Lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee met with stakeholders and law enforcement to address the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S., during a closed-door congressional roundtable on July 22, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The roundtable comes amid growing concerns about antisemitic violence months after recent attacks in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., along with growing fears surrounding the potential election of Zohran Mamdani, who has espoused anti-Israel viewpoints, as New York City mayor. 

‘Jewish communities across the country are living in fear, and I am committed to standing with them. This roundtable comes at a critical moment: a far-left activist who has defended the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ is inching closer to leading a city home to one of the world’s largest Jewish populations,’ Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said in his opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital. 

‘Antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric is becoming dangerously mainstream. We must act now to expose and combat this vile hatred wherever it is spread,’ Pfluger said. 

The roundtable focused on improving interagency coordination, intelligence sharing, training, and enforcement to better prevent and respond to antisemitic violence, according to a House Homeland Security Committee aide.

In particular, the meeting addressed ways to bolster communication between the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, along with state and local law enforcement, according to Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, a non-profit organization focused on the safety of the Jewish community in North America. 

This interagency coordination is absolutely paramount as the Secure Community Network has flagged 500 credible threats to life this year – which all have required immediate law enforcement intervention, according to Masters. 

‘Bad guys don’t respect orders. Bad actors don’t respect jurisdictions, and that means that our intelligence can’t be siloed,’ Masters told Fox News Digital on Monday. 

Additionally, the roundtable’s discussion highlighted how extremist rhetoric can spread, especially on college campuses and via social media, the aide said. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, student protests have erupted across college campuses in the U.S., including at Columbia University in New York. 

Likewise, those participating in the roundtable addressed the prevalence of homegrown and foreign-influenced extremism, when one participant highlighted instances where anti-Israel terrorist organizations have disseminated tool kits and talking points aimed at promoting attacks in the U.S., the committee aide said. 

The discussion is expected to inform legislative priorities centered around bolstering officer training, improving data collection, and ensuring ‘robust prosecution’ of antisemitic offenses, the committee aide said. 

Those who participated in the roundtable included representatives from the Secure Community Networks; the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people; the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis; and law enforcement officials. 

Pfluger, a Republican from Texas, has spearheaded legislation that would bar any visa holders backing Hamas or other designated terror groups from staying in the U.S. 

He also led a hearing last month on the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S., following a May shooting that killed two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington and a terrorist attack in Colorado targeting a grassroots group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages.

Antisemitic violence reached a new high in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League. 

The group recorded 9,354 antisemitic instances of harassment, assault, and vandalism in the U.S. in 2024 – a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023 and a 344% increase in the past five years. Likewise, the number of incidents is the highest the group has recorded since 1979, when the group first started tracking these cases. 

Incidents of antisemitic violence in 2024 were highest in the state of New York, where Mamdani is currently a state assemblyman. 

Mamdani has attracted scrutiny, including from Democrats, for initially failing to condemn the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ a phrase used to back Palestinian resistance against Israel. However, he has since said he will not use the term and will discourage others from using it as well. 

Still, concerns remain over what his potential leadership as mayor could mean for the Jewish community in New York City. Roughly 1.4 million people in the Greater New York Area identified as Jewish in 2023, according to UJA-Federation of New York. 

‘There’s a lot of fear in the Jewish community if this guy becomes mayor,’ New York City Republican councilwoman Inna Vernikov told Fox News Digital. 

‘This is a guy who wants to globalize the intifada,’ Vernikov said. ‘We’ve never seen anything close to this in New York City. We have the largest Jewish population in America, and I’ll tell you Jews are telling me they’re going to run away from New York City, and Jews have contributed a lot to the city and to this country, and the idea that they are now afraid to live here – it’s unacceptable and unprecedented really, this has never happened here.’

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

The United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire and move toward peace in Gaza by September, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Tuesday.

Starmer made the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday, just a day after meeting with President Donald Trump in Scotland and discussing the Israel-Hamas war and the hunger crisis in Gaza.

‘I can confirm that the U.K. will recognize the State of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, unless the Israeli government take substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution,’ Starmer told reporters. ‘This includes allowing the U.N. to restart the supply of aid and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank.’

‘Meanwhile, our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all the hostages. Sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza,’ he continued.

Trump declined to endorse Starmer’s move in a statement to reporters aboard Air Force One. He noted that both Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have now moved toward recognizing a Palestinian state.

