Judges across the country have taken action to block President Donald Trump’s agenda since he took office in January. Vice President JD Vance triggered a social media frenzy on Sunday by affirming his support for Trump’s executive authority. 

"If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal," Vance posted on X. "If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power."

Vance's comments followed a ruling that blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing personal data. Judges in New Hampshire, Seattle and Maryland have blocked Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. New York Attorney General Leitita James advised hospitals to ignore Trump’s executive order ending sex change procedures for minors. 

Democrats were quick to lash out at Vance on social media on Sunday, equating his comments to "tyranny" and "lawlessness." Illinois Gov. JV Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender, said Vance's comments mean "the Trump administration intends to break the law."

TRUMP DOJ CALLS JUDGE'S DOGE ORDER ‘ANTI-CONSTITUTIONAL’

"JD Vance is saying the quiet part out loud: the Trump administration intends to break the law. America is a nation of laws. The courts make sure we follow the laws. The VP doesn’t control the courts, and the President cannot ignore the Constitution. No one is above the law," Pritzker said.

TRUMP'S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATOR-TURNED-VP VANCE'S GIFT OF GAB

Pete Buttigieg, former Transportation secretary and a 2020 presidential candidate, said the vice president does not decide what is legal. 

"In America, decisions about what is legal and illegal are made by courts of law. Not by the Vice President," Buttigieg said. 

Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman who led the Jan. 6 Select Committee and campaigned for former Vice President Kamala Harris, accused Vance of tyranny. 

David Hogg, the first Gen Z vice chair of the Democratic Party, said Vance’s comments are a power grab by the executive branch.

"He’s saying this to normalize a power grab by the executive to consolidate the power of the president and make him a king," Hogg said. "If liberals ever said this, conservatives would (rightfully) lose their godd--- minds."

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy called Vance’s comments the "meat" of the current "constitutional crisis."

"For those of us who believe we are in the middle of a constitutional crisis, this is the meat of it," Murphy said on X. "Trump and Vance are laying the groundwork to ignore the courts – democracy's last line of defense against unchecked executive power."

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the first-term senator whom Trump nicknamed "Schifty Schiff" on the campaign trail, said Vance’s comment "puts us on a dangerous path to lawlessness."

"JD, we both went to law school. But we don’t have to be lawyers to know that ignoring court decisions we don’t like puts us on a dangerous path to lawlessness. We just have to swear an oath to the constitution. And mean it," Sen. Adam Schiff, D-CA, responded. 

Some conservatives fired back at the onslaught of comments. Columnist Kurt Schlichter jumped into the conversation, implying Schiff is a bad lawyer. 

Jed Rubenfeld, a Yale Law School professor, lawyer and constitutional scholar, said he agreed with Vance that judges cannot "constitutionally interfere."

"JD is correct about this, and his examples are exactly right," Rubenfeld said. "Where the Executive has sole and plenary power under the Constitution – as in commanding military operations or exercising prosecutorial discretion – judges cannot constitutionally interfere."

More X users, who joined the debate, said Vance and his supporters' comments are ironic. AJ Delgado, a self-described "MAGA original but now proudly anti-Trump," said those attacking Vance lacked principle. 

"Weren't you all cheering when a federal judge halted Biden's student loan forgiveness? You have ZERO principles," she wrote on X. 

When the Supreme Court ruled against President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, he did not waver in his commitment to relieving student debt, vowing "to keep going" despite the court's order. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., during a February 2024 episode of "Pod Save America," gave credit to Biden for finding alternative ways to alleviate student loan debt.

"Whatever tools he's got, he’s sharpening and building some new tools through his Department of Education. We are now at about just a little shy of 4 million people who have had their student loan debt canceled. Joe Biden is just staying after it," Warren said.

President Donald Trump’s first term revolutionized the online relationship between the president and the public, but self-proclaimed "White House Tech Support" Elon Musk is ushering a chronically online generation into Trump’s second term. 

Trump has been using Truth Social in his second term like he used Twitter during his first, blasting off posts at all hours of the day to roll out policy announcements and comment on his favorite – or least favorite – news shows. Truth Social reads like Trump's own stream of consciousness, and most Truth users are loyal Trump supporters who use the social media platform to rally around his policies.

Musk’s X account reads more like a political debate. Buried in the steady stream of memes and AI edits, "special government employee" Musk uses X as a way to meet Americans where they are – confirming and denying information about his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in real time. 

It is easy to get lost in Musk's 69,000 posts, but the richest man in the world does not miss a beat. This week, as an unrelenting news cycle focused on DOGE’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation, Musk used X to confirm reporting as misinformation circulated. 

