas, however, allow for noncitizens to vote in local-level elections – including Washington, D.C.

“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, which is why protecting them from noncitizen influence is essential to our nation’s sovereignty and will ensure America has a flourishing democracy for decades to come,” Pfluger told Fox News Digital.

“These bills are three commonsense steps we can take to ensure noncitizens are not influencing our elections by voting in them or administering them. We must safeguard the integrity of our electoral system, and these bills will work to do just that.”

Congress has jurisdiction over Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital)

Earlier this year, House Republicans passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which requires proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

The majority of Democrats have cried foul at GOP-led efforts to crack down on noncitizen voting, with progressive lawmakers accusing Republicans of trying to spread doubt about the country’s election processes by targeting something that’s already illegal in most cases.

Democrats also criticized Republicans for pushing bills like the SAVE Act just weeks before the November election.

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But Pfluger and his GOP allies are now side-stepping that criticism by introducing the bills well ahead of the 2026 midterm races, where historical precedent suggests that House Republicans face an uphill battle to keeping their majority.

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Among the co-sponsors of the entire package is House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, who is playing a critical role in congressional Republicans’ efforts to pass a massive conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process.

Border security and immigration reform are expected to be a significant part of that forthcoming legislation.

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]

January 31, 2025
DC plane crash: Top GOP lawmaker demands congressional hearing

EXCLUSIVE: The top Republican on the House Transportation Committee’s subcommittee on aviation is calling for a congressional hearing into the deadly collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter in Washington, D.C.

“We say we are the gold standard, we just need to continue to maintain that level,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who chairs the subcommittee, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“I just want to sit down with all of them and, when the [National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)] does its report – make sure that it’s very accurate, it’s factual, and that they come up with some recommendations – and then we’ll have to see if we need to change direction or change course based upon those recommendations. But we don’t know yet.”

Nehls praised Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves, noting his background as a pilot, and said he would be asking the Missouri Republican to convene meetings with the affected parties and those investigating the incident. Nehls suggested potential closed-door meetings to enable more candid discussions but said a public hearing would also be in order.

DC PLANE CRASH INVESTIGATORS TO REVIEW COMMUNICATION BETWEEN 2 AIRCRAFT: SENATOR

Rep. Troy Nehls, aviation subcommittee chair, is monitoring the situation after an American Airlines plane collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River. (Getty Images)

“We have to find out the reason for the crash and then come up with, you know, recommendations to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “We don’t need to be sitting on this. I don’t want to hear, ‘It’s going to take 18 months.’ I don’t want to hear that.”

And it appears federal investigators are on that same page.

NTSB officials said they hope to have a preliminary report out in about 30 days.

“I think that would be fair,” Nehls said. “But that shouldn’t stop Congress looking into this and doing what we can to help. I think President Trump… expects it, and he has a right to expect it from us, to make sure that we keep our aviation industry the standard for the world.”

And while he is hoping for quick results, Nehls emphatically cautioned against any early speculation about who or what is to blame for the tragedy.

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

FBI agents stand near debris after American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 30, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

“Everybody wants to speculate as to how did this happen, why this happened. Whose fault is that? Is it the helicopter? Was it the airplane?” Nehls said.

“I think that is irresponsible. I think you just need to give it time for the NTSB to investigate, you know, conduct a very thorough investigation.”

Finger-pointing and speculation have already run rampant, however. Some have blamed Congress for authorizing too many new airline contracts at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is closer to the U.S. Capitol than the much larger Washington-Dulles International Airport.

Others, primarily on the right, have argued that diversity initiatives by Democratic administrations helped lead to the tragedy.

“I think it’s too early for all of that,” Nehls said when asked about both.

No evidence has come out to support any conclusion or cause of the crash so far.

Crews retrieve wreckage of American Airlines Flight 5342 in the Potomac River. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)

Nehls spoke with Fox News Digital the day after a Black Hawk helicopter carrying three service members crashed into a passenger plane heading from Wichita, Kansas, which was moments away from landing at Reagan National Airport.

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Both aircraft were seen plummeting into the Potomac River between Washington and neighboring Arlington, Virginia, where the airport is located.

