Category: USA Politics

So Congress is now deep into week two of a 16-17 day recess for Easter and Passover. The Department of Homeland Security shutdown is approaching two months. There’s no obvious path to end the impasse.

This is why some GOP lawmakers — and conservative activists — demanded President Donald Trump summon Congress back into session and fund DHS.

Let’s do a deep dive on that.

The president has the authority to call Congress into session under “extraordinary” circumstances. But that hardly compels legislative activity – let alone a legislative solution. However, it’s unclear if Trump would even have the power to strong-arm the House and Senate back into session under current parliamentary circumstances.

HOUSE GOP’S DHS FUNDING MEASURE SURVIVES CRITICAL HURDLE BUT PATH UNCERTAIN IN SENATE

Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution states the following: “He may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.”

American presidents have called special sessions of Congress 45 times. Twenty-seven instances involved a recall of both chambers. President George Washington was the first to order a special session of Congress in 1791. Washington wrote to Vice President John Adams – the president of the Senate – to convene the Senate to consider various nominations and to fill posts in Vermont, which was about to become the 14th state. Vermont was the first state following the original 13 colonies to enter statehood.

President Abraham Lincoln ordered a special session for both bodies of Congress after the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861.

In late July 1948, President Harry Truman became the most recent chief executive to deploy his power to reconvene Congress. Congress adjourned for the year earlier that month. That never happens with the contemporary Congress. So Truman summoned lawmakers back to Washington on what is known as “Turnip Day” in Missouri, July 26. That’s the day when farmers should plant turnips for a fall harvest. So, historians bequeathed that particular congressional meeting as the “Turnip Day Session.” Truman wanted action on education policy, energy and housing.

Future Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft, R-Ohio, declared that the Senate wouldn’t “give that fellow anything” during the meetings.

Congress didn’t do much, passing two bills which the president felt fell short of his goals. That helped fuel Truman’s “Do Nothing Congress” moniker, which was the hallmark of his presidential campaign that fall.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF CONGRESS’ ELEVENTH-HOUR RUSH TO FUND THE DHS

Again, the point is that a president may recall Congress to Washington. But that authority doesn’t necessarily dictate a legislative outcome.

But what we must explore is what circumstances dictate “extraordinary Occasions” as spelled out in the Constitution.

Well, that’s pretty vague. But it’s worth noting that in the 18th, 19th and even part of the 20th centuries, Congress only huddled in Washington for distinct periods. In fact, in those days, lawmakers were often gone from Washington for months at a time. That’s partly why the Founders installed a provision empowering the president to recall Congress in a time of crisis.

However, as is often the case in politics, a crisis is in the eye of the beholder and far from constitutionally defined.

So that brings us to present day. A failure to fund the Department of Homeland Security for nearly two months is a certain crisis. The decision to recall Congress is always up to the president. But there may be constitutional limits on when a president may reconvene Congress. And despite the drama now enveloping funding for Homeland Security, Trump may be hamstrung in any effort to press lawmakers back into service in Washington.

Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution says, “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings.” Since the House and Senate have not both adopted an adjournment resolution to be out of session for a fixed period of time, Congress could make the case that it’s not out of session to start with, huddling for just a few moments every three days in brief sessions. Thus, the parliamentary posture of Congress makes the option of ordering “both Houses, or either of them” to convene under Article II Section 3 unavailable to the president.

SEE IT: LAWMAKERS CAUGHT ON VACATION AMID RECORD-BREAKING SHUTDOWN WHILE DHS WORKERS GO UNPAID

One could certainly argue that Congress isn’t really in session right now, meeting every so often for a few seconds with a skeleton crew.

It doesn’t matter. As stated above, the Constitution gives Congress ultimate authority to establish its own rules. President Barack Obama challenged whether Congress was actually in session or not when he tried to bypass the Senate confirmation process and install officials on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) during the period between Senate sessions. The Obama administration contended that Congress really wasn’t in session. Thus, the “recess appointment” option was available to the president, not requiring Senate confirmation.

