Category: USA Politics

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., ripped into Gov. Tim Walz in response to “more BS” from the Democratic governor for “claiming credit” for the federal fraud investigation raids in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

Emmer, whose district includes portions of the northern and western Minneapolis suburbs, calls out Walz, writing, “More BS from our governor. @FBIDirectorKash just confirmed the @FBI, @TheJusticeDept, and @DHSgov drafted AND executed today’s search warrants.”

“The only thing Gov. Walz should be claiming credit for,” he continued, “is allowing $9 billion of taxpayer funds to be stolen under his watch.”

On Tuesday, the Justice Department and Homeland Security conducted joint raids on 22 suspected fraudulent businesses as part of an ongoing investigation into a massive fraud scheme involving childcare, Medicaid and Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community.

PATEL TURNS TABLES ON WALZ IN RESPONSE TO VIRAL TWEET ON MINNESOTA FAUD RAIDS: ‘COME AGAIN?’

After the raids, Walz, who has been highly critical of the Trump administration’s fraud crackdown, posted on X that “today’s raids by state and federal law enforcement happened because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it.”

“If you commit fraud in Minnesota you’re going to get caught — and that’s exactly what we saw today. We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it,” he wrote, adding, “That’s how the system is supposed to work, and our agencies will keep at it as long as there are fraudsters around to put behind bars.”

He also called for a joint investigation into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were killed during confrontations with federal immigration officers. He urged the federal government to investigate the killings further, “instead of cherry picking when we seek justice and when we turn a blind eye.”

Emmer, who is the highest-ranking Minnesota Republican, was having none of Walz’s statements.

The whip told Fox News Digital that “Tim Walz taking credit for fraud raids is as absurd as an arsonist taking credit for putting out a house fire.”

FBI RAIDS MINNEAPOLIS CHILDCARE FACILITIES, PART OF SWEEPING FRAUD INVESTIGATION

“This is what flailing looks like when you know your political career is over,” he continued.

“Beyond just creating a system that can so easily be defrauded, there’s evidence that Walz knew about the fraud for much longer than he’s led the public to believe,” said Emmer, adding, “Minnesotans aren’t buying the BS Walz is selling. This is the same man who has spent months demonizing federal law enforcement officers, including HSI agents – now, Walz is trying to support these officers’ fraud work.”

The Justice Department also ripped into Walz in response to his posts, posting on its official rapid response account, “You have been suing, not sharing.”

The DOJ proceeded to ask for more information from Walz to help with its investigation.

EMMER SAYS MN FRAUD RAIDS SEND ‘CRYSTAL CLEAR’ MESSAGE AFTER FEDS HIT DOZENS OF SITES

“While you’re in a sharing mood, please do share: -SNAP enrollment data so we can find the people stealing food from needy families in your state. -Voter rolls so we can ensure no dead people and only American citizens are voting in your elections. -Access to all criminal aliens in your jails and prisons, so we can protect your streets from violent crime,” the agency posted.

It concluded with, “#sharingiscaring.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz for comment.

It was the spring of 1991.

“Joyride” by Roxette topped the charts. Roseanne and Murphy Brown reigned on TV. And Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress.

The world was evolving in early 1991. The Berlin Wall fell a year-and-a-half earlier, the Soviet Union was on the verge of fracturing and the U.S. and United Kingdom – among others – teamed up to defeat Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in the first Gulf War.

MORNING GLORY: TRUMP MEETS PUTIN AMID AN ERA DONE AWAY WITH JOHN QUINCY ADAMS’ ‘ABROAD’

The paradigmatic shift was central to the Queen’s address to Congress that spring.

“The swift and dramatic changes in Eastern Europe over the last decade have opened great opportunity for the people of those countries. They are finding their own paths to freedom. But they are finding that those paths would have been blocked had it not been for the Atlantic alliance, standing together. If your country and mine had not stood together,” declared the Queen from the lectern in the House chamber. “Let us never forget that lesson.”

That observation was the quintessence of the special bond forged between the United States and United Kingdom over decades.

250 years ago, the U.S. declared its independence from England.

A quarter millennium later, and King Charles descended on Capitol Hill to salute America on its 250th anniversary.