U.S. officials have said there are no survivors, and recovery efforts are still underway.

Fox News Digital reached out to the House Transportation Committee for comment.

American Airlines has said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the plane, and the airline encouraged any loved ones looking for information to call the numbers on its site.

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]

January 30, 2025
Kash Patel vows to ‘do everything’ to help GOP senator expose Epstein files

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the FBI, pledged Thursday to work with a top Republican senator on exposing who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in trafficking and exploiting children.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., quizzed Patel about how he would handle the Epstein case. The sex-trafficking financier died in 2019 while awaiting trial. Nearly 200 names that had previously been redacted from court documents in a lawsuit against his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell were made public last year.

However, Blackburn said there is still more to be known, including the names of those who flew on his plane and accomplices.

KASH PATEL FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEM SENATOR AFTER BEING GRILLED ON J6 PARDONS: ‘BRUTAL REALITY CHECK’

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., questions Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, during Patel’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

“I want to talk to you about the Epstein case. I have worked on this for years trying to get those records of who flew on Epstein’s plane and who helped him build this international human trafficking sex trafficking ring,” she said.

She used her remarks to take a jab at former Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin.

“Now, earlier, I urged then Chairman Durbin to subpoena those records, and I ended up being blocked by Senator Durbin and Christopher Wray. They stonewalled on this,” she said. “And I know that breaking up these trafficking rings is important to President Trump. So will you work with me on this issue? So we know who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in building these sex trafficking rings?” she asked.

KASH PATEL HAMMERS ‘GROTESQUE MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ FROM DEMS AMID FIERY FBI CONFIRMATION HEARING

Jeffrey Epstein mugshot from 2019 after federal authorities filed trafficking charges against him. (Kypros/Getty Images)

“Absolutely, Senator,” Patel responded. “Child sex trafficking has no place in the United States of America. And I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past and how we are going to counterman missing children and exploited children going forward,” he said.

Following the exchange between Blackburn and Patel, Durbin requested to respond to Blackburn’s jab at him and accused the Tennessee senator of “falsely” accusing him “of preventing releasing the names of Jeffrey Epstein’s network.”

“My office subsequently reached out to hers to try to identify what records she was actually seeking. We did not receive a response,” he added.

Blackburn fired back and said she had “raised the issue with Chairman Durbin. I had raised it on the floor that we wanted to get these records… You sought not to recognize me.”

Patel’s nomination has sparked early criticism from some Democrats ahead of his confirmation hearing, who have cited his previous vows to prosecute journalists and career officials at the Justice Department and FBI that he sees as being part of the “deep state.”

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Democrats had pointed to Patel’s record and a book, “Government Gangsters,” released in 2023 that claimed that “deep state” government employees have politicized and weaponized the law enforcement agency – and explicitly called for the revamp of the FBI in a chapter dubbed “Overhauling the FBI.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

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

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

January 30, 2025
Tulsi Gabbard is missing critical GOP support to advance from Senate committee

Tulsi Gabbard doesn’t currently have enough votes to advance out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Fox News Digital has learned.

The former Democrat representative’s nomination to be director of national intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump is in danger as she lacks enough Republican support on the committee, sources confirmed.

Before heading to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, Trump’s picks all have hearings and their nominations are voted on at the committee level. Gabbard’s confirmation hearing will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday.

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Gabbard’s nomination could be in danger if she doesn’t get enough votes to advance. (Getty Images)

So far, no Trump nominees have failed to advance out of their respective committees.

A senior Intel Committee aide confirmed to Fox News Digital that Gabbard does not currently have a majority of its members’ votes, which are necessary to move to the full Senate.

According to the source, half of the Republicans on the coveted committee are not sold on Trump’s DNI pick.

A Senate source familiar told Fox News Digital, “Some members are undecided.”

“Not true that [they] are NOs,” they clarified.

The source confirmed that the undecided senators in question are Republicans.

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Trump picked Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Gabbard told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Anonymous sources are going to continue to lie and smear to try and take down the President’s nominees and subvert the will of the American people and the media is playing a role in publishing these lies. That doesn’t change the fact that Lt. Col. Gabbard is immensely qualified for this role and we look forward to her hearing.”

