Contributing Writers

Fox News caught up with several senators on Capitol Hill Thursday for their thoughts on the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, and many voiced excitement about the historic first.Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., called the news “unbelievable.””If you told me ahead of time, I said, ‘No way. Never happen.’ This is phenomenal,” said Hoeven. “I’ve been telling folks they’ll never pick an American cardinal to be the pope.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has a message for his old boss.Pence is urging President Donald Trump, under whom he served as vice president in Trump’s first administration, not to raise the tax rate on wealthy Americans.Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the signature domestic achievement of his first White House term, is scheduled to expire this year if it’s not extended by Congress.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Two Democrat-run cities in the Rockies are skirting state laws dictating which flags can be flown on government property, according to The Associated Press – and are granting particular attention to the LGBTQ Pride flag.Utah and Idaho both have laws on the books barring government buildings from flying most flags, save for a select few – like the American flag and military flags. Utah’s law went into effect Wednesday.

A bill aimed at cracking down on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its practice of forced organ harvesting passed with overwhelming support on Wednesday – though one House lawmaker voted against it.Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone Republican to oppose the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, which passed 406-1.

A group of blue states joined forces Wednesday to sue the Trump administration after it halted a program that federally funded electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

We’re in the interlude between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.Derby winner Sovereignty won’t run in the Preakness coming up in Baltimore.But House Republicans aren’t skipping out on trying to finish the big, beautiful bill. And if this were a horse race, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would dare the pony players to bet against House Republicans when it comes to wrapping things up.”Stop doubting us.

FIRST ON FOX: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier fired back Wednesday at an Obama-appointed Miami federal judge who attempted to halt enforcement of a state immigration law.Uthmeier told Fox News Digital he submitted a motion to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit to stay a motion to halt Florida’s illegal immigration law.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem called for the death penalty in the wake of a disastrous maritime human smuggling operation that left one child, and at least two others, dead.The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced charges Tuesday against five illegals in an alleged human smuggling attempt gone wrong that resulted in at least three deaths, including a 14-year-old boy from India.

President Donald Trump’s new special envoy to the Middle East was sworn in by Secretary of State Marco Rubio Tuesday in an Oval Office ceremony.Speaking before the swearing-in, Trump praised Witkoff, who was instrumental in securing an extended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the return of 33 hostages, including two Americans, who were being held by Hamas.

Top officials with the Trump administration are expected to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this week in Switzerland, marking the first major talks between the two countries since President Donald Trump ignited a trade war based on tariffs on imports.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer are expected to represent the U.S. as they meet with their Chinese counterparts in Geneva.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Department (HHS) sent out reinstatement notices to staff members who were part of a federal healthcare program for 9/11 survivors, following a reduction in force at HHS and its subagencies as part of Trump’s efforts to optimize the federal government.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed legislation that would largely ban Styrofoam containers, dubbing it “textbook government overreach.”House Bill 477 would phase out the use of the containers by 2030, but starting in 2028 for restaurants and the hospitality industry. Introduced by Democrat state Rep. Marilyn Marler, the legislation garnered some bipartisan support in the Republican-majority legislature.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a scathing letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber on Monday, not only blasting the Massachusetts Ivy League school’s handling of antisemitism on campus but also advising school officials to refrain from applying for future federal grants because they will not “be provided.

The Trump administration is asking a federal judge in Texas to dismiss a case that aims to restrict access to the abortion drug mifepristone. The request continues the Biden administration’s position in defense of the drug: that Texas isn’t the proper venue for the lawsuit.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

A series of Facebook ads funded by the California Democratic Party is claiming that Republicans are against stronger laws to protect 16- and 17-year-old sex trafficking victims amid a legislative fight over a minor solicitation bill in which Democrats successfully forced the exclusion of harsher penalties for the purchase or solicitation of older teens.

A law signed by Washington State Gov. Bob Ferguson last week that requires members of the clergy to report confessions of child abuse or neglect is under scrutiny, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights investigation into whether the law violates the First Amendment.

The Department of Justice sued the state of Colorado and the city of Denver for allegedly interfering with federal immigration enforcement.The lawsuit, filed Friday in Colorado District Court, accuses the state and its most populous city of implementing “sanctuary laws” in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.”The United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration matters,” the lawsuit reads.

Former Vice President Mike Pence was honored on Sunday night for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, in defying his then-boss, President Donald Trump.Pence received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his refusal to honor Trump’s request to throw out the results of the 2020 presidential election, and instead oversaw congressional certification of former President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Jay Bhattacharya recently announced on Fox News the agency closed its last in-house beagle laboratory on the NIH campus.The announcement comes just days after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk posted on X that he would investigate funding beagle experiments.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to appoint a new national security advisor in about six months, telling reporters the former advisor, Mike Waltz, did not resign, but was instead tapped for an upgraded position as the administration’s ambassador to the United Nations.Trump spoke with reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, where he was asked about several topics, including the trade deals, Mexican cartels and the national security advisor position.

President Donald Trump decried the state of the motion picture industry in a social media post on Sunday while announcing plans to implement a Hollywood-related tariff.In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump wrote that the “Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death.””Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,” Trump claimed. “Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a school choice bill into law on Saturday that will allocate $1 billion for a voucher program that allows parents to use public funds to pay for their child’s private school tuition.The program’s implementation caps off a yearslong effort by Republicans who have been advocating for school choice. Voucher supporters have long focused on Texas, where previous efforts failed amid resistance from Democrats and rural Republicans.

President Donald Trump appears to have his eye on a new gig after being back in the Oval Office for just over 100 days. On Friday, the president posted an AI-generated image of himself as the pope on Truth Social, and it has gone viral. Less than a week prior to the post, Trump was in Rome attending the funeral for the late Pope Francis. As the Vatican searches for a new pontiff, it seems Trump is jokingly throwing his hat in the ring.

The reelection campaign of Governor Katie Hobbs, D-Ariz., has tapped someone with a penchant for slamming white people, despite being white himself. Hobbs, a vocal progressive and anti-Trump leader, brought Michael Beyer on as her 2026 reelection campaign communications director in April despite his history of going after people because they are white, and not just Republicans either.

While many public policy leaders believe implementation of REAL ID requirements across the country will bolster national security, some more libertarian critics say the Bush-era protocol could come at a cost to individual liberty and bigger government, with one expert telling Fox News Digital it essentially sets up a de facto national ID system and treats law-abiding Americans with suspicion.When Congress debated REAL ID in 2005, libertarian Rep.