‘Essentially, they’re saying the same thing and that’s okay. But you know it doesn’t mean I have to agree,’ Trump said.

Starmer said his government will make a final assessment ahead of the UNGA meeting to determine what steps both Israel and Hamas have taken and make a final decision on recognizing a Palestinian state.

The U.K. leader went on to say that the primary motive behind the announcement is to change the situation on the ground in Gaza as well as facilitate the release of more hostages.

Israel’s foreign ministry rejected Starmer’s announcement in a countering statement on Tuesday.

‘The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,’ the ministry said.

The U.K.’s announcement comes just one day after Starmer met with Trump in Turnberry, Scotland, where both leaders condemned the humanitarian and hunger crisis in Gaza.

Trump publicly broke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the meeting, saying he disagreed that the hunger crisis is a false narrative put forward by Hamas.

‘Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry,’ Trump said when asked if he agreed with Netanyahu’s claims. ‘That’s real starvation stuff.’

Trump has highlighted America’s efforts to secure aid for Gaza, noting some $60 million the U.S. spent on the issue in recent days.

‘We gave $60 million two weeks ago for food for Gaza, and nobody acknowledged it. Nobody talks about it. And it makes you feel a little bad when you do that,’ Trump said during a Sunday meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. ‘And, you know, you have other countries not giving anything. None of the European countries, by the way, gave – I mean, nobody gave but us and nobody said, gee, thank you very much. And it would be nice to have at least a thank you.’

Israel has begun conducting aid drops across Gaza in recent days, bending to pressure after months of restricting the flow of aid. The IDF had long said Hamas was stealing much of the resources being sent into the region, a statement Trump and the U.S. have echoed.

Kim Jong-Un’s powerful sister opened up about relations with the second Trump administration, warning the U.S. not to try to restart talks centered on getting North Korea to give up its nuclear program. 

Kim Yo Jong, in remarks blasted out by state media, said relations between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are ‘not bad’ but added Pyongyang would view any attempt to pressure North Korea to denuclearize as ‘nothing but a mockery.’ 

She said that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal has sharply increased since Trump and Kim last spoke, and the pair would not meet for a summit again if denuclearization was on the table. 

The North Korean dictator’s sister did not rule out bilateral talks entirely — as she did with South Korea in a separate statement. 

‘If the U.S. fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK- U.S. meeting will remain as a ‘hope’ of the U.S. side,’ Kim Yo Jong said, referring to the nation by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

She said it would be ‘advisable to seek another way of contact.’

Trump held three unprecedented summits with the North Korean leader he dubbed ‘Little Rocket Man’ during his first term: in Singapore in 2018, Hanoi in 2019 and the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019, becoming the first president to step foot on North Korean territory. 

None of the meetings resulted in any breakthroughs: North Korea kept its nukes, and the U.S. left sanctions that have isolated it from international markets in place. 

Kim Yo Jong is a top official on the Central Committee of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party and handles relations with the U.S. and South Korea.

Kim Yo Jong’s comments came after an article posted by Yonhap news agency cited an unnamed White House official as saying Trump ‘remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearized North Korea.’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month Trump would like to see ‘progress’ this term on the summits he held during the first term. 

In a statement commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the end of the Korean War on Monday, Trump said, ‘I was proud to become the first sitting President to cross this Demilitarized Zone into North Korea.’

He underscored the U.S. alliance with South Korea. 

‘Although the evils of communism still persist in Asia, American and South Korean forces remain united in an ironclad alliance to this day.’

Lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee met with stakeholders and law enforcement to address the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S., during a closed-door congressional roundtable on July 22, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The roundtable comes amid growing concerns about antisemitic violence months after recent attacks in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., along with growing fears surrounding the potential election of Zohran Mamdani, who has espoused anti-Israel viewpoints, as New York City mayor. 

‘Jewish communities across the country are living in fear, and I am committed to standing with them. This roundtable comes at a critical moment: a far-left activist who has defended the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ is inching closer to leading a city home to one of the world’s largest Jewish populations,’ Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said in his opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital. 

‘Antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric is becoming dangerously mainstream. We must act now to expose and combat this vile hatred wherever it is spread,’ Pfluger said. 

The roundtable focused on improving interagency coordination, intelligence sharing, training, and enforcement to better prevent and respond to antisemitic violence, according to a House Homeland Security Committee aide.

