Happy New Year 2025

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DOGE committee member cautions Democrats over next ‘reckoning’ for federal agencies

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., discuss the protests erupting nationwide from Democrats regarding Elon Musk’s DOGE budget cuts on ‘The Bottom Line.’

As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly gets closer to accessing more integrated data from federal agencies, one of the congressional subcommittee members previewed a budget “reckoning” in the works.

“These alphabet agencies are getting ready to see a reckoning. And I’m glad that Donald J. Trump is doing it. All he’s doing is keeping his word,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said on “The Bottom Line,” Monday.

White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields recently told Fox News that DOGE will soon have access to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) system that contains sensitive taxpayer information and account details.

The news comes just after a federal judge in Washington on Friday handed Elon Musk’s government efficiency team a win by declining a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from at least three federal agencies: the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

ELON MUSK’S D.O.G.E. PREPARES TO AUDIT U.S. GOLD RESERVES AT FORT KNOX AFTER URGING BY SEN. RAND PAUL

The Justice Department has also argued that DOGE personnel are “detailed” U.S. government employees who have access to the requested information under provisions of the Economy Act.

DOGE is ready to unleash a “reckoning” on certain federal agencies, according to congressional subcommittee Rep. Tim Burchett. (Getty Images)

“The IRS is… porous… and the IRS is angry,” Burchett said. “The reason they’re angry is they’re going to have to start showing up for work. You know, I’m a United States congressman, and it can take me up to six months to get a dadgum response from them. That is not acceptable.”

“And then when we find out the IRS employees are getting audited themselves, and they’ve delayed their audits, there’s a lot going on there,” he continued.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin weighs in on the Department of Government Efficiency and their latest move to cancel ‘wasteful’ contracts within the EPA.

The newly minted DOGE agency, a key promise of President Trump’s reelection campaign, is aggressively slashing government waste when it comes to government spending. It was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

DOGE has long claimed its ultimate goal of reducing the national debt by at least $2 trillion, and as part of its budget overhaul, recently carried out layoffs, mandatory return-to-office mandates for federal workers and even closed agencies completely, like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

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O’Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary discusses DOGE’s effort to cut government waste and fraud on ‘The Big Money Show.’

“It shows that every department is corrupt, and you’re going to see the money, where it flows back to, and it goes right out of the American taxpayer’s pocket into the back pocket of politicians in Washington,” Burchett claimed. “And you’re going to see congressmen, I hope it’s not on both sides of the aisle, but I’m afraid it will be because that’s who will start pitching a fit.”

“We’ve found them in the past, they’ve been funneling money into campaigns and things like that. And yet these so-called legacy media, which is in bed with these folks, has decided to turn a blind eye.”

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Fox News’ Hillary Vaughn, Stephen Sorace, Michael Dorgan, Breanne Deppisch and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

February 18, 2025
North Carolina school board member rips ‘mediocre White men’ in rant against DEI critics

A member of North Carolina’s largest school district’s board slammed critics of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and said the term is being bandied about by people who are racist in place of the “n-word.”

Wake County Schools board member Sam Hershey began his remarks at last week’s meeting in Raleigh by saying that if people are “searching for truth, we’re going to have to wait about four more years for that because, man, I’ve never seen someone lie so much as that person,” in an apparent reference to President Donald Trump.

Hershey, who is White, said that in recognition of Black History Month, he wanted to make some remarks about DEI in a meeting video posted to YouTube.

“I really want to highlight, as Dr. Ng mentioned, we’re celebrating 250 [years of America] next year that … it’s really important to talk about people being hired based on their skin color. And for 250 years, it has been mediocre White men who have been hired based on their skin color.”

DOGE SLASHES $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

“And those are facts. – I’ve heard people say DEI is racist. If that’s what you believe, you know nothing about diversity, equity, inclusion, and you know nothing about racism. And that speaks to you as a human being.”

Speaking about Wake County as a whole, which includes Raleigh as well as Fuquay-Varina and Zebulon, Hershey said DEI ensures kids who need more educational help receive it without lowering standards.

“That’s the thing that drives me nuts the most,” Hershey said. “That’s being real. And I’ve said this before: People who throw around ‘DEI hire,’ they’re just replacing the n-word with ‘DEI hire.’ That’s what they want to say. We get it. You guys are all losers.”

