Happy New Year 2025

Tag: testify

Into the ring: Trump education chief pick McMahon to testify on cutting ‘red tape’ amid DOGE sweeps

FIRST ON FOX: Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Education, will testify before the Senate on Thursday, centering her opening remarks around creating “a better future for every American learner.”

The Trump nominee, who was tapped in November, will kick off her confirmation process during a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Thursday morning. Republican Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Katie Britt of Alabama will introduce McMahon before the hearing, Fox News has learned.

McMahon will focus her remarks on enacting Trump’s vision with the idea that “education is the issue that determines our national success and prepares American workers to win the future,” according to an excerpt of her opening remarks, shared first with Fox News Digital.

“I would like to thank President Trump for his confidence in me to lead a Department whose mission and authority were a special focus of his campaign. He pledged to make American education the best in the world, return education to the states where it belongs, and free American students from the education bureaucracy through school choice,” McMahon will say in her opening remarks.

TRUMP EDUCATION DEPT LAUNCHES PROBE INTO ‘EXPLOSION OF ANTISEMITISM’ AT 5 UNIVERSITIES

Linda McMahon arrives for a meeting in Washington, D.C. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg)

McMahon is being boosted to head the department that Trump has suggested he wants to dismantle during his term, recently saying that if McMahon is confirmed, he wants her to “put herself out of a job.”

Trump said Wednesday just hours ahead of McMahon’s hearing that he wanted to close the Education Department “immediately.”

“It’s a big con job,” he said. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40.”

His comments came as Trump’s executive agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) run by Elon Musk, continues its financial audit of the federal government.

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McMahon previously served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term before stepping down in 2019 to “return to the private sector.”

She plans to say during her opening remarks Thursday, “My experience as a business owner and leader of the Small Business Administration, as a public servant in the state of Connecticut, and more than a decade of service as a college trustee has taught me to put parents, teachers, and students, not bureaucracy, first.”

“Outstanding teachers are tired of political ideology in their curriculum and red tape on their desks. This is why school choice is a growing movement across the nation: it offers teachers and parents an alternative to classrooms that are micromanaged from Washington, D.C.”

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Linda McMahon after announcing her resignation on March 29, 2019. (Joshua Roberts)

The Trump nominee also plans to highlight antisemitism in schools and the issue of biological males competing in women’s and girls’ sports.

“If I am confirmed, the department will not stand idly by while Jewish students are attacked and discriminated against,” her remarks read. “It will stop forcing schools to let boys and men into female sports and spaces. And it will protect the rights of parents to direct the moral education of their children.”

In her opening remarks, McMahon will note that “many Americans today are experiencing a system in decline” but that “the opportunity before us these next four years is momentous.”

Linda McMahon speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024. (Mike Segar)

“It is my great honor to announce that Linda McMahon, former Administrator of the Small Business Administration, will be the United States Secretary of Education,” Trump said in his nomination announcement in November.

Before being tapped to head the Education Department, McMahon founded WWE with her husband in 1980, which has grown into a global wrestling entertainment network.

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“As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families,” the press release added. “Linda served for two years on the Connecticut Board of Education, where she was one of fifteen members overseeing all Public Education in the State, including its Technical High School system.”

After McMahon’s confirmation hearing, the committee will schedule a vote on whether to advance her nomination to a full floor vote.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

February 13, 2025
Sanctuary city mayors to testify at House Oversight after AG Bondi cuts them off from federal funds

Democratic mayors of so-called sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants have agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee in March after Attorney General Pam Bondi signed a directive cutting those jurisdictions off from federal funding on her first day at the Justice Department (DOJ).

Bondi, who was sworn in as attorney general Wednesday, issued a number of Day 1 directives, including ordering the DOJ to pause all federal funding for sanctuary cities.

Bondi also directed litigating components of the Justice Department to investigate instances of jurisdictions that are impeding law enforcement and directing that they be prosecuted when necessary.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a number of Day 1 directives, including ordering the Department of Justice to pause all federal funding for sanctuary cities. (Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA)

In late January, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., invited mayors of sanctuary cities to testify before the panel after launching an investigation into sanctuary city policies and their affect on public safety and federal immigration enforcement.

