Contributing Writers

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., appears to be getting more vocal about running for Florida governor in 2026 in the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.Donalds, a leading friend, ally and supporter of President-elect Trump in the House of Representatives, in recent days has been telling potential donors and Florida political players that he intends to run for governor, Republican sources confirm to Fox News.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) this week released the final nationwide crime statistics under the Biden administration as the president prepares to leave office. Following an uptick in violent crime in 2021 during the pandemic, it began to trend down significantly in 2023, “including double-digit drops in homicide rates across many major cities,” according to the DOJ. In 2024, violent crime continued to go down, according to preliminary DOJ data from 85 major cities.

President-elect Trump on Thursday announced multiple nominations just days before his inauguration on Jan. 20.In a series of posts on Truth Social on Thursday afternoon, Trump congratulated his picks.Nominees include a former test engineer of missile defense systems for secretary of the Air Force, as well as a trade partnership CEO for secretary for trade and foreign agriculture affairs.TRUMP NAMES LATEST WHITE HOUSE STAFF PICKS AS JAN.

While President-elect Trump and President Biden are jockeying for credit for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, some Republicans are wary of the deal and whether it will stick. “There’s no part of me that trusts Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa martyrs Brigade, Fatah or the rank-and-file people that voted for Hamas,” Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., the House’s new Foreign Affairs Committee chair, told Fox News Digital.

President Biden is ending his tenure in the White House on a “sad” note after “lying to the nation” and taking credit for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas during his farewell address on Wednesday evening, a Trump transition official said. “Joe Biden is going out sad. Lying to the nation trying to take credit for a deal that all parties credit President Trump for making happen.

Reactions from social media came pouring in Wednesday night as President Biden delivered his farewell address to the country, ending a career in politics that spanned over half a century.”Joe Biden discussing democracy, a free press, institutions and the abuse of power in his final farewell speech is rich,” GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace posted on X. “What an embarrassing and pathetic end to an embarrassing and pathetic term,” Fox News host Greg Gutfeld posted on X.

A Native American tribe in South Dakota lifted its banishment on Republican Gov. Kristi Noem in a letter Wednesday, offering its endorsement of her nomination to serve as secretary of Homeland Security, Fox News Digital has learned.

The Congressional DOGE Caucus’ plans for cutting government waste are shifting into focus after the group’s second-ever closed-door meeting on Wednesday.Caucus leaders are splitting lawmakers into eight working groups focused on different sectors for waste-cutting.

Florida’s Republican Sen. Marco Rubio sailed through his confirmation hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, all but assuring he will assume the role of top diplomat under the new Trump administration later this month.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said Tuesday that the state is going to stockpile abortion medication in preparation for President-elect Trump’s return to the White House next week with GOP control of both chambers of Congress.

President Biden on Tuesday signed proclamations to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, which will protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land in California, during his last week in office. The event was delayed by a week due to the destructive wildfires raging in Southern California, and Biden revealed that he had wanted to do the ceremony in the state, but it had to be moved to the White House.

Them’s fightin’ words. The House Oversight Committee devolved into chaos on Tuesday after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., challenged Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, to a fight. “If you wanna take it outside, we can do that,” Mace said.The squabble was sparked when Crockett said “child, listen” during a back-and-forth about civil rights, women’s rights and transgender rights.

Expect a traffic jam in the Senate soon as the race is on to confirm President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees.In short, nothing can happen until President-elect Trump takes office on Jan. 20.Yes, there will be plenty of Trump loyalists attending various inaugural balls around town.But once the inauguration festivities conclude at the Capitol, the Senate will get down to business.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

The Justice Department made public Volume I of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his now-closed investigations into President-elect Donald Trump, days before he is set to be sworn into office. Attorney General Merrick Garland released the first volume, which focuses on the election case against Trump, of Smith’s report on Tuesday at midnight after back-and-forth in the federal court system.

