Happy New Year 2025

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Senate GOP effort to move on Trump budget before House gets leader Thune backing

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., came out in support of a GOP effort in the upper chamber to get moving on legislation to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.

It would be a significant departure from current plans for the House to pass a bill first, amid infighting by House Republicans over spending levels.

“I appreciate Chairman Graham’s leadership in crafting a budget resolution that will unlock the ability to pass a reconciliation bill to secure the border, rebuild our military, and deliver a much-needed down payment on energy security,” Thune told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement.

“I am supportive of Chairman Graham’s efforts to advance the president’s priorities in the Senate, and I look forward to continuing our conversations with our House colleagues,” he said.

SENATORS LEAPFROG HOUSE REPUBLICANS ON ANTICIPATED TRUMP BUDGET BILL

Thune said he supports Graham’s effort to move on the President’s agenda in the Senate. (Getty Images)

Earlier on Wednesday, ahead of a lunch with key Republicans, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., unveiled his plan to advance the bill through a key procedural hurdle next week. The House planned to move a bill this week, but leaders were forced to punt after conservatives balked at what they saw as a low threshold for spending cuts to offset the cost of new funding to implement Republican border and defense policies.

Now, with Thune’s blessing, Graham’s plan is primed to quickly maneuver through the Senate, getting a significant advantage over any competing House GOP efforts.

Republicans in Washington, D.C., are preparing to use the budget reconciliation process to achieve a wide range of Trump proposals from border security to eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay.

The reconciliaiton process lowers the threshold to advance a bill in the Senate from 60 votes to just 51. And with a 53-vote majority in the upper chamber, Republicans are poised to push policies through with only support from the GOP conference.

FORMER GOP LEADER MCCONNELL FALLS WHILE EXITING SENATE CHAMBER AFTER TURNER CONFIRMATION VOTE

U.S. Capitol Building (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

At the same time, with razor-thin margins in the House and Senate, the party can afford very few defectors.

The first step in the crucial budget reconciliation process is marking up and advancing a bill through the Senate and House budget committees.

The budget that is headed to the Senate’s committee would be part of a two-pronged approach, with the first bill including Trump’s priorities for border security, fossil fuel energy and national defense.

This plan would see a second bill focusing on extending Trump’s tax policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) later in the year.

In a statement, Graham confirmed his plan to move forward on the two-bill plan. His office advised that next week there would indeed be a committee vote on a Fiscal Year 2025 budget resolution, which “will be the blueprint that unlocks the pathway forward for a fully paid for reconciliation bill to secure the border, bolster our military and increase American energy independence.”

SENATE TEES UP TRUMP BUDGET CHIEF PICK RUSSELL VOUGHT FOR FINAL CONFIRMATION VOTE

Graham chairs the Budget committee. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

“To those who believe that Republicans should fulfill their promises on border security, mass deportation of criminal illegal aliens: I agree,” Graham said.

“That is why the Senate Budget Committee will be moving forward next week to give the Trump Administration’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, the money he needs to finish the wall, hire ICE agents to deport criminal illegal immigrants, and create more detention beds so that we do not release more dangerous people into the country. This will be the most transformational border security bill in the history of our country. It’s time to act,” he continued.

While many Senate Republicans have espoused a preference for two bills to be passed this year through the key budget reconciliation process, they have faced significant opposition in the House, where the House Ways & Means Committee and House GOP leaders have pushed for one large bill with all of Trump’s priorities.

FORMER NFL PLAYER SCOTT TURNER CONFIRMED TO LEAD HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

A plan to leapfrog House Republicans on the reconciliation process was unveiled to senators on Wednesday. (Reuters)

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House leaders had intended to make the first move in the process. But the Senate passing their own bill first could essentially force the lower chamber to contend with whatever product comes from the other side of Capitol Hill, instead of dictating their starting point themselves.

Trump has previously said he preferred one large bill, but avoided demanding it. Rather, the president has left it with Congress, urging them to employ whichever strategy can be carried out quickest.

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].

February 6, 2025
2 NBA stars on the move in latest blockbuster deal: report

Two NBA stars are reportedly on the move Sunday, hours after the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis earlier in the day.

The Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs were finalizing a deal involving De’Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine, ESPN reported.

