Several Supreme Court justices signaled sympathy Tuesday toward Maryland parents who are seeking to opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed classroom materials. One education expert said the case could lead to a ruling that expands parental rights in public schools nationwide. 

‘This looks pretty promising for the parent petitioners in this case,’ said Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow of the grassroots organization Defending Education. ‘I heard a lot of very aggressive questioning from the three liberal justices, but no matter how you slice this apple, it looks to be a very clear violation of the First Amendment, as exercised through the 14th Amendment’s right to direct a child’s religious upbringing.’

Perry previously served as the lead lawyer to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education from 2020 to 2021, where she drafted the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) annual report to Congress.

‘They’re very malleable,’ Perry said of the 4-and 5-year-olds in the case. ‘They’re very much shaped by their environment, by what they’re exposed to, and they don’t have the meaningful agency to be able to opt out or object or push back. And so these individuals are learning their own familial values while being exposed to material that is, as Justice [Amy Coney] Barrett and Justice [Neil] Gorsuch pointed out, designed to influence their thinking.’

At the heart of Mahmoud v. Taylor is a lawsuit brought by religious parents—Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Ukrainian Orthodox—who argue that the school district’s policy violates their First Amendment rights by forcing their children to engage with instruction that contradicts their faith.

The Fourth Circuit Court, a federal appeals court, ruled last year that there was no violation of religious exercise rights, stating that the policy did not force parents to change their religious beliefs or conduct and that parents could still teach their children outside of school.

Several conservative justices, including Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, appeared sympathetic to the parents’ concerns during the two-and-a-half-hour oral debate. Alito questioned the moral messages conveyed by books like ‘Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,’ suggesting that such content might conflict with deeply held religious beliefs. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also pressed the school district’s attorneys on why opt-out provisions, similar to those in sex education, could not be extended to these storybooks.

Meanwhile, the liberal justices argued that mere exposure to these books may not constitute coercion or a violation of religious freedoms. The school district contended that the policy promotes inclusivity and exposure to LGBTQ viewpoints does not equate to forced belief changes.

‘I think it was highly sort of predictable,’ Perry said of the liberal justices’ arguments. ‘They are trying to prove that there is going to be too much of a burden on the school district to allow these children to opt out because the consequences could, for example, be catastrophic for the ability of a public school to manage its own affairs.’

‘The reason we see an issue like this at the Supreme Court is because these are issues directly related to religious liberty and directly related to the very early cognitive stages of development for minor children,’ Perry said. ‘And it’s very clear … that a burden of religious liberty within public education has to be treated quite seriously by the court and deference must be given to religious parents if the burden is very clear.’

‘I think in this instance, it is indeed crystal clear,’ she added. 

Among the storybooks at the center of the case is ‘Prince & Knight,’ a modern fairy tale aimed at children ages 4 to 8, which tells the story of two men who fall in love after joining forces to defeat a dragon and later marry. Another book frequently referenced during oral arguments was ‘Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,’ which follows a young girl processing her favorite uncle’s decision to marry another man.

‘Because parental rights have become sort of the cultural zeitgeist for where we are in this political day and age, I think we are certain to see more litigation, not less, and more pushback,’ Perry said. 

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the case by late June.

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas demanded Hamas disarm, relinquish power and release the hostages.

The Palestinian leader said that by letting the hostages go, Hamas would ‘shut down’ Israel’s ‘excuses’ to continue the war that began after the terror group’s massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.

‘The first priority is to stop the war of extermination in Gaza. It must be stopped – hundreds are being killed every day,’ Abbas said, according to the Times of Israel. ‘Why don’t you hand over the hostages?’ 

The Palestinian Authority president also apparently called Hamas ‘sons of dogs’ during his address.

Abbas was speaking at a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council, which is expected to select a deputy who could be a successor to the 89-year-old PA president.

This marks the first time since the start of the war in Gaza that Abbas has called on Hamas to transfer its authority to the PA, according to Reuters, but he has done so in the past. 

It is unclear whether Hamas will comply with Abbas’ demand, despite his assertion that it could help end the war and save Palestinian lives in Gaza. Hamas and the PA have been at odds for nearly two decades, since the terror organization seized power in 2006 and pushed the PA out of Gaza.

