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Trump administration firing hundreds of FAA workers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOX Business reached out to the Trump administration for comment.

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

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

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

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

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

TRUMP FIRES 17 GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS AT VARIOUS FEDERAL AGENCIES

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

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

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

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

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

February 17, 2025
Major crafts retailer Joann plans to close hundreds of locations

Coresight Research estimates there will be another wave of retail closures in 2025 as legacy companies face relentless competition.

Joann Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January for the second time in less than a year, is planning to close hundreds of its stores as it tries to right-size its footprint.

The retailer filed a motion this week seeking the court’s authority to begin closing 500 of its stores across the nation as it proceeds with the Chapter 11 process. If approved, the company said going-out-of-business sales will begin at impacted stores as soon as Saturday, and could continue for several months thereafter.

A company spokesperson told FOX Business that the closures are part of the company’s strategy in maximizing the value of its business.

MAJOR CRAFTS RETAILER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

“A careful analysis of store performance and future strategic fit for the Company determined which stores should remain operating as usual at this time. Right-sizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward for Joann,” the spokesperson said.

In March 2024, when the company filed for Chapter 11 for the first time after 81 years in business, it became a private company, but didn’t shutter any of its over 800 locations across 49 states.

A customer enters a Joann store in El Cerrito, California, on Jan. 8, 2025. Joann Inc. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In January, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware with the hopes of selling itself to another company after contending with a challenging retail environment, coupled with sagging sales and constrained inventory levels.

LEASES FOR NEARLY 700 PARTY CITY LOCATIONS TO BE AUCTIONED OFF

“After carefully reviewing all available strategic paths, we have determined that initiating a court-supervised sale process is the best course of action to maximize the value of the business,” interim CEO Michael Prendergast said when the company filed for the second time. “We hope that this process enables us to find a path that would allow Joann to continue operating as a going concern.”

The retailer filed a motion seeking the court’s authority to begin closing 500 of its stores across the nation as it proceeds with the Chapter 11 process. (Tim Leedy/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The company sought court approval last month to start a process for the sale of substantially all of its assets to Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC. Gordon would serve as the “stalking horse” bidder, which is a party that agrees to make an initial bid for the assets of the bankrupt company, often before a formal auction process begins.

Gordon Brothers has indicated that it intends to pursue a liquidation of the company and conduct going out-of-business sales at all store locations, according to Joann, which is continuing to actively solicit alternate bids.

It said it has received inquiries from parties potentially interested in continuing to operate the stores and online businesses on an ongoing basis.

If other qualified bids are submitted during the court-supervised sale processes, Joann plans to conduct an auction or auctions, with the stalking horse bid setting the floor for the auction processes.

Here are the stores closing in each state:

February 13, 2025
Major craft retailer Joann plans to close hundreds of locations

Coresight Research estimates there will be another wave of retail closures in 2025 as legacy companies face relentless competition.

Joann Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January for the second time in less than a year, is planning to close hundreds of its stores as it tries to right-size its footprint.

The retailer filed a motion this week seeking the court’s authority to begin closing 500 of its stores across the nation as it proceeds with the Chapter 11 process. If approved, the company said going-out-of-business sales will begin at impacted stores as soon as Saturday, and could continue for several months thereafter.

A company spokesperson told FOX Business that the closures are part of the company’s strategy in maximizing the value of its business.

MAJOR CRAFTS RETAILER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

“A careful analysis of store performance and future strategic fit for the Company determined which stores should remain operating as usual at this time. Right-sizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward for Joann,” the spokesperson said.

In March 2024, when the company filed for Chapter 11 for the first time after 81 years in business, it became a private company, but didn’t shutter any of its over 800 locations across 49 states.

A customer enters a Joann store in El Cerrito, California, on Jan. 8, 2025. Joann Inc. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In January, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware with the hopes of selling itself to another company after contending with a challenging retail environment, coupled with sagging sales and constrained inventory levels.

LEASES FOR NEARLY 700 PARTY CITY LOCATIONS TO BE AUCTIONED OFF

“After carefully reviewing all available strategic paths, we have determined that initiating a court-supervised sale process is the best course of action to maximize the value of the business,” interim CEO Michael Prendergast said when the company filed for the second time. “We hope that this process enables us to find a path that would allow Joann to continue operating as a going concern.”

