Happy New Year 2025

Tag: State

Rubio says he’s USAID acting director as State Department absorbs agency

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he is now the acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Rubio told this to reporters while taking questions from the press in El Salvador.

“USAID is not functioning. It has to be aligned with US policy. It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the US,” he said. “They’re not a global charity these are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? We are spending taxpayers money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to watch as people board a repatriation flight bound for Colombia at Albrook Airport in Panama City on February 3, 2025. Rubio is in Panama on a two-day official visit. (MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/Pool AP/AFP via Getty Images)

“I am the acting director,” he confirmed when asked if he is now in charge. “Our goal was to allow our foreign aid with the national interest. It has been 20 or 30 years. They have tried to reform it. That will not continue.”

USAID staffers were instructed earlier Monday to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters after Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency. Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs shut down.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.

February 3, 2025
Republican state AGs back Trump birthright citizenship order in court filing: ‘Taxpayers are on the hook’

FIRST ON FOX: Republican attorneys general from 18 states are pushing back against lawsuits filed by Democrat AGs and legal groups nationwide challenging the Trump administration’s executive order on birthright citizenship through an amicus brief filing set to be filed Monday, Fox News Digital has learned.

“If someone comes on a tourist visa to have an anchor baby, they are not under that original meaning of the United States Constitution,” Iowa AG Brenna Bird told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday. Bird is the lead AG leading an amicus brief filing in support of the executive order on Monday.

“Oftentimes, when this has happened. It’s the taxpayers that are paying for the health care through Medicaid or through hospitals, paying for care for someone to have a child, or the state child health insurance system as well,” Bird said. “Each state has a system that helps kids without insurance, and so the taxpayers are on the hook here for all the costs.”

TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, alongside more than a dozen state AGs, filed an amicus brief supporting President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. (Getty Images)

Bird’s amicus brief comes in response to 18 Democrat-led states who launched their own lawsuit, claiming the order is unconstitutional and “unprecedented.”

“The President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth,” the lawsuit reads.

Attorneys general from California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine and others signed on to the suit, along with the city and county of San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration the same day he signed the order “on behalf of organizations with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order.” The ACLU also claimed the order is unconstitutional and against congressional intent and Supreme Court precedent.

TRUMP’S HOUSE GOP ALLIES PUSH BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BILL AFTER PROGRESSIVE FURY AT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER

ICE agents arrested seven illegal immigrants during a workforce operation raid. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

Bird’s brief – signed by Republican AGs from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming – focuses on several arguments.

The first part of the 13-page brief claims that President Donald Trump’s executive order complies with the “original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.” The second portion claims Trump’s order “reduces harm to the states.”

The brief states that the “Plaintiffs’ erroneous Citizenship Clause interpretation will continue the powerful incentive for citizens of foreign countries to give birth on American soil, even if they must illegally enter this country to do so.”

“The lure of American citizenship motivates pregnant women to travel to America to give birth,” the brief reads. “Some women, desperate to give birth in the United States, cross the border the day they deliver their baby.”

A border hospital administrator described witnessing pregnant women arriving at the hospital in active labor, still wet and shivering from crossing the river, determined to give birth in the U.S., the brief, which will be filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, says.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER FACES LEGAL CHALLENGES FROM 22 STATES

President Donald Trump, right, signs executive orders on stage at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump’s order, titled the “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” states that “the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States” when the individual’s parents are illegal immigrants living in the U.S. or if their presence is lawful but temporary. It was among the first orders he signed after taking office in early January.

“President Trump is restoring the meaning and value of American citizenship, and also making sure that if someone is breaking the law, they won’t be rewarded for that by getting citizenship,” Bird said. “And so it’s following the Constitution and making sure that we’re upholding our immigration laws.”

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Fox News Digital’s Haley-Chi-Sing contributed to this report.

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

February 3, 2025
North Korea slams Rubio’s ‘rogue state’ label as ‘nonsense’

North Korea is criticizing Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s description of the country as a “rogue state,” calling it “nonsense” while vowing to take “tough counteraction” to any provocations from the Trump administration.

Rubio made the remark last week during an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” where he was speaking about the goals of U.S. foreign policy.

