A letter signed by 77 Nobel laureates opposing the confirmation of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being touted as a reason to oppose him is almost entirely composed of political donors, many of them who supported Democrat campaigns.

‘In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public’s health in jeopardy and undermine America’s global leadership in the health sciences, in both the public and commercial sectors,’ more than 75 Nobel laureates wrote in an open letter published by the New York Times last month. 

A Fox News Digital review found that at least 60 of the signatories are political donors, mostly to Democratic campaigns, including Steven Chu, who served as former President Barack Obama’s secretary of Energy. Chu gave $5,400 to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. 

Nobel Medicine Laureate Joseph L. Goldstein, who also signed the letter, has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats, including former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, former President Joe Biden and the Democrat-aligned SMP Super PAC.

American economist George A. Akerlof, who is married to Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, also signed the letter on top of donating $25,000 to Biden in 2020 and $20,000 to the DCCC in 2018.

Akerlof signed a letter in June of last year warning of the economic dangers of electing President Donald Trump back into office, which was amplified by the Biden campaign and other Biden surrogates and also littered with signatories who have either donated to Biden or supported him politically in the past.

Akerlof, who donated nearly $90,000 to Democrats between the 1990s and 2022, also signed a letter supporting Build Back Better, and signed a letter in 2020 calling Trump’s re-election effort ‘selfish and reckless.’

Louis E. Brus, an American chemist who signed the letter, is a frequent Democrat donor, including sending $2,000 to Biden’s campaign.

Chemists Walter Gilbert, Johann Deisenhofer, Alan Heeger and Brian K. Kobilka also donated to Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Obama, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. 

Other signatories include Planned Parenthood donor David Baltimore, John Kerry donor Michael Rosbash, former President Bill Clinton NIH Director Harold E. Varmus and Adam Schiff donor Kip Stephen Thorne. 

‘If there’s one thing Americans should understand about politics, it’s that things are rarely as they seem,’ Camryn Kinsey, executive director of Confirm 47, told Fox News Digital. ‘This letter appears to be nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt by special interests to block a critical Cabinet nomination. The fact that one of the signers is a former Obama Cabinet official, and that the majority are Democrat donors, tells you everything you need to know.’

Kennedy is also facing a million-dollar opposition campaign from Protect Our Care, which is backed by the dark money group Sixteen Thirty Fund that is not required to disclose its donors, Politico reported.

The dark money fund is a group ‘committed to tackling society’s biggest social challenges’ such as climate change and gun reform, brought in $181 million, spending about $141 million in 2023.

Kennedy, who has been criticized by both sides of the aisle for previous positions on vaccines and his stance on abortion, will have his first confirmation hearing Wednesday at 10 a.m. 

On top of facing opposition from experts in the New York Times letter and other petitions, Kennedy has faced support in the medical community, including an initiative backed by IMA Action, a coalition of over 15,000 healthcare professionals, who are rallying support for Kennedy.

‘Our coalition is broad, highly active and deeply committed to much needed healthcare reform,’ Lynne Kristensen, Communications Director for IMA Action, said in a statement. ‘We’re going to push back against the falsehoods of the Pharma-financed opposition to RFK Jr., and our healthcare professionals will be exceedingly active with their home state senators, policy makers and public health agencies.’

‘The Kennedy and other HHS confirmations are about restoring health to America’s healthcare system, and IMA Action is excited for health reform to be at the forefront of the national conversation.’

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will emphasize that he is not ‘anti-vaccine’ when he appears Wednesday in Congress at the first of two straight days of Senate confirmation hearings.

‘I want to make sure the Committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither; I am pro-safety,’ Kennedy will say in his opening statement in front of the Senate Finance Committee.

The statement was shared first with Fox News ahead of the appearance by Kennedy, who, if confirmed, would have control over 18 powerful federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

And Kennedy will emphasize he’s not ‘the enemy of food producers. American farms are the bedrock of our culture and national security … I want to work with our farmers and food producers to remove burdensome regulations and unleash American ingenuity.’

