Tag: Political

  • How is a political appointee different from a career federal employee?

    How is a political appointee different from a career federal employee?

    Under President Donald Trump’s second administration so far, significant restructuring of the federal workforce has led to widespread layoffs and policy shifts designed to align with his agenda to eliminate bureaucracy. As these changes unfold, the divide between political appointees and career employees has become more apparent.

    Political appointees, chosen by the president, serve at his discretion and include both Cabinet-level department heads and other senior-level officials. They are tasked with carrying out the administration’s agenda.

    By contrast, career employees have permanent positions with civil service protections and are tasked with executing policies set by the political appointees above them.

    “We moved away from the spoils system, which is where the current administration gets to hire everybody in the government, towards a career civil service, in the 1880s,” explained former Bush administration Cabinet member Tevi Troy in an interview with Fox News Digital.

    TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE

    Elon Musk heads up the Department of Government Efficiency, a watchdog President Donald Trump set up to look for waste in federal spending. (Alex Brandon/AP Images)

    “And the idea is that you have a permanent government or permanent bureaucracy that carries out the work of the federal government, whether it’s administering checks or doing the census, whatever it is the government does that is managed by this career bureaucracy,” Troy, also a presidential historian and a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, said. “They have civil service protection, they are not supposed to set policy. They follow policy that is laid out by the president’s administration.”

    Troy said there are about 2 million people in the federal workforce, and “at some point there’s a line.”

    He described the line as “between who is setting policy” and who is “carrying out what the mission of the federal government is supposed to be.”

    “And this argument is about the Trump administration feeling that at the most senior levels, there are certain career officials that were trying to set policy rather than carry out policy, and that’s where the disagreement is,” he said.

    JUDGE RESTORES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S BUYOUT OFFER TO FEDERAL WORKERS

    Trump signed an executive order Tuesday seeking departments to make “large-scale reductions in force.” As such, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been instrumental in executing mass layoffs across various federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Authority and the Departments of Education, Veterans Affairs and Energy, among others.

    “Although career employees enjoy significant employment protections, that does not mean that the president, who is the head of the executive branch, cannot eliminate jobs, as long as individuals are not politically targeted,” Rachel Greszler, senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation’s economic Roe Institute, told Fox News Digital. “President Clinton issued an executive order in 1993, instructing agencies to eliminate 100,000 federal positions. While the initial order called for a 4% reduction in workforce, a 10% reduction instead ensued.”

    TRUMP ADMIN ORDERS AGENCIES TO LAY OFF PROBATIONARY WORKERS IN LATEST PUSH TO SHRINK GOVERNMENT

    Trump at Oval Office desk signing executive order

    President Trump has used executive orders to enact sweeping changes within the federal bureaucracy in his first few weeks in office. (Reuters)

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    Trump also instructed federal agencies last week to lay off most probationary workers who have not secured civil service protection. 

    An Office of Personnel Management spokesperson told Fox News Digital previously, “the probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment. Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the president’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people at the highest possible standard.”

    This isn’t the first time a president has sought to shrink the federal government. Ronald Reagan also had the same goal, and particularly cut down the workforce in regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. Bill Clinton also set out to reduce the size of the federal government, famously declaring in his 1996 State of the Union that the “era of big government is over.” 

  • Effort in ‘red’ swath of Oregon to join Idaho gets new life, as political secession has had mixed results

    Effort in ‘red’ swath of Oregon to join Idaho gets new life, as political secession has had mixed results

    During the anti-police riots of 2020, Oregon was front-and-center as protesters vandalized Portland and made a dayslong violent stand in front of the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse.

    But in the eastern two-thirds of Oregon, the conservative geographic majority of the state did not ideologically align with their urban brethren. 

    Over the past several years, the Greater Idaho movement has tried to create the conditions needed for about 13 counties to join the conservative Gem State next door.

    Greater Idaho began putting such measures up for votes in various counties in 2020 and this month saw Republican lawmakers file a bill in the state legislature that would create a task force to study “moving” the border.

