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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wants the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to be abolished, but described the prospect as “unlikely,” he told Politico.

“I’d like to eliminate it,” Paul told the outlet. “The First Amendment is pretty important, that’s why we listed it as the First Amendment, and I would have liked to, at the very least, eliminate their ability to censor content online.”

“While it’s unlikely we could get rid of CISA, we survived for what, 248 years without them,” Paul said, according to Politico. “I think a lot of what they do is intrusive, and I’d like to end their intrusions into the First Amendment.”

RAND PAUL HITS ‘BIDEN/HARRIS CDC’ OVER COVID-19 VACCINE GUIDANCE FOR 6-MONTH-OLDS

“CISA does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship,” CISA senior adviser for public affairs Ron Eckstein asserted in a statement, according to the outlet. “Such allegations are riddled with factual inaccuracies. Every day, the men and women of CISA execute the agency’s mission of reducing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties and privacy,” he asserted.

CISA was established in 2018 during President-elect Trump’s White House tenure. 

“On November 16, 2018, the President signed into law the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018,” which established CISA, according to cisa.gov.

RAND PAUL BACKS KAT CAMMACK FOR HOUSE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE CHAIR, RICK SCOTT FOR SENATE MAJORITY LEADER

Republicans won the Senate majority during the 2024 election, and Paul, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, is slated to become the chair during the next session of Congress. 

“I chose to chair this Committee over another because I believe that, for the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role,” the senator noted, according to a press release. 

FBI, CISA SAY CHINESE HACKERS BREACHED MULTIPLE US TELECOM PROVIDERS IN TARGETED ATTACK

“This Committee’s mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself. Our first hearing will examine reinstating the successful Remain in Mexico policy from the first Trump Administration,” he said.

Paul has served in the Senate since 2011.

Fox News Digital has reached out to CISA for comment.

First Lady Jill Biden’s former press secretary blasted Democrats who label opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as racist this week after an MSNBC guest called President-elect Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee a “White supremacist.”

“This s— has to stop,” Michael LaRosa, who served as the first lady’s press secretary from 2021 to 2022, posted on X in response to an MSNBC guest calling President-elect Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee and former Fox News host, Pete Hegseth, a “White supremacist” in response to his opposition to DEI policies.

“Opposing DEI initiatives does not make you a white supremacist. Conversations and demonization like this are a big part of the reason we got our a–es kicked,” he continued.

“The answer to extremism is not more extremism.  Voices like this on the left are turning the Democratic Party into a joke. We’ve got to knock it off and get serious guests who are going to diagnose politics, not make it worse,” LaRosa continued. “Name calling, vilifying, and defaming nominees you oppose, even if there is very good reason to oppose them,  represents everything the Democratic Party should be RUNNING away from.”

MELANIA TRUMP QUESTIONS ‘WHETHER JILL’S CONCERN WAS GENUINE’ FOLLOWING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

LaRosa explained that Democrats should “fight back with strategy and tactics” rather than “pointless, defamatory and juvenile incentive.” 

“We need to get serious people opining about policy and politics, not one-upping each other or competing for who can make the most provocative insult about a Trump nominee you oppose.”

The MSNBC guest speaking on Chris Hayes’ show, Former NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill, drew widespread condemnation from conservatives on social media.

JILL BIDEN’S APPARENT COLD SHOULDER FOR KAMALA HARRIS IGNITES SOCIAL MEDIA

“Shame on  @chrislhayes and @comcast for this pathetic attack,” former Trump acting Director of National Intelligence RIchard Grenell posted on X.

“Sue her,” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. “Enough of this crap.”

“Appalling smear,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X. 

LaRosa told Fox News Digital on Friday that “there are too many on the left who preach at everyone, and if you disagree, then you are not only wrong, but you’re a bad human being as well.”

“The Democratic Party I’ve always known is the party that represents the values of inclusiveness and tolerance,” LaRosa continued. “But that means inclusiveness and tolerance of diverse views, too, not just diversity for diversity’s sake. Let’s have a spirited disagreement or a debate but stop tagging people you disagree with as Hitler, fascists or white supremacists. It’s not a serious contribution to the path forward in opposing Trump, his policy or his nominees.”