However, in NLRB v. Canning in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Congress. It upheld the right of Congress to make its own rules under Article I, Section 5. In other words, if Congress says it’s in session, it’s in session. And when it’s out, it’s out. It’s not up to the president to make that determination.

Writing for the court, Justice Stephen Breyer found that “pro forma sessions count as sessions, not as periods of recess… the Senate is in session when it says it is, provided that, under its own rules, it retains the capacity to transact Senate business.”

The current parliamentary status of both the House and Senate mimics the conditions that triggered NLRB v. Canning. So, as much as some want President Trump to convene Congress, he simply can’t.

Moreover, study Breyer’s point that the House and Senate have “the capacity to transact Senate business.” We saw that last week when the Senate was supposed to be in a pro forma session, conducting no business. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., passed the Senate’s DHS funding plan for a second time, during what was scheduled to be a pro forma meeting.

Don’t forget that some House conservatives wanted the Senate to use its pro forma last Monday to pass the House-approved DHS bill.

So there were plenty of lawmakers, pundits and members of the public moaning about Congress leaving town and not fully addressing the DHS funding dispute. So, they turned to the president, hoping he would intervene for the first time since Harry Truman and command lawmakers to hustle back to Washington.

No Turnip Day Session for this Congress this year. And if President Trump tried a “Turnip Day Session,” it’s unlikely that any lawmakers would bother to “turnip” under the Constitution.

A Democratic congresswoman whose parents fled the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini decades ago announced Monday she would file articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for alleged war crimes amid the current conflict.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona previously told the New York Times she initially “felt a rush of hope, but also unease” when she learned Americans and Israelis had taken out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February.

But she has since been harshly critical of how the Trump administration has overseen the conflict, including President Donald Trump’s Easter message to what’s left of Iranian leadership to “open the f—ing Strait” of Hormuz by Tuesday or risk strikes on critical infrastructure.

“Donald Trump’s deranged statements — including one on Easter Sunday — are further entrenching our country and our world in another devastating, never-ending war,” Ansari said in a statement announcing her plans to impeach Hegseth.

77-YEAR-OLD HOUSE DEM FACING YOUNGER PRIMARY CHALLENGERS SEEKS TO IMPEACH DONALD TRUMP

Ansari claimed Trump is threatening war crimes in violation of the Geneva Convention and has already committed “illegal actions and atrocities already committed at his direction — including violence that has destroyed schools, hospitals, and critical civilian infrastructure.”

“As the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled this regime, and as an American Congresswoman who swore an oath to the United States Constitution, I know that this cannot go on,” she said.

Ansari’s father was a medical student studying in the United States when the Iranian Revolution broke out and couldn’t return to Iran, while her mother fled and was sent to live with another family in Delaware at age 17 after the Khomeini regime continually restricted women’s rights, according to the UK Guardian.

Ansari urged invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office and said she would file articles of impeachment and seek to formally impeach Hegseth “next week.”

DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO GRIND SENATE TO A HALT TO FORCE PUBLIC IRAN HEARINGS

She alleged the Pentagon chief “repeatedly violat[ed] his oath of office and his duty to the Constitution. Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys.”

“Hegseth’s reckless endangerment of U.S. servicemembers and repeated war crimes, including bombing a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, and willfully targeting civilian infrastructure, are grounds for impeachment and removal from office.”

Hegseth and Trump recently engineered the rescue of an airman shot down by Iranian forces over the weekend, with the president telling the press at the White House that a large military operation was required.

Gen. Dan “Raizin” Caine declined to state how many troops were involved, likely for security reasons.

When reached for comment, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson slammed the plan to impeach her boss, telling Fox News Digital that Ansari is “just another Democrat trying to make headlines” as an ongoing Mideast military operation and two “daring and successful” rescue operations were conducted.

“Secretary Hegseth will continue to protect the homeland and unleash epic fury on Iran’s radical regime,” Wilson said.