The retailer filed a motion seeking the court’s authority to begin closing 500 of its stores across the nation as it proceeds with the Chapter 11 process. (Tim Leedy/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The company sought court approval last month to start a process for the sale of substantially all of its assets to Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC. Gordon would serve as the “stalking horse” bidder, which is a party that agrees to make an initial bid for the assets of the bankrupt company, often before a formal auction process begins.

Gordon Brothers has indicated that it intends to pursue a liquidation of the company and conduct going out-of-business sales at all store locations, according to Joann, which is continuing to actively solicit alternate bids.

It said it has received inquiries from parties potentially interested in continuing to operate the stores and online businesses on an ongoing basis.

If other qualified bids are submitted during the court-supervised sale processes, Joann plans to conduct an auction or auctions, with the stalking horse bid setting the floor for the auction processes.

Here are the stores closing in each state:

February 13, 2025
Boeing warns of hundreds of layoffs amid NASA’s Artemis program delays

Boeing on Saturday warned employees involved in its Space Launch System moon rocket program that it expected to lay off around 400 people.

The news comes amid delays and rising costs for NASA’s Artemis program, which was established during President Trump’s first term, and aims to send astronauts back to the moon.

Its budget is expected to be around $93 billion through the end of the year.

It also comes as the new Trump administration has started to lay off government employees from some institutions, although it’s not clear whether the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plans to make cuts to NASA.

ONE YEAR AFTER BOEING’S DOOR PLUG CRISIS, MORE WORK IS NEEDED: FAA

Musk’s SpaceX is NASA’s main carrier of astronauts to the International Space Station, and the company has several major contracts with the government.

The U.S. last sent astronauts to the moon during the last Apollo mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.

“To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, we informed our Space Launch Systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025,” Boeing told FOX Business in a statement.

NASA ANNOUNCES DELAYS IN ARTEMIS PROGRAM, PUSHING MOON LANDING TO 2026

Boeing said that employees affected by involuntary layoffs would be given 60-day notices in the coming weeks, “in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.”

The company added that it was trying to minimize job losses by moving employees across the company to minimize job losses and “retain our talented teammates.”

After NASA successfully launched the Artemis I in 2022, the Artemis II mission was delayed from 2024 to September.

Astronauts plan to orbit the moon on the Artemis II mission, and on Artemis III, they will walk on the moon. That mission was also delayed from 2025 until September 2026.

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Artemis I was an uncrewed mission that orbited the moon.

FOX Business has reached out to NASA for comment.

FOX Business’ Michael Dorgan and Reuters contributed to this report.

February 8, 2025
PlayStation Network experiences significant outage, impacting hundreds of thousands of online users

Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) experienced a significant outage on Friday and Saturday, impacting hundreds of thousands of gamers across the world and frustrating users reliant on its online system.

PlayStation confirmed the outage in an X post on Friday evening. As of Saturday afternoon, users were still reporting network outages, and over 100,000 users have reported issues on Downdetector.com.

Reported issues include difficulty connecting to an online server, difficulty accessing the PlayStation online store and an inability to log in.

“We are aware some users might be currently experiencing issues with PSN,” the company’s post, which received 56,000 likes, read.

MICROSOFT TO BRING CALL OF DUTY TO NINTENDO IN 10-YEAR DEAL

The last major PlayStation outage took place in May 2011, when servers were down for a few weeks due to a security breach. Over 51,000 X users replied to the company’s latest update, with thousands of users in Europe and North America venting about the outage.

“Still down in California,” one X user said on Saturday.

“An update please? Been hours,” another wrote on Friday night.

“This is why ZERO games should need online status to play,” another wrote.

Other social media users expressed frustration about the cost of PlayStation Plus, which ranges from $80 to $160 a year and gives users access to online gameplay. The newest PlayStation console, the PlayStation 5 Pro, also retails for over $700.

MICROSOFT BID FOR ACTIVISION LIKELY TO BE BLOCKED BY FTC LAWSUIT: REPORT

“Imagine buying a PS5 Pro for $800 and you can’t even play it,” a commentator wrote.

“So is playstation going to refund people who paid for psn?” another said.