“It’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power. That was not – that was an anomaly. It was a product of the end of the Cold War, but eventually you were going to reach back to a point where you had a multipolar world, multi-great powers in different parts of the planet. We face that now with China and to some extent Russia, and then you have rogue states like Iran and North Korea you have to deal with,” Rubio said, according to the State Department.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said in response that Rubio “talked nonsense by terming the DPRK a ‘rogue state’ while enumerating the foreign policy of the new U.S. administration.”

TRUMP’S ‘DENUCLEARIZATION’ SUGGESTION WITH RUSSIA AND CHINA: HOW WOULD IT WORK?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

“The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK deems the U.S. State Secretary’s hostile remarks to thoughtlessly tarnish the image of a sovereign state as a grave political provocation totally contrary to the principle of international law which regards respect for sovereignty and non-interference in other’s internal affairs as its core and strongly denounces and rejects it,” read a statement published by North Korean state media.

“Rubio’s coarse and nonsensical remarks only show directly the incorrect view of the new U.S. administration on the DPRK and will never help promote the U.S. interests as he wishes,” the statement added, taking a swipe at the Trump administration.

NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS IN RUSSIA RESORT TO SUICIDE AMID CAPTURE OF FIRST POWS BY UKRAINE

President Donald Trump, right, met with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018 during Trump’s first term as president. (AP/Evan Vucci)

“We will never tolerate any provocation of the U.S., which has been always hostile to the DPRK and will be hostile to it in the future, too, but will take tough counteraction corresponding to it as usual,” it concluded.

Rubio said during the interview that “now more than ever, we need to remember that foreign policy should always be about furthering the national interest of the United States and doing so, to the extent possible, avoiding war and armed conflict, which we have seen two times in the last century be very costly.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, waves after being welcomed by Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha, left, upon his arrival at the presidential palace in Panama City on Sunday, Feb. 2. Panama is Rubio’s first trip abroad as secretary of State. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

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“They’re celebrating the 80th anniversary this year of the end of the Second World War. That – I think if you look at the scale and scope of destruction and loss of life that occurred, it would be far worse if we had a global conflict now. It may end life on the planet,” he also said. “And it sounds like hyperbole, but that’s – you have multiple countries now who have the capability to end life on Earth. And so we need to really work hard to avoid armed conflict as much as possible, but never at the expense of our national interest. So that’s the tricky balance.”

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 3, 2025
Trump offers way for Canada to avoid tariffs: ‘Become our Cherished 51st State’

President Donald Trump repeated his suggestion that Canada become the 51st on Sunday, noting that it would not be subjected to his incoming tariffs should the country join the U.S.

“We pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada. Why? There is no reason,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “We don’t need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true!”

“Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State,” Trump added. “Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – AND NO TARIFFS!”

Trump has for weeks suggested the United States should take control of Canada through economic pressure.

TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA: ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Citing the flow of illicit drugs across the northern border, Trump signed an order Saturday to implement a 25% tariff on goods entering the United States from Canada. The order, which takes effect Tuesday, also puts a 10% duty on energy or energy resources from Canada. The order states, “gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities,” adding that “Canada has played a central role in these challenges, including by failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs.”

Trump also said he would implement tariffs of 25% on goods from Mexico, as well as 10% on imports from China due to the flow of drugs across U.S. borders.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses media members after President Donald Trump signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, in Ottawa, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION REACTS TO TRUMP ANNOUNCEMENT OF ENERGY TARIFFS ON CANADA, MEXICO

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum both vowed retaliation on Saturday.

“We categorically reject the White House’s slander of the Government of Mexico for having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention to interfere in our territory,” Sheinbaum said, adding that she instructed her administration officials to implement “tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.”

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing at the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trudeau said Canada would impose 25% tariffs on $155 billion of U.S. goods, including “immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods effective Tuesday, followed by further tariffs on $125 billion worth of American products in 21 days.”

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“I don’t think we’re not at all interested in escalating, but I think that there will be a very strong demand on our government to make sure that we stand up for the deal that we have struck with the United States,” Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.

February 2, 2025
Washington state lawmakers propose requiring speed limiting devices in cars of drivers with speeding history

A bill introduced in the Washington state legislature would require drivers with a history of speeding to have a speed limiting device placed on their cars.

