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President-elect Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that he is prepared to declare a national emergency and potentially use military assets as part of a mass deportation effort that his administration is preparing to launch on day one.

Trump responded to a Truth Social post by Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, who said that Trump is reportedly “prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”

“TRUE!!” Trump posted.

INCOMING TRUMP ADMIN EYES MASSIVE EXPANSION OF IMMIGRATION DETENTION: ‘HE WILL DELIVER’

Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border in 2019 in order to allocate more money to the construction of a border wall amid congressional inaction on the subject. Military assets have been used in a number of ways in regard to border security, including in Texas. However, it is not clear how they would be used related to deportations.

Trump made a historic mass deportation campaign a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign, and his top officials have repeated that promise since he was elected this month.

“Following the Eisenhower Model, we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” Trump said in September.

He has also promised to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove gang members, drug dealers and cartel members from the U.S., with the help of multiple government agencies.

Additionally, he previously said he is prepared to move troops to the southern border and use the Navy to impose a “fentanyl blockade” on U.S. waters.

Fox News Digital reported last week that the Trump administration is already discussing where it can expand detention centers in anticipation of the operation and has spoken to private prison companies about potential expansion.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the transition team told Fox News Digital, “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.” 

DEM GOVERNOR THREATENS TO USE ‘EVERY TOOL’ TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST TRUMP-ERA DEPORTATIONS

Trump announced three major immigration-related staffing moves last week. He announced that former acting ICE Director Tom Homan will be the “border czar” and will be in charge of border security and overseeing the deportation operation. On Tuesday, Trump announced that Kristi Noem was his pick to lead the department of Homeland Security. 

Trump is likely to face significant resistance from blue states for his deportation operation. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she is prepared to use “every tool in the tool box” to protect its citizens and residents and vowed that state police would “absolutely not” assist Trump in the operation.

‘LIBERATION DAY’: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ON BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said last week that he is “going to do everything that I can to protect our undocumented immigrants.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

However, he conceded there were some circumstances where his state would work with the federal government to deport illegal immigrants.

Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

As the FBI investigates three incidents of U.S. commercial airliners being fired upon departing Haiti and the FAA orders a 30-day ground stop, nonprofit leaders are up in arms about the Biden administration’s overall response.

Jack Brewer, a retired New York Giants safety who runs the Jack Brewer Foundation, said in a Thursday interview the halt to civil aviation is a drop in the bucket compared to what President Biden can and should do against “terrorists” attacking U.S. citizens.

Brewer’s foundation has helped build churches, aided in the medical realm and ministered to underserved populations in Haiti and East Africa. In the states, the Jack Brewer Foundation’s major focus is on the fatherlessness epidemic that he said is particularly glaring in the Black community.

Brewer said he and his foundation are a consistent presence in Haiti, arriving regularly at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, where the jets have been targeted.

JACK BREWER TORCHES CALIFORNIA’S COSTLY REPARATIONS PUSH

“We’ve also had some tragedy – we’ve had some unfortunate deaths,” he said, describing how the head of one of his schools was murdered and parents and children either kidnapped, attacked or burned alive by the gangs that have taken over their half of the island shared with the Dominican Republic since Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated.

“They give FAA ground-stops for verbal threats… you don’t do FAA ground-stops when your planes are getting shot in the sky – you do military action,” he said, adding the FAA shouldn’t be the main agency for such a high-level threat.

A JetBlue flight bound for JFK, an American Airlines plane headed for Miami and, most recently, last Monday, a Spirit Airlines flight that attempted to land in Port-au-Prince but rerouted to Santo Domingo, were all found to have been hit by gunfire.

Brewer said the Biden administration is content to fight proxy wars in Ukraine and elsewhere, but not against a nation-state 90 minutes away from its shores where Americans are being maimed.

“If we really want to say we stand for democracy… then what are we doing in Haiti?”

He also criticized the Congressional Black Caucus for what he saw as relative silence against attacks on Americans, and in a global sense, an extremely dangerous environment for Black people.

