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President Donald Trump late Thursday signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions.

The order cites his authority granted under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and will affect most of the federal government. 

Agencies such as the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security are just a few listed in the executive order.

The need to end collective bargaining with federal unions in these agencies is because of their role in safeguarding national security, according to the order. 

‘President Trump is taking action to ensure that agencies vital to national security can execute their missions without delay and protect the American people. The President needs a responsive and accountable civil service to protect our national security,’ according to a White House fact sheet regarding the order.

It also claims that ‘Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,’ and that the ‘largest Federal union describes itself as ‘fighting back’ against Trump. It is widely filing grievances to block Trump policies.’

According to the administration, VA’s unions have filed 70 national and local grievances over President Trump’s policies, averaging over one a day since the inauguration.

‘President Trump supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him; he will not tolerate mass obstruction that jeopardizes his ability to manage agencies with vital national security missions,’ the White House said.

Police and firefighters will continue to collectively bargain.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at restoring what he calls ‘truth and sanity’ in American history by reforming the Smithsonian Institution, protecting national monuments, and countering divisive ideology in public institutions.

Trump’s order directs Vice President Vance to work on eliminating ‘improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology’ from Smithsonian museums, research centers, as well as the National Zoo. 

It also pushes Congress to ensure taxpayer dollars do not fund exhibits or programs that ‘degrade shared American values’ or promote ideologies which divide Americans by race.

‘Americans have witnessed a concerted effort to rewrite history and force our nation to adopt a factually baseless ideology aimed at diminishing American achievement,’ the order states. 

The Smithsonian is criticized in the EO for promoting narratives that claim American and Western values are harmful. Trump specifically calls out exhibits that suggest sculpture has been used to ‘promote scientific racism’ and that the United States has maintained power through racial systems.

The order also takes issue with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which previously suggested that ‘hard work,’ ‘individualism,’ and ‘the nuclear family’ are aspects of ‘White culture.’

Additionally, the EO declares that the Smithsonian ‘celebrate women’s achievements in the American Women’s History Museum and do not recognize men as women.’

The Executive Order also directs the Secretary of the Interior to restore national parks, monuments, and statues that have been ‘improperly removed or changed’ in recent years to fit what it calls a false revision of history. 

Under the Executive Order, agencies must complete restorations and improvements to Independence Hall before our nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

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Despite being an ocean away, Rosie O’Donnell can’t seem to keep her mind off President Trump. 

The two have an ongoing feud that goes back decades, and after Trump was elected a second time, the comedian moved her family to Ireland.

But she still posts anti-Trump content on her social media accounts every few days. 

On Thursday, the 63-year-old posted a video on her Substack channel saying she forgives MAGA supporters.

‘I forgive them, and I know they didn’t ask for my forgiveness. And I hope that doesn’t sound condescending, but I forgive them for making the mistake of believing the Americanized propaganda where we sold a conman as a businessman,’ she said.

The White House told Fox News Digital ‘Good riddance!’ when asked for comment. 

The former co-host of ‘The View’ added that she blames Mark Burnett, who created and produced Trump’s former reality series, ‘The Apprentice.’ 

She said she had met Burnett, and he was a ‘nice guy, and I’d love to know what happened to him. Was it pure greed? Cause everybody in the world knew just how bad he is, but Mark Burnett put a shine on the s—, and everybody thinks it’s gold, and it really is not.’ 

She also brought up Trump and Burnett earlier this week in a TikTok video. 

‘We’ve been lied to by the media that is corporately owned for a very long time, and one of the biggest offenders was the show ‘The Apprentice,’ produced by Mark Burnett,’ she said Monday. ‘He taught Donald Trump how to lie into a character and sell it with rudeness, and that’s all that Donald Trump is.’

The ‘League of Their Own’ actress has even been writing anti-Trump poetry, which she describes as ‘simplistic lyrics to a song to convey a feeling or a mood.’ 

