On February 1, President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on Chinese goods to help stop "the flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl to the United States, through illicit distribution networks," which "has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis."  

Trump was correct when he stated that "Chinese officials have failed to take the actions necessary to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels and shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations." This is consistent with what I advised him when I served as secretary of Health and Human Services in his first term.  

Among the most significant health crises confronting the nation is the continued manufacturing, shipping and distribution of fentanyl from Chinese companies. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid more potent than morphine, has been a major contributor to the opioid overdose crisis in the United States.  

FENTANYL'S FINANCIAL GRIP ON US SKYROCKETED TO $2.7T AT HEIGHT OF BIDEN ADMIN: STUDY

It is estimated that over 80,000 people are killed every year in the United States by fentanyl. Nationally, fentanyl has emerged as the leading cause of death for individuals aged 18 to 45. The Drug Enforcement Administration has identified China as the primary source of fentanyl and its related substances trafficked into the U.S., often through international mail and express consignment channels.  

We’re all hopeful that new tariffs, which include provisions that suspend the duty-free exemption for low-value shipments under $800 — a loophole that has been exploited to smuggle fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the United States, will go a long way toward stopping the problem at hand.  

Unfortunately, however, fentanyl is no longer the only product being smuggled in from China that is threatening Americans’ health and safety.  

China also has a state-owned corporation with chartered monopoly status to sell nicotine products. This monopoly provides the communist regime with a significant amount of annual funding. In 2023, its receipts clocked in at $210 billion, $10 billion shy of funding the entire People’s Liberation Army.  

One of China’s most important nicotine products is its flavored vapes, which the country continues illegally smuggling into the United States.  

In 2023, over 60% of disposable vapes sold in the U.S. were illicit, with the majority originating from China. This is concerning because there is increasing evidence that some of these products contain harmful contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides and other toxins, due to lax manufacturing standards in Chinese factories.  

This raises the question: now that the U.S. has taken significant action to squelch the prevalence of Chinese fentanyl within our borders, what can it do to stop the scourge of these dangerous Chinese nicotine products?  

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First, the administration must crack down on illicit Chinese vape imports through targeted customs enforcement and stricter penalties for distributors of illegal e-cigarettes. A concerted effort to increase inspections at ports of entry, penalize bad actors in the supply chain as needed and will significantly reduce their presence.  

Second, the administration, including incoming Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and incoming Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, should override former President Joe Biden’s appointees at the International Trade Commission’s decision to ban the only legal, U.S.-produced flavored vaping products from the marketplace within the 60-day window that they have to do so. If it goes into effect, this prohibition will allow China’s illicit marketplace to grow stronger.  

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the administration should work with Congress to reintroduce and pass legislation that holds Chinese companies accountable for violating U.S. safety and trade laws. The halt of illegal fentanyl imports through the Phase One tariffs in 2020 showed that trade measures can pressure China into compliance. Extending these policies to cover unsafe vape products would protect American consumers from dangerous, unregulated imports.  

From the devastating fentanyl crisis that precipitated the imposition of tariffs on China to the resurgence of youth vaping driven by illegal flavored e-cigarettes, the pattern is clear — China does not follow the rules.  

Protecting our families, especially our children, from these dangers must remain a top national priority.  

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DR. TOM PRICE

FIRST ON FOX: Multiple U.S. senators are putting their political affiliations aside to reintroduce bipartisan legislation to combat the rise of deadly fentanyl amid a national opioid crisis.

Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., are leading nearly a dozen colleagues in reintroducing the Halt Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act.

The legislation would permanently classify fentanyl-related substances in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. This classification is currently temporary. 

Drug overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, are the leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 45 years old, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl account for 66% of the total U.S. overdose deaths.

Yet, the drug’s Schedule I classification is set to expire in just a couple of months, on March 31.

The bill will be processed through the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Grassley notably chairs. Given the bill sponsor's role on the committee, the measure is expected to be prioritized and ultimately sent to the floor for full Senate consideration — which many bills are not. 

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"The Biden administration’s open border was an invitation to drug cartels smuggling Chinese fentanyl into the U.S., fueling the U.S. overdose epidemic," Cassidy noted in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Law enforcement must have the tools necessary to combat this trend. We cannot let this Schedule I classification lapse."