The international community has pushed for the PA to play a role in a ‘day after’ plan for Gaza, but Israel has not been receptive to this idea.

The Israeli government and the Trump administration have long criticized the PA’s ‘pay for slay’ policy, which Abbas reformed in February of this year. The policy saw payments go to family members of Palestinians who were imprisoned, killed or injured in connection with attacks against Israelis.

‘This is a new fraudulent trick by the Palestinian Authority, which intends to continue making payments to terrorists and their families through other payment channels,’ the Israeli Foreign Ministry said at the time, according to Axios.

Deborah Lipstadt, who served as special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism during much of the Biden administration, has indicated that she is ‘pleased’ the Trump administration is seeking to tackle antisemitism.

‘I’m pleased that they’re addressing it, because that’s what I did for the past three years, which was to really push the Biden Administration to seriously address it. So I am very, very pleased that it’s on their agenda,’ she told the New Yorker. The outlet noted that the conversation with Lipstadt was edited for length and clarity.

Emory University announced in December that Lipstadt would return to the higher educational institution later in the academic year.

Fox News Digital attempted to reach to Lipstadt on Wednesday via the email and number listed on Emory University’s website, but did not receive a response to the comment request by the time of publication.

Lipstadt told the New Yorker that the Trump administration has been ‘calling universities to account.’ 

‘I also think there are many Jews, and some non-Jews, too, but many Jews who are disappointed by how universities have behaved since October 7th, and they see a strong – to use Passover terminology – a strong hand being used. Now, whether that hand is being used properly or not raises certain questions about what’s happening,’ she reportedly said, noting, ‘a lot of people were relieved to see this forceful approach. I think, in many respects, it’s going too far.’

She indicated that many colleges have fallen short in tackling antisemitism.

‘Look, the universities failed to address this seriously. And by failing to address this seriously, they failed the Jewish students on campus. They dismissed their grievances. They created an inhospitable atmosphere. We’re now seeing the fruits of that failure. What disturbs me so much is that the debate will now become over whether antisemitism is being used as a weapon to fight against people we don’t like. Antisemitism should not be a cudgel,’ she noted, according to the outlet.

‘The fight should be against antisemitism and not against the institutions. The institutions opened the door. Most universities failed miserably to address this, and we’re seeing the consequences of that now,’ she told the New Yorker.

President Donald Trump’s administration is firing or reassigning over 450 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a larger push to eliminate ‘environmental justice’ programs.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the employee moves on Monday, saying 280 staffers were being fired, and 175 others would be reassigned. The cut roles were in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, the Office of Inclusive Excellence, and EPA regional offices.

‘EPA is taking the next step to terminate the Biden-Harris Administration’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Environmental Justice arms of the agency,’ a spokesperson told Axios.

Zeldin explained at a Monday press conference that tax dollars put toward environmental justice issues were widely misspent.

‘The problem is that, in the name of environmental justice, a dollar will get secured and not get spent on remediating that environmental issue,’ he said.

The firings come the same week that Zeldin launched talks with Mexico about eliminating sewage contamination that flows over the border from Tijuana to pollute California’s coastlines.

Zeldin visited San Diego to discuss the issue on Tuesday, noting that one of the affected areas is the training grounds for Navy SEALs.

‘The Americans on our side of the border who have been dealing with this… for decades, are out of patience,’ Zeldin said Tuesday. ‘There’s no way that we are going to stand before the people of California and ask them to have more patience and just bear with all of us as we go through the next 10 or 20 or 30 years of being stuck in 12 feet of raw sewage and not getting anywhere.’

‘So we are all out of patience,’ he continued. ‘There’s a very limited opportunity. We’re in good faith, both on the American side and also on the Mexican side, what’s being communicated by the new Mexican president is an intense desire to fully resolve this situation.’ 

Zeldin said that he met with Mexican officials for about 90 minutes Monday night to discuss the sewage spewing into U.S. waters — and relayed that the Mexican environmental secretary wants to have a ‘strong collaborative relationship’ with the U.S. to end the pollution. 