HOUSE DEMOCRAT LEAVES CONGRESSIONAL DOGE CAUCUS, SAYING MUSK IS 'BLOWING THINGS UP'

"All @DOGE did was check to see which federal organizations were violating the @POTUS executive orders the most. Turned out to be USAID, so that became our focus," Musk explained in a post on Monday. 

On Wednesday, Musk confirmed reporting by the Wall Street Journal that DOGE is investigating the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, posting: "Yeah, this is where the big money fraud is happening."

DEMOCRATS TRY TO ENTER DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AMID OUTRAGE OVER POSSIBLE DOGE CUTS

Musk invites his followers to engage in the Democratic process right through the app, asking,"Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym?" Musk asked his X followers in an X poll on Friday morning.

Musk polled his followers on Tuesday as well, asking if DOGE should audit the IRS. 

Between the polls and DOGE confirmations, Musk floods his account with political commentary and quick reactions to trending posts. Musk simply responded with a bullseye emoji when an X user posted, "If you’re more angry that a handful of 22 year old software engineers are writing code to uncover fraudulent government spending than at the people who are fraudulently spending your hard earned taxes, it’s time to do some soul searching." 

Musk also embraces his platform as a vehicle to spark political debate with Democratic leaders.

In recent days, Democrats in Congress have unleashed attacks on Musk, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who said, "Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire, who no one elected" at a rally outside the Treasury Department, where protesters were speaking out against DOGE.

"Elon, this is the American people. This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of," she continued.

"We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a--es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it," Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said at the same rally. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was also in attendance and told the crowd that Musk's DOGE efforts are "taking away everything we have."

The official DOGE account has a more formal tone and often doubles down on Musk's posts to verify new information. DOGE has over 3 million followers on X. 

As the owner of X, Musk is the most followed person on the app with a staggering 216.4 million followers. Musk has more followers on X than Trump has on Truth Social (8.83 million) and X (100.4 million) combined. 

These days, Trump follows a Truth Social first media strategy. During his presidential transition, Trump announced his cabinet nominations on Truth Social before the transition team hit send on the press release. The press release that arrived several minutes later simply directed reporters back to the Truth Social post. 

Musk's constant posts landed him at odds with Trump last week when Musk said OpenAI does not have the money for The Stargate Project's $500 billion investment in AI over the next four years. Musk said he had it on "good authority" that "SoftBank has well under $10B secured" for the investment, soon after Trump finished a press conference announcing the project. 

Trump shrugged off Musk's comments later that week, telling the press Musk "hates one of the people in the deal." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk have a long-standing legal feud. 

While Trump is using X again, he is more likely to post a screenshot of his Truth Social post than break any news on Musk’s platform. Trump was banned from Twitter after Jan. 6 and launched Truth Social in 2022. His account was reinstated after Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X. 

Musk said he bought Twitter to "help humanity" and committed to protecting free speech. While liberal ideology dominated Twitter, X is more likely to lean conservative. A Pew Research Center survey in 2023 found Republicans are more likely to view the site positively since Musk arrived on the scene, while Democrats are more likely to say X has a ne gativeimpact on American democracy.

Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report

President Donald Trump's Justice Department pushed to undo an "anti-Constitutional" ruling from a federal judge that blocked Elon Musk and any of his close associates from accessing Treasury Department data on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer's Saturday ruling blocked Department of Government Efficiency officials from accessing personal data such as social security numbers and bank account numbers. While the Trump administration says it has "substantially complied" with the order, the DOJ has attacked the order as "anti-constitutional."

The White House noted that the Senate-confirmed Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, is also prohibited from accessing the data under the order.

Vice President JD Vance argued that ruling was unconstitutional on X, saying it was an example of judicial overreach.

MEET THE YOUNG TEAM OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERS SLASHING GOVERNMENT WASTE AT DOGE: REPORT

"If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power," Vance wrote Sunday.

ELON MUSK OUTLINES ‘SUPER OBVIOUS’ CHANGES DOGE AND TREASURY HAVE AGREED TO MAKE

Other White House officials echoed Vance's statement over the weekend, arguing the judge was blocking DOGE's legitimate efforts to purge government waste.

"What we continue to see here is the idea that rogue bureaucrats who are elected by no one, who answer to no one, who have lifetime tenure jobs, who we would be told can never be fired, which, of course, is not true, that the power has been cemented and accumulated for years, whether it be with the Treasury bureaucrats or the FBI bureaucrats or the CIA bureaucrats or the USAID bureaucrats, with this unelected shadow force that is running our government and running our country," Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller said on "Sunday Morning Futures."

Musk himself condemned Engelmayer as a "corrupt judge protecting corruption" and called for him to be impeached.

Trump weighed in on the issue later Sunday on his way to the Superbowl in New Orleans, telling reporters that he is "very disappointed" in the ruling, but adding that "we have a long way to go.

