Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., said the United States is in a ‘constitutional crisis’ after appearing alongside President Donald Trump in Michigan on his 100th day as president. 

Jon Favreau, former President Barack Obama’s speechwriter turned ‘Pod Save America’ host, asked Whitmer in a social media clip posted Wednesday if the U.S. is in a ‘constitutional crisis’ – just one day after she greeted Trump on the tarmac in Michigan before his speech to National Guard members. 

‘We are,’ Whitmer said. ‘I think that no one is above the law. The thought that we’ve got an administration that is just blatantly violating court orders should, I think, scare everybody. This is a very serious moment.’

Democrats have consistently described the country’s current political moment as a ‘constitutional crisis’ since Trump returned to the White House about 100 days ago. While Whitmer has warned of the ‘peril’ Trump’s tariffs will have on Michigan’s auto industry and urged him to deliver disaster relief to her constituents impacted by ice storms, the Democratic governor and potential 2028 presidential candidate has struck a more diplomatic tone than her colleagues in the past 100 days. 

‘Trump is currently investigating Michigan colleges and universities for their diversity policies. He’s already tried to kick dozens of Michigan foreign students out of the country. He’s threatening to unlawfully freeze federal funding for Michigan public schools, as he’s already doing that in Maine, because Governor Mills spoke up in a meeting. Have you asked the president to stop targeting people and institutions in your state?’ Favreau challenged Whitmer in a subsequent social media clip posted Wednesday. 

‘I have not had that direct conversation on this subject yet, but I’m not afraid to do that,’ Whitmer said. 

‘Isn’t it worth speaking up for the rights and the freedoms of those people when you’re at an event with him, or you are in a meeting with him?’ Favreau asked, articulating the criticism Whitmer has faced within the Democratic Party for her treatment of Trump. 

‘Whenever I get the opportunity, I use every minute of that to cover a lot of different issues. So this is, I think, a very important one that you’re raising. There’s no question. And I will continue whenever I have opportunities to make sure that I’m covering as much as I can. No question,’ Whitmer said. 

Returning to the question of a ‘constitutional crisis,’ Whitmer said, ‘Many of us are fighting the fights we can,’ but it’s the court of law that should ‘have the last word.’

‘I hope that we finally see some backbone out of some of the Republicans in Congress to stand up to the courts to enforce their orders. There are a lot of people that aren’t doing their jobs to protect the foundations of this country,’ Whitmer added, shifting blame onto congressional Republicans for not standing up to Trump. 

The clips were posted one day after Whitmer appeared alongside Trump ahead of his 100th day rally in Michigan. Whitmer successfully lobbied Trump to retire an A-10 Warthog aircraft based out of Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan with 21 brand-new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets.

Trump thanked Whitmer for bringing the issue to his attention and once again applauded her job as governor. Whitmer’s diplomatic moves seemed to put her out of step with her party on Tuesday as Democratic governors, many similarly rumored to harbor 2028 presidential ambitions, instead hosted a counter-programming event to Trump’s speech slamming his first 100 days in office. 

Earlier this month, Whitmer hid behind a folder in the Oval Office in an image that went viral and earned her the ire of Democrats discontent with her diplomacy. The Michigan governor found herself in the corner of the Oval Office for a press conference where Trump praised her, after consistently ridiculing her on the 2024 campaign trail. 

The Michigan governor’s trip to Washington last month brought her 2028 presidential ambitions into the national conversation as she directly engaged with Trump. Whitmer’s office explained that she was meeting with Trump to discuss recovery aid for the northern Michigan ice storm, investing in Michigan’s defense assets and building the American economy for everyday Michiganders. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Thirty-five House Democrats are rebuking the Biden administration’s 11th-hour waiver that cleared a path for California to enact a full ban on gas cars by 2035.

A Republican resolution aimed at repealing the Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) move passed by a 246 to 164 vote on Thursday morning.

Notably, two California House Democrats were among the 35 who voted to rescind their own state’s clean energy waiver – Reps. Lou Correa and George Whitesides.

Other Democrats in the number include Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., and Frank Mrvan, D-Ind.