The senior committee aide shared that the reasons for GOP uncertainty include her previous Section 702 stance, her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her past defense of Edward Snowden.

“It’s about judgment,” they said.

Gabbard will likely need every Republican vote to move past the committee, assuming Democrats will vote against her.

DOGE CHAIR JONI ERNST TAKES ON FOOD STAMPS IN NEW BILL TO HOLD STATES ‘ACCOUNTABLE’

Cotton is chair of the committee. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., serves as chair of the committee alongside other Republican members Jim Risch of Idaho, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas, Jerry Moran of Kansas, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana.

Lankford recently came out in support of Gabbard after she reversed her position on a controversial intelligence gathering tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Neither the White House nor Cotton’s office provided comments to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

Fox News Digital reached out to multiple Republican Senate offices for comment.

SENATE TO KICK OFF RFK JR, KELLY LOEFFLER CONFIRMATION HEARINGS FOR TOP TRUMP POSTS

Lankford said he supported Gabbard after her 702 stance changed. (Reuters)

As Gabbard’s confirmation fate hangs in the balance, there is reportedly a push by some Trump-aligned Republican senators to waive the committee’s rules in order to open the vote on Gabbard’s nomination, as Politico reported. This would mean each senator’s vote is accessible to the public.

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The Intel Committee’s rules stipulate that the vote is conducted in a closed meeting and a tally is released afterward. The vote is expected to go forward in a closed manner, in accordance with the rules.

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].

January 30, 2025
DeSantis threatens to veto immigration bill passed by GOP lawmakers

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested Wednesday he will veto a state Republican-sponsored immigration bill he said would weaken illegal immigration enforcement.

The threat of a veto comes as DeSantis continues to feud with state Republican lawmakers, saying they passed a watered-down immigration bill.

“We must have the strongest law in the nation on immigration enforcement. We cannot be weak,” DeSantis wrote on X. “The bill that narrowly passed the Florida legislature last night fails to honor our promises to voters, fails to meet the moment, and would actually weaken state immigration enforcement.”

‘THANK YOU RON’ – TRUMP PRAISES DESANTIS IMMIGRATION PUSH IN FLORIDA

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested he will veto a GOP-led immigration bill in Florida’s Legislature. (Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images)

This week, the GOP-dominated Florida legislature gaveled out a special session called by the two-term governor to take up a series of proposals to help with President Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown.

Instead, state lawmakers held their own special session, where they passed other immigration bills and overrode a DeSantis budget veto, the first time in 15 years the legislature has overturned a Florida governor’s veto.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVES QUICKLY ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

President Donald Trump (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

Hours after lawmakers passed the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act, or TRUMP Act, DeSantis said, “The veto pen is ready.”

He called the bill a weak effort to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, specifically those with criminal records.

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested Saturday morning, according to ICE. (ICE)

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“The removal of illegal aliens residing in our state requires strong legislation that will guarantee state and local deportation assistance, end catch and release, eliminate magnets such as remittances, and adopt supporting policies that will protect Floridians from the scourge of illegal immigration,” he wrote.

January 30, 2025
Anxious Republicans demand action from House leaders as GOP retreat ends without budget plan

DORAL, Fla. — The House GOP’s three-day annual retreat has ended without public progress on Republicans’ budget reconciliation plans, and some lawmakers are getting nervous about falling behind schedule.

“After two days at our House Republican winter retreat, we still do not have a plan on budget reconciliation and our Speaker and his team have not offered one,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote on X Wednesday morning.

“Basically, just get started doing something. We have only been presented with the same policy and budget cut proposals that we have been presented with for a month now at all our meetings and at a full Saturday conference meeting earlier this month.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Tuesday that an initial “blueprint” would be “prepared by tomorrow, by the time we leave.”

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House Republicans are anxiously watching Speaker Mike Johnson. (Getty Images)

The budget reconciliation process allows the majority party in the House and Senate, in this case Republicans, to pass a broad-ranging conservative policy overhaul, provided the contents are relevant to the budget and other fiscal matters. It does so by lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from 60 votes to 51.

It starts with a budget resolution that includes instructions for specific committees to work toward changes to fiscal policy law under their respective jurisdictions, including topline numbers.