From August 2021 to August 2022, nearly 108,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses.

The surge was primarily fueled by synthetic opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China.

In 2022, there were over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, more than doubling the amount seized in 2021.

"Cartels fuel this crisis by marketing their poison as legitimate prescription pills," said Grassley in a statement. "They also avoid regulation by chemically altering the drugs to create powerful fentanyl knock-offs."

Congress closed the loophole in 2018 by temporarily classifying fentanyl-related substances under Schedule I. 

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By making this classification permanent, the HALT Fentanyl Act would ensure law enforcement has the tools they need to combat the deadly drugs, its sponsors say.

Heinrich said in a statement that he is working to deliver tools that law enforcement personnel need to keep deadly fentanyl off the streets and out of communities.

"Permanently scheduling fentanyl and its analogues will help federal and local law enforcement crack down on illegal trafficking and allow prosecutors to build stronger, longer-term criminal cases," he said. "Our HALT Fentanyl Act will help stop the flow of these deadly drugs into our communities and save lives."

The legislation also removes barriers that impede the ability of researchers to conduct studies on fentanyl-related substances and allows for exemptions if such research provides evidence that it would be beneficial for specific substances to be classified differently than Schedule I, like for medical purposes.

Cassidy, Grassley and Heinrich were joined by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Todd Young, R-Ind., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., John Kennedy R-La., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., in introducing the legislation.

"Americans know the carnage of fentanyl all too well. The HALT Fentanyl Act would save lives in Louisiana and across the country by empowering law enforcement to seek justice against dealers who are working with cartels to profit off feeding poison to Americans," Kennedy told Fox News Digital in his own statement. 

The U.S. House of Representatives previously passed the HALT Fentanyl Act in March 2023.

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the now-defunct darknet drug market previously known as Silk Road, thanked President Donald Trump for setting him free and hinted at what he has planned for his future in a video posted on social media. 

Ulbricht, who was known online by his darknet moniker, "Dread Pirate Roberts," was arrested in 2013 for his part in developing an online marketplace that connected people selling drugs and committing other illegal acts like money laundering. 

It is considered the first modern version of darknet illegal marketplaces, which, over the years, have become more prevalent. Ulbricht was sentenced to life without parole.   

Ulbricht's laptop, from which he did much of the site's maintenance and creation, is held as an artifact by the FBI alongside other items such as Ted Kaczynski's cabin, D.B. Cooper's plane ticket and pieces of the World Trade Center. 

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Ulbricht said in a video on X thanking Trump for his pardon that he was looking forward to "re-engaging with the free world" in the near future. Ulbricht added that the action was a "victory" for everyone "who loves freedom and who cares about second chances."

"It feels amazing to be free, to say the least. It's overwhelming," Ulbricht posted on his X account, which he has regularly posted on from jail during the 11 years he was incarcerated. "For the next however long we need, I'm going to be with my family so that we can reunite, and be whole again, and heal. But there's a lot to talk about, and I look forward to re-engaging the free world. So, once I'm feeling up to it, we'll talk again.

"Let it be known that Donald Trump is a man of his word," Ulbricht added during the roughly two-minute video. "Thank you so much President Trump for giving me this amazing blessing." 

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP EXPLAINS PARDONING JANUARY 6 DEFENDANTS

Ulbricht's family campaigned for years to get him some form of release and also shared a statement following the pardon from Trump on the website FreeRoss.org. 

"Our immense gratitude to President Trump for giving Ross a second chance and to all those who have supported us throughout the years. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!" it said.

Trump said he called Ulbricht's mother shortly after being sworn in to fulfill his campaign promise of releasing Ulbricht, who many believe was given an unfairly harsh sentence for setting up Silk Road. 

"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross," Trump said on Truth Social earlier this week after his inauguration. 

"The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!"

President Trump did not pardon or commute the prison sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, despite his promise on the campaign trail to free him on "day one."

Ulbricht was convicted because his website, which was founded in 2011 and used cryptocurrency for payments, was used to sell illegal drugs, even though he did not sell any of the illicit substances himself.

