Competing resolutions to censure Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, are causing some division within the House GOP on Wednesday.

The Texas Democrat was thrown out of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night after repeatedly attempting to interrupt the speech, minutes after it began.

A resolution to punish Green over the incident is likely to pass, even with Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House. But differing ideas over how to get there have led to some frustrations between separate House GOP factions.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-WA, a moderate Republican, announced Wednesday he intends to force a vote on his own bill via a privileged resolution, meaning House leaders are forced to take it up within two days of the House being in session.

It accused Green of having ‘repeatedly violated the rules of decorum in the House of Representatives during President Donald J. Trump’s joint address to Congress,’ according to text provided to Fox News Digital.

Notably, Newhouse is one of two House Republicans left in Congress who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot – a fact that backers of a competing censure resolution seized on.

Fox News Digital was told he had begun work on his resolution against Green on Tuesday night.

The next morning, the House Freedom Caucus announced it would be filing legislation to censure the Texas Democrat, led by Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, began collecting signatures for a censure resolution against Green around 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Nehls’ bill currently has nearly 30 Republican co-sponsors, including members of the House Freedom Caucus, a source told Fox News Digital.

But two other sources familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that Newhouse’s resolution is most likely to be taken up by House GOP leadership.

A House GOP senior aide said in response, ‘It’s just tone deaf to even think that leadership would run with a censure from one of the two remaining GOP members who voted to impeach President Trump.’

‘It would be an obvious play to help shield him from another close primary challenge,’ the aide said.

But a second senior House GOP aide countered that, telling Fox News Digital that House GOP leadership had been aware of Newhouse’s plans on Tuesday night.

Newhouse reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., immediately after Trump’s address and both agreed on the need to censure Green, the second aide said.

The senior aide said there was ‘no better individual’ to lead the resolution given the level of respect afforded to Newhouse by fellow House Republicans. 

They also pointed out that Newhouse has already fended off tough primary challenges from his right, noting Trump likes winners, and that Newhouse praised Trump after the address on Tuesday night.

Nehls, meanwhile, is still undeterred. His office told Fox News Digital that he intends to move full steam and introduced his resolution on Wednesday afternoon.

And Green, for his part, told the Huffington Post he was ‘guilty’ after being read the text of Newhouse’s resolution.

House GOP leaders have already signaled they would look at punishing Green for his outburst.

Green remained defiant when he stopped to speak with the White House press pool on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol after being thrown out of the second floor House chamber, where Trump was speaking on Tuesday night.

‘I’m willing to suffer whatever punishment is available to me. I didn’t say to anyone, don’t punish me. I’ve said I’ll accept the punishment,’ Green said, according to the White House press pool report.

‘But it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.’

When reached for comment, Johnson’s office pointed Fox News Digital to the speaker’s earlier comments on Newhouse’s resolution.

‘I believe it is the first one out of the gate,’ he said. ‘I think [Green’s protest is] unprecedented. Certainly in the modern era. It wasn’t an excited utterance. It was a, you know, planned, prolonged protest.’

Top brass at the Department of State are questioning if the U.S. government’s role should include working ‘in the philanthropy business’ as the Trump administration uncovers a trove of mismanagement and overspending in recent years. 

‘No one will argue with the philanthropic nature of foreign assistance,’ Pete Marocco, the director of the Office of Foreign Assistance — which sits under the State Department’s federal umbrella — said to a group of faith-based organizations Friday. ‘So, this leads to another question I put before you today. Is it the proper role of government to be in the business of philanthropy?’ 

‘If U.S. foreign aid is only reaching 10% of its intended target, and the private sector is reaching the right people 87% of the time, this is a fundamental, age-old question we must return to and take seriously,’ he continued. ‘It’s imperative for foreign assistance to land in the right hands of the right people for the right reasons.’ 

Marocco’s comments were detailed in an internal State Department memo obtained by Fox News Digital that recapped a meeting between government officials and a group of roughly 25 faith-based organizations, which worked to engage the organizations in a ‘candid discussion about how their work supports and enhances U.S. foreign assistance goals under the America First framework.’ 

The ‘listening session’ meeting was invitation-only and moderated by Albert T. Gombis, acting under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, and director of global criminal justice, Fox Digital learned. 