PlayStation has received scrutiny for its prices in the past. In 2023, a London tribunal ruled that Sony must face a $8 billion lawsuit over allegations that it charged “excessive prices” on the PlayStation Store.

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“This is the first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed as a result of Sony breaking the law,” Alex Neill, a consumer advocate involved in the lawsuit, said at the time. “PlayStation gamers’ loyalty has been taken advantage of by Sony who have been charging them excessive prices for years.”

FOX Business reached out to PlayStation for comment.

February 8, 2025
World’s largest religious gathering in India underway as hundreds of millions visit 45-day festival

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The Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, is drawing hundreds of millions of pilgrims and tourists to India. The 45-day festival, which began Jan. 13, is the largest gathering of humanity in the world. It is expected to draw approximately 420 million.

That is about 200 times the number of Muslim pilgrims who participated in the annual Hajj in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, last year. It is so large it can be seen from outer space.

According to Hindu scriptures, gods and demons once churned the cosmic ocean in search of the nectar of immortality. During this struggle, drops of nectar fell at four sacred sites. The spiritual Hindu festival takes place once every 12 years at one of those four locations.

This year, it is being held in the city of Prayagraj in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This year’s event is considered particularly special because it aligns with a rare, once-in-a-century celestial configuration.

WORLD’S LARGEST RELIGIOUS GATHERING BEGINS IN INDIA, HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF HINDUS EXPECTED TO ATTEND

Hundreds of boats and thousands of devotees along the banks of Prayagraj. (Ava Poonawala)

Throngs of devotees have been descending on northern India to take a dip at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. Hindus, who account for nearly 80% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people, believe a third invisible river, the mythical Saraswati, also meets at the confluence.

Legend holds that a dip in the holy waters will cleanse them of sins and grant salvation. Bathing occurs daily, but on the most auspicious dates, Naga Sadhus, Hindu ascetics, head into the holy rivers at dawn.

Ava Poonawala, a resident of Mumbai, India, made the journey not as a pilgrim, but to “witness the world’s largest religious event in our lifetime,” she explained to Fox News Digital. She took an early 6 a.m. dip just as the sun was rising.

After her chilly dip, she expressed feeling invigorated and at peace.

“Everyone seemed to be there with one purpose,” she told Fox News Digital. “And that was spiritual awakening.”

Rudraksh Baba sets up camp at Prayagraj wearing thousands of beads. (Ava Poonawala)

The Maha Kumbh Mela is a massive undertaking by any standard. To accommodate the tens of thousands of holy men, pilgrims and tourists, authorities have built a sprawling tent city on the riverbanks. It’s equipped with more than 150,000 tents and toilets, 3,000 kitchens and 11 hospitals, as well as roads, electricity, water and communication towers.

It covers some 15 square miles. About 50,000 security personnel, supported by artificial intelligence-powered cameras, are stationed in the city to maintain law and order and manage the crowds.

“I was blown away by the incredible magnitude of this event,” Poonawala told Fox News Digital. “It’s just unimaginable how they put this all together.”

STAMPEDE THAT KILLED 121 IN INDIA WAS CAUSED BY SEVERE OVERCROWDING AND LACK OF EXITS, AUTHORITIES SAY

A predawn stampede broke out at the festival last week, reportedly killing roughly three dozen people and injuring many more. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to “devotees who have lost their loved ones” without specifying the number dead.

Police reported the stampede occurred as hundreds of millions of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred waters on the most auspicious day of the festival. Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister said some devotees attempted to jump crowd management barricades, triggering the crush. The Kumbh’s grand processions, which had been curtailed last week, have since resumed.

Prior to the stampede, the festival saw a brief but large fire, which was quickly extinguished.

A woman injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh festival is carried out by security officers at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, on Mauni Amavasya, or new moon day, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

AT LEAST 30 DEAD IN STAMPEDE AT THE MASSIVE MAHA KUMBH FESTIVAL IN INDIA, POLICE SAY

For many, the marvel of the Maha Kumbh Mela lies neither in the religious nor spiritual experience, but rather the cultural extravaganza. It not only brings together ash-smeared monks, naked ascetics and priests dressed head-to-toe in saffron. It also attracts tourists with selfie sticks and awed foreigners.