“Ours is a partnership born out of dispute. But no less strong for it,” Charles told lawmakers.

There is a rich irony that King Charles spoke to Congress in the era of the “No Kings,” movement, championed by the American left. But considering how relations between the U.S. and U.K. devolved over the past few years, some Americans may be less than enthused with the King’s speech.

KING CHARLES’ FOOD PREFERENCES REVEALED BY FORMER ROYAL CHEF AHEAD OF TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE STATE DINNER

Ties between the two countries are frayed over the war in Iran, questions about the future of NATO and tariffs.

“It’s a special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom — that toxic Republican policies over the last 15 months or so are eroding. And hopefully, the King’s visit is going to go a long way toward repairing the damage,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was more upbeat.

Johnson became the first Speaker to deliver remarks to the British House of Commons in January, but he hinted at the trans-Atlantic fissures.

“That friendship is very important right now. And our allies are very important to us. There has been some strained relations because of things happening internationally. But I think the King’s visit is very perfectly timed,” said Johnson.

KING CHARLES III VISITS CANADA AS SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR COUNTRY COVETED BY TRUMP

Timing was everything when Queen Elizabeth spoke to Congress in 1991. Late President George H.W. Bush declared the globe entered a “new world order.” The Queen told lawmakers that Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was “an outrage to be reversed, both for the people of Kuwait and for the sake of the principle that naked aggression should not prevail.” That emphasized the importance of the international action – led by Bush – which repelled the invasion.

The Queen added that the American and British responses to the invasion “were identical,” noting “we have both learned from history that we must not allow aggression to succeed.”

Things are different now. There’s a mixed response from the West and some quarters in Europe to the four-year-old war in Ukraine. And the U.S. and most of Europe disagree about the U.S. waging war with Iran.

In 1990 and 1991, Bush 41 developed an international coalition to beat back Iraq. Former President George W. Bush did the same in 2002 and 2003, leading up to the second Gulf War. However, President Trump assembled no international alliance before moving against Iran – despite their nuclear threat.

Charles focused on risks posed in the current global environment.

“We meet in times of great uncertainty. In times of conflict from Europe to the Middle East which pose immense challenges for the international community and whose impact is felt in communities the length and breadth of our own countries,” said Charles.

UK TO ROLL OUT RED CARPET IN ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ SECOND TRUMP VISIT HOSTED BY KING CHARLES

But it was America’s 250th anniversary which drew King Charles to Washington in the first place. In fact, his speech to Congress was among one of the first major events in a cavalcade of functions to mark the country’s semiquincentennial.

“With the ‘Spirit of 1776’ in our minds, we can perhaps agree that we do not always agree,” said the King. “At least in the first instance.”

That drew laughter from those in the chamber.

Nuance and subtlety are a hallmark of statements from the Crown. While King Charles didn’t mention the conflict in Iran by name, he alluded to it.

“It is my hope, my prayer, that in these turbulent times, working together and with our international partners, we can stem the beating of ploughshares into swords,” said Charles.

He suggested that the U.S. and United Kingdom could get on the same page because “people of different faiths grow in their understanding of each other.”

Like his mother 35 years earlier, the King spoke of where the U.S. and U.K. held historic connections, delicately mentioning the fraying NATO alliance.

“Our defense, intelligence and security ties are hard-wired together through relationships. Measured not in years. But in decades,” said Charles. “We are building F-35s together and we have agreed to the most ambitious submarine program in history.”

But despite some of the current political chasms, Charles observed there is an indelible, tectonic link between the United States and United Kingdom.

“Millennia before our Nations existed, before any border drawn, the mountains of Scotland and Appalachia were one. A single, continuous range, forged in the ancient collision of continents,” said the King.

Yes, a geographic and political ocean may cleave the sides now. But the King’s message is that there was always a connection between what is now the United States and the United Kingdom. All the way down to the Earth’s crust.

The King quoted President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

KING CHARLES AND QUEEN CAMILLA TO VISIT TRUMP AT WHITE HOUSE IN FIRST US TRIP AS BRITISH MONARCHS

“‘The world may little note what we say. But will never forget what they do,’” quoted the King.