It was a stunning repudiation of their own former party leader’s policies targeting one of Democrats’ largest strongholds.

Republican leaders, meanwhile, cheered the resolution’s passage.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said of the California waiver, ‘This radical measure bans the sale of gas-powered vehicles, forcing electric vehicles on the American people and taking away consumer choice.’

‘Americans should choose which car best suits their needs and the needs of their family, not the government,’ Scalise told Fox News Digital.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said, ‘There is no reason the radical climate policies of California should regulate the entire American population and rob every American of consumer choice.’

‘House Republicans are righting yet another wrong done by the Biden administration and returning basic freedom to choose whatever car you want to the American people,’ Emmer told Fox News Digital.

Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., vice chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, introduced a resolution of disapproval last month targeting a Biden administration-era waiver granted to California that would help the state realize its goal of a full ban on the sale of new gas cars by 2035.

A resolution of disapproval, under the Congressional Review Act, allows lawmakers a mechanism to oppose unilateral rules made by federal agencies.

Biden’s EPA approved a waiver for California in December 2024, just over a month before he left office, that would make it possible for the state to phase out new gas-powered car sales by 2035.

The waiver was granted despite concerns raised by major automakers earlier that year about the feasibility of California’s goals – but state officials pushing the plan have insisted it was critical to take on climate change.

At the time, the Biden administration argued the waiver amounted to an order rather than a regulatory rule, meaning it would not be subject to congressional review.

However, it has been the subject of a standoff between the Trump administration and the federal bureaucracy since then.

The Trump administration asked Congress to review the waiver in late February of this year – paving the way for a potential repeal under the GOP-controlled House and Senate.

However, the Government Accountability Office said in March that California’s waiver is not subject to the Congressional Review Act.

DOGE has referred 57 cases of potential voter fraud to the U.S. Justice Department, a DOGE official noted, Fox News Digital has reported.

Antonio Gracias noted that the individuals were ‘resident aliens who were registered to vote and may or may not have voted in elections,’ according to NBC News.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, a DOJ spokesperson noted, ‘DOGE has assisted agencies and departments in identifying potential cases of fraud which have been referred to the Department of Justice. DOGE is working closely with DOJ to identify potential fraud.’ 

Fox News Digital was invited, along with a small group of reporters, to have an on-the-record discussion with Elon Musk in the White House’s Roosevelt Room on Wednesday evening.

‘The wheels of justice turn slowly but, hopefully, surely,’ Musk said. ‘When we find cases of fraud, we refer those cases to the DOJ — it is not DOGE prosecuting anyone.’ 

Musk, the hard-charging business tycoon who has been spearheading the DOGE initiative, has indicated that he plans to spend less time on the effort going forward.

‘Not stepping down, just reducing time allocation now that @DOGE is established,’ he noted in a post on X last week.

‘The federal government is a gigantic beast — very complicated — and so if you’re trying to figure out how to stop waste and fraud, you’ve got to map the territory,’ Musk said on Wednesday. ‘That required three months of intense effort, and you have to build the team as well.’ 

‘A new administration is like a start-up,’ Musk continued. ‘Now, we’re getting more of a rhythm and so the amount of time necessary for me to spend here is much less and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.’ 

The House GOP’s standoff over the former Biden administration’s green energy subsides is colliding with Republicans’ plans for a massive bill advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Thirty-eight House Republicans are writing to Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., the chamber’s top tax writer, urging a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the coming budget reconciliation bill.

‘We are deeply concerned that President Trump’s commitment to restoring American energy dominance and ending what he calls the ‘green new scam’ is being undermined by parochial interests and short-sighted political calculations,’ the lawmakers wrote.

They argued the IRA subsidies would cost American taxpayers roughly $1 trillion over the next decade.

‘The IRA contains eight major energy subsidies, each of which burdens taxpayers, inflates energy costs, and threatens the reliability of our power grid. Each of these subsidies props up unreliable energy sources while displacing dependable, proven energy like coal and natural gas,’ the letter said.

The lawmakers then took direct aim at fellow Republicans who are pushing for some of the credits to remain intact.