Uttar Pradesh has gone to great lengths to promote this year’s festival as a tourist event, offering luxury packages and experiences. The government even organized helicopters to shower flower petals on the saints and seers taking a holy dip. The state has allocated more than $765 million for this year’s event.

The Kumbh has drawn people from all strata of society, whether it be billionaires like Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of the late Steve Jobs, or athletes like Olympic boxer Mary Kom. Bollywood stars and celebrities like Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and his fiancée, actress Dakota Johnson, have descended on the festival.

Even royalty, like King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan, have made an appearance. On Wednesday, exactly a week after the stampede, Prime Minister Modi arrived in Prayagraj to take a sacred dip.

Saffron-clad priests at the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela. (Ava Poonawala )

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The Kumbh Mela’s popularity has steadily increased in size over the years as improved infrastructure and facilities have attracted more people. This year, for the first time ever, the massive event also boasts being plastic-free and eco-friendly. The festival is a significant test for India to showcase Hinduism and culture, as well as handle tourism and crowd management.

“The ground was buzzing at all hours, right through the night into the morning,” Poonawala said. “It was so surreal with such purity. I can’t even begin to explain it.”

February 8, 2025
Costco awarded execs hundreds of thousands in DEI related bonuses

‘The Big Money Show’ explores companies turning against DEI policies while Costco bucks the trend.

Costco doled out hundreds of thousands in bonuses to their CEO and top execs based on diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental metrics between the years of 2021-2024, a Fox News Digital analysis has found.

The grocery wholesaler giant paid CEO Ron Vachris a $93,333 bonus in 2024 based on achieving social and environmental objectives, which included “metrics concerning diversity, equity and inclusion, resource consumption, and other environmental-related areas,” according to their 2024 proxy statement. Other executives were offered $24,000 in bonuses related to achieving diversity, equity and inclusion metrics.

In 2023, then-CEO Craig Jelinek was awarded a $100,000 bonus for meeting environmental and DEI metrics, according to that year’s proxy statement. Other execs were awarded up to a $24,000 bonus for hitting DEI benchmarks. DEI-linked bonuses have been awarded every year since 2020, Costco proxy statements revealed.

WASHINGTON AG STANDS BY COSTCO, BLASTS REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL THREATENING DEI CRACKDOWN

Costco has doled out bonuses on the basis of hitting DEI metrics, their proxy statements reveal.

The wholesale giant has been tight-lipped about their DEI policies, and Fox News Digital was unable to determine which specific metrics the bonuses were tied to. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment. However, Costco’s website sheds some light on the company’s DEI initiatives.

“The role of the company’s Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) is to support the advancement of inclusion at Costco, the growth of a diverse employee base, our relationships in the communities where we do business and an increase in our base of diverse suppliers,” according to the website.

FORMER COSTCO EXECUTIVE DEFENDS ITS DEI POLICIES, SAYS CRITICS DON’T UNDERSTAND THE COMPANY’S CULTURE

Al Sharpton staged a “buy in” to support Costco upholding DEI metrics. ((Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

Costco has managers and employees take a course in “inclusive conversations,” which the website lists as “10 modules of conversations to encourage leaders and employees to engage in inclusive conversations.” The program was launched in 2020, and as of 2024 new content was added to facilitate connections “across differences, manage assumptions and make people feel heard,” per the website.

The grocery chain also lists the demographics of its “Supervisor in Training” program, which is designed to help with the professional development of employees. According to their website, 57.3% of the 7,000 employees who participated in the training program identified as “People of Color.”

Waves of backlash and support have crashed on the wholesaler ever since the board overwhelmingly voted to reject a proposal challenging their DEI initiatives in January. Rev. Al Sharpton staged a “buy in” at the Costco location in Harlem to reward the company for sticking with DEI, but 19 states’ attorneys general have ordered the grocer to drop the controversial policies in order to conform with a Trump administration executive order.

A former Costco exec said DEI has always been the company’s culture. (Callaghan O’Hare/Bloomberg / Getty Images)

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Former Costco executive Roger Campbell pushed back on critics of the company, saying that DEI has always been part of their culture.