Special Counsel David Weiss’ final report on his years-long investigation into Hunter Biden determined the first son’s drug abuse could not explain away not paying taxes on millions of dollars of income earned off of his “last name and connections.” “As a well-educated lawyer and businessman, Mr. Biden consciously and willfully chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over a four-year period. From 2016 to 2020, Mr.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, laying out a bevy of accusations and about 100 questions that she expects him to answer at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.  Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, penned the 33-page letter last week to Hegseth.

“Lone actors” pose the greatest threat to safety during the upcoming presidential inauguration events, according to U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. He referenced two incidents last week on Capitol Hill where people sought to “disrupt” congressional proceedings with potentially violent tactics. An estimated 250,000 ticketed guests will attend the formal inauguration on Jan. 20, according to law enforcement.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is meeting with Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Democrats on Monday evening to discuss the confirmation hearing for controversial Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth — just hours before its set to take place. A Senate Democratic source confirmed the last-minute meeting to Fox News Digital.

How to cut federal spending – and by how much – consumes Congressional Republicans right now.Firestorms are scorching Southern California. But a political firestorm is about to singe Capitol Hill.The natural disaster dynamic has morphed into a regular fiscal nightmare in Congress. And frankly, the way lawmakers address natural disasters creates a hyper obstacle to making a serious dent in the deficit and national debt.Expect staggering costs.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and President-elect Trump met on Saturday and discussed the “mutual importance” of a U.S.-Canadian energy relationship and the hundreds of thousands of American jobs supported through Albertan exports.”Over the last 24 hours I had the opportunity to meet President [Trump] at Mar-a-Lago last night and at his golf club this morning,” Smith wrote in a post on X.

President-elect Donald Trump is giving Republicans his blessing to negotiate on a key tax that could prove critical to the GOP’s negotiations for a massive conservative policy overhaul next year.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan claimed in an interview Sunday that Russia, China and Iran are “weaker” and the United States is “safer” after four years under President Biden’s leadership. “Our alliances are stronger than where we found them four years ago,” Sullivan said on CNN’s State of the Union, referring to President-elect Trump’s first term. “They’re stronger than they’ve been in decades.

Gov. Gavin Newsom defended his handling of the raging fires in the Los Angeles area with a new website intended to combat “misinformation” that also links to Democratic Party fundraising giant ActBlue, Fox News Digital found. Fires have been raging in the Los Angeles area since Tuesday, destroying thousands of acres and homes and leaving more than a dozen people dead in its wake.

Former Vice President Mike Pence revealed his brief exchange with President-elect Trump, which was caught on camera at former President Carter’s state funeral.The pair have not been seen publicly together since leaving the White House in disagreement over the 2020 election results. At the service at the National Cathedral, Pence stood up to shake Trump’s hand, and they appeared to exchange pleasantries.

As fires wreak havoc in California, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., claimed in a post on X the catastrophe is “what a climate emergency looks like.” In another tweet, he took aim at President-elect Trump, asserting the incoming president has been bought off by the oil industry.”Trump has been bought for $1 billion by Big Oil. Just a payoff to kill the IRA and the Green New Deal. We know what will happen. More fires, more climate disasters, more death.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom invited President-elect Trump to visit the Golden State to witness the destruction wildfires have wrought, meet with victims and thank first responders.The governor’s message to Trump Friday came as fires continued ravaging parts of California.Newsom urged against politicizing “human tragedy” and disseminating “disinformation.

Special counsel Jack Smith resigned from his position at the Department of Justice Friday, Fox News has learned.The resignation, which had already been expected since President-elect Trump was elected in November, was quietly announced in the footnote of a court filing Saturday. “The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” the note said.

President-elect Trump announced incoming deputies for several key Cabinet positions in a series of social media posts Saturday as his inauguration date gets closer.Trump, who takes office in less than 10 days, made the announcement on Truth Social Saturday afternoon. He began by naming Katharine MacGregor as the next deputy secretary of the interior, a position she held in Trump’s first administration.