So that is the challenge now for the two nations. All relationships oscillate, but the question is what the sides do with the present ravine between them.

No one’s forgotten what the West did — helping end the Cold War and liberating Eastern Europe from the Soviet bloc. The dissolution of the U.S.S.R. then followed. President George H.W. Bush certainly got his “new world order.”

That worked for a while, and that’s what Queen Elizabeth spoke about on Capitol Hill in 1991. Then 9/11 happened. And over time, the heady optimism that fueled the early 1990s waned.

That’s where we are now.

Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” tops the music charts in the spring of 2026. Unchosen and The Pitt dominate what people stream or watch on TV. And King Charles just concluded his address to Congress.

The world is evolving in 2026, just as it was in 1991.

But the question is which direction things will go. People might not remember “words” from the speeches by Queen Elizabeth or King Charles on Capitol Hill. But as Lincoln suggested, the world won’t “forget” what people do.

See where things are in 35 years.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, one of President Donald Trump’s most influential but least public-facing advisers, launched an X account Tuesday to share updates from inside the administration.

“I’m joining X to share occasional updates about the work we do at the White House. We are relentlessly focusing on advancing President Trump’s agenda and delivering on promises to the American people,” her first post read. “I welcome different viewpoints. Follow along for insights and information.”

Her newly formed account has amassed nearly 300,000 followers since its launch this week. Wiles is seen very often with the president, sitting in on high-level meetings and standing by his side at events, but Trump’s chief of staff rarely speaks directly to the public.

WHO IS SUSIE WILES, TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF? 5 THINGS TO KNOW

Her account only follows six users, all media outlets: Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC News, The New York Times, and CBS News.

 “NEW MUST FOLLOW: White House Chief of Staff @SusieWiles47,” the White House’s Rapid Response account shared her first post writing. 

JOE CONCHA: MY TOP FIVE ‘CRINGE’ JEAN-PIERRE MOMENTS

The White House directed Fox News Digital to her first post when approached for additional comment. 

Trump made history when he appointed the first woman to serve as his chief of staff, saying Wiles was integral to his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

FOX NEWS POLITICS NEWSLETTER: TRUMP DECLARES HIMSELF VENEZUELA’S ‘ACTING PRESIDENT’

Wiles has been dubbed the “Ice Maiden” by Trump, which he noted in his 2024 victory speech, for hard-nosed approach to handling business. 

Wiles is a longtime Trump ally, first throwing her support behind him in 2015 when she became the Trump campaign’s co-chairwoman in Florida.

“As a card-carrying member of the G.O.P. establishment, many thought my full-throated endorsement of the Trump candidacy was ill-advised — even crazy,” Wiles told the New York Times in a rare public statement back in 2016. 

Fresh off his viral bout with Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin engaged in another heated exchange with Rep. Robert Menendez Jr., D-N.J., during a Tuesday session and afterward appeared to make a cryptic reference to the congressman’s father, who was imprisoned for corruption.

Zeldin and Menendez Jr. sparred over the agency’s policy changes, which the Democratic lawmaker said are exacerbating climate change and related costs, as well as former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure and government waste, as Menendez became increasingly frustrated with the administrator.

In a post on X after the blowup, Zeldin quipped that Menendez Jr. “starts doing some really weird things with his hands when he starts hearing about ‘gold bars’ getting tossed around.”

ADAM SCHIFF TELLS EPA’S LEE ZELDIN HE’LL CAUSE CANCER AFTER SHOUTFEST: ‘COULD GIVE A RAT’S A–‘

Former Sen. Robert Menendez Sr., D-N.J., was dubbed “Gold Bar Bob” by the New York City press after federal prosecutors found gold bars in his home while investigating the corruption scandal that landed him and his second wife behind bars in 2025.

Earlier Tuesday, Menendez Jr. and Zeldin cut each other off as the lawmaker raised his voice during a line of questioning about how Zeldin would have managed New York on the environmental front if he had been elected governor in 2022 and faced with Trump-era policies.

Menendez asked whether Zeldin understood that climate change will reportedly create $45 billion in healthcare costs by 2050 after his agency rescinded an Obama-era “endangerment finding” that had governed greenhouse gas emissions and led to new consumer requirements like automobile “start-stop” features.