    State Rep. Mark Owens, R-Malheur, put forward HB 3844, a measure that creates and directs a task force to document the impacts of relocating the Idaho border and requires a report be presented to lawmakers in Salem.

    GREATER IDAHO MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM

    Owens did not respond when reached for requests for comment. 

    Greater Idaho president Mike McCarter said in a statement: “We are encouraged to see the representatives of Eastern Oregon coming together to advocate for their voters by bringing these bills to the Legislature. The people of Eastern Oregon have made clear they want to explore moving the border and joining Idaho. 

    “This movement has always been about the people of Eastern Oregon, getting their voice heard and helping those communities get the kind of state-level governance they actually want.”

    “If the Oregon Legislature truly believes in democracy, they will honor those voters’ wishes and move forward on making a border change happen,” executive director Matt McCaw told Fox News Digital.

    “Both bills have been moved into committee and are awaiting further action there.”

    By shifting the border, proponents believe both states have a “win-win” – in that the people living in each would better reflect the established political majority and lower political tension.

    NY LAWMAKER CALLS FOR STATEN ISLAND TO SECEDE

    In New York City’s Staten Island, there has been a movement afoot for decades seeking to break from the Big Apple. (AP Photo)

    A report in the Central Oregonian noted an “interstate compact” is part of what is required to move the line, and cited other border-shifting bills in other states.

    One would forward the cause of adding several rural Illinois counties that don’t see eye-to-eye with Springfield or Chicago to more closely aligned Indiana. Another in Iowa would allow the same movement for counties in the Land of Lincoln that are closer to the Hawkeye State line.

    Idaho GOP Gov. Brad Little and Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek did not respond to requests for comment.

    So far, only a few such movements regarding either secession or redrawing of state lines have been successful.

    The now-55 counties of West Virginia voted to secede from the then-Confederate Virginia and independently ratified the U.S. Constitution on June 20, 1863.

    A Washington Post story on the matter said Mountaineers split from Virginia as a way of “defending the ‘United States’… rather than the ‘seceded states’.” 

    In New York City’s Staten Island – the “forgotten borough” as many locals call it – there has been a movement afoot for decades seeking to break from the Big Apple.

    Already geographically distant on the “New Jersey side” of the Hudson River, the borough is also separated from the Garden State by the Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill.

    Efforts to reestablish the reliably-red borough as the city of Richmond (after its coterminous county) or other names began with a favor from then-Gov. Mario Cuomo in the 1980s.

    Cuomo enraged city leaders but endeared himself to the working-class voters on the island by approving state Sen. John J. Marchi’s push for a secession referendum.

    Marchi, who died in 2006 and now has a Staten Island Ferry named in his honor, saw his borough vote nearly 2-1 to secede in 1993 – only to have their desires quashed by Albany’s Democratic majority.

    And while the 1995 election of Mayor Rudy Giuliani calmed secession tensions, the drumbeat began anew in recent months.

    “I think it’s time to secede,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told The New York Post as Gov. Kathy Hochul was touting her congestion-priced driving fee that now double-taxes Staten Island commuters.

    “There’s no real value in being part of this city or the state. We didn’t vote for this mayor; we didn’t vote for this governor; and we didn’t vote for this president, but we’re always the ones getting screwed,” she said.

  • ‘Wokest hospital in America?’: Top hospital hit with blistering ad exposing ‘political agenda’

    ‘Wokest hospital in America?’: Top hospital hit with blistering ad exposing ‘political agenda’

    FIRST ON FOX: Consumers’ Research, a leading non-profit dedicated to consumer information, is launching a campaign targeting the Cleveland Clinic over what it says is a history of the organization prioritizing woke politics over patients. 

    The campaign, dubbed “Cleveland Clinic Exposed”, asks the public whether the clinic is “the wokest hospital in America” and will involve an ad titled “Exposed,” which will run in Ohio during the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors game on Wednesday.

    “Is Cleveland Clinic the wokest hospital in America?” the 30-second ad asks. “They prioritize care based on skin color. Perform child sex changes. Push transgender propaganda on vulnerable kids. Insert DEI into everything they do.”