“They’ll talk about Black Lives Matter and cops and all these other scenarios, but when you have this, the first independent Black nation in the world that’s in utter chaos, and we’re going to sit back here and do nothing about it. It’s a slap in the face as a Black man,” he said.

“And it should be a sign to all of the American people just how these Democrats on the left and their woke politics is nothing about except for themselves. If they can’t raise money for it, where it doesn’t benefit them politically, they stay out of it.”

FAA SUSPENDS AIR TRAFFIC TO HAITI FOR 30-DAYS AFTER FLIGHTS HIT BY GUNFIRE

In recent public actions, the CBC’s subset House Haitian Caucus held a news conference in September condemning hate against Haiti. 

CBC members Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., in May, spoke on Capitol Hill to call for federal action on the Haiti crisis.

Cherfilus-McCormick, considered the first Haitian American in Congress, said Haiti is a “facing a political crisis of epidemic proportions with its people calling out for refuge.”

“The increasing violent gang activity and attacks on commercial airlines in Haiti have further destabilized the island, putting the Haitian people at greater risk and underscored the need for a comprehensive humanitarian response from the United States,” Clarke, Pressley and Cherfilus-McCormick said in a separate statement Friday.

“[W]e renew our call for the Biden-Harris administration to immediately halt all deportations, further combat illicit arms trafficking, and deliver the humanitarian assistance needed in Haiti.”

The three congresswomen are co-chairs of the House Haiti Caucus.

Brewer, however, said Biden had four years to better address Haiti, including after Moise was killed in 2021 and the ensuing migrant surge.

Brewer said he believes Trump is the right man to properly address the situation and that he should immediately sanction the country and appoint a “Frederick Douglass”-like ambassador instead of career civil servants to hold public officials there accountable.

“I would give them 24 hours. I tell all those gang members, whether it’s ‘Barbecue’ or whomever, all the gang members, just know you’ve got 24 hours to throw your guns in [or have] the U.S. military in there and smoke them all out.”

JP Decker, head of Mercury One – a charity that does similar work in Haiti – told Fox News Digital the group is trying to help an American family get their adopted daughter out of Haiti amid the chaos.

“This [FAA] decision has left many families in a state of uncertainty and has delayed the opportunity for many children to start their new lives with their adoptive families,” he said, calling on the feds to work with international partners to reopen the airspace and quell the threat.

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Victor Marx, who leads the Haitian orphanage organization All Things Possible, said the feds had not acted to “stabilize the situation and protect innocent lives before it reached this critical point.”

“Whatever support or assistance the United States might offer at this point must come with accountability,” he said. “Trust me, no one trusts that government. I would urge the U.S. to work through private organizations to bypass the government and bring stability to the region.”

A representative for the FAA said it is responsible for the safety of civil aviation operations, and that it indeed issued a “NOTAM” prohibiting flight within 10,000 feet above Haitian airspace for 30 days. The representative further directed Fox News Digital to the Pentagon.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Pentagon. The CBC declined comment.

EXCLUSIVE: PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that in order to “Make America Great Again,” it is “vital” to have a “free, fair and open media,” telling Fox News Digital that he feels he has “an obligation” to the American people to work with the press, even those who had treated him “badly beyond comprehension.” 

In an exclusive interview Monday morning, the president-elect said he is in the process of transforming America into “the greatest and most powerful country in the world.” 

Trump discussed his relationship with the media, and how he plans to interact with the press in his second term. 

“In order to Make America Great Again, it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press,” Trump said.

‘MORNING JOE’ CO-HOSTS HOLD FACE-TO-FACE MEETING WITH TRUMP FOR FIRST TIME IN SEVEN YEARS

Trump met with MSNBC hosts of “Morning Joe” Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Friday in Palm Beach — his first meeting with the two in seven years. 

“I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika, and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such meeting took place,” Trump said. “We met at Mar-a-Lago on Friday morning at 8:00.” 