After being sworn into office on Monday, Trump issued several executive actions, including efforts to reduce immigration, designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move to resume federal executions and pardoning or commuting sentences to time served of people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

But Trump's first day back in the White House came to an end with Ulbricht still behind bars without a pardon or commutation from the president, who pledged to do so last spring.

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In May, Trump delivered a speech at the Libertarian National Convention to a hostile crowd of boos in an attempt to win over Libertarian voters. Libertarians believe government investigators overreached in their case against Silk Road and generally oppose the War on Drugs.

While the attendees were not favorable to Trump for most of the event, they did give a big cheer when he said he would commute Ulbricht's sentence to time served, as the crowd chanted "Free Ross" in the hopes that the then-presidential candidate would take action if elected to allow the Silk Road founder to return home to his family after more than a decade behind bars.

"If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, to a sentence of time served. He’s already served 11 years. We’re going to get him home," Trump told the crowd of Libertarians, many of whom were holding signs that read "Free Ross."

Ulbricht reacted to Trump's comments the following day on the social media platform X.

"Last night, Donald Trump pledged to commute my sentence on day 1, if reelected," he wrote. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. After 11 years in prison, it is hard to express how I feel at this moment. It is thanks to your undying support that I may get a second chance."

Last month, Ulbricht wrote: "For my last monthly resolution of 2024, I intend to study every day and to get up to speed as much as I can as I prepare for freedom."

Trump later reiterated his promise to commute Ulbricht's life sentence at a bitcoin conference, which he received loud cheers for.

Despite Trump failing to deliver on his promise to free Ulbricht on his first day back in office, the president reportedly may still grant him clemency as early as Tuesday.

"Pres. Trump's staff just confirmed to me Ross's pardon will be issued late tonight or tomorrow morning," Libertarian Party chair Angela McArdle wrote Monday night on X.

Elon Musk, who serves in the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration, also said Ulbricht would be released soon.

"Ross will be freed," Musk wrote on X.

Many Libertarians have said they supported Trump in November's election, citing, in part, his commitment to free Ulbricht.

TRUMP PARDONS NEARLY ALL 1/6 DEFENDANTS

During his first term, Trump considered intervening to release Ulbricht before ultimately deciding against a pardon.

Ulbricht, now 40, operated the website from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. He was sentenced two years later to life in prison.

"I was trying to help us move toward a freer and more equitable world," Ulbricht said from prison in 2021. "We all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and now here I am. I'm in hell."

"Trump is done signing EOs and pardons for the night," 2024 Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver wrote on X. "Hopefully, we will see a #FREEROSSULBRICHT commutation in the morning."

Bodies hanging beneath underpasses. Government institutions systematically bribed. Political candidates assassinated by the dozens. Teenage boys lured into "job centers" only to be tortured and killed. Police ambushed and executed. 

This is not a description of my time fighting terrorists abroad; it is the grim and harrowing reality of life in Mexico today.

The crises spread beyond Mexico. The fentanyl trafficked into our country by the Mexican drug cartels and their Chinese partners kills around 80,000 Americans per year. That’s the equivalent of 25 9/11 attacks every year. This reality is what led to me working with then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy to establish a task force to combat the cartels.

What exactly is a congressional task force? They vary in size and scope, but typically a task force is a group of members focused on a specific problem. We had no additional staff or resources, only a common goal. 

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Despite severely limited resources, I personally traveled to eight locations across the country, went on three international trips, including two visits to Mexico City, held almost 30 briefings, and led the task force to generate a comprehensive list of legislative proposals.

Our solutions varied in size and scope. In 2023, along with the incoming national security adviser for President Trump, Congressman Mike Waltz, I introduced the Authorization of the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against cartels to empower the U.S. military to operate against cartels in coordination with Mexico. 

Our bipartisan task force largely agreed on the need for a "big" idea like this that vastly increases military cooperation with Mexico and takes the fight to the cartels.  We also realized our laws do not adequately deter dealing fentanyl, and we worked on legislation to significantly increase penalties for cartel members and their facilitators, including local drug dealers, U.S. banks, and foreign governments complicit in their operations. 