"No judge should frankly be allowed to make that kind of a decision," he said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit claims Musk's DOGE is seeking access to the data to "illegally block" payments to "essential programs."

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has taken a satirical jab at President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Gulf of Mexico and annex Greenland. 

A straight-faced Pritzker released a choreographed video on Friday, with fake camera shutter clicks going off in the background, where he asserts that he is renaming Lake Michigan to "Lake Illinois," poking fun at Trump’s recent executive order where he changed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

PRITZKER BASHES TRUMP ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: 'WE WILL NOT FOLLOW AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDER'

"The world's finest geographers, experts who study the Earth's natural environment, have concluded a decades-long council and determined that a great lake deserves to be named after a great state," Pritzker said. 

"So today, I'm issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter, Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world's maps reflect this momentous change."

Trump signed Executive Order 14172 on his first day back in office which changed the name of the ocean basin. The order also renamed the highest peak in North America to "Mount McKinley," reversing the 2015 decision to call it by its centuries-old name Denali.

Google has said it will make Trump’s changes once the Department of the Interior updates the Geographic Names Information System. As of today, Google Maps still refers to it as the Gulf of Mexico.

In the video, Pritzker then switches his attention to Green Bay, a Wisconsin city near Lake Michigan. And just like how Trump vowed to take over Greenland from Denmark, Pritzker pledged to snap up Green Bay from The Badger State.  

"In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland, the United States will be purchasing Greenland... Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic," Pritzker said. 

TRUDEAU SAYS TRUMP IS SERIOUS ABOUT CANADA BECOMING 51ST STATE: REPORTS

"I've also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River."

"God bless America and bear down," Pritzker said, a nod to Wisconsin’s Green Bay Packers, one of Chicago Bears' biggest rivals.

The video comes on the heels of a Justice Department lawsuit filed against the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago for allegedly interfering with federal immigration enforcement with its sanctuary polices.

The lawsuit claims that several state and local laws are designed to interfere with the federal government's enforcement of federal immigration law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

Pritzker and Trump have also clashed over Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, with Pritzker declaring the move unconstitutional. 

Trump's order, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," asserts that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution does not automatically confer American citizenship to individuals who are born within the United States. 

They also feuded during Trump’s first term in office when Pritzker claimed the state only recovered a quarter of its requested personal protective equipment from the federal government.

Conservatives on social media rallied around Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday as the Trump nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) faced questions from senators in his confirmation hearing.

"RFK crushed it," conservative commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X. "Very proud of him. Confirm him, now!"

"RFK killed it today," RNC national committeewoman Amy Kremer posted on X." So proud of him! LFG."

"RFK Jr is crushing this hearing," former GOP Rep. Scott Taylor posted on X. "Dems look unhinged and very petty. America is sicker, more obese, and more unhealthy than ever. Something has to change!"

'WHAT A JACKA--': CONSERVATIVES HAMMER DEM SENATOR'S 'DRONING MONOLOGUE' DURING RFK JR HEARING

"The room ERUPTED in applause IMMEDIATELY after RFK Jr’s confirmation hearing concluded," conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted on X. "Confirm him."

Former NCAA swimmer and conservative commentator Riley Gaines posted on X that "the Dems embarrassed themselves today."

RFK JR RIPS DEM SENATOR FOR PUSHING 'DISHONEST' NARRATIVE ON PAST VACCINE COMMENTS: 'CORRECTED IT MANY TIMES'

"Confirm RFK!!!!" Gaines wrote.

"Absolute masterclass," Trump 2024 Deputy Rapid Response Director Greg Price posted on X during the hearing.

Verbal fireworks exploded minutes into the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, the first of two straight days of congressional confirmation hearings for the controversial vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump.

Kennedy repeatedly insisted that he was not "anti-vaccine" and slammed multiple Democratic senators for pushing a "dishonest" narrative against him that he has "corrected" on national television many times. Democrats on the committee pointed to a slew of past comments from the nominee in which he questioned or disparaged COVID shots and other vaccines.

Kennedy returns to Capitol Hill on Thursday for a hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. It is considered a courtesy hearing as only the Senate Finance Committee will vote on Kennedy's confirmation.

With Republicans controlling the Senate by a 53-47 majority, Kennedy can only afford to lose the support of three GOP senators if Democrats unite against his confirmation. During Wednesday's hearing, no Republicans appeared to oppose the nomination.

Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

When President Donald Trump lands in California on Friday to survey the devastating wildfires that have ravaged metropolitan Los Angeles this month, the state's Democratic governor will be among the officials greeting him.

But Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared to be showing up uninvited.

"I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him," Newsom told reporters on the eve of Trump's stop in Los Angeles.

A couple of hours before Trump touched down in Los Angeles, Newsom director of communications Izzy Gardon told Fox News Digital that "in coordination with the White House, the governor will greet President Trump on the tarmac upon his arrival in California."

