Biden’s official vows to shut down nation’s largest Christian university: ‘Deeply held bias’
After Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona vowed to shut down Grand Canyon University (GCU), the largest Christian university in the U.S., GCU officials are pushing back, telling Fox News Digital the crackdown stems from “deeply held bias.”
Cardona made comments during a House Appropriations Committee hearing about cracking down on GCU and other universities like it on April 10.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., asked Cardona how the administration is working to shut down GCU, which she called “a predatory for-profit school.”
Cardona openly embraced their enforcement methods, declaring “we are cracking down not only to shut them down, but to send a message to not prey on students.”
LARGEST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY IN THE NATION ALLEGES IT’S BEING UNJUSTLY TARGETED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES
‘PREDATORY FOR-PROFIT COLLEGE’
“Last year, your Department took action against Grand Canyon University, a predatory for-profit college, over the school’s failure to accurately disclose its cost to students, driving up the true cost for those students requiring for them to pay for continuation courses before they would graduate – scam courses added about $10,000 or more to the cost of education to these kids,” DeLauro said.
“Going after predatory schools preying on first generation students. They have flashy marketing materials, but the product is not worth the paper it is printed on. Increased enforcement budget to go after these folks and crack down. Levied largest fine in history against a school that lied about costs and terminated a school from Title IV. We are cracking down not only to shut them down, but to send a message not to prey on students,” Cardona responded.
GCU appealed a $37.7 million fine imposed by the department in November on allegations that the Arizona-based higher learning institution misled students about the cost of its doctoral programs over several years.
The fine is much larger than what the Department of Education previously gave to schools like Penn State ($2.4 million) and Michigan State ($4.5 million) for failing to address Jerry Sandusky and Larry Nassar’s crimes, respectively.
The department said in an October press release that an investigation conducted by the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) found GCU “lied” to over 7,500 former and current students about the cost of its doctoral programs. The release also said GCU “falsely advertises” a lower cost for its doctoral programs, adding that about 98% of students ended up paying more than the advertised cost.
The university was given a 20-day deadline to request a hearing with the ED’s Office of Hearings and Appeals or file a response to the FSA to explain why the fine should not be imposed. The Department also imposed specific conditions on the school to continue participating in the federal student aid programs.
A GCU spokesperson told Fox News Digital that they do not expect a hearing to take place until January.
“Our next recourse after that decision would be another appeal within the Department, this time directly to the Secretary of Education,” the GCU official said.
‘HOLDING HIGHER EDUCATION ACCOUNTABLE’
“This is far from being a few rotten apples in the bunch. Predatory for-profit colleges have engaged in a range of deceptions designed to increase enrollment and student costs to drive more revenue for owners and shareholders,” DeLauro said during the April 10 hearing. “How are you and your agency committing to increased oversight of these institutions and are there anyway in which we can shut these folks down?”
Cardona said that the agency employed “multiple strategies” to crack down on for-profit universities, such as “borrower defense, debt discharge, holding colleges more accountable, and holding higher education institutions more accountable.”
In regard to borrower defense, Cardona added that for-profit colleges were “preying on first-generation students.”
“You have a shiny brochure and a great commercial. But the product is not worth the paper it’s written on. We have students graduating 60K to 70K dollars in debt, only eligible for jobs making under 30K–that to me is unacceptable.”
NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY SUED FOR ‘VIEWPOINT DISCRIMINATION’ AFTER CHARGING ‘HEFTY FEE’ TO CONSERVATIVE GROUP
‘INCREASED ENFORCEMENT’
In response to Cardona’s comment about shutting down universities like GCU, a GCU spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “officials continue to make derogatory and inflammatory public statements that are legally and factually incorrect and not shared by any of the other 26 regulatory and accrediting bodies that oversee GCU.”
“The Secretary’s comments to the House Appropriations Committee were so reckless that GCU is demanding an immediate retraction, as they do not reflect the factual record in this case. He is either confused, misinformed or does not understand the actions taken by his own agency,” the spokesperson added.
The president of GCU previously expressed to Fox News Digital sentiments of being “unfairly targeted.”
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT CRIES FOUL AFTER LEAK OF DEPT OF EDUCATION REPORT ON SCHOOL’S SAFETY COMPLIANCE
‘OTHER FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS COULD BE NEXT’
Cardona’s comments came after the announcement of a petition to “protect Christian colleges,” launched by the American Principles Project (APP).