BALTIMORE SUES TRUMP FOR DITCHING DEI

He referenced the recent helicopter-plane collision above Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia, where some pundits were hypothesizing about the personal identifiers of the pilots involved.

“Should I see a Black pilot or do I think they’re a DEI hire? No, that’s racism to think that way.”

In Wake County Schools, he said, candidates are hired based on their qualifications and that it would be insulting not to do so.

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“We’ve got vacancies, so we’re not turning away people because they’re White,” he said.

A communications official for Wake County Schools told Fox News Digital, “I don’t have any information to share with you,” when reached on Thursday.

Superintendent Robert Taylor did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and several assistant superintendents, as well as Hershey, did not respond to emailed inquiries whether any reprimand or other action was being considered because of his remarks.

On X, formerly Twitter, Hershey’s comments led to criticism, including one user who asked if he had ever listened to speeches from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“What happened to a world where one is not judged by the color of his skin (or other immutable outward characteristics for that matter?). Why should anyone consider skin color in hiring?”

“Sam Hershey has decades of experience in ‘white man mediocrity,” another user wrote. “Not exactly the best and brightest Wake County has to offer.”

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

February 13, 2025
Georgetown pressured to cancel event with convicted member of PFLP terror group

An anti-Israel student group at Georgetown University’s law school planned to hold an event on campus headlined by a Palestinian terror group member convicted for his role in the killing of a 17-year-old Israeli girl.

But the event was postponed by the university. Now, a Jewish legal advocacy group is calling on the law school to formally cancel the event.

Flyers on campus, captured in images taken by a Georgetown law student and shared with Fox News Digital, show that Georgetown Law Students for Justice in Palestine organized an event with Ribhi Karajah for Feb. 11.

“Palestinian Prisoners, an evening with Ribhi Karajah, student activist and former political prisoner,” the flyer states, adding that Karajah will speak to students about his “arrest, detention, and torture in the Israeli military judicial system.”

TRUMP MOVES TO DEPORT HAMAS-SYMPATHIZING STUDENTS

An image provided to Fox News Digital of flyers hung around Georgetown’s law school campus advertising the controversial event with Ribhi Karajah. (The Lawfare Project)

Karajah, a U.S. citizen, was arrested, along with two members of the U.S.-designated terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and spent 3½ years in prison for his involvement in an August 2019 roadside bombing that killed a young Israeli named Rina Shnerb and seriously injured her father and brother. Karajh was informed of intimate details of the attack by associates within the PFLP and subsequently admitted in a plea agreement he did nothing to stop it.

JEWISH STUDENTS AT GEORGETOWN LAW FEAR VIOLENCE AMID HEATED RHETORIC FROM CLASSMATES AND ANTI-ISRAEL GROUPS

Karajah also spent several months in an Israeli prison in 2017 while attending Birzeit University, a school known to be a hotbed for terrorist sympathizers. According to Jewish activist Adar Rubin, the director of mobilization at End Jew Hatred, Karajah has promoted PFLP leadership on social media and spoken at PFLP-sponsored events.

While the student group cited inclement weather on social media as the reason for postponing Karajah’s event, it said in a statement that, two days before the event, the law school instructed the student group to postpone the event so that the university “could conduct a thorough investigation into serious safety and security concerns that had arisen in connection with the event.”

Now, The Lawfare Project, a legal advocacy group that supports students facing antisemitism on campus, is calling on the university to cancel the event. In a letter sent to the dean and vice dean of Georgetown’s law school Wednesday, The Lawfare Project cited federal law against providing material support for terrorism.

Georgetown University with an inset image of Palestinian terrorists. (Getty Images)

“Under 18 U.S.C. § 2339A, the term ‘material support or resources’ includes, but is not limited to, expert advice or assistance, lodging, training, personnel, and services. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (2010), upheld a broad interpretation of this statute, ruling that even seemingly benign support, such as providing a platform to an FTO member, can further terrorism and violate federal law,” The Lawfare Project said in its letter to the dean of Georgetown’s law school, William Treanor.

“By permitting Karajah to speak on its campus, GULC risks providing material support to a known terrorist operative. … The fact that this event was organized by a recognized student group does not absolve the university of liability.”