"The governor is committed to advocating for the needs of Californians in partnership with the federal administration," he emphasized.

Since the fires, which have killed nearly 30 people and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, broke out earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly criticized Newsom's handling of the immense crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy and, pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, has called on Newsom to step down.

UNINVITED NEWSOM SAYS HE'LL BE ON TARMAC TO GREET AND BRIEF TRUMP

"Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!" Trump charged in a social media post on Jan. 8, as he repeated a derogatory name he often labels the governor.

And in his first Oval Office interview since returning to power in the White House, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity this week, "This fire was just raging, and then it would catch to another area, another area, another area."

"It took a week and a half — and I’ve never seen anything like it. We look so weak," Trump argued during his appearance on "Hannity," as he pointed towards his repeated claim that a main reason the blazes raged was because firefighters didn't have access to water.

TRUMP PLEDGES FEMA OVERHAUL DURING STOP IN HURRICANE RAVAGED WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Trump and some top Republicans in Congress have pushed toward placing conditions on continuing the massive federal wildfire aid to California in order to force policy changes.

The president said on Friday, ahead of his arrival in Los Angeles, that he wanted to see "two things" before he would support federal disaster relief funds for California.

"I want to see two things in Los Angeles: Voter ID so that the people have a chance to vote. And I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen," Trump said.

Newsom on Thursday signed a $2.5 billion state relief package. But California will need much more help from the federal government.

And Newsom — the governor of the nation's most populous state, one of the Democratic Party's leaders in the resistance against the returning president and a potential White House contender in 2028 — has pushed back, as the two larger-than-life politicians trade fire.

The governor has noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

Newsom has also charged Trump has spread "hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation."

And in a letter to Congress last week, Newsom emphasized that "our long national history of responding to natural disasters, no matter where they occur, has always been Americans helping Americans, full stop."

The wildfires are far from the first time Newsom and Trump have taken aim at each other. Their animosity dates back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California's lieutenant governor.

The verbal fireworks continued over the past two years, as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Joe Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats' 2024 standard-bearer last summer.

Following Trump's convincing election victory over Harris in November, Newsom moved to "Trump-proof" his heavily blue state.

"He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election," Trump responded.

While pushing back against Trump's attacks amid the wildfires, Newsom also knows he needs to work with the president.

Newsom, who two weeks ago invited Trump to come to California to survey the damage, said in a statement on Monday following the inauguration ceremony, "I look forward to President Trump’s visit to Los Angeles and his mobilization of the full weight of the federal government to help our fellow Americans recover and rebuild."

He emphasized "finding common ground and striving toward shared goals" with the Trump administration.

"In the face of one of the worst natural disasters in America’s history, this moment underscores the critical need for partnership, a shared commitment to facts, and mutual respect — values that enable civil discourse, effective governance, and meaningful action," the governor said.

Veteran California-based political scientist Jack Pitney at Claremont McKenna College noted that "this is a very difficult balance" for Newsom.

"As a governor of California, he needs to work with the president to get federal aid for the state. As a national political figure, he feels pressure to attack Trump. It’s hard to do both of those at the same time," Pitney told Fox News.

Fox News' Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX — A coalition of more than 400 U.S. farm, agriculture and growers groups sent a letter to Senate leaders this week urging the swift confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump nominee Brooke Rollins to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), praising her as a strong voice they see as well-positioned to speak to the interests of rural America.

The signatories included a whopping 417 national and state growers groups representing the interests of farmers, growers, hunters, ranchers, forest owners, renewable fuel associations and state departments of agriculture across the country — encompassing what they said is virtually "all aspects of American agriculture, food, nutrition and rural America."

The USDA is the agency that oversees the nation's agriculture and its practices. Its sprawling portfolio includes providing support for farmers, setting the standards for school meals and overseeing the safety of meat, poultry and eggs.

The letter was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital and sent to Sens. John Boozman, R-La., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. — the chair and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, respectively — just one week before Rollins was slated to appear before the panel for her confirmation hearing.

AG NOMINEE PAM BONDI SEEN AS STEADYING FORCE TO STEER DOJ IN TRUMP'S SECOND TERM

In the letter, signatories praised what they described as Rollins’ foundational knowledge of agriculture, combined with her policy and business bona fides that they said made her uniquely qualified for the role of U.S. agriculture secretary.

Rollins "has been engaged in American agriculture since an early age," they said, noting Rollins’ childhood spent baling hay and growing livestock in Glen Rose, Texas — a small town some 70 miles outside of Dallas — as well as the summers she spent working on her family’s farm in Minnesota.

