A Department of Homeland Security official was killed in Georgia by a naturalized U.S. citizen with a prior criminal record, a case that is raising new questions about the federal government’s vetting process after the agency recently acknowledged significant screening gaps.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed Wednesday that Lauren Bullis, 40, was “brutally shot and stabbed to death,” identifying the suspect as 26-year-old Olaolukitan Adon Abel, who was naturalized in 2022 and has a record that includes convictions for sexual battery, assault and battery against a police officer.

The killing comes shortly after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services disclosed “significant national security and public safety risks” in U.S. vetting processes, describing past screening processes as “wholly inadequate” under former President Joe Biden.

Mullin said DHS is “devastated” by Bullis’ killing. The agency also said she “was a bright spot for so many of the DHS community.”

DHS SLAMS CALIFORNIA ‘SANCTUARY’ COUNTY AFTER MOM ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY 2 HONDURAN NATIONALS

Bullis was walking her dog when she was attacked, according to DHS. She served in multiple roles at DHS’ Office of the Inspector General, including as an auditor and a team leader in the Office of Innovation.

The agency said Abel was also arrested in connection with the murder of an unidentified woman he reportedly shot outside a Checkers, as well as a homeless man he shot multiple times outside a Kroger in Brookhaven, Georgia.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and policy expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, said, “This is just the latest impact of the Biden administration’s immigration policies.”

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Arthur, who served under the Bush and Obama administrations, said the case raises concerns about whether existing safeguards were properly applied during the naturalization process.

“There were plainly steps that were missed when this person was naturalized,” he said, adding that recent agency findings suggest broader vulnerabilities in the system.

IGNORED ICE DETAINERS ‘PUT LIVES AT RISK,’ DHS SAYS, TARGETING NEWSOM, PRITZKER, HEALEY

It is not yet clear from publicly available information how Abel’s prior convictions factored into his naturalization review or whether they should have disqualified him under existing standards.

USCIS announced the creation of a new vetting center in December that DHS said would “enhance screening and vetting of immigration applications, with a focus on identifying terrorists, criminal aliens, and other threats to public safety.” The agency said the center would leverage advanced technologies and work closely with law enforcement and intelligence partners to uphold the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.

MAJOR NATIONAL SECURITY VULNERABILITY EXPOSED AS DHS REVEALS HOW RELATIVES OF TERROR ARCHITECT ALLOWED INTO US

The month before, USCIS also restored the practice of conducting neighborhood investigations of potential new citizens to verify aliens’ eligibility for naturalization by reviewing their residency, moral character, loyalty to the U.S. Constitution, and commitment to the nation’s well-being.

Arthur lauded this decision, saying, “That’s never been a priority, because of the numbers that we talk about, about 800,000 people naturalize every year.”

“This is a huge number of people, and we have assumed in the past that a simple fingerprint check and NCIC run will identify individuals who pose a danger to the community before they can be naturalized. We now know that that’s not true.”

He cautioned that though “the numbers are big, and we want to encourage people who are green card holders to become citizens,” the U.S. must continue to “invest resources in order to ensure that we don’t confer citizenship on anybody who poses a danger to the United States going forward.”

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Biden for comment.

Mounting sexual misconduct allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell led him to resign from Congress and drop out of the California gubernatorial race, but legal experts say the fallout could extend beyond politics, including potential disbarment.

Swalwell is facing a string of accusations, including that he drugged and raped one woman and sexually assaulted one of his staffers, which have spurred at least two local criminal investigations. The accusations, which he has largely denied, have driven not just his exile from the political world but could now expose him to possible broader career repercussions.

Hans von Spakovsky, legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital that Swalwell is bound by the State Bar of California’s rules of professional conduct. Swalwell has had an active license to practice law in the state since 2006.

‘SMART DECISION’: SWALWELL’S RESIGNATION SPURS PRAISE FROM BOTH PARTIES AFTER BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS EMERGE

The state lists what would constitute professional misconduct, which the bar could investigate and then decide to suspend or revoke Swalwell’s license. Von Spakovsky noted that “dishonesty, fraud, [and] deceit” are included, as well as “moral turpitude.”

“It would be up to the State Bar to investigate and see if his behavior falls within any of these or other prohibitions,” Von Spakovsky said.

Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor, said Democratic allies and left-leaning media previously “shielded” Swalwell but that the congressman was now “persona non grata without a friend in the world.” Turley raised the prospect of disbarment.

“If these rape and sexual harassment claims are established, he is likely to face disbarment demands,” Turley said on Monday just before Swalwell resigned. “Even his prior boosters at MS NOW and CNN are unlikely to offer him a media deal.”

SWALWELL ACCUSERS DETAIL EXPERIENCES WITH LAWMAKER AFTER HE ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION FROM CONGRESS

Several women have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct or assault, including a former staff member who alleged, according to CNN, that he had nonconsensual sexual relations with her twice, including one time that left her “bruised and bleeding,” while she was intoxicated. In the latest and most serious development, a Beverly Hills woman named Lonna Drewes accused Swalwell during a press conference of drugging, raping and choking her in a hotel room in 2018.

The latter accusation prompted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to open a criminal investigation, which follows the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office also announcing a criminal investigation into the claims. FBI Director Kash Patel also signaled Swalwell could have federal exposure, asking the public to provide tips and for the former congressman to meet for an interview.

Sara Azari, a NewsNation analyst who is now representing Swalwell, told the outlet “regret is not rape.”

“The fact that you know a day later or years later or what not, you maybe had shame around what you did, or maybe you were in a relationship and shouldn’t have done what you did, doesn’t make it rape,” Azari said, emphasizing that Swalwell currently only faced allegations and no civil complaints or criminal charges.

If charged and convicted, misdemeanors or felonies involving sexual offenses could lead to disbarment, even if the lawyer is not actively practicing law, according to the professional conduct rules.

Before joining Congress, Swalwell was a law clerk and practiced law as a hate crimes prosecutor for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

Fox News Digital reached out to Azari for comment.

Billionaire investor Tom Steyer is positioning himself as a critic of elites and immigration enforcement in California’s governor’s race — even as his own record, including investments in private prisons tied to ICE detention, draws scrutiny.

That tension is surfacing on the campaign trail, with Democratic rival Rep. Katie Porter highlighting Steyer’s past $90 million investment in a private prison firm tied to ICE facilities, while Republican candidates cast his immigration platform as extreme.

Steyer made his fortune overseeing Farallon Capital, a $20 billion hedge fund that invested in coal companies and private prisons, and is now running for governor on a platform targeting corporate tax loopholes, immigration enforcement and climate policy.

The California billionaire has outlined that approach most clearly on immigration, laying out a five-point plan to abolish ICE, including allowing state prosecutors to bring cases against agents and expanding legal protections for detained immigrants. Steyer calls it a plan to “put ICE in jail.”

DAVID MARCUS: HOW MANY SWALWELL-STYLE CREEPS ARE DEMOCRATS PROTECTING?

“The true test of a leader is not who they disparage and attack, but who they defend and uplift. Donald Trump attacks and robs the most vulnerable in our society, while protecting and enriching the most powerful,” the billionaire Steyer wrote in his plan on X.

Under Steyer’s leadership, Farallon Capital invested $90 million in CoreCivic, which runs private prisons, including two ICE detention facilities. California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., brought attention to Steyer’s past business dealings on X, where she responded to a post by Steyer vowing to prosecute ICE.

“If they’re criminals, does that make the guy who invested $90M in their facilities an accessory?” Porter said, quoting Steyer.

Steyer called the investment a “mistake” after pushback from progressives.

“It was also a big wake-up call that I was in the wrong place, that I was in a business that was taking me to places I absolutely didn’t want to go,” Steyer said at a March town hall. “And there’s a reason I walked away from that business and walked away from a ton of money.”

That anti-ICE plan drew fire from Republican candidate Steve Hilton, who called it “insanity” and accused Steyer of “trying to buy this election because he has no real support.”

“This is far-left extremism beyond anything we saw during the Biden years. It’s an extension of the Biden open-borders agenda on the home front,” Hilton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “He is calling for federal agents to be targeted on the streets and thrown in jail for enforcing the law. That is incitement. It puts a target on the backs of the men and women in uniform and empowers the most radical anti-government extremists.”