“The term DEI didn’t even exist to us, it was the way we ran our business… it’s who we are,” Campbell said.

February 7, 2025
Costco board members donated hundreds of thousands to Democrats in 2024 cycle

Storch Advisors CEO and former Toys”R”Us and Target executive Gerald Storch reacts to a strong November retail report and explains how industry winners are ‘value-based’ players.

Costco’s chairman of the board donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats in the last election cycle, and multiple other board members heavily donated to Democrats as well, according to data from the Federal Elections Commission.

The grocery wholesaler is grappling with a public backlash after the board overwhelmingly came out in favor of the company’s controversial DEI policies.

Chairman of the Board Hamilton E. James gave $100,000 to the Harris Action Fund in May 2023. Hamilton, who was formerly with the Blackstone group, donated $150,000 to the Harris Victory Fund in Oct. 2024, FEC data reveals.

The Costco chairman donated $250,000 to the Senate Majority PAC, a political action committee dedicated to electing Democrats to the Senate, and gave $100,000 to the House Majority Pac, which works to elect Democratic candidates to the House of Representatives, between Sept. and Oct. 2024.

COSTCO BOARD MEMBER DEFENDS DEI PRACTICES, REBUKES COMPANIES SCRAPPING POLICIES

Costco board members donated heavily to Democrats in the 2023-24 election cycle. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Hamilton, 73, donated $41,000 to the PAC for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the Jeffries Victory Fund in Sept. 2024, among numerous other Democratic PACs, federal data reveals, and made donations to numerous state Democratic parties and committees.

Costco board member and former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Jeff Raikes, appears to be one of the more prolific donors among the board, giving over $400,000 to Democratic candidates and causes in the last two years. On October 28, 2024, Raikes gave $25,000 to the Harris Victory Fund, just days before the presidential election. A month earlier, he gave $25,000 to the House Majority PAC.

Costco board member Kenneth Denman made numerous donations to left-wing candidates and groups as well. In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, Denman made two $2,500 donations to Harris for President in one week, on Oct. 20 and Oct. 26.

Sally Jewell, who has sat on Costco’s board since 2020 and served in the Obama administration as secretary of the interior, made 49 contributions in support of Democratic candidates between January 2023 and December 2024. She gave thousands to groups supporting the campaigns of Democrats across the country, including former Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and former Montana Sen. Jon Tester.

Director Helena Buonanno Foulkes gave $3,300 to Harris for President and $3,500 to the Harris Victory Fund in August, and donated in support of Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tammy Baldwin, and Bob Casey. Foulkes is the niece of former Democratic Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, and she made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of Rhode Island in 2022.

Of the Costco board members that Fox News Digital could independently verify, only John Stanton gave to Republican-aligned PACs. Stanton donated to PACs supporting Republican Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, and he also contributed to Michigan Rep. John James. He also donated to a Washington Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith, last cycle.

None of the other board members appeared to have donated to Republicans or right-wing PACs. According to their website, Costco’s board currently consists of 11 members. The remaining members did not appear to make individual political donations in the 2024 cycle, or could not be verified to have done so, according to the FEC’s website.

COSTCO SHAREHOLDERS REJECT ANTI-DEI MEASURE

Costco board member Jeff Raikes has been an outspoken advocate for DEI. (Getty Images)

The significant left-wing political contributions among Costco’s board members come in light of a raging controversy over the wholesale grocer’s DEI policies. Nineteen state attorneys general urged the grocery wholesaler to drop DEI on Monday in light of President Donald Trump’s executive orders purging it from the federal government.

Raikes has been an outspoken supporter of DEI. In November 2024 he wrote, “Attacks on DEI aren’t just bad for business—they hurt our economy. A diverse workforce drives innovation, expands markets, and fuels growth. Let’s focus on building a future where all talent thrives,” in a post on X.

Larry Ellison, Executive Charmain Oracle listens to US President Donald Trump speak in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Denman frequently reposts criticisms of Trump and praise for Democrats on his X and Bluesky accounts.

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The company’s founder, James Sinegal, who retired from his executive position in 2012, was a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party. He spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2012 as a backer of President Barack Obama.

Fox News Digital reached out to the board members who donated in the 2024 election cycle and have yet to receive a response. Jewell, James, Stanton was unable to be reached.