Later, Rollins majored in agricultural development at Texas A&M on a scholarship, before completing law school at the University of Texas. She went on to work for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and then later served as director of the United States Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term as president. She then became president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, whose mission is to "advance policies that put the American people first." 

The nonprofit think tank has called on Congress to restrict China's access to American farmland and has been critical of President Biden's energy policies. 

TRUMP ANNOUNCES NEW CABINET DEPUTIES AS INAUGURATION DATE DRAWS NEAR

In the letter, the groups said Rollins’ agriculture and farming bona fides, policy expertise and her business experience make her uniquely prepared to "provide effective executive leadership for USDA’s important, wide-ranging activities and large workforce."

TRUMP INAUGURATION GUEST LIST INCLUDES TECH TITANS MARK ZUCKERBERG, JEFF BEZOS, ELON MUSK

The timing of the letter and Rollins' pending confirmation hearing, slated for Thursday, comes at a crucial time for U.S. growers groups and agribusinesses across the country. 

It comes as lawmakers have stalled on a new farm bill, and on other key priorities for farmers and industry groups across the country. 

The 11th-hour passage of a government spending bill in late December helped narrowly avert a government shutdown, but it failed to provide the full extent of farm aid and other agriculture subsidies in the amounts considered necessary for many in the U.S.

In the letter, the groups cited Rollins’ "close working relationship" with the incoming president, which they said will "ensure that agriculture and rural America have a prominent and influential voice at the table when critical decisions are made in the White House."

In sum, the letter said, Rollins’ leadership at USDA is necessary to help "advocate for a new farm bill, stabilize an agricultural economy in decline, support the full food and agriculture and forestry value chain, and continue American agriculture’s long history of providing the most secure, affordable and nutritious food supply in the world."

Rollins is not expected to face staunch opposition to her nomination to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and lawmakers who have spoken out to date have praised both her experience and strong knowledge of the agriculture sector. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, with just days left in office, assured staff that she would not "go quietly into the night" as she added her signature to a desk drawer in her ceremonial office.

"And I’m not going to go through the laundry list of all of our accomplishments. We know what they are. But I will tell you that everyone here has so much to be proud of, and our work is not done," Harris said. "And as you all know me, because we have spent long hours, long days, and months and years together, it is not my nature to go quietly into the night."

Harris is the first woman to take part in the decadeslong tradition of signing the drawer. The VP noted that she had met everyone who signed the desk, with the exceptions of Presidents Eisenhower and Truman.

COULD VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS MAKE A RUN FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR IN 2 YEARS?

Once Harris signed the desk, the crowd of current and former staffers in attendance began chanting "MVP!"

"We have each taken on a life and a calling that is about doing work in the service of others and doing it in a way that is fueled, yes, with ambition; yes, with a sense of almost stubbornness about not hearing no; and knowing we can make a difference," Harris told her staff.

While Harris was taking part in a long-held tradition, her journey to that point was anything but traditional.

KAMALA HARRIS TRIES TO DEFINE WHAT IT MEANS TO WIN

After becoming America’s first female vice president in the middle of a pandemic, Harris, along with President Biden, oversaw years filled with crises from COVID-19 to crime, inflation and the border. In addition to the challenges of the Biden-Harris administration, the VP also faced frequent mocking for her "word salads."

Harris’ road to becoming the Democratic presidential nominee was also historic, as she took President Biden's place after he abruptly exited the 2024 race. Furthermore, the election cycle itself was full of controversies and multiple assassination attempts against now-President-elect Trump.

HARRIS TO OVERSEE CERTIFICATION OF HER DEFEAT TO TRUMP IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Following her crushing loss to Trump in November, Harris’ political future became murky. Some have speculated that she will run for California governor in 2026, as Gov. Gavin Newsom will not be able to seek a third term due to term limits. Others wonder if she’ll skip the gubernatorial bid and try again for the presidency in 2028.

Harris has not spoken publicly about her future, making Thursday’s comment the first on what she could be planning after Trump takes office.

The Senate will likely have a few Cabinet nominees who are relatively non-controversial. In the interest of time, senators could agree to expedite the process and confirm an individual nominee or several nominees by voice vote or unanimous consent.

As long as there are no objections among all 100 (currently 99) senators.

This speeds things up in the Senate, where floor time is at a premium.

However, there’s a good reason why some Democrats may oppose a streamlined process for this.

It’s not because they’re trying to clog up the Senate plumbing. Democrats may demand a roll call vote on nominees they support in order to show that they voted in a bipartisan fashion to confirm some of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees.

Democrats are likely to reject the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Defense secretary. However, other relatively easy to confirm nominees like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., picked to serve as secretary of state, or Sean Duffy for Transportation secretary, could require roll call votes.

As a result, Democrats can then argue that they voted in favor of "X" number of Mr. Trump’s nominees – and argue they operated in a bipartisan fashion.