Zeldin had previously told DeLauro that she did not understand the Loper Bright Supreme Court decision that his office analyzed in making the change, while telling Menendez the rescission is in line with the Clean Air Act.

Menendez also pressed Zeldin on climate change’s role in Superstorm Sandy, which battered both their home states, and added that if he were governor, he would have to deal with millions in cuts to EPA grants, as well as the Trump administration’s reductions to Medicaid increases and added restrictions on what SNAP benefits the federal government would cover.

Zeldin quipped that it was “interesting” how those questions were posed.

EPA CHIEF LEE ZELDIN BLASTS NY TIMES OVER CLAIM AGENCY WILL STOP CONSIDERING ‘LIVES SAVED’ IN POLLUTION RULES

“Because it’s either, or, right — what would you do if you were governor of New York?” Menendez shot back before Zeldin interjected to ask whether Menendez understood how liberal governance has cost New Jersey residents in his state:

“You know how much energy prices are up in New Jersey in the last five years?” Zeldin said before quipping that President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget does not account for “how much [Democrats] are going to raid it.”

Menendez interjected that Zeldin has said “other crazy stuff today” and would move on, to which Zeldin spoke over him to accuse Democrats of “grandstanding” and not allowing answers.

A frustrated Menendez then turned to Chairman Morgan Griffith, R-Va., and asked “Are you going to do anything [about this] at some point?”

When Menendez pivoted to questioning President Donald Trump’s reported policy pledges to the fossil fuel industry, Zeldin shot back to ask whether the Democrat was going to allow him to answer.

“I’m going to start an answer and you’re going to cut me off – that’s how this works, right?”

In response, a fuming Menendez said he wanted to also ask about the Noem-era advertising campaign which he said cost $220 million.

When Zeldin tried to respond, Menendez boomed, “I’m talking.”

“How about the conflicts of interest during the Biden EPA — how about the Gold Bars being thrown off the Titanic?” Zeldin shot back as the two talked over each other, and Zeldin could be heard pressing Menendez on why New Jersey and New York have seen about a 50% spike in energy costs under policies opposed to the Trump administration’s.

EPA CHIEF LEE ZELDIN DOUBLES DOWN AFTER FIERY EXCHANGE WITH REP DELAURO OVER LANDMARK SCOTUS CASES

As Menendez’s time expired, Griffith cut in to say that Zeldin was there solely to address EPA matters.

“He also has a right to answer the question, let’s try to be a little more civil on all parts,” he said.

The gold bars reference cited a prior statement by Zeldin that Biden-era “throwing gold bars off the Titanic are over” and that “self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients, and intentionally reduced agency oversight pose unacceptable risk” in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund were ending under his tenure with the March 2025 termination of $20 billion in funding — a topic Menendez referenced in his criticism.

While some observers heard “gold bars” mentioned in the tense exchange and hearkened back to Sen. Robert Menendez Sr.’s federal case, in which gold bars were found in his possession, an EPA source told Fox News Digital that Zeldin was not directly referencing that scandal.

“When Dems hear the truth, they implode,” Zeldin said in a statement on X.

Fox News Digital reached out to Menendez Jr. for comment on the uproar and the mention of gold bars during the exchange.

Justice Clarence Thomas said Wednesday the Supreme Court should go further than its latest Voting Rights Act ruling, arguing the law’s key anti-discrimination provision was divisive and should never apply to redistricting cases. 

“As I explained more than 30 years ago, I would go further and hold that [section two] of the Voting Rights Act does not regulate districting at all,” Thomas, who was joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, wrote in a concurrence.

Thomas’ remarks came as part of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which upheld a finding that one of the state’s majority-Black congressional districts was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. 

The decision had broad implications, serving to narrow section two of the Voting Rights Act, a civil rights-era law making it illegal for voting policies to discriminate based on race. The ruling already restricted states’ ability to use race as a factor when drawing majority-minority districts, but Thomas’ concurrence went further, saying the statute should not be used for redistricting under any circumstance.

CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON TAKES JAB AT CLARENCE THOMAS WHILE DEFENDING CITY’S REPARATIONS TASK FORCE

“Today’s decision should largely put an end to this ‘disastrous misadventure’ in voting-rights jurisprudence,” Thomas wrote, quoting himself from a 1994 concurrence.

Thomas argued the high court’s prior interpretations of section two of the Voting Rights Act have encouraged states to engage in discriminatory race-based map drawing. He said the text of section two covers access to ballots and voting procedures, not how states draw district lines, and that it should therefore not be used in lawsuits about maps.

Thomas, an appointee of President George H. W. Bush, has long advocated gutting the Voting Rights Act provision. The conservative justice, the second Black justice in history after Justice Thurgood Marshall, said in the 1994 case, Holder v. Hall, that people who use section two of the law to claim redrawn districts have diluted racial minorities’ votes are reading it incorrectly.

“The assumptions upon which our vote dilution decisions have been based should be repugnant to any nation that strives for the ideal of a color blind Constitution,” Thomas wrote at the time.

REVISITING JUSTICE SCALIA’S SAME-SEX MARRIAGE DISSENT: PROPHETIC OR INFLAMMATORY?

The majority opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, stopped short of Thomas’ position. Alito wrote that while compliance with the Voting Rights Act could sometimes involve the use of race, Louisiana was not required to create a second majority-Black district, meaning its map was unconstitutional.

“‘Our acceptance of race-based state action has been rare for a reason,’” Alito wrote, saying Louisiana had “no compelling interest” in packing Black voters into the district.

The yearslong case arose from Louisiana’s redistricting efforts after the 2020 census, during which the state added a second majority-Black district after a lower court said the Voting Rights Act required it. That new map was then struck down as a racial gerrymander, setting up the new lawsuit that rose to the Supreme Court.

The three liberal justices argued in a dissent, authored by Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, that the majority’s decision, and Thomas’ more stringent view, stripped protections against diluting racial minorities’ votes. The decision “renders Section 2 all but dead letter,” Kagan wrote.

“Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power,” she wrote.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that if he has a chance to speak with King Charles during a 9/11 memorial event in New York City on Wednesday, he’d ask the British monarch to return a controversial 105.6-carat diamond to India.

Mamdani was taking questions from reporters when he was asked what he’d say if King Charles happened to stop and chat at the event, a wreath laying at Ground Zero to honor those killed on 9/11 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

“You know, if I was to speak to the King separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” Mamdani said, after first saying that he was focused primarily on the evening’s memorial event.

The diamond, which is now set in the crown of the Queen Mother that was worn by Queen Elizabeth, the wife of King George VI and mother to Queen Elizabeth II, has a controversial history.

EVERY STOP ON KING CHARLES, QUEEN CAMILLA’S US VISIT: HERE’S WHERE THEY’RE TRAVELING IN AMERICA

The Koh-i-Noor, which means “Mountain of Light,” was likely discovered in South India in the 13th century and is believed to have changed hands countless times over the following centuries.

In 1849, the gem wound up in Britain’s possession following its annexation of the Punjab and forcing its 10-year-old king to sign the Treaty of Lahore, requiring him to hand sovereignty — and the diamond — over to the British, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

DEADLY DIAMONDS AND CURSED CROWNS

The diamond became part of Britain’s Crown Jewels and was worn by several queens before it was set in the front of the crown of the Queen Mother worn by Queen Elizabeth, in which the gem has remained as it sits on display in the Tower of London.

India is one of several countries that have pushed for Britain to return the gem. Other countries laying claim to famous diamond include Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.

So far, neither Britain nor the Royal Family has given any indication that the diamond would be returned.

When a bullet grazed President Donald Trump’s ear, Congress immediately launched investigations into how a gunman was able to pull the trigger. Two attempts later, and lawmakers are now less interested in taking swift action.

There have been few calls to hold hearings or launch probes into the latest incident as conspiracies swirl online after the third alleged assassination attempt over the weekend at the White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner.

“I just happen to think it’s — for the most part, it’s a waste of time,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. “Security held. The guy didn’t get through. Wasn’t even close.”

REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO ‘DISCUSS’ IDEA

Top lawmakers on the House Oversight and Senate Judiciary committees met with Secret Service Director Sean Curran this week for briefings, but have so far stopped short of calling for hearings or full-scale investigations.