‘Republicans ran—and won—on a promise to completely dismantle the IRA and end the left’s green welfare agenda. The first chapter of our 2024 platform reaffirms our commitment to ‘terminating the Socialist Green New Deal.’ Despite our previously unified stance, some Members of our conference now feel compelled to defend wind and biofuel credits, advocate for carbon capture and hydrogen subsidies, or protect solar and electric vehicle giveaways,’ the letter said. ‘Keeping even one of these subsidies opens the door to retaining all eight.’

‘How do we retain some of these credits and not operate in hypocrisy? The longstanding Republican position has been to allow the market to determine energy production. If every faction continues to defend their favored subsidies, we risk preserving the entire IRA because no clearly defined principle will dictate what is kept and what is culled.’

Republicans are working on a massive piece of legislation advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, border security, national defense and energy, while also raising the debt limit.

The budget reconciliation process allows them to do that by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, thereby allowing the party controlling Congress and the White House to pass sweeping legislation while sidelining the opposition, in this case Democrats.

Conservative fiscal hawks successfully got House GOP leaders to agree that the trillions of dollars of new spending in the bill – primarily for Trump’s tax policies – must be offset by at least $1.5 trillion in federal funding cuts.

Former President Joe Biden’s IRA subsidies have been a significant flash point in that fight.

In March, 21 House Republicans signed a letter urging their colleagues to preserve the green energy tax credit.

‘Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits – many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress – to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike,’ they wrote.

That letter pointed out that investments have already been made in American entities with the understanding that those subsidies would have a 10-year window.

‘These timelines have been relied upon when it comes to capital allocation, planning, and project commitments, all of which would be jeopardized by premature credit phase outs or additional restrictive mechanisms such as limiting transferability,’ it said.

They argued that changing that now could lead to rising energy costs for American families.

The anti-IRA Republicans, however, said in their letter that the U.S.’ growing green energy sector was the product of government handouts rather than genuine sustainable growth.

‘Leaving IRA subsidies intact will actively undermine America’s return to energy dominance and national security,’ they said. ‘They are the result of government subsidies that distort the U.S. energy sector, displace reliable coal and natural gas and the domestic jobs they produce, and put the stability and independence of our electric grid in jeopardy.’

Meanwhile, House GOP leaders like House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have made clear they have issues with the wider bill, but share concerns about ending measures in use under the current administration and risking political blowback in GOP districts that have seen investments by entities that have benefited from the subsidies.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Ways & Means Committee for comment but did not hear back by press time.

: Washington, D.C. — Vice President JD Vance reflected on his meeting with Pope Francis, just hours before the Holy Father passed away, telling Fox News Digital it was a ‘great honor’ and a ‘sign from God’ to cherish life. 

Vance sat for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday. 

The vice president told Fox News Digital that he met Pope Francis on Easter Sunday but ‘didn’t plan to see the Holy Father because he was ill.’ 

‘But we were invited to come and visit with him before he went and did his Easter mass appearance,’ Vance explained. 

‘I was one of, if not the very last world leader to actually meet with the pope,’ Vance said. ‘I took one of my relatively junior staffers, who is a devout Catholic, and I looked back at him when he was about to meet the pope, and he was crying—it sort of drives home how important this, not just this man, but this institution is to over a billion people worldwide.’

‘There are 1.5 billion practicing Catholics in the world, so that was a very big moment,’ Vance said. 

Vance told Fox News Digital that he had a ‘very gracious meeting’ with the pope on Easter Sunday.  

‘The pope was very kind—he was obviously very frail,’ Vance said. ‘We didn’t spend a lot of time together. It was mostly exchanging pleasantries, but he gave a few gifts—he gave my kids Easter baskets, and there was just this very sweet moment.’ 

During the meeting, the pope gave the Catholic vice president three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance’s three young children, who did not attend, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.

‘I definitely cherish it,’ Vance said. 

Following their meeting, the vice president went to Easter Sunday Mass in Rome at the Tomb of St. Paul with his family, before getting on a plane to India. 