BLUE STATE DEMOCRATS SPEARHEAD BILLS TO CRACK DOWN ON CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM

The Lawfare Project is also calling for Georgetown to reveal whether any law school administrators were aware of Karajah’s affiliation with the PFLP before approving the event. As of Thursday, the group told Fox News Digital it had not heard back from the university.

Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent trip to the nation’s capital, he met with several U.S. college students and recent graduates who have been at the front of rising anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses. During the discussion with these students, Netanyahu was told about the event by Julia Wax Vanderwiel, founder and president of Georgetown Law Zionists.

“[Netanyahu] had a very visceral reaction to my speech,” she told Jewish Insider. “He’s appalled [about the upcoming event]. He said he knows exactly who [the murdered 17-year-old] is. He’s met the family. He said that we need to stay strong. He genuinely listened, cared and wants something done.”

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Vanderweil added in comments to Jewish Insider that Karajah’s “presence on our campus threatens the security of all Jewish students.”

February 13, 2025
DOGE team member ‘mistakenly’ given ‘read/write permissions’ to payment system

Marko Elez — who before resigning from the Treasury Department had been a member of Treasury’s Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) team — was “mistakenly” given “read/write permissions” on the Secure Payment System rather than “read-only,” Joseph Gioeli III of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service declared in a court filing.

The filing is connected to a case in which President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were slapped with restrictions regarding who they can grant access to Treasury Department systems that hold “personally identifiable information and/or confidential financial information of payees[.]”

“On the morning of February 6, it was discovered that Mr. Elez’s database access to SPS on February 5 had mistakenly been configured with read/write permissions instead of read-only. A forensic investigation was immediately initiated by database administrators to review all activities performed on that server and database,” Gioeli noted in his filing.

But he explained that the issue was quickly addressed after it was uncovered.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT SAYS DOGE WILL HAVE ‘READ ONLY’ ACCESS TO PAYMENT SYSTEMS IN LETTER TO CONGRESS

Elon Musk speaks as President Donald Trump looks on in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

“His access was promptly corrected to read-only, and he did not log into the system again after his initial virtual over-the shoulder session on February 5,” Gioeli noted.

“To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Elez never knew of the fact that he briefly had read/write permissions for the SPS database, and never took any action to exercise the ‘write’ privileges in order to modify anything within the SPS database – indeed, he never logged in during the time that he had read/write privileges, other than during the virtual walk-through – and forensic analysis is currently underway to confirm this.”

Fox News Digital reached out on Wednesday to the Treasury Department, the White House, a DOGE spokesperson and the U.S. Digital Service — which Trump, in an executive order, declared to be “publicly renamed as the United States DOGE Service” — but did not receive any responses in time for publication.

TRUMP ADMIN FILES MOTION TO VACATE RESTRAINING ORDER PROHIBITING DOGE ACCESS TO TREASURY PAYMENT SYSTEMS

Thomas H. Krause, Jr. indicated in a court filing that he is “employed as the Senior Advisor for Technology and Modernization at the Department of the Treasury,” and that the post “is currently unpaid,” but that he is “not seeking compensation” for the job.

“I am also designated as a Special Government Employee (SGE),” Krause wrote, noting that “the Treasury Secretary delegated the performance of duties of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary to me, although I have not yet assumed those duties.”

Krause said that he is currently “the only Treasury DOGE team member,” and that he is not a U.S. DOGE Service employee.

“Although I coordinate with officials at USDS/DOGE, provide them with regular updates on the team’s progress, and receive high-level policy direction from them, I am not an employee of USDS/DOGE,” Krause noted.

“A second Treasury DOGE team member, Marko Elez, began working at the Treasury Department on Jan. 21, 2025, but resigned from his role on February 6, 2025,” Krause indicated. “Marko Elez is a highly qualified software engineer who previously worked at several of Elon Musk’s companies, including SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter).”

Trump tasked business tycoon Elon Musk with spearheading the DOGE effort, which aims to root out government waste, fraud, and abuse.

“As noted in the Gioeli Declaration, I understand from BFS that there was briefly an error that provided Mr. Elez read/write access to the SPS system, but that Mr. Elez did not access that system during that time, and was likely unaware that he had any such read/write access,” Krause stated in a footnote of his filing.

