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Van Hollen clashes with ABC host over what Democrats actually got from the DHS shutdown fight

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Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD., clashed with ABC News host Jon Karl on Sunday as he was questioned over what Democrats have achieved in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown fight.

The government has been in a partial shutdown for 44 days, affecting DHS. Democrats are demanding stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the battle to fund DHS.

Karl asked Van Hollen about the “bottom line,” noting Congress was on recess and the DHS was still not funded and that Van Hollen had issued a statement that Republicans had “finally relented” on Friday.

“So when the Senate passed that bill and there was that brief moment, it looked like, you know, dawn had broken you put out a statement saying that Republicans had, quote, finally relented,” Karl said. “What did Democrats get out of this? Even if that passed, what did you get out of this this DHS shutdown‘s going on for well over a month? What have you gotten for it?”

DEMS BLOCK DHS FUNDING AFTER GOP REJECTS THEIR COUNTER, THUNE SAYS SCHUMER ‘GOING IN CIRCLES’

Van Hollen said Democrats wanted to fully fund TSA, and in turn, get rid of the long lines at airports. However, he said, ICE is a “lawless operation,” and said the Democrats wanted reforms.

“I guess what’s confusing here is you have fought and blocked the funding for the Department of Homeland Security because you object — as you just outlined — to what ICE has been doing, and you wanted to force changes,” Karl said during an interview with Van Hollen. “And yet, the only thing that has been assured throughout all of this is that ICE already has the money. Because as you said, $75 billion passed in the budget bill last year. So you’re holding up the entirety of the Department of Homeland Security because you object to ICE and you want changes to ICE, but through it all, ICE continues to have the money.”

Van Hollen accused Karl of making a “false statement” in saying that they were holding up the DHS funding.

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“We have said repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, we should fund TSA, we should fund FEMA, we should fund the Coast Guard. We are not prepared to give ICE another $10 billion on top of the money they already have and are using in many of these lawless operations,” Van Hollen said.

Karl interjected, “and fighting over that additional $10 billion, you are—you are holding up the rest of Department of Homeland Security.”

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“We’re not holding it up,” Van Hollen shot back.

“You’re holding up unless it doesn’t include money for ICE. That’s just a fact,” Karl responded.

The House passed a stopgap measure that would temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security late Friday.

The two-month funding extension approved by the House is likely dead on arrival in the Senate, where any funding bill needs to overcome a 60-vote threshold, meaning buy-in from a handful of Democrats. That hurdle has not stopped House GOP leadership from arguing that their rejection of a Senate-passed deal — and pitching a subsequent rival DHS funding proposal — is the way out of the shutdown.

“We’re not going to split apart two of the most important agencies in the government and leave them hanging like that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters leaving the U.S. Capitol on Friday night. “We just couldn’t do it.”

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Exclusive: Sara Netanyahu warns of surging antisemitism and importance of Jewish-Christian alliance

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EXCLUSIVE: Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned about the growing dangers of antisemitism and attempts to undermine the relationship between Christian and Jewish communities.

Her remarks followed her four-day visit to the U.S. for the “Be Best” First Ladies’ Summit, attending at the invitation of First Lady Melania Trump.

In exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, she said extremist elements on both the far left and right continue to promote antisemitism despite the historical record of where it leads and are seeking to undermine Israel and divide support within the Christian community.

“Israel has never had a prime minister like my husband, who during every visit to the United States makes it a point to meet with leaders of the Christian community, embrace them, listen to them, and maintain a close and genuine relationship as true partners and friends,” she told Fox News Digital.

CHRISTIAN PASTORS, INFLUENCERS JOIN 1,000-STRONG ISRAEL MISSION BACKING JEWISH STATE, FIGHTING ANTISEMITISM

“Their courage in standing firm against the enemies of Israel is worthy of appreciation. They are our [unofficial] ambassadors, and I hope our partnership will continue to grow and strengthen,” she added.

Netanyahu said that in July, Israel hosted the president’s close adviser and White House Faith Office head, Paula White-Cain, for a special event attended by both her and the prime minister, which was broadcast to millions of Christian viewers worldwide.

Following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, killing of 1,200 people in Israel, antisemitism surged globally, including in the U.S.

Sara Netanyahu was raised in Israel by her parents, Shmuel and Hava Ben-Artzi. Her father, a Bible scholar and educator, instilled in her an appreciation for the Jewish people’s historical connection to the land of Israel.

“The Holocaust was a moment in history that cannot and will not be repeated,” Netanyahu told Fox News Digital, against the backdrop of the ongoing U.S.-Israel military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose leaders have repeatedly threatened to commit genocide against the Jewish state.