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We acknowledged the need to choke off the cartel’s weapon supply by focusing on southbound illicit flows across our southern border in addition to addressing northbound flows. We found that penalties on fentanyl precursor suppliers shipping product illegally to the U.S. were nothing but a slap on the wrist, thus necessitating higher penalties to deter Chinese companies from falsifying shipping manifests.

These are only a portion of the solutions needed to combat the Mexican cartels. But if Congress is serious about aligning with President Trump’s promise to fight the cartels, we  need significantly more congressional firepower. It will require professional staff, a travel and investigative budget, and substantially more focus from Congress than my limited task force can currently provide to pass legislation.

We need a select committee to defeat the Mexican drug cartels.

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What’s the difference?

Combating the Mexican drug cartels requires dismantling every aspect of their operations – from fentanyl precursor suppliers in China to the falsified manifests used to smuggle cargo into the United States. This means targeting precursor mixers, pill pressers, traffickers, lawyers, corrupt politicians, and bankers who sustain cartel activities. 

It means building up the right capabilities inside the government of Mexico, and deeper coordination between our military and theirs. It means increased intelligence collection on the cartels that must be funded and authorized. The list goes on. 

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What might at first seem like straightforward legislative solutions quickly become a complex web of measures spread across no fewer than nine committees – an incredibly inefficient way to address an insurgency at our border.

The Select Committee to Defeat the Mexican Drug Cartels would act as a central coordination hub for this multifaceted crisis, which means one committee of jurisdiction. Rather than navigating bills through committees with overlapping jurisdiction, a select committee would streamline the process, allowing us to swiftly move critical legislation to the floor, much like the Select Committee on China achieved with the TikTok CCP divestment last Congress.

Ignoring the Mexican cartels is not an option. Even one more year of preventable fentanyl overdoses in America is an unacceptable future, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on.

With new administrations in both the U.S. and Mexico – each with a record of taking decisive action against the cartels – the timing is right. The only question now is whether the House will step up and lead, which is why I am calling on Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to support my proposal to establish a Select Committee to Defeat the Mexican Drug Cartels.

The time to eliminate them is now.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM REP. DAN CRENSHAW

A Massachusetts state senator is calling the state's emergency housing assistance program into question after an illegal immigrant was allegedly caught with an AR-15 and about $1 million worth of fentanyl in a state-subsidized hotel room. 

Leonardo Andujar Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, 28, was arrested by Revere Police on Dec. 27 and charged with 11 criminal counts in Chelsea District Court. Ten were related to firearms possession – including one for being an "alien" in possession of a firearm – and one for possession of approximately 10 pounds of the synthetic opiate.

Sanchez was also charged in Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday with possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl and unlawful possession of a firearm. He had been living at the Quality Inn in Revere, where authorities found five kilograms of suspected fentanyl, an AR-style assault rifle, ammunition, two rifle magazines, digital scales and latex gloves in his room, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston estimated that the drugs were collectively worth about $1 million, according to an agency press release. The agency was called in by local police after Sanchez was arrested, and determined that he had entered the U.S. illegally.

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Sanchez was arraigned on Dec. 30 and denied bail. Judge Jane Prince ordered the court documents sealed, but records in federal court provided some details about Sanchez's arrest.

Sanchez's girlfriend called Revere police around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 27 to report that he had drugs and a long, black gun hidden under a pink suitcase in their hotel room. The woman told police that she had been living at the Quality Inn for three months and that she and Sanchez had obtained the room through a refugee program.

Police entered the room where Sanchez was sleeping, woke him and handcuffed him. They then found fentanyl, an AR-style assault rifle, ammunition, digital scales and latex scales, commonly used in drug distribution, a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer wrote in federal court records.

The Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities told the Boston Herald that Sanchez and his family had been living at the Revere Quality Inn since Oct. 15. 

The office told the outlet that it conducts warrant checks on its emergency assistance residences every 30 days, and that it has on-site security at hotels used for the program at all times. 

"There is zero tolerance for criminal activity in EA shelters," the office told Boston 25. "We took immediate action to terminate this individual from the EA system, and we confirmed with federal immigration officials that they have lodged a detainer."