Comer invited the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City to testify at a public hearing and requested they provide documents and communications related to their policies.

The hearing initially was set for Feb. 11, but a committee aide told Fox News Digital the committee worked with mayors to accommodate their schedules. The committee received final confirmation from Boston, Denver and New York City earlier this week. It received confirmation from Chicago Wednesday.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., invited mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City to testify at a public hearing and requested they provide documents and communications related to their policies. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Now, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams will testify at a public hearing March 5.

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“Sanctuary mayors owe the American people an explanation for city policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law by releasing dangerous criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets,” Comer told Fox News Digital. “These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies.”

Democratic mayors of “sanctuary cities,” including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, pictured here, have agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee in March. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital )

Comer told Fox News Digital the policies also “endanger ICE agents who are forced to take more difficult enforcement actions in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities.”

“The policies in Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the American people,” Comer added. “This is unacceptable, and their leaders must be held accountable.”

Comer vowed to “press these mayors for answers and examine measures to enforce compliance with federal immigration law.”

Since Trump took office in January, ICE has arrested illegal criminal migrants in sanctuary cities across the country.

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

February 6, 2025
Comer ask sanctuary mayors to testify before committee

House Republicans are calling on sanctuary city mayors to testify next month about the policy’s impact on public safety and the refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Tenn., chair of the GOP-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said he was launching an investigation into sanctuary cities across the United States to determine whether they have complied with federal immigration enforcement laws.

In a letter, he asked Michelle Wu, Brandon Johnson, Mike Johnston and Eric Adams, the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, respectively, to provide documents and information related to the sanctuary policies of each city.

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House Oversight and Accountability committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) speaks during a hearing with Commissioner of the FDA Dr. Robert Califf in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

They were each asked to testify at a public hearing on the matter on Feb. 11. Fox News Digital has reached out to each mayor.

“On his first day in office, President Donald Trump took decisive actions to restore the rule of law,” Comer wrote on X. “It is now imperative that our immigration laws are enforced across the country and that criminal aliens are swiftly removed from our communities.”

The letters said 12 states and hundreds of cities and counties across the country have sanctuary policies. However, Comer said the four cities singled out “stand out in their abject failure to comply with federal law.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

Sanctuary cities limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Supporters argue that enforcement of immigration is the job of the federal government.

Opponents say sanctuary policies harbor criminals, as well as those in the country illegally, and put the public, including illegal immigrants, at risk.

Adams has spoken out against criminal illegal immigrants, who he said put New Yorkers at risk. In addition, he has said he is willing to work with Trump Border Czar Tom Homan.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said his administration has been coordinating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with regard to deporting illegal criminal migrants. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images and Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Wu, the Boston Mayor, has said her city won’t cooperate with Trump’s mass deportation program, despite the region seeing a number of illegal immigrants with criminal charges released back onto the streets.

“Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that,” she told WCVB-TV in November. “But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the City of Boston said: “We are proud that Boston is the safest major city in the United States. We have received the letter and are reviewing it.”

Chicago Mayor Johnson has doubled down on his support of the city’s sanctuary policies.

“I find it unconscionable that this administration would attempt to create not just division but fear within our public schools,” Johnson said, referring to potential federal raids.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responds to a question during a news conference on Oct. 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

He has directed city departments to “stand firm and uphold the local ordinance” in compliance with the Illinois Trust Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has also supported sanctuary policies despite the presence of members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Denver and the suburb of Aurora.

On Sunday, federal agents arrested 50 members of the gang in Colorado and seized drugs, weapons, and cash, authorities said.

In his first week after returning to the White House, Trump has rescinded multiple directives and has targeted illegal immigrants with criminal records in a series of raids.

Democrat mayor Mike Johnston. Denver is a sanctuary city. (Edward Romero and Getty Images)

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Raids by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been reported in Colorado, New York City, Buffalo, N.Y., Boston, California, and Minnesota, with hundreds of illegal immigrants being detained.

In addition, deportation flights have also begun.

January 28, 2025