    “And spend millions on climate activism. The CEO admits it: Healthcare is only a part of their mission. Cleveland Clinic. Focused on a political agenda. Not what’s best for patients.”

    TRUMP ORDER RESTRICTING SEX-CHANGE PROCEDURES FOR MINORS IN LINE WITH ‘DO NO HARM,’ DOCTOR SAYS

    The Cleveland Clinic was hit with an ad this week alleging that the hospital is promoting a “woke” agenda. (Fox News Digital)

    The ad campaign will also be featured on ClevelandClinicExposed.com, and mobile billboards will be seen outside the Ohio state capitol building, Cleveland Clinic main campus and the Florida state capitol building. 

    Additionally, a targeted digital campaign and a “woke alert” is being sent out calling on the clinic to “stop injecting politics into patient care.”

    “Attention Floridians,” one of the alerts states. “Cleveland Clinic opened a sex change clinic in your backyard.”

    TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER RESTRICTING ‘CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL’ SEX-CHANGE PROCEDURES FOR MINORS

    Man with doctor

    A senior Black man is sitting in his doctor’s office and listening as the doctor shows him something on a digital tablet. (iStock)

    The ad, in part, references a letter from Cleveland Clinic’s CEO suggesting that providing healthcare services is not the sole focus of the organization. 

    “Providing high-quality healthcare is only a part of our mission,” Cleveland Clinic CEO Tom Mihaljevic wrote in a post on the hospital’s website. 

    “We have an obligation to uplift the many communities we call home. We must improve our neighbors’ wellbeing, quality of life and opportunities to succeed. We must operate in sustainable ways that are good for our planet. We must embrace diversity, champion human rights and lead with humility and inclusiveness.”

    Cleveland Clinic has faced accusations of promoting a “woke” agenda in the past, including a complaint filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty alleging, “race-based discrimination and segregation of patients.”

    Consumers’ Research

    Consumers’ Research, a leading non-profit dedicated to consumer information, is targeting the Cleveland Clinic with a new ad. (Fox News Digital)

    The Cleveland Clinic’s website also contains several posts promoting climate initiatives, including a plan for “greening” its operating rooms. 

    In 2022, the Cleveland Clinic hired Jacqui Robertson as chief of diversity and inclusion, and announced in a post that has since been deleted that she will “lead efforts that will further diversity and inclusion across the health system.” 

    Robertson stated in a 2023 interview, “I don’t believe that diversity and inclusion should ever be a standalone strategy. It has to be embedded in everything that we do. And so that’s our processes, that’s our metrics.”

    In a June 2023 post that also appears to have been deleted from the Cleveland Clinic website, the clinic explained “How To Support a Child Who’s Questioning Their Gender Identity.”

    Also in June 2023, the clinic put out a press release labeling racism as a “public health crisis.”

    “Cleveland Clinic is committed to addressing structural racism and bias in our community,” the organization said in a December 2020 press release announcing a plan to “join a coalition of 37 of the largest U.S. employers, to train, hire and promote one million Black Americans into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement.”

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    Cleveland, Ohio, skyline

    City skyline and the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland. (John Greim/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

    Despite past press releases and statements on the Cleveland Clinic’s website highlighting its agenda, a Cleveland Clinic spokesperson pushed back against the campaign.

    “The advertisement contains false statements, and we are concerned there are serious inaccuracies in their claims. Our services are available for everyone, and we do not discriminate based on race, gender or any other category,” the spokesperson said.

    “By its own shocking words and deeds, Cleveland Clinic has quite possibly become the wokest hospital in America,” Will Hild, Consumers’ Research executive director, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The clinic’s leadership alarmingly proclaims that DEI ‘has to be embedded in everything that we do.’ Such a sentiment plagues the entire hospital system and should frighten every patient in need of its services.”

    “From unethical race-based care to transgender mutilation surgeries on kids to bowing at the altar of climate extremism, Cleveland Clinic seems hell-bent on satisfying every woke fixation while cost-reduction for patients is a distant afterthought. It is wrong when any company prioritizes woke objectives over its consumers, but it is especially disturbing when the perpetrator is a medical facility and consumers are patients. Cleveland Clinic must reverse course, shun woke radicalism, stop spending resources in the wrong places, and make affordable quality care its only focus.”