When asked by reporters about whether he expects those broad toplines to emerge on Wednesday morning, Johnson said, “We’ll be getting to that final number. What we’ve emphasized, with our group, is that we want to have some flexibility in the how the instructions are given to the committees.”

“Stay tuned for the number. It will be substantial, because it has to be. I mean, we have a $36 trillion federal debt, and we’re committing that in this process. Anything we do is going to be deficit neutral at least or deficit-reducing,” he said.

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., criticized the House GOP retreat for a lack of progress. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Johnson said later in the press conference, “The objective is to, by the time we leave here today, to have a blueprint that will inform the budget committee for when they work on that budget resolution.”

The details and parameters of that blueprint are not immediately clear.

By Wednesday afternoon, however, a majority of lawmakers who were staying at President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida left without a sense of their next steps.

“I think the general feeling is leadership needs to make a play call and start executing on it,” one House GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital.

Asked if they were optimistic about leaders making that call soon, the lawmaker said, “They better if they want to get this done.”

Another House Republican said the meetings were “productive” but with a caveat — “as long as leadership takes our input, ideas and concerns seriously.”

President Donald Trump also spoke at the GOP retreat. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

Other GOP lawmakers signaled they were exasperated by weeks of “listening sessions” among Republicans that have not led to specific directives from House leaders.

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But Johnson was confident that the House Budget Committee would have its “blueprint” to work from when Congress is back “when we return to the hill” – which is next week.

“That’s going to happen, and we’ll get it through the whole chamber, and we’ll be voting on that by late February,” he 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]

January 29, 2025
DeepSeek fallout: GOP Sen Josh Hawley seeks to cut off all US-China collaboration on AI development

FIRST ON FOX: This week the U.S. tech sector was routed by the Chinese launch of DeepSeek, and Sen. Josh Hawley is putting forth legislation to prevent that from happening again.

Hawley’s bill, the Decoupling America’s Artifical Intelligence Capabilities from China Act, would cut off U.S.-China cooperation on AI. It would ban exports or imports of AI technology from China, ban American companies from conducting research there, and prohibit any U.S. investment in AI tech companies in China.

“Every dollar and gig of data that flows into Chinese AI are dollars and data that will ultimately be used against the United States,” said Hawley, R-Mo., in a statement. “America cannot afford to empower our greatest adversary.”

His is one of the first bills introduced directly in response to the DeepSeek market shakeup of the past few days.

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Sen. Josh Hawley has introduced a bill to cut off U.S.-China cooperation on artificial intelligence. (C-Span)

DeepSeek’s release of a new high-profile AI model that costs less to run than existing models like those of Meta and OpenAI sent a chill through U.S. markets, with chipmaker Nvidia stocks tanking on Monday before slowly gaining ground again on Tuesday.

The surprise release displayed how China’s economic competitiveness has far outpaced the ability of U.S. business leaders and lawmakers to agree on what to do about it.

Unlike other legislation to thwart China’s profiting off U.S. innovation, Hawley’s bill would cover any AI-related technology instead of specific entities, which has prompted the Chinese to seek out loopholes through other companies.

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Microsoft and OpenAI are now reportedly investigating whether DeepSeek could have accessed and used their data to train its own Chinese model, Bloomberg News reported.

White House artificial intelligence czar David Sacks told Fox News there is “substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s models.”

The U.S. and China are engaged in an AI race, and until recently the U.S. was thought to be slightly ahead. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

President Donald Trump on Monday said DeepSeek’s arrival on the scene “should be a wakeup call” for America’s tech companies after the new low-cost AI assistant soared to number one on the Apple app store over the weekend.

“The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser focused on competing,” Trump said.

But the president said it was ultimately a good thing if the world had access to cheaper, faster AI models. “Instead of spending billions and billions, you’ll spend less, and you’ll come up with, hopefully, the same solution,” Trump said.

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In his final week in office, President Joe Biden issued a rule slapping export controls on AI chips, with his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, arguing that the U.S. was only six to 18 months ahead of China in the AI sector.

U.S. officials are now looking at the national security implications of DeepSeek, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who added that the Trump administration was working to “ensure American AI dominance.”

January 29, 2025