The hearing, as well as a Thursday hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (a courtesy hearing as only the Senate Finance Committee will vote on Kennedy’s confirmation), are expected to be contentious because of Kennedy’s controversial vaccine views, including his repeated claims linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research.

Kennedy also served for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children.

After Trump’s convincing November presidential election victory, Kennedy has said he won’t ‘take away anybody’s vaccines.’

And in his opening statement at his confirmation hearing, Kennedy will spotlight that ‘all of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in healthcare.’

But he will also say, ‘In my advocacy, I have disturbed the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions. Well, I won’t apologize for that. We have massive health problems in this country that we must face honestly.’

HHS is a massive federal department, with approximately 90,000 people and an annual budget of roughly $1.7 trillion. And Kennedy has said he wants to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle and the root causes of chronic diseases, which has garnered some bipartisan support in Congress.

Kennedy has said he would aim to overhaul dietary guidelines and take aim at ultra-processed foods, among other initiatives.

‘American farms are the bedrock of our culture and national security,’ Kennedy is expected to say in his opening statement. ‘I want to work with our farmers and food producers to remove burdensome regulations and unleash American ingenuity.’

He will warn that ‘the United States has worse health than any other developed nation, yet we spend far more on healthcare — at least double; and in some cases, triple.’

And he will ‘thank President Trump for entrusting me to deliver on his promise to make America healthy again.’ 

‘Should I be so privileged to be confirmed, we will make sure our tax dollars support healthy foods. We will scrutinize the chemical additives in our food supply. We will remove the financial conflicts of interest in our agencies. We will create an honest, unbiased, science-driven HHS, accountable to the President, to Congress, and to the American people. We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to health,’ Kennedy is expected to say.

The 71-year-old Kennedy, the longtime environmental activist and crusader who is the scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democrat presidential nomination against then-President Biden in April 2023. But six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House.

Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.

Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS.

Opposition to Kennedy’s nomination has been fierce, with advocacy groups running ad campaigns urging senators to vote against his confirmation.

Kennedy, in his opening statement, will ‘thank my wife Cheryl, who is with us here today; and all the members of my large extended family, for the love that they have so generously shared. Ours has always been a family devoted to public service, and I look forward to continuing that legacy.’

But many members of the Kennedy family were very vocal in their opposition to his primary challenge against Biden as well as his independent White House run.

And on the eve of his confirmation hearing, his well-known cousin, Caroline Kennedy, sent a letter to senators on Tuesday that charged Kennedy as one who ‘preys on the desperation of parents and sick children’ and whose actions ‘have cost lives.’ 

She seemed to be referring to Kennedy’s connection to a measles outbreak in 2019 in the Pacific Island nation of Samoa, where 83 people died.

Among those vocal in their opposition to Kennedy is Democrat Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, a former emergency room physician who traveled to Samoa to help treat the deadly measles outbreak, including vaccinating tens of thousands of individuals.

‘Our people deserve a Health and Human Services Secretary who champions science, supports vaccines, and is committed to lowering costs while safeguarding health care access,’ the governor said in a statement. ‘Mr. Kennedy’s lack of experience raises serious concerns about the future of critical programs like Medicare and Medicaid.’

It’s not just Democrats who have issues with Kennedy.

Social conservative Republicans aiming to curtail abortion rights take issue with his past comments in support of abortion rights.

On the eve of the confirmation hearing, former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom public advocacy group launched a modest ad campaign opposing Kennedy based on his abortion views.

‘We need leadership that defends life and protects the most vulnerable—not radical policies that undermine our values,’ the group wrote in a social media post.

Kennedy met with senators again on Tuesday, on the eve of his confirmation hearing, but didn’t take shouted questions from reporters.

But veteran Trump administration official Katie Miller told Fox News Digital that Kennedy’s ‘prepared and excited’ for the hearings.

Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and a former U.S. ambassador, sent a letter to lawmakers urging them not to confirm her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who she referred to as a ‘predator’ and said was ‘unqualified’ both professionally and personally to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

RFK Jr. is set to sit before two Senate committees on Wednesday and Thursday this week, during which lawmakers will get a chance to probe him about various issues related to his nomination as Health and Human Services Secretary. In advance of those hearings, Caroline sent a letter to senators who will vote on her cousin’s confirmation, explaining why she thinks he should not be allowed to run the federal government’s chief public health agency. 

‘Throughout the past year people have asked for my thoughts about my cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his presidential campaign. I did not comment, not only because I was serving in a government position as United States Ambassador to Australia, but because I have never wanted to speak publicly about my family members and their challenges,’ Caroline said in a video posted online of her reading the letter. ‘But now that Bobby has been nominated by President Trump to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position that would put him in charge of the health of the American people, I feel an obligation to speak.’

In addition to arguing her cousin lacked the relevant government, financial management and medical experience to fill the role of HHS Secretary, Caroline said her cousin’s personal qualities were also a disqualifying factor. In the letter, Caroline called her cousin a ‘predator,’ arguing he has sought to exploit his family’s tragedies for publicity and led his siblings and cousins down a path of addiction.

‘It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets, because Bobby himself is a predator,’ she said. ‘I watched his younger brothers and cousins follow him down the path of drug addiction. His basement, his garage, his dorm room were always the center of the action – where drugs were available and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks.’

Caroline did concede that such moments were ‘a long time ago,’ and that she admired her cousin for finding his way out of his addiction. ‘I admire the discipline that took,’ she said. ‘But siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness and death, while Bobby has gone on to misrepresent, lie and cheat his way through life.’

Caroline added in the letter that her cousin was ‘addicted to attention and power,’ and also accused him of grandstanding ‘off my father’s assassination and that of his own father.’

‘It’s incomprehensible to me that someone who is willing to exploit their own painful family tragedies for publicity would be put in charge of America’s life and death situations.’

She also took shots at her cousin’s views on vaccines in the letter, calling them ‘dangerous and willfully misinformed.’ In the past, Kennedy has posited theories that vaccines cause autism, argued they are not safe for young children, and blamed them for a rise in chronic disease across the United States.  

‘Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs,’ she said. ‘Overseeing the FDA, the NIH, the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agencies that are charged with protecting the most vulnerable among us is an enormous responsibility and one that Bobby is unqualified to fill.’

RFK Jr.’s confirmation remains uncertain as both Republicans and Democrats have taken issue with his stance on vaccines and other public health issues. Lawmakers from more rural states have also raised concern over the potential that RFK Jr. could severely disrupt the agriculture sector as a result of his staunch views on healthy eating. 

He will face questions from both the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions this week. However, only the Finance committee will ultimately vote on whether to advance RFK Jr.’s nomination to a full floor vote.

The Trump administration is offering buyouts for nearly all federal employees, including those who work remotely, as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to get employees back into the office, but they only have until Feb. 6 to opt-in.

During Trump’s first week in office, he issued several directives to the federal workforce, including a requirement that remote employees must return to in-person work.

‘After four years of incompetence and failure, President Donald Trump is committed to making our government efficient and productive again,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday. ‘American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers.

‘If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of eight months,’ she added.

On Tuesday, a government-wide email was sent out to ensure all federal workers were on board with the Trump administration’s plan.

The email pointed to four pillars that Trump set forth, to bring accountability back to the federal government, including a return to in-person work, restored accountability for employees who have policy-making authority, restored accountability for senior executives, and a reformed federal hiring process based on merit.

‘The government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards,’ a senior administration official said. ‘We’re five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable.’

The email noted that the majority of federal employees who have worked remotely since COVID will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week.

‘Going forward, we also expect our physical offices to undergo meaningful consolidation and divestitures, potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers,’ the email read.

For those who returned to office, the Trump administration thanked them for their ‘renewed focus’ on serving the American people. But the future of their position could not be guaranteed, according to the email.