  • Judge modifies order allowing Senate-confirmed political appointees access to payment systems

    Judge modifies order allowing Senate-confirmed political appointees access to payment systems

    A New York federal judge modified a temporary restraining order Tuesday that prevented President Donald Trump and the Treasury Department from granting political appointees and special government employees access to the department’s payment systems.

    The amended order was issued by U.S District Judge Jeannette Vargas on Tuesday. 

    U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, previously issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE “full access” to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law. 

    The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

    FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ELON MUSK’S DOGE FROM ACCESSING TREASURY RECORDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC AGS FILE LAWSUIT

    Special government employees, including Elon Musk, are still barred from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system.  (Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)

    “This morning, we won a court order blocking Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, from accessing Americans’ private data,” James wrote on X at the time. “Musk and his DOGE employees must destroy all records they’ve obtained. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: no one is above the law.”

    The Trump administration filed an emergency motion Sunday, saying the order “unnecessarily restricts Federal Reserve employees and outside contractors” from accessing the payment systems “to perform necessary routine processes and maintenance and provide operational support.”

    Both parties were ordered to meet that evening in an attempt to come to an agreement. Both sides ultimately agreed to modify the order, with the plaintiffs opposing any modification to the provision that barred political appointees’ access to the systems. 

    TRUMP, ELON MUSK BOND OVER PLASTIC STRAWS

    The amended order now gives Senate-confirmed political appointees access to the information. Special government employees, including Elon Musk, are still barred from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system. 

    New York Attorney General Letitia James

    Hauppauge, N.Y.: New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a press conference in Hauppauge, New York on June 12, 2024.  (ohn Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images / Getty Images)

    “These unlawful injunctions are a continuation of the weaponization of justice against President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The White House will continue to fight these battles in court, and we expect to be vindicated. The President has every right to exercise his executive authority on behalf of the American people, who gave him a historic mandate to govern on November 5th.”

    Shortly after the initial order was handed down, Trump called the order “crazy” in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. 

    ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT

    “Nineteen states attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and early Saturday a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, DOGE, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of ‘irreparable harm.’ What do you make of that? And does that slow you down and what you want to do?” Baier asked Trump in the interview clip. 

    Trump pumps fist at Michigan rally

    President Trump called the order “crazy” in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images / Getty Images)

    “No, I disagree with it 100%. I think it’s crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there,” Trump responded. 

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    The parties are expected to reconvene Friday to revisit the matter. 

    Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

  • Top political handicapper reveals what Dems’ chances are at winning back the Senate in 2026

    Top political handicapper reveals what Dems’ chances are at winning back the Senate in 2026

    Democrats face “few opportunities” to win back the Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections, a top non-partisan political handicapper predicts.

    While the Republicans are defending seats in 22 states in 2026 compared to just 13 for the Democrats, the Cook Report’s first Senate rankings of the new election cycle points to a tough road ahead for the Democrats as they aim to recapture control of the chamber.

    Senate Republicans enjoyed a very favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red and stormed to a 53-47 majority in the new Congress, to go along with President Donald Trump’s recapturing of the White House and the GOP’s successful defense of their razor-thin House majority.

    Cook Report Senate and governors editor Jessica Taylor, looking to a new Senate battle, suggested that “the challenge for Democrats to net the four seats necessary to win back the majority looks Herculean.”

    FIRST ON FOX: SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHTS ‘TEAM EFFORT’

    Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

    The Cook Report ranks two seats as toss-ups, and both are controlled by the Democrats.

    They are in the battlegrounds of Michigan – where Democrat Sen. Gary Peters announced two weeks ago that he would not seek re-election in 2026 – and Georgia – where Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff faces a rough road to securing a second six-year term in the Senate.

    Trump flipped Michigan in last November’s election, while then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin narrowly edged Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in the race to succeed longtime fellow Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Rogers is now seriously mulling a second straight bid for the Senate.