Post-Oct. 7 attacks include the May 2025 killing of two Israeli Embassy staff in Washington by Elias Rodriguez, who allegedly shouted “Free Palestine!” upon arrest, and a June attack by Mohamed Sabry Soliman that wounded 12 at a pro-Israel rally, later killing one victim.

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Incidents also rose after Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28, described by Netanyahu as a preemptive move against Iran and its terror proxies.

Investigators said Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, accused of attempting a March 12 attack on a Michigan synagogue, was radicalized by Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, a federal probe last month found some faculty “legitimized and amplified antisemitism” during protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Encampments spread on campuses, often demanding divestment from Israel-linked institutions and Jewish organizations.

On March 20, the Trump administration sued Harvard, alleging it failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students and enabled antisemitism.

“We are in an existential war — a war of good versus evil — against a force that seeks to destroy Israel and the world,” she said.

“Leaders of the Iranian regime have publicly burned the flags of Israel and the United States. They have called Israel the ‘Little Satan’ and America the ‘Great Satan.’”

She continued, “Israel has never had a better friend than Donald Trump. Together with the [Israeli] prime minister, they are reshaping the Middle East and creating an opportunity for a new future for the entire free world,” she added.

During her U.S. visit, Netanyahu met with multiple first ladies, delivered a speech at the U.S. State Department, held talks with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., engaged with technology and AI companies and hosted a large meeting with parents of children serving in the Israel Defense Forces.

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Netanyahu attended the “Be Best” First Ladies’ Summit, a global technology conference of first ladies hosted by Melania Trump, focused on expanding access to distance-learning technologies for children and teenagers.

Netanyahu, a child psychologist who works three times a week at the Jerusalem municipality, has immersed herself in the issue.

The visit also carried economic implications, leading to expanded dialogue with Microsoft and Meta at the global level.

Netanyahu told Fox News Digital that companies expressed interest in advancing investments worth tens of millions of dollars to implement advanced AI models for remote learning among children and youth — particularly in Israel, where educational continuity has been disrupted by the security situation.

“Israel is a leading country among advanced Western nations — in morality, values and certainly technology. Israeli innovation impacts people around the world every day in fields such as cybersecurity, fintech and agriculture. We contribute our knowledge and build strategic partnerships that bring Israel closer to its allies,” she said.

“There is strong appreciation for Israel worldwide, and when countries recognize our contributions, they choose partnership over extremism and hatred,” Netanyahu concluded.

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Trump admin unlawfully terminated legal status of migrants who used Biden-era app, judge rules

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A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated the legal status of thousands of migrants who had been allowed to temporarily live in the U.S. after using an app expanded by the Biden administration to schedule appointments with immigration officials.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston ordered the administration to reverse its move last year to revoke the legal status of migrants who used the CBP One app.

The app was used under former President Joe Biden starting in 2023 to address the crisis at the border by allowing some migrants to make appointments to seek asylum, with many paroled into the country for up to two years, but President Donald Trump moved to shut down the app when he returned to the White House last year.

Burroughs found that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully in April of last year when it sent mass emails to many of the roughly 900,000 people who entered the country using the app, informing them that it was “time for you to leave the United States.”

VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS, PROGRESSIVE GROUP SUE TRUMP AFTER NOEM NIXES BIDEN-ERA ‘PROTECTED STATUS’

“The regulations do not give the agency unfettered discretion to terminate parole,” Burroughs wrote.

“When Defendants terminated the impacted noncitizens’ parole without observing the process mandated by statute and by their own regulations, they took action that was ‘not in accordance with law,'” the judge added.

The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, one of the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the ruling, saying it “brings long-awaited relief after months of fear and uncertainty.”

Democracy Forward, another group that helped bring the legal challenge, also praised the judge’s decision.

FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS

“Today’s ruling is a clear rejection of an administration that has tried to erase lawful status for hundreds of thousands of people with the click of a button,” the group’s president, Skye Perryman, said in a statement.

“Our clients followed the law: they waited, registered, were inspected, and were granted parole under the law. The Trump-Vance administration’s effort to tear that status away overnight was unlawful and cruel — and today, the court rejected that harmful and destabilizing policy,” the statement added.

A DHS spokesperson said the ruling was an example of “blatant judicial activism” that interfered with Trump’s authority to determine who remains in the country.

“Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect our national security,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The ruling came after a class-action lawsuit filed in August by three individuals from Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti who argued the Trump administration’s effort to remove them from the country represented an abrupt, unlawful move to pull parole status and work authorization from migrants.