Gov. Maura Healey said on Tuesday that Sanchez had never applied for housing and was "not part of the (emergency assistance) program. He was in that shelter, though," WCVB reported.

State Sen. Ryan Fattman questioned how Sanchez was able to take advantage of the program while several of his native-born constituents could not. 

"We just had a mother of two whose house burned down in my district a few days ago. And she can't get access to a shelter because we've decided to help the world. I mean, this is outrageous," Fattman told Fox News Digital. 

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Since 1983, Massachusetts has been the only state in the nation to provide a "Right to Shelter" for homeless families – adults accompanied by one or more children. Over the past two years, Fattman said, the state has spent about $2.5 million sheltering undocumented immigrants under its emergency shelter program.

"What we've started to learn is that the vetting process for a bunch of these individuals is flawed because we've had dangerous criminal migrants coming into Massachusetts and inflicting harm upon not just our people, but some of the people in the shelter," Fattman said. "And so this gentleman, Sanchez, is the most recent from the Dominican who trafficked $1 million worth of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine and had firearms that are illegal in Massachusetts. And he's got a taxpayer-funded shelter program, which he's living out of."

Residents of the state's emergency shelter program must be within 115% of federal poverty guidelines, making less than $1,443 per month with an additional $515 for each additional person in the household, the Boston Herald reported. 

But according to the outlet, Sanchez has retained a private attorney. 

"Criminals are cunning, so they're not going to reveal if they know there's a free program that they can take advantage of potentially all their assets, especially if they're trafficking drugs… They're not stupid for the most part, and they're going to take advantage of our laws. And clearly that is what they're doing," Fattman said. 

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"And now it just adds insult to injury, because they can clearly afford to have private representation, but a public taxpayer-funded room to live out of and to traffic drugs out of in and they're in ahead of line in front of people that I represent whose houses are burned down and they have children and about to go homeless, you know, getting driven out of the hotel that they're renting through insurance money," he continued.

Fattman insists that unsealing Sanchez's court documents is the first step to understanding the state's apparent shortcomings in its vetting process for the program. 

"We need to know in order to make the best course forward, how to change this. And the only way to know is by un-impounding the documents and revealing what's in them and knowing how this person got here – who made the decision to bring them here?" Fattman said. "Like if they're part of a cartel, you basically have invited the cartels into Massachusetts to do harm to our families, our children. It's just totally unacceptable."

Massachusetts' Republican Party in August accused Healey of quietly having spent over $1 billion on the state’s migrant crisis.

"The Healey-Driscoll Administration has shrouded nearly $1 billion spent in secrecy, leaving Massachusetts residents in the dark," Massachusetts Republican Party Chair Amy Carnevale said in a statement at the time. "They have withheld critical information on 600 incidents involving police, fire, and EMTs. Blocking journalists at every turn, the administration has obstructed the flow of information to the public."

The Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities and the governor's office did not respond to requests for comment.

During a Friday news conference, though, Healey said Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, that all shelters are undergoing mandatory searches, and background checks are being conducted on everyone in the state's shelter system to ensure that no criminals are living in those facilities.

The Democratic governor said she has been disappointed with the federal government's handling of immigration and hopes President-elect Trump addresses the border issue.

Fox News' Andrew Fone contributed to this report.

Virginia Republicans announced their top legislative priorities for the new year, with curbing fentanyl deaths chief among them.

Under current case law, it is difficult to charge a drug dealer with the murder of a user who died from fentanyl they had purchased unless they are in the proximity of that dealer, according to GOP legislators.

State Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-New Kent, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Virginia hopes to address that legislative insufficiency.

"This [law] would say if you sell the drugs, it doesn't matter if you're in physical proximity," he said.

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McDougle and Senate Republican Caucus Leader Mark Obenshain are spearheading the effort.

Fox News Digital reached out to Obenshain, of Harrisonburg, for additional comment.

However, at a related press conference, Obenshain said that as long as people are "dying in every corner of Virginia, of every socioeconomic background, that means there’s people out there peddling this poison."

A pair of Senate special elections on Tuesday were set to determine whether Republicans will take a slightly belated majority in the chamber this term, as Democrats currently control it by one seat. 