WHY ERIC SWALWELL WAS FORCED TO QUIT CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE AFTER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

This isn’t Steyer’s first attempt at winning elected office. He dropped out of the 2020 presidential race after losing three Democratic primary contests. He spent nearly $250 million of his personal funds in that campaign.

Steyer has since donated $112 million to his 2026 gubernatorial campaign, dwarfing the hauls of his opponents. Forbes has estimated Steyer’s net worth at $2 billion.

Running on a platform that includes universal healthcare and free college, Steyer has aligned himself with progressive figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has called him a “friend,” though Sanders has also said he is not a “fan of billionaires getting involved” in politics.

Steyer left the hedge fund he founded in 2012 to pursue his climate and clean energy advocacy work, which included creating his climate advocacy group NextGen America.

His money and campaigning have been behind three successful ballot measures and helped prevent another, including donating $12 million to California Proposition 50, the “Election Rigging Response Act” in 2025. The measure was passed, allowing for California to redraw its congressional districts to incorporate larger shares of urban and suburban voters, which Republicans unsuccessfully challenged in court.

BIANCO SAYS ‘DEMOCRAT POLICY IS INDEFENSIBLE’ AS GOP CANDIDATES TOP CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR POLLING

In 2010, he joined a campaign and donated $5 million to defeat Proposition 23, backed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. The measure sought to overturn California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. He also led measures that closed tax loopholes allowing corporations to avoid paying taxes in California and raised taxes on tobacco to supplement healthcare programs.

Steyer has received the endorsement of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., citing his support for taxing billionaires and his push for single-payer healthcare, among other issues.

“Tom has also been a bold leader on climate,” Khanna said. “We need a bold progressive agenda in California. That’s why I’m supporting Tom Steyer for governor.” 

Steyer faces competition from Democratic candidates Rep. Katie Porter D-Calif., former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Biden era Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, among others. Rep. Eric Swalwell D-Calif., deemed the frontrunner, dropped out of the race amid sexual assault allegations.

Fox News Digital reached out to Steyer for comment.

After leading the effort to force the resignation of former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., one House Republican has her sights set on another target.

“I’m very confident that the votes to expel Sheila [Cherfilus-McCormick] are there,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview, referring to Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla, who could face an expulsion vote as early as next week.

It takes a two-thirds majority to expel a member of Congress, and Luna said she has been contacted privately by both Republicans and Democrats who plan to vote to remove the embattled Florida Democrat.

“Democrats have voiced their frustrations with her and have stated that they will vote to expel her as well,” Luna said.

SWALWELL ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION FROM CONGRESS AFTER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS TORPEDOED GUBERNATORIAL BID

House Democratic leadership has not yet weighed in on Cherfilus-McCormick’s fate, but a growing number of the Democratic caucus, from moderates to progressives, have backed her ouster.

The momentum for expulsion comes after a House ethics subcommittee found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of more than two dozen ethics violations in March, including allegations related to stealing millions of disaster relief funds to finance her congressional run. She is also facing a separate federal criminal indictment that could result in more than 53 years in prison if convicted.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., is expected to introduce a resolution to expel Cherfilus-McCormick after the House Ethics Committee issues its recommended sanction next week.

Still, Cherfilus-McCormick told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that she would not resign despite the threat of removal. 

“This is not the time to abandon the district, not when they too are fighting for their future,” said Cherfilus-McCormick, who is running for reelection.

Not every lawmaker, however, has been willing to risk the prospect of expulsion, which has only happened a handful of times in U.S. history.

Luna on Tuesday threatened to introduce a motion expelling Swalwell if he did not resign. Swalwell ultimately chose to quit on his own terms rather than face a rare chamber-wide expulsion vote. 

“I was ready to make that expulsion. I had it ready to go,” Luna said. “And then his office contacted my office and let me know that his resignation would be coming in a few minutes before the deadline was for the expulsion [motion].”

Five women, including one former staffer, have so far accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct and rape. The California Democrat has denied any criminal wrongdoing and his attorney has vowed to vigorously contest the allegations.

ERIC SWALWELL WAS CABLE NEWS STAR FOR YEARS BEFORE RAPID FALL FROM GRACE

Members of Congress have traditionally been reluctant to pursue expulsion against colleagues who have not been criminally charged or found by the House Ethics Committee to have committed misconduct, but Luna argued that the serious allegations against Swalwell required a more aggressive approach. 