The Trump administration had argued that Biden overstepped parole authority by broadly awarding the status instead of granting it on a case-by-case basis.

Burroughs said when DHS sent out termination notices to migrants, it failed to comply with requirements to provide a record showing an official had determined that the purposes of parole had been served.

“Accordingly, the parole terminations exceeded the agency’s statutory authority and contradicted the procedures set forth in its own regulations,” the judge wrote.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Kristi Noem ‘Devastated’ After Humiliating News Surfaces About Her Husband

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I’ve had no intention of piling on Kristi Noem.

She did a terrible job, especially with ICE and FEMA, seemed obsessed with promoting herself–whether at a Salvadoran prison or on horseback at Mount Rushmore–and President Trump fired her. He probably waited too long, but he did oust her as secretary of Homeland Security. End of story.

Until now.

300-PLUS ANGEL FAMILIES JUMP INTO MARKWAYNE MULLIN’S DHS NOMINATION FIGHT IN UNEQUIVOCAL TERMS

I know this reeks of gossipy tabloidism, but it directly involves the ex-secretary and, what makes it dead serious, it raises the prospect of blackmail. And it follows the romantic rumors that she has dismissed.

The Daily Mail, which has amassed a ton of evidence, reports on the “secret life,” to use that headline-grabbing cliche, of her husband, Bryon Noem.

There are several photos of Bryon Noem, sporting pink hotpants and enormous fake breasts. 

Mail reporters interviewed several “fetish” models who claim to have had an online relationship with Noem, tied to women fantasizing about becoming Barbie dolls with gigantic curves (far eclipsing the actual skinny dolls). It’s called “bimbofication.”

The piece says Mr. Noem is said to have paid these women thousands of dollars for their services, sometimes making salacious requests. I’ll spare you the unsettling  details.

Kristi’s reps told the New York Post: “Ms. Noem is devastated. The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time.”

The president told the Daily Mail he was surprised to hear the Noem family confirmed the shocking report into his lewd online behavior.

“They confirmed it? Wow, well, I feel badly for the family if that’s the case, that’s too bad,” Trump said in a phone call.

But here’s the key part. Noem, says the Mail, made little attempt to conceal the extracurricular activities, giving women her husband’s phone number with a voicemail message that identified his business.

The main concern, and the reason this is newsworthy, is that Kristi could have been subjected to blackmail. 

NOEM THANKS TRUMP FOR NEW SHIELD OF THE AMERICAS SPECIAL ENVOY ROLE AFTER DHS OUSTER

Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos told the paper, “If a media organization can find this out, you can assume with a high degree of confidence that a hostile intelligence service knows this as well.”

An editor at Glenn Beck’s The Blaze said, “The entire GOP is full of degenerates, at this point probably more than Dems. And in this case, all of this was known long before she was appointed. It was an insane appointment.”

All right, I think we’ve all had enough of that.

Let’s turn to the new DHS secretary, former senator Markwayne Mullin.

As the New York Times reports, “Mullin has worked toward a less flashy debut: briefing members of Congress on the effects of the government shutdown, attending White House meetings and doing a video talking up the people he now oversees. ‘I think I have the greatest employees working at DHS. ever — I mean that sincerely,’” he said in a video.

Mullin still has to manage a mass deportation program that has plummeted in public approval–especially after the killing of two American citizens in Minneapolis. And he largely agrees with Trump’s hardline views.

FIRED DHS CHIEF KRISTI NOEM FACES CRIMINAL REFERRAL FROM CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS

At his confirmation hearing, Mullin said: “My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day. “My goal is for people to understand we’re out there, we’re protecting them and we’re working with them.”

It will be a difficult balancing act – especially since, for the moment, DHS funding is frozen – except for TSA workers, by presidential decree – as the two parties can’t agree on a way to resolve the partial government shutdown.

What’s clear is that the Kristi Noem era is over, with a new boss who wants to avoid headlines rather than seek them out.

Footnote: Jimmy Kimmel is taking heat for making disparaging remarks about Markwayne Mullin.

“Let me make this very clear, I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber,” Kimmel said. “That’s right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?”

This was widely criticized as denigrating the working class.

“Secretary Mullin represents the best of blue-collar America, and failed comedian Jimmy Kimmel chooses to ridicule him for it,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox. 

What’s more, Mullin took over the debt-ridden family company and expanded it into a major regional operation, including real estate and environmental services. 

Kimmel doubled down, despite the criticism. “I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet. OK? We all have our areas of expertise.”

Jimmy just has a tin ear on this one.

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