    SENATE REPUBLICANS JUMP OUT TO FAST START IN THIS KEY CAMPAIGN METRIC

    In Georgia, which Trump also flipped after losing the state in his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden, the Cook Report calls Ossoff “the most endangered incumbent overall.”

    State and national Republicans are urging popular Republican Gov. Brian Kemp – who is term-limited in 2026 – to challenge Ossoff.

    The Cook Report ranks the key New England swing state of New Hampshire as Lean Democrat. 

    Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire speaks before then-President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Concord, New Hampshire.

    Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire speaks before then-President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Concord, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

    Longtime Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor, has yet to announce if she will seek another term in office. Additionally, while plugged in Democrats in the Granite State have told Fox News the past couple of months that they expected the now-78-year-old Shaheen to run for re-election, her recently announced sparse fundraising for the fourth quarter of last year took many politicos by surprise.

    Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who served as ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first term in the White House, is making moves toward launching a second run for the Senate in New Hampshire, a dozen years after narrowly losing to Shaheen.

    TRUMP-BACKED 2024 GOP SENATE NOMINEE IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE MOVING TOWARDS ANOTHER RUN IN 2026

    While no Republican held Senate seats are listed as toss-ups, two are rated by the Cook Report as Lean Republican.

    They are Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election in a state Trump lost last November, and North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is seeking another term in a state Trump narrowly carried last year.

    Senator Susan Collins on Capitol Hill

    Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine heads to the Senate floor for a vote on Jan. 23, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

    While Cook lists both races as Lean Republican, Taylor notes that “the rating could change if Democrats recruit strong candidates.”

    Those Democratic candidates could possibly be former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who finished his second term earlier this year, and Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who is term-limited in 2026.

    MEET THE REPUBLICAN SENATOR TASKED WITH DEFENDING THE GOP’S SENATE MAJORITY IN 2026

    When it comes to potentially competitive races, the Cook Report ranks Ohio as likely Republican. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine last month named Lt. Jon Husted to fill the seat previously held by now-Vice President JD Vance. Husted is now running in 2026 to fill the final two years of Vance’s term.

    Once a key battleground state, Ohio has shifted to deep red in recent election cycles and its unclear if former longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his re-election last year, will make another bid in 2026.

    Cook also lists Minnesota – where Democrat Sen. Tina Smith is up for re-election next year – as a likely Democrat.

    Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said last November that he’d “like to see 55,” when asked in a Fox News Digital interview about how many seats he was aiming for in the 2026 midterms.

    Additionally, this past weekend at the Senate GOP campaign committee’s winter meeting, Scott reiterated that “we believe we can get to 55 or maybe even stretch for 56,” according to sources attending the confab in Palm Beach, Florida.

    The party in power – which this cycle is clearly the Republicans – traditionally faces electoral headwinds in the midterm elections.

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    However, Taylor, pointing to recent polling, notes that the Democrats’ “party brand is… deeply unpopular.”

    “Even if Democrats were able to defend every incumbent and open seat on their side and flip both those states, it would leave them two short of an outright majority. Additional targets are hard to find,” Taylor emphasized.

  • Vishwakarma Jayanti 2025 Wishes and Greetings: Political Figures and Netizens Share HD Images, Wallpapers, Quotes and Vishwakarma Puja Messages To Celebrate the Auspicious Day

    Vishwakarma Jayanti 2025 Wishes and Greetings: Political Figures and Netizens Share HD Images, Wallpapers, Quotes and Vishwakarma Puja Messages To Celebrate the Auspicious Day

    Vishwakarma Jayanti, also called Vishwakarma Puja, is celebrated every year in India with a lot of joy, faith, and devotion. Vishwakarma Jayanti 2025 falls on Monday, February 10. The day marks the birth anniversary of Lord Vishwakarma, who is considered the divine architect and master craftsman of the universe. He is believed to be the creator of celestial palaces and various divine structures mentioned in Hindu mythology. He is said to have created some of the iconic structures, like the city of Lanka and the city of Dwarka, for Lord Krishna. On this day, devotees pay homage to him and seek his blessings for prosperity and success in their professional endeavours, especially those related to engineering, architecture, creativity, and craftsmanship. To celebrate the day, several Indian political figures and netizens took to social media to share Vishwakarma Jayanti 2025 wishes, greetings, messages, quotes, HD images, and wallpapers. Vishwakarma Puja Wishes, Greetings and Images: Send WhatsApp Messages, Vishwakarma Jayanti Wallpapers, Quotes and Photos To Celebrate the Auspicious Day.