More than half of Americans say that President Biden will be remembered as a below-average or one of the worst presidents in the nation's history, according to a new national poll.

Just over a third of adults nationwide questioned in a Marist poll released on Wednesday said Biden will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history, with another 19% saying he will be considered a below-average president.

Twenty-eight percent of participants offered that Biden's legacy will be considered average, with 19% saying he would be regarded as an above average or one of the best presidents in the nation's history.

The poll was released just hours before the president delivers his farewell address to the nation, with just days left before Biden's term ends and he is succeeded by President-elect Trump in the White House.

WILL HISTORY BE KIND OR UNKIND TO PRESIDENT BIDEN?

In his Oval Office speech, Biden will likely aim to cement his legacy as a president who pushed to stabilize politics at home while bolstering America's leadership abroad, and as a leader who steered the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic and made historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy while lowering prescription drug prices.

Biden, in a letter to Americans released early Wednesday morning, emphasized that when he took office four years ago "we were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War."

And he touted that "today, we have the strongest economy in the world and have created a record 16.6 million new jobs. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down. The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years."

But the Marist poll is the second straight national survey to indicate history will likely not view Biden kindly.

According to a USA Today/Suffolk University survey released on Tuesday, 44% of voters nationwide said history will assess Biden as a failed president, with another 27% saying he will be judged as a fair president.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING RESULTS

Twenty-one percent of those questioned said history will view Biden as a good president, with only 5% saying he will be seen as a great president.

The president's single term in the White House ends next Monday, Jan. 20, as Trump is inaugurated as Biden's successor.

However, according to the USA Today/Suffolk University poll, 44% also said that Trump will be seen by history as a failed president. 

One in five said that Trump would be viewed as a great president, with 19% saying good and 27% saying he would be judged a fair president.

Trump ended his first term in office with approval ratings in negative territory, including 47% approval in Fox News polling from four years ago.

In Marist polling four years ago, as Trump finished his first term, 47% thought he would be remembered as one of the nation's worst presidents.

A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SAY THIS IS HOW THEY'LL VIEW BIDEN'S PRESIDENCY

Biden stands at 42% approval and 50% disapproval in Marist's new survey, as the president departs the White House. He stood at 43%-54% approval/disapproval in the USA Today/Suffolk University poll.

Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House. However, the president’s numbers started sagging in August 2021 in the wake of Biden's much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and following a surge in COVID-19 cases that summer that was mainly among unvaccinated people.

The plunge in the president’s approval rating was also fueled by soaring inflation – which started spiking in the summer of 2021 and remains to date a major pocketbook concern with Americans – and the surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. along the southern border.

Biden's approval ratings slipped underwater in the autumn of 2021 and never reemerged into positive territory.

As Trump gets ready to once again assume the presidency, the Marist poll indicates opinions of him remain low, with 44% of Americans viewing him favorably and 49% holding an unfavorable opinion of the incoming president.

However, opinions about Trump's first term have risen in numerous polls conducted since his convincing victory in November's presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris. The vice president succeeded Biden in July as the Democrats' 2024 standard-bearer after the president dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

The poll also indicates that Americans have high expectations for Trump when it comes to the economy.

"While many Americans feel the current economy is not working well for them, residents nationally have grown more optimistic about the future of their own finances," the poll's release highlights.

The survey also indicates Americans are divided about Trump’s proposed mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. 

According to the poll, more than six in 10 disapprove of Trump's pledge to pardon his supporters who were convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The Marist poll was conducted Jan. 7-9, with 1,387 adults nationwide questioned. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

A committee of the California legislature has indefinitely postponed its planned first hearing in a special session called to "Trump-proof" the state and bolster its legal defense in case of attacks from the incoming administration.

KCRA first reported that the Assembly Budget Committee's Tuesday hearing, is now off the docket.

The committee's chairman, Democratic Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, represents one of the districts impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires and is currently under evacuation orders. Democrats were previously hoping to have legislation passed by Inauguration Day.

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State lawmakers also made changes to legislation connected to former President Trump on Friday as the Los Angeles wildfires continue to ravage the region. They suggested creating a website to track lawsuits between California and the Trump administration, set guidelines for using $25 million in extra funding for the state Department of Justice’s legal battles, and proposed $25 million in grants for immigration services.

"This Special Session funding agreement cements California’s readiness to serve as a bulwark against Trump’s extremist agenda. During the last Trump Administration, California successfully defended reproductive freedoms, attacks on our immigrant communities, LGBTQ civil rights, and threats to our environment, from the unlawful assault launched by the Trump Administration," Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener said in a press release. 

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Shortly after Trump's electoral victory, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a special legislative session to bolster the state's legal fund in case of attacks from the Trump administration. 