TRUMP 100% DISAGREES WITH FEDERAL JUDGE’S ‘CRAZY’ RULING BLOCKING DOGE FROM TREASURY SYSTEM

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The Wall Street Journal reported that Elez was tied to a deleted social media account that made racist remarks, such as “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” and “Normalize Indian hate.”

But after Elez’s resignation, Vice President JD Vance advocated for reinstatement, noting in a post on X that he did not “think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life.”

Musk responded, “He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine.”

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

February 13, 2025
NYC residents praise ICE raids after violent gang member captured

Immigration officials have been busy this week removing criminal illegal migrants off New York City streets, with many residents hailing the sweeps as making the Big Apple a safer place to live.

A member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which has gained a foothold in New York City as well as other cities, was among those scooped up in the raids on Tuesday.

Gang member Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, was picked up by Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations officers in the Bronx. Zambrano-Pacheco is wanted by police in Aurora, Colorado, for first-degree burglary and menacing with a firearm from an Aug. 18, caught-on-camera incident where police say he and five other armed men are accused of breaking into an apartment at gunpoint.

Immigration officials removing illegal migrants off New York City streets. (Drug Enforcement Administration New York and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations)

NOEM SAYS ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ARRESTED IN NYC RAID TARGETING CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Zambrano-Pacheco was apprehended when immigration authorities stormed an Ogden Avenue apartment building in The Bronx in the early hours, the New York Post reports, citing sources. The building is across the street from a public school.

Other sweeps took place in other parts of the Bronx and in Queens and came after President Donald Trump’s support throughout the city swelled in 2024. In the Bronx, for instance, Trump’s vote increased by 11% compared to 2020.

“I’m glad they’re gone,” one New York City resident told Fox News. “I was planning on calling ICE to be honest with you, but they got here before I was able to call them. There was 15 of them in a one bedroom. They were constantly doing drugs in front [of the building].”

He alleged that they were squatting in the building and had “destroyed” an apartment.

One Bronx woman, 80-year-old Evelyn Brown, said she is relieved the raids are underway.”Get them the hell off the street! Get them the hell out of the street so people don’t have to walk in fear,” Brown, who is originally from Jamaica, told the New York Post.”Take the damn bad ones away!”

The Drug Enforcement Administration in New York and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations posted images from the raids.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also present for the raids and said federal immigration authorities were targeting violent criminals and the operations were “very specific.” She called for the Bif Apple’s sanctuary city laws – which mandate the city to provide shelter to migrants and prohibit law enforcement from coordinating with ICE – to be lifted.

“We are picking up the worst of the worst in this country that are making our streets so dangerous,” Noem told Sean Hannity on “Hannity.” “The community is safer now. That’s the reality of it.

Tyreek Goodman, a member of the Bronx County Conservative Party, welcomed the raids and said the threat of the gang’s violent crimes had sowed fear within the community.

“You do have the feeling, the fear of what happens if they come here next,” said Goodman, who is a city council candidate. “There’s been a lot of crimes on the MTA, based off people that weren’t supposed to be here. So we have to understand that in order to keep our people safe, this is a time for us to stand by law enforcement.”

Ramses Frías, a local Queens activist who’s voiced concerns over a crime crisis gripping his neighborhood, said the raids have also been warmly received by the community.

“Many residents, from immigrants to citizens, welcome ICE coming in and taking the criminals out of these communities,” Frías, a city council candidate, told Fox News Digital. “They welcome law and order and want safe streets.”

ICE and DEA migrant raids in New York City Tuesday. (Drug Enforcement Administration New York)

‘UNDO THE DAMAGE’: TEXAS LAWMAKER LAUNCHES STRATEGY TO HELP ICE AMID TRUMP DEPORTATION BLITZ

U.S. Rep Nicole Malliotakis, whose district includes portions of Staten Island and Brooklyn, said the Trump administration was wasting no time to initiate the removal of dangerous, violent foreign criminals and gangs from New York City streets.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem participates in an immigration in New York City. (Department of Homeland Security)

She said the groups “have wreaked havoc in our city over the past four years and have committed thousands of crimes including robberies, sex crimes, assaulting NYPD officers, and even murder.”

Not everyone supported the crackdown. New York City Council Member Alhea Athens, a Democrat, said she would demand answers and action to ensure families are protected and human rights are respected.

