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Moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, revealed her plan to support Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Monday evening. 

‘After extensive consideration of her nomination, I will support Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence,’ she said in a statement. 

‘As one of the principal authors of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that established this coordinating position, I understand the critical role the DNI plays in the Intelligence Community. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, however, has become far larger than it was designed to be, and Ms. Gabbard shares my vision of returning the agency to its intended size. In response to my questions during our discussion in my office and at the open hearing, as well as through her explanation at the closed hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Ms. Gabbard addressed my concerns regarding her views on Edward Snowden. I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to strengthen our national security.’

Collins sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which will embark on a pivotal vote on Gabbard’s nomination on Tuesday, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

The Maine Republican has developed a reputation for occasionally bucking her party, most recently doing so on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation vote. 

Her support for Gabbard at the committee level was thus far from certain. 

She joins a handful of other committee Republicans who have already said they will vote to advance Gabbard to the Senate floor, including Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and James Lankford, R-Okla. 

However, another GOP senator on the committee is still considered one to watch, as Gabbard is expected to need all of the Republican members’ votes to move forward. 

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., hasn’t said how he plans to vote in committee. Because of this, he’s managed to garner the criticism of Trump-aligned billionaire Elon Musk, who recently claimed on X that Young is a ‘deep state puppet’ in regard to his uncertainty about Gabbard. The post has since been deleted.

A spokesperson for Young told Fox News Digital in a statement, ‘Senator Young and Mr. Musk had a great conversation on a number of subjects and policy areas where they have a shared interest, like DOGE.’

Musk also shared on X over the weekend, explaining, ‘Just had an excellent conversation with [Young]. I stand corrected. Senator Young will be a great ally in restoring power to the people from the vast, unelected bureaucracy.’ 

While Collins’ support bodes well for Gabbard’s fate at the committee level, it also forecasts a better outlook among the full Senate, given her vote against Hegseth. If she advances to a floor vote, Gabbard can afford to lose just three Republican votes, assuming she does not get any Democratic backing. 

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The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments will establish a sovereign wealth fund in accordance with a new executive order President Donald Trump signed on Monday. 

The sovereign wealth fund, a state-owned investment fund with various financial assets like stocks and bonds, could foot the bill for purchasing TikTok, according to Trump. 

‘We’re going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok, and perhaps not,’ Trump told reporters Monday. ‘If we make the right deal, we’ll do it. Otherwise, we won’t.’

‘But we could put that as an example in the fund,’ Trump said. ‘And we have a lot of other things that we could put in the fund. And I think in a short period of time we’d have one of the biggest funds.’

Countries like Norway and Saudi Arabia utilize sovereign wealth funds, as do multiple U.S. states. 

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the sovereign wealth fund would be created within the next 12 months. 

‘I think it’s going to create value and be of great strategic importance,’ Bessent told reporters Monday. 

Bessent and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick are instructed to devise a plan in the next 90 days for the creation of the fund, according to the White House. The proposal will include recommendations on funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure and a governance model. 

More details on the sovereign wealth fund were not immediately available, and it’s unclear whether Congress will sign off on it.  

However, Trump signaled on the campaign trail in 2024 that he was interested in a sovereign wealth fund, using revenue from tariffs to pour into the wealth fund and then use that money to pay for projects like highways, airports and medical research. 

Additionally, Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., introduced legislation in September 2024 called the American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act to research ways to create a sovereign wealth fund in the U.S. 

Meanwhile, Trump has weighed in a few times on the future of TikTok in recent weeks and said that he’s spoken with multiple parties who are interested in purchasing the app. 

Although TikTok briefly went offline for U.S. users in January after the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the social media platform, Trump signed an executive order just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20 delaying a ban on TikTok for 75 days.

The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on the TikTok ban cited national security concerns, specifically due to the ‘relationship with a foreign adversary’ and the app’s data collection practices. 

But Trump said in the executive order delaying the ban that he has ‘the unique constitutional responsibility for the national security of the United States, the conduct of foreign policy, and other vital executive functions.’

‘To fulfill those responsibilities, I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans,’ Trump said in the executive order. ‘My Administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date.’

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Andrea Margolis contributed to this report. 

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent’s Association (FBIAA) sent a letter to House and Senate leaders Monday raising ‘urgent concerns’ over recent actions taken by acting DOJ and FBI personnel, which they say could threaten the careers of thousands of employees and risks disrupting the bureau’s essential work.