‘I was very excited about that trip—my wife’s parents are from India and I’d never been there,’ said Vance. ‘And about an hour after we landed, a staffer came over and said, ‘Sir, the pope died.’’

‘I obviously felt very sad, and my thought went immediately to the pope, but also to all these Catholics who love him,’ Vance said. 

‘But then it kind of hit me—oh my God—I was one of the last people to talk to him,’ Vance said. ‘I just take it as a great honor and a sign from God to remember that you never know when your last day on this Earth is.’ 

Elon Musk says he saved the U.S. taxpayer more than $160 million during his first three months getting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) off the ground — but he also enjoyed midnight snacks of ice cream from the White House kitchen, a ‘comically tiny office’ and a friendship with President Donald Trump. 

Fox News Digital was invited, along with a small group of reporters, to have an on-the-record discussion with Musk in the White House’s Roosevelt Room on Wednesday evening about his first 100 days as a special government employee.

That status allowed him to work for the federal government for ‘no more than 130 days in a 365-day period,’ according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk said the first 100 days was ‘an intense period’ and said at times, he was in Washington, D.C., working on his DOGE efforts ‘7 days a week, or close to 7 days a week.’ 

Musk said he will cut that down to one or two days a week, or every other week, and will continue working for the Trump administration ‘at the discretion of the president.’ 

‘I’m willing to contribute one to two days a week, coming to D.C. every other week for one to three days—indefinitely, as long as the president wants me to do that,’ Musk said. ‘It’s largely a volunteer organization.’ 

Musk, in response to a question from Fox News Digital, said he has slept in the White House’s Lincoln bedroom multiple times. 

‘I didn’t think I would ever sleep in there,’ Musk said. ‘The president, we’re good friends, and we’ll be on Air Force One, or Marine One, and he’ll be like, ‘do you want to stay over?’ and I’ll be like, ‘sure,’ and he’ll send me to the Lincoln bedroom.’ 

Musk said he did not ever ‘request it,’ but that Trump would always ask ”do you want to stay here?”

‘And he gave me a tour of the Lincoln bedroom, and told me all the history,’ Musk said.

‘And then, he’ll actually call me late night and say, ‘by the way, make sure you get ice cream from the kitchen,’ Musk recalled. ‘I ate a whole tub of ice cream—caramel. Häagen-Dazs.’ 

Musk laughed, ‘Yeah, it’s epic.’ 

‘Don’t tell RFK I ate a whole tub,’ Musk laughed. ‘The president is a very good host, and he said, make sure you have some of the ice cream, and I said OK. I went to the kitchen and got some ice cream.’ 

When asked for the exact number of nights Musk slept in the Lincoln bedroom, he replied, ‘I don’t know if I should say the number—more than once.’ 

Musk was also given a small office in the White House, which he said he intends to keep. 

‘I’m keeping my micro-office,’ Musk said, adding that it is ‘on the top floor it has a view of nothing.’ 

‘It has a window but all you see is an HVAC unit,’ Musk explained. ‘I guess it’s harder to shoot me—there’s not a good line of sight in there.’ 

‘I like my comically tiny office upstairs,’ Musk said, adding that, while it is tiny, he has ‘the biggest monitor,’ where he views ‘important information—secret stuff.’ Musk admitted, though, that he has ‘occasionally played a video game.’ 

When asked by Fox News Digital which video game, Musk laughed and said, ‘Diablo in the Path of Exile.’ 

As for DOGE, Musk said he is proud of its work so far, and ‘in the grand scheme of things, I think we’ve been effective,’ just ‘not as effective as I’d like.’ 

‘I think we could be more effective, but we’ve made progress —and more progress than I think has happened since Clinton and Gore,’ Musk said. ‘It is ironic to see the Clinton and Gore speeches — they sound like DOGE. If you took a transcript and say who said it? DOGE or Clinton-Gore? You would have a hard time. They sound identical to what we say.’ 

He added, ‘We are just Democrats from the ’90s who got teleported into 2025.’

‘Things have just evolved. There is that classic saying, we didn’t leave the Democratic Party — the Democratic Party left us,’ Musk continued. ‘Just, objectively, from a policy standpoint, that is just objectively true. Our goals are safe cities, secure borders, sensible spending—these used to be Democrat positions and perhaps they will be in the future — but they just seem like common sense.’ 