Trump hit back at Newsom after the announcement, saying on his Truth Social account, "He is using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the Election."

Between 2017 and 2021, California's Department of Justice filed 122 lawsuits against Trump administration policies, spending $42 million. In one case, the federal government was ordered to repay California nearly $60 million in public safety grants, according to Newsom's office.

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While California filed over 100 lawsuits, Trump's administration only brought four major lawsuits against the state. In 2018, the Trump DOJ sued over three sanctuary state laws limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and over California's state-level net neutrality law.

In 2019, Trump also filed a lawsuit against California's vehicle emissions standards, attempting to revoke California's ability to set its own emissions rules. The Trump administration also sued California over its controversial independent contractor law, AB 5, in 2020. 

Fox News Digital did not hear back from Newsom's office for comment by press deadline.

The decision by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to end Facebook's work with third-party fact-checkers and ease some of its content restrictions is a potentially "transformative" moment for the platform, experts said, but one that is unlikely to shield the company from liability in ongoing court proceedings.

The updates were announced by Zuckerberg, who said in a video that the previous content restrictions used on Facebook and Instagram — which were put into place after the 2016 elections — had "gone too far" and allowed for too much political bias from outside fact-checkers.

Meta will now replace that system with a "Community Notes"-style program, similar to the approach taken by social media platform X, he said. X is owned by Elon Musk, the co-director of the planned Department of Government Efficiency.

"We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship," Zuckerberg said. "The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point toward once again prioritizing speech. So we are going to get back to our roots, focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms."

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The news was praised by President-elect Donald Trump, who told Fox News Digital that he thought Meta's presentation "was excellent."  "They have come a long way," Trump said.

Still, it is unlikely to ease the legal liability for Meta, which in recent months has been hit with the possibility of a multibillion-dollar class action lawsuit stemming from a privacy scandal involving the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. 

The Supreme Court in November rejected Meta's effort to block the lawsuit, leaving in place an appellate court ruling that allowed the class action suit to move forward. 

Meta has also been the target of multiple Republican-led investigations in Congress. Republicans on the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government probed Meta's activity and communication with the federal government and the Biden administration last year as part of a broader investigation into alleged censorship. 

The platform also came under scrutiny by the House Oversight Committee in August, as part of an investigation into claims that the platform suppressed information about the July 13 assassination attempt of Trump. 

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Combined, these factors make it unlikely that Meta will see its legal problems go away anytime soon, law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital in an interview.

"Facebook is now looking at a tough patch ahead," he said. "Not only do the Republicans carry both houses of Congress as well as the White House, but there is ongoing litigation in the social media case in Texas."

Additionally, the Supreme Court's conservative majority is also unlikely to be sympathetic to the views of Meta in any case centered on First Amendment protections and rights to free speech.

The House investigations and litigation have both forced more of Meta's actions into public view— something Turley said expects to come under further scrutiny in the discovery process in Missouri v. Biden, a case that centers on allegations of political censorship.

"That discovery is still revealing new details," Turley said. "So Meta understood that in the coming months, more details would be forthcoming on its censorship program."

Still, he said, this "could be a transformative moment," Turley said. 

"And an alliance of Zuckerberg with [Elon] Musk could turn the tide in this fight over free speech," Turley said. "And as one of Zuckerberg's most vocal critics  I welcome him to this fight."

A Los Angeles church is struggling to balance politics, causing some of the congregation to leave over differences.

Rev. Jonathan Hall has been trying to figure out "what’s ‘too political’ for a place of worship — or whether ‘being political’ is the whole point of the Gospel," according to a report by The Washington Post.

Hall’s First Christian Church of North Hollywood, a "politically-blended congregation," struggled with political differences before and after the presidential election, when President-elect Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in a landslide victory.

Hall, a native of Alabama, led the church north of Los Angeles for two years. He aims to unite the church, but it’s been a challenge.

"Persuading the Republicans, Democrats and independents in his pews to stay and pray with one another is getting more complicated," the Post reported.

CHRISTIANS INCREASINGLY PERSECUTED WORLDWIDE AS 'MODERN AND HISTORICAL FACTORS CONVERGE'

The Post reported further, "When he preaches what the Bible says about the mandate to care for migrants, Hall focuses on the story of Mary and Joseph rather than modern-day wanderers. He selected a book of scripture readings that sets out specific text for every Sunday, so no one could question whether his picks were making a political statement."

"And when somebody tells him they think a sermon was aimed at a specific politician, he says, ‘That’s one way to look at it!’"

Los Angeles has typically been a liberal city for several decades. The city has not voted for a Republican mayor since 1993.

Data from the presidential election in November shows that Los Angeles residents voted for Trump more than what many polls had projected. 