For those who do not want to continue in their role with the federal workforce, the Trump administration thanked them for their services, informing them they will be provided with a ‘dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program.’

The program begins on Jan. 28 and will be available until Feb. 6, and should a federal employee choose to resign under the program, they will retain all pay and benefits, regardless of workload, and will be exempt from their in-person work requirements until Sep. 30, 2025.

The buyouts do not apply to military personnel of the armed forces, the U.S. Postal Services, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and any other positions specifically excluded by the agency the federal workers are employed by.

‘To be clear, as it was with President Trump’s executive order on Day One, implementation of return-to-work policies will be done by each individual agency in accordance with applicable law,’ the senior administration official said. ‘We expect 5 to 10 percent of federal employees to quit, and it could lead to $100 billion annually in savings for federal taxpayers.’

DORAL, Fla. — Vice President JD Vance urged Republicans to stick together during a closed-door meeting at the House GOP annual issues conference on Tuesday, as tensions simmer over some lawmakers’ decisions to skip the multi-day event.

House Republicans are at President Donald Trump’s golf course and resort in Doral, Florida, for three days of discussions on how to execute his legislative agenda. 

Vance addressed the gathering on Tuesday in a speech that acknowledged the differences of opinion across the Republican conference, while imploring them to find a way to overcome those divisions and ‘be good’ to one another, two lawmakers in the room told Fox News Digital.

Those fractures flared up a short while later, however, when two lawmakers stood up to criticize colleagues who were not attending the event during the question and answer portion of Vance’s appearance, two other sources said.

It comes after Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, posted on X that he was not attending the retreat, arguing it was a waste of time.

‘It is being reported I am not at the so-called Republican retreat in Florida. I am not,’ Roy wrote. ‘I am in Texas, with my family & meeting with constituents, rather than spending $2K to hear more excuses for increasing deficits & not being in DC to deliver Trump’s border security [funding] ASAP.’

Roy told Fox News that he could not speak for fellow members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who were missing from the retreat, adding, ‘We all have things that we’ve got to deal with.’

‘If you’re asking me to go spend money to go sit in a resort rather than doing our damn job… no, I’m not going to do that,’ he said.

Others argued that Roy and others’ absence was actively undermining attempts to unify behind a legislative roadmap.

‘Sadly enough, we have people sitting at home complaining about the meeting on Twitter, and they’re the ones who’d rather complain, attack, argue, than be part of the solution,’ Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. ‘We know who they are. We just have to deal with it.’

With a razor-thin margin in the House, Republicans must vote in virtual lockstep to pass any legislation without Democratic support.

One lawmaker said Vance embraced a ‘team message’ during his speech and ‘recognizes there will be differences, but we must come together once debate is over.’

Vance also told Republicans that Trump wants to raise the debt limit, something he will have to contend with this year, without support from or leverage by Democrats, Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told reporters after the meeting. 

Other Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital while leaving the event also embraced the Ohio Republican’s message and him as a messenger.

‘He’s saying the things about fiscal sanity that we need to hear,’ Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said.

‘He’s smart as hell, he’s eloquent,’ Murphy said. ‘Trump really nailed it on that one – he was a great pick.’

Conservatives on social media praised newly minted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s performance in her first press conference on Tuesday and made the case that her tenure would be a welcome change from the previous administration’s.

Leavitt stepped to the White House pressroom podium on Tuesday and answered questions from more than a dozen reporters with various political affiliations and spoke for almost an hour on Tuesday.

As Leavitt addressed the media, conservatives on social media reacted with positive reviews of her handling of the questions and the variety of reporters she called on. 

‘Karoline Leavitt is a rock star,’ actor James Woods posted on X. ‘These next four years are going to be sublime.’

‘Well @karolineleavitt is certainly up for the job,’ Fox News contributor Joey Jones posted on X. ‘Impressive, but not surprising.’

‘Both KJP and Jen Psaki were extremely dependent on their oversized binders jam-packed with scripted talking points,’ talk show host Addison Smith posted on X. ‘Today, @karolineleavitt took to the podium for the first time with a couple sheets of paper that she barely even glanced at. Competence is back.’