    Vishwakarma Jayanti Wishes

    Vishwakarma Jayanti Greetings

    Vishwakarma Jayanti Images

    Vishwakarma Jayanti Messages

    Vishwakarma Jayanti Quotes

    Vishwakarma Jayanti Sayings

    Vishwakarma Jayanti Wallpapers

    (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter (X), Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user’s social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

  • Harris dodges questions about political future, possible run for California governor

    Harris dodges questions about political future, possible run for California governor

    Former Vice President Kamala Harris is not giving any hints about her political future, despite speculation of a possible California gubernatorial bid in 2026.

    Harris has mostly kept quiet since leaving Washington, D.C., last month after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, aside from a Jan. 20 visit to Altadena, California, to tour the Eaton wildfire damage.

    On Thursday, the former vice president toured areas damaged by the Palisades Fire and spoke with displaced residents at a Red Cross shelter. When addressing reporters that same day, Harris made it clear that she is not ready to announce her next move just yet.

    “I have been home for two weeks and three days,” Harris said. “My plans are to be in touch with my community, to be in touch with the leaders and figure out what I can do to support them.”

    MAJOR CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT PREDICTS KAMALA HARRIS WOULD BE ‘FIELD-CLEARING’ IF FORMER VP RUNS FOR GOVERNOR

    When pressed by Fox 11 LA about her political future, Harris said she “would be here no matter what office I hold because it is the right thing to do.”

    Former Vice President Kamala Harris, right, hugs County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath as she tours a fire damaged neighborhood with LA County officials. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

    While the former vice president has not commented on President Donald Trump’s response to the California wildfires, a Harris advisor told Fox 11 that the two former rivals have spoken multiple times behind the scenes.

    After the Pacific Palisades visit, Harris and former second gentleman Doug Emhoff were spotted at the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors NBA game at LA’s Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

    Kamala Harris Doug Emhoff Lakers Game

    Former Vice-President Kamala Harris enjoys a game between the LA Lakers and Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

    Political insiders and Americans alike have speculated on Harris’ next moves after her crushing loss to Trump in November. During a desk drawer signing ceremony — a decadeslong tradition — Harris told staff that she would not “go quietly into the night,” and that their “work is not done.”

    Late last month, New York Magazine reported that Harris was seeking advice from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also lost to Trump during her own White House bid.

    Former Vice President Harris surveys damage from Palisades Fire

    Former Vice President Kamala Harris tours a damaged neighborhood with LA County officials on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

    CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR? ANOTHER WHITE HOUSE RUN? KAMALA HARRIS UNSURE OF NEXT STEPS AFTER LOSING ELECTION: REPORT

    Prior to her time as vice president, Harris represented California in the U.S. Senate and served as the state’s attorney general. Her political experience in the state has led many to believe that she may seek the top spot. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s time in office will end in 2026, and due to the state’s term limits, he is ineligible to run again.

    Former VP Harris speaks with resident of fire-damaged area

    Former Vice President Kamala Harris, left, is thanked by resident Jaimee Longo as she tours a fire-damaged neighborhood. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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    Amid speculation about a possible gubernatorial run, there are also those who wonder if Harris will try for the White House again. In 2019, Harris launched her first presidential bid, which ended with her in the number two slot alongside Biden.

    Harris’ second presidential bid had an unusual start after Biden ended his re-election campaign in July 2024 and immediately endorsed his vice president. Harris’ campaign ended in a crushing defeat, as Trump won both the Electoral College and popular votes.

  • Top political handicapper reveals prediction for ‘volatile’ 2026 battle for House majority

    Top political handicapper reveals prediction for ‘volatile’ 2026 battle for House majority

    The fight for control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections will be fought on a limited battlefield, a leading nonpartisan political handicapper predicts.