“His resignation, obviously, was something that had to be done,” Luna said. “It was non-negotiable.”

Luna also sharply criticized an atmosphere on Capitol Hill that she argued turned a blind eye to Swalwell’s alleged misconduct.

“From what we were hearing on the Hill, this was behavior that was known about for a while. But no one came forward to officially report it,” Luna said, calling the silence “disturbing.”

Luna predicted that additional sexual misconduct allegations would be made against Swalwell and said she turned over unreported information about Swalwell’s conduct to the FBI.

She also supported the expulsion of former Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who resigned from the House on Tuesday to fend off a looming removal vote.

“I guess I took it on myself to act specifically in these cases because I got really frustrated. I’m up here to serve my constituents,” Luna said. “There’s a lot of people that are up here to do good on behalf of their districts, to actually make real change.”

“And when you are associated with and you accept people’s behavior that is unethical and immoral and illegal, it’s a poor reflection, not just on the institution, but it also taints the waters for everyone that serves with these people,” she continued.

President Donald Trump is heading this week to two crucial swing states in this year’s midterm elections to highlight the tax cuts that Republicans in Congress passed, and which he signed into law, last year.

He will visit Nevada on Thursday and Arizona on Friday. The stops follow Wednesday’s deadline for Americans to file their taxes with the IRS.

Trump’s western swing comes as the GOP works to protect its razor-thin House and slim Senate majorities in the midterms, when the party in power typically faces political headwinds and loses congressional seats. The GOP also faces a challenging political climate fueled by persistent inflation, rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran, and the president’s low approval ratings.

But Republicans have for weeks spotlighted the tax cuts, which they insist will give them a political boost with voters in the midterms.

TRUMP HITS THE ROAD TO SELL ECONOMIC WINS, AS REPUBLICANS BRACE FOR HIGH-STAKES MIDTERM SHOWDOWN

In an interview Wednesday on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” Trump touted the tax cuts, telling host Maria Bartiromo that “the refunds are really significant, and it makes it less complicated to do your tax return. Much less complicated.”

“People are getting refunds of $5,000, $8,000, $11,000 that they had no idea they were getting. It’s turned out to be better, as good or better than I said it would,” the president emphasized.

The tax cuts were a key component of Republicans’ massive domestic policy measure, which passed almost entirely along party lines in the GOP-controlled House and Senate.

FIRST ON FOX: GOP TAKES AIM AT DEMOCRATS FOR OPPOSING TRUMP TAX CUTS

The law, originally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act but rebranded as the Working Families Tax Cuts, is stuffed full of Trump’s 2024 campaign trail promises and second-term priorities, including extending the president’s signature 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. 

Trump will spotlight the tax cuts on Thursday at a roundtable discussion at the AC Hotel in Las Vegas. The city, a popular entertainment and gaming mecca, has an outsized population of service industry workers who rely on tips and overtime pay.

EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE REPUBLICANS TARGET ‘VULNERABLE’ DEMOCRATS FOR VOTING AGAINST TAX CUTS

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president on Friday will deliver remarks at a Turning Point USA event at Dream City Church in Phoenix.

“You’ll hear a lot from the president about how his policies have benefited the American people,” Leavitt said.

Democrats have criticized the tax cuts, arguing they disproportionately benefit the wealthy and corporations.

“Donald Trump promised Americans lower prices, lower taxes, and bigger refunds, and what have they gotten instead? Massive tax breaks for Trump and his wealthy friends, a reckless trade war that has hiked prices, and a deadly and costly taxpayer-funded war with Iran,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin argued in a statement.

Martin charged that “Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ stole from nursing homes, rural hospitals, and hungry families to give a windfall to the ultra-rich.” And he claimed “Americans are seeing lower-than-promised refunds hit their bank accounts that won’t even cover the higher costs Trump has forced them to shoulder.”

RANDOLPH, N.J. — Republican Joe Hathaway aims to flip a vacant U.S. House seat in a blue-leaning district in northern New Jersey.

“I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing,” an optimistic Hathaway said this week in a Fox News Digital interview.

