FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is leaving the bureau in January after speculation rose this week concerning his departure.

‘I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January,’ Bongino wrote in an X post Wednesday. ‘I want to thank President [Donald] Trump, AG [Pam] Bondi, and Director [Kash] Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you. God bless America, and all those who defend Her.’

President Donald Trump hinted at the news on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews earlier in the afternoon, saying, ‘Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show.’

Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, had no FBI experience before Trump tapped him to serve in the No. 2 position there. Prior to Bongino, the role had for more than a century been filled by someone who worked at the bureau, according to the FBI Agents Association. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

Fox News confirmed Andrew Bailey, co-deputy director, has been on the job since September and will stay on for now in the deputy role reporting to Patel.

The White House and the FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

This is a breaking story. Check back later for updates.

Senate Republicans inched closer to history Wednesday after blowing past yet another procedural obstacle on their way to confirming nearly 100 of President Donald Trump’s nominees.

As part of their mad dash from Washington ahead of the upcoming holiday recess, Senate Republicans advanced a tranche of 97 of Trump’s picks. The 53-47 party-line vote puts the GOP one step away from confirming the batch of nominees.

The final confirmation vote is expected Thursday, barring an agreement with Senate Democrats to speed up the process.

And if that vote is successful, which it is expected to be, Senate Republicans will have confirmed more of Trump’s picks than any other president in one year.

The current nominees package would place Trump at 415 total confirmed during the first year of his second term, which leapfrogs his total of 323 during his first term. It also blows past former President Joe Biden, who, at the same period at the end of his first year in office, had 365.

Senate Republicans have rapidly confirmed hundreds of Trump’s picks since changing the Senate’s rules for the confirmation process in September in a bid to smash through Senate Democrats’ blockade against advancing even the most low-level positions throughout the Trump administration.

The GOP went nuclear — the fourth time in the Senate’s history — to lower the threshold for certain picks to just a simple majority, rather than the typical, 60-vote filibuster.

That change has allowed Republicans to quickly move through sub-cabinet level positions at a brisk pace and to tee up Trump’s expected historic moment.

Among the list of nominees are former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor and two picks for the National Labor Relations Board, James Murphy and Scott Mayer, along with several others in nearly every federal agency.

Lawmakers also separately confirmed Trump’s choice to run NASA, billionaire Jared Isaacman, and his pick for a spot on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Douglas Weaver.

Isaacman’s confirmation sailed through on a bipartisan 67-30 vote but served as the second go-round for the upper chamber to ruminate on his ascension atop NASA.

Trump had nominated him to run the nation’s space agency in December 2024, but he was pulled earlier this year after a ‘thorough review of prior associations.’

But Isaacman was later nominated again in November for the same post, and Trump lauded his ‘passion for space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new space economy.’

More than 200 House Democrats voted against a bill aimed at criminalizing transgender medical treatment for minors Wednesday evening.

The bill passed in a 216-211 vote that had some bipartisan crossover.

Three Democrats — Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas; Don Davis, D-N.C.; and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas — voted with Republicans for the bill. 

Four Republicans — Mike Kennedy, R-Utah; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; Gabe Evans, R-Colo.; and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., voted against it.

It was widely opposed by most Democrats, however. Forty-five House Republicans signed on to formally back the legislation before the vote.

And while the majority of Republicans supported it on the House floor, it’s unclear if it will be taken up in the GOP-led Senate.

Transgender issues, particularly related to minors, have been one of the topics driving a wedge between moderate and progressive Democrats. But the severity of the bill’s language appears to have turned off a significant number of Democrats in the House.

The bill creates new federal crimes that carry up to 10 years in prison for doctors performing transgender-affirming surgeries on minors, while also making it a crime to prescribe puberty blockers.

Parents or guardians of children under 18 could also be held criminally liable if they consent to or otherwise facilitate transgender treatment for them.

‘This extreme bill puts the threat of prosecution between hundreds of thousands of families and their doctors and would put doctors behind bars for exercising their best medical judgment,’ said Mike Zamore, national director of policy & government affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union 

‘Passing this bill would be a grave escalation of an already severe effort to not only push transgender people out of public life but also allow the state to control our bodies and our lives further.’

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who argued in favor of the bill on the House floor, said Wednesday, ‘It is obscene. It is disgusting. You’re seeing, in real time, Democrats wanting and defending grooming of children. And it is abhorrent.

‘There is a lie at the heart of the debate we’re having today that I have to correct. No child is born in the wrong body. There are only two sexes, male and female. There are no others.’

The Senate confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman Wednesday in a 67-30 vote to serve as NASA administrator, months after President Donald Trump withdrew the same nomination during his public feud with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

The confirmation places Isaacman, an investor in SpaceX and leader of two private spaceflight missions, at the helm of the nation’s space agency. Reuters reported that Isaacman becomes NASA’s 15th administrator and is known as an advocate of Mars missions.

Trump previously pulled Isaacman’s nomination in May, citing what he described at the time as ‘a thorough review of prior associations.’ 

Fox News Digital reported at the time that the decision was made amid escalating tensions between Trump and Musk, who had recently departed his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and publicly criticized Trump’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill.’

Isaacman later suggested the timing of the withdrawal was no coincidence. 

Speaking on the ‘All-In Podcast,’ he said, ‘I don’t need to play dumb on this. I don’t think that the timing was much of a coincidence.’ He added that ‘there were some people that had some axes to grind, I guess, and I was a good, visible target,’ Fox News Digital previously reported.

The nomination was revisited in the fall as relations between Trump and Musk appeared to thaw. In October, NASA officials confirmed Isaacman was again under consideration after meetings with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was tasked with vetting candidates for the permanent NASA role at Trump’s direction.

Trump formally renominated Isaacman in November, praising him in a social media post.

‘Jared’s passion for Space, and his commitment to American Leadership in Space, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era,’ Trump wrote.

Fox News Digital has extensively reported on the broader Trump-Musk feud that surrounded the nomination’s earlier withdrawal. In May and June, the two men publicly exchanged harsh words over Trump’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill.’ 

Musk accused Trump of pushing a ‘disgusting abomination,’ while Trump said Musk had gone ‘CRAZY’ and was ‘wearing thin.’ 

Signs of reconciliation followed when Trump and Musk shook hands and spoke briefly at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, with Trump later saying, ‘We had a little conversation. We had a very good relationship, but it was nice that he came over.’ 

Musk also attended a White House dinner hosted by Trump and appeared at other administration events.

Trump later teased Musk publicly, telling an audience, ‘You’re so lucky I’m with you, Elon. I’ll tell you. Has he ever thanked me properly?’ 

Musk responded on X by saying, ‘I would like to thank President Trump for all he has done for America and the world.’

Axios reported Tuesday that Musk has begun financially backing Republican House and Senate candidates ahead of the 2026 midterms, showing warming relations after what the outlet described as a ‘messy breakup’ earlier this year. 

Politico similarly reported that Musk has said his relationship with Trump ‘went up in flames’ in June but has since been rebuilt.

Isaacman’s confirmation brings that arc to a close, cementing his leadership role at NASA. 

Isaacman previously commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth, and later led the Polaris Dawn mission, both in partnership with SpaceX. 

The White House and representatives for Musk and Isaacman did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

The House passed a bill on Wednesday that would criminalize gender transition treatment for minors.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., passed by a 216-211 vote with some bipartisan support.

Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, and Don Davis, D-N.C., voted with most Republicans for the bill, while Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Gabe Evans, R-Colo., and