Multiple dead after shooting at funeral outside Salt Lake City church
Two people are dead and six others are injured after a shooting in Salt Lake City Wednesday evening outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while people were gathered for a funeral.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement that they are aware of a “serious incident” that took place outside a church meetinghouse at 660 North Redwood Road in Salt Lake City on Wednesday while a memorial service was being held in the chapel.
Of the six injured, three were listed in critical condition, according to the Salt Lake Police Department. Authorities said some of the victims were transported by private vehicle to a local hospital before officers arrived on scene.
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“The Church is cooperating with law enforcement and is grateful for the efforts of first responders,” the church stated. “Until more information is available, all questions about this incident are being directed to the Salt Lake City Police Department. We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence of any kind.”
FBI Salt Lake City said in a statement that it is aware of the incident and is offering assistance to local law enforcement partners.
The Denver Office Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said special agents are responding to a reported shooting incident in the 600 block of N. Redwood Rd. to assist local law enforcement in their investigation.
Police said they do not have a detailed description of a suspect’s vehicle, but officers are searching the area from Redwood Road to the Jordan River.
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Police are urging the public to stay away from the area.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Salt Lake City Police Department for additional information.
Senator pushes judicial impeachment over Kavanaugh assassination attempt ruling
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday called on Congress during a Senate hearing to impeach two federal judges, making his most elaborate case yet for imposing the extraordinary sanction on a pair of closely scrutinized jurists.
Cruz acknowledged that impeaching federal judges is exceedingly rare — 15 have been impeached in history, typically for straightforward crimes like bribery — but the Texas Republican argued it was warranted for judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman.
“Rarer still, until now, were the deeper offenses the framers feared most — judges who, without necessarily breaking a criminal statute, violate the public trust, subvert the constitutional order or wield their office in ways that injure society itself,” Cruz said. “That is why, throughout history, Congress recognized that impeachable misconduct need not be criminal.”
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Cruz, a Senate Judiciary Committee member with an extensive legal background, said the House needed to initiate impeachment proceedings over controversial gag orders Boasberg signed in 2023 and a sentence Boardman handed down last year in the case of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s attempted assassin.
Impeachment proceedings must be initiated in the House and typically run through the House Judiciary Committee.
Russell Dye, a spokesman for the GOP-led committee, said “everything is on the table” when asked if Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was open to the idea. If the House were to vote in favor of impeachment, it would then advance to the Senate. Two-thirds of senators would need to vote to convict the judges and remove them, a highly improbable scenario because the vote would require some support from Democrats.
Cruz’s counterpart at the hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., defended the judges and accused Republicans of threatening impeachment as an effort to intimidate the judiciary because it routinely issues adverse rulings against the Trump administration.
“There was a time when I’d have hoped a Senate Judiciary subcommittee would not be roped into a scheme to amplify pressure and threats against a sitting federal judge,” Whitehouse said. “But here we are.”
In the case of Boardman, a Biden appointee, the judge sentenced Sophie Roske, who previously went by Nicholas Roske, to eight years in prison after the Department of Justice sought a 30-year sentence. Roske pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Kavanaugh. Boardman said she factored into her sentence that Roske identified as transgender and therefore faced unique adversity.
Cruz argued Democrats’ concerns about threats that judges have faced for ruling against President Donald Trump fell on deaf ears, in his view, because they did not speak out about Boardman’s leniency toward Roske.
“My Democrat colleagues on this committee do not get to give great speeches about how opposed they are to violence against the judiciary, and, at the same time, cheer on a judge saying, ‘Well, if you attempt to murder a Supreme Court justice, and you happen to be transgender, not a problem. We’re going to deviate downward by more than two decades,'” Cruz said.
In the case of Boasberg, former special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed several Republican Congress members’ phone records while conducting an investigation into the 2020 election and Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Smith sought gag orders so that the senators would not immediately be notified about the subpoenas, and Boasberg authorized those orders.
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Prosecutors seeking gag orders is not unusual, but senators have layers of protection from prosecution under the Constitution. The targeted Republicans have decried the subpoenas, saying their rights were violated.
Smith and an official representing the federal courts have both said that Boasberg was not notified that the subpoenas and gag orders were related to members of Congress.