‘once a misogynist…always a creep/ he went after me for years and hasn’t stopped yet/ those who love him/ think I’m the anti christ/ those who hate him/ are my people,’ she wrote in part in one such effort on Substack earlier this month. 

Last week, she also appeared on Ireland’s ‘Late Late Show,’ where she discussed her recent decision to move out of the U.S., her longstanding feud with Trump and more.

In the interview, O’Donnell said she never imagined she’d leave the country and that it’s ‘overwhelmingly sad to me personally and way too much for me to take as well emotionally’ that he won the presidential election in 2024.

When asked about her decision to move to Ireland, she also said, ‘The President of the United States has it out for me and has for 20 years,’ later adding that ‘he sort of uses me as a punchline whenever he feels the need.’

She also suggested on the show that Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk’s involvement in Trump’s win should be investigated. 

‘I question why the first time in American history a president has won every swing state and is also best friends and his largest donor was a man who owns and runs the internet,’ O’Donnell said Friday on Ireland’s ‘The Late Late Show.’

O’Donnell confirmed her move to Ireland earlier this month, saying she left the U.S. days before Trump’s inauguration, explaining on TikTok that she thought it ‘would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child.’

O’Donnell and Trump have been involved in a feud since 2006, after she criticized him on ‘The View’ about his leniency toward a Miss USA winner who had been accused of drug use and other bad behavior.

At the time, in reference to Miss USA Tara Conner, Trump said he was a ‘believer in second chances. Tara is a good person. Tara has tried hard. Tara is going to be given a second chance.’

Their feud has continued over the years, with O’Donnell telling Seth Meyers after Trump’s first win that she spends ‘about 90% of my working hours tweeting hatred toward this administration.’

Trump also brought her up in a 2015 Republican primary debate, joking ‘only Rosie O’Donnell’ when he was asked about having called women disparaging names like ‘fat pigs’ and ‘slobs.’ 

During last year’s election, Trump brought up O’Donnell’s name again when he told a crowd at the October Al Smith dinner that ‘The View’ had gotten ‘so bad’ that showrunners ‘really need to bring Rosie O’Donnell back.’

Her name also came up last week when a reporter asked Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, ‘Why in the world would you let Rosie O’Donnell move to Ireland? I think she is going to lower your happiness.’

Before Martin could answer, Trump chimed in and replied, ‘That’s true. I like that question. Do you know you have Rosie O’Donnell? Do you know who she is? You’re better off not knowing.’

O’Donnell later said on the ‘Late, Late Show’ that she sent the prime minister an apology note over the Oval Office episode. 

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Eight inspectors general abruptly fired by President Donald Trump at the start of his second term appeared in federal court Thursday to challenge their dismissals — a long-shot case that nonetheless sparked fireworks during oral arguments.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes acknowledged on Thursday that it would be difficult for the court to reinstate the eight ousted inspectors generals, who were part of a broader group of 17 government watchdogs abruptly terminated by Trump in January, just four days into his second White House term. 

In a lawsuit last month, the eight inspectors general challenged their firings as both ‘unlawful and unjustified’ and asked to be reinstated — a remedy that Reyes acknowledged Thursday would be exceedingly difficult, even if she were to find that their firings were unconstitutional.

 ‘Unless you convince me otherwise,’ she told the plaintiffs, ‘I don’t see how I could reinstate the inspectors general’ to their roles.

Reyes suggested that the best the court could do would be to order back pay, even as she told both parties, ‘I don’t think anyone can contest that the removal of these people — the way that they were fired — was a violation of the law.’

The preliminary injunction hearing comes more than a month after the eight fired inspectors general filed a lawsuit challenging their termination as unconstitutional. Plaintiffs asked the judge to restore them to their positions, noting in the filing, ‘President Trump’s attempt to eliminate a crucial and longstanding source of impartial, non-partisan oversight of his administration is contrary to the rule of law.’  