Trump said the meeting was “extremely cordial.” 

“Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication,” he said. “In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.” 

TRUMP TAPS FCC MEMBER BRENDAN CARR TO LEAD AGENCY: ‘WARRIOR FOR FREE SPEECH’

Trump added that they “congratulated me on running a ‘great and flawless campaign, one for the history books,’ which I really believe it was, but it was also a campaign where I worked long and hard — perhaps longer and harder than any presidential candidate in history.” 

“We talked about various Cabinet members — both announced and to be announced. As expected, they like some very much, but not all,” Trump said. “The meeting ended in a very positive manner, and we agreed to speak in the future.” 

Trump added, “I expect this will take place with others in the media, even those that have been extremely hostile.” 

The president-elect said he feels he has “an obligation to the American public, and to our country itself, to be open and available to the press.” 

“If not treated fairly, however, that will end,” Trump said. “The media is very important to the long-term success of the United States of America.” 

Trump told Fox News Digital that he “will do whatever is necessary to bring our country to the highest level that it’s ever seen.” 

“We’re off to a good start, and I will be open and free as to further developments as they take place, that includes media relationships,” he said. 

Trump said he “obviously” has “the upper hand at this moment.” 

“And while many others are calling for meetings, I am not looking for retribution, grandstanding or to destroy people who treated me very unfairly, or even badly beyond comprehension,” he said. “I am always looking to give a second and even third chance, but never willing to give a fourth chance — that is where I hold the line.” 

TRUMP GOES FULL MAGA AS HE PICKS ALLIES AND LOYALISTS TO FILL HIS SECOND ADMINISTRATION

Trump, though, thanked the “many reporters, journalists, shows and new media sources, of which there are many, who were truthful, honest and professional over the years of both my presidency and candidacies.” 

“They were the ones that kept me in the game, and they were the ones that gave me a victory — the likes of which our country has rarely seen before,” Trump said. “These people and organizations, and they know who they are, should be, and are, very proud of themselves, and they have a right to be proud. And I have a right to say to them — congratulations.”

Meanwhile, Trump has tapped the majority of his key Cabinet officials in just the week and a half since his massive election victory. 

His transition team is being run out of Palm Beach, Florida, before returning to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. 

“I will soon begin the process of transforming America into the greatest and most powerful country in the world,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “But at the same time, it must be a fair and just country — a country that others throughout the world will look up to and emulate.” 

The president-elect added, “Hopefully, our success will make the world, itself, a far better and safer place.” 

Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives, though the size of that narrow margin will not be known until the final five undecided races are called.

The five House races that remain uncalled as of Monday morning are in Alaska, California, Iowa and Ohio. The balance of power currently sits at 218 seats for Republicans, and 212 for the Democrats.

Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola is in a tight race in Alaska’s at-large congressional district, where she is trailing Republican entrepreneur Nick Begich.

As of Monday morning, Begich holds a nearly 3-point lead at 48.7% of the vote compared to Peltola’s 46.1%. The vote count sits at 155,120 to 146,782 with roughly 98% of the vote counted.

WHAT TRUMP’S TRIFECTA IN HIS FIRST ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHED, AND WHERE THEY FAILED: FLASHBACK

Republican Rep. John Duarte is leading former Democratic state assembly member Adam Gray in California’s 13th Congressional District, but the highly contested race remains uncalled as of Monday morning.

Roughly 86% of the vote has been counted, and Duarte holds a 50.6% to 49.4% lead. The pair is separated by just over 2,000 votes.

Democratic challenger Derek Tran has taken the lead over Republican incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel in the 45th District. Steel had been in the lead by a few hundred votes late last week, but Tran now has a razor-thin 36-vote lead.

Roughly 94% of the vote has been counted for the district.

Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannet Miller-Meeks holds a less than 1% lead over challenger Christina Bohannan with 99% of the vote counted. Miller-Meeks’ lead sits at just under 1,000 votes.

DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY GRIPE ABOUT PELOSI’S ‘DAMAGING’ POST-ELECTION COMMENTS: ‘SHE NEEDS TO TAKE A SEAT’

Bohannan has requested a recount in her bid to unseat Miller-Meeks. The Associated Press has not yet called the race because the margin was close enough that it could prompt a recount. Miller-Meeks has declared victory and said she was confident in her lead.

Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur leads her Republican challenger, Derek Merrin, by less than 1 point with 99% of the votes counted. Kaptur’s lead sits at just over 1,000 votes as of Monday morning.

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Races with a margin of 0.5% or less trigger an automatic recount in Ohio.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Chris Pandolfo and Jasmine Baehr and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., an ardent supporter of Israel, said that he looks forward to voting to confirm Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

In a post on X, the senator accused the international body of persistently peddling “rank, pervasive antisemitism.”

A UN special committee report claimed that “the policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”

Fetterman spurned the report.

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN PROCLAIMS UNFLINCHING SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL: ‘WILL NOT WAVER’

“What’s actually consistent is UN’s rank, pervasive antisemitism. I reject this report in its entirety. I look forward to voting for @RepStefanik to continue a strong and unapologetic pro-Israel position,” he tweeted.

President-elect Trump announced Stefanik as his pick for the role last week.

“She will be an incredible Ambassador to the United Nations, delivering Peace through Strength and America First National Security policies!” Trump said in a statement.

FETTERMAN SAYS DEMS SHOULDN’T ‘FREAK OUT’ OVER EVERYTHING TRUMP DOES: ‘IT’S GOING TO BE 4 YEARS’

Fetterman also called Trump’s selection of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for Secretary of State “a strong choice,” noting that he looks forward to voting to confirm Rubio – another strong supporter of Israel – to serve in the role.

Fetterman has been vocal about his staunch support for Israel in the wake of the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack against the U.S. ally.

FETTERMAN HAILS RUBIO AS ‘STRONG CHOICE’ FOR SECRETARY OF STATE, SAYS HE WILL VOTE TO CONFIRM HIM

“My vote and my voice for Israel will not waver,” he declared in a post on X earlier this year.

FIRST ON FOX: The Boston Public School (BPS) system is facing a federal civil rights complaint after internal lesson plan documents were leaked showing the district was organizing racially segregated Whites-only programming for teachers and parents instructing them on how to be less racist. 

The parental rights advocacy group Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed a complaint last week with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Boston-area office after uncovering several internal district lesson plans and other documents showing BPS was operating racially-segregated “affinity groups” for teachers and parents. PDE argued in their complaint, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, that the White-only group instructing them to be less racist violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

“BPS appears to have affinity groups for staff that excludes certain races. There is at least one affinity group that is for ‘White Staff and Parents Challenging Racism,'” PDE’s complaint stated. 

HARVARD IDENTITY-BASED GRADUATIONS EXCLUDED JEWS IN NOW-DELETED WEBPAGE AS ANTISEMITISM CLAIMS PLAGUE

Attached to the complaint were internal lesson plans and other curriculum materials geared toward White “affinity group” members, including a pilot curriculum for the “Mendell Affinity Group for White People Challenging Racism,” and a more general guide for the district’s “White School Leader Affinity Group[s]” that includes a mission statement, a list of norms and objectives, and several templates for activities that White-affinity group members can do to help them become less racist.

“We aim to educate, support, and respectfully challenge one another as white people to face the historical and current realities of racism,” the mission statement reads.

“If a district’s racially-segregated teacher support programs would earn a stamp of approval from the KKK, something has gone terribly wrong – and the fact that no administrators in the district seem to have opposed this programming raises additional red flags,” Nicole Neily, the president and founder of PDE, told Fox News Digital. “It’s not rocket science: including or excluding public school staff from opportunities on the basis of skin color is wrong.”

In 2023, PDE first published its findings on BPS’ racially-segregated affinity groups. Meanwhile, the year prior, PDE successfully challenged race-based school programming in another top Massachusetts school district, a move that resulted in the cessation of affinity groups that segregated students by race.