Meanwhile, Musk reflected on his day-to-day for the first 100 days, saying that things ‘have to be very intense for the first three months, so trying to understand what’s going on and map out the government in general.’ 

‘The federal government is a gigantic beast — very complicated — and so if you’re trying to figure out how to stop waste and fraud, you’ve got to map the territory,’ Musk said. ‘That required three months of intense effort, and you have to build the team as well.’ 

‘A new administration is like a start-up,’ Musk continued. ‘Now, we’re getting more of a rhythm and so the amount of time necessary for me to spend here is much less and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.’ 

Fox News Digital asked Musk if he has had fun during his first three months leading DOGE. 

‘It’s like, 60% fun. 70% fun — depends on the week,’ Musk said. ‘But being attacked relentlessly is not super fun. Seeing cars burning is not fun. But when I feel like we’re doing good for the American taxpayer and stopping wasteful spending and fixing computer systems, I feel like that’s a good thing.’ 

A DOGE official at the meeting on Wednesday said that 1% of the federal workforce, or slightly more than 20,000 people, have been fired. However, that official stressed that the federal government has ‘hired 26,000 people.’ 

‘So we have hired more people than we’ve fired,’ the official said. 

Musk chimed in and said, in America, ‘we actually want to have fewer people in the federal government and more people making things.’ 

Musk also told reporters that DOGE has referred cases of fraud to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. 

‘The wheels of justice turn slowly but, hopefully, surely,’ Musk said. ‘When we find cases of fraud, we refer those cases to the DOJ — it is not DOGE prosecuting anyone.’ 

Musk said there are ‘hundreds of thousands of cases of what appear to be fraud,’ but a DOGE official said they have referred, at this point, 57 cases of possible voter fraud to the DOJ. 

Musk also said he will meet with the House DOGE caucus next week, and said his work with House and Senate lawmakers has been ‘extremely positive.’

At the end of the conversation, Musk laughed and said, ‘It is funny that we’ve got DOGE.’ 

‘Are we in a simulation here? Or what’s going on? How did we get here?!’ Musk laughed.

‘I’m proud of the incredible work by the DOGE team who have taken a lot of flak and these are people who could easily get high-paying jobs in the private sector, and, in fact, came from high-paying jobs in the private sector,’ Musk said.

DOGE has fewer than 100 employees.

‘Some will stay on, some will not,’ Musk said. ‘It is up to them. This is basically a volunteer organization.’

When asked if DOGE is winding down, Musk said, ‘No.’

‘DOGE is a way of life,’ Musk said. ‘Like Buddhism. You wouldn’t ask who would lead Buddhism.’

When asked who would lead DOGE when Musk is not in Washington, Musk replied, ‘Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?’

The parents of the American hostages still held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza have called on President Donald Trump to use his reputation for being ‘tough’ and apply pressure on not only known enemies but one of his closest allies: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

There are 59 hostages still in Gaza, at least 24 of whom are assessed to be alive, including American-Israeli Edan Alexander, now 21 years old after having spent two birthdays in Hamas captivity.

Itay Chen, 19, Omer Neutra, 21, Judy Weinstein Haggai, 70, and her husband, Gadi Weinstein, 73, are all believed to have been killed by Hamas in it’s attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and whose bodies were taken into Gaza.

‘I believe that the president is a very tough person, and he should be tough with the enemies and with friends as well,’ Adi Alexander, who is Edan’s father, told Fox News Digital in a direct reference to Israel.

‘We asked of the president to keep everybody accountable,’ Alexander, who sat next to his wife, Yael, described after the second phase of a ceasefire, which was supposed to begin in March but failed and Israel resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip to the immense frustration of mediators. 

In addition, the families urged Trump to keep Netanyahu ‘on a short leash’ and to ‘get him back to negotiate as soon as possible and stop this thing.’

Trump this week marked his 100th day in office, and the families of the five Americans still held hostage urged him to reflect on his strategy and apply pressure on both Israel and Hamas, through both economic and diplomatic means, to secure the release of all 59 hostages.