Rob Luther, a law professor at George Mason University, was a witness for Republicans at the hearing and said Boasberg still should not have signed the gag orders without knowing who they applied to. Luther cited stipulations included in the orders.
“One must ask on what basis Judge Boasberg found that the disclosure of subpoenas would result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, and cause serious jeopardy to the investigation, end quote,” Luther said. “Did Judge Boasberg merely rubber stamp the requested gag order, or was he willfully blind?”
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Smith’s actions also aligned with a DOJ policy at the time that did not require the special counsel to alert the court that the subpoenas targeted senators, a point raised by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., during the hearing. Luther said the policy did not matter.
“DOJ policy does not supplant federal law,” he said.
Trump administration orders US withdrawal from 66 international organizations
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests.
The memorandum follows a State Department review ordered earlier this year under Executive Order 14199 and applies to 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 United Nations entities, according to the White House.
In the memorandum, Trump said he reviewed Secretary Rubio’s findings and determined it is “contrary to the interests of the U.S. to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support” to the listed organizations.
The order directs all executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawals as soon as possible. For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to the extent permitted by law.
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The administration framed the move as part of Trump’s broader “America First” agenda aimed at restoring American sovereignty and ending taxpayer support for organizations it views as wasteful, ineffective or contrary to U.S. interests.
Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing, according to the White House.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the withdrawals fulfill a key commitment of Trump’s presidency.
“Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations,” Rubio said in a post on X. “Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing.”
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Rubio said the administration concluded the institutions were “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.”
“It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it,” Rubio said. “The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.”
The list includes organizations involved in areas such as climate, energy, development, governance, migration and gender policy, according to the White House. The White House published the full list alongside the order.
Rubio said the withdrawals reflect a shift in how the administration views international engagement.
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“We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimizing weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests,” Rubio said. “We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.”
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
‘Irregular’ armed guards aboard Russian shadow tankers alarm Nordic-Baltic governments
The seizure of a Russian-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic has highlighted “worry” among NATO and Nordic-Baltic governments over dark fleet vessels and the type of crews onboard, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.
U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel boarded the Marinera between Iceland and the U.K. Wednesday as it operated under deceptive shipping practices, including flying a false flag and violating sanctions.
According to Reuters, Russian authorities demanded the humane treatment and repatriation of the crew members.
Windward maritime intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann claimed the Marinera’s ownership had just been transferred to Burevestmarin LLC, a Russian company.
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“We do not know the status of these sailors and seafarers, who are Russian nationals,” Wiese Bockmann told Fox News Digital. “That lack of clarity is common with dark fleet tankers.
“The Marinera did have its ownership transferred to a newly formed Russian company, with the registered owner, ship manager and commercial manager being Burevestmarin LLC.”
She also suggested NATO and the Nordic-Baltic 8+ group of governments have been “worried” about sanctioned oil tankers with unauthorized personnel onboard, including “armed guards.”
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“Increasingly, and I know the Nordic Baltic 8+ governments are worried about the fact that you are having unauthorized people also on board, also known as armed guards,” Wiese Bockmann said. “But it is highly irregular.
“Armed guards are rarely seen and typically used on ships that are transiting the Gulf of Aden or the Red Sea and are therefore assessed as at risk from attack by Houthis or pirates,” she added.
After the seizure, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Russian demands for special treatment of the Marinera’s crew during her regular briefing Wednesday.
“This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that had transported sanctioned oil,” Leavitt said.
“The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order. And that’s why the crew will be subject to prosecution.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was “closely following” the situation, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
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Wiese Bockmann noted that dark fleet crews are often multinational, typically involving a Russian master with Chinese, Indian or Filipino crew members.
“There is a blurring of commercial and military shipping around the dark fleet,” she said. “What we’re seeing now is something that has really only emerged in the last six or seven months.”
European authorities have also begun holding crews accountable, particularly when captains are “facilitating dangerous deceptive shipping practices, such as spoofing and going dark,” she explained.
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“The EU recently sanctioned the captain of a tanker who refused orders from the Estonian navy (Jaguar) to be stopped for inspection last May. And the French charged a captain over his refusal to comply with orders and failure to justify a flag’s nationality after authorities intercepted a dark fleet tanker in the Atlantic last October,” Wiese Bockmann added.