The FBIAA, a voluntary professional association representing more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, cited in particular the order from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to terminate the entire FBI senior leadership team, and the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office, as well as the order for bureau employees to compile lists of all current and former personnel who worked on investigations related to January 6, 2021, and a Hamas-related case.

The FBIAA said the lists ‘will be used to determine whether those individuals should face additional personnel actions,’ though the Trump administration has not yet said it will move to take action against individuals involved. 

Still, the group said, the recent actions taken by the Trump administration have given them reason for concern.

‘Put simply, Special Agents who risk their lives protecting this country from criminals and terrorists are now being placed on lists and having their careers jeopardized for carrying out the orders they were given by their superiors in the FBI,’ the group said, saying the actions both lack ‘transparency and due process,’ and ‘are creating dangerous distractions, imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again.’

President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is ‘corrupt’ and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will ‘straighten it out.’

‘I think the FBI was a very corrupt institution, and I’m a victim of it in the true sense,’ Trump told Fox News, adding that he believes the bureau’s reputation has been ‘damaged badly, as has the DOJ’s.’

‘But you know what, we have to have pristine, beautiful, perfect law enforcement,’ Trump said.

Former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the actions could have an incredibly chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices, whose agents have decades of experience in detecting and responding to counterterrorism threats, organized and violent crime, drug trafficking, and more.

One retired FBI agent urged calm, noting to Fox News that the acting director and deputy director of the FBI still remain in place. This person also stressed that the Jan. 6 investigation and the FBI personnel involved in investigating each case ‘fully followed Bureau and DOJ guidelines,’ and that violations of federal statutes were ‘proven beyond a reasonable doubt in federal courts of law.’

‘While convictions may be overturned or pardoned, nothing changes the original nexus of a federal investigation,’ this person said.

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

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The U.S. Agency for International Development’s fate is hanging in the balance as the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is working on an apparent overhaul of the agency. 

A review of USAID’s recent history shows that it repeatedly has been accused of financial mismanagement and corruption long before Donald Trump’s second administration, Fox News Digital found. 

Tech billionaire and DOGE Chair Elon Musk has been on a warpath against USAID — which is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations — as he leads DOGE’s mission of cutting government fat and overspending at the federal level. 

Musk announced in an audio-only message on X overnight on Sunday that ‘we’re in the process’ of ‘shutting down USAID’ and that Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency.

‘With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down,’ he said. ‘I actually checked with him a few times [and] said, ‘Are you sure?’’ 

He added that Trump responded, ‘Yes.’ 

As of Monday morning, hundreds of USAID employees reported they were locked out of the agency’s computer system and that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed on Monday. 

On X, Musk has railed against the organization as rife with ‘marxists’ and is operating as a ‘criminal organization.’ 

‘USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die,’ Musk posted to X on Sunday. 

‘USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America,’ he said in another message. 

Trump repeatedly proposed slashing the nation’s foreign aid budget for USAID and the State Department during his first administration, including proposing in his first year in office to slash the budgets by 37%, which Congress rejected. 

‘With $20 trillion in debt, the government must learn to tighten its belt,’ Trump said back in 2017 while advocating for the cuts.

His rebuke of foreign aid stretches back even further to his 2016 presidential run, outlining in his famed candidacy speech next to the golden elevator at Trump Tower that the nation must ‘stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us.’

‘It is necessary that we invest in our infrastructure, stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us and use that money to rebuild our tunnels, roads, bridges and schools — and nobody can do that better than me,’ he said in his 2015 speech announcing his candidacy for president. 

Fox News Digital looked back at the controversies USAID has faced in recent years, finding a bevy of allegations, including that the agency reportedly helped fund terrorist organizations and Chinese groups, and that its watchdog allegedly omitted negative findings from publicly published reports. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment regarding the following USAID allegations in light of DOGE’s targeting of the agency, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Sen. Tom Cotton warns taxpayer money diverted to Hamas 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a blistering letter to Biden-era USAID administrator Samantha Power in October 2024, sounding the alarm on the ‘likely misuse of more than one billion dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid sent to Gaza since October 2023,’ Fox Digital reported at the time. 

‘As I predicted would happen from the outset, credible reporting indicates that Hamas terrorists have diverted this aid; indisputable evidence demonstrates that the aid was always at high risk of diversion,’ he continued, pointing to U.S. aid that was delivered to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), whichhe said has apparent ties to Hamas. 