“If politics is about addition, conversations like that are precisely why we’re doing more subtraction lately, as Democrats.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Ifill for comment but did not receive a response.

In recent days, Democrats and pundits in the media have been searching for answers and explanations for VP Kamala Harris’ presidential election loss, with many concluding that the campaign alienated voters with identity politics.

“This kind of obsession made Democrats view people too much through their ethnic or racial or gender identity and made them miss, for example, that working-class Latinos were moving toward Trump, perhaps, because they were socially conservative or liked his macho rhetoric or even agreed with his hard-line stance on immigration,” CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said after the election. 

“The problem is deeper than one about nouns and pronouns. The entire focus on identity has morphed into something deeply illiberal. Judging people by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character.”

President-elect Trump announced two more additions to his White House staff on Friday, promoting his campaign spokesman to lead the communications shop.

Trump announced that Steven Cheung would return to the White House as assistant to the president and director of communications. Cheung previously served as communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign and was the White House director of strategic response in Trump’s first term.

Additionally, Trump confirmed that Sergio Gor will join the White House as director of the presidential personnel office. Gor, an ally and business partner of Donald Trump Jr.’s, was in charge of the pro-Trump political action committee Right For America and previously worked in Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s office. 

“Steven Cheung and Sergio Gor have been trusted Advisors since my first Presidential Campaign in 2016, and have continued to champion America First principles throughout my First Term, all the way to our HIstoric Victory in 2024,” Trump said in a statement. “I am thrilled to have them join my White House, as we Make America Great Again!” 

DONALD TRUMP JR ALLY SERGIO GOR OFFERED TOP WHITE HOUSE PERSONNEL JOB: REPORT

Gor’s impending appointment was first reported by Semafor on Thursday and was welcomed by Trump Jr. 

“Awesome news. Sergio will be great!” the first son posted on X. 

Both Cheung and Gor are loyal to the president-elect.

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

Trump has previously said that the biggest mistake of his first presidency was picking disloyal people to join his administration.

“The biggest mistake I made was I picked some people – I picked some great people, you know, but you don’t think about that. I picked some people that I shouldn’t have picked,” Trump said last month on the “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

“I picked a few people that I shouldn’t have picked,” he said.

TRUMP’S SPEEDY CABINET PICKS SHOW HIS ‘PRIORITY TO PUT AMERICA FIRST,’ TRANSITION TEAM SAYS

The president-elect has also picked, among others, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., for national security adviser and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state. 

Tesla CEO and billionaire endorser Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are expected to lead Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.

Controversially, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. has been tapped to be Trump’s attorney general and campaign surrogate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.

Republican attorneys general are putting President-elect Donald Trump’s prosecutors on notice, urging them to halt “political prosecutions of the incoming president.”

“The cases brought against President Trump, particularly the criminal prosecutions, had nothing to do with crime,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird told Fox News Digital in an interview this week.

“They had everything to do with the fact that he was running for president again. He is innocent. He didn’t do anything wrong, and those cases never should have been brought in the first place. That was another way they were trying to wage campaign lawfare.”

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT APPEARS RECEPTIVE TO REVERSING OR REDUCING $454M TRUMP CIVIL FRAUD JUDGMENT

Bird, alongside more than 20 other attorneys general, sent a letter to Special Counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, calling on them to drop their cases to avoid the risk of a “constitutional crisis.”

Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia signed onto the letter.

“Mr. Smith, a federal court has already dismissed your claims in one case due to your improper appointment,” the AGs wrote in the letter. “That appointment flouts both the Appointments Clause and Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Not only that, your prosecutions of President Trump—President Biden and Vice President Harris’s political rival—violated multiple Department of Justice policies.”

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

“President of the United States is the most important job in the world,” they wrote. “The President leads the free world. And America just gave President Trump a mandate to lead the United States to a brighter future. Prosecutions aimed at “self-promotion” are at no time appropriate.”

The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it is seeking to wind down two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his second term. 

Trump was indicted on 37 federal counts in June 2023 on charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Trump was indicted in Georgia in August 2023 after a yearslong criminal investigation led by state prosecutors into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.