‘Damn White House press secretary @karolineleavitt absolutely smoking left wing reporters,’ Outkick founder and radio host Clay Travis posted on X.

‘This Press Secretary – Karoline Leavitt – is so refreshingly clear in the positions she articulates,’ Rush Limbaugh’s longtime friend and producer, James Golden, posted on X. ‘No dancing around facts, no avoidance of questions, in contrast to the previous Press Secretary.’

‘Karoline Leavitt is 30 minutes into a Press Briefing and she hasn’t looked up a single answer yet,’ Fox News contributor and comedian Jimmy Faila posted on X. ‘KJP would have gone through three binders and a Magic 8 Ball by now. THIS is why people wanna ditch DEI for Meritocracy.’

‘How refreshing to have a Press Sec at the podium who can answer questions directly and without reading word for word from a script,’ Coign Vice President Cassie Smedile Docksey posted on X. ‘We are so back.’

Leavitt, 27, is the youngest press secretary in the nation’s history, surpassing President Richard Nixon’s press secretary, Ron Ziegler, who was 29 when he took the same position in 1969. Leavitt was a fierce defender of Trump throughout his campaign against former Vice President Kamala Harris and also made her own political mark with a congressional run in 2022. 

Leavitt served in Trump’s first administration as assistant press secretary before working as New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s communications director after the 2020 election. She launched a congressional campaign in her home state of New Hampshire during the 2022 cycle, winning her primary but losing the election to a Democrat. 

Leavitt picked up the torch of press secretary from the Biden administration’s chief spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Acting Director Matthew Memoli sought to clarify the extent of the Trump administration’s freeze on communications and other functions within the Health and Human Services Department, which has raised concern among agency officials and lawmakers.

Memoli’s memo, sent Monday to leaders across the NIH’s more than two dozen centers and institutions, said the freeze had been issued to ‘allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization,’ but noted that due to ‘confusion on the scope of the pause’ he wanted to provide additional guidance.

The internal memo was first reported by STAT News .The NIH did not respond to repeated requests for comment. 

Last week, the new Trump administration abruptly paused external communications at HHS through the first of next month. In addition to halting announcements, press releases, website and social media posts, new guidance, and new regulations, the freeze also halted public appearances and travel by agency officials, and prohibited new purchases or service requests related to agency work.

The move caused anger and confusion among both HHS officials and those in the broader medical community. Following the directive, scientific meetings and grant reviews were canceled, raising significant concerns about the impact on research.

‘We write to express our grave concerns about actions that have taken place in recent days that potentially disrupt lifesaving research being conducted and supported by the National Institutes of Health,’ a trio of Democratic lawmakers from Maryland said in a Monday letter to HHS’s Acting Secretary Dr. Dorothy Fink. ‘Without quick corrective action, the consequences of further disruption could be disastrous.’

According to Memoli’s memo, while agency officials are not permitted to begin new research while the pause is in effect, any research or clinical trials initiated before Jan. 20 can keep going ‘so that this work can continue, and we do not lose our investment in these studies.’ Officials working on these studies may also purchase any ‘necessary supplies’ and conduct meetings related to such work. Although new research projects are still prohibited, NIH staff can continue submitting papers to medical journals and can communicate with those journals about submitted work.

The freeze on purchases was further clarified by Memoli’s memo, which indicated that while the pause remains, purchases ‘directly related to human safety, human or animal healthcare, security, biosafety, biosecurity, or IT security,’ can continue. Travel and hiring for such work can continue as well, Memoli indicated, but his office must grant specific exemptions for new hires as President Donald Trump also initiated a freeze on the hiring of new federal civilian employees across all agencies during his first week in office.

Routine travel planned for after Feb. 1 ‘does not need to be canceled at this time,’ Memoli added. Patients receiving treatment at NIH facilities can also continue to do so.