Trump ended funding to UNRWA in 2018, when his first administration described the UN agency as an ‘irredeemably flawed operation.’

Cotton pinned blame on the Biden-Harris administration for the ‘likely misuse,’ seething that ‘in all likelihood,’ the ‘administration has prolonged the Gaza war, allowed aid to flow to Israel’s enemies, and misused taxpayer funds.’

‘Your agency announced approximately $336 million in additional humanitarian funding for Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. On the same day, the United Nations acknowledged that Fateh al-Sharif, a Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in an Israeli airstrike, was employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. UNRWA, a major USAID partner before October 7, remains a chief conduit for UN humanitarian assistance in Gaza despite extensive evidence of its ties to Hamas,’ he continued. 

USAID pushed back on the claims in comment to Fox Digital at the time, saying it does not fund UNRWA. President Joe Biden halted U.S. funding to UNWRA in March of 2024 for one year. 

‘USAID does not provide any funding to UNRWA, nor did we do so prior to October 7, 2023,’ the spokesperson said in October 2024. ‘In addition to extensive risk mitigation procedures, USAID works closely with the Government of Israel to assist with the coordination of and discuss potential risks to all humanitarian assistance entering Gaza. USAID has not received evidence from the Government of Israel, our partners, or other sources to support the claims in Senator Cotton’s letter.’ 

Cotton’s office responded to the statement: ‘Administrator Power and USAID do not have an adequate vetting process to ensure that American taxpayer dollars do not end up with terrorists. If a terrorist front organization like UNRWA is the only ‘distribution system’ in Gaza, Power should reconsider sending aid there in the first place. Our tax dollars should not fund a group that has assisted in the kidnapping and murder of Americans.’ 

Syrian national charged with diverting millions in funding to terrorist organization 

A Syrian national named Mahmoud Al Hafyan, 53, was charged in November 2024 for allegedly diverting more than $9 million in U.S.-funded humanitarian aid to terrorist groups, including the Al-Nusrah Front. The Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, is a designated terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaeda, according to the State Department.

USAID’s office of the inspector general outlined in its press release on Al Hafyan’s 12-count indictment that the U.S. had awarded $122 million to the Syrian national’s NGO between 2015 and 2019. The funds were intended for food kits to bolster citizens amid Syria’s bloody civil war. He is accused, however, of directing the food kits to the Al-Nusrah Front, as well as selling them on the black market, according to the press release. 

‘This defendant not only defrauded the U.S. government, but he also gave the humanitarian aid he stole to a foreign terrorist organization,’ said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said at the time. ‘While this foreign terrorist organization fought with the cruel al-Assad regime, the people who were supposed to receive the aid suffered.  This office has a history of pursuing criminals around the globe, no matter how many years it takes, and will do all it can to ensure that Mahmoud Al Hafyan is held accountable for these crimes.’

Former USAID administrator repeatedly meets with Soros foundation 

Samantha Power — the Biden administration’s USAID administrator and former U.S. ambassador to the UN under former President Barack Obama’s tenure — was discovered to have repeatedly met with left-wing groups such as George Soros’ Open Society Foundations while serving as the foreign aid agency’s administrator, Fox Digital reported in 2023. 

Power met with George Soros’ Open Society Foundations at least two times and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at least five times, Fox Digital reported. She also held meetings with other powerful groups, such as the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, according to 700 pages of internal calendar entries that stretched back to 2021 and were obtained by Fox News Digital in 2023. 

USAID brushed off Power’s string of meetings with powerful left-wing groups as part of her official role and USAID’s mission to fight a spate of global issues ranging from poverty to education. 

‘Administrator Power meets with a wide variety of officials and sectors to discuss USAID’s mission to reduce extreme poverty, fight child malnutrition, spur economic growth, expand educational opportunities around the world, and build resilient global health systems,’ a USAID spokesperson told Fox News Digital in 2023. ‘Working with philanthropies and the private sector to catalyze resources to tackle these complex global challenges is important to improving the quality of life for people around the world.’

Taxpayer funds directed to Chinese entities known for coronavirus research

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report in 2023 finding that both USAID and the National Institutes of Health directed taxpayer funds to American universities and a nonprofit organization before the money found its way to Chinese groups, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The report found that between 2014 and 2021, U.S. taxpayer funds were redirected to entities including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Wuhan University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which is part of the Chinese Communist Party. The three groups each received more than $2 million combined from the U.S. government ‘through seven subawards,’ according to the GAO report.