Still, the remedies are considered a long shot — and Trump supporters have argued that the president was well within his executive branch powers to make such personnel decisions under Article II of the Constitution, Supreme Court precedent and updates to federal policy.

In 2022, Congress updated its Inspector General Act of 1978, which formerly required a president to communicate to Congress any ‘reasons’ for terminations 30 days before any decision was made. That notice provision was amended in 2022 to require only a ‘substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons’ for terminations.

The 30-day period was a major focus of Thursday’s hearing, as the court weighed whether inspectors general can be considered ‘principal’ or inferior officers. 

The White House Director of Presidential Personnel has claimed that the firings are in line with that requirement, which were a reflection of ‘changing priorities’ from within the administration. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, suggested earlier this year that Congress should be given more information as to the reasons for the firings, though more recently he has declined to elaborate on the matter.

Reyes, for her part, previously did not appear to be moved by the plaintiffs’ bid for emergency relief.

She declined to grant their earlier request for a temporary restraining order — a tough legal test that requires plaintiffs to prove ‘irreparable’ and immediate harm as a result of the actions — and told both parties during the hearing that, barring new or revelatory information, she is not inclined to rule in favor of plaintiffs at the larger preliminary injunction hearing.

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Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated more than $330 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and gender research in the state of California alone, Fox News Digital learned Thursday. 

‘HHS terminated more than $330 million in wasteful research funding to organizations in California that is not aligned with NIH and HHS priorities,’ HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital. 

‘The terminated research grants are simply wasteful in studying things that do not pertain to American’s health to any significant degree, including DEI and gender ideology. As we begin to Make America Healthy Again, it’s important to prioritize research that directly affects the health of Americans.’

Fox News Digital examined the list of terminated grants, all of which were related to DEI initiatives or gender-related issues, and predominantly were issued to colleges within the California public school system, such as the University of California, San Francisco and UCLA, as well as private colleges and research institutes located in the Golden State. 

‘Harnessing the power of text messaging to reduce HIV incidence in adolescent males across the United States,’ one $5,122,427 grant that was awarded to a nonprofit called the Center for Innovative Public Health Research reads, Fox Digital learned. 

‘Sex hormone effects on neurodevelopment: Controlled puberty in transgender adolescents,’ was the title of a terminated $3,692,048 grant to Stanford University, according to HHS. 

‘#TranscendentHealth – Adapting an LGB+ inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys,’ reads another $1,319,024 grant awarded to the Center for Innovative Public Health Research. 

The University of California, San Francisco’s $2,554,402 grant for ‘Structural Racism and Discrimination in Older Men’s Health Inequities’ also was canceled, Fox Digital learned, as was a $822,539 grant to UCLA called ‘Buddhism and HIV Stigma in Thailand: An Intervention Study.’

A total of 61 NIH research grants focused on gender and DEI in the state of California were canceled. 

The grant cancellation announcement comes after President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders removing DEI initiatives from the fabric of the government following President Joe Biden’s tenure. 

Trump, on his first day in office, signed an executive order focused on ‘ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs‘ and one focused on restoring merit-based opportunity and ‘ending illegal discrimination,’ which ended DEI practices at the federal level in favor of merit-based systems.

Federal agencies across the board have since worked to gut federal offices of DEI initiatives to abide by the president’s orders. On Friday, HHS announced it had terminated hundreds of other NIH research grants related to DEI and gender that totaled more than $350 million. 

The research grants included research on ‘multilevel and multidimensional structural racism,’ ‘gender-affirming hormone therapy in mice’ and ‘microaggressions,’ among others. 

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

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The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee requested the Pentagon’s inspector general probe whether classified defense information was shared on Signal, an encrypted messaging platform. 

‘This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military discussions in Yemen,’ Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote in a letter to acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins. ‘If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss classified and sensitive information.’

The letter was sent Wednesday evening, a committee spokesperson said, after The Atlantic published messages in full that included details about a planned strike on the Houthis in Yemen and revealed a target had been successfully killed when a building he was in collapsed. 