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Sacramento Kings’ De’Aaron Fox calls out to teammates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Fox was traded to the Spurs and LaVine was traded to the Kings in the deal, according to the report. The Bulls will reportedly receive Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Heurter and a 2025 draft pick.

The Kings guard is two seasons removed from his first All-Star appearance. He was averaging 25 points, 6.1 assists and five rebounds with the team before he was dealt. He has played for the Kings since the 2017-18 season.

LaVine, a two-time All-Star, had been with the Bulls since the 2017-18 season as well. He was mostly injured during the 2023-24 season but bounced back and played in 42 games this season. He’s averaging 24 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

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San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images)

Fox will now pair up with Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs are 21-25 this season and are about three games behind the Golden State Warriors for 11th in the Western Conference.

LaVine will team up with Domantas Sabonis. The Kings are two seasons removed from their playoff run in 2023. Sacramento has seen changes this season and the Fox trade appeared to be the end of it. The team fired head coach Mike Brow and replaced him with Doug Christie.

The Kings are in 10th in the West with a record of 24-24. Chicago is in 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 21-28 record.

Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun, left, guards against Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

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San Antonio will also receive Jordan McLaughlin and the Kings will receive Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks and three second-round picks.

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

February 3, 2025
American Airlines subsidiary announced corporate HQ move from Ohio to North Carolina hours before deadly crash

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy provides details during an update on the midair collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army Helicopter.

On Wednesday — the same day as the deadly midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger airplane that occurred Wednesday night — PSA Airlines had announced plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Ohio to North Carolina, reports indicate.

PSA Airlines made the announcement “hours before” the fatal crash, the Dayton Daily News reported.

PSA is a subsidiary of American Airlines Group. According to American Airlines, American Eagle Flight 5342, the flight involved in the incident, “was operated by PSA Airlines with a CRJ-700.”

DC PLANE CRASH INVESTIGATORS RECOVER AMERICAN AIRLINES BLACK BOXES AFTER MIDAIR COLLISION

An American Eagle, operated by PSA Airlines, a CRJ-700 aircraft arrives at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan 22, 2025 in Arlington, Va. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to American Airlines and PSA Airlines for comment about the announced headquarters relocation, but did not receive comment in time for publication.

It appears that there was a page on the PSA airlines website about the headquarters relocation announcement — but the link to that press release, as well as other links to the PSA Airlines website, currently redirect to the homepage of the American Airlines website.

THE MOST RECENT COMMERCIAL AVIATION ACCIDENTS IN THE US

The Punaro Group CEO Gen. Arnold Punaro (ret.) weighs in on the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the D.C. plane crash and Tulsi Gabbard’s Senate confirmation hearing.

“We chose to relocate PSA’s headquarters to Charlotte for several important reasons, including that Charlotte is where most of our daily departures occur and almost all our training is based,” PSA president and CEO Dion Flannery noted, according to the Dayton Daily News. “Charlotte is a vibrant community and home to the world’s seventh-busiest airport.”

“While we’re looking forward to getting integrated into the Charlotte community, I want to sincerely thank the city of Dayton, its leaders and the entire Dayton community for embracing and supporting PSA for so many years. We will continue to have a presence in Dayton with a maintenance hangar and crew base, including more than 550 Dayton-based team members,” he noted, according to the outlet.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CEO ON AMERICAN AIRLINES CRASH IN DC: ‘OUR HEARTS GO OUT’

Helicopter pilot Dean Wegner argues there’s ‘a longer story’ behind the tragic American Airlines and helicopter aircraft collision and shares his condolences.

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Dozens lost their lives due to the deadly crash.

“Sadly, there are no survivors,” President Trump said on Thursday.

The incident is under investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s media relations division noted in Thursday a post on X that “NTSB investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane involved in yesterday’s mid-air collision at DCA. The recorders are at the NTSB labs for evaluation.”

January 31, 2025
House Democrats demand answers on DOJ’s move to fire former special counsel officials

House Democrats are demanding answers regarding the Justice Department’s move this week to fire more than a dozen officials involved in former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, arguing the action was in “complete contradiction” of President Trump’s effort to keep a “merit-based system” for government employees.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Gerald Connolly, D-Ma., penned a letter to acting Attorney General James McHenry Tuesday, obtained by Fox News.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN KEY OFFICIALS ON FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S TEAM

“We write to you with alarm and profound concern about reports of the administration engaging in the widespread summary firing and involuntary reassignment of excellent career prosecutors and federal agents throughout the Department of Justice (DOJ),” they wrote. “This onslaught against effective DOJ civil servants began within hours of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, in complete contradiction of the president’s repeated pledges to maintain a merit-based system for government employment.”