‘I will be speaking with the chief of staff to the Mexican environmental secretary to ensure that over the course of the coming days, over the course of the next couple weeks, that we are able to put together a specific statement from both countries on a mutual understanding of what Mexico is going to do to help resolve this issue,’ he said.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Vice President JD Vance told reporters in India that the U.S. had offered Russia and Ukraine ‘a very explicit proposal’ to end the war that has been ongoing for over three years: make a deal or risk the U.S. walking away.

‘We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the U.S. to walk away from this process. We’ve engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on-the-ground work,’ Vance told reporters.

The vice president also said that ‘the only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.’

Vance’s comments come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he would not be attending talks in London aimed at facilitating a ceasefire. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters that Rubio would not be attending the talks due to ‘logistical issues.’ 

The secretary later wrote in a post on X that he was planning on ‘following up after the ongoing discussions in London and rescheduling my trip to the UK in the coming months.’

During Tuesday’s briefing, Bruce also said Gen. Keith Kellogg, special presidential envoy for Ukraine, would represent the U.S. at the talks in London.

On Friday, Rubio suggested that the U.S. might walk away from negotiations to end the war within ‘a matter of days,’ despite President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to secure a ceasefire deal. Trump later told the press that Rubio was ‘right in saying that we want to see it end.’

‘Think about it, every day a lot of people are being killed as we talk about, you know, as they play games, so we’re not gonna take that,’ Trump told reporters. He also said he thinks the U.S. has a ‘good chance’ of bringing peace to Ukraine and Russia.

Security experts, however, are not as confident that peace is on the horizon, as some warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want peace.

Trump seems to be hoping to entice Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop the fighting with talk of how both countries could benefit from doing business with the U.S. after the war ends. He made the remark after Ukraine and Russia’s temporary Easter ceasefire ended. Both Ukraine and Russia accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

A federal judge ordered the restoration of Voice of America (VoA) on Tuesday, the federally-funded state media network that the White House dismantled earlier this spring.

Judge Royce Lamberth ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction, though the Trump administration is allowed to appeal the decision.

The plaintiffs asked the court to ‘cancel the orders putting approximately 1,300 VOA employees on administrative leave’ and to ‘cancel the termination of contracts with approximately 500 personal service contractors (PSCs) with VOA, cease dismantling VOA, and restore VOA’s personnel and operating capacities.’

President Donald Trump dismantled the news agency through an executive order (EO) in March, claiming that VoA promoted biased reporting.

‘The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,’ the EO stated. 

The EO also dismantled VoA’s parent company, the United States Agency for Global Media, as well as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 

‘Voice of America has been out of step with America for years. It serves as the Voice for Radical America and has pushed divisive propaganda for years now,’ a senior White House official told Fox News Digital at the time.

On Mar. 22, VoA employees filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and Kari Lake, who serves as the special advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media.

‘In many parts of the world, a crucial source of objective news is gone, and only censored state-sponsored news media is left to fill the void,’ the lawsuit reads.

‘The second Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to the agency as a whole in an attempt to shutter it completely,’ the suit stated.

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

Rep. Dan Meuser, a Pennsylvania Republican, is supporting the White House’s proposed tax hike for people making more than $1 million. 

‘I believe we must help the President deliver on his promise of a tax and regulatory plan that supports pro-American economic and manufacturing growth, and delivers for the vast majority of Americans – while creating savings and promoting fiscal responsibility. Any adjustments in taxes to accomplish these goals should be considered,’ Meuser told Fox News Digital in a statement on Tuesday. 

Last week, White House aides began quietly floating a proposal to House Republicans that would raise the tax rate to 40% for Americans making more than $1 million, sources told Fox News Digital about the preliminary discussions. The plan would shore up income to fund President Donald Trump’s ambitious campaign promises to eliminate taxes on overtime, tips and Social Security.

On Thursday, Meuser said on ‘Mornings with Maria’ that he suggested a less than 2% tax hike for the ‘wealthy, high-end income’ tax bracket months ago. He noted that Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered the top tax rate from 39.6% to 37%, so raising it to 38.6% would still keep it below the pre-TCJA level by nearly one percentage point.