January 29, 2025
‘Side-by-side’: Texas deploys hundreds of troops, choppers to help Trump tackle border crisis

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that he is deploying troops and helicopters to the southern border in order to help the Trump administration with its new ramped-up efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

Abbott announced that he has ordered the deployment of the Texas Tactical Border Force to the Rio Grande Valley “to coordinate with U.S. Border Patrol under the Trump administration to secure the border.”

The force will send 400 additional soldiers, as well as C-130s and Chinook helicopters. That is in addition to the Texas National Guard soldiers already stationed at the border as part of Operation Lone Star, which Abbott launched in 2021 to tackle the then-rising border crisis.

COLOMBIAN LEADER QUICKLY CAVES AFTER TRUMP THREATS, OFFERS PRESIDENTIAL PLANE FOR DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

Asylum seekers wait for their CBP One appointments before crossing through El Chaparral border port in Tijuana, Mexico, on Jan. 20, 2025. (Carlos Moreno/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“Texas has a partner in the White House we can work with to secure the Texas-Mexico border,” Abbott said in a statement.

He contrasted the Trump administration’s more aggressive stance on the southern border with what he saw as inaction by the Biden administration.

“For the past four years, Texas held the line against the Biden Administration’s border crisis and their refusal to protect Americans. Finally, we have a federal government working to end this crisis,” he said. “I thank President Donald Trump for his decisive leadership on the southern border and look forward to working with him and his Administration to secure the border and make America safe again.”

The efforts come amid a flurry of moves by the Trump administration to push back against illegal immigration and secure the southern border.

Gov. Greg Abbott makes an announcement in Houston, Texas, on March 26, 2024. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump ordered the deployment of the military to the border in a day one executive order, along with a slew of other border measures. Troops began arriving in Texas and California on Thursday evening, with approximately 1,500 troops adding to the already 2,500 service members stationed there in response to the border crisis in 2023.

TRUMP DHS MAKES KEY MOVE AGAINST MIGRANTS ALLOWED IN VIA CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN PAROLE PROGRAMS

“This represents a 60% increase in active-duty ground forces since President Trump was sworn-in Monday,” acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said in a statement late Wednesday.

The new stance on the border was on display on Sunday when a diplomatic spat occurred between the U.S. and Colombia on deportations. Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused to accept deportation flights, but later backtracked after Trump threatened tariffs and other measures.

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American officials sent two flights of Colombian illegal aliens as part of Trump’s deportation program. Petro rejected the flights, writing that the U.S. cannot “treat Colombian migrants as criminals.”

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The White House confirmed on Sunday that the Colombia’s president had caved “to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay,”

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 27, 2025
Trump’s federal DEI purge puts hundreds on leave, nixes $420M in contracts

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs has already sidelined 395 government bureaucrats, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital.

Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, wrote on X Friday that approximately $420 million in current/impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had also been canceled.

After Trump signed the order on the day of his inauguration, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day Wednesday, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. It is not yet clear when or if they will be terminated.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

President Trump’s executive order terminating all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government has left 395 workers on paid leave, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Saturday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies on Tuesday evening directing them that by the end of business on Jan. 22, they were to inform all agency employees of the DEI shutdown. In addition, they were instructed to tell workers directly involved in DEI they were being placed on paid leave immediately, take down all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any efforts to disguise DEI programs by using coded or imprecise language.

The memo also directed the heads of agencies and departments that by noon on Jan. 23, they were to provide OPM with lists of all DEI offices, employees, and related contracts in effect as of Nov. 5, 2024.

By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding DEI employees and a list of all contract descriptions or personnel position descriptions that were changed since Nov. 5, 2024, to obscure their connection to DEI programs.

After Trump signed the order on the day of his inauguration, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day on Wednesday, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. (Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman)

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

The executive order was among dozens Trump signed on his first day in office, including the government only recognizing two genders and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.

He also issued two other executive actions on Tuesday targeting DEI – an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it had canceled around $420 million in DEI-related contracts this week. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Trump’s Monday executive order rescinded President Joe Biden’s one on promoting diversity initiatives, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which he signed on his first day in office.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Landon Mion contributed to this report.

January 26, 2025