“This is just another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had here at the Department of War.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

A new national poll is the latest to indicate that Democrats are facing major problems with their party’s image as they try to win back congressional majorities from the Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

Just 28% of Americans questioned in a CNN poll view the Democratic Party positively, with 56% seeing Democrats in an unfavorable light.

The poll, the most recent over the past year to indicate the Democratic Party brand hitting historic lows, comes with just over six months to go until the midterms, when they hope to escape the political wilderness.

The GOP, which is working to defend its fragile House and slim Senate majorities in the 2026 ballot box showdowns amid President Donald Trump‘s underwater approval ratings and a rough political climate that doesn’t favor the party in power, doesn’t fare much better in the poll, which was conducted March 26-30.

WHAT OUR LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SAYS 

Thirty-two percent of Americans said they viewed the Republican Party positively, with 55% seeing the GOP in a negative light.

An average of the most recent national polls that asked how respondents viewed the two major political parties show the Republicans’ favorability 15 points in negative territory but the Democrats 20 points underwater.

Helping to sink the Democratic Party’s underwater ratings are Democrats themselves.

A healthy percentage of Democrats feel that their leaders in Congress aren’t fighting back more vocally against Trump and his unprecedented second-term agenda. That’s fueling a less favorable view of the Democratic Party among Democrats compared to a noticeably more favorable view of the GOP among Republicans.

That’s a departure from 2006 and 2018, the most recent midterms, when the Democrats rode blue waves to win back the House when Republicans controlled the White House. In those years, Democrats led by double digits in net favorability.

Democrats were ecstatic two weeks ago after flipping a Republican-controlled legislative seat in a right-leaning, Palm Beach, Florida-anchored district that includes Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home turf. The same day, Democrats also flipped a state Senate seat in Florida in a separate special election. The Democrats’ Sunshine State victories were their latest wins or overperformances in a slew of special elections from coast to coast since Trump returned to power in the White House 14 months ago.

DNC CHAIR KEN MARTIN BOASTS ‘WIN AFTER WIN,’ SHRUGS OFF MASSIVE TRUMP, REPUBLICAN MONEY LEAD

Democrats also scored larger than expected victories in last November’s gubernatorial elections in blue-leaning Virginia and New Jersey.

Partially fueling the Democrats’ ballot box performances is their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. And the victories are further energizing Democrats as they work to win back control of Congress in the midterms.

“From now until November, Democrats are all gas and no brakes as we compete across every corner of Florida and the nation,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said after the Florida special elections.

But along with their brand issues, also troubling for Democrats ahead of the midterms is their standing in the generic ballot, the closely watched polling indicator that asks respondents whether they’d back the Democrat or Republican in their congressional district without offering specific candidate names.

Democrats are up over the Republicans by five points in the CNN poll, and an average of all the most recent national surveys to ask the generic ballot question gives the Democrats an edge over the GOP of just under six points. That margin for the Democrats is smaller than at the same point in the 2018 and 2006 cycles, when they won back the House.

National polls also indicate that when it comes to how both parties are handling the key issues that matter to voters, Democrats don’t enjoy any overwhelming advantage.

The most recent Fox News national poll, which was conducted March 20–23, indicated Democrats with a slight three-point margin over Republicans on which party has a clear plan to bring down prices and make things more affordable. The vast majority of voters questioned in the Fox News poll gave a big thumbs down to both parties.

Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New England College, told Fox News Digital that Democrats “have no room to coast.”

“Voters remain unimpressed with their brand and for far too many voters the party continues to be defined by Biden and Harris. Democrats are expected to win big in November. But, there is a great deal of work to rehabilitate their brand with voters for 2026 and 2028,” Lesperance said.

President Donald Trump issued a fresh ultimatum to Iran on Tuesday, demanding that all vessels be allowed to transit through the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on critical infrastructure. The warning comes after weeks of escalating threats and missed deadlines.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “We will find out tonight — one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world,” he added, referencing his 8 p.m. ET deadline for Iran to agree to a ceasefire and reopen the strait.