The seal for the Justice Department is photographed in Washington, Nov. 18, 2022. The Justice Department has announced three arrests in a complex stolen identity scheme that officials say generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Raskin and Connolly added that the officials worked “strenuously to defend the rule of law have been removed from their positions without any evaluation—much less any negative evaluation—of their work.”

McHenry, on Monday, fired more than a dozen key officials on Smith’s team who worked to prosecute the president, saying that they could not be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”

Fox News Digital first reported the news exclusively on Monday.

TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE

Raskin and Connolly argued that the officials terminated on Monday were “part of an expert, non-political workforce tasked with protecting our national security and public safety.”

Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“They have been hired and promoted based on their professional merit and excellence,” they wrote, adding that “many of them have decades of experience under their belt and have served under, been promoted by, and received awards from presidential administrations of both major political parties, including President Trump’s first administration.”

The Democrats argued that McHenry removed them from their posts “without regard to their demonstrated competencies, their recognized achievements, or their devoted service to the Department, in some cases reassigning them to areas that are outside of their legal expertise.”

“By removing them from their positions in this hasty and unprincipled way, you have very likely violated longstanding federal laws,” they wrote, also accusing McHenry of having “taken aim at law students who applied to, interviewed for, and received offers from the Department based on their demonstrated academic achievements and their commitment to public service.”

DOJ RELEASES FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S REPORT ON INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

The Democrats claimed that the DOJ “rescinded job offers to summer interns and entry-level attorneys hired through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, a highly competitive 72-year-old recruitment program that receives applications from students at hundreds of law schools across the country.”

Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Gerry Connolly, R-Ma. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“We have also received disturbing reports surfacing that White House staff are playing a substantial role in these employment decisions and examining career civil servants’ LinkedIn and other social media profiles to ascertain their personal political leanings,” Raskin and Connolly wrote. “Taken together, your actions raise significant concern that you are determined to fill the ranks of the DOJ and FBI with career employees selected for the personal loyalty or political services they have rendered to President Trump.”

Raskin and Connolly are demanding the DOJ provide them with a list of names of officials who have been reassigned or terminated; and provide any communications between the DOJ and the White House since Inauguration Day regarding the content of personal social media accounts of career DOJ employees or applicants.

Raskin and Connolly demanded the information by Feb. 11 at 5:00 p.m.

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for North Carolina at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., January 24, 2025. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

Their letter comes after McHenry, on Monday, transmitted a letter to each official notifying them of their termination, a Justice Department official exclusively told Fox News Digital. It is unclear how many officials received that letter. The names of the individuals were not immediately released.

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“Acting Attorney General James McHenry terminated the employment of a number of DOJ officials who played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump,” a DOJ official told Fox News Digital. “In light of their actions, the Acting Attorney General does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President’s agenda.”

This action “is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government,” the official told Fox News Digital.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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

January 29, 2025
Leavitt says egg shortage, grocery prices why Senate must ‘move swiftly’ to confirm Trump nominees

President Donald Trump’s White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt urged members of Congress to confirm Trump’s nominees to address problems like the U.S. egg shortage and the cost of living crisis.

“This is an example of why it’s so incredibly important that the Senate moves swiftly to confirm all of President Trump’s nominees, including his nominee for the United States Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, who is already speaking with Kevin Hassett, who’s leading the economic team here at the White House, on how we can address the egg shortage in this country,” Leavitt told reporters Tuesday at her first White House press briefing.

“We also have seen the cost of everything, not just eggs, bacon, groceries, gasoline, have increased because of the inflationary policies of the last administration,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt’s comments came directly after Democrats took several jabs at Trump’s handling of the cost of living crisis just days after his inauguration, citing rising prices for eggs amid larger conversations about the price of groceries and cost of living as a whole.

While the consumer price index shows consumer prices increased roughly 20% under former President Joe Biden’s administration, Democrats remain skeptical that Trump’s economic proposals will prove effective.

“The price of eggs and the cost of living was supposed to go down. Not up,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a post on X on Friday.