‘With the election results, we had such high hopes,’ Ruby Chen, father to Itay, told reporters during a press event on Wednesday. ‘We know he cares about the topic, and we saw, even before the inauguration, his comments on the topic with the ‘hell to pay’ and ‘all the hostages need to come out.’’

‘But I think the 100-day mark that we are at this moment, I think it’s a good time to reflect and say that the job’s not done,’ said Chen, sitting next to his wife, Hagit Chen.

Trump sparked international concern in February when he suggested the Gaza Strip should be turned into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East,’ and fears have mounted that as Washington continues to discuss potentially displacing Palestinians and Israel continues aggressive military operations, Hamas may be unwilling to give up its leverage: the hostages. 

Calls within the Gaza Strip are increasing from Palestinians to return all the hostages so a day-after plan can be discussed as Palestinian civilians continue to feel the consequences of the brutal war.

‘It’s easy rhetoric to say that Hamas won’t hold their side of the deal,’ Orna Neutra, mother to Omer, told reporters. ‘If they don’t hold their side of the deal, then [Netanyahu] can return to hostilities. 

‘But let’s allow them to release all hostages and see if that happens or not instead of just saying they won’t do it,’ she added, noting it could be another leveraging point for the Trump administration.

The families of the hostages are careful not to get overly involved in the heated political topics, but instead they have highlighted the importance of and need for a solid strategy to first secure the release of all remaining hostages, and then figure out a day-after plan. 

Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff has suggested that Hamas could become politically active in the Gaza Strip, but they need to fully disarm.

‘I think the best approach will be just to call for both parties to rise above politics, although it will be very difficult with Hamas, which is politically struggling to survive in this region, but definitely to call on [the] Israeli government to rise above politics,’ Alexander said. ‘Do not think about politically surviving and prioritize human life.’

The families pointed to polling from Israel that shows nearly 70% of Israelis favor ending military operations against Hamas in order to return all the hostages more than 573 days since they were abducted, including some 48% of Netanyahu’s coalition base. Some 39% of his conservative base apparently oppose the strategy, and another 13% are unsure.

While there is evident frustration among the families of the hostages, who have made clear the Israeli government has not offered anywhere near the same level of support or communication provided by both the Biden and Trump administrations, they said that, ultimately, the adversary is the terrorist organization that captured, in some instances killed, and continues to hold captive their loved ones. 

‘Just to be clear, Hamas is the enemy,’ said Neutra, who sat next to her husband, Ronen. ‘Hamas committed these atrocious crimes. They’re holding on to our family members. We don’t want to see them continue to be a threat to Israel.

‘But it’s about priority, and it’s about being in the situation for 19 months now,’ she added. 

Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005, a few years after the 9/11 attacks. The subsequent 9/11 Commission Report revealed many weaknesses in our national security, including the fact that hijackers Khalid Al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi got California drivers’ licenses through a facilitator in San Diego. They probably used those to board the American Airlines plane they crashed into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.

International and domestic criminals and terrorists love ‘breeder documents’ (papers issued based on low evidence), which they can use to get better identification documents (IDs) like a passport, birth certificate, and Social Security card. That’s why for air travel and other serious business, all passengers should have identification based on information that has been verified, so we know who they really are.

After two decades of the government kicking the can down the road with one excuse after another, the deadline for needing a REAL ID to catch a domestic flight is up on May 7. This time, we need to keep it.

Over the past four years, former president Joe Biden and his Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas released at the border, paroled, or let sneak in over 10 million essentially unidentified aliens. Many had thrown away their ID or didn’t have any, so DHS took their word for who they were.

There was no way to do proper background checks in their home countries. Some of them turned out to be terrorists, rapists, and murderers here – and for all we know, they may have been before at home, if we had only known their real identities and records.

Many Americans were outraged over the last few years to see aliens at our interior airports checking in for domestic flights with only their Notice to Appear (NTA – the document they got at the border that tells them to show up in court for a deportation hearing). Some were flying on the taxpayer dime. Others were flown in the middle of the night to avoid public attention. Meanwhile, all of us had to carry proper documents that take time and money to get.