“It is both disheartening and unacceptable that community members are being removed from their homes without due process or transparency,” Athens wrote on X.

WATCH Tren de Aragua gang leader arrested in NYC during ICE raid

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“The long-lasting effects of these raids on our community cannot be undone.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James, meanwhile, issued an apparent warning to state and local law enforcement cooperating with federal authorities. In a Tuesday X post, she said she would be monitoring the situation closely to ensure that state sanctuary policies are not violated.

“My office is aware of the increased presence of ICE across New York City,” she said. “I am monitoring the situation to ensure our laws are being respected and people’s rights are not being violated. We have sent guidance to law enforcement, and it must be followed.”

Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

You can send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

January 29, 2025
Who is John Fleming, the Freedom Caucus founding member challenging GOP Sen Bill Cassidy?

Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming, who aims to unseat Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., during the Bayou State’s 2026 U.S. Senate contest, assailed the incumbent as a “RINO Republican” during an interview with Fox News Digital, using the acronym that abbreviates the phrase “Republican in name only.”

Fleming, who served as a U.S. House lawmaker from early 2009 through early 2017, was one of the founding members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2016 and held several posts during the first President Donald Trump administration. In 2023, with Trump’s endorsement, he won election to serve as the Pelican State’s treasurer.

When asked by Fox News Digital to name some lawmakers he largely aligns with ideologically, Fleming mentioned GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris of Maryland, as well as Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah.

RFK JR. ‘WRONG’ ABOUT VACCINATIONS, GOP SENATOR SAYS

Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, left, speaks during an interview with Fox News Digital. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 5, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

When asked whether there are any federal departments or entities that he would like to see fully abolished, Fleming replied that if there are any federal entities he thinks should be eliminated, he said, “First on my list would be the Department of Education.”

Regarding the debt ceiling, he said if he were in office, he would seek to “leverage” debt ceiling increases to lower spending, adding, “I don’t think we should raise the debt ceiling.”

Fleming indicated that he supports foreign aid in some cases.

“I do believe in some level of foreign aid, particularly military foreign aid, when it’s in the best interest of the people of the United States,” he noted, suggesting that the U.S. should assist Taiwan and Israel.

Fleming said that America must “be careful about” involving itself in affairs abroad. Pointing to Afghanistan and Iraq, he said, “We seem to win the wars but lose the peace.”

Fleming indicated that he is supportive of the TikTok ban that passed last year, because he does not believe it is “wise for us to allow the Chinese or any other foreign power, or even our own government, to spy on us through our social media.” He opined that the social media platform should be banned until it is no longer under the influence of the Communist Chinese Party government of China.

PRO-TRUMP IMPEACHMENT REPUBLICAN SEN BILL CASSIDY TARGETED FOR OUSTER BY FREEDOM CAUCUS FOUNDING MEMBER

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, speaks during a campaign rally for Rep. John Fleming, R-La., candidate for the U.S. Senate from Louisiana at Drusilla Seafood Restaurant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Nov. 6, 2016. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

In Louisiana’s jungle primary system, candidates of various parties run against each other, and if any candidate wins the majority, they win election to the role — but if no candidate gets the majority, the top two finishers compete in a runoff.

When Cassidy ran in 2014, he placed second in a field that included seven other candidates, advancing along with incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu to a runoff, which Cassidy won.

When Cassidy was re-elected in 2020, he won the majority and avoided a runoff, defeating a field of more than a dozen other candidates.

Cassidy was one of the seven GOP senators who voted to convict President Trump after the 2021 House impeachment in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump had already departed from office by the time of the February Senate vote, and the number of senators who voted to convict ultimately fell short of the threshold necessary for conviction.

During a CNN appearance that the outlet shared on social media in 2023, Cassidy said he thought Trump should drop out of the presidential contest, though the lawmaker noted that the decision was up to Trump, who he said would lose to President Joe Biden based on the polls at the time.

HEGSETH BACKED BY LOUISIANA SEN. BILL CASSIDY TO LEAD THE PENTAGON UNDER TRUMP

After Trump had become the presumptive GOP presidential nominee last year, Kristin Welker asked Cassidy on “Meet the Press” whether he would endorse Trump. The senator responded by saying that he planned to vote for a Republican for president.

