Maine rep warns of next steps in trans athlete battle after Supreme Court win
Maine state representative Laurel Libby is allowed to vote for her constituents after three months of being censured, thanks to a 7-2 Supreme Court decision Tuesday.
After the state’s Democrat majority voted to strip Libby of her voting rights in February for making a social media post that called out a biologically trans athlete who won a girls’ pole vault competition, she fought a legal battle to overturn it all the way up to the Supreme Court. And it paid off with Tuesday’s decision.
Libby called the battle a ‘civil rights’ case in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“I most certainly do believe this is a civil rights issue for Maine girls and girls across the country who are being sidelines by biological males,” Libby said, later adding that the censure “was political retaliation from start to finish,” over her vocal stance on trans athlete inclusion.
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Libby believes the ruling is essential in order to protect Americans who want to speak out against allowing trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports while the country is in a pivotal standoff over the issue.
“Thankfully the Supreme Court saw the merits and the high stakes with this case, and really what was on the line not just for just me, my constituents in Maine, but really the entire country if this was upheld… No one should ever be silenced for speaking up on behalf of our girls,” Libby said.
“Now we have a ruling from the Supreme Court that says no one can be silenced for speaking the truth even if it’s an unpopular truth. So I hope we will be seeing more folks speaking up on behalf of women and girls and their rights.”
The main defendant in Libby’s lawsuit, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who passed the censure against Libby on Feb. 15, has vowed to restore Libby’s voting rights to comply with the Supreme Court ruling.
“In accordance with the Supreme Court’s injunction pending appeal, Representative Libby’s ability to vote on the floor of the House has been restored until the current appeal process runs its course,” Fecteau told Fox News Digital. “The Clerk of the House, whom the injunction is against, has already complied with this court ruling. We look forward to continuing with the important work Maine people expect of us.”
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that requires states only allow females to compete, but multiple Democrat-run states, including Maine, have defied the order and continued to enable trans inclusion.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Pam Bondi have even filed their own separate lawsuit against the state of Maine for continuing to defy the order.
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Libby has been a central figure in the conservative pushback against Democrat policies that enable trans inclusion in girls’ sports in Maine. In addition to her lawsuit against Fecteau, Libby has been repeatedly critical of Mills for her refusal to comply with Trump.
“Ryan Fecteau and Janet Mills have been ruling our state for the last six years with an iron fist regardless of the will of Maine people,” Libby said. “This sends a message that they can not continue to operate outside of the constitution and ignore the will of Maine people any longer.”
A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said that school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it is “only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women.”
Many Maine residents have even entire school districts have stood up against Mills’ policies alongside Libby. Maine’s school districts RSU No. 24 and MSAD No. 70 have each passed their own localized resolutions to keep girls’ spots for female students only. There have also been three large-scale protests against the current policies in the state’s capital city Augusta since February.
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And Libby has had the support of the federal government along the way.
Just days before the decision, the DOJ filed an amicus brief on Libby’s behalf to the Supreme Court, and Bondi spoke out in support of the embattled lawmaker to Fox News Digital.
“I am so thankful for Attorney General Pam Bondi’s response,” Libby said.
However, Libby’s legal battle is not done yet.
The Supreme Court decision has granted her back her right to vote on the state house floor, but she still does not have the right to speak. Libby’s case will now go back to the First Circuit Court of Appeals for oral arguments on June 5, as she will look to regain her voting rights.
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Additionally, Libby was not able to vote on several bills in the state legislature in the last three months during her censure. These included the state’s bi-annual budget vote and a bill to codify the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects trans inclusion in girls’ sports, into the state’s constitution.
Libby said she believes the records should be reflected to include her vote on those bills as well, but does not yet know if she will be actively seeking to have those records changed legally yet.
Trump admin agrees to $5M settlement with family of Ashli Babbitt
The Justice Department has agreed in principle to pay $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, a former Air Force veteran who was shot dead during the Capitol Riot on Jan. 6, 2021, Fox News has learned.
Babbitt’s estate, through her husband Aaron, filed a $30 million lawsuit last year over her fatal shooting when she attempted to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the Capitol.
Attorneys for both the Justice Department and Babbitt’s estate said during a court hearing on Friday that they had reached an agreement in principle to resolve the case, according to reports.
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Babbitt was one of hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters who entered or attempted to breach the U.S. Capitol during the riot after Congress voted to certify President Joe Biden’s election win.
Video clips posted online depict Babbitt, wearing a stars and stripes backpack and a Trump flag draped around her neck, stepping up and beginning to go through the waist-high opening of an area of the Capitol known as the Speaker’s Lobby when a gunshot is heard. She could be seen falling backward.