Two years ago, when a gunman tried and failed to assassinate Trump on the campaign trail in Butler, Pa., two major bipartisan investigations were launched to address failures by the Secret Service and other agencies and find out how a gunman got so close to ending Trump’s life.

And in the case of Ryan Routh, who was caught with a rifle in another attempt against Trump while he was golfing at his club in Florida just months after the shooting at Butler, lawmakers folded that investigation in with their ongoing inquiry into the first attack.

Following the weekend shooting at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner, where a gunman was foiled while attempting to enter a packed ballroom where Trump, his Cabinet, Vice President JD Vance and several journalists sat, lawmakers aren’t rushing to figure out what happened this time.

Trump’s appearance on Saturday marks the first time he decided to go to the dinner while serving as president — he has been twice in the past. He also promised at a press conference after the dinner was canceled to reschedule the event within the next 30 days.

The alleged shooter, Cole Allen, bolted past a security check point with a rifle, handgun and several knives on his person. But the Secret Service was able to neutralize the suspect before he ever entered the ballroom where Trump was sitting.

Still, some Republicans are demanding that the incident be given a thorough review, or at least a hearing.

REPUBLICANS SCRAMBLE TO FUND SECRET SERVICE AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AMID RECORD-BREAKING SHUTDOWN

“I mean, this is the third assassination attempt on the life of the president in two years,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. “You know, we need to look carefully at all of the procedures and protocols.”

Hawley wants Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Rand Paul, R-Ky., to hold a hearing on presidential security in the aftermath of the shooting.

The very same committee led an investigation into the Butler attempt and determined that the shooting was preventable and caused by a series of failures in security protocol, planning, and funding, among several others.

The bipartisan investigation landed on more than 40 recommendations for actions that should be taken in the future to prevent a repeat.

Paul didn’t appear ready to rush into a hearing on the matter. He told Fox News Digital that lawmakers investigated that attempt for over a year and believed that the probe “arrived at several bits of wisdom, insight, and advice.”

“I think there will be items from this that need to be reviewed and made better,” Paul said. “We’re gonna get a briefing from the Secret Service on what to learn from this attempt, and we’ll decide after that if we need to do anything further. But absolutely, the Secret Service needs to investigate and see what they can do to make the president safer.”

REPUBLICANS RUSH TO GREEN-LIGHT WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM FOLLOWING THIRD TRUMP ASSASSINATION SCARE

Like Hawley, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., has several questions about how a gunman was able to blow past security measures and fears what could come next.

“When is it going to be a suicide bomber? When is it going to be an army of people behind the one person that went in and blow up the whole building? Look, that’s where we are, and I have questions about the three assassination attempts,” Norman told Fox News Digital.

Meanwhile, there is a growing wave of skepticism online about whether the latest attempt on Trump’s life was even real. Many users are claiming that the incident was “staged.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital that “some of these people need … serious help.”

Moreno was comfortable that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles would lead a “necessary and important conversation” about the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner incident, but rebuked any attempt by Democrats to push for answers.

“If there’s a Democrat having that conversation, you can shut the f— up given that they won’t fund [the Department of Homeland Security],” Moreno said.

Democratic lawmakers, who have frequently accused President Donald Trump of acting like a “king” upon his return to the White House, were brutally mocked on Tuesday for applauding and warmly greeting King Charles III during his joint address to Congress. 

“Quite the confusing scene on the House floor today. Many of Congressman Hamadeh’s Democratic colleagues, who have spent months chanting ‘No Kings,’ just gave one a standing ovation,” Arizona Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh’s office posted to X.

The “No Kings” protests began on Presidents Day in February 2025 as a backlash to the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency and broader efforts to shrink the federal government. The movement broke into the national spotlight in June of that year, when Trump’s military parade celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary gave demonstrators a new focal point for their claims that Trump was conducting himself more like a monarch than a president. 

Some Democratic lawmakers encouraged or joined the protests, with conservative social media commenters pointing out what they viewed as hypocrisy on Tuesday as Democrats applauded a king. 