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a second vessel, the M. Sophia, was also boarded in international waters near the Caribbean while en route to Venezuela.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Vice president predicts welfare fraud discovery as he teases Trump admin announcement
Vice President JD Vance says Minnesota’s fraud scandal reflects a larger scheme and that the Trump administration believes there is a nationwide fraud ring perpetrated by illegal aliens and others taking advantage of the American welfare system.
“Anybody who is involved is going to get prosecuted,” Vance vowed on “Jesse Watters Primetime” Wednesday.
The vice president’s comments come as the Trump administration is pausing over $10 billion to five Democrat-run states, including California, over concerns that money was fraudulently given to noncitizens.
Vance addressed whether he thinks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who announced Monday he would not seek re-election, should resign over his state’s fraud scandal, which is estimated to be at least $9 billion.
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“I think Tim Walz should resign,” Vance told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “I almost feel bad for the guy, except for the fact that he should’ve seen this.”
Minnesota’s scandal is a “massive failure of government,” Vance said.
“It’s not just that people are getting welfare who shouldn’t get welfare. … It’s bigger than that,” Vance said. “It’s that people take this money and create whole businesses around siphoning money from the American taxpayer. “
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The vice president predicted similar cases of fraud will be found in other places around the country.
He went on to accuse California of being “glaring and obvious about the fact they are giving welfare benefits to illegal aliens,” adding the Trump administration is sending investigators to “a lot of places.”
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Newsom’s office said the California Department of Social Services administers childcare and other essential programs that allow working families to “afford safe, reliable care so parents can go to work, support their families and contribute to their communities.
“These funds are not optional. They are critical lifelines for working families across California,” the office said. “The State of California aggressively investigates and prosecutes fraud. Using unsupported allegations to withhold childcare funding only from states that didn’t vote for the President doesn’t stop fraud — it harms struggling moms and dads President Trump claims to be fighting for.”
Ken Jennings says he’ll back any 2028 hopeful who vows to ‘prosecute’ Trump admin
“Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings appeared to take a swipe at President Donald Trump and his administration, saying he’d support a candidate who vows to prosecute the current “regime.”
Jennings took to the liberal social media platform Bluesky Wednesday during a news cycle dominated by the ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis.
“The ‘prosecute the former regime at every level’ candidate has my vote in 2028,” Jennings wrote.
On Tuesday, he appeared to knock Trump’s policy on Venezuela, writing on Bluesky, “America is always like ‘ok but the NEXT regime change will work,’ like when I ‘cut out carbs’ briefly every January.”
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Sony Pictures Television, which produces the syndicated game show; Jennings; and representatives for Jennings did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Jennings, who began co-hosting “Jeopardy!” in 2021 and became the solo host in 2023, has had a history of liberal, anti-Trump commentary.
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In 2017, the former “Jeopardy!” champion mocked Trump’s 11-year-old son Barron, who reportedly believed that the infamous photo of liberal comedian Kathy Griffin holding a prop of the president’s bloodied severed head was real after seeing it on television.
“Barron Trump saw a very long necktie on a heap of expired deli meat in a dumpster. He thought it was his dad & his little heart is breaking,” Jennings wrote in a since-deleted post on Twitter (now called X).
Jennings initially defended the post amid backlash, writing, “The joke doesn’t mock Barron. It mocks using him for political cover.”
In 2018, Jennings poked fun at what he called an “awful MAGA grandma” in response to a social media post from a woman who remembered her late disabled son who was a fan of the iconic ’80s TV character “Alf.”
In January 2020, Jennings offered his support to senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., during the Democratic primary, posting, “Remember, defending champion Ken Jennings wants you to vote for Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.”
When he was under consideration to replace longtime “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek after his Trebek’s death, Jennings issued a broad apology for his past “insensitive” tweets.
“I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things. Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head, and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen,” Jennings wrote in December 2020.
“In the past, I’d usually leave bad tweets up just so they could be dunked on. At least that way they could lead to smart replies and even advocacy. Deleting them felt like whitewashing a mistake. But I think that practice may have given the impression I stand by every failed joke I’ve ever posted here. Not at all!” he continued.
“Sometimes I said dumb things in a dumb way and I want to apologize to people who were (rightfully!) offended. It wasn’t my intention to hurt anyone, but that doesn’t matter: I screwed up, and I’m truly sorry.”