    The Cook Political Report, as it unveiled its first rankings for the next midterm elections on Thursday, listed 10 Democrat-held seats and eight Republican-controlled seats as toss-ups. 

    The GOP, when at full strength, will hold a razor-thin 220-215 majority in the House, which means the Democrats only need a three-seat gain in 2026 to win back the chamber for the first time in four years.

    “Another Knife Fight for the Majority” is the headline the Cook Report used to describe the House showdown ahead.

    HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR TOUTS HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE

    And Cook Report publisher and editor-in-chief Amy Walter spotlighted in a social media post that a “Small playing field + volatile political climate = epic battle for House control.”

    WHAT THE DEMOCRATS’ HOUSE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR TOLD FOX NEWS

    The 10 House Democrats whose re-elections are listed as toss-ups are: Reps. Adam Gray of California (CA-13); Derek Tran of California (CA-45); Jared Golden of Maine (ME-02); Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico (NM-02); Laura Gillen of New York (NY-04); Don Davis of North Carolina (NC-01); Marcy Kaptur of Ohio (OH-09); Emilia Sykes of Ohio (OH-13); Vicente Gonzalez of Texas (TX-34); and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington State (WA-03).

    Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine speaks at a news conference at the State House in Augusta, Maine, on Nov. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

    The eight Republicans spotlighted by the Cook Report as vulnerable are: Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona (AZ-01); Juan Ciscomani of Arizona (AZ-06); Gabe Evans of Colorado (CO-08); Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa (IA-01); Tom Barrett of Michigan (MI-07); Don Bacon of Nebraska (NE-02); Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania (PA-07); and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania (PA-10).

    CHECK OUT THE FIRST BILL FILED BY THIS NEW REPUBLICAN HOUSE MEMBER

    Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks campaigning

    Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa speaks with local farmers on the set of the “Barn Talk” podcast on the Whisler family farm near Washington, Iowa, on Nov. 1, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP)

    Republicans are not only defending a razor-thin majority but are also facing historical headwinds, as the party in power traditionally faces electoral headwinds in the midterms.

    President Donald Trump recaptured the White House, the Republicans flipped control of the Senate, and the GOP held on to its fragile House majority in November’s elections.

    FIRST ON FOX: NEW MOVE IN BATTLE FOR HOUSE MAJORITY

    But the Cook Report’s Erin Covedy and Matthew Klein noted that “though their majority is dangerously thin, in some ways, Republicans are starting out in a stronger position than they were in 2018. Trump’s latest victory was broad; he clawed back ground in suburbs that had lurched to the left since 2016 and made massive inroads in urban areas.”

    They added that “almost all of the most competitive House districts moved to the right between 2020 and 2024 (Washington’s 3rd District was the lone exception).”

    The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

    The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is seen on Dec. 12, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

    National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella touted in a statement that “the math is in our favor, and it’s clear House Republicans are on offense for 2026.”

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    He also asserted that “House Democrats are in shambles — they don’t have a clear message and they’re incapable of selling voters on their failed agenda. We will work tirelessly to hold the Democrat Party accountable and grow our Republican majority.”

    Courtney Rice, communications director for the rival Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, claimed that “voters will hold House Republicans accountable for failing to lower costs while fostering a culture of corruption that benefits their billionaire backers.”

    “The political environment is in Democrats’ favor heading into 2026 — and with stellar candidates who are focused on delivering for their districts, House Democrats are poised to take back the majority in 2026,” Rice predicted.

  • Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and political allies launch public affairs firm

    Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and political allies launch public affairs firm

    Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has joined forces with five other figures to found Watchtower Strategy, a public affairs organization.

    The other people involved include Jeff Miller, Dan Conston, Arthur Schwartz, Cliff Sims and Brian Walsh.

    “Watchtower Strategy is a premier public affairs firm founded by six leaders at the pinnacle of American politics. Watchtower specializes in strategy, advocacy, and crisis communications,” the organization’s website declares.