‘The selected entities are government institutions or laboratories in China that conduct work on infectious diseases, including pandemic viruses, and have had actions taken by federal agencies to address safety or security concerns,’ the report states. ‘All three selected Chinese entities received funds.’

In January, the CIA under the second Trump administration released an updated assessment on the origins of COVID-19, favoring the theory that the contagious disease was due to a lab leak. The CIA previously had maintained that it did not have sufficient evidence to conclude whether COVID originated in a lab or a ‘wet market’ in Wuhan, China.

USAID accused of removing negative findings from inspector general reports 

Eight auditors and employees for the USAID inspector general’s office sounded the alarm to the Washington Post in 2014 that negative findings surrounding the agency’s work were removed from final reports and audits.

In the wake of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, for example, USAID established NGO-led, pro-democracy programs in the nation, though the NGO workers were not registered to work in the country, the Washington Post reported in 2014. Egypt arrested 43 NGO workers, including 16 Americans, for operating illegally in the country, with USAID quietly paying Egypt $4.6 million to bail out the Americans, according to the report. 

When auditors questioned the bail payment to the Egyptian government in a draft IG report, the findings were not included in the final report that was made publicly available just months later. Instead, the 21-page draft report was whittled down to a nine-page report. The auditors and employees who spoke to the outlet reported that negative comments were removed from various audits between 2011 and 2013.

‘The office is a watchdog not doing its job,’ a retired audit supervisor at the inspector general’s office told the outlet. ‘It’s just easier for upper management to go along to get along. The message is: ‘Don’t make waves, don’t report any problems.’’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that he is now the acting director of USAID. 

‘USAID is not functioning. It has to be aligned with U.S. policy. It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S.,’ he told reporters while in El Salvador. ‘They’re not a global charity. These are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? We are spending taxpayers money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.’

‘I am the acting director,’ he confirmed when asked if he is now in charge. ‘Our goal was to allow our foreign aid with the national interest. It has been 20 or 30 years. They have tried to reform it. That will not continue.’ 

Rubio became the Trump administration’s first confirmed cabinet member on Jan. 20. Days after his confirmation, the State Department announced a pause on all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID out of an effort to ensure current American policies reflect Trump’s administration’s priorities. 

‘Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary [Marco] Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review,’ the statement read. ‘He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda. President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.’

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Benjamin Weinthal and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

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Amid scrutiny over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pledge to transfer his financial interest in vaccine lawsuits to his family, legal experts have criticized the move but note that Kennedy’s approach is not significantly different from actions taken by other public officials in the past.

During Kennedy’s confirmation hearings last week, the potential next secretary of Health and Human Services was probed over his financial stake in personal-injury lawsuits tied to vaccines, in particular his ties to a suit against pharmaceutical company Merck and its Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine. While Kennedy would not initially commit to letting go of his stake against Merck, he reversed course in a written response to lawmakers’ questions following a hearing, noting he would amend his pledge and ‘will divest my interest in any such litigation via an assignment to my non-dependent, adult son.’

While some legal experts have argued the move does not go far enough to quash potential conflicts for Kennedy, others say this approach is akin to that taken by several other public officials who have found themselves in a similar situation. Meanwhile, one legal expert suggested to Fox News Digital that the pass from Kennedy to his son ‘is more than sufficient to meet any ethical concerns.’

‘That may comply with ordinary conflict of interest issues,’ Jim Copland, director of legal policy at the Manhattan Institute, said. ‘I just don’t think the head of the Department of Health and Human Services has any business being involved in any way with litigation against Merck.’ 

Fellow Manhattan Institute legal expert Ilya Shapiro said he is unsure whether Kennedy’s move will suffice in avoiding any real conflict, but added that he did recognize ‘it’s not unusual in light of past examples.’ 

Both Democrats and Republicans have used family to shield themselves from ethics complaints related to their personal business dealings, with former President Joe Biden being a recent and notable example after a multi-year probe into his family business dealings that found both his son and brother were engaged in risky business relationships with foreign entities, such as China. Biden has repeatedly denied his involvement in those business dealings.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi similarly sought to defend her family’s business dealings after it was revealed her husband was making money investing in companies that had business in front of his wife. In response to questions from reporters about whether she agreed with efforts to ban federal lawmakers’ spouses from trading in stocks, Pelosi replied that ‘they should be able to participate in that.’