‘AMERICA IS BACK’: LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP AFTER ‘PHENOMENAL’ JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

“I’m hearing no Democrats plan to attend King Charles’ speech because ‘No Kings.’ They’d never be gaslighters,” said Republican Florida Rep. Randy Fine posted to X. 

The official White House X account posted a photo of Trump with Charles seemingly trolling the left, captioning the pic, “TWO KINGS.”

FIT FOR A KING? EX-PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU WEARS SNEAKERS TO SEE KING CHARLES’ THRONE SPEECH

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was seen smiling and snapping photos of Charles on Tuesday. She was among lawmakers who have joined the “No Kings” protests. 

“Minnesota showed up in huge numbers today and it was a delight to address the largest #nokings rally in the country,” she posted to Instagram in March, accompanied by footage of a “No Kings” protest. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for any comment on the matter. 

KING CHARLES HEADS TO TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AS AMERICA MARKS 250 YEARS SINCE BREAKING FROM THE CROWN

Actor Tim Allen even weighed in, posting a photo of Charles in front of Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Ron Johnson, R-La., at the podium.

“Would have been funny to see the facial reactions of an actual King with a no Kings parade yelling at him,” said Allen.

One video went viral, with over 4 million views, showing top Democrats such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., standing up to applaud the king.

“NO KINGS! Am I doing it right, Democrats?” said conservative commentator Steve Guest on X.

“Seems kind of embarrassing for an actual King to get cheered by No Kings people,” wrote co-host of “The Big Money Show” Brian Brenberg.

The king and Queen Camilla will conclude their trip on Wednesday, returning to the UK.

Charles’ address to Congress was a historic moment. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was the first and only other British monarch to address a joint meeting of Congress when she did so in 1991.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is one step closer to averting a lapse in a controversial surveillance program after GOP privacy hawks fell in line to back a procedural measure amid weeks of infighting.

House lawmakers approved a test vote teeing up a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for a vote on final passage as early as Wednesday evening. The procedural measure also includes a Senate-passed budget resolution funding immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term and mammoth agriculture and nutrition legislation known as the farm bill. 

GOP leadership held the vote open for more than two hours as they worked to flip dozens of conservative holdouts. Every Republican present ultimately voted yes during the marathon session in a major victory for Johnson.

Johnson could afford to lose just a handful of GOP defections given House Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES SKEPTICAL AS SENATE DEAL SACRIFICING DHS SPENDING REACHED: ‘NON-STARTER’

The successful procedural vote came after a sustained lobbying campaign from the Trump administration and Republican leadership to sell GOP privacy hawks on an extension of the spy law.

“This is by far the most collaborative effort that I’ve seen on FISA, and we’ve had a number of these kinds of fights,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a leading FISA skeptic, told reporters earlier this week. “So I think it’s a very collaborative work product, and that’s why I say I support it.”

“It’s not to say I don’t think there’s other reforms that I would support, but I think this is a good win, and we should focus on a broader set of reforms that apply way beyond the scope of 702,” the Ohio Republican added.

House conservatives also appeared to soften their opposition after leadership included language permanently banning central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in the procedural measure.

GOP privacy hawks have long pushed for adding a CBDC ban to a legislative vehicle, casting it as a necessary effort to ward off government surveillance.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has warned that any FISA renewal bill with CBDC language is “dead on arrival” in the Senate. 

“They know that,” Thune told reporters Tuesday, referring to House Republicans.

The Senate could also move to pass a rival FISA plan and force the House to swallow it ahead of Thursday’s deadline to extend the spy law.

“FISA is critical to our national defense and our national security,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News. “If we lose FISA, we lose the ability to defend this country the way that it should be defended. We use that information to find out what the bad guys are doing, where they’re at, what they’re looking to attack, what their strategies are.”

“I know we’ve got folks out there that are concerned about protecting Americans and so forth,” Rounds added. “We really need them to take a look at the other side of this, which is, are you going to hurt Americans?”

‘HELL WEEK’ IN WASHINGTON: A LOOK AT HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ CURRENT BIND, AND HOW WE GOT HERE

Johnson is also seeking to clear the Senate budget resolution funding immigration enforcement and the farm bill before the end of the week.