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk and the Trump administration have been on a warpath in recent weeks against the United States Agency for International Development’s history of reported overspending and mismanagement. USAID is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations. 

Musk has characterized the agency as ‘a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.’

In January, President Donald Trump issued a near-total freeze on foreign aid through the agency and has since terminated thousands of employees and appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the agency’s acting director, moves that have received staunch pushback from Democrats and federal employees. 

The freeze on payments was hit with lawsuits, with the Supreme Court Wednesday dealing a blow to the administration when it denied its request to block a lower court’s ruling for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money. 

In a 5–4 ruling, the justices said a Feb. 26 deadline imposed by a lower court for the Trump administration to pay the funds already had expired, and directed the case back to the district court to clarify any additional details on payment.

The internal State Department memo continued that Marocco explained to the group of faith-based organizations that the Trump administration is ‘intentionally disrupting the system to identify and root out significant problems’ with its foreign aid programs. 

‘As you know, we’re in the midst of conducting a review of U.S. foreign aid programs,’ the memo said of the director’s opening remarks. ‘It’s challenging because we’re taking a very different approach from other reviews. Our review is starting from zero – a zero-based methodology. That means we are intentionally disrupting the system to identify and root out significant problems. Yes, this is causing unintended consequences for some programs, and those issues are being addressed separate from this forum.’ 

‘The truth is: the American people have lost faith in foreign assistance. They’ve lost faith in how we carry out this work. Nevertheless, today you’re here to think big and tell us how foreign assistance can be optimally effective,’ he added. 

Trump went to Capitol Hill Tuesday evening to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress since returning to the White House in January. In the speech, Trump celebrated his administration’s immediate pause to foreign aid. 

‘Every day my administration is fighting to deliver the change America needs to bring a future that America deserves, and we’re doing it,’ Trump said Tuesday evening. ‘This is a time for big dreams and bold action. Upon taking office, I imposed an immediate freeze on all federal hiring, a freeze on all new federal regulations and a freeze on all foreign aid.’ 

The 47th president continued in his speech that Musk and DOGE have identified $22 billion in government ‘waste’ across various federal agencies, including USAID. 

‘Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,’ Trump said as he rattled off various examples of federal waste. ‘Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.’

Democrats and government employees have railed against the Trump administration and DOGE’s work auditing the federal government, and some Democratic lawmakers even held up signs reading ‘Musk lies’ during Trump’s address Tuesday.

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court’s order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money, delivering a near-term reprieve to international aid groups and contractors seeking payment for previously completed projects.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said that the Feb. 26 deadline imposed by a lower court for the Trump administration to pay the funds had already expired and directed the case back to the district court to clarify any additional details on payment.

‘Given that the deadline in the challenged order has now passed, and in light of the ongoing preliminary injunction proceedings, the District Court should clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines,’ the Court said.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

‘Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise,’ Alito wrote. ‘I am stunned.’

Chief Justice John Roberts agreed last Wednesday to temporarily pause a lower court’s decision requiring the Trump administration to pay by 11:59 p.m. all outstanding invoices to foreign aid groups, an amount totaling roughly $1.9 billion – a timeline the Justice Department had argued was ‘impossible’ to comply with. Roberts did not give a reason for agreeing to pause the order issued by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, a Biden appointee, though the chief justice had widely been expected to refer the matter to the full court for review.

Still, the decision to send the case back to the lower court to hash out what, exactly, must be paid out by the Trump administration – and when – could allow Trump officials to further stall on repayment.

Foreign aid groups had argued last week that Roberts’ pause prevented them from filing a motion of civil contempt against the Trump administration, a legal maneuver that employees from the affected groups said in interviews this week could have expedited their process to claw back the unpaid debt.

At issue is how quickly the Trump administration needs to pay the nearly $2 billion owed to aid groups and contractors for completed projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), at a time when the administration has issued a blanket freeze on all foreign spending in the name of government ‘efficiency’ and eliminating waste.

In a new court filing Monday, Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris said that while the plaintiffs’ claims were likely ‘legitimate,’ the time U.S. District Judge Amir Ali gave them to pay the outstanding invoices was ‘not logistically or technically feasible.’