Cassidy in June pledged to work with Trump if the candidate returned to the White House.

“Just met with my colleagues and President Trump. I was elected to work for Louisiana and the United States of America. I commit to working with President Trump if he is the next president—and it appears he is going to be—to make things better for all,” the senator said in a statement at the time.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He congratulated Trump and Vice President JD Vance on their inaugurations earlier this week.

“Today, the American people start winning again. Republicans are going to secure the border, unleash American energy, and protect American manufacturing,” he noted in the statement. “Congratulations to President Trump and Vice President Vance. Let’s get to work!”

The lawmaker, who has served in the U.S. Senate for just over a decade, previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Trump endorsed Cassidy when the senator sought re-election in 2020, thanking him for supporting the Make America Great Again agenda, and praising his “outstanding” work representing Louisianans and Americans at large.

“THANK YOU @BillCassidy for all of your support with our #MAGA Agenda. You are doing an outstanding job representing the people of Louisiana & the U.S.A. You have my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump declared in a post.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Cassidy campaign spokesman said of Fleming, “He came in 5th place last time he ran for Senate in 2016 and currently has $500k in campaign debt.”

According to a Cassidy campaign press release, the senator “raised another $1 million across his reelection, leadership, and joint fundraising committees in the fourth quarter of 2024, bringing his campaign cash-on-hand to over $6.5 million.”

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The Fleming campaign responded to the Cassidy spokesperson’s comment in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The senate campaign loan is 100% owed to Treasurer Fleming, personally,” Fleming’s campaign noted. “With regard to placement, Sen Cassidy ran against a weak Republican and a politically-wounded Democrat who had voted for Obamacare among other things. And, he had the backing of the entire Republican Party.”

“Treasurer Fleming ran in an open seat against 23 opponents of all parties, some of whom divided his political base geographically as well as ideologically,” the statement continued. “Sen. John Kennedy ultimately won Fleming’s senate race as he was also the Louisiana State Treasurer and had run for the Senate before as Fleming is currently. What truly matters at this time is that Senator Cassidy voted to convict President Trump in the second impeachment trial during Trump’s first term. Had Trump been convicted, it would have foreclosed any possibility to reelect Trump leading to either a second Biden term or a Kamala Harris Presidency.”

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

January 24, 2025
McCormick responds to squad member who claims ‘white supremacy and xenophobia’ are the right’s ‘true religion’

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., claimed in a post on X that “white supremacy and xenophobia” are the political right’s “true religion” and that the values of those on the right do not stem from Christ’s life and instruction.

“It’s long been known that the true religion of the right is white supremacy and xenophobia. None of their real values are from the life and teachings of the Christ of the Christian Bible…” she wrote in a post on her @SummerForPA account.

Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., fired back at the congresswoman.

SEN. DAVE MCCORMICK ‘OPTIMISTIC’ ABOUT WORKING WITH SEN. FETTERMAN TO FIND ‘COMMON GROUND’: ‘EMBRACING’ CHANGE

Left: U.S. Senator-elect Dave McCormick, R-Pa., arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.; Right: Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Left: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Right: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“None of us should take lectures from someone who has repeatedly demonstrated antisemitic behavior and is now condemning millions of her fellow citizens who simply want freedom, opportunity and secure borders,” he declared in a tweet.

Lee swiftly fired right back at him.

“Senator, I’m condemning those who profess to follow the teachings of Christ but do not love their neighbor or do right unto the least of these. Is that you? When he’s hungry, will you feed him or cut SNAP benefits? When he’s a stranger, will you invite him in or build a wall?” she replied.

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER SURVIVES CHALLENGE FROM CENTRIST DEMOCRAT AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL RHETORIC THREATENED RE-ELECTION

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., questions witnesses during a roundtable discussion on Supreme Court Ethics conducted by Democrats of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 11, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Court Accountability)

Lee has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2023.

McCormick was just sworn in as a senator earlier this month.

Lee has criticized newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY

Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“Trump’s executive orders scapegoat Black + brown communities while his billionaire donors profit off the polluted air, overcrowded detention centers, and prison labor these EOs create. Immigrants aren’t why your wages are low and costs are high—it’s the billionaires,” she declared in a post on her @RepSummerLee X account.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

January 24, 2025