Other notable figures who have used their families to shield their personal business dealings include President Donald Trump, who handed over control of his Trump Organization business empire to his sons, and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose investor husband, Richard Blum, managed investments through his firm Blum Capital Partners that often intersected with his wife’s work while she was in Congress.

‘It is my opinion that RFK, Jr.’s plan to pass on any financial stake in possible vaccine injuries to his son is more than sufficient to meet any ethical concerns,’ Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. ‘This is particularly true because of the limitations imposed by federal law on any claims made against vaccine manufacturers that severely limit possible compensation for anyone claiming a vaccine was somehow defective.’

Spakovsky posited that the federal government’s National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which prohibits civil litigation against drugmakers and instead directs the federal government to administer any vaccine-injury payments, serves to buffer the impact Kennedy could potentially have on vaccine-related injury payments. 

‘RFK would have no authority whatsoever [over this program],’ he said. ‘The point is that all of this is so disconnected from RFK, Jr.’s potential Cabinet position if he is confirmed, that anyone who says this is a ‘serious’ ethics problem is wrong.’

Copland, who agreed with Spakovsky that the vaccine compensation program diminishes much of Kennedy’s advantage, said RFK Jr. could still benefit in an indirect manner. 

‘I think it’s a more concerning conflict of interest than just saying, ‘Oh, you own a lot of equity interest in some company that may incidentally benefit you know,’’ Copland said. ‘I mean, if you had a Defense Department secretary who was a CEO of a major military contractor, and then he passes that off to his son, I think you’d still have a concern about that due to the obvious conflict of interest there, which is different than a sort of ordinary, ‘Oh, I own a company, and it’s going to, incidentally, benefit from the government.”

Fox News legal analyst Andy McCarthy was more critical of Kennedy’s decision to pass off his financial interests to his son, noting that the fact he is ‘struggling to come up with a scheme to retain his stake, rather than doing the obvious right thing by abandoning it, underscores that this is a real conflict of interest.’

‘The comparison to family asset transfers in other contexts is inapposite and, in any event, misses the point,’ McCarthy said. ‘Whatever one thinks of President Trump’s arrangements regarding his family business, voters knew about that business and elected him anyway – and the president is not in a position to recuse himself from executive decision-making based on conflicts of interest. By contrast, Kennedy wasn’t elected by anyone.’

McCarthy added that after years ‘of justifiably complaining that President Biden was corruptly enriched by payments… made to his son and brother,’ he finds it hard to believe ‘that Republicans can turn a blind eye to a financial stake, which would create a significant conflict of interest for RFK Jr. as HHS secretary, on the pretext that he plans to transfer the stake to his son.’

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The Trump administration is revamping agency websites to be rid of climate change-filled content, amid a widespread rebranding of federal departments from content deemed as not aligning with President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Since taking office two weeks ago, Trump has ordered federal departments to remove particular content from their websites, including mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and ‘gender ideology.’

A Fox News Digital review found that climate change pages on both the Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) websites appear to be down and are not currently functioning. When accessed, the pages are blank with only the statement, ‘You are not authorized to access this page.’

The scrub comes after it was reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ordered officials to review references to climate change on their websites.

Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not list climate change on the drop bar of its ‘environmental topics.’ Climate and climate change are still referenced on some parts of the website, but they are linked or mentioned on the homepage.

The scrubbing comes after the Trump administration put a short pause on most federal government websites on Friday evening in an effort to eliminate DEI, Fox News Digital previously reported.

The move mirrors a similar rebranding of government websites during Trump’s first term, where he also removed references to climate change or climate change effects from several federal departments online pages.

Trump targeted the Biden administration’s green energy agenda in his first slew of executive orders, withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, getting rid of the electric vehicle (EV) mandate, and doing away with its climate emissions target. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, USDA and EPA for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he is now the acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

During his five-nation trip to Central America, Rubio announced the development to reporters while taking questions from the press at a maintenance firm, Aeroman, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador. 

Rubio said his frustration with USAID goes back to his time in Congress, describing the agency as ‘completely unresponsive.’ It is supposed to respond to policy directives at the State Department ‘and it refuses to do so,’ the secretary said, adding: ‘there are a lot of functions of USAID that are going to continue, that are going to be a part of American foreign policy, but it has to be aligned with American foreign policy.’ 