Harris also argued Monday that the order could be a violation of executive branch authorities granted by the Constitution to an elected president.

Ordering the Trump administration to make payments on a timeline of the lower court’s choosing, and ‘without regard to whether the requests are legitimate, or even due yet,’ Harris said, ‘intrudes on the president’s foreign affairs powers’ and executive branch oversight when it comes to distributing foreign aid.

Plaintiffs, for their part, rejected that notion in full. They argued in their own Supreme Court filing that the lower court judge had ordered the Trump administration to begin making the owed foreign aid payments more than two weeks ago – a deadline they said the government simply failed to meet, or to even take steps to meet – indicating that the administration had no plans to make good on fulfilling that request.

The Trump administration ‘never took steps towards compliance’ with Judge Ali’s order requiring the administration to unfreeze the federal funds to pay the $1.9 billion in owed project payments, attorneys for plaintiffs argued in their own Supreme Court filing. 

They also rejected the administration’s assertion in court last week that it would need ‘multiple weeks’ to restart the payment system.

Rather, they said, the Trump administration had moved too quickly to dismantle the systems required to send payments to foreign aid groups in the first place— and to purge the many USAID staffers who could have facilitated a smoother, faster repayment process.

‘All of these invoices have already been approved by the front-line managers at USAID, and it’s really these payment bottlenecks that the government has itself created’ that have caused the problems with repayment, one individual with knowledge of the USAID payments and contractors affected told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The high court challenge comes as many of the foreign aid groups who sued the administration earlier this year have already been stripped of the bulk of their funding. This aligns with President Donald Trump’s stated plans to cut some 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts and to slash an additional $60 billion in foreign aid spending.

The White House has not yet released a list of which contracts and grants were scheduled for elimination or those to be continued. However, critics have argued that the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. investment and presence around the world risks economic harm, reputational damage and new security risks, both at home and abroad.

Scott Greytak, a director at the group U.S. Transparency International, said in a statement that cutting such a large amount of U.S. foreign aid carries significant economic and security risks. The elimination of U.S. funding for certain projects, especially in countries with higher risks of corruption, could ‘open the door for increased cross-border corruption, fraud, and other crimes,’ he said. 

This could create new obstacles for U.S. businesses seeking to open or expand into foreign markets, said Greytak, whose group has active chapters in more than 100 countries globally, and could serve ‘as an invitation for U.S. competitors, especially China, to fill the vacuum created by the absence of U.S. engagement.’

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

A resolution by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-TX, is being circulated among Republican lawmakers on Wednesday to punish the House Democrat who was thrown out of President Donald Trump’s speech for protesting.

Nehls is leading the censure resolution against Rep. Al Green, D-TX, and is expected to make it public sometime today, a source with knowledge of the document told Fox News Digital.

It accuses Green of having ‘willfully disrupted the joint session, remained defiant,’ and ‘brought disrepute to the United States Congress,’ according to a draft text viewed by Fox News Digital.

The 77-year-old Democrat was removed from Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night after repeatedly disrupting the beginning of the president’s speech.

He shouted, ‘You have no mandate,’ at Trump as he touted Republican victories in the House, Senate and White House.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, had Green removed by the U.S. Sergeant-At-Arms.

Green remained defiant when he stopped to speak with the White House press pool on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol after being thrown out of the second floor House chamber, where Trump was speaking.

‘I’m willing to suffer whatever punishment is available to me. I didn’t say to anyone, don’t punish me. I’ve said I’ll accept the punishment,’ Green said, according to the White House press pool report.

‘But it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.’

Republicans, meanwhile, responded to Green and other Democratic attempts to disrupt the speech with fury.

The House Freedom Caucus announced on Wednesday morning that it would be filing its own censure resolution against Green.

‘What they’ve shown is ridiculous to the American people,’ House GOP Policy Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-OK, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday night. ‘I can’t see how any American would think that’s right.’

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-GA, told Fox News Digital, ‘The Democrats’ behavior last night was disappointing. There must be consequences for Rep. Al Green’s outburst, which displayed a clear lack of decorum and respect for the Office of the Presidency.’