Leadership has scheduled votes on both measures, but it is not clear if House Republicans will support either bill without modifications. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., secured an amendment to strip out controversial pesticide language from the farm bill, arguing it would block lawsuits against some pesticide manufacturers.

“On behalf of all the moms and dads that aren’t in office, I am not going to be bullied into supporting a bill that is providing protections and immunity to corporations that are responsible for giving children and adults cancer,” Luna wrote on social media. “This is literally above party affiliation.”

Trump has urged House Republicans to quickly pass the Senate’s budget blueprint to fund immigration enforcement.

“It is imperative that Congress immediately fund DHS and its critical operations to protect the Homeland,” the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote in a memo to Hill offices on Tuesday that was obtained by Fox News Digital. “Failure to pass the budget resolution will jeopardize paychecks for the DHS personnel that keep the Homeland safe.”

EXCLUSIVE: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was absent from a state fraud hearing on Tuesday, and the Republican lawmaker leading the hearing believes he was in the building at the time — and the reason for his absence, according to the lawmaker, was the governor’s “arrogance.”

“I think he just feels above it all and doesn’t need to answer to the people of Minnesota,” state Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital after Walz was a no-show at the committee’s hearing on Tuesday seeking more answers in the massive fraud scandal that has enveloped the state in recent years.

“The only reason he testified in D.C. is because he was under subpoena. And, you know, he doesn’t have to come to our committee. I expected him to. I really did, because Minnesotans are owed an explanation of how billions of our tax dollars could be stolen on his watch.”

GOP LAWMAKER UNVEILS WALZ ACT AFTER BILLIONS LOST IN MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL

Robbins says the committee reached out on March 9 asking Walz to speak at one of several hearings this week, including Tuesday, and that at 6 p.m. on Monday he informed the committee he wasn’t attending.

Walz was scheduled to deliver his final State of the State address in the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday night, leading Robbins to believe he was in the building that afternoon, but still didn’t attend the hearing.

“He was in the building!” Robbins posted on X.

NAME OF WALZ’S NEW 3-WORD PAC DRAWS IMMEDIATE ONLINE MOCKERY

“I cannot defend his arrogance that he would not come and answer questions for the historic, unprecedented level of fraud in our state and in the country,” Robbins told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment. 

Walz delivered his final State of the State address on Tuesday night and Robbins reacted to that speech in her interview with Fox News Digital.

“It was ridiculous,” Robbins said about Walz’s comments on the fraud scandal. “He somewhat said, ‘Oh the buck stops with me,’ but then he immediately pivoted to blame everyone else.”

Walz touted his efforts to crack down on fraud during his speech while claiming that red states have more fraud than blue states and suggesting the legislature needs to do more to adopt his proposal to fight fraud.

“We’ve created additional checks and balances,” Walz said. “We’ve brought on more investigators, more auditors, more law enforcement agencies, as well as an outside firm to take a look at high-risk programs. People who have ripped us off are getting caught and they are going to jail, just like today.”

Walz’s reference to “today” was in relation to federal raids carried out across Minneapolis earlier that day, which the governor faced criticism over, including from FBI Director Kash Patel, after he seemingly took credit for actions the federal government says it directed and orchestrated.

Robbins told Fox News Digital Walz’s proposals will do “nothing but create more bureaucracy” and said the Republican proposals are more “serious” to actually address the issue.

“He can keep gaslighting people but nobody buys it anymore,” Robbins said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., failed to show up to speak before the same committee earlier this month over questions surrounding her ties to individuals and locations implicated in the Feeding Our Future scandal in Minnesota. 

Omar’s absence prompted Robbins to send a letter to Omar demanding answers to a variety of questions by May 5, Fox News Digital first reported.

Robbins, who is currently running for Minnesota governor, told Fox News Digital the committee has not heard back from Omar’s office as of Tuesday.

“They do have till May 5, so I’m hoping they will. But, you know, they ghosted us all the way up to the hearing, so I don’t know if they will respond,” Robbins said. “But again, this isn’t just because we’re the legislature, it’s because we are representing the taxpayers who deserve answers from their public officials. And the fact that they don’t deign to come and answer questions on the record and just think that they can be above it all, it’s really an affront to Minnesotans.”