During his confirmation hearing, Rubio recalled, he said that ‘every dollar that we spend and every program that we fund will be aligned with the national interests of the United States, and USAID has a history of sort of ignoring that and deciding that they’re somehow a global charity separate from the national interest.’ 

‘These are taxpayer dollars. And so I’m very troubled by these reports that they have been unwilling to cooperate with people who are asking simple questions about what does this program do, who gets the money, who are our contractors, who’s funded,’ Rubio said. ‘And that sort of insubordination makes it impossible to conduct the sort of mature and serious review that I think foreign aid at large should have.’ 

‘We’re spending taxpayer money here. These are not donor dollars,’ Rubio continued. ‘These are taxpayer dollars, and we owe the American people the assurances that every dollar that we are spending abroad is being spent on something that furthers our national interests. And so far, a lot of the people who work at USAID have simply refused to cooperate.’ 

Asked if he was currently in charge of USAID, Rubio said, ‘I’m the acting director of USAID. I’ve delegated that authority to someone, but I stay in touch with him.’ 

‘And again, our goal was to allow our foreign aid to the national interest,’ Rubio said. ‘But if you go to mission after mission, and embassy after embassy around the world, you will often find that in many cases USAID is involved in programs that run counter to what we’re trying to do and our national strategy with that country or that region. That cannot continue. USAID is not an independent, non-governmental entity. It is an entity that spends taxpayer dollars, and it needs to spend it, as the statute says, in alignment with the policy directives that they get from the Secretary of State, the National Security Council and the president.’ 

‘It’s been 20 or 30 years where people have tried to reform it. And it refuses to reform, it refuses to cooperate with people. When we were in Congress we couldn’t even get answers to basic questions about programs,’ he said. ‘That will not continue.’ 

USAID staffers were instructed earlier Monday to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters after Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency. 

Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs shut down in the two weeks since Trump took office. USAID staffers also said more than 600 additional employees had reported being locked out of the aid agency’s computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails saying that ‘at the direction of Agency leadership’ the headquarters building ‘will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.’ The agency’s website can no longer be reached. 

Democratic lawmakers have protested the moves, saying Trump lacks constitutional authority to shut down USAID without congressional approval and decrying Musk’s accessing sensitive government-held information through his Trump-sanctioned inspections of federal government agencies and programs.

‘This is a corrupt abuse of power that is going on,’ Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said at a rally with agency supporters and other Democratic lawmakers in front of the USAID building. ‘As my colleague said, it’s not only a gift to our adversaries, but trying to shut down the Agency for International Development by executive order is plain illegal.’

In the Oval Office on Monday, Trump addressed concerns about the access granted to Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency.

‘Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval. And we’ll give him the approval where appropriate. Where not appropriate, we won’t,’ Trump said.

Rubio traveled to El Salvador on Monday after spending two days in Panama. 

Before his departure, he observed from the tarmac a repatriation flight carrying 32 men and 11 women back to Colombia after they had crossed the Darien Gap and were stopped in Panama.

The State Department said such deportations send a strong message of deterrence and that the U.S. has provided Panama with financial assistance to the tune of almost $2.7 million in flights and tickets.

‘Mass migration is one of the great tragedies in the modern era,’ Rubio said, speaking afterward in a nearby building. ‘It impacts countries throughout the world. We recognize that many of the people who seek mass migration are often victims and victimized along the way, and it’s not good for anyone.’

His trip comes amid a sweeping freeze in U.S. foreign assistance and stop-work orders that have shut down U.S.-funded programs, including in Central American countries. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting, but details of those were not immediately available.

Trump has been threatening action against nations that will not accept flights of their nationals from the United States, and he briefly hit Colombia with penalties last week for initially refusing to accept two flights. Panama has been more cooperative and has allowed flights of third-country deportees to land and send migrants back before they reach the United States.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino agreed Sunday to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road development and infrastructure initiative after Rubio warned him to reduce China’s role in canal operations or face American retaliation.

‘What I expressed to President Molina, who, look, he is a friend of America,’ Rubio said later Monday from El Salvador. ‘Panama is a strong partner, an ally of the United States. As the president has articulated, when we turned over the canal, we turned it over to Panama. We didn’t turn it over to China. So you get there and the Chinese control both entries to the port.’ 

‘We have a treaty obligation to protect the canal if it comes under attack. But our navy is paying fees to go through there,’ he continued. ‘So I expressed frustration about those things. And again, I understand that it’s a delicate issue in Panama. We don’t want to have a hostile or a negative relationship with Panama. I don’t believe we do. But we had a frank and respectful conversation, and I hope it’ll yield fruits and result in the days to come.’