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-LA, told Fox News Digital that leadership would be ‘looking at’ whether to punish Green.

Johnson signaled to reporters on Tuesday night that such a move would have his support.

Fox News Digital reached out to Green’s office for a response but did not immediately hear back.

: Elon Musk’s PAC is going live on the national airwaves for the first time with a $1 million spot thanking President Donald Trump for delivering on his campaign promises, such as deporting illegal immigrants and ‘draining the swamp’ with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk himself was tapped to lead. 

This is the first-ever television ad buy from Musk’s PAC. 

‘After four long years of humiliation, of failure at home and embarrassment abroad, our long national nightmare is finally over,’ the ad from America PAC says while displaying past viral footage of former President Joe Biden, such as him tripping on the stairs of Air Force One. 

‘Strength is back. Common sense is back. AMERICA IS BACK,’ it continues. 

Trump led his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night, echoing this. ‘Members of the United States Congress, thank you very much. And to my fellow citizens, America is back,’ the president said, and was immediately met with a chorus of Republican cheers. 

‘Thank you, President Trump, for saving the American Dream,’ the ad from America PAC concludes. 

The 60-second ad is airing in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country during the week after Trump’s address. It is backed by a $1 million television ad purchase. 

The spot goes through various areas of accomplishments for the new president in his first several weeks, during which Trump’s team has debuted countless executive orders and hit the ground running on key policy items.

The group was founded by Musk last year in order to back candidates who support conservative agenda items, like lower spending, secure borders and free speech.

Musk is notably the owner of X, as well as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. More recently, he became a special government employee as he continues to guide DOGE through aggressive auditing of federal entities. 

He was recognized by Trump during the Tuesday joint address for his assistance in taking on the federal bureaucracy and spending. ‘I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you’ve heard of it — perhaps — which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight. Thank you, Elon. You’re working very hard.’

The billionaire Trump ally and DOGE head has quickly earned the ire of Democrats for his unapologetic and aggressive approach to slashing spending and transforming the executive branch and its agencies. In fact, Musk’s image was featured in demonstrations against Trump during his address on Tuesday, with Democratic lawmakers holding signs that read ‘Musk steals.’ 

He was even mentioned in the Democrats’ rebuttal to Trump’s address, delivered by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.

‘Is there anyone in America who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information, and your bank accounts? No oversight, no protections against cyberattack, no guardrails on what they do with your private data,’ she said. 

‘We need a more efficient government. You want to cut waste? I’ll help you do it. But change doesn’t need to be chaotic or make us less safe.’ 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court’s order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money, delivering a near-term reprieve to international aid groups and contractors seeking payment for previously completed projects.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said that the Feb. 26 deadline imposed by a lower court for the Trump administration to pay the funds had already expired, and directed the case back to the district court to clarify any additional details on payment.

‘Given that the deadline in the challenged order has now passed, and in light of the ongoing preliminary injunction proceedings, the District Court should clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines,’ the Court said.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

‘Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise,’ Alito wrote. ‘I am stunned.’

Chief Justice John Roberts had agreed last Wednesday to temporarily pause a lower court’s decision requiring the Trump administration to pay by 11:59 p.m. all outstanding invoices to foreign aid groups, an amount totaling roughly $1.9 billion – a timeline the Justice Department had argued was ‘impossible’ to comply with. Roberts did not give a reason for agreeing to pause the order issued by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, a Biden appointee, though the chief justice had widely been expected to refer the matter to the full court for review. 

Importantly, the pause prevented foreign aid groups from filing a motion of civil contempt against the Trump administration— a legal maneuver that employees from the affected groups said in interviews this week could have expedited their process to claw back the unpaid debt.

At issue is how quickly the Trump administration needs to pay the nearly $2 billion owed to aid groups and contractors for completed projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), at a time when the administration has issued a blanket freeze on all foreign spending in the name of government ‘efficiency’ and eliminating waste.

In a new court filing Monday, Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris said that while the plaintiffs’ claims were likely ‘legitimate,’ the time U.S. District Judge Amir Ali gave them to pay the outstanding invoices was ‘not logistically or technically feasible.’