    TRUMP ACCUSES FORMER SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY OF ‘ONE OF THE DUMBEST POLITICAL DECISIONS MADE IN YEARS’

    A press release indicates that the group “will provide strategic advisory services for CEOs and senior executives, helping them navigate high stakes issues at the intersection of business, government, and public relations. The firm also specializes in developing and executing issue advocacy campaigns, with a proven track record of shaping public debates and influencing key policy outcomes.”

    Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to McCarthy for comment on Wednesday but did not receive a response in time for publication.

    “The launch of Watchtower Strategy comes at a pivotal and promising moment for our country,” McCarrthy said, according to the press release. “Navigating this moment can be both an opportunity and a challenge. The Watchtower team is trusted, tested, and built for success.”

    KEVIN MCCARTHY CLASHES WITH NBC HOSTS OVER BIDEN FAMILY PARDONS: HE ‘MUST KNOW SOMETHING’ THAT OTHERS DON’T

    McCarthy, Watchtower Strategy’s chairman, is also a member of the C3 AI advisory board, and he is on the Anivive Lifesciences board of directors. 

    C3 AI’s website says the organization “is a leading Enterprise AI software provider for accelerating digital transformation.” 

    Anivive has described itself as a “pet pharmaceutical company.”

    McCarthy obtained the speaker’s gavel in 2023 after a whopping 15 rounds of balloting. He was later ousted from the speakership, and eventually resigned from Congress before the end of his term.

    KEVIN MCCARTHY SHARES WHAT HE BELIEVES TO BE ‘THE GREATEST THREAT TO US’

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    McCarthy attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony last week.

  • Scorched-earth Shanahan: RFK Jr.’s former running mate threatens political war against confirmation opponents

    Scorched-earth Shanahan: RFK Jr.’s former running mate threatens political war against confirmation opponents

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s former presidential running mate Nicole Shanahan called out various senators by name, warning that she will fund primary challenges against them if they oppose confirming RFK Jr. to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services.

    “Dear U.S. Senators, Bobby may play nice; I won’t,” she wrote in a post on X.

    In a video, Shanahan said that in 2020 she “cut large checks to Chuck Schumer to help Democrats flip two Senate seats in Georgia from red to blue.” Peach State Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff both initially took office after winning runoff contests in early 2021.

    Shanahan bluntly warned the two senators, “please know I will be watching your votes very closely. I will make it my personal mission that you lose your seats in the Senate if you vote against the future health of America’s children.

    TRUMP NOMINEES RFK JR, LOEFFLER, LUTNICK FACE SENATE GRILLING TODAY; BONDI COMMITTEE VOTE EXPECTED

    Left: Nicole Shanahan, 2024 independent vice presidential candidate, during a campaign event with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., partner with Morgan & Morgan PA and 2024 independent presidential candidate, not pictured, in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday, March 26, 2024; Right: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives for meetings at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 16, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Left: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Right: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    She then proceeded to call out Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Bill Cassidy, R-La., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., James Lankford, R-Okl., Cory Booker, D-N.Y., John Fetterman, D-Pa., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.

    “While Bobby may be willing to play nice, I won’t. If you vote against him, I will personally fund challengers to primary you in your next election. And I will enlist hundreds of thousands to join me,” she declared.

    Shanahan, who urged people to reach out to their senators to press them to support RFK Jr.’s nomination, followed up her video with a post tagging each of the 13 senators she had mentioned — the post also included phone numbers.

    WHO IS NICOLE SHANAHAN? MEET THE WEALTHY ENTREPRENEUR RFK JR SELECTED AS HIS VP RUNNING MATE

    Nicole Shanahan and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., partner with Morgan & Morgan PA and 2024 independent presidential candidate, right, and Nicole Shanahan, 2024 independent vice presidential candidate, during a campaign event in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    Kennedy, a Democrat-turned-independent presidential candidate, ultimately dropped out and backed then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2024 White House contest.

    Trump later announced Kennedy as his pick to serve as HHS secretary. 

    But the HHS nominee still needs to earn enough support in the Senate to clear the confirmation hurdle.

    DOCTOR DEFENDS RFK JR.’S VACCINE STANCE: ‘HE’S NOT AGAINST VACCINES’

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    Shanahan voted for Trump during the 2024 presidential election.