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Another video showed other unidentified people attempting to lift Babbitt up. She could be seen slumping back to the ground.
Babbitt was rushed to Washington Hospital Center, but could not be saved.
The Capitol Police officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer.
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United States Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger sent a message to his department’s officers earlier this month after hearing of the proposed settlement, writing that he was “extremely disappointed.”
“In 2021, the DOJ said that there was no evidence to show that law enforcement broke the law. After a thorough investigation, it was determined to be a justified shooting,” Manger wrote, according to the Washington Post. “This settlement sends a chilling message to law enforcement officers across our nation — especially those who have a protective mission like ours.”
House Speaker reaches tentative SALT cap agreement with blue state Republicans
House Speaker Mike Johnson has reached a tentative deal with blue state Republican lawmakers to boost the cap on state and local tax deductions, or “SALT,” to $40,000 in President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill,” Republican sources confirmed to Fox News late Tuesday.
The proposed cap – which is up from $30,000 – would be per household for taxpayers making less than $500,000 per year.
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It remains unclear whether GOP hardliners who oppose raising the SALT cap deductions will sign off on the measure.
The tentative agreement, first reported by Politico and confirmed by Fox News, comes as House GOP factions have been engaged in high-stakes debates on taxes, Medicaid, and green energy subsidies while crafting the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”
SALT deduction caps primarily benefit people living in high-cost-of-living areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and their surrounding areas.
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Republicans representing those areas have framed raising the SALT deduction cap as an existential issue, arguing that a failure to address it could cost the GOP the House majority in the 2026 midterms.
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Meanwhile, Republicans representing lower-tax states are largely wary of raising the deduction cap, believing that it incentivizes blue states’ high-tax policies.
MSNBC’s Scarborough confronted on viral ‘best Biden ever’ clip
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough was confronted with a viral clip of him deeming former President Joe Biden the “best Biden ever” in March 2024 on Tuesday, standing by his assessment of the former president, citing his personal interactions with him.
Speaking to Mark Halperin during his show, “Next Up with Mark Halperin,” Scarborough watched the clip of himself, where he argued that the former president was “far beyond cogent.”
“I’ve said it for years now, he’s cogent. But I undersold it when I said he was cogent, he’s far beyond cogent. In fact, I think he’s better than he’s ever been, intellectually, analytically, because he’s been around for 50 years,” Scarborough said during a March 2024 “Morning Joe” broadcast. “Start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And f-you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever.”
After noting that Biden had good days and bad days, Halperin asked Scarbrough, “Looking back at that, do you say, well, it was misleading to say ‘best Biden ever’ without caveating it and saying, except on the days when he’s not the best Biden ever?”
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Scarborough insisted he never saw the bad days personally. Earlier in the conversation, Scarborough detailed multiple meetings he had with Biden, during which the MSNBC host argued that Biden had a better “analysis” of the situation, related to Ukraine and Russia, than he had heard from most people.
Halperin pushed back and told Scarborough, “Well, you did! You did, because you saw him address a dead congresswoman, and you saw him in South Carolina.”
Halperin argued he could show Scarborough several clips of days when the former president was not the best Biden ever and Scarborough pivoted the conversation to Trump.
Scarborough argued, “He stumbled and bumbled around, Mark. I mean, yeah, he certainly did. Donald Trump did, other politicians did, and it’s actually the same case as a lot of times when I’ve gone in and talked to Donald Trump. We go on to Donald Trump, and I’ve heard the media narrative around Donald Trump, and certainly I’ve been very critical of Donald Trump, and when I leave, I have a better understanding, just like Jeffrey Goldberg did a couple of weeks ago, a better understanding of where Donald Trump is mentally, if Donald Trump is losing it, like people have said through the years or not.”
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“And so again, am I going to look at a clip that’s gone viral and pay more attention to that than two and a half, three hours I had with a guy one-on-one going around the world? No, I’m just not going to,” the MSNBC host said. “Are some of the clips bad? Yeah, they certainly are bad.”
“Put into proper context, I’m just not going to freak out and melt down on one or two clips here and there,” the “Morning Joe” host added. “And again he bumbled around, and he stumbled around, but he has for quite some time. That didn’t seem to me to get in the way of Joe Biden being able to analyze the most important issues.”
Scarborough went after former Special Counsel Robert Hur in February 2024 for his report on the former president related to the classified documents probe that showed Biden struggling with key memories, including when his son Beau died, when he left the vice presidency and why he was in possession of classified documents he shouldn’t have had.
“I’m just saying this guy says such random s—!” Scarborough said at the time, demanding that Hur apologize for his report.
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“Does he hope he gets a judgeship? I think he does. I think he hopes he gets a judgeship if Donald Trump gets elected again because he’s trying out, because he humiliated himself with that display,” Scarborough added.