In particular, the meeting addressed ways to bolster communication between the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, along with state and local law enforcement, according to Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, a non-profit organization focused on the safety of the Jewish community in North America. 

This interagency coordination is absolutely paramount as the Secure Community Network has flagged 500 credible threats to life this year – which all have required immediate law enforcement intervention, according to Masters. 

‘Bad guys don’t respect orders. Bad actors don’t respect jurisdictions, and that means that our intelligence can’t be siloed,’ Masters told Fox News Digital on Monday. 

Additionally, the roundtable’s discussion highlighted how extremist rhetoric can spread, especially on college campuses and via social media, the aide said. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, student protests have erupted across college campuses in the U.S., including at Columbia University in New York. 

Likewise, those participating in the roundtable addressed the prevalence of homegrown and foreign-influenced extremism, when one participant highlighted instances where anti-Israel terrorist organizations have disseminated tool kits and talking points aimed at promoting attacks in the U.S., the committee aide said. 

The discussion is expected to inform legislative priorities centered around bolstering officer training, improving data collection, and ensuring ‘robust prosecution’ of antisemitic offenses, the committee aide said. 

Those who participated in the roundtable included representatives from the Secure Community Networks; the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people; the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis; and law enforcement officials. 

Pfluger, a Republican from Texas, has spearheaded legislation that would bar any visa holders backing Hamas or other designated terror groups from staying in the U.S. 

He also led a hearing last month on the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S., following a May shooting that killed two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington and a terrorist attack in Colorado targeting a grassroots group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages.

Antisemitic violence reached a new high in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League. 

The group recorded 9,354 antisemitic instances of harassment, assault, and vandalism in the U.S. in 2024 – a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023 and a 344% increase in the past five years. Likewise, the number of incidents is the highest the group has recorded since 1979, when the group first started tracking these cases. 

Incidents of antisemitic violence in 2024 were highest in the state of New York, where Mamdani is currently a state assemblyman. 

Mamdani has attracted scrutiny, including from Democrats, for initially failing to condemn the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ a phrase used to back Palestinian resistance against Israel. However, he has since said he will not use the term and will discourage others from using it as well. 

Still, concerns remain over what his potential leadership as mayor could mean for the Jewish community in New York City. Roughly 1.4 million people in the Greater New York Area identified as Jewish in 2023, according to UJA-Federation of New York. 

‘There’s a lot of fear in the Jewish community if this guy becomes mayor,’ New York City Republican councilwoman Inna Vernikov told Fox News Digital. 

‘This is a guy who wants to globalize the intifada,’ Vernikov said. ‘We’ve never seen anything close to this in New York City. We have the largest Jewish population in America, and I’ll tell you Jews are telling me they’re going to run away from New York City, and Jews have contributed a lot to the city and to this country, and the idea that they are now afraid to live here – it’s unacceptable and unprecedented really, this has never happened here.’

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump addressed the ongoing hunger crisis in Gaza on Monday in Scotland, where he addressed the urgency of getting food into the enclave immediately, while doing it safely and securely. 

‘The United States recently, just a couple of weeks ago, we gave $60 million … No other nation gave money,’ as he urged other nations ‘to step up.’ 

$30 million in U.S. contributions to Gaza have been channeled through the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 

Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations on May 27, the organization has partnered with local Palestinian aid workers and non-governmental organizations to deliver 97 million meals to date to Gazans.

GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay told Fox News Digital that GHF ‘has one exclusive mission: to feed the people of Gaza in a way that prevents Hamas from being able to steal or loot or divert the aid.’ In addition to having ‘zero diversion,’ Fay said GHF has ‘put [aid] directly into the hands of the people who need it the most.’ 

What is GHF providing the local population? 

At its four distribution sites in Gaza, it provides boxes of aid sufficient to provide 2,400 daily calories for 5.5 people over a total of 3.5 days. GHF’s sites are able to distribute, on average, 2 million total meals per day.

Fay said GHF has also started a potato pilot program which has seen ‘hundreds of tons of potatoes’ delivered into Gaza.

Another new pilot program in association with local Gazan NGO Al-Amal has allowed GHF to deliver 2,000 boxes of food to families in Gaza. Fay said that GHF is in the process of scaling up the operation, vetting hundreds of inquiries received since the program’s announcement and working on establishing additional local NGO partnerships.

Attacks on GHF’s aid model

The U.N. has lambasted GHF’s distributions, with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini calling the organization an ‘abomination’ that ‘provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza.’  