Harris also argued Monday that the order could be a violation of executive branch authorities granted by the Constitution to an elected president.

Ordering the Trump administration to make payments on a timeline of the lower court’s choosing, and ‘without regard to whether the requests are legitimate, or even due yet,’ Harris said, ‘intrudes on the president’s foreign affairs powers’ and executive branch oversight when it comes to distributing foreign aid.

Plaintiffs, for their part, rejected that notion in full. They argued in their own Supreme Court filing that the lower court judge had ordered the Trump administration to begin making the owed foreign aid payments more than two weeks ago – a deadline they said the government simply failed to meet, or to even take steps to meet – indicating that the administration had no plans to make good on fulfilling that request.

The Trump administration ‘never took steps towards compliance’ with Judge Ali’s order requiring the administration to unfreeze the federal funds to pay the $1.9 billion in owed project payments, attorneys for plaintiffs argued in their own Supreme Court filing. 

They also rejected the administration’s assertion in court last week that it would need ‘multiple weeks’ to restart the payment system.

Rather, they said, the Trump administration had moved too quickly to dismantle the systems required to send payments to foreign aid groups in the first place— and to purge the many USAID staffers who could have facilitated a smoother, faster repayment process.

‘All of these invoices have already been approved by the front-line managers at USAID, and it’s really these payment bottlenecks that the government has itself created’ that have caused the problems with repayment, one individual with knowledge of the USAID payments and contractors affected told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The high court challenge comes as many of the foreign aid groups who sued the administration earlier this year have already been stripped of the bulk of their funding. This aligns with President Donald Trump’s stated plans to cut some 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts, and to slash an additional $60 billion in foreign aid spending.

The White House has not yet released a list of which contracts and grants were scheduled for elimination or those to be continued. But critics have argued that the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. investment and presence around the world risks economic harm, reputational damage, and new security risks, both at home and abroad.

Scott Greytak, a director at the group U.S. Transparency International, said in a statement that cutting such a large amount of U.S. foreign aid carries significant economic and security risks. The elimination of U.S. funding for certain projects, especially in countries with higher risks for corruption, could ‘open the door for increased cross-border corruption, fraud, and other crimes,’ he said. 

This could create new obstacles for U.S. businesses seeking to open or expand into foreign markets, said Greytak, whose group has active chapters in more than 100 countries globally, and could serve ‘as an invitation for U.S. competitors, especially China, to fill the vacuum created by the absence of U.S. engagement.’

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

‘Squad’ member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., used a whiteboard to deliver real-time responses to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. While other Democrats held up pre-printed signs, Tlaib scribbled several messages throughout the evening.

As President Trump delivered his 100-minute-long speech, Tlaib scribbled several messages on a mini-whiteboard, including, ‘No king!,’ ‘What about the immigrants that worked for you?,’ and ‘That’s a lie!’ Tlaib’s actions seemed to be against House Democrat leadership’s wishes, as several reports say that party members were urged to not use pops and to show proper decorum.

The ‘Squad’ member’s whiteboard and keffiyeh-like jacket garnered a slew of reactions. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Sc., called Tlaib the ‘poster child’ of Trump derangement syndrome (TDS), a term coined online that refers to those who automatically reject anything that comes from Trump. 

Additionally, Rep. Mace tweeted an apparently photoshopped image of Tlaib with a blank sign and encouraged her followers to ‘fill in the blank.’ Unsurprisingly, this became a pattern with several social media users posting memes of Tlaib and her whiteboard with various phrases poking fun at the congresswoman and Democrats.

Some criticized Tlaib for wearing a keffiyeh-like jacket, pointing out that one of the guests attending the joint session was Noa Argamani, who was taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and was rescued by Israeli troops in June 2024.

Tlaib was not the first Democrat to disrupt or protest the president’s speech. The first protest sign of the night was held up before Trump even reached the front of the chamber. As Trump walked into the room and lawmakers flocked to the aisle to greet him, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-Nm., held up a sign reading ‘this is not normal.’ 

While Rep. Stansbury held her sign in silent protest, the first real interruption occurred when Rep. Al Green, D-Tx., began heckling President Trump less than 10 minutes into the address. Rep. Green objected to President Trump saying he was given a ‘mandate’ after winning the popular vote and the Electoral College.