The petition was launched in “light of the Biden administration’s unprecedented attacks on our nation’s largest Christian colleges” and demands that “the administration halt their crusade and let students choose the schools that fit their values.”
“The federal government’s education agenda is punishing schools that do not conform to their progressive ideology. It’s time we take a stand against this egregious abuse of power,” APP Policy Director Jon Schweppe said. “The scrutinize-and-penalize campaign against faith-based institutions is not about students’ interests or well-being. Rather, it’s part of a concerted effort to snuff out education choice and promote far-left values. It’s critical that Americans be aware of this shameful campaign and that we do all we can to put a stop to it.”
In response to APP’s efforts, GCU officials told Fox News Digital that the “American people are losing confidence in the federal government to be fair and objective in their operations.”
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“There are clearly no checks and balances to prevent this type of behavior from the Department of Education,” they added. “We support any organization that is willing to shed light on the federal government’s unwarranted and targeted actions taken against GCU. If they can make these claims against the largest Christian university in the country, other faith-based organizations could be next.”
Additionally, the Goldwater Institute sued ED in February in federal court for “refusing to turn over public records” related to its $37.7 million fine against GCU. They claimed that the records specifically may inform the public about coordination between various federal agencies in what appears to be the “intentional targeting of a successful university based on extraordinarily thin allegations.”
The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Retired teacher sues after he was convicted for putting ‘for sale’ sign in car window
A recently retired schoolteacher is suing his Pennsylvania borough over a local ordinance after he was found guilty of putting a “for sale” sign on his legally parked car.
“We put you in office as judges and state representatives to protect our rights,” Will Cramer told Fox News Digital. “And when we see things like giving people tickets for putting a for-sale sign in their car – violating our First Amendment right – it’s sad.”
He teamed up with the Institute for Justice, filing a lawsuit on April 9 seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting his borough of Nazareth from enforcing the ordinance “against a traditional, low-cost, and effective form of personal commercial speech.”
“I really can’t think of a good reason why Nazareth has this policy in place,” he said. “I’m not quite sure why they would be so concerned about a car with the sign in the window.”
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Cramer lived in Nazareth, a small borough in Northampton County, Penn., for over 40 years and spent the last 20 years teaching high school geometry and biology. At the start of the school year, he decided to retire in December 2023 and to go teach English in the Philippines for a year.
In October, Cramer planned to sell his 1987 Chevrolet truck as he prepared for his trip.
“I was retiring, and I was finally going to move to another country, so there was urgency to sell my truck,” Cramer said. “I wanted to sell some of my items and not take them with me. I didn’t want to store them.”
But after failing to find any prospective buyers using online posts, Cramer decided to go old-school and put a “for sale” sign inside the window of the truck, which he parked on the street outside his house. He was unaware of Nazareth’s local ordinance that criminalizes having for-sale signs on vehicles that are otherwise parked legally on public streets.
A few days after placing the sign, he discovered a citation on his truck.
“When I pulled the ticket out from underneath the windshield wiper blade and I looked at it, I was actually receiving a ticket for putting a ‘for sale’ sign and then advertising my car for sale,” Cramer said. “I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t mad, I was just trying to take it in.”
“Like, is this for real? Am I getting a ticket for putting a for-sale sign on my truck?” he added.
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Cramer immediately removed the sign and began parking the truck on his lawn, since his house doesn’t have a driveway. He luckily was able to sell the old Chevy to someone who had seen the sign before its removal and contacted him. In a rush to finish making arrangements for his January departure, Cramer originally chose not to fight the ticket and sent in a check for the amount owed.
“I just paid it, I wanted to get it over with,” he said. “And then I went back home to try to finish the rest of the things that I had to do to complete before I could leave.”
A little over a week later, Cramer noticed the check was returned along with a letter saying his payment was late and he owed additional late fees.
“At this point I got kind of angry because I thought it was bad enough that they violated my freedom of speech,” he said. “Now they want more money because they didn’t get the ticket exactly on the date that they needed it.”