Though media headlines are thick with accusations of violence at GHF sites, Fay said that the reality of GHF distributions ‘is almost the opposite of what you read about, what you see on TV.’ 

Though he admitted that ‘there’s some chaos when thousands of desperate, hungry people are trying to get aid,’ he claims that only two violent incidents have transpired at GHF distributions. A stampede and a grenade attack that harmed two American veteran employees were ‘Hamas-fomented terrorist attacks,’ he said.

The U.N. and many NGOs have also opposed GHF’s use of armed security to protect aid-seekers. However, U.N. data shows that only 8% of U.N. aid had reached its destination without being looted in the last 10 weeks, according to a Reuters report.

Fay says that GHF is ready and willing to provide security support for U.N. aid. ‘We need to stop pretending that there’s only one way to get aid into Gaza,’ he explained. 

GHF’s adaptations and improvements on the ground

As GHF continues to assist Gazans, Fay says the organization has ‘adapt[ed] in a dynamic environment, and our distributions seem to be going more smoothly every day.’ 

New adaptations include a red-light, green-light system to indicate whether distribution sites are open and a suggestion from aid-seekers. GHF has also added more shelf-stable onions to its aid boxes.

Fay said that workers are also holding back some aid to ensure that women and children receive needed assistance. Because of this change, Fay says he recently ‘saw women leaving and smiling at our personnel with their onions on their way home.’

GHF is set to deliver its 100 millionth meal to Gazans later this week. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Trump administration is reportedly blocking Taiwan’s president from stopping over in New York City, en route to a diplomatic meeting in Central America, following pressure from China.

The Financial Times reported Monday that the administration has denied Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te the opportunity to stop over in New York City during a planned trip to Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize — all countries that recognize Taiwan as its own independent country.

However, on Monday, the office of the president in Taiwan released a statement indicating that Lai ‘currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit,’ according to Taiwan-state media. A source familiar with the matter at the State Department confirmed that no formal travel plans for President Lai have been announced.

‘In consideration of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in southern Taiwan following a recent typhoon and regional developments including the United States’ tariffs, the president currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit,’ the statement from President Lai said.

According to the Financial Times, which spoke with unnamed sources said to be intimately familiar with the alleged trip, Lai’s decision not to travel came after he was informed that he would not be able to stop in New York City on his way to Central America. 

Lai’s trip was also reportedly supposed to include a stop in Dallas, but it is unclear if the Trump administration was also planning to bar Lai from stopping there as well, according to the Financial Times.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. However, a State Department source familiar with the matter indicated that the Trump administration continues to be committed to the government’s long-standing one China policy, rooted in the Taiwan Relations Act, joint diplomatic agreements with China and longstanding pledges crafted by the government in regard to Taiwan and China.

Despite being in line with longstanding government policy, the move still garnered criticism from some Asia policy experts and critics of Trump. 

Lyle Morris, a senior fellow on foreign policy and national security at the Asia Society’s Center for China Analysis, said the ‘first concrete move’ under Trump’s second term regarding Taiwan is ‘a cause for concern.’ 

‘The assumption is this decision was made in the context of ongoing US-China trade negotiations and a possible Trump-Xi meeting,’ Morris said on X. ‘Still, not a good sign for enduring US-Taiwan relations.’

‘Denying President Lai a transit is a deeply concerning break with bipartisan precedent and sends a reckless signal to Beijing that our partnership with Taiwan is on the negotiating table,’ added Democrat Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., in a post on X following the news about President Lai’s alleged travel. 

‘American leadership is now seen as deeply unreliable, with Trump’s fits and starts with Ukraine, NATO allies, and other key partners. I urge President Trump to reverse course and do what presidents of both parties have done and allow a transit, and ask my colleagues in Congress to join me in that call.’

News of the Trump administration’s decision to prohibit the Taiwanese president from stopping in New York City comes as the president is reportedly feeling out a potential trip to Beijing himself, alongside major U.S. CEOs. Nothing so far has been set in stone regarding Trump’s trip, however.

President Donald Trump’s new deadline for Russia to end the conflict with Ukraine is an additional ‘step towards war,’ according to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.  

Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, cautioned that Trump’s announcement Monday that Russia must end the conflict with Ukraine in 10 to 12 days would not end well for the U.S. 

‘Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,’ Medvedev said in a post on X on Monday. ‘Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!’