Meanwhile, external communications will continue to be prohibited except for ‘announcements that HHS divisions believe are mission critical.’ On Monday, amid the freeze, Fink announced that HHS would begin evaluating its current practices to ensure they meet federal requirements under the Hyde Amendment, a law prohibiting the use of federal funds for non-medically necessary, elective abortions.  

One subject area that was notably absent from Memoli’s memo to federal health leaders was clarifications around grant review meetings. However, the acting director’s memo concluded by indicating that further guidance is expected to be made available later this week.

While the pause at HHS has caused a firestorm of concern and criticism, a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist who is now the dean of the University of Nebraska’s school of public health, Dr. Ali Khan, told the Associated Press that such pauses are not unusual. Khan said concern is only warranted if the pause was aimed at ‘silencing the agencies around a political narrative.’

‘I think the intention of such a chaotic freezing of communications was to scare us, to demoralize us, and to set science back a bit in an effort to make us look bad,’ said a long-time NIH staffer who spoke to Forbes on the condition of anonymity. ‘We are by no means perfect, but, ffs, our job is literally to enable research to save lives, what the heck?’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday defended the legality of President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of at least 17 inspectors general, telling reporters that the administration is confident that the oustings, ordered across nearly every major federal agency, would survive any potential challenges in court.

Speaking to reporters for the first time from the podium of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, Leavitt defended Trump’s decision to fire, without warning, the inspectors general of nearly every Cabinet-level agency – an abrupt and unprecedented purge that shocked many outside observers.

Asked about the terminations Tuesday, Leavitt doubled down on Trump’s argument that the president is well within his power to fire the independent watchdogs, regardless of their Senate-confirmed status. 

Trump’s firings of the inspectors general included watchdogs for the Departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Energy, Commerce, as well as the EPA, among others. 

‘It is the belief of this White House and the White House counsel’s office that the president was within his executive authority’ to do so, Leavitt said Tuesday.

Trump, she added, ‘is the executive of the executive branch, and therefore he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to.’

Leavitt then referenced a 2020 Supreme Court decision, Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which ruled that the CFPB’s agency structure violates the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution.

‘I would advise you to look at that case, and that’s the legality that this White House was resting on,’ Leavitt said. 

Asked by the reporter whether the Trump administration believed its order would survive a lawsuit or court challenge from the former inspectors general, Leavitt responded affirmatively.

 ‘We will win in court,’ she said decisively, before moving on. 

The remarks come as Trump’s Friday night terminations have sparked deep concern from lawmakers. The terminations were criticized by Republicans and Democrats in Congress, who noted that the independent watchdogs were created to identify and root out government waste, fraud, abuse and misconduct. 

Many of the individuals fired were also installed during Trump’s first term. 

Lawmakers have noted that Trump ordered the terminations without notifying Congress of his intent to do so at least 30 days in advance, as required for the Senate-confirmed roles.

A group of House Democrats criticized the action in a letter this week as ‘unethical,’ arbitrary and illegal.

‘Firing inspectors general without due cause is antithetical to good government, undermines the proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and degrades the federal government’s ability to function effectively and efficiently,’ reads the letter, signed by Reps. Jamie Raskin, Maxine Waters, Adam Smith, Bennie Thompson and Gregory Meeks, among others.

Tuesday’s briefing is the first conducted by Leavitt as White House press secretary. At 27, she is the youngest person in White House history to serve in the role.

It is unclear how often Leavitt will hold press briefings. 

Her role was announced in November by Trump, who praised the ‘phenomenal job’ she did as his campaign and transition spokesperson.

‘Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator,’ Trump said in a statement announcing her role. ‘I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People as we Make America Great Again.’

Trump’s first term saw several White House advisers and communications aides, who struggled at times to communicate the views of a president who frequently opted to share his views directly via public rallies, briefings and social media posts.

This prompted high-profile clashes with some of the individuals tasked with officially communicating his views. 

Trump’s most recent White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, did not hold a single press briefing during her time in office. Famously, former White House communications aide Anthony Scaramucci served in his post for just 11 days.