Contributing Writers

The full Senate voted Tuesday evening to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.The party-line vote followed approval from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which also voted along party lines to advance Bhattacharya, leading to today’s full Senate vote.

The Trump administration has begun an interagency effort to end what it describes as the “exploitation of housing programs” by illegal aliens.In a statement published on Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it had established the “American Housing Programs for American Citizens” Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The agreement was also signed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

FIRST ON FOX: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is expected to privately meet with Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, two people familiar with the plans told Fox News Digital.The timing or reason for the meeting is not immediately clear, but it comes as Republicans in Congress map out how to respond to what they see as “activist” judges blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda.

President Donald Trump has revoked former U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ Secret Service protection, starting Monday.The Secret Service confirmed to Fox News Digital that, per an executive memorandum from the president, the protective detail for Mayorkas was discontinued.No other details were provided, to ensure the integrity of the Secret Service’s operations.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a stern warning to those engaged in government fraud at the most recent Cabinet meeting on Monday.Speaking with President Donald Trump present at the meeting, Bondi thanked Tesla CEO Elon Musk for uncovering “fraud, waste and abuse” through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.”A lot of waste and abuse, but there is a tremendous amount of fraud,” Bondi began. “And, Elon, thank you for your partnership.

A portrait of President Donald Trump that he claimed was “purposefully distorted” will be taken down from the Colorado Capitol, officials said Monday. In a statement, House Democrats said the oil painting, painted by artist Sarah Boardman during Trump’s first term, would be taken down at the request of Republican leaders in the state Legislature in Denver, the Associated Press reported.

Members of Hollywood took shots at President Donald Trump on Sunday while gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to honor television host and comedian Conan O’Brien, weeks after Trump unveiled sweeping changes to the structure of the Kennedy Center. Trump, who removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership in February, is now serving as the Kennedy Center Board Chair.

Former U.S. Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, died on Sunday at the age of 49, according to her family.Love, who was the daughter of Haitian immigrants and the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, “passed away peacefully” surrounded by family.”With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully today,” Love’s family said in a statement posted to X.

Deportation flights to Venezuela resumed on Sunday after a weeks-long standoff between the Trump administration and the Venezuelan government, signaling a deal had been reached between the two countries. A flight carrying 199 illegal aliens – including members of the violent Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang – to Venezuela landed Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital.

FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is planning to visit several spots in Central America next week – including El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, where hundreds of migrant criminals were famously deported last week.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he approves of President Donald Trump’s handling of fentanyl and border security.”I mean, I think cracking down on fentanyl, making sure our borders are stronger,” Sanders told ABC’s Jonathan Karl during a pre-taped segment that aired on Sunday’s “This Week.””Look, nobody thinks illegal immigration is appropriate,” Sanders said.

First he was a “knucklehead” now he’s a “smarta–.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said Saturday that he was making a joke when he made a comment last week mocking Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for the company’s recent downward trend in the stock market.Walz attempted to clarify his comments during a town hall in Rochester, Minnesota.”This guy bugs me in a way that’s probably unhealthy,” Walz said, referring to Musk.

President Trump said Friday he liked the idea of the United States joining the British Commonwealth after a report claimed King Charles III would make an offer. “I love King Charles,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday morning while linking to an article citing a Daily Mail report that said the monarch would secretly offer the U.S. associate membership in the Commonwealth during Trump’s second state visit to Britain.

Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, has died at the age of 88, Fox News Digital has confirmed.Her son, John Dukakis, said that the wife and mother of three died Friday night “surrounded by family.””She was born on December 26, 1936, and lived a full life fighting to make the world a better place and sharing her vulnerabilities to help others face theirs,” he said in a statement.

Local leaders and an immigration expert are slamming Boston’s Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu for prioritizing left-wing politics above safety, saying the mayor has proved that she “continues to prioritize political agendas over the safety of Boston residents, particularly women and children.

Elon Musk has threatened to sue after former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., used a recent TV appearance on CNN to call President Donald Trump’s top adviser a “Nazi” and a “thief.” “I’ve had enough. Lawsuit inbound,” Musk wrote on X on Friday, replying to a clip of Bowman’s recent round table discussion on CNN.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said Friday that the state was returning more than $878 million to the federal government that it had been attempting to give back for the past few years during the Biden administration.DeSantis’ office informed the U.S. Treasury Department that $878,112,000 would be returned to the federal government.

NASA is considering getting rid of its Washington, D.C., headquarters as part of the Trump administration’s effort to shrink the size of the federal government, according to a report. The move could affect as many as 2,500 jobs at the space agency and redistribute operations to NASA’s 10 field centers, Politico reported Friday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

A federal judge in Colorado issued an order Friday blocking immigration officials from deporting “abolish ICE” activist and illegal immigrant Jeanette Vizguerra before a hearing scheduled for next week.The order places a temporary injunction on local ICE officials Johnny Choate and Ernesto Santacruz, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi from ordering Vizguerra’s removal while her case is being considered by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

President Donald Trump said he’s not interested in showing “anybody” plans for how the U.S. would navigate a conflict with China after a New York Times report that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s meeting at the Pentagon Friday included details about contingency plans for any war with Beijing.

The Justice Department is launching a criminal probe into a leak related to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that has been a primary focus of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont – champions of the left – repeatedly targeted President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk as they kicked off a three-day swing through three electorally important western states.

The husband of former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, has been charged with defrauding the government after allegedly accepting $20,000 in payments from the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, the Justice Department said. Cortney Merritts, 46, of St. Louis, falsified details about his purported businesses to obtain loans from the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

The Pentagon is set to announce its decision on a next-generation fighter jet contract initially worth more than $20 billion as soon as Friday, despite earlier concerns about budget constraints and shifting priorities, sources briefed on the plan said.The Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program will replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor with a fighter built to battle alongside drones.

President Donald Trump on Thursday called on the Supreme Court to reverse injunctions placed on his administration’s efforts to carry out mass deportations and other moves to downsize the scope of government. In a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform, Trump took aim at “Radical Left Judges” for imposing injunctions on some of his most controversial moves, such as deporting Venezuelan gang members.

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso is not backing the recall effort against Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, his former opponent.”A mayoral recall right now is not a good idea. This is a time when Los Angeles needs unity, not costly and expensive political distractions,” he posted on X earlier this week. “We must rebuild our communities, get people back into their homes, and open businesses that have been closed or lost. That must be our total focus.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., was gifted a silver-plated beeper during a visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the lawmaker praised Israel’s covert operation in which it detonated pagers last year worn by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.