While Trump announced on July 14 that he would sign off on ‘severe tariffs’ against Russia if Moscow failed to agree to a peace deal within 50 days, Trump said Monday that waiting that period of time was futile amid stalled negotiations. 

‘I’m going to make a new deadline, of about 10 — 10 or 12 days from today,’ Trump told reporters from Scotland. ‘There’s no reason for waiting. It was 50 days. I wanted to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.’

Trump’s remarks come as his frustration with Putin has grown in recent weeks amid no progress toward peace between Russia and Ukraine, and just a day after Russia launched more than 300 drones, four cruise missiles and three ballistic missiles into Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Trump called out Putin for providing lip service during their discussions while not taking proactive steps to end the war. As a result, Trump said he’s grown ‘disappointed’ in the Russian leader and that he’s ‘not so interested in talking anymore’ with Putin. 

‘He talks — we have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversation. And then, people die the following night,’ Trump said Monday. 

Following Trump’s announcement about whittling down the deadline for a peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his ‘clear stance and expressed determination’ to resolve the conflict.

‘I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war,’ Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Monday. ‘Ukraine remains committed to peace and will work tirelessly with the U.S. to make both our countries safer, stronger, and more prosperous.’

Zelenskyy previously came under scrutiny from Vice President JD Vance in February during an Oval Office meeting for not voicing more gratitude for U.S. support for Kyiv as it battles Moscow.

Although Trump has historically boasted about having a solid relationship with Putin, he has publicly voiced increased frustration with Putin in recent weeks as the war rages on between Russia and Ukraine. 

‘We get a lot of bulls— thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,’ Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on July 8. ‘He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.’

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

The Senate confirmed its first nominee of the week ahead of what is expected to be a jam-packed schedule to ram through as many of President Donald Trump’s picks as possible.

David A. Wright, Trump’s pick to lead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a five-year term, was confirmed in the upper chamber on a 50to 39 vote on Monday. It’s not Wright’s first time as chair of the commission, having first served in the role beginning in 2020.

Trump had previously tapped Wright during his first term, and again selected him to lead the NRC earlier this year. His new term is set to end in 2030.

The NRC is an independent regulatory agency tasked with regulating commercial nuclear power plants, reactor licensing and renewal and other elements related to protecting public health and safety when it comes to nuclear energy. Wright’s confirmation comes on the heels of Trump’s announcement that the U.S. and European Union were entering a trade deal that would see the bloc purchase $750 billion of U.S. energy over the next three years. 

While the commission is independent from other arms of the government, Senate Democrats have balked at recent attempts to make the regulatory body, in their view, more partisan.

Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order that demanded the agency consider making its safety standards less stringent, shortening the timelines for environmental reviews and a quadrupling of the nation’s nuclear power capacity by 2050: all part of the president’s quest to ensure America’s energy dominance. 

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., argued that over the last seven years that Wright has been a part of the commission, first as a commissioner beginning in 2018 and then as chair, he would fulfill the president’s wishes. 

‘Achieving this will require experienced and highly qualified Commissioners who are empowered to lead the Agency through a period of high expectations,’ she said in a statement. ‘Well, David Wright meets that mark.’

Then Trump fired a Democratic member of the commission last month, and a staffer from the president’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was reportedly detailed from the Department of Energy to the regulatory agency.  

That prompted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, to warn of a ‘hostile takeover’ of the commission by the Energy Department.

The move hurt what began as bipartisan support for Wright’s nomination — Whitehouse initially backed him but changed his position.

‘I hoped to see Chairman Wright rise to the occasion, but circumstances right now at the NRC continue to deteriorate,’ he said in a statement. ‘I cannot presently support his renomination.’

Still, Wright’s confirmation is a win for both Senate Republicans and the White House after Trump called on the Senate GOP to ram his nominees through blockades set up by Senate Democrats.

There are now over 140 pending ‘civilian’ nominations for positions across the gauntlet of federal agencies, ambassadorships and judgeships. The Senate has moved at a blistering clip over the last six months to confirm nominees—they’ve clocked nearly 100 so far — the president has called on Senate Republicans to consider canceling the forthcoming August break to get more done. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned that if his colleagues across the aisle continued to slow walk the process in the upper chamber for the slew of remaining ‘uncontroversial’ nominees, or be prepared to stick around Washington. 