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Jennings’ latest post is likely in reference to the Department of Homeland Security’s response to the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. DHS accused a woman who was shot behind the wheel of a vehicle of “domestic terrorism” by targeting an ICE agent in front of her.
Critics are accusing the agent of using excessive force.
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Actor reveals strict diet transformed him into lean warrior for ‘The Odyssey’
Matt Damon revealed how he slimmed down to his “high school” weight to play legendary Greek hero Odysseus in his highly-anticipated movie “The Odyssey.”
The 55-year-old actor reunited with director Christopher Nolan, with whom he previously collaborated on the hit movies “Interstellar” and “Oppenheimer,” for the upcoming action fantasy film, which is an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey.”
During an appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast “New Heights,” Damon opened up about how he achieved his body transformation after the retired Philadelphia Eagles player noted that the “Good Will Hunting” star was “getting pretty yoked up” in viral photos from the movie’s set.
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“Yeah, I was in really good shape,” Damon said. “I lost a lot of weight.”
The Academy Award winner explained that Nolan, 55, had a vision for how he wanted Damon to physically portray Odysseus.
“He said he wanted me like lean but strong,” Damon said. “It’s a weird thing.”
Damon went on to say that he made a key change to his diet that helped him shed the pounds.
“I literally, just because of this other thing I did with my doctor, stopped eating gluten,” he said. “I used to walk around between 185 and 200 pounds. And I did that whole movie at 167 pounds.”
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“I haven’t been that light since high school,” Damon admitted. “So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”
Damon, who has previously undergone major body transformations for roles, noted that having the help of a personal trainer is invaluable.
“Trainers are like, ‘What are we doing?’ And they can kind of do anything,” he said. “It’s just having kind of a clear goal and setting it.”
Damon drew comparisons between his preparations for physically demanding roles and the Kelce brothers’ routines while playing in the NFL.
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“When I do that or when I do the ‘Jason Bourne’ movies or whatever, it feels almost like a season. I would imagine what that feels like for you guys – when you’re preparing,” Damon said. “It’s like just part of your day. It’s part of your job, right? It’s like you get really routinized about it and kind of build your day around all that stuff.”
“That’s kind of the physical side of getting ready,” he added.
Damon also told Jason and Travis, 36, that he has continued to maintain a gluten-free diet after completing production on “The Odyssey.”
“I’m done,” he said. “I’m gluten-free everything.”
“I found a gluten-free beer,” Damon said with a laugh. “It’s been so long since I’ve had gluten, I can’t tell if it’s good or not. So, that’s a good sign.”
“It’s working. It’s working,” Jason told him.
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Damon has previously opened up about drastically transforming his body for roles. In the 1996 war drama “Courage Under Fire,” Damon lost between 40 and 50 pounds in about 100 days to play a Persian Gulf veteran dying from addiction and trauma.
The actor later said that his extreme weight loss was dangerous and revealed that a doctor told him that he “could have shrunk my heart permanently.”
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“I went too far,” Damon said via the U.K. outlet Express. “I got sick, and I wouldn’t do that again because it was just too much.”
“At the same time, it helped the performance,” he continued. “I didn’t have to act at all; I was a wreck. I was getting dizzy spells and hot flashes. I didn’t say anything to anyone for a while because I was afraid I might be really ill.”
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Meanwhile, Damon has said that he had a more enjoyable experience when he gained about 30 pounds to play real-life whistleblower Mark Whitacre in 2009’s “The Informant!”
“It was very, very easy to gain the weight. Very, very fun,” Damon told reporters in 2009, via NBC. “I just basically ate everything I could see for a few months.”
Grammy winner exits Kennedy Center after Trump takeover, sparks backlash
Grammy-winning banjo player Béla Fleck has canceled three upcoming performances with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, accusing the venue of becoming “charged and political” after recent changes under the Trump administration.
Fleck, who has won more than a dozen Grammy Awards, announced the withdrawal on social media.
In a post on X, he wrote, “I have withdrawn from my upcoming performance with the NSO at The Kennedy Center. Performing there has become charged and political, at an institution where the focus should be on the music.
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“I look forward to playing with the NSO another time in the future when we can together share and celebrate art.”