Federal guidance released by the Biden administration in 2023 stated that while schools could have candid discussions with students and faculty about race and racism, they likely could not create groups that exclude people on the basis of their race or ethnicity.    

EDUCATION DEPT. TO INVESTIGATE RACIAL AFFINITY GROUPS AT NEW YORK CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL

“Title VI generally requires schools to ensure that all their students, regardless of race, have an equal opportunity to participate in any educational programs and activities, including meetings, focus groups, and listening sessions,” the guidance states. “Restricting students’ participation based on their race would raise significant concerns and trigger strict scrutiny under [the Civil Rights Act].”

Despite the federal guidance and empirical evidence that racially-segregated “affinity groups” can lead to legal action, BPS website continues to devote an entire page to district-wide “anti-racism resources,” including a section with a “Guidelines and Best Practices” document explaining why the district “needs” affinity groups “based on racial/ethnic identity.” 

Michele Exner, a senior adviser at PDE, told Fox News Digital that in addition to Massachusetts, she has seen these “affinity groups” pop up in other states across the country, including California, New York and North Carolina.

“I think these sorts of programs start out well-intentioned, but the minute that you exclude a certain student or teacher solely based on race, that is absolutely wrong. It should not be happening,” Exner said.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said early Monday morning that the agency’s focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) will end next year.

Brendan Carr, who currently serves as the senior Republican member of the FCC, posted a snippet of the agency’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2025 on X, which stated that its second-highest strategic goal is promoting DEI.

“The FCC’s most recent budget request said that promoting DEI was the agency’s second highest [sic] strategic goal. Starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI,” Carr wrote.

The only strategic goal listed before promoting DEI was pursuing a 100% broadband policy.

TRUMP TAPS FCC MEMBER BRENDAN CARR TO LEAD AGENCY: ‘WARRIOR FOR FREE SPEECH’

The agency said in part that it wanted to “gain a deeper understanding of how [its] rules, policies, and programs may promote or inhibit advances in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.”

The goal would be reached by pursuing “focused action and investments” to eliminate any barriers that “perpetuate disadvantaged or underserved individuals and communities,” the FCC’s FY2025 budget said.

“In addition, the FCC recognizes that it is more effective when its workforce reflects the experience, judgment, and input of individuals from many different backgrounds,” the section concluded. “Advancing equity is core to the agency’s management and policymaking processes and will benefit all Americans.”

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN PUSHED MORE THAN 500 ‘DEI ACTIONS’ ACROSS GOVERNMENT, REPORT FINDS

The four goals listed after promoting DEI were, empower consumers, enhance public safety and national security, advance America’s global competitiveness and foster operational excellence.

Carr followed up his initial post with a GIF captioned: “When it comes to the FCC’s promotion of DEI, I have just one thing to say: Afuera (get out)!” 

Trump announced Carr as his choice for FCC chairman on Sunday, describing him as a “warrior for free speech” and someone who will “ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”

Carr, who was initially appointed to the commission in 2017 under Trump’s first term and continued working for the agency under President Biden, has been confirmed unanimously by the Senate three times.

The Pentagon is bracing for sweeping policy changes under the incoming Trump administration, and some high-level officers could find their careers on the chopping block. 

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, to lead the Defense Department – an iconoclast whose pick roiled the defense industrial base.

With Hegseth, the Trump administration is expected to undo diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) accommodations and training within the military. 

“If you want to have a sex change or a social justice seminar, then you can do it somewhere else, but you’re not going to do it in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Space Force or the United States Marines. Sorry,” Trump said at an Aug. 21 rally in Asheboro, North Carolina. 

“The military brass that led these absurd and insulting initiatives will likewise be removed, and they will no longer be in command. They’re going to be gone, gone so fast.”

TRUMP NOMINATES PETE HEGSETH TO SERVE AS DEFENSE SECRETARY

Longtime generals and high-level officers at the Pentagon could find their jobs under threat – even those who don’t typically qualify as political appointees.