Hathaway is facing off against Democrat Analilia Mejia, who is backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of neighboring New York, in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. The winner will fill out the final eight months of the term of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

FIRST ON FOX: HOUSE REPUBLICANS TARGET DOZENS OF ‘VULNERABLE’ DEMOCRATS ON EVE OF TAX DAY

The special election comes as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority and would relish the opportunity to flip a suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election. But given a rough political climate and traditional headwinds for the party in power, it’s a tough task for a candidate with an R next to their name on the ballot.

To have any chance of winning, Hathaway will need the support of independents and crossover Democrats.

He said his message to those voters is “even if you’ve never voted for a Republican before, you got the chance to test drive one for the next six months, send me to Washington. Let me prove to you I’m going to do what I say.”

Pointing to Mejia, Hathaway argued that voters in the district will “choose common sense over socialism in this race.”

Mejia, a progressive organizer who served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign, pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary, narrowly edging out more moderate rival former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field appeared to divide the moderate and center-left vote.

HOUSE SPEAKER JOHNSON GETS REINFORCEMENT AS GOP CLINGS TO RAZOR-THIN MAJORITY

Her victory was another boost for the left against the establishment after democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was uncontested for the GOP congressional nomination, emphasized that the choice for voters is “between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad-backed ideology.”

Mejia recently appeared at a town hall with Malinowski and on Sunday teamed up with Sherrill on the campaign trail as she aimed to unite Democrats, who enjoy a sizable registration advantage in the district.

Hathaway claimed that Mejia is now trying “to hide from that a little bit in some of her rhetoric, because she knows that those policies are completely out of touch, but it’s not fooling voters. It’s certainly not fooling us.”

Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the special election, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting that she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

“She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on October 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”

PROGRESSIVES NOTCH ANOTHER WIN OVER DEMOCRATIC MODERATES AS SANDERS-AOC ALLY NEARS CONGRESS

Hathaway said, “I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia… and her platform.”

Mejia has pledged to “protect the rights of Jewish constituents,” and has said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said that “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”

Mejia last week wrote that she was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a “heel turn.”

Hathaway, as he aims to win over independents and Democrats, is pointing out where he agrees and disagrees with President Donald Trump, who lost the district by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.

REPUBLICANS WIN BUT DEMOCRATS ALSO CLAIM VICTORY WITH BALLOT BOX SURGE IN TRUMP TERRITORY

“I’m always going to do what’s right for this district first. And I’ve been clear: If the president’s going to do things that are good for the district, increasing the SALT cap deduction, putting money back in people’s pockets, especially New Jersey, affordability is so tough here. If we’re doing things like border security, reducing fentanyl deaths like we’ve seen in our community. Those are good things. I support those policies,” Hathaway said.

“But on the other hand, if the president’s going to do things that aren’t in the best interest of our district, it’s my job to push back, and that’s exactly what I’ve done,” he spotlighted.

Hathaway pointed to Trump’s move last year to terminate billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York, and the president’s plans to cut roughly 1,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in funding for an Army base located in New Jersey.

“I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody,” Hathaway said.

He touted, “I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16.”

But Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political science professor and pollster, calls Hathaway’s hopes of capturing crossover Democrats “a pipe dream.”

“Democrats as a whole do not seem interested in finding common ground with Trump,” he said as he predicted that most voters in the special election will be strong partisans. “Democratic turnout is through the roof and Republican turnout is depressed at this point.”

Cassino noted that “right now national politics drives everything. We say all politics is local. Today, unfortunately, all politics is national.”

Mejia, meanwhile, has tied Hathaway to Trump and Republicans in Congress.

“MAGA Republicans are driving up everyday costs with extreme policies my opponent supports. Healthcare and critical programs are being gutted just to fund tax breaks for the ultra-rich. We can’t afford another vote for Trump in Congress,” she wrote in a social media post.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated a proposal to tax luxury second homes owned by the ultra-wealthy, a plan expected to generate at least $500 million annually.

Earlier in the day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more, allowing the city to impose an annual surcharge on ultra-wealthy nonresidents.

The proposal is projected to generate at least $500 million annually, according to Hochul.

Mamdani praised the plan, noting he campaigned on taxing the wealthy.