SHELLING OUT: EGG PRICES RISE NEARLY 37 PERCENT

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized President Donald Trump’s economic plans, saying, “The price of eggs and the cost of living was supposed to go down. Not up.” (Getty Images)

“Trump’s ‘concepts of a plan’ at work,” Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said in a post on X on Friday, pointing to a photo claiming a dozen eggs cost nearly $9. It’s unclear where the photo originated or its authenticity.

Subramanyam’s post referenced Trump’s comments that he had “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act, during a September 2024 presidential debate with former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index shows egg prices have soared nearly 37% in the past year. For example, a dozen Grade A large eggs cost an average of $4.15 in December — up from $2.51 in December 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In some states like California, those numbers have gone up to nearly $9 per dozen in certain areas. California, like other states including Arizona, Massachusetts and Michigan, requires all eggs sold in the state to come from cage-free hens, which typically are more expensive.

The rise in egg prices comes amid high demand and a massive outbreak of avian flu, known as the highly pathogenic avian influenza, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture attributes to killing more than 20 million egg-laying hens in the last quarter of 2024. All birds from an infected flock are culled, exacerbating the impact of the flu.

Leavitt on Tuesday blamed this killing policy for contributing to the egg shortage.

“The Biden Administration’s slow and ineffective response to the avian influenza outbreak, which began in 2022, has negatively impacted U.S. poultry producers, and his USDA forced farmers to massively cut their livestock populations,” Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital.

As a result, Kelly said Trump and Rollins would take “bold, decisive action” to address problems related to the avian flu, and direct the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to refocus on the health of animals and plants.

Democrats previously have questioned Trump’s ability to reduce grocery prices, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said in early January that “Trump has no idea” how to cut down such prices.

SWALWELL SLAMMED ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR QUESTIONING HOW TRUMP WILL LOWER GROCERY PRICES

Rep. Eric Swalwell has cast doubt on President Donald Trump’s ability to reduce the prices of groceries. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“I don’t care if Donald Trump wants to buy Greenland. I just want to know what he’s going to do to lower the cost of groceries,” Rep. Swalwell wrote on X on Jan. 7.

Vice President JD Vance addressed the cost of groceries in an interview Sunday with CBS’ Margaret Brennan, citing several executive orders that Trump signed his first week in office focused on the economy and reducing energy prices. Among those orders was a directive instructing every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis.

VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE PRESSED ON WHEN GROCERY PRICES WILL COME DOWN: ‘WHICH ONE LOWERS PRICES?’

Vice President JD Vance clashed with CBS’ Margaret Brennan on several topics, including the prices of groceries in an interview on Jan. 26, 2025. (CBS screenshot)

“Prices are going to come down, but it’s going to take a little bit of time, right?” Vance said. “The president has been president for all of five days. I think that, in those five days, he’s accomplished more than Joe Biden did in four years.”

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The state of the economy ranked as the top issue in the 2024 election, according to a Gallup poll conducted in September 2024.

Voters also believed Trump better equipped to address the economy than his opponent, Harris. While 54% of American voters claimed Trump could better handle the economy, only 45% backed Kamala, the poll found.

Fox Business’ Alexandra Koch and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

January 28, 2025
WWE star JD McDonagh hits head in high-risk move during match, reveals extent of injuries

WWE star JD McDonagh revealed he will be out a few months recovering from injuries sustained in a tag-team match on “Monday Night Raw.”

McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio teamed up against the War Raiders, Erick and Ivar, in hopes of capturing the WWE World Tag Team Championship.

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JD McDonagh soars through the air against Ivar during WWE “Monday Night Raw” at State Farm Arena on Jan. 27, 2025 in Atlanta. (WWE/Getty Images)

At one point in the match, McDonagh launched himself off of the middle rope and moonsaulted in an attempt to knockout one of his competitors. McDonagh connected with Ivar, but he hit the back of his head on the announcers’ table.

“McDonagh is lucky he doesn’t have a damn broken neck,” Raw announcer Michael Cole said on the broadcast.

Indeed, McDonagh was lucky he did not break his neck. He did suffer a few other injuries during the match though.

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“First off, thanks to everyone for the messages and the concern. I’m good,” he wrote in a post early Tuesday morning.