White House officials have insisted the information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security advisor Mike Waltz shared in the chat was not classified. 

Stebbins is the acting Pentagon watchdog after President Donald Trump fired 17 inspectors general, including the Defense Department’s IG, shortly after taking office. 

Wicker told reporters Wednesday he would seek an ‘expedited’ investigation. 

Hegseth’s Signal messages revealed F-18, Navy fighter aircraft, MQ-9s, drones and Tomahawks cruise missiles would be used in the strike on the Houthis.

‘1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package),’ Hegseth said in one message notifying the chat of high-level administration officials that the attack was about to kick off.

‘1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)’ he added, according to the report. 

‘1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)’

‘1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)’

‘1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.’

‘MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)’

‘We are currently clean on OPSEC’ – that is, operational security.

Later, Waltz wrote that the mission had been successful. ‘The first target—their top missile guy—was positively ID’d walking into his girlfriend’s building. It’s now collapsed.’

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, who was unintentionally added to the chat, published an initial story that did not include specifics about the strike he believed to be sensitive. After the White House insisted the information was not classified, he asked them if they would object to him publishing its contents. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded that they would object. 

‘No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS,’ Waltz wrote on X on Wednesday.

Government officials frequently use Signal to communicate, even for sensitive information, given that they don’t always have quick access to a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF). 

‘This is an approved app. It’s an encrypted app,’ Leavitt insisted to reporters Wednesday.

Still, even some Republicans have grumbled about how the situation has been handled. 

Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., a Navy veteran with a top secret clearance, said adding Goldberg to the chat was ‘totally sloppy,’ and the information shared was either classified ‘or at the very least highly sensitive.’ 

‘In the wrong hands, like the Houthis or any of America’s adversaries, this kind of Intel could have jeopardized the mission and put our troops at greater risk,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘It was wrong when Hillary put all that classified information on an unclassified server. It was wrong when Biden had the sensitive files in his garage. And it’s wrong now.’ 

The Senate letter asked for ‘what was communicated and any remedial actions taken as a result’ and an assessment of whether proper policies had been followed related to government officers ‘sharing sensitive and classified information on non-government networks and electronic applications.’ 

It also asked for the IG to probe how the policies of DOD, the intelligence community, the National Security Council and the White House differ on the matter. 

The DOD IG’s office confirmed receiving the letter yesterday to Fox News Digital and said it was in the process of reviewing it. 

Earlier this week, Wicker and Reed said they would ‘likely’ hold a bipartisan hearing on the Signal chat. But given the political nature of the storyline, it may be easier to allow an independent watchdog to conduct a fact-finding mission. 

‘This is precisely why independent offices of inspectors general are so valuable. When a situation becomes a hot-button political issue, it’s incredibly helpful to have an objective, nonpartisan group of trained professionals to do the fact-finding and answer the hard questions,’ former State Department inspector general Diana Shaw told Fox News Digital. 

She warned not to expect the IG to give any answers on whether criminal conduct had taken place, and not to expect a quick probe given the crossover of agencies implicated in the chat. 

‘It’s very difficult to do anything quickly when it involves the Interagency – an interagency review requires navigation through a complex maze of jurisdictional boundaries. The committee may get some of its questions answered quickly, but it will likely have to wait some time for answers to the more central questions it’s posed.’

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Republican senators are standing behind Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth amid calls for his resignation over the Signal chat leak, telling Fox News Digital that calls for him to be fired are ‘hot garbage.’ 

Trump administration national security officials are facing a barrage of negative media coverage this week after Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a group chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, about a strike against the Houthis in Yemen. Goldberg later went on to publish the messages on Wednesday.

Hegseth has doubled down that no war plans or classified information were shared during the Signal group chat of Trump administration officials about possible strikes on Houthi targets, which was mistakenly shared with a journalist.