The audio of the Hur-Biden interview was released on Friday, and CNN’s Abby Phillip suggested Hur undersold the extent of Biden’s lapses during the interview.
Trump campaign promise advances as Senate unanimously approves tip tax deduction
The U.S. Senate has passed a new bill that would offer a tax deduction on tips worth up to $25,000.
This bill, if enacted into law, would also extend to business tax credits for payroll taxes on tips in beauty and spa services.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, is pushing the proposal – which passed unanimously – an outcome considered rare for substantive legislation.
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There are stipulations in the new bill: an employee with compensation exceeding $160,000 in the prior tax year would not be eligible to claim the new tax deduction for tips.
The bill is limited to cash tips received by occupations that are customarily tipped.
“Tipped occupations” are jobs where tips are common in the U.S., such as waiters, waitresses and professionals providing beauty services like barbering, hair care, nail care, esthetics, body and spa treatments.
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The Budget Lab at Yale say they estimate there will be approximately 4 million workers in tipped occupations in 2023.
They must also be reported by the employee to the employer for withholding payroll taxes. Under the current law, only tips exceeding $20 per month are required to be reported.
According to the report by Budget Lab, a non-tipped worker in 2023 was a minimum of approximately 10 years older than the typical tipped worker. They also say one-third of the number of tipped workers were below 25, with 13% being teenagers.
This new bill, if passed, would cost $110 billion in federal revenues over 10 years, according to estimates by the center-right Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
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Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, pointed out during her floor speech that this bill was one of President Donald Trump’s key campaign promises.
“I am not afraid to embrace a good idea, wherever it comes from. So I agreed we need to get this done,” she said.
The passing of this bill through the Senate occurs as congressional Republicans attempt to seek advancement of a massive tax cut and spending package that will create a tax break on tips for the next four years.
The next step is the House of Representatives before it becomes law.
Trump announces $175B ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system for US
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. will soon begin construction of a “Golden Dome” missile defense system they say will be a next-generation “game changer” protecting the American homeland from outside adversaries.
A similar system, the Iron Dome, has already been developed in Israel with U.S. assistance and has proven effective in repelling missile attacks. Now. Trump says a bigger, more technologically advanced, multi-layered dome system will soon be installed in America.
The president announced the “one big beautiful” budget bill being discussed in Congress will include $25 billion in initial funding for the project, which he expects will cost $175 billion overall. He said he expects a major phase of the dome will be complete in under three years and that it will be “fully operational before the end of my term.”
He noted there is significant support for the project in Congress, quipping, “It’s amazing how easy this one is to fund.”
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“In the campaign, I promised the American people that I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield to protect our homeland from the threat of foreign missile attack. And that’s what we’re doing today,” he said, adding that the Golden Dome “will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from the other side of the world and even if they are launched from space.”
Trump also announced he is placing Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein in charge of the project, saying, “No one is more qualified for this job.”
Hegseth called the Golden Dome a “bold initiative” and another addition to Trump’s “long and growing list of promises made and promises kept.”
He said investing in the new system is essential to respond to growing threats from countries like Russia and China.
“Ultimately, this right here, the Golden Dome for America, is a game changer,” said Hegseth. “It’s a generational investment in the security of America and Americans.”
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Addressing Trump, Hegseth said, “Mr. President, you said we’re going to secure our southern border and get 100% operational control after the previous administration allowed an invasion of people into our country. President Reagan 40 years ago cast the vision for it. The technology wasn’t there. Now it is, and you’re following through to say we will protect the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear.”
Guetlein indicated the Golden Dome is necessary to preserve the safety, security and the quality of life Americans are used to.
“We owe it to our children and our children’s children to protect them and afford them a quality of life that we have all grown up enjoying. Golden dome will afford that,” said Guetlein.
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The general said “our adversaries have become very capable and very intent on holding the homeland at risk.”
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“While we have been focused on keeping the peace overseas, our adversaries have been quickly modernizing their nuclear forces, building up ballistic missiles capable of hosting multiple warheads, building out hypersonic missiles capable of attacking the United States within an hour and traveling at 6,000 miles an hour, building cruise missiles that can navigate around our radar and our defenses, building submarines that can sneak up on our shores and, worse yet, building space weapons,” Guetlein said.
“It is time that we change that equation and start doubling down on the protection of the homeland.”
Gabbard calls TSA watchlist placement under Biden ‘politically motivated’
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said her placement on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) “Quiet Skies” watchlist was “politically motivated” after revelations about her surveillance under the Biden administration came to light during a Senate hearing.
Gabbard told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday that she believes she was placed on the list after a July 22 interview with “The Ingraham Angle” where she criticized then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ leadership capabilities.