‘Or they can rein in their reflexive anti-Trump sentiment and allow some of his rank-and-file nominees to proceed by unanimous consent or voice vote — just as Republicans did when the roles were reversed,’ he said. ‘And I’d remind my colleagues about the dangerous and ugly precedent that they’re setting here. But the choice is theirs. But whether it’s the slow way or the fast way, we’re getting President Trump’s nominees confirmed.’

The Department of Justice has filed an official complaint alleging misconduct by US District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg. Fox News has reviewed the complaint which was written by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle and addressed to the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Sri Srinivasan.

Fox News has learned that the complaint was written and filed at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi.

‘The Department of Justice respectfully submits this complaint alleging misconduct by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James E. Boasberg for making improper public comments about President Donald J. Trump to the Chief Justice of the United States and other federal judges that have undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,’ says Mr. Mizelle.

Judge Boasberg is presiding over a high-profile case involving the deportation of several migrants to El Salvador and has talked about holding DOJ lawyers in contempt because of his assertion that his order to turn airborne planes around was not followed. President Trump has also made critical comments about Judge Boasberg.

The complaint details two occasions on which Judge Boasberg made comments the Justice Department alleges undermine the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.

‘On March 11, 2025, Judge Boasberg attended a session of the Judicial Conference of the United States, which exists to discuss administrative matters like budgets, security, and facilities. While there, Judge Boasberg attempted to improperly influence Chief Justice Roberts and roughly two dozen other federal judges by straying from the traditional topics to express his belief that the Trump Administration would ‘disregard rulings of federal courts’ and trigger ‘a constitutional crisis.’ Although his comments would be inappropriate even if they had some basis, they were even worse because Judge Boasberg had no basis—the Trump Administration has always complied with all court orders. Nor did Judge Boasberg identify any purported violations of court orders to justify his unprecedented predictions.’

‘Within days of those statements, Judge Boasberg began acting on his preconceived belief that the Trump Administration would not follow court orders. First, although he lacked authority to do so, he issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Government from removing violent Tren de Aragua terrorists, which the Supreme Court summarily vacated.

Taken together, Judge Boasberg’s words and deeds violate Canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, and, erode public confidence in judicial neutrality, and warrant a formal investigation.’ 

The DOJ is asking Chief Judge Srinivasan to refer the complaint to a special investigative committee as an inquiry is essential to determine whether Judge Boasberg’s conduct constitutes ‘conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts.’ The complaint also asks that Judge Boasberg be taken off the case involving Venezuelan migrants who were deported to El Salvador, ‘to prevent further erosion of public confidence while the investigation proceeds.’

The case in question is J.G.G. v Trump.

This is the second time the Bondi DOJ has filed an official complaint against a federal judge. In late February, the DOJ filed a complaint about US District Judge Ana Reyes, concerning what the DOJ calls Judge Reyes’ ‘misconduct’ during the proceedings in Nicolas Talbott et al. v. Donald J. Trump et al., which is a case brought by two LGBTQ groups challenging the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders barring transgender individuals from serving in the US military.

News of the complaint comes at a time when the Trump administration has excoriated dozens of so-called ‘activist’ judges who have blocked or paused some of Trump’s sweeping executive orders from taking force in his second White House term.

Judge Boasberg in particular found himself at the center of Trump’s ire and attacks on so-called ‘activist’ judges this year, following his March 15 temporary restraining order that sought to block Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador.

Boasberg had ordered all planes bound for El Salvador to be ‘immediately’ returned to U.S. soil, which did not happen.

His emergency order touched off a complex legal saga that ultimately spawned dozens of federal court challenges across the country – though the one brought before his court on March 15 was the very first – and later prompted the Supreme Court to rule, on two separate occasions, that the hurried removals had violated migrants’ due process protections under the U.S. Constitution.

Boasberg, as a result, emerged as the man at the center of the legal fallout. 

Trump administration officials have repeatedly excoriated Boasberg both for his order and his attempt to determine whether they acted in good faith to comply with his orders, and Trump himself has floated the idea that Boasberg could be impeached earlier this year – prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare public warning. 

The complaint, focused on months-old behavior and allegations surrounding Judge Boasberg— first tapped as a judge by then-President George W. Bush in 2002, comes at a time when he could again have a say in a major class action case brought by lawyers representing the former CECOT migrants. 

Lawyers for the ACLU and others in the class asked Judge Boasberg earlier this month to reopen discovery in the case, citing allegations from a United Nations report regarding custodial status of migrants at CECOT, and the recent decision to remove the 252 migrants sent from the U.S. to El Salvador to Venezuela under the prisoner exchange.