“Well, first of all, you got to fire, you know, you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said on the “Shawn Ryan Show” podcast last week. 

“Any general that was involved – general, admiral, whatever – that was involved in any of the DEI woke s**t, it’s got to go,” he added. 

Hegseth also wrote in his recent book, “The War on Warriors”: “Our generals are not ready for this moment in history. Not even close. The next President of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired.”

“At the Pentagon, you can fire generals. Unlike, say, the CIA or the Department of Justice, where it’s hard to fire senior officials, because they’re protected,” said former Rep. Chris Stewart, who has been consulting the transition team on Department of Defense matters. 

The transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel who would have the power to review three- and four-star officers and recommend removal of any who are unfit for leadership, the Wall Street Journal first reported. 

TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT

Trump may quickly score favor with social conservatives and defense hawks by rolling back an executive order President Joe Biden signed that lifted a ban on transgender people from serving in the military. 

Transgender people were allowed to begin openly serving in the military in 2016 under an executive order of the Obama administration. But in 2017, Trump announced he would reimpose that ban. 

“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” Trump said in a social media post at the time. 

Trump’s ban ordered the discharge of anyone diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and prompted a flurry of lawsuits. 

The Trump Pentagon is also expected to roll back a Biden-era policy allowing troops to obtain leave and reimbursement if they need to leave the state where they are stationed to seek an abortion. 

The policy is rarely ever taken advantage of – the Department of Defense found that only 12 people used it over the course of six months from August to December 2023. 

Conservatives have pushed to block the policy since Biden adopted it after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

The Pentagon requested funding to the tune of $114 million for DEI initiatives in 2024. That money was to be used for “programs and initiatives aimed at furthering DEIA, and incorporating DEIA values, objectives, and considerations in how we do business and execute our missions.” Expect a major undoing of diversity initiatives. 

“DEI amplifies differences, creates grievances, and excludes anyone who won’t bow down to the cultural Marxist revolution ripping through the Pentagon. Forget DEI — the acronym should be DIE or IED. It will kill our military worse than any IED ever could,” Hegseth wrote in Chapter 8.

“The Left isn’t just interested in purging Trump supporters. Their ideology is based on marginalizing whatever’s normal, because they think ‘normal’ is always oppressive. By their logic, the military runs on the most normal and most oppressive thing of all: strong men. Just being a guy who hits the gym means you’re oppressing everyone around you,” he wrote. 

“A big reason for fewer training accidents is – less training. More time than ever is being spent on social justice PowerPoint moralizing – and meeting those metrics in today’s military is the most important standard to meet,” he wrote. “Every unit knows that social justice, trans, gender, woke training is the top priority. Not doing this training, or not doing it properly, will get a commander or junior leader fired. Not doing real field training becomes secondary.”

Republicans are already making big plans for the 119th Congress, many of which center on using a legislative maneuver called reconciliation. 

GOP leaders have suggested they are planning a mammoth-sized bill to implement President-elect Trump’s tax policies, lower the federal deficit and enact conservative policies early next year.

Reconciliation is a way to fast-track legislation on issues like taxes, the debt limit and federal spending by bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for passage, instead lowering it to a simple 51-vote majority.

Republicans also accuse Democrats of pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable in a reconciliation bill, and have signaled they may take a similar path in pushing for stricter border security measures while loosening restrictions on American energy production.

MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN AFTER TRUMP ENDORSEMENT

“Though there are Senate rules limiting what we can fit in budget reconciliation, I want us to be bold and creative so we can include as many reforms in this package as possible,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., wrote to House Republicans earlier this month.

“Democrats expanded what is traditionally allowed in reconciliation, and we intend to do the same. Now is the time to go big to advance conservative policies that will make our country prosperous and secure again.”

Generally, reconciliation is only used once per year, and lawmakers usually reserve it for instances where they hold both houses of Congress. 