‘We’re fighting for small business. We’re fighting for all of America and for the job creators that might be in those categories. So, if you were to bring it up by 1 point, it brings $15 billion in revenues, right? Without any elasticity, which could take place. So, if it did come up to 39[%], it’s almost $25 billion,’ Meuser said, touting the billions in revenue that a small tax hike could reap for the economy. 

The Pennsylvania Republican, who joined Trump on the 2024 campaign trail and is considered a potential candidate to challenge Gov. Josh Shapiro in 2026, stressed Trump’s all-of-the-above tax approach.

‘The president is determined not to have a standard – and this is my view, from what I’ve based upon him, I’m not putting in words in his mouth – a standard Republican-style budget. What he wants to see is something that is in the interest of all America, middle-income America, small businesses, and by the way, we would be talking about an exemption for pass-through small businesses so they would not be paying at the higher rate, as they do now, at their income level rate,’ Meuser said. 

While Meuser has indicated his warmth to the idea of tax hikes for the ultra-wealthy, other conservatives have remained steadfast in their rejection of any tax increases. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital last week that tax cuts are ‘what Republicans are good at’ as he urged his fellow Republicans to protect tax cuts for working-class Americans who fuel Trump’s base. More Republicans, including Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin are pushing to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, which is considered a Republican priority during budget negotiations. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who refers to the 2017 tax cuts as the ‘Trump-Pence tax cuts,’ last week urged House Republicans to stand firm against raising taxes on the country’s top earners and make the 2017 tax cuts permanent. 

Advancing American Freedom, Pence’s conservative policy advocacy group, sent a letter to congressional Republicans, including House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, last week, urging Congress to ‘stand firm against tax hikes.’

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday hosted Cabinet officials from across the Trump administration for the first meeting of a new interagency task force aimed at eradicating ‘anti-Christian bias’ within the federal government. 

During Tuesday’s meeting, Bondi described the task force as one aimed at remedying the ‘abuse’ under the Biden-led Justice Department and at other federal agencies prior to Trump’s second presidential term.

‘As President Donald Trump has stated, the Biden administration engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses,’ Bondi told a small group of reporters. ‘The president is right.’ 

Bondi was joined Tuesday by a long list of senior Cabinet officials from across the federal government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Other senior agency officials were also present. 

Bondi also used the meeting to highlight some of the actions the Trump administration has taken to crack down on anti-Christian biases.

To date, the Justice Department has dropped three ongoing cases against pro-lifers and ‘redefined the FACE Act’ to help protect against what Bondi and others have described as the weaponization of pro-life groups and others.

Ultimately, ‘the First Amendment isn’t just the line in the Constitution. It’s the cornerstone of our American memory,’ Bondi said. ‘It guarantees every citizen the right to speak freely, worship freely, and live according to their conscience without government interference. Protecting Christians from bias is not favoritism. It’s upholding the rule of law and fulfilling the constitutional promise.’

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the group planned to use the meeting to hear from individuals who had been harmed as a result of ‘anti-Christian sentiment’ under the Biden administration, and the various ways this bias may have shown up in their departments or agencies. 

That part of the meeting was closed to the press.

Shortly before reporters were escorted from the room, Fox News asked the Department of Justice officials and other members of the task force whether they would share any examples of the anti-Christian bias within their agencies or any of the personal stories that they planned to touch on in the closed-door portion of the meeting.

The officials in attendance did not immediately answer the question, and Justice Department officials told Fox News and other reporters present that they would circulate more information after the meeting.  

Trump first created the task force via an executive order in February, with the goal of rooting out ‘anti-Christian targeting and discrimination’ within the government.

The president also selected Bondi to head up the task force — whom he praised as someone he trusted to ‘fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society.’

The task force’s first meeting comes just days after Politico reported that the Trump administration sent an internal cable to State Department employees ordering them to report any instances of coworkers displaying ‘anti-Christian bias’ as part of the task force initiative.

The internal cable encouraged employees to share information via a tip form, noting that their responses could be kept anonymous, and was reportedly sent to embassies around the world, as well as the department headquarters in D.C.

‘Biden’s Department of Justice abused and targeted Christians,’ Trump said earlier this year. ‘Pro-life Christians were arrested and imprisoned for peacefully praying outside abortion clinics… NO MORE!’