House Bill 1596 was proposed after supporters say an increase in fatal accidents was caused by speeding. The bill was heard in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday and would require an “intelligent speed assistance device” to be installed in the cars of certain drivers, according to Fox 13.

The device limits the speed of the car using GPS technology to follow the speed limit where the vehicle is being driven. These drivers could exceed the speed limit up to three times a month.

A driver would have the device on their car if they have a new restricted license established by the bill. This is similar to how ignition interlock devices are used for people with a history of drunk driving.

BLUE CITY JUDGE SLAMMED FOR RELEASING VIOLENT SUSPECT ARRESTED AGAIN FOR VICIOUS ATTACK ON TEEN

A bill introduced in the Washington state legislature would require drivers with a history of speeding to have a speed limiting device placed on their cars. (iStock)

Drivers would also receive the device during the probation period after their license was suspended for racing or “excessive speeding,” which is defined as driving at least 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. Drivers could also be ordered by a court to have a speed-limiting device on their car.

“We’re losing Washingtonians and family members are losing loved ones unnecessarily, tragically and preventably,” Democrat state Rep. Mari Leavitt, a prime sponsor of the bill, said.

“These aren’t accidents,” she added. “They’re intentionally folks choosing behavior that is harming and often killing folks.”

According to data in 2023 from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, one in three fatal crashes in the state involved a speeding driver. The total number of fatal crashes and the number involving speeding has been trending upward since 2019.

The device limits the speed of the car using GPS technology to follow the speed limit where the vehicle is being driven. (Getty Images)

“Between 2019 and 2024, tickets to speeding drivers in excess of 50 miles an hour over the speed limit increased by 200%,” the commission’s Shelly Baldwin testified. “So we know that this is an increasing problem that we’ve been dealing with.”

Republican state Rep. Gloria Mendoza questioned how the bill helps keep people safe by allowing speeders to continue driving.

“So we’re trying to help them get back their license by giving them this tool,” Mendoza said. “So how is this helping save lives?”

SEATTLE POLICE OFFICER FIRED FOR FATALLY HITTING GRADUATE STUDENT WITH CAR

A driver would have the device on their car if they have a new restricted license established by the bill. (Getty Images)

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Leavitt responded: “We want to find a way for them to be able to drive lawfully, but safely. And having them on the road in a safe manner is going to save lives, because they’re driving anyway, and they’re driving fast. And this device, these speed limiters, are going to ensure that they can’t.”

The bill has not yet been scheduled for a vote out of committee.

February 2, 2025
‘Unfit to lead’: Blue state governor lashes out at Trump for targeting DEI policies after DC plane crash

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused President Donald Trump of being too incompetent to lead the country because he suggested the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) played a role in the tragic Washington, D.C., aircraft collision on Wednesday.

“We face the unfortunate reality that we must be honest with the nation about: Donald Trump is unfit to lead during moments of crisis like this,” Pritzker said in a statement Thursday night.

The blue state governor, whom Trump evoked on the campaign trail as an example of the downfall of Democrat-run states, urged the Trump administration to respond to the American Airlines crash with “information and facts to instill confidence in our nation’s aviation safety.”

“Before victims have even been identified, Trump is blaming people with disabilities,” Pritzker said, referring to FAA DEI hiring practices. “He’s blaming the U.S. service members in the Blackhawk helicopter. He’s blaming hiring programs he can’t even name or offer examples of. The buck stops with him — yet he is failing to demonstrate his role as protector of the American people and head of our government.”

TRUMP ATTACKS DEI POLICIES AFTER DC PLANE CRASH, SAYS FAA EMPLOYEES MUST BE HELD TO ‘HIGHEST STANDARDS’

President Joe Biden, right, is greeted by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker upon arrival at Soldier Field Landing Zone on his way to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. (Reuters/Craig Hudson)

The second-term governor is among the long list of Democrats considering a 2028 presidential run. Pritzker has seized opportunities over the past two weeks to play a leadership role in Democrat opposition to Trump, refusing, for example, to follow Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.

PRITZKER BASHES TRUMP ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘WE WILL NOT FOLLOW AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDER’

Pritzker’s comments Thursday were the latest in a long-standing feud between the two.