Trump’s warning sharply raises the stakes in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow but vital artery for the global energy supply, where disruptions have sent oil and gas prices surging worldwide.

WHY THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ MATTERS AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH ULTIMATUM TO IRAN

The waterway, which lies between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, is one of the world’s most critical energy choke points, carrying roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day along with about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas.

The strait is also a vital artery for refined fuels, including products like jet fuel.

The latest threat builds on a pattern of deadlines Trump has imposed on Tehran over the strait. Here is a timeline of those demands:

In a Truth Social post, Trump declared that if Iran did not “FULLY OPEN” the strait within 48 hours, the United States would “obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”

Ali Mousavi, Iran’s permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization, responded by saying that the Strait of Hormuz was “open to everyone” except Tehran’s enemies. Meanwhile, other Iranian officials warned that attacks on energy infrastructure would amount to an attack on the Iranian people and would be met with retaliation.

SAN FRANCISCO BECOMES FIRST US CITY WHERE DIESEL PRICES TOP $8 A GALLON

Two days later, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the U.S. had had “productive” conversations with Iran and that he had ordered the Pentagon to delay any strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days.

Iranian officials publicly denied that any talks were taking place.

Trump again extended his deadline — this time by 10 days, to April 6 at 8 p.m. Eastern — saying in a social media post that he was “pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction” at the Iranian government’s request.

WHERE GAS PRICES ARE RISING FASTEST AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH WARNING TO IRAN

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that “great progress” had been made in negotiations to end the conflict. At the same time, he warned that if a deal was not reached and the Strait of Hormuz was not “immediately” opened, the United States would destroy Iran’s power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island — the country’s main oil export hub — and “possibly all” desalination plants.

Trump said Iran requested a ceasefire, a claim Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson called “false and baseless,” according to the state news agency IRIB.

In a social media post, Trump said the United States would consider a ceasefire only once the strait was “open, free and clear,” adding: “Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”

WHERE GAS PRICES ARE RISING FASTEST AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH WARNING TO IRAN

Trump warned in a Truth Social post that “time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.” 

The post followed several conflicting statements in previous days, in which he alternately criticized allies for not acting to reopen the strait and suggested it would reopen on its own.

In a profanity-laced post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump wrote: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran.

“There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—–’ Strait, you crazy b——-, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

“Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” he wrote in a second post.

Vice President JD Vance said that Iran has “two pathways” it can take regarding the conclusion of the war as President Donald Trump’s 12-hour deadline is looming Tuesday for the regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants and bridges. 

Vance, speaking in Hungary, also said he is praying that the United States is on “God’s side” in its pursuit to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

“There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives,” Vance said. “There are still some things that we’d like to do, for example, on Iranian ability to manufacture weapons, that we’d like to do a little bit more work on militarily. But fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed.” 

“I think there really are two pathways, and I’m oversimplifying this a little bit, but I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they’re going to be a normal country. They’re not going to fund terrorism anymore. They’re going to be part of the world system of commerce and exchange,” Vance continued. “And that’s going to mean much better things for them economically. It’s going to mean better things for the peace and safety of the world. It’s going to mean a lot of good things for a lot of people all over the planet. That’s option A.” 

LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP DEADLINE FOR IRAN TICKS CLOSER AS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC REJECTS TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE

“Option B is that the Iranians don’t come to the table and they stay committed to terrorism, to terrorizing their neighbors, not just Israel but of course their Arab neighbors too. Then the economic situation in Iran is going to continue to be very, very bad. And frankly, it will probably get worse,” the vice president said. 

“The president also has been very clear that while the Iranians are trying to exact as much economic cost through the Strait of Hormuz, the United States has the ability to extract much greater economic costs on Iran than Iran has an ability to extract costs on us or on our friends in the world,” Vance also said. “So I hope that they’re smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now, and the United States, we’re going to find out. But there’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution.” 