Rubio added that Panama has ‘been a great partner’ in slowing down the rate of migration coming across Darien Gap.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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During his confirmation hearings, senators understandably questioned Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views on health, ranging from abortion to vaccinations.

It’s not surprising people would hesitate to accept some of Kennedy’s most unusual claims. Americans who have Red Dye No. 3 in their favorite breakfast cereal and McDonald’s Big Macs for dinner clearly have the most to lose. From fluoride in our water to beef tallow to vaccines, RFK Jr. is asking questions about our health no one else has bothered to ask.

RFK Jr. is willing to push against our unhealthy habits, something no one else has considered. Is that really a bad thing?

According to the latest CDC reports, an estimated 129 million Americans have at least one major chronic disease – including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Most are women, often with several diagnoses. Women also constitute over 80% of patients with autoimmune diseases, suffering from symptoms with severe consequences.

We no longer live in a world where chronic illness describes obese, middle-aged men who refuse to give up red meat; in 2025, young women, otherwise healthy, are the very face of chronic illness. So many young women are sharing their journeys with debilitating illnesses online, that news outlets now dub them ‘sickfluencers.’

I am one of millions of young women under 30 years old with multiple health conditions. 

Along with two first cousins – both under 30 – I have been diagnosed with a mysterious condition causing autonomic dysfunction, called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardic Syndrome (POTS). This is a condition affecting one to three million people in the U.S., up to 85% of whom are women.

Yet, doctors are puzzled by this condition and often tell patients to ‘just drink more.’ Other medical professionals have chalked it up to anxiety. Still others shrug and say, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you.’

There is no cure. Some geneticists have hypothesized these symptoms to be caused by a collection of disorders previously thought to be considerably rare, known as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Others claim the HPV vaccine may be at play.

Many of these young women, ranging from 14 to 25, are objectively thriving; they are high achievers – honors students making A’s in school – are often athletic, and are, in the words of their doctors, the very ‘pinnacle of health.’ 

Then, one day, they suddenly wake up with terrifying symptoms: blurred vision, worryingly high heart rate and low blood pressure, uncontrolled vomiting and nausea, and fainting when they stand up.

POTS and EDS are not the only conditions young women are facing. These are just a few out of many. Abigail Anthony wrote several years ago in The Free Press about her journey with endometriosis and how doctors called her ‘hysterical.’ Experiences like these are far from uncommon for these young women. In fact, these situations are often the norm.

The majority of medical professionals have never heard of these conditions. They walk in blind, with no idea how to treat these illnesses – let alone provide a cure.

Patients like me are desperate for answers – any answers – for what is causing these life-altering symptoms; they have little to no guidance or information, few pharmaceutical options, and certainly no treatment plan shown effective to control the plethora of conditions leaving them house-bound, hospitalized, and unable to eat.

Pharmaceutical companies are known to distance themselves from developing new drugs, arguing that research into chronic illness isn’t profitable.

Where does that leave patients? With no answers, and no hope. Their lives are left destroyed – all before reaching 30.

If we truly care about treating the underlying cause of chronic illnesses and fighting against the health epidemic women face, the government must incentivize solutions that actually make us better instead of pushing us aside.

We deserve answers – and, at the very least, hope for better lives.

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Excluding Ukraine from U.S.-led talks involving the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv’s eastern front would set a ‘dangerous’ precedent to dictators across the globe, warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

‘If there will be direct talks between America and Russia without Ukraine, it is very dangerous, I think,’ Zelenskyy said in a Saturday interview with the Associated Press. ‘They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us – it is dangerous for everyone.’

Zelenskyy argued that doing so would validate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion and ‘show that he was right’ because he received ‘impunity’ and ‘compromise.’ 

‘This will mean that anyone can act like this. And this will be a signal to other leaders of the big countries who think about [doing]… something similar,’ he said. 

The Ukrainian president’s comments came before President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that his administration had already begun talks with Moscow and claimed they were ‘going pretty well.’

‘We have meetings and talks scheduled with various parties, including Ukraine and Russia. And I think those discussions are actually going pretty well,’ he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 

On Friday, Trump refused to say whether he had spoken directly with Putin and wouldn’t detail who in his administration had begun talks with Moscow, though he insisted the two sides were ‘already talking’ and had engaged in ‘very serious’ discussions.