“I’ve got a couple of broken ribs and a punctured lung, so I’m going to be out for a couple months. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse, so I’m grateful for that.

“See ya in a bit.”

R-Truth defeated JD McDonagh after crashing him on top of a table during the “Miracle on 34th Street Fight” at WWE “Monday Night Raw” at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. (Reese Strickland/For the Register / USA TODAY NETWORK)

McDonagh had been in the Judgement Day faction with Mysterio, and Finn Balor since he arrived on the main roster and even served as a tag-team champion with Balor at one point.

He performed in WWE NXT UK and WWE NXT for a time before his call-up and was an NXT cruiserweight champion. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him one of the top 500 singles wrestlers in 2019.

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He has also competed in British Championship Wrestling, Fight Factory Pro Wrestling, NWA Ireland, Over the Top Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Zero1 and TNT Extreme Wrestling.

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

January 28, 2025
In ‘Hail Mary’ move ICC prosecutor files surprise application as Senate set to vote on sanctioning court

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In a move that some critics say was intended to influence the Trump administration and Congress, Karim Khan, controversial prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), filed applications for arrest warrants against Taliban senior leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Taliban chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for crimes against humanity.

The timing of the move came as the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a bill to sanction the ICC over its request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The House bill passed on Jan. 9 with bipartisan support.

Khan’s “move is no doubt a Hail Mary pass to deter the Senate vote,” Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. He added that some in Washington “might fall for the charade… Khan and the ICC have already shown us who and what they are. They are still investigating Americans, they are seeking the arrest of Israelis, all red lines have been crossed and there’s no evading the consequences.”

LINDSEY GRAHAM DEMANDS ICC REVEAL DETAILS OF PROBE INTO PROSECUTOR KHAN’S MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

The International Criminal Court (ICC) building in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 30, 2024. (Selman Aksunger/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act would sanction foreigners attempting to arrest, detain, prosecute or investigate citizens of the U.S. or its allies, including Israel. It would also attempt to regain funds designated to the ICC and stop further court contributions. The U.S. is not party to the Rome Statute.

Rebecca Hamilton, formerly a lawyer in the ICC’s prosecutorial division, wrote in Just Security about the double standard the U.S. is forced into by opposing the ICC following the Taliban arrest warrants. Given the timing of the Senate’s impending vote on a bill that “potentially threatens the ICC’s very survival,” Hamilton wrote, “One might argue then, that the ICC Prosecutor’s announcement on Thursday was less about pursuing his mandate, and more about trying to save his job.”

In addressing the matter she added, “The discretion that the ICC Prosecutor has to determine when to go public with the announcement of an arrest warrant application is often used strategically, and surely has been in this case. But investigations of international crimes cannot be put together overnight.”

Karim Khan is the ICC’s chief prosecutor. (Getty Images)

Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, told Fox News Digital, “Prosecutor Karim Khan has a myopic obsession over Israel with the war crimes charges leveled at Israel’s democratically elected prime minister and former defense minister. Equating the leaders of a democracy with leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization – and more recently, with the Taliban – is an insult to the principles of justice.”

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: 20 YEARS, BILLIONS SPENT, LIMITED SUCCESS AS US CONSIDERS SANCTIONS

Danon said, “The ICC has lost its credibility, and it’s about time for a review of the ICC’s – and Prosecutor Khan’s – true motivations for focusing so intensely – and so distortedly – on Israel.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the ICC to ask why warrants against Taliban leaders have taken so long to issue, as well as about whether there is equivalence between the crimes for which the ICC seeks to charge Taliban leaders, and those for which the ICC has charged Netanyahu and Gallant.

The Office of the Prosecutor told Fox News Digital that announcements in Afghanistan “marked the culmination of significant work between the Office and affected communities in seeking accountability for alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan.” The office stated that its investigation into Afghanistan had only resumed on Oct. 31, 2022, after being deferred due to “an admissibility challenge by the former government of Afghanistan.”

A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

Khan’s office said it follows the same protocol for the filing of all warrants, including those in Afghanistan and for Palestinians. It noted that in the past year, the ICC has “sought or obtained warrants for arrest in situations including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar/Bangladesh, State of Palestine, Libya and Mali as well as taking forward trials in the situations in Mali, Central African Republic and Darfur.”