FROM ‘JUMP ON A BUS’ TO TAX CRACKDOWNS: BLUE STATES CHASE WEALTHY RESIDENTS FLEEING TO RED HAVENS

“When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today, we’re taxing the rich,” he said in a video posted on X.

He said the tax is designed for the “richest of the rich” — people who “store their wealth in New York City real estate but who don’t actually live here.”

“This is a fundamentally unfair system that hurts working New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. “Now, it’s coming to an end.”

STEVE FORBES: DON’T CRUSH HOMEOWNERS TO PAY FOR NYC’S OUT-OF-CONTROL BUDGET

He added that revenue from the tax would go toward initiatives such as free childcare, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods.

“As mayor, I believe everyone has a role to play in contributing to our city, and some a little bit more than others,” he said.

“Happy tax day, New York,” Mamdani added.

MAMDANI’S ESTATE TAX PLAN COULD DRIVE WEALTH OUT OF STATE, CRITICS WARN

According to the governor’s office, the pied-à-terre tax would apply to residential properties in New York City that are not used as a primary residence.

Hochul said the tax would “ensure that those that own luxury homes, but do not live in the City or pay City income tax are still fairly contributing towards the funding of the essential services like policing and parks that make New York City a global destination.”

“It is not a tax on residents. That is so important. We’re talking about people who are ultrawealthy,” she said during a news conference Wednesday.

Hochul added that the proposal would help generate revenue as the city faces budget constraints, without impacting most residents.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Wednesday she regretted “hurtful” remarks about a colleague, apologizing in a court-issued statement after seemingly taking aim at Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s perspective on immigration enforcement.

During a prior appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, Sotomayor, without mentioning him by name, criticized Kavanaugh “for failing to grasp the real-world effects of an unsigned order last year that allowed immigration enforcement sweeps in Los Angeles to resume.”

“I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, these are only temporary stops,” Sotomayor said during the appearance, noting a Kavanaugh concurrence in an emergency appeal filed by the Trump administration, Noem v. Perdomo. It was a case SCOTUS stayed 6-3 in September, allowing ICE to use “apparent race or ethnicity” language and work location to justify immigration stops in California. 

“This is from a man whose parents were professionals and probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.”

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS WARNS AGAINST PERSONAL ATTACKS ON JUDGES AS ‘DANGEROUS’ AFTER TRUMP COURT TIRADE

In his concurring opinion on the Sept. 8, 2025 stay, Kavanaugh wrote that legal residents’ encounters with immigration agents are “typically brief, and those individuals may promptly go free after making clear to the immigration officers that they are U.S. citizens or otherwise legally in the United States.”

Sotomayor, who filed the dissenting opinion, alleged in her remarks at KU that Kavanaugh failed to grasp that even short detentions can have major “financial consequences” for hourly workers despite him citing the legal reasoning of immigration stops being longstanding and based on reasonable suspicion.

JONATHAN TURLEY: LIBERAL JUSTICE’S SWIPE AT KAVANAUGH LATEST SIGN OF SCOTUS’ SLIPPING STANDARDS

She added her “life experiences” taught her how to “think more broadly and to see things others may not,” seemingly in reference to racial profiling as the first Hispanic justice.

TRUMP REVEALS HE HAS MULTI-PICK SCOTUS PLAN READY AS RETIREMENT SPECULATION HEATS UP

In a statement released by the Supreme Court Wednesday, Sotomayor said she “referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case” but “made remarks that were inappropriate.”

“I regret my hurtful comments,” she wrote in the statement. “I have apologized to my colleague.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be restored as early as July, signaling a rapid pivot by the Trump administration after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s IEEPA-based tariffs earlier this year, forcing the administration to turn to other trade authorities.

“We had a setback at the Supreme Court in terms of the tariff policy,” Bessent said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal. “But we will be implementing or conducting Section 301 studies — so the tariffs could be back in place at the previous level by [the] beginning of July.”

His remarks come after the Supreme Court ruled in February that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize tariffs.

Trump has billed tariffs as “life or death” for the U.S. economy — underscoring the outsize importance the administration has placed on the issue. 

TRUMP TARIFF PLAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS COURT BATTLES INTENSIFY

Bessent’s comments also come as the U.S. collected more than $133 billion in IEEPA tariff duties as of mid-December, according to data published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, a figure that later grew to roughly $166 billion by early March 2026.