HEGSETH TIES IRAN RESCUE TO EASTER STORY AND JESUS CHRIST: ‘A PILOT REBORN’

Vance told reporters Tuesday that his attitude toward military conflict has been to pray that “we are on God’s side.”

“We’re doing this because we don’t want a regime that has committed acts of terrorism to have the world’s most dangerous weapon. Because that would mean a lot of innocent people dead,” Vance said about the war. “I certainly hope that God agrees with the decision that Iran shouldn’t have a nuclear weapon, but I’ll keep praying about it.” 

Vance also accused Iran of unleashing “acts of economic terrorism” that are obstructing the free flow of gas and oil around the world. 

“So they’ve got to know, we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The president of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct,” he warned. 

Vance also confirmed Tuesday that “we were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island” and “I believe we have done so.”

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., is mounting a long-shot bid to impeach President Donald Trump as he stares down a primary threat from younger challengers, who seek to thwart his bid for a 15th House term. 

Larson, 77, introduced 13 articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday, citing the president’s military intervention in Venezuela, the deployment of National Guard troops to cities across the country and his executive order to curtail birthright citizenship, among other charges.

Larson also charged Trump with “murder, war crimes and piracy” for ordering a naval blockade around Venezuela targeting U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers ahead of the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and for launching dozens of strikes against alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.

“Through his serial usurpation of the congressional war power and commission of murder, war crimes, and piracy, Donald J. Trump has acted contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of law, liberty, and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the resolution reads in part.

COMPLEX PARTIAL SEIZURE RULED AS CAUSE OF PAUSING EPISODE DURING HOUSE FLOOR SPEECH, DEM CONGRESSMAN SAYS

The resolution has little chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled House or resulting in a Senate trial, even if Larson chooses to force a vote when lawmakers return the week of April 13.

However, Larson’s impeachment push comes as the septuagenarian congressman faces a heated primary challenge from several younger candidates running on a mantle of generational change.

Larson, a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, notably suffered a complex partial seizure while delivering a speech on the House floor in February 2025.

VOCAL ANTI-TRUMP DEM REVEALS WHICH INDUSTRY IS TRYING TO OUST HIM FROM HOUSE SEAT: ‘I WAS A TARGET’

Primary challenger Luke Bronin, 46, a former Hartford mayor and military veteran, has called on Larson to step aside after nearly three decades in the House. Bronin, who is backed by Democratic-aligned veterans groups, outraised Larson during the first two months after launching his insurgent campaign in 2025.

It is unclear whether Larson’s impeachment push is supported by House Democratic leadership. A spokesperson for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Larson is the latest in a string of House Democrats to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump since he began his second term.

Trump has repeatedly warned that Democrats will attempt to impeach him for a third time if the party retakes control of the House chamber in 2027.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., did not rule out that possibility during an interview with MS NOW last week, but added that Democrats would focus on addressing cost-of-living issues.

Fox News Digital reached out to Larson and the White House for comment.

President Donald Trump warned in a Tuesday Truth Social post that an entire “civilization will die tonight,” issuing the ominous message as his threat of a devastating U.S. attack against Iranian bridges and power plants loomed.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump declared in the post.

“However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” he added.

TRUMP DEADLINE FOR IRAN TICKS CLOSER AS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC REJECTS TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE

Iranian official Alireza Rahimi put out a video message urging “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to create human chains around power plants, The Associated Press reported.

In a prior Truth Social post issued on Easter Sunday, the president had threatened a Tuesday attack on the Middle Eastern country’s power plants and bridges.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F[—]in’ Strait, you crazy b——-, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” the president declared in the post.

IRAN WAR NEARS ‘COMPLETION’ AS TRUMP EYES DEADLINE — WHAT THE ENDGAME COULD LOOK LIKE

During remarks on Monday, Trump indicated the U.S. has “a plan… where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock.”

“We don’t want that to happen,” he said.