“Sloppy J.B. Pritzker… has presided over the destruction and disintegration of Illinois at levels never seen before in any State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in June. “Crime is rampant and people are, sadly, fleeing Illinois. Unless a change is made at the Governor’s level, Illinois can never be Great Again!”

Trump’s attacks have veered into the ad hominem, labeling Pritzker a “rotund Governor from the once great State of Illinois, who makes Chris Christie look like a male model.”

In his statement, Pritzker demanded the Trump administration answer his “critical questions,” including why the control tower was not fully staffed during the crash; why the Trump administration fired members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee; whether the president now understands fully staffing federal agencies is a “matter of life and death”; and whether he plans to reverse federal workforce cuts.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, right, slammed President Donald Trump’s leadership following the American Airlines crash. (AP/Getty)

Pritzker questioned whether Elon Musk played a role in the removal of the former FAA director; why a replacement for FAA director was not named until after the crash; whether the federal government authorized the Blackhawk helicopter to fly on a commercial flight path; and if the government will continue allowing helicopters to fly at the same altitude as commercial planes.

“Will the President, Vice President, Defense Secretary, and Transportation Secretary cooperate with the independent NTSB investigation and correct any misinformation they spread about the crash?” Pritzker demanded to know.

Trump on Thursday listed headlines about Biden-era FAA DEI hiring that he suggested weakened the agency.

“Here’s one,” Trump said in the White House briefing room. “The FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing. And then it says the FAA says people with severe disabilities, the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in. They can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so.”

President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“This was on January 14th, so that was a week before I entered office,” Trump said, seeking to push blame onto the Biden administration. “They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program.“

Trump then expanded his list of conditions allowed among controllers: “Hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability, and dwarfism.”

The president drew a stark contrast between Democratic policies and his own first-week executive orders that halted DEI programs in the federal government and restored “the highest standards of air traffic controllers.”

“Brilliant people have to be in those positions,” he stated.

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When asked how he came to the conclusion that diversity had something to do with the crash, the president said, “Because I have common sense.”

Pritzker is not the only potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender who took issue with Trump’s comments. After Trump called former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg a “disaster,” Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic primary candidate, called Trump’s comments “despicable.”

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” he wrote on X. “We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe.”

Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

January 31, 2025
Several state officials demand feds protect Americans’ retirement plans by clearly regulating ESG investments

Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., shares House Republicans’ plans to tackle ESG on ‘The Bottom Line.’

EXCLUSIVE: Nearly two dozen state financial officers are calling on federal financial regulators to issue clear guidance and establish new rules concerning ESG-centered investing.

ESG stands for “environmental, social and governance,” and can conflict with investments made strictly from a fiduciary standpoint. The officers aim to protect Americans’ passive retirement plans through these measures.

State treasurers and auditors from Alaska to South Carolina wrote to the acting heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Labor (DOL) after a Texas court ruling against American Airlines in a suit brought by a pilot concerned about the investments within his retirement plan.

GREEN GOVERNANCE IS THE NEW GUISE FOR MERCANTILISM: HERITAGE’S KEVIN ROBERTS

“We, therefore, request SEC and DoL take decisive action to uphold fiduciary duty laws and protect retirement plans from activist corrosion,” the state officials wrote.

“Specifically, we call on your agencies to issue comprehensive guidance … initiate rulemaking … [and] increase oversight and enforcement” of fiduciary rules.

A Wall Street sign in front of an American flag (Reuters/Mike Segar / Reuters Photos)

On Jan. 15, Bush-appointed federal Judge Reed O’Connor ruled in favor of the pilot, who alleged his employer did not properly monitor the proxy voting of investment managers they were doing business with, including BlackRock.

The airline’s own ESG goals also conflicted with those of some of the investment firms, according to allegations chronicled by ESG Dive.

The state officials asked the SEC and DOL to reaffirm a Supreme Court ruling that fiduciaries must discharge their duties solely in the financial interests of retirement plan participants and that proxy voting may not be motivated by non-fiduciary concerns such as achieving environmental or progressive social goals like reducing emissions.

DOZENS OF FINANCIAL FIRMS ACCUSED OF PUTTING ENVIRO POLICY OVER SHAREHOLDERS

“There is an indisputable trend, among large asset managers, to prioritize political and social agendas over the financial security of hardworking Americans. Retirement security should not be jeopardized in order to facilitate corporate virtue signaling and activist-driven initiatives,” they wrote.