Speaking with Fox News on Friday, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg said, ‘Everybody is pulling together’ on ending the three-year-long war in Ukraine. 

‘It’s important because we realize it is actually in our national security interest to get this war resolved,’ Kellogg said. ‘When you look at the money the United States has provided, which is over $174 billion, when you look at the alliance that has now formed with Russia, with North Korea, with China and Iran – that wasn’t there before.’

Despite the U.S. pledge to send Ukraine more than $175 billion worth of military aid, Zelenskyy said over the weekend that Ukraine hasn’t received anywhere near this much support, telling the Associated Press that in terms of military aid, Kyiv has only received some $75 billion worth. 

It remains unclear where the remainder $100 billion in military support has gone, and the White House did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s questions on the matter.  

Kellogg also told Fox News that Trump ‘will lead’ the negotiations and said, ‘I think most people should be very comfortable in the fact that he knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows where to apply pressure, where not to apply pressure.  But more importantly, that he will create leverage, leverage both with Ukrainians and the Russians.’

The special envoy didn’t specify how Trump will apply this pressure to both Moscow and Kyiv, though Putin and Zelenskyy have made clear that negotiating on Ukraine joining the NATO alliance is a non-starter. 

Zelenskyy argued Trump could get Putin to the negotiating table by threatening to increase sanctions on Russia’s energy and banking systems, along with continued military aid to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president also argued that Trump should back Ukraine’s push to join the NATO security alliance as it would be the ‘cheapest’ option for Ukraine’s allies.

Ukraine’s admittance into the NATO alliance would likely protect Kyiv against the threat of another Russian invasion, as it would grant the country security guarantees under Article Five, which says an attack on one nation ‘shall be considered an attack against them all.’ 

However, Putin has long threatened nuclear escalation should Ukraine be granted admittance to the international security alliance. 

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House conservatives are cheering the apparent scale-down of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), led by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

‘USAID is a corrupt governmental organization run by unelected bureaucrats created to shovel taxpayer dollars to Democrats’ pet projects overseas,’ Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital.

‘At nearly $37 trillion in national debt – and a $1.8 trillion annual deficit – we can’t afford to continue giving money to countries that hate America and everything we stand for,’ he said.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that shutting down USAID ‘will help reduce our national debt and relieve the burden on taxpayers, while compelling aid-dependent countries to achieve true self-reliance, snapping them out of the dependency cycle USAID has perpetuated under the false banner of ‘development.’’

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., endorsed the idea of ending its independent agency status on CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation’ over the weekend.

‘I would be absolutely for, if that’s the path we go down, removing USAID as a separate department and having it fall under one of the other parts of the Department of State, because of its failure,’ Mast said.

USAID is an independent agency in the federal government that provides civilian foreign aid to help encourage development, fight poverty and disease, and promote democracy overseas.

However, conservatives argue that the agency has strayed from its intended purpose and have called for steep cuts to its multibillion-dollar budget.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote on X, ‘7 months ago, I tried to DEFUND USAID. Only 81 Republicans voted ‘aye’ which is ‘yes’ to my amendment to prohibit funding to USAID. 127 Republicans and 204 Democrats voted NO to my amendment and voted to FUND USAID. I FULLY SUPPORT ELIMINATING USAID!!!’

Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., similarly said on the platform, ‘I once proposed an amendment on the House floor to cut the USAID budget by 50%. A sensible start. You won’t be shocked to know that it didn’t have enough support from my fellow Republicans.’

Fifty senior USAID staff have been placed on administrative leave, sources told Fox News over the weekend. Staff have also been barred from communicating with anyone outside the agency without approval. 

Its computer systems have also been taken over by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the sources said.

Democrats have criticized the USAID crackdown, particularly with regard to Musk – who they point out is an unelected ally and donor to Trump. 

‘Agency watchdogs track down waste, fraud and abuse. Trump fired them all. The Government Accountability Office monitors federal spending. What Elon Musk is doing isn’t oversight. An unaccountable billionaire doesn’t have the power to cancel spending he disagrees with,’ Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, wrote on X.

Rep. Diane DeGette, D-Colo., said, ‘USAID is critical in advancing U.S. national security interests, providing humanitarian aid, and strengthening global stability. Musk is an unelected billionaire with no authority to make these decisions. This isn’t governance, it’s authoritarianism.’

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report

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