MATT GAETZ FACES GOP SENATE OPPOSITION AFTER TRUMP SELECTION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

In recent history, most reconciliation bills have been started in the House of Representatives, where the Constitution dictates tax policy must originate. 

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, whose committee will be at the forefront of crafting the reconciliation bill, told Fox News Digital he is already working with House GOP leaders and his Senate counterparts on the legislation.

“We’re going to push the outer limits to include as much pro-growth strategy as we can. One of those would be regulatory reform,” Arrington said. “Another one will be border security and immigration reform.”

The third goal Arrington raised was “to unravel the chokehold on domestic energy production.”

“We have H.R. 2, and then we have H.R. 1, the two big legislative priorities for our conference – secure the border and unleash American energy,” he said.

“I think the things in there that can be included in reconciliation and pass the Byrd rule. We’re going to be aggressively advancing those policies.”

The “Byrd rule” refers to the Senate parliamentarian weighing a reconciliation bill for what measures are relevant to budgetary and tax policy, and what must be removed.

Democrats wanted to use reconciliation in 2021 to pass progressive immigration policies that would have included granting citizenship to millions of people, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA

They also attempted to include a federal $15 minimum wage in a reconciliation bill – a charge led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

But the parliamentarian ruled against both of those proposals.

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It remains to be seen what Republicans will be able to include in their bill next year.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of restoration to do on the fiscal side,” Arrington said. “It’s part pro-growth strategies, and the other is part bending the curve on spending, and especially focused on mandatory spending. And I think there are a lot of straightforward ways to do it, common sense things that the American people from both sides of the political aisle will say are long overdue.”

President-elect Trump wants to abolish the Department of Education (DOE), but experts suggest the incoming commander in chief would need congressional approval before doing so.

“One thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., and sending all education and education work it needs back to the states,” Trump said on the campaign trail.

As Trump solidifies his agenda for a second term, attorneys explained the legal process he would have to go through before proceeding with plans to dissolve the federal department.

Andrew Stoltmann, an attorney and law professor, told Fox News Digital Trump would need approval from a supermajority in Congress to do away with the DOE.

BETSY DEVOS JOINS TRUMP’S CALL TO ‘DISBAND’ THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND ‘RE-EMPOWER’ FAMILIES

“President Trump does not have the ability to eliminate a federal department. Eliminating it would require congressional action, including a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate,” Stoltmann said. “So, even if Trump can follow through with what he says, he has to pull in some Democrats in the Senate, and that will likely be impossible.”

TRUMP PLANS TO SHIFT SCHOOL FUNDING CONTROL TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES, HAS YET TO PICK DOE SECRETARY

Stoltmann suggested the most realistic scenario is if Trump appoints someone aligned with his agenda to head the department.

“He would need 60 votes in the Senate, and the realistic chances of that are virtually zero,” he told Fox. “Trump‘s best bet is to appoint somebody who will effectively be a figurehead at the Department of Education. This doesn’t eliminate the department, but it effectively neuters it during his term.”

Jamie E. Wright, a political pundit and founder of the Wright Law Firm, told Fox that to dissolve the department, Congress would need to pass new legislation that addresses the laws establishing and sanctioning the department.

“To pass such a bill successfully into law would require backing from members of Congress for the president’s agenda to advance smoothly through the legislative process — an endeavor that may present obstacles should opposition arise from legislators who consider the Department of Education crucial in ensuring consistent national educational guidelines and federal funding allocation for education initiatives,” Wright told Fox. 

“Removing an agency could pose a challenge due to the need for widespread political backing, unity in Congress and broad public approval.” 

Republicans have called to dismantle the agency for decades since former President Carter established the department in 1979.

Former President Reagan championed abolishing the education department and that decisions regarding schools be determined at the local level.

Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., introduced legislation in 2023 to “abolish the Department of Education and to provide funding directly to states for elementary and secondary education,” but the bill did not pass.

If the department remains intact, there are several candidates rumored to be potential candidates to head the education unit under Trump, including his former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.