In December, the White House announced that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the performing arts institution following a vote by its board.
The decision has prompted several performers to cancel appearances, including Stephen Schwartz, the composer of Broadway musicals such as “Wicked” and “Godspell.”
The Kennedy Center’s website listed Fleck’s withdrawal as being due to “personal issues” and noted that the performances by the National Symphony Orchestra will still go forward.
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“Artists canceling their shows at the Trump Kennedy Center made a political choice to tie themselves to a hateful, politically driven media campaign, and they were rewarded with headlines,” Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“These partisan performers are the megaphone minority. There are many artists who would love to perform, and they won’t discriminate or exclude patrons of different backgrounds and beliefs.”
Fleck’s decision also drew a response Tuesday from Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell, who accused the acclaimed banjoist of caving to what he called the “woke mob.”
“You just made it political and caved to the woke mob who wants you to perform for only Lefties. This mob pressuring you will never be happy until you only play for Democrats,” Grenell wrote in a repost of Fleck’s statement.
“The Trump Kennedy Center believes all people are welcome — Democrats and Republicans and people uninterested in politics. We want performers who aren’t political — who simply love entertaining everyone regardless of who they voted for.”
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Grenell’s response drew additional reactions online. Political activist Raheem Kassam wrote that “art is meaningless without bravery,” calling Fleck a “coward” for his decision.
Radio host and columnist Mark Davis, who said he was a longtime fan of the musician, accused Fleck of politicizing the venue himself.
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“From a longtime fan: YOU politicize the venue with this tantrum of depriving attendees and workers of your talents,” Davis wrote on X.
“Better to appear, as your contract requires, and make your gripe clear from the stage if you wish.”
Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership in February 2025 and installed himself as the board chair.
California billionaires bolt as looming wealth tax rattles tech elites
As the clock ticks on California’s billionaires facing a proposed wealth tax, some of America’s top business leaders are making strategic moves to leave the Golden State.
Google co-founder Larry Page appears to be distancing himself from California, as public filings reviewed by Fox News Digital from the California Secretary of State’s office show several business entities linked to Page were moved out of the state in December, ahead of the Jan. 1, 2026, residency date tied to the proposed tax. Those filings indicate his family office, Koop LLC, and his influenza research fund, Flu Lab LLC, no longer list California, while a flying-car venture, One Aero, now lists its primary address in Florida.
Oracle founder Larry Ellison has taken steps that signal a potential pullback from California, though details of a reported $45 million off-market sale of his San Francisco home have not been independently confirmed by major outlets. The New York Post reported the sale and said it would mark the city’s largest real estate transaction of 2025.
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While the initiative has not yet qualified for the November 2026 ballot, the proposal — backed by the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West — would impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents worth more than $1 billion. The tax would be due in 2027, and taxpayers could spread payments over five years, with additional costs, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
The financial costs would vary. For example, Ellison could be forced to hand over roughly $9.6 billion from his estimated $192 billion net worth, according to Forbes data. Page would owe about $7.2 billion based on his estimated $144 billion valuation. LAO says real estate, pensions and retirement accounts would be excluded from the tax.
If the measure is approved by voters, anyone who was a California resident on Jan. 1, 2026, would owe the tax, according to the proposal.
In practical terms, a resident with $20 billion in net worth on that date would owe a one-time tax of $1 billion, payable over five years.
“Really, this ‘Chicken Little’ argument that people are going to flee because of attacks — when we look at real-world examples and experiences across the country — none of that ever pans out,” SEIU–United Healthcare Workers West Chief of Staff Suzanne Jimenez previously told Fox News.
“People are awake now. And so, yeah, in the past, maybe there are some real world examples where they say, you know, ‘I’ll pay a little bit more, etc.’ But in this case, now people know that their money is going towards fraud,” California chef and restaurateur Andrew Gruel rebutted on “Fox News @ Night.” “Nobody wants to spend this money in taxes anymore, because it’s just a complete waste of money. So they will leave – and they are leaving.”
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One billionaire who’s not leaving the Golden State is Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who told Bloomberg he’s not worried about paying up.
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley and whatever taxes, I guess, they would like to apply, so be it,” Huang said Tuesday. “I’m perfectly fine with it. It never crossed my mind once.”
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