Amid Goldberg’s publication of the messages, Democrats have been calling for Hegseth and other officials to resign. 

But GOP senators are defending Hegseth. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital, ‘Defense Secretary Hegseth helped spearhead the successful strikes we saw against the Houthis to protect shipping lanes and keep Americans safe.’ 

‘That’s good policy — and a win for the Trump administration,’ Hawley said. ‘The Democrats are just trying to change the subject and trash Hegseth because Trump is on a roll.’ 

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., also defended Hegseth, telling Fox News Digital that he is ‘a decorated war hero who understands the needs of the warfighter.’ 

‘In a matter of weeks, he’s taken bold action alongside President Trump to restore lethality, merit and peace through strength. Recruitment numbers show this administration is inspiring young Americans to serve their country in uniform,’ Mullin said. ‘The Defense Department has achieved great success under Pete’s leadership, and anyone saying otherwise isn’t paying attention.’

And Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said that the calls for his resignation — especially after the successful strikes — are ‘amusing.’ 

‘In the wake of successful strikes against Houthi terrorists, it’s amusing to see two political camps attack the Secretary of Defense: radical progressives who are angry that he’s getting rid of woke DEI ideology and focusing on lethality, and armchair generals who are mad that he wants to keep America out of unnecessary foreign wars,’ Lee told Fox News Digital. 

And some senators blasted the press, with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, saying that the ‘woke media has shown their true colors this week.’ 

‘For the past four years, we had a vegetable President who sat on his hands while the Houthis attacked the U.S. Navy more than 170 times while choking off a major trade route with devastating effects on our economy,’ Tuberville told Fox News Digital. ‘But thanks to the leadership of President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and the entire national security team, we are protecting our ships and well on our way to restoring full freedom of navigation.’ 

Again, Tuberville said that ‘rather than celebrating the success of this operation, the same left-wing media who largely downplayed the botched Afghanistan withdrawal under Biden that cost 13 Americans their lives is working around the clock to try to get Secretary Hegseth pushed out.’ 

‘I’ve gotten to know Secretary Hegseth well over the past few months. Not only is he a patriot who bravely served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he is doing a great job as the Secretary of Defense,’ he continued. ‘Under his leadership, the Pentagon is focused once again on lethality, not woke politics. Secretary Hegseth has my 100% support, and any suggestion that he should be fired is hot garbage.’

And Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, doubled down, also saying that Hegseth has proven that ‘he is exactly the right person to cut red tape at the Pentagon, put an end to forever wars abroad and improve morale among our brave warfighters.’ 

Moreno told Fox News Digital that he is ‘proud to stand with him in the face of disgusting attacks from Democrats and their allies in the liberal media.’ 

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., also came to Hegseth’s defense, saying he is ‘doing a great job, and is doing exactly what the American people elected President Trump to do: prioritize America’s core national interests in foreign policy decisions, strip woke programs and divisive DEI out of our military, and work to return our military’s focus to lethality and preparedness.’ 

And Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital that the ‘historic spike in military recruitment is no accident. America is safer. Our adversaries are weaker. And terrorists are dead. With Secretary Hegseth, America is winning.’

‘I’m confident Secretary Hegseth will continue to put our warfighters in the best position and return the Pentagon’s focus to our force’s lethality, providing a credible deterrent against our adversaries,’ Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital. ‘I remain steadfastly committed to advancing President Trump’s doctrine of peace through strength, which includes ensuring his national security team has the support needed to enact the President’s agenda.’

Hegseth has defended himself this week, saying, ‘Nobody’s texting war plans.’ 

‘I noticed this morning out came something that doesn’t look like war plans. And as a matter of fact, they even changed the title to attack plans because they know it’s not war plans,’ he explained Wednesday. 

‘There’s no units, no locations, no routes, no flight paths, no sources, no methods, no classified information,’ he added, saying no sensitive information was divulged in the chat. 

Hegseth said he was keeping President Donald Trump’s national security team informed in real time.