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

In early 2023, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six of the charges against Trump, saying that District Attorney Fani Willis had failed to allege sufficient detail. The situation was then thrown into disarray when it was revealed that Willis had reportedly had an “improper affair” with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor she had hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade was later removed.

About three months into taking office, James announced an investigation into the Trump Organization, claiming there was evidence indicating that the president and his company had falsely valued assets to obtain loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions. The investigation was launched after Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who had previously served federal prison time for violating campaign finance laws, testified before Congress that the Trump Organization had exaggerated the value of assets. 

Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing and Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Fox News has been told for several days now that the House Ethics Committee no longer has any jurisdiction over former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. 

Gaetz resigned Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump picked him to serve as attorney general.

The ethics panel was planning on releasing its report investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and alleged drug use by Gaetz, but the panel canceled its meeting Friday, and no report has appeared.

House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said the following on Wednesday when asked about the Gaetz inquiry.

“Once the investigation is complete, then a report will be issued. Assuming that at that time, that Mr. Gaetz is still a Member of Congress. If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because he is taking a position, with the administration, as the Attorney General, then the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction at that point. Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued. That’s not unique to this case,” said Guest.

TRUMP TAPS MATT GAETZ FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

That is generally how the Ethics Committee has rolled when it comes to outstanding ethics investigations involving former members.

However, it is not a hard and fast rule.

Fox News has found that the Ethics Committee released the findings of its probe into potential influence peddling by the late Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., after his death in 2010.

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

The Ethics Committee also released a 699-page report on former Rep. Bob Boner, D-Tenn., after he left office in 1987. The committee found that Boner used campaign funds to travel to Hong Kong and may have used his office to influence a defense contractor.

That said, there is a way on the floor to dislodge an Ethics Committee report.

There is a device called “question of privileges of the House.” A lawmaker could get to the floor under this procedure and make the argument that keeping the Gaetz ethics report under wraps impugns the dignity and integrity of the House. The House would be required to vote on such a motion. If successful on the floor, the ethics panel could be compelled to release the report.

Yours truly asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Friday morning if Democrats might try to dislodge the Gaetz report from the Ethics Committee.

Pergram: “Could you envision a scenario where Democrats try to somehow dislodge this ethics report through a parliamentary maneuver?”

Jeffries: “The Ethics Committee is an incredibly bipartisan committee. It’s the only committee in the Congress that is evenly divided. And it has a long history of having principled individuals on it. And I defer at this moment to whatever course they decide to take. And I hope they take a course that is bipartisan.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., won unanimous approval from Republican lawmakers earlier this week to lead the House of Representatives next year, but some conservatives are warning that he still has an uphill climb before the House-wide election in January.

“I think there’s still a lot of people that, as a favor to President Trump, didn’t request a vote, but it remains to be seen,” Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“I’m going to be ready to get ready to govern, but he has a lot of people not committed. But as a favor to President Trump, we didn’t object.”

Johnson won a unanimous voice vote to be the Republicans’ speaker nominee on Wednesday, hours after President-elect Donald Trump told GOP lawmakers he was fully backing the Louisiana Republican.

JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’

The speaker was the only candidate in the race after it was revealed that Republicans managed to keep the chamber for another two years.

Just a day earlier, GOP hardliners were threatening to force a vote via secret ballot to delay the process and keep Johnson from winning the speaker nomination unanimously in protest of his handling of government spending.

It never materialized, but two conservatives who spoke with Fox News Digital also said there could still be holdouts in January.

With just a razor-thin majority expected in the House, Johnson may have to work to avoid a messy, protracted battle for the gavel in January – not dissimilar to the one his predecessor Kevin McCarthy went through two years ago.

He will need to win a majority of the entire House chamber to clinch the top spot again.

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

“I understand that might be the case,” one GOP lawmaker said when asked if there were still skeptics of Johnson’s leadership.

“I’m concerned about informal deals that might be done. I want things in writing… We did not get to the long end of the stick with McCarthy because of handshake deals, so I don’t want to see that anymore.”