PENTAGON ‘FUNDAMENTALLY REJECTS’ ICC DECISION TO ISSUE ARREST WARRANT FOR NETANYAHU

A spokesperson from the European Union said that “the EU respects the court’s independence and impartiality.”

While the spokesperson did not speak to charges against Israeli officials, they said, “The EU and its Member States support initiatives that ensure accountability and regularly recall that systematic and systemic violations against women and girls in Afghanistan may amount to gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the ICC of which Afghanistan is a state party.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with senior military officials during the strike on Iran. (Avi Ohayon/ GPO)

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about the equivalence between warrants for Taliban and Israeli leaders.

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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Tweeted on Jan. 24 that he plans to vote for the ICCA, explaining that “the ICC’s treatment towards Israel and equivocating to Hamas was unacceptable. We should absolutely sanction the ICC.”

Goldberg, a former national security advisor during President Donald Trump’s first term, warned “the sanctions coming out of Congress will certainly make life difficult for the officials and groups who are waging lawfare against us, but to actually cripple ICC operations and end the lawfare, we will need the Trump administration to impose sanctions directly on the ICC. I’m not sure American service members are safe until that happens.”

January 26, 2025
Trump DHS makes key move against migrants allowed in via controversial Biden parole programs

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to review the parole status of migrants who were brought in under a dramatic expansion of humanitarian parole by the Biden administration, opening the door for their quick removal from the country.

In an internal memo signed Thursday, and obtained by Fox News Digital, acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman noted moves he made this week to take limits off expedited removal, which allows for the rapid removal of recently-arrived migrants if they do not claim asylum or fail to meet an initial standard. The power can now be used anywhere in the U.S. for migrants in the U.S. for less than two years.

The new memo says that with those expanded powers, any immigrant whom DHS knows who could be put on expedited removal, but has not, should have their case reviewed and “consider, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether to apply expedited removal.” The memo was first reported by The New York Times.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW

President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump look on as they meet with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on inauguration day of Donald Trump’s second presidential term in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

“This may include steps to terminate any ongoing removal proceeding and/or any active parole status,” it says.

It also says that for any immigrant who has been granted parole under a policy paused, modified or terminated by the Trump administration, officers can decide whether they should be placed in removal proceedings and “review the alien’s parole status to determine, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether parole remains appropriate in light of any changed legal or factual status.”

TRUMP’S ICE NABS CHILD SEX OFFENDERS AMONG 530+ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUGHT IN SINGLE DAY

The memo also notes that parole is a “positive exercise of enforcement discretion to which no alien is entitled and that parole ‘shall not be regarded as an admission of the alien.’”

This would mean that migrants who were granted parole at ports of entry after making an appointment via the CBP One app, or who were given travel authorization to be paroled under the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV), could be eligible for removal. The administration also launched parole programs for nationals from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Nearly 1.5 million migrants were allowed in under CBP One and CHNV, and both parole channels were closed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. The Biden administration said the expanded “lawful pathways” were part of an effort to reduce illegal crossings, but Republicans accused the administration of abusing limited parole power and allowing in migrants who should not legally have entered.

On Jan. 23, 2025, ICE San Francisco arrested Ariel Rene Romice-Patino, a citizen of Mexico unlawfully present in the United States. (ICE)

Huffman’s memo follows a memo from earlier this week in which he ordered a review of the use of parole. The memo notes that the statute demands the authority be used on a “case by case basis,” something that Republican critics claim the administration has abused. It emphasizes that parole is “a limited use authority, applicable only in a very narrow set of circumstances.”

It also claims that “it has been repeatedly abused by the Executive Branch over the past several decades in ways that are blatantly inconsistent with the statute.”

“Most important, the parole statute does not authorize categorical parole programs that make aliens presumptively eligible on the basis of some set of broadly applicable criteria,” it says.

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The memo directs the heads of (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection to compile a list of instructions, policies and procedures related to parole, review them and formulate a plan to phase out any that are not in accord with the statute.

The latest memo comes amid a flurry of moves by the administration on illegal immigration and immigration, including moves to send military to the border, end refugee resettlement, build the border wall and launch a massive deportation operation.

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ICE on Thursday arrested more than 530 illegal immigrants in another day of raids across the U.S. Agents have focused on public safety threats, but officials have said that no-one is off the table if they are in the country illegally.

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 24, 2025