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who quit last month over his opposition to the Iran war, warned on Tuesday that the president’s proposed course of action would threaten America’s status as the world’s top superpower.

ILHAN OMAR CALLS TRUMP AN ‘UNHINGED LUNATIC,’ URGES BOOTING HIM OUT OF OFFICE

“Trump believes he is threatening Iran with destruction, but it is America that now stands in danger. If he attempts to eradicate Iranian civilization, the United States will no longer be viewed as a stabilizing force in the world, but as an agent of chaos—effectively ending our status as the world’s greatest superpower,” Kent wrote in a post on X. “This would upend our economy and shatter the global order. The process is already underway, yet we still have time to avert catastrophe if Trump finds the courage to pursue serious negotiations rather than reckless rage and destruction.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken pride in making Florida a leader among red states, but he acknowledged Monday that it was behind in banning cousin marriages, which he is hoping will be outlawed in the near future.

“Florida doesn’t ban cousin marriage: That’s a hanging curveball for us to do; we need to do that,” DeSantis, famously a fan of baseball, said at a Tampa signing ceremony on another new law empowering state officials to designate groups as terrorist organizations and expel students who support them.

DeSantis urged state lawmakers to ban marriage between first cousins, reopening debate over a practice that remains legal in Florida but is barred in most states.

“Other states have done it,” DeSantis continued. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t, but obviously that feeds into some of the stealth jihad that we see, when you’re allowing things like that. It’s things that are coming in from other cultures that are not consistent with the United States culture, and certainly our culture here in Florida.”

GOP GOVERNOR LAYS OUT PLAN TO ‘PURGE’ TERRORISTS AND TERROR SUPPORTERS FROM STATE

Florida already bans marriages involving close relatives such as siblings, parents, grandparents, nieces and nephews, but first cousins are not on the prohibited list.

The governor’s push follows the failure of HB 733, a 2025 proposal that would have added first cousins to the ban starting July 1. Supporters of such a measure cite public health concerns tied to a higher risk of genetic disorders, while critics argue the issue falls under personal freedom and private family decisions.

REPUBLICAN SAYS ‘MUSLIMS DON’T BELONG IN AMERICAN SOCIETY,’ DRAWS FIERCE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

DeSantis teased future action on a cousin marriage ban last month.

“For some reason the ban on cousin marriages was dropped during the legislative process,” DeSantis wrote on X. “Stay tuned.”

FLORIDA DESIGNATES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND CAIR AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, DESANTIS SAYS

This is DeSantis’ last legislative session as governor, as he terms out at the end of this year, but there remains the possibility he could call for a special session to reintroduce the effort, if not HB 733, Florida Politics reported Monday.

“Now, there were some things that were a part of this package that we may need to add in upcoming, because I think there were some things that we really need,” DeSantis said, calling it an “important” issue for American culture and immigration law.

“We have got to stop as a country importing people that reject the values of this country, and that’s just been going on for a long time,” he added.

GOP WHIP: ‘AMERICA-HATING TERRORISTS’ SHOULD LOSE CITIZENSHIP UNDER SCAM ACT

DeSantis pointed to the recent arrest of the niece and grand niece of late Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani by federal agents following Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s termination of their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status.

“How do they get to where she was even here to begin with?” the governor asked. “What is it about our laws or administrative bureaucracy over what, I think, a period of four or five years?”

TEXAS GOV ABBOTT DECLARES CAIR, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS TERRORIST GROUPS, PREVENTING LAND PURCHASES

DeSantis’ newly signed law empowers the state’s chief of domestic security, governor and cabinet to designate any organization they determine engages in extremist acts as a “terrorist organization.”

After such a designation, the group can be forcibly dissolved and face a freeze on state funding, according to the legislation. It also says students shall be expelled from their institution if they “promoted a domestic terrorist organization or a foreign terrorist organization.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

An investigation is “underway” to determine who leaked to the press that one of the two American airmen was still missing after their fighter jet was shot down in Iran on Good Friday, a White House official told Fox News Digital.