A second GOP lawmaker said, “I don’t want to just see in December, ‘We’re going to throw another $100 billion in disaster relief spending. We’re going to throw $20 billion at a farm product…the speaker said he’s not going to do an omnibus, but I just want to see how this stuff plays out and see how we’re going to organize and how he wants to set up for January to succeed.”

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

“We made some baby steps in the last few days, and we need to take some more,” the second lawmaker said.

However, not all conservatives agree – a third lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital said, “I think it’s going to be fine.”

“President Trump came here and endorsed him yesterday. Yesterday was a resounding yes…this isn’t like two years ago,” they said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, others who are inclined to support Johnson in January have also sought commitments from him for the next Congress.

“He promised to work with me on legislation to protect women. He made that promise in front of the Congress, and I’m going to hold him to it,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital.

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Additionally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital that Johnson promised her the House would not pass more aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Both cited Trump’s endorsement, however, in signaling that he has their support in January.

Fox News Digital reached out to the speaker’s office for comment.

Months ago, President-elect Donald Trump vaguely suggested that those who “like TikTok” should vote for him, raising the hopes for users of the video-sharing app that he might thwart a ban that is soon to take effect.  

“We’re not doing anything with TikTok, but the other side is going to close it up, so if you like TikTok, go out and vote for Trump,” Trump said in a September post on his Truth Social service.

He didn’t make any specific promises to reverse the impending ban, but his team says he will “deliver.”

“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,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance’s transition team, said in a statement.

Working to reverse a ban, which should take effect in January, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden, would be a 180-degree reversal from 2020, when Trump tried to block the app in the U.S. or force its sale. 

MIKE ROGERS IN CONSIDERATION FOR FBI CHIEF

Then, in April 2024, Biden signed a similar measure that gave TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, until Jan. 19, 2025 – the day before the inauguration – to sell it or face a U.S. ban.

“He appreciates the breadth and reach of TikTok, which he used masterfully along with podcasts and new media entrants to win,”Kellyanne Conway, an adviser close to Trump who now advocates for TikTok, told the Washington Post.

“There are many ways to hold China to account outside alienating 180 million U.S. users each month. Trump recognized early on that Democrats are the party of bans — gas-powered cars, menthol cigarettes, vapes, plastic straws and TikTok — and to let them own that draconian, anti-personal-choice space.”

The Trump White House could pressure the Republican-led Congress to reverse the TikTok ban. Or, the justice department could pursue a policy of loose enforcement of the law. 

TRUMP TURNS TO ALLIES AND LOYALISTS TO IMPLEMENT HIS AMERICA FIRST AGENDA

TikTok is currently fighting in court to undo the law, arguing that it is unconstitutional. 

The law also allows the president to extend the divestment deadline by 90 days if the administration sees “significant progress” toward a sale. 

The law is enforced by ordering app stores like Apple and Google to stop offering TikTok on their platforms, or be subjected to a fine. 

When it comes to Big Tech, Trump has focused much of his ire on TikTok’s rival, Meta, formerly Facebook. In a March interview with CNBC, Trump said the owner of Facebook and Instagram poses a far bigger threat, labeling Meta an “enemy of the people.”

“Facebook has been very bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections,” Trump said.

But since then, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has given a number of glowing statements about Trump.

“Congratulations to President Trump on a decisive victory. We have great opportunities ahead of us as a country. Looking forward to working with you and your administration,” the tech mogul said after Trump’s win. 

Trump himself has more than 14 million followers on TikTok. “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok,” he declared in September. 

But back on Capitol Hill, the national security threat of TikTok is a top concern for lawmakers of both parties – 197 Republicans and 155 Democrats voted for the bill to force ByteDance to divest. They fear that the Chinese parent company could be harnessing data on U.S. citizens and manipulating the content that users see to be against U.S. interests, charges that TikTok denies. 

But Trump’s Cabinet picks are largely China hawks who have supported the ban. His appointed national security adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., voted for it. His choice for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that TikTok gives the Chinese government “a unique ability to monitor” U.S. teens and that “we must ban this potential spyware before it is too late.” 

Trump’s nominee for homeland security secretary, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, was the first governor to ban TikTok on government devices.

Public support for a TikTok ban has tanked in the U.S., with only 32% of Americans backing one, a Pew Research poll found in September.