Democrats were widely panned for their behavior over the course of the evening, with many calling them out for not applauding several of the guests Trump highlighted in his speech. This included DJ, a young brain cancer survivor who dreams of being a police officer, and the mothers of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, both of whom were killed by alleged illegal immigrants.

Meghan McCain said she was ‘disgusted’ and that the lawmakers needed to ‘get a grip.’

Meanwhile, Fox News Channel contributor Ari Fleischer said the Democrats were ’embarrassing themselves’ with the displays.

In addition to the signs and lack of cheers, multiple Democrats walked out of the address, some wearing political shirts. One of them was Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fl., who wore a shirt with ‘No kings live here’ written on the back. Others held up paddles throughout the speech that were reminiscent of the one Tlaib used to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Messages on the paddles included ‘Musk steals,’ ‘Save Medicaid’ and ‘False.’

South Dakota Sheriff Pat West told Fox News Digital he is already feeling the impact of Trump’s crackdown on border security ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

West, the Meade County sheriff and a guest of Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. for Trump’s speech, said the supply of drugs crossing the southern border is no longer meeting the high demand for drugs like methamphetamine and fentanyl in South Dakota, which he said proves ‘the impact that’s already taking place with that secure border.’

‘We are seeing a big impact on the border. Methamphetamine and fentanyl [are] our biggest problems that we’ve had in the past, and it’s been running rampant. The shutdown of the border recently has already made an impact on us up north in South Dakota,’ West said. 

Johnson touted Trump’s progress in his first six weeks in office to secure the border. 

‘I know that people think that the federal government never gets its work done, but we have seen illegal border crossings down 95% just in the last 40 days of the Trump administration. That has been the White House and Congress working together. Great law enforcement officers like Sheriff West are seeing those impact in South Dakota communities,’ Johnson said. 

Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks told CBS News last month that illegal crossings at the southern border are down 94% from the same period last year. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, echoed that statistic in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), saying known ‘gotaways’ are down 95% at the southern border. 

‘Overall our drug problem is connected to a lot of our other crimes that we have in the community. By controlling the border, it eliminates the amount of unnecessary methamphetamine and fentanyl that is coming across the border and then ultimately getting to South Dakota,’ West added. 

West said he hopes Trump continues to fund border security ‘because that’s extremely important for our home front.’

‘The other thing is to continue to support law enforcement and military. I’ve got two boys in the United States Marine Corps, so that gets pretty close to me. But he’s putting the right people in the right positions to support the military and keep us secure.’

West solved a sex trafficking case in South Dakota last year when he found a missing 13-year-old girl who had been abducted by a 33-year-old male sex offender. He also arrested a man who was in possession of approximately 2 grams of methamphetamine and 20 grams of fentanyl, which is about 200 pills. 

‘Illicit drugs, especially fentanyl and methamphetamine, continue to be a scourge on our communities. The devastation these drugs cause can’t be measured. We will continue to do all we can to get this poison off the streets in Meade County and hold those who bring this poison here accountable,’ West said in a statement following the arrest. 

A group of House conservatives are heading to the White House Wednesday to discuss the path forward for avoiding a partial government shutdown.

‘It’s a meeting with the House Freedom Caucus leadership, and then a few of the people who philosophically share our feelings about the fiscal situation,’ House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital. ‘And we’re going to hear what the president has to say.’

Fresh off an internal battle that ended with House Republicans taking the first step to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda through the budget reconciliation process, GOP lawmakers are facing another looming fiscal fight.

Congressional negotiators have punted fiscal year 2025 government funding talks twice since the new fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2024. They did so by passing a continuing resolution, a short-term funding patch to extend current federal spending levels.

Congress could risk a partial government shutdown on Trump’s watch if nothing is done by the end of March 14. To avoid that, however, GOP leaders are looking to pass another continuing resolution, this time through the end of fiscal year 2025.

But Democrats and Republicans are at an impasse over the left’s demands that the resolution include assurances that Trump will not overstep Congress and spend less money than what’s appropriated. 

Democratic votes have been critical to passing every continuing resolution since Republicans took the House in January 2023. And with a razor-thin majority, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can lose few votes to pass anything with just GOP support.