Most states will issue you a non-REAL ID license with less proof than the REAL ID version. For the real deal, you need some combination of documents such as a birth certificate, passport, Social Security card, and proof of residence. It’s not easy, but once you’ve done it in your home state, you don’t have to repeat the exercise when you renew.

Some of those holding non-REAL ID compliant drivers’ licenses are living in the U.S. illegally. Nineteen states plus Washington, D.C. have allowed people who claim residence there to get some version of a license even if they are illegal, arguing that it improves road safety.

For another two weeks, foreign nationals have a choice of showing a driver’s license, foreign passport, military ID, federal Employment Authorization Card, or even their Notice to Appear to get on a domestic flight. After May 7, they will need a passport or a state-issued drivers’ license that complies with federal REAL ID standards. Or there’s always the Greyhound.

Just as Leftists want men to self-ID into women’s spaces, they seem fine with unidentified foreigners self-declaring who they are before getting on a plane. I’m not. If we’re going to keep handing over our nail clippers thanks to the 9/11 hijackers, and taking off our footwear thanks to shoe-bomber Richard Reid, we can at least ask our fellow travelers to have a secure ID that is based on verified facts and not just their say-so.

The one exception that the Department of Homeland Security will make to the new REAL ID requirement is for foreigners booking a flight out of the country. With the border more secure than ever, that would mean they’d be self-deporting, unless they can qualify for a visa in the future.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that ‘81% of air travelers hold REAL ID-compliant or acceptable IDs.’ The other 19% can get with the program.

Some on the American right, and Libertarians, don’t like the REAL ID requirement. But the rest of us will pay that small price to ensure safer skies and so we know that someone has verified the identity of the guy sitting next to us. Basic Economy is already rough enough without having to play human lotto every time you fly.

President Donald Trump said public entitlements, such as Social Security and Medicaid, will not be touched in the GOP’s contentious new budget bill currently working its way through Congress, during a town hall Tuesday night hosted by NewsNation.

Earlier this month, the Republican-led House of Representatives approved $2 trillion in spending cuts. Those cuts did not include any slashes to Social Security, but it did pave the way for cuts to Medicaid. 

However, in the Senate, Republicans have proposed implementing just $4 billion in cuts, a fraction of what House Republicans have called for. Meanwhile, a number of GOP senators have also expressed hesitancy over making cuts to Medicaid, setting up a potential intra-party battle over the matter.

‘We’re not doing anything with entitlements,’ Trump told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, who was moderating the event alongside Bill O’Reilly and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith.

‘If you look at Social Security – and by the way – I think I’m better to say this than anybody, because I did nothing with entitlements that would hurt people for four years. I could have done that. If I was going to do that, I would have done it, five years ago, six years ago or seven years ago. I’m not doing anything.’ 

However, Trump did say that he is undeterred from reforming public entitlements, like Medicaid, to ensure they are free of waste, fraud and abuse. 

‘There are a lot of illegal aliens that are getting Medicaid that shouldn’t be getting it. And nobody objects to taking people off Medicaid that aren’t allowed to be there,’ Trump added. ‘But we are doing absolutely nothing to hurt Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Nothing at all.’

Republicans, who are using a process known as reconciliation to bypass a senate filibuster, are hoping to finalize their plans for a new budget by Memorial Day, according to media reports. However, the GOP must come to a deal on where to cut funding to pay for many of the tax cuts they want to provide. 

‘Guess what, boys? It’s game time. We’re here, and you’ve got mandatory spending sitting in front of you, and it’s Medicaid,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told NBC News this week. ‘If they’re not going to vote for Medicaid reform, which is very much possible, and frankly, it’s our duty, then I want them to explain to me why they are for allowing the tax cuts to snap back in place. Because it’s the only math that will actually work. So anyone who is against Medicaid reform is for a tax increase.’

Meanwhile, centrist Republicans like Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., have indicated to Speaker Mike Johnson that they will not vote for any GOP budget bill that proposes deep cuts to Medicaid.