The retired teacher began researching criminal cases involving First Amendment rights and reaching out to individuals involved in cases similar to his. He pled not guilty to the citation and represented himself in magistrate’s court, but ultimately was convicted and required to pay $123.75 in fines and court costs.
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Cramer did not appeal that decision, but wants to sell another car of his, a 2009 Buick, when he returns to Nazareth from the Philippines next January.
The borough of Nazareth did not respond to a request for comment.
NFL star’s wife hypes up husband after dad bod comments resurface
Brittany Mahomes appeared to be hot and bothered over her NFL star husband on Tuesday as he was named to Time magazine’s list of “Most Influential People.”
In a since-expired post on her Instagram Stories, Mahomes shared her husband’s post showing him in a photoshoot with the magazine. She wrote over it, “My hottttttt hubby,” with a few lovey-dovey emojis to go with it.
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The post came as Patrick Mahomes addressed scrutiny over his dad bod. Back in January, a video showing him addressing his Kansas City Chiefs teammates following the AFC Championship win went viral because he had his shirt off.
Mahomes wondered why he had to be the focus of attention like that after leading the team back to the Super Bowl.
In an interview with Time, he was asked about the dad bod jokes.
“I definitely have the dad bod a little bit,” he told the outlet. “I’ll also say I have a great body for a quarterback. You’ve got to have some padding in there to take the hits that we take.”
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When talking about how much longer he wanted to play for, he admitted he would have to get rid of the dad bod if he wanted to play through his 40s, following in Tom Brady’s footsteps.
At the end of the day, it is not about the pounds. It is about the wins, and Mahomes has enough already to be considered one of the greats to ever play in the NFL.
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He passed for 4,183 yards and 27 touchdowns in what was likely the most challenging season of his career. He is primed and ready to lead the team to glory again in 2024.
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Disgruntled Democrat turns to Trump: Why the change of heart?
Disillusioned with the Democratic Party he once supported, ex-union electrician and retired veteran Tony Milidantri says he’s pledging his vote to former President Trump in hopes of seeing President Biden get the boot in November.
“To see everybody go against him [Trump], and what’s happening to him? It’s ridiculous. You have to be blind not to see what they’re doing, and the Democrats get away with everything,” he said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends First.”
“They could do whatever they want to, say whatever they want.”
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Milidantri said he believes Trump has the “formula” to “bring the country back in line” and hopes others in the battleground state of Pennsylvania will agree when they cast their ballots.
“I hope not,” he said when asked if he believes Biden will win the state again. “I pray to God he doesn’t.”
Biden, meanwhile, is slated to take his economic tour to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, visiting steelworkers to discuss his plans to support them and to call for higher tariffs on Chinese steel imports.
DEMOCRAT CUELLAR WARNS BIDEN: BORDER CRISIS WILL ‘ABSOLUTELY’ BE ELECTION ISSUE IN 2024
Polls currently show the nominees deadlocked in key battleground states, including the Keystone State, with Trump boasting a slight edge over Biden in a recent Fox News poll.
The state could be one of the most decisive this November. In Milidantri’s circles, the choice is clear, however.
“I can’t use that language on the air,” he replied when asked what his friends have said about Biden.
“It really is pathetic to watch a man that they can’t impeach because he’s not capable of it, but yet he’s capable of running our country. There’s something wrong here. There’s definitely something wrong,” he continued.
BIDEN HAS A ‘DEVASTATING MOUNTAIN’ TO CLIMB IN REMATCH WITH TRUMP, GINGRICH WARNS
Milidantri said his fellow retired veterans are tired of witnessing the country taking a downward turn, adding that he believes “we are turning into a third-world country.”
Other Pennsylvanians are none too happy with the country’s direction, according to interviews Fox News Digital conducted in Schnecksville on the heels of former President Trump’s visit to the area on Saturday.
“Our costs are through the roof just to stay in business. From A-to-Z we didn’t have this four years ago,” said Al Anderson, a local business owner, adding, “”Of course, Bidenomics is nothing but printing money and creating inflation.”
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Ed Frack, another Schnecksville native who opened this first gym in the area just before Trump left office, a time he described as one of “growth.”
“Things were just a little easier for businessowners,” he said. “The younger generation is noticeably spending more money than my generation ever did.”
Biden and Trump are currently engaged in a fight to win over voters in other swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Virginia in addition to Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a Republican from the area, said voters in the area lack enthusiasm under Biden’s watch compared to Trump’s.