During a Monday afternoon press conference centered on the successful rescue mission, President Donald Trump said his administration is working “very hard” to determine who the leaker is, which he said put the missing pilot at greater risk.

“We think we’ll be able to find it out because we’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security, give it up or go to jail,’” Trump said.

“When they did that, all of a sudden the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life. And it also made it much more difficult for the pilots and for the people going in to search for him.”

TRUMP CALLS RESCUE OF DOWNED AIR FORCE PILOT AN ‘EASTER MIRACLE’

The Military Times attributed an X post by Israel’s N12 News reporter Amit Segal as the first to break that one of the “crew members was successfully rescued,” citing a Western source around 11 a.m. Friday.

But another Israel N12 News reporter, Barak Ravid, wrote an article for Axios that was published hours before Segal’s X post, which shared that one pilot was rescued and another was still missing. Ravid cited his sources as “an Israeli official and a second source with knowledge.”

“An American fighter jet was shot down by Iranian fire. A search is underway to locate the two crew members, according to a source familiar with the details. Read my article at @axios,” Ravid posted on X.

The New York Post reported that shortly after Ravid posted his story on X, Segal posted in his Telegram channel “Search operation in Iran — for two American crew members.”

While Segal shared in his Telegram channel Monday that he was the first to break the news of the missing airman, he walked back his statement to the New York Post.

“I’m not sure I was the first,” Segal said. “And anyway — I will protect my sources.”

MAURO COMPARES IRAN RESCUE OF MISSING COLONEL TO MADURO CAPTURE, CREDITS INTELLIGENCE PREPARATION

CBS News, the Washington Post and Reuters reported hours later on the missing airman but cited U.S. officials as their sources.

Trump called the “leaker” a “sick person,” claiming that they will face jail time.

“They put this mission at great risk,” Trump said. “They put that man at great risk, and they put the hundreds of people that went in looking for him, because everyone now knows that we’re going in.”

Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News, the Washington Post, Reuters and Israel’s Channel 12 for comment. Axios declined to comment at this time.

As President Donald Trump’s administration pushes back against radical leftist gender ideology, the Department of Education is taking aim at agreements from prior administrations.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has rolled back provisions of resolution agreements stemming from previous administrations, unshackling schools from unlawful enforcement of Title IX, according to the department.

“Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior Administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement.

EDUCATION SECRETARY LINDA MCMAHON ACCUSES CRITICS OF HAVING ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME’

“While previous Administrations launched Title IX investigations based on ‘misgendering,’ the Trump Administration is investigating allegations of girls and women being injured by men on their sports team or feeling violated by men in their intimate spaces,” she added.

“Today is yet another demonstration of the Trump Administration’s commitment to uphold the law, protect our students, and restore common sense. No longer will the federal government force educational institutions to violate the law or punish them for upholding it,” Richey declared.

The Department of Education listed Cape Henlopen School District, Delaware Valley School District, Fife School District, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, Sacramento City Unified and Taft College.

DETRANSITIONER CHLOE COLE ACCUSES MEDIA OF ‘TRYING TO SUPPRESS’ COVERAGE OF TRANSGENDER SHOOTERS

“OCR is rescinding portions of six resolution agreements that were reached through the illegal, heavy-handed manipulation of Title IX. The Department will therefore no longer monitor or enforce these agreements,” the department said.

A settlement that Delaware Valley School District had with the Obama administration required the district to allow students to utilize restrooms that matched their gender identity, according to The Associated Press.

In February, the Trump administration sent the district a letter saying it was rescinding the settlement. 

The administration required the district to rescind antidiscrimination protections for transgender pupils, the AP reported.

HARVARD ALUM PRAISES TRUMP ADMIN TARGETING UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS POLICIES, HANDLING OF ANTISEMITISM

The school board voted last month to alter its transgender student policies to comply with the administration’s requirements, the outlet reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report