Trump won more votes in L.A. than he did in 2020, receiving approximately 40% of votes compared to 34%. Furthermore, Trump improved his vote share across the country, starting with conservative areas but extending into deeply Democratic states.

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Several congregants left the church due to their political differences. One of the members cited a film Hall planned to screen about Christian nationalism being "too one-sided" and "anti-Republican."

Others left after they discovered their peers were attending Trump’s inauguration. 

"Someone else walked out of services early on the Sunday after the election, feeling that a leader on the stage was too focused on consoling people who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris," the Post added.

"If you’re at a football game, one side wins, and everyone leaves. With a church [and the election], it’s like everyone is still there," Hall said. 

He went on to say, "The popcorn is still on the ground, the Coke cups, the mess. Fifty percent of people are upset, and we have to pick up the pieces."

First Christian is part of the Disciples of Christ denomination and serves over 1,000 members. The denomination’s origin was founded to "unify Christian groups who had broken over theology and worship styles."

"If I’m a good pastor, I’m both comforting you and confronting you. But I also need to be a prophet, right? You’re supposed to come to church to look for questions that will change your life."

"Before Hall, the same pastor had led First Christian for 52 years. Congregants say the late Rev. Robert M. Bock didn’t speak about contemporary political issues in church — even during the Vietnam War, which marked the start of his tenure. Hall is trying to forge a new way," the Post reported.

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Before the devastating terror attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day rocked the nation, President Biden and his administration repeatedly stressed that the greatest threat facing the country was White supremacy — even explicitly stating that terrorist organizations such as ISIS could not compare to the danger posed by White supremacists. 

"According to the intelligence community, terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not ISIS, not al Qaeda — White supremacists," Biden said in June 2021 on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. 

The comment came just weeks after he declared during the State of the Union that year, "We won’t ignore what our intelligence agencies have determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today: White supremacy is terrorism."

Early on New Year’s Day, New Orleans and the nation were rocked by a suspected terror attack when a man identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, allegedly rammed a truck into crowds of revelers celebrating the holiday on the city’s famed Bourbon Street. The FBI confirmed on Wednesday that they were investigating the incident as an act of terror, noting that they had confirmed the suspect had an ISIS flag in the vehicle at the time of the attack. 

BIDEN BLASTED FOR CALLING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ ‘MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST THREAT’ AT COLLEGE SPEECH: ‘PURE EVIL’

ISIS is a jihadist group that has carried out terrorist attacks worldwide but has lost momentum in recent years, including in 2019 when U.S. forces killed Iraqi militant and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The FBI said Thursday that Jabbar had been "inspired" by ISIS, adding that they have not found any evidence that he was directed by ISIS to carry out the attack. 

BIDEN TELLS HOWARD GRADS 'WHITE SUPREMACY' IS THE 'MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST THREAT' TO THE UNITED STATES

The shocking attack has resurrected Biden's previous rhetoric on White supremacy and the state of national security, which was also promoted by administration leaders such as Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

"In the FBI’s view, the top domestic violent extremist threat comes from ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, specifically those who advocated for the superiority of the white race,’" Garland declared in May 2021 before the Senate Appropriations Committee of the top threats to the U.S.

Garland was joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayarokas in sounding the alarm on the threat that White supremacists posed to the U.S. that year. Garland and Biden administration officials at the time argued that Jan. 6, 2021 — when supporters of President-elect Trump breached the Capitol buildig — opened the floodgates to concern over home-grown threats to democracy. 

"I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy than the invasion of the Capitol," Garland said at the time, calling it "an attempt to interfere with the fundamental element of our democracy, a peaceful transfer of power."

Biden has also cited the threat of White supremacy in more recent public remarks, including during his commencement address to Howard University in 2023. 

"White supremacy … is the single most dangerous terrorist threat in our homeland," Biden said. "And I’m not just saying this because I’m at a Black HBCU. I say this wherever I go."

BIDEN ADMIN MOCKED FOR LABELING 'WHITE SUPREMACY' THE GREATEST THREAT TO US

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Trump administration released a report in 2020, called the "Homeland Threat Assessment," which found that White supremacists and other "domestic violent extremists" posed "the most persistent and lethal threat" to the nation. Following Biden’s inauguration, Mayorkas declared that DHS was "taking a new approach to addressing domestic violent extremism, both internally and externally," compared to the previous administration. 

Following the attack on Wednesday morning, conservative social media users and critics of the Biden administration resurrected Biden’s previous comments on White supremacy, quipping that the comments have "not aged well."  

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The brother of the suspected terrorist told The New York Times that Jabbar had been raised Christian, but converted to Islam. The sibling, Abdur Jabbar, underscored that his brother does not represent the Islamic faith and instead called his actions an example of "radicalization."

"What he did does not represent Islam," he added. "This is more some type of radicalization, not religion."