Voters went to the polls in both Loudoun County and a swath of more red counties, including Buckingham, Fluvanna and Goochland.

On Wednesday, multiple outlets projected Democrats will hold their slim single-seat majority – requiring one liberal to side with McDougle and Obenshain on their counter-fentanyl proposal.

In 2022, the Old Dominion ranked 14th among states for total fentanyl-related deaths, with 1,973 fatalities, and was positioned near the national average in terms of death rate per capita, according to CDC data.

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For comparison, neighboring West Virginia leads the nation in fentanyl deaths per capita, but total deaths were 1,084, less than Virginia.

Seven out of 10 pills seized by the DEA contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, according to OnePillCanKill Virginia.

A representative for Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he believes prosecuting fentanyl dealers should receive bipartisan support:

"As Governor Youngkin has said time and time again, any person who knowingly and intentionally distributes fentanyl should be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," spokesman Christian Martinez told Fox News Digital.

"We cannot continue to let makers and dealers get away with murder – and it is time Democrat lawmakers side with victims' families over fentanyl makers and dealers."

In April, Youngkin signed Obenshain’s prior fentanyl-related bill, SB 469, which made unlawful possession, purchase or sale of encapsulating machines for the purpose of producing illicit drugs a Class 6 felony.

It also imposed felony penalties for subjects who allow a minor or mentally incapacitated person to be present during the manufacture of any substance containing fentanyl.

"People are dying in every corner of Virginia, of every socioeconomic background, that means there’s people out there peddling this poison. I was proud of our bipartisan effort last year to crack down on pill presses and their deadly effects and I hope that our colleagues will bring the same bipartisan spirit to this effort," Obenshain told Fox News Digital.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares previously said an average of five people die each day from fentanyl overdoses throughout the state. 

"By enhancing penalties and criminalizing the possession and use of machines to produce counterfeit drugs, we are supplying law enforcement personnel with the tools they need to hold drug dealers accountable for poisoning our communities," Miyares said.

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After her husband signed the 2023 legislation, Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin said there is "nothing more important" than protecting families and communities in Virginia. "I applaud all persons working hard to fight the spread of this illicit drug taking the lives of far too many Virginians," she said.

Virginia Republicans also indicated this week that they will work to put Youngkin’s December plan curtailing taxation of gratuities into law. The plan somewhat mirrors President-elect Donald Trump’s "No Tax on Tips" campaign pledge.

"Hard-working Virginians deserve to keep the tips they earn for their service," McDougle said. "Governor Youngkin’s inclusion of this policy in the budget is an important step in our support of hard-working Virginians, and we’re proud to introduce the bill to put it in the Code of Virginia."

McDougle said Tuesday the chamber will also pursue a ban on transgender women competing in women’s and girls’ sports.

The State Department announced that an American teacher arrested at a Russian airport on drug charges more than three years ago has been designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government.

Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, is serving a 14-year prison sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana.

Fogel was left out of a massive prisoner swap in August that freed multiple Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan.

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After the prisoner exchange, which also freed a dozen German nationals, lawyers for Fogel's family again pushed for the Biden administration to work toward securing his freedom, including by designating him as wrongfully detained.

The State Department considers several factors when choosing whether to designate an American jailed in a foreign country as wrongfully detained, such as whether there is credible information that the person is innocent or if they are being held primarily to influence U.S. policy or secure concessions from the U.S. government.

"The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s release for some time," the State Department said in a statement. "We have long called for his humanitarian release and tried to include him in the August 1 deal, but were unable to. The Secretary determined Marc is wrongfully detained in October."

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Designating someone as wrongfully detained traditionally moves supervision of their case to the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs's office, which is within the State Department and focuses on negotiating for the release of hostages and other Americans classified as being wrongfully detained in foreign countries.

Fogel's wife, Jane, and his sons, Ethan and Sam, said in a statement they were grateful that the State Department "has finally acknowledged what we have known all along — that our husband and father, Marc Fogel, has and continues to be wrongfully detained."

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"Now that we have the full force of the U.S. government behind us, we must do everything in our power to bring Marc home as quickly and safely as possible," the family continued.