Gabbard’s remarks came soon after former President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Harris as the Democratic nominee.
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“I think they were trying to intimidate me, but also, they were trying to really create this chilling effect, probably knowing that I wouldn’t stay silent about it and send a message out to people that if you go and criticize then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now going to be the Democratic nominee for president, you too, would face the consequences,” the former Democratic congresswoman explained.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing that he received a set of records from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding Gabbard’s placement on “Quiet Skies” that confirmed federal air marshals surveilled her on domestic flights in 2024.
Paul noted that the air marshals reported back information related to the intelligence chief’s appearance and how many electronics she was observed using.
The TSA’s “Quiet Skies” program was established in 2010 to identify passengers for enhanced screening on some domestic and outbound international flights.
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DHS said in an April 2019 report that individuals are flagged for enhanced screening based on aggregated travel data, intelligence, a trend analysis of the intelligence and suspicious activity.
The program has come under scrutiny over a lack of transparency and concerns about civil liberties violations.
CNN reported in November that Gabbard was briefly placed on the list before quickly being removed. TSA told the outlet that the program is not a terrorist watchlist.
“TSA’s Quiet Skies program is a risk-based, automated approach to transportation security, to include identifying potential risks and applying enhanced security measures,” the federal agency noted. “It leverages USG intelligence information and databases to apply screening measures.”
TSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital about the program and when Gabbard was added to the list.
Ingraham asked the Army Reserve veteran whether the program should still exist, to which Gabbard responded, “No.”
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“This ‘Quiet Skies’ program that the TSA, under the Department of Homeland Security, has tasked to federal air marshals to execute — not a single terrorist has been caught. Not a single one, for as long as this program has existed,” she said.
“So, instead, what is continuing to happen, so long as this program continues, is, every single day, 40 or 50 federal air marshals are tasked with surveilling everyday Americans for no purpose.”
Eagles’ Jalen Hurts tells reporters why he didn’t go to White House with teammates
Jalen Hurts said he did not visit the White House last month simply because he couldn’t.
The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, who won the Super Bowl LIX MVP in dethroning the Kansas City Chiefs, was absent from the team’s celebration in Washington, D.C., last month, warranting much speculation.
Days before the event, Hurts was asked whether he planned on visiting, and was mum on the subject.
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“Um,” Hurts said before looking around. He never answered the question as the interviewer thanked him for his time.
Fox News then confirmed at the time that Hurts did not attend due to “scheduling conflicts,” and he’s sticking to that story.
“I wasn’t available. I don’t think that’s pertinent. Everyone who went, and was available. They seemed to enjoy themselves,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Hurts didn’t give a glowing review of the president’s decision to attend Super Bowl LIX, which saw Philadelphia defeat the Chiefs 40-22.
“He’s welcome to do what he wants,” Hurts said in February.
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Meanwhile, running back Saquon Barkley was seen with President Donald Trump at his golf course in New Jersey the day before the visit. He rode back to Washington on Air Force One with the president.
Hurts, though, raised eyebrows again when he attended the Met Gala the following week.
Hurts was not the only Eagles player to skip their White House visit. Star wide receivers A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith were also among players not present.
When the Eagles won the Super Bowl back in 2018, the team decided not to attend the White House. Trump rescinded the invitation to host the Eagles after several players said they would not participate in the visit because of his previous criticisms of national anthem protests.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers visited the White House several weeks before the Eagles did to commemorate their World Series title. Mookie Betts, who skipped a visit in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox, attended this year.
‘Cheers’ star George Wendt, beloved as Norm Peterson, dies peacefully in sleep
“Cheers” star George Wendt has died, Fox News Digital confirmed.
The actor died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday morning, according to a statement from a family representative shared with Fox News Digital.
“George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him,” the statement read.
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“He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.”
In all 275 episodes of the beloved NBC sitcom, “Cheers,” Wendt starred as Norm Peterson. Throughout the show’s course, Wendt earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for his role.
“George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever.”
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After “Cheers” went off-air in 1993, the actor pivoted to his own show, “The George Wendt Show.”
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Wendt also appeared on the big screen in movies like “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Little Rascals,” “Santa Buddies,” “Airplane II: The Sequel,” and more.
“Cheers” was a sitcom that originally aired from 1982 to 1993 and was set in a Boston bar “where everybody knows your name.”
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The cast of cheers evolved over the show’s 11 seasons, but key members included Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger and Nicholas Colasanto.
Later cast additions included Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrelson, Kirstie Alley and Bebe Neuwirth.
“Cheers” was nominated for 117 Emmy Awards and took home 28. The show also won six out of its 31 Golden Globe nominations.
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