“President Biden was recently in Lehigh County touting Bidenomics — the funny thing about Bidenomics is if it was working, the president wouldn’t have to travel around the country convincing people it’s working,” he said.
Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
Eisenhower’s stark warning about the Holocaust appears to come true 79 years later
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s career achievements are unparalleled in American history.
Popular two-term president. Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe in World War II. Led the epic D-Day invasion, helped reclaim postwar peace, launched NASA into orbit, sent America rolling down the interstate highway system.
Also mentored a then-future president, Ronald Reagan, on everything from national security to running for higher office.
Ike also served for five years as president of Columbia University.
FAR-LEFT HATRED OF JEWS TODAY ECHOES THE SOCIALISM AND ANTISEMITISM OF HITLER IN THE 1930S
Given the chaos and disruption on that campus in April 2024, however, it is almost unimaginable that a five-star general of his caliber would lead that institution of higher learning today.
He took the position at the top of the elite New York City Ivy League university in May 1948 — and resigned from it only after he won election to the U.S. presidency and moved into the White House in Jan. 1953.
The year he became Columbia’s president, Eisenhower said, “The principal purpose of education is to prepare the student for effective personal and social life in a free society. From the school at the crossroads to a university as great as Columbia, general education for citizenship must be the common and first purpose of them all,” as Columbia itself noted.
Several years before that, and as part of his lasting legacy, he vowed to keep alive the memory of the shock and horror, the images of evil lurking within our species, that he observed at the Ohrdruf concentration camp in Germany in April 1945.
“The things I saw beggar description,” Eisenhower wrote to Gen. George C. Marshall, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Washington, D.C.
ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS OCCUPY COLUMBIA CAMPUS AS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT FACES GRILLING FROM CONGRESS
“The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick.”
The victims were mostly Jews — first dehumanized by Adolf Hitler’s far-left National Socialist German Workers Party, then brutalized in a systemic extermination of humans on an industrial scale.
“Bodies were piled like wood and living skeletons struggled to survive,” the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reported of Ike’s arrival at Ohrdruf.
Eisenhower instinctively knew that the atrocities defied belief — and therefore needed proof.
“The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick.”
He vowed “to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to ‘propaganda,'” he wrote in his message to Gen. Marshall.
One third of the global population of Jews, about 6 million people, were slaughtered by the National Socialists in the Holocaust.
Millions of other people were systemically killed, too.
At Eisenhower’s frantic urging, members of Congress and a cadre of journalists descended on Ohdruf, and then on dozens of other death camps like it that the Allies discovered amid disbelief as they swept through Germany in the final weeks of World War II.
THIS PASSOVER HAS A ‘BITTER TASTE,’ SAYS LOS ANGELES-BASED ACTIVIST AS HAMAS HOSTAGE CRISIS CONTINUES
“He invited the media to document the scene. He compelled Germans living in the surrounding towns and any soldier not fighting at the front to witness the atrocities for themselves,” the Holocaust Museum notes.
It added, “Eisenhower foresaw a day when the horrors of the Holocaust might be denied.”
That day is here right now — on the campus of Eisenhower’s own Columbia University.
‘By any means necessary’
Anti-Israeli student groups took over the Columbia quad this week as current university President Minouche Shafik testified before Congress on Wednesday about antisemitism on her campus.
Columbia, and other schools around the nation, as well as city streets, have been overtaken by calls for Israel’s destruction since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.
“Antisemitism has no place on our campus, and I am personally committed to doing everything I can to confront it directly,” Shafik said in her opening remarks.
Complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia have increased at the New York City campus of 35,000 students, prompting the school to put limits on demonstrations, the Associated Press reported. Now, protests can be held only on weekdays at certain times and locations — with advance notice, the AP also noted.
Shafik cited this as evidence the school is serious about protecting students, saying 15 students have been suspended and six are on probation for breaches — though some maintain this interferes with free speech.
Yet a day after her appearance, a current Columbia University student who is of Jewish heritage told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday morning, April 18, that she does not feel safe at all on campus.