Such “mixed motives” — if a retirement plan manager considers ESG above or in addition to the highest possible rate of return for the beneficiary — cannot be tolerated legally or ethically, the officials wrote.

Investing in such a way “triggers an irrebuttable presumption of wrongdoing” on the part of the investment manager firm.

In the American Airlines case, the court found that ESG investments often underperform traditional investments by about 10%.

Florida Republican Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson discusses the probe into U.S. banks over ESG initiatives on ‘The Big Money Show.’

It also found BlackRock “publicly vowed to support more shareholder proposals on climate change, even at major energy companies that make money from the production of fossil fuels.”

However, the airline’s retirement plan investments with the mega-firm were reportedly limited to index funds that have no political or social bent but may, by definition, coincidentally contain shares of individual companies that embrace ESG principles in their business model.

An AA spokesperson confirmed to ESG Dive that BlackRock’s role was limited to passive index funds and that the ruling focused on AA’s oversight of the firm’s proxy voting in alignment with industry best practices.

OJ Oleka, leader of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), members of which signed the letter, said it has been troubling to see asset managers and administrators “pushing political and social agendas at the expense of what’s best for everyday Americans.”

“The recent court ruling against American Airlines is a clear example of the risks of prioritizing ESG and DEI over financial returns,” Oleka told Fox News Digital.

“Fiduciaries have a duty to focus on the financial well-being of those they serve, and when they don’t, it’s a disservice to their beneficiaries and potentially illegal.”

He expressed hope the federal government will step in to reinforce that firms should be prioritizing financial benefit over “distractions” that undermine financial security.

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Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., discusses U.S. investments in artificial intelligence and President Donald Trump’s commitment to reboot American energy on ‘The Bottom Line.’

In response to being mentioned as an example in the letter, a BlackRock representative told Fox News Digital the investment giant always makes decisions with investor gains in mind.

“We always act independently and with a singular focus on what is in the best financial interests of our clients,” the spokesperson said.

“Our only agenda is maximizing returns for our clients, consistent with their choices.”

A source familiar with the issues raised by SFOF claimed they have mostly been resolved.

The state of Tennessee recently settled an ESG case against BlackRock, and the firm has also departed a Wall Street alliance geared toward “net zero” emissions.

Jeff Eller, executive director of the Alliance for Prosperity and a Secure Retirement, told Fox News Digital the American Airlines ruling that preceded the letter was the “legal equivalent of junk science.”

“It is full of inaccuracies and contradictory claims. It is only a matter of time before it is most likely reversed on appeal. which will protect the retirement plans for millions of Americans,” Eller said.

January 30, 2025
California man proposes state secede from the US

A California man is leading the charge to have the state split from the United States.

The office of California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said Marcus Evans can begin collecting signatures to put the questions to voters.

“Should California leave the United States and become a free and independent country?” the question reads.

LA FIRES: ‘MILLION DOLLAR LISTING’ STARS RAISE ALARM ABOUT ILLEGAL PRICE GOUGING

Hollywood sign in California. (Joshua Comins/Fox News)

To qualify for the November 2028 ballot, Evans must collect the signatures of at least 546,651 registered voters by July 22. If approved, the measure wouldn’t trigger independence for the Golden State.

Instead it would declare a “vote of no confidence in the United States of America” and an “expression of the will of the people of California” to become an independent country without changing the state’s government or its relationship with the U.S.

In addition, a 20-member commission would be established to study whether California could govern itself and its viability as a nation.

RICKI LAKE SAYS REBUILDING AFTER LA FIRES DESTROYED HER HOME IS ‘EXHAUSTING AND PARALYZING’

An aerial view of the California State Capitol on February 01, 2023, in Sacramento, California. (Justin Sullivan/Justin Sullivan)

Secession from the U.S. would require a constitutional amendment, which would need approval from two-thirds of states.

Despite the proposal, the California constitution notes that the state “is an inseparable part of the United States of America.”

“The U.S. Constitution includes neither a mechanism for a state to secede from the United States nor a provision for a single state to be an autonomous nation within the United States,” the California Legislative Analyst’s Office states.

The Golden Gate Bridge is awash in warm light from the setting sun in San Francisco, California, February 13, 2015. (Photo by John Gress/Corbis via Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Evans.