Asked at a status hearing in court last week whether the Justice Department would comply with the court’s orders, DOJ lawyer Tiberius Davis said they would, ‘if it was a lawful order.’

They also said they would likely seek an appeal from a higher court.

In April, Judge Boasberg also ruled that the court had found ‘probable cause’ to hold the Trump administration in contempt for failing to return the planes to U.S. soil, in accordance with his March 15 emergency order, and said the court had determined that the Trump administration demonstrated a ‘willful disregard’ for his order.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed his original motion in April, and has yet to move on the matter.

When the ambulance arrived in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia two years ago, an angry EMT got out and barked at the crowd, ‘Who called this in?’ 

Standing next to my cameraman and above the prone body of a shirtless soul bedecked in boils and not moving, I said, ‘I did.’ He didn’t say a word, he looked at me, then down the street at the dozens of strung out bodies, then back at me as if to say, ‘Look at all this, what do you want me to do?’

I had no answer.

Last week, President Donald Trump did answer that question with a much-welcome executive order (EO) intended to bring back civil commitment, in other words, the ability to put people who are a danger to themselves or others in institutions, even against their will.

Civil libertarians are in a tizzy over the EO. They insist this is an abuse of due process and harkens to the bad old days, when hundreds of thousands of Americans were committed to mental institutions, sometimes for dubious reasons.

But in examining and judging Trump’s proposed policy here, it is important to understand and accept what the status quo on the ground is right now, and it is nothing short of horrific.

I’ve traveled to homeless encampments all over America, from tucked-away Manhattan underpasses to the sprawling chaos of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, a place you literally smell a block before you enter.

In these encampments, your gag reflex is challenged by needles sticking out of necks and mountains of human detritus, but the real soul-crushing, existential sadness comes from knowing that these human beings are just being left to die.

For decades now, Democrats have spent endless dollars on fruitless efforts to fix the homeless problem. In California alone, Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent $20 billion on failing to fix it, and only recently admitted the encampments have to go.

In these encampments, your gag reflex is challenged by needles sticking out of necks and mountains of human detritus, but the real soul-crushing, existential sadness comes from knowing that these human beings are just being left to die.

What the Trump administration realizes is that Democrats refuse to accept is that homelessness is, actually, two very distinct problems. One is financial, the other is a matter of addiction and mental health.

Financial homelessness is fairly easy to address. The evicted mother living in her car can be given temporary housing and job assistance. She really does just need a hand up.

Homelessness related to mental illness and addiction, however, isn’t really a homelessness problem at all, it’s an addiction and mental illness problem, and shockingly, just letting people in tents shoot up in what was once a thriving commercial district doesn’t solve it.

As I have wandered the streets of these hellscapes in city after city, my question hasn’t really been if these people would be better off in an institution, but rather, if they weren’t in a de facto open-air institution already.

What does it matter if these places lack walls and locks? They are cages nonetheless, cruel prisons whether voluntary or not.

As I have wandered the streets of these hellscapes in city after city, my question hasn’t really been if these people would be better off in an institution, but rather, if they weren’t in a de facto open-air institution already.

Opponents of civil commitment insist you cannot take away people’s freedom! But freedom to do what? Shoot fentanyl every day until they die on a curbside, pockets rifled by another desperate junkie?

If it was your child on these broken and brutal streets of death, would you want them to be left in freedom to waste away, or would you want them taken somewhere where they could be protected and helped?

Opponents will say that civil commitment can be abused. They will point to the 1950s when homosexuals were sent to institutions, but it’s not 1950. We aren’t going to institutionalize gay people, and we cannot be paralyzed by a bigoted past when trying to save lives today.

Could there be abuses or mistakes made regarding civil commitment? Sure, but people are dying in the streets right now, and we must trust ourselves to actively help them, without stepping over the line.

Annoyed with me, or not, that day in Kensington, the EMT revived the man at my feet, who, it turns out, wasn’t dead, after all. Instead, he was angry, because the Narcan that woke him up also negated the high he had paid for.

There are really only two sides to be on here: the side that says we are going to do everything we can to save that man’s life, even against his will, or the side that condemns him to an open-air prison of his own making.

President Trump has chosen wisely, and if local governments take heed, it is going to save a lot of lives across America.