MOTHER OF AMERICAN-ISRAELI HOSTAGE TAKEN ON OCT. 7 SAYS HER FAITH HELPS HER THROUGH DARKEST DEPTHS OF PAIN
Columbia, and other schools around the nation, as well as city streets, have been overtaken by calls for Israel’s destruction since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks slaughtered more than 1,000 civilian citizens of the Jewish-majority nation.
Antisemitic protesters have shouted “by any means necessary” and “from the river to the sea” – essentially calling for another Holocaust, for the extermination of Jews.
The phrase “by any means necessary” has been spread around campuses, including Columbia’s, by the far-left group National Students for Justice in Palestine.
Its platform comes straight from Hitler’s far-left National Socialist playbook: monolithic government and a belief that Jews are colonizers.
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“A parasite in the bodies of other nations,” as Hitler called Jews in “Mein Kampf.”
Columbia’s deans issued a statement on Dec. 20 that acknowledged the hatred on its campus.
“Phrases such as ‘by any means necessary’ and ‘from the river to the sea,'” the school noted, are “antisemitic and deeply hurtful.”
“Eisenhower foresaw a day when the horrors of the Holocaust might be denied.”
Yet the shouts for the elimination of the Jewish state continue at Columbia and on other American universities today.
Eisenhower predicted this day.
He said the horrors of antisemitism, of the Holocaust, might be forgotten.
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Many believe that America’s educational system today has failed to heed his important history lesson.
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Children’s trans clinic whistleblower drops bombshell on Dr. Phil
A children’s gender clinic whistleblower claimed on Dr. Phil Thursday that she saw regretful patients ask to have their removed body parts restored after operations.
Jamie Reed, who worked at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, penned a lengthy tell-all expose last year in which she called gender clinics for kids “morally and medically appalling.” On “Dr. Phil Primetime,” the host asked Reed, who is queer and married to a transgender person herself, what changed her mind about transgender treatments for youth.
“A number of things,” she said. “We started to see patients who were experiencing very significant medical harms being rushed to the emergency room with lacerations requiring stitches. We had patients contact us who were begging to have body parts put back on within months of having surgeries.”
She went on to claim, “The thing that kept happening is every time I would raise concerns and ask about the protocols and ask about the guidelines – this is just how the industry works, if a child says they’re trans there’s no questioning it. We just say, ‘Yep, you’re trans, what would you like?’”
DETRANSITIONER BLASTS GOP GOVERNOR’S VETO OF BAN ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR MINORS: ‘COMPLICIT’ IN THIS
Reed was responsible for patient intake and oversight during her time at the hospital between 2018 and 2022. She said that most young people who walked through the door received hormone prescriptions that can have life-altering consequences, such as sterility.
“You’re telling me that a 12 or 13-year-old, who can’t decide which pajamas to wear, can come in and say, ‘I’ve decided that I want to transition,’ and with no more than a couple of hours or two visits – not even a couple of hours, two visits – they say ‘Okay, start taking this, start doing this,’ which alters their biochemistry in a way that you can’t come back from?” Dr. Phil asked.
“Correct,” Reed affirmed.
Reed said kids identifying as transgender has become 10 times more common and they are overwhelmingly young teenage women who wish to become men.
Girls, she argued, tend to be very attuned to the trends in their environment, particularly on social media and in their peer groups, to the point where girls in the same class would come in clusters all requesting procedures at the same time.
“They would come in, and they would almost have the exact same storyline, too, like they learned what to say from a video to explain, ‘Oh, no, really, I’ve felt this way from early childhood,’ but a lot of their parents couldn’t remember anything like that.”
DETRANSITIONING BECOMES GROWING CHOICE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE AFTER GENDER-AFFIRMING SURGERY
“There were very few written protocols or guidelines, one of the providers even said we were flying the plane as we built it. Doctors are acting like they’re God when it comes to medically transitioning children,” Reed said.
“I saw a young person who was begging to have their breasts put back on after having surgery, we were encouraged not to make a big deal out of it and definitely not to tell other families. I couldn’t continue to be silent on it,” she added, about detransitioners.
After Reed went public last year, multiple prominent figures have called for investigations into the trans clinic.
In February 2023, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said that his office had launched a multi-agency investigation into the Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center.