Trump has spoken out on the matter, calling on Republicans to pass a ‘clean’ extension of last year’s funds through the end of the fiscal year.

Republican leaders are hoping that will be enough to sway conservatives and other GOP lawmakers who normally are, on principle, opposed to continuing resolutions.

It is why several such lawmakers will be at the White House Wednesday.

‘I’m hopeful we can get this off the ground,’ Harris said. ‘But, again, it’s going to involve all hands on deck in the Republican conference in the House.’ 

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., another House Freedom Caucus member who normally opposes continuing resolutions, suggested he may be open to supporting this latest bid.

Norman, who will be at the White House Wednesday, was hopeful Trump’s push to cut government waste represented a new chapter that could allow for Republicans opposed to a continuing resolution to feel comfortable crossing that line.

‘I will be part of the group, and we’ll be talking with the president,’ Norman said. ‘It’s real important to keep his momentum going. It’s a new day with the DOGE cuts. (Continuing resolutions) a lot of us don’t like. We haven’t voted for them in the past. Today is different, and I think we’ll pass the vote.

‘If we have to get Democrats, that’s not a good sign. And I don’t think we have to, nor should we. And there’s no one better to sell a program or a point of view than Donald Trump.’ 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, declined to say if he would attend the meeting but said he was supportive of Trump’s stance on a continuing resolution. 

Roy, the House Freedom Caucus policy chair, has become a de facto liaison between Republican leaders and the most hawkish members of the House GOP Conference.

‘I have publicly said that I’m happy to support the president’s request to have a (continuing resolution) the next six months, provided that it’s clean, provided that it is at current levels or below,’ Roy said. ‘I’m not going to talk about private meetings and what I’ve been invited to, but let’s say I’m in close contact with the White House.’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who encouraged his fellow Democrats to attend President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday, described the speech as ‘the most divisive’ in American history after its conclusion.

Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the president ‘did not try to unite the country’ nor did he address ‘serious economic challenges facing everyday Americans.’

‘Instead, President Trump promoted the reckless Republican budget that sets up the largest cut to Medicaid in our country’s history. Democrats will continue to fight hard to make life better for the people, and together we will get through this turbulent moment,’ the top House Democrat said in a statement.

Trump’s speech, which lasted about an hour and 39 minutes, addressed a range of topics, from his administration’s fight against the illegal immigrant crisis to more touching moments where the president honored special guests in the chamber.

In a post-speech interview, Jeffries accused Trump and his administration of ‘repeatedly’ lying and making things about him and ‘never about the American people.’

‘It’s always about him and never about the American people. This is why the economy is crashing. Things haven’t gotten better. They’re getting worse,’ Jeffries said, adding that ‘the free world is falling apart because Donald Trump is playing footsie with Vladimir Putin.’

In his criticism, Jefferies heavily focused on Trump assuring Americans that funding for social security, Medicaid and Medicare will not be cut unless fraud or abuse is detected, describing those promises made by the president and the Republican Party as lies.

‘They’re going to go after Social Security benefits. I think that was clear after this speech. And we know that they are proposing the largest Medicaid cut in American history that’s going to hurt children, hurt families, hurt people with disabilities, shut down hospitals and close nursing homes,’ Jeffries said, referencing proposed tax cuts.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has previously stated that Republicans are ‘not talking about in any way reducing benefits’ for the programs Jeffries is concerned about.

‘What we’re talking about is efficiencies in the programs to make them work better for the people who receive those benefits and to make them longer lasting to sustain the programs,’ Johnson said.

The Democratic leader did not share any praise for the president’s speech, despite there being some moments that would seemingly be celebrated by all, such as swearing a 13-year-old cancer survivor in as an honorary Secret Service agent and telling a high school senior his application to West Point was accepted.

Jeffries did not publicly comment on anything specific besides his concerns about potential cuts to government programs in his post-speech interview, but he did criticize the ‘Republican agenda’ as a whole multiple times.

‘What’s going to move this country back in the right direction is for the American people to fully understand the implications of this very divisive and extreme agenda that is being unleashed on the American people,’ Jeffries said, in part.