‘My job, as I said, on top of that, everybody’s seen it now,’ Hegseth said. The ‘team update is to provide updates in real time — general updates in real time. Keep everybody informed. That’s what I did. That’s my job.’

Hegseth blasts Atlantic article:

The fallout comes as Goldberg said he received a request to join the group chat on the encrypted messaging service Signal on March 11 from what appeared to be National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. Goldberg released screenshots of some of the message exchanges he observed.

He reported that officials had been discussing ‘war plans’ but didn’t publish some of the highly sensitive information he saw, including precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing, due to potential threats to national security and military operations.

Earlier in the day, Hegseth scolded Goldberg in a post on X, who he said has never ‘seen a war plan.’

‘So, let’s me get this straight. The Atlantic released the so-called ‘war plans’ and those ‘plans’ include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information,’ he wrote. ‘Those are some really s—– war plans.’

‘This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an ‘attack plan’ (as he now calls it). Not even close,’ he added.

Fox News’ Landon Mion, Louis Casiano and Liz Friden contributed to this report.  

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President Donald Trump announced that he asked Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to bow out of contention to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

He cited the House GOP’s slim majority, writing on Truth Social, ‘I have asked Elise, as one of my biggest Allies, to remain in Congress to help me deliver Historic Tax Cuts, GREAT Jobs, Record Economic Growth, a Secure Border, Energy Dominance, Peace Through Strength, and much more, so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.’

‘With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat. The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day. There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations,’ he said.

Stefanik had been under pressure to take herself out of contention for the role despite appearing poised to sail through Senate confirmation with bipartisan support, CBS News first reported. 

Sources told the outlet that House Republicans’ razor-thin majority is a major factor in the current considerations, but Fox News Digital was also told that internal politics in Stefanik’s home district are at play as well.

New York state’s primary structure and the lack of GOP cohesion over choosing a candidate to run in Stefanik’s place have led to concerns about a future special election there, two sources familiar with Empire State politics said.

Some people are blaming Stefanik herself for not stepping in earlier, with one of the two sources telling Fox News Digital, ‘Elise has been saying [they] need to wait for Trump, and it’s allowed the process to grow out of control.’

But that source also said they ‘don’t think it’s fair’ to fully blame Stefanik, arguing that it was a failure of Republican Party leaders in general for letting the divisions ‘fester.’

‘Nature abhors a vacuum. And you have 15 different county chairs, basically like three different regions of the state, pushing their own person. It’s a really messy, ugly process,’ the source said. ‘When you have a party leader making a decision versus a primary where you can run a race – it’s the kind of thing you have to wrap up quickly.’

That person also pointed out Stefanik was ‘one of the first ones ready to go’ as an early favorite for the Trump administration, and questioned whether she would be having the same issues had she resigned from Congress on Jan. 20 instead of being a ‘loyalist’ to the GOP and staying for her vote. 

The second source, however, said of the situation in New York’s 21st Congressional District, ‘She let that happen.’

The second source said Stefanik ‘didn’t want to lean in on someone,’ which resulted in no one having ‘a clear understanding of what the process is and who has a lane.’

Both sources pointed to concerns about a conservative candidate who is threatening to run in a third-party lane if he fails to win the Republican primary.

Meanwhile, the candidate who was endorsed by the New York Conservative Party ‘never supported Trump,’ the first source said.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility for two right-wing candidates to split their base enough for a Democrat to prevail, though it’s a longshot in Stefanik’s heavily Republican, upstate New York district.

Still, Republicans in Washington can afford few missteps with a thin majority and a candidate in Florida, Randy Fine, being outraised by his Democratic challenger ahead of an April 1 special election for another GOP-favored seat.

New York state special elections are not open primaries. Instead, both the Republican and Democratic candidates are chosen by the district’s 15 county party chairs. 

Meanwhile, Republicans have also been concerned that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul could seek to slow-walk the election, leaving Stefanik’s seat open for as long as possible if she ascended to the Trump administration.