The administration moved to preserve tariffs in the weeks since the Supreme Court’s ruling to find new ways to implement the import fees, invoking several provisions of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 in order to do so. 

Bessent’s remarks, first reported by Bloomberg, are a sign that the Trump administration plans to enact a combination of statutes under the trade law as it looks to move past the high court’s ruling and find new ways to sustain U.S. tariff pressure. 

The strategy, long-term, appears to focus largely on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office (USTR) to implement “retaliatory import restrictions” against a country that is found to have engaged in unfair or “discriminatory” trade policies or practices towards U.S. businesses. 

Section 301 allows the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate and respond to “unfair” foreign trade practices flagged by the president, though they require a formal period of notice and public comment, delaying enforcement. 

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Trump administration has initiated a flurry of more than 75 investigations under Section 301, according to a report from Alan Wm. Wolff, a senior fellow for the Peterson Institute for International Economics — far outpacing the average annual number of Section 301 investigations initiated during the past five decades.

TRUMP WARNS SUPREME COURT TARIFF SHOWDOWN IS ‘LIFE OR DEATH’ FOR AMERICA

That’s not the only lever administration officials have pulled in an effort to keep Trump’s tariffs in place, however.

Trump last month announced new 10% global tariffs — an emergency provision under the trade law that allows a president to unilaterally impose import fees of up to 15% on U.S. trading partners for a period of 150 days, to respond to large and serious “balance of payments deficits,” or instances that risk immediately depreciating the power of the dollar.  

The Section 122 announcement prompted a lawsuit from 24 attorneys general, who argued the move was an illegal attempt to “sidestep” the Supreme Court’s ruling. It also prompted another lengthy hearing before the U.S. Court of International Trade in Manhattan Friday, as judges on the three-member panel weighed the legality of Trump’s effort.

Lawyers for the challenges told the court Friday that upholding the administration’s broader view of the law would effectively turn Section 122 into an all-purpose trade weapon. 

US COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE SIDES WITH TRUMP IN TARIFF CASE

But Justice Department lawyer Brett Shumate argued that Congress had provided presidents with broad discretion to assess economic conditions.

“A trade deficit was a large driver of a balance of payments deficit in 1974 as it is today,” Shumate said. 

“We’re not on the gold standard anymore,” he said. “We don’t have a fixed currency, but we can still have balance-of-payment problems.”

First lady Melania Trump delivered a plea to lawmakers on Wednesday, demanding “action over awareness” to secure the futures of America’s foster children by turning her recent executive action into permanent law.

During a bipartisan congressional committee meeting, Trump outlined her vision to transform vulnerable youth into financially independent business owners, explaining the American dream should be “their birthright.”

While describing the Fostering the Future executive order she signed in November as a “transformative vision,” she said Congress now has an opportunity to create a lasting, positive impact by passing permanent legislation.

Since the start of her nationwide initiative, Fostering the Future, in 2021, the program has a footprint in more than 20 universities across the country, including major institutions like LSU, the University of Virginia, University of Texas and Ohio State University.

FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP: AI COULD IMPROVE TEACHING AND HELP DELIVER A WORLD-CLASS EDUCATION TO OUR CHILDREN

Rather than relying on perpetual government assistance, Trump said her goal at the university level is to prepare those in foster care to secure entry-level jobs, become financially independent, create new businesses and generate employment opportunities.

She also highlighted roadblocks within the current system, noting that only roughly 3% of people in the foster care community earn a college degree.

“We can close this gap, but still, foster youth face a special set of challenges outside the classroom that have a serious impact on their academic performance,” Trump said.

“These issues include housing instability, educational advocacy, financial barriers [and] transportation continuity,” she continued.

“New legislation for the foster care community is a moral imperative.”

The first lady added that safeguarding foster children’s well-being helps “shape the integrity of our nation” and reminded bipartisan lawmakers that “America’s children are our moral equals.”

“As parents and leaders, it is our ethical obligation to ensure American children develop emotionally and physically within a safe environment,” Trump said. 

“As a community, we strive to nurture our children’s curiosity, protect their innocence and guide them with hearts full of care. … But to get there, a strong knowledge base is required. Education is the cornerstone of a child’s future.”