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In September, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent a letter to Washington University in St. Louis and BJC Healthcare demanding an investigation into its protocols for transitioning minors. The center will no longer be giving minors puberty blockers for the purpose of transitioning to another gender, the center announced that month, due to a newly passed state law outlawing gender-changing treatments for minors. The law went into effect Aug. 28, but exempts patients who have already begun transitioning.
The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital didn’t respond to Fox News Digital‘s request for comment by publication.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes, Jamie Joseph, and Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
GOP rebels derail Speaker Johnson’s border bill amid fury over foreign aid
A meeting to advance Speaker Mike Johnson’s latest border security bill abruptly ended on Wednesday night without a vote on whether the measure will hit the House floor.
“Sorry, not sorry, for opposing a cr—y rule that is a show vote / cover vote for funding Ukraine instead of border security,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X after the meeting imploded.
He’s one of three Republican foreign aid hawks on the House Rules Committee, which is the final barrier before a piece of legislation hits the House floor.
It comes as conservative rebels in the House GOP conference criticize the speaker’s decision not to link border security measures to his $95 billion foreign aid plan.
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Johnson told lawmakers on Wednesday that the House would consider separate foreign aid bills on Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific and a fourth bill including various foreign policy provisions. If passed, they would be sent to the Senate in a combined package.
To appease Republicans concerned about not using it as an opportunity to crack down on the border crisis, he also unveiled a separate bill similar to H.R.2, the comprehensive immigration and border enforcement bill House Republicans passed last year but which the Democrat-controlled Senate refused to take up. He said that bill would go through procedural hurdles parallel to the foreign aid bills, rather than alongside them.
JOHNSON LIKELY FORCED TO GET DEM HELP ON FOREIGN AID PLAN AS REPUBLICANS DECRY LACK OF BORDER MEASURES
In a remarkable moment toward the end of the meeting, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the committee, acknowledged that the bill has no support from Democrats and likely no future in Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Senate. He also pointed out that the three conservative rebels on the panel would likely vote against the bill as well – meaning it would not even survive their committee.
“We’ve been here. We’ve done this already. We know what the Senate is going to do. And my three colleagues, who I know have been expressing some discontent about what’s going on here, I mean, maybe we can end this hearing. I mean, I think if the three of you vote ‘no’ on this rule, we’re done,” McGovern said.
He pointed out that Roy called it a “watered-down, dangerous cover vote” and asked him, along with Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., if they planned to vote in favor of advancing the bill.
Massie and Roy would not say, with Roy adding, “I think I’m pretty well publicly not in favor of what’s going here.” Norman said he would oppose the bill.
The hearing soon recessed without a conclusion.
Foreign aid and aid to Ukraine, specifically, have proven to be politically fraught topics for Johnson as he navigates a historically slim House majority and new threats from fellow Republicans to trigger a vote on his ouster.
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Johnson has argued that tying U.S. border measures to foreign aid, especially Ukraine, would kill its chances of passing .”We want the border to be part of every single thing we do here,” he told reporters on Thursday morning, adding, “We don’t have the votes. If you put Ukraine in any package, you can’t also do the border because I lose Republican votes on that rule. My friends don’t get it.”
He was initially aiming for a Saturday vote on the foreign aid bills as well as the measure on border security. It’s not clear how the Wednesday evening chaos will affect that schedule.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report
Tori Spelling admits to reversing course when weight loss drug didn’t work
Tori Spelling is not afraid to admit she turned to Type 2 diabetes medication to help her lose weight after the birth of her fifth child.
On Monday’s episode of the “90210” star’s podcast, Spelling said that Ozempic did not work for her, so she used Mounjaro instead.
“I tried Ozempic, and it didn’t work for me,” she said on her “misSPELLING” podcast. “So, I went on Mounjaro, which did do the trick and I did lose weight.”
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Spelling shared that since it is becoming more common for celebrities to discuss taking antidiabetics for weight loss, she is comfortable sharing her own experience. “It’s a different time, so I don’t feel shamed saying that.”
Spelling began taking Mounjaro in 2017 after the birth of her son, Beau. She is also a mother to four other children; Liam, 17, Stella, 15, Hattie, 12, and Finn, 11, who she shares with her ex-husband, Dean McDermott.
“At my heaviest, I was 120 pounds my entire life,” Spelling said on her podcast. “And after Beau, I was 160 pounds. I couldn’t lose the weight, and the doctor was like, ‘Well, it’s an age thing.'”