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Stefanik for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Trump said in his announcement on Thursday that Stefanik would rejoin the House GOP leadership team, after she declined to run for another term as House GOP Conference chair to join the administration.

‘Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People. Speaker Johnson is thrilled! I look forward to the day when Elise is able to join my Administration in the future,’ he wrote.

It’s not immediately clear what kind of role she could have, however, given that her prior spot is now occupied by Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich.

Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for comment.

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Six House Democrats broke from their party on Thursday to pass a pair of bills blocking Biden administration-era green energy rules.

It’s the latest rebuke from more moderate Democrats of the progressive wing of their party.

One resolution, led by Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., seeks to overturn regulations imposed by former President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) for new clean energy standards targeting walk-in freezers and coolers.

‘I have fought every step of the way to prevent egregious rules from taking effect. These regulations will impose significant financial burdens on small businesses, which will have to absorb major upgrade costs to meet these new, aggressive standards,’ Bice told Fox News Digital.

She conceded it ‘sounds small,’ but argued it would place an oversized regulatory burden on small businesses across the country.

‘The impact of this regulation would cost small businesses over a billion dollars while only reducing energy use by 6%,’ Bice said.

The second resolution was introduced by Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Texas, and targets Biden-era rules on commercial refrigerators, freezers and refrigerator-freezers.

‘House Republicans will not allow the Biden administration’s Green New Scam to burden American businesses and raise consumer prices. We will continue to roll back regulations that rob Americans of choice in the name of a radical climate agenda,’ House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital.

Republicans have been working to overturn many of Biden’s progressive energy regulations since taking the levers of power in Washington earlier this year.

They have a mechanism to do so in Congress via joint resolutions of disapproval, designed as a legislative branch check on executive branch regulatory rule-making. 

Bice’s resolution got support from six Democrats, while Goldman’s got five.

Reps. Don Davis, D-N.C., Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, Adam Gray, D-Calif., and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., all voted for both. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted for Bice’s but not Goldman’s.

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A group of Republican lawmakers is asking the Trump administration to open a probe into whether any anti-Israel groups that have been protesting on college campuses had any prior knowledge of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack.

It comes after similar claims were lodged in an explosive lawsuit that accused specific anti-Israel groups of having prior knowledge of the surprise attack in southern Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead. The lawsuit was filed by people linked to victims of the attack.

‘US foreign adversaries are engaged in dynamic campaigns to target US students. In the interest of US national security, we should not tolerate any organizations that coordinate with terrorist groups like Hamas on American university campuses or anywhere in our country for that matter,’ read a letter led by Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas.

Fallon and four other House Republicans wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, praising them for working ‘to remove pro-Hamas agitators from our university campuses.’

‘We are thrilled that the Trump administration has made it a priority to hold these individuals responsible and, in some cases, begin the process of deportation,’ they wrote.

Meanwhile, there have been political clashes over the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a 29-year-old green card holder and Palestinian activist who was a central figure in Columbia University’s controversial anti-Israel protests.

Khalil was among those named in the lawsuit as allegedly having prior knowledge of Hamas’ attack. His lawyers previously told other outlets that he has no ties to Hamas.

But the Republican lawmakers are raising questions of whether groups that fomented demonstrations there and on other college campuses are more intimately familiar with Hamas’ plans than previously known.

‘With the lawsuit filed this past Monday in the New York Southern District Court against the anti-western activist organizations Within Our Lifetime, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and other pro-Hamas agitators, evidence has surfaced that suggests these groups may have had prior knowledge of the barbaric attacks planned for October 7, 2023,’ they wrote.

‘For example, Columbia SJP reactivated its dormant Instagram account just minutes before the attacks began and engaged in pro-Hamas messaging afterwards, even going so far as to issue a statement in support of the massacre.’

Fox News Digital reached out to an attorney for Khalil but did not immediately hear back.

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