January 29, 2025
Trump claims military entered California to release water flow, but state says that did not happen

President Donald Trump claimed Monday night that the military entered California and “turned on the water,” but state water officials contend that the president’s claim is false.

“The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!” he added.

But the California Department of Water Resources responded that the military never entered the Golden State and that the state continues to have plenty of water resources.

CALI REP. CHU SAYS ‘WILDFIRES HAVE NO POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS’ AFTER TRUMP FLOATED CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL AID

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tour a fire-affected area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“The military did not enter California,” the department said on X. “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

State Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, a Democrat, also pushed back against Trump’s post.

“First off, shocker, water from the Pacific Northwest doesn’t flow to the Central Valley,” McGuire said on X. “Second, federal water pumps were down for repair and are now back on. Third, rest assured, the military has not invaded the delta. Facts are hard.”

TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

This comes after Trump issued an executive order directing several federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, to determine how to deliver more water to Southern California and the Central Valley, as the state responds to wildfires that swept through the Los Angeles area this month.

Trump had said on Friday that two conditions must be met in California before the federal government offers disaster relief. He said he wants lawmakers to approve voter identification legislation and that water deliveries need to be increased from Northern California to drier areas further south.

“I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina as he was touring hurricane recovery efforts in that state. “Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen.”

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meet residents as they tour a fire-affected area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Trump visited Los Angeles later on Friday to view damage from the wildfires and meet with local officials and residents.

Republicans in Congress have suggested tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase or changes to California’s fire-mitigation policies.

January 28, 2025
Rubio’s State Dept caps migration-heavy 1st week with Colombia deportation win: ‘America will not back down’

A diplomatic victory over Colombia capped a busy week for the U.S. State Deptment under new Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who oversaw an agency that quickly made border security and immigration a top priority — racking up a flurry of actions in the space of a week.

After Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused to take U.S. deportation flights carrying Colombian nationals on Sunday, Rubio announced the immediate suspension of the issuing of visas in the country, as well as travel sanctions on government officials.

“Measures will continue until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens,” Rubio said. “America will not back down when it comes to defending its national security interests.”

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in by Vice President JD Vance in the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Within hours, Colombia had backed down and agreed to what the White House said were the terms provided by President Donald Trump. However, the administration said that visa sanctions would remain in effect until the deportations were received.

The diplomatic clash was a strong finish to what has been an immigration-focused week for not only the administration as a whole, but also the State Department. The agency was involved in multiple instructions and moves on visa issuance, migration and funding to foreign organizations.

On Rubio’s first day in office, the department instructed consular officers to put national security first when reviewing visas and ordered the department to implement enhanced vetting for visa applications from countries where there are concerns about a heightened national security risk.

NEW SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO PAUSES REFUGEE OPERATIONS, RAMPS UP VISA VETTING

He would later go on to declare the administration’s priorities, which focused on ending mass migration and ramping up border security as top priorities.

Migrants who were deported from the U.S. stand on El Chaparral pedestrian border bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, late Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

“First, we must curb mass migration and secure our borders. The State Department will no longer undertake any activities that facilitate or encourage mass migration,” Rubio said.  “Our diplomatic relations with other countries, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, will prioritize securing America’s borders, stopping illegal and destabilizing migration, and negotiating the repatriation of illegal immigrants.”

Separately, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital that a worldwide cable clarified that officials must resist pressures to speed up visa or passport processing at the expense of security concerns.

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The State Department then also paused all new obligations of funding for foreign aid programs through either the State Dept. or U.S. Agency for International Development. There are longstanding concerns by conservatives that those programs can exacerbate mass migration.

On refugee admissions, the department suspended the Refugee Admissions Program — in response to an executive order by President Trump. It also issued a worldwide alert announcing the upcoming changes to birthright citizenship in response to another Trump order.

Since then, the department has worked with other agencies on border security and the implementation of the birthright citizenship order, including working to cancel a green card for a Moroccan terrorist, the official said.

That cooperation was on display on Sunday when multiple agencies worked together to deal with the disagreement with Colombia.

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“As demonstrated by today’s actions, we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal immigration and bolster America’s border security,” Rubio said.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

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

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

January 28, 2025