Spelling shared that prior to turning to medication, she tried “whatever anyone told me to do that was safe and it just wasn’t working.” That was when her doctor prescribed her Mounjaro, the brand name for tirzepatide.
She was also prescribed hormone medication since she was approaching menopause at the time.
“I’m happy with my weight,” she said. “I did go off of it because I had hit my ideal weight and I felt like I didn’t want to get any thinner.”
Spelling has had a tough year in her personal life. At the end of March, Fox News Digital confirmed that Spelling had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences as the grounds to dissolve her union with McDermott.
At the iHeart Radio Music Awards red carpet, Spelling told Fox News Digital, “I’m doing well. It was the appropriate time and the kids and I and Dean are doing great. And we’re getting through this as a family.”
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Spelling elaborated about the major change to her life on an earlier episode of her podcast.
“So, I just filed for divorce,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I just filed for divorce, whoa. I said the words that I’ve said in my head for like 16 years…wild.”
The mom of five admitted she thought about leaving at multiple points after the births of some of her children, but never did.
Having children further impacted their relationship, with Spelling saying, “Our relationship was never the same after having kids.”
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She continued, “We always said we won’t be those parents who change. We’ll make sure we make our relationship a priority, the two of us, and have date nights, and everything went out the window. I became completely focused on the kids. And kind of left him in a way. And I get it. It doesn’t excuse his behavior and everything he did and how he handled things, and I’m not minimizing his part in this and how his lack of sobriety did affect me and the kids for years and years, and I’m really happy he’s sober now. But our relationship definitely changed, to the point where I felt like I was in this alone with the kids.”
In the divorce filing documents, the date of separation for the couple is listed as June 17, 2023, the same day McDermott shared a now-deleted Instagram post announcing their separation.
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Spelling is requesting spousal support, while denying offering spousal support to McDermott. As for their children, she requested full physical custody and joint legal custody, with visitation rights for McDermott.
Prince William makes promise about Kate Middleton upon return to duty
Nearly one month after Kate Middleton announced her cancer diagnosis, Prince William has returned to his royal duties.
To kick off the day, the Prince of Whales paid a visit to a food redistribution charity called Surplus to Supper in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, on Thursday. The organization’s mission is to bridge the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London.
While there, William put on an apron and got to work preparing meals while mingling with members of the dedicated staff.
PRINCESS KATE MIDDLETON UNDERGOING ‘PREVENTATIVE CHEMOTHERAPY’ AFTER CANCER DIGNOSIS: ‘STRONGER EVERY DAY’
On the prince and princess’ X page, there were photos shared of his visit.
“A brilliant model for sustainability, fresh food that would otherwise have gone to waste is redistributed for free to support foodbanks, schools, care homes, shelters, clubs and religious organisations across the local community,” the post read.
In another post, William mentioned that Surplus to Supper redistributes “25,000 meals a year across Surrey and West London.”
During his visit, the prince was greeted with get-well cards for Catherine and King Charles, who also revealed his own cancer diagnosis in February.
“Oh some cards, oh, you’re very kind,” William is heard telling volunteer Rachel Candappa in a video posted by ITV on X. “Thank you very much, that’s very kind of you.” Candappa also told the prince to look after his wife, to which he promised, “I will.”
William is also expected to visit a youth center that regularly receives meals from the organization later today.
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The public outing comes nearly one month after the Kate shared her cancer diagnosis on March 22.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery,” Kate said in the video recorded and released last month.”It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.”
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She explained that after her abdominal surgery in December, it was believed her condition was “non-cancerous.” However, further testing showed “cancer had been present.” She was advised to begin chemotherapy by her medical team.
“This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Middleton said. “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”
“As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits,” Kate added. “Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.”
KATE MIDDLETON, KING CHARLES’ CANCER BATTLES FORCE PRINCE WILLIAM AND QUEEN CAMILLA INTO UNLIKELY ALLIANCE
The princess will return to official duties when she is cleared to do so by her medical team,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time. “She is in good spirits and is focused on making a full recovery.”
Since the announcement, William has remained by his wife’s side, as well as their three children.
Last week, William and his son, Prince George, attended the Aston Villa soccer game in Birmingham, England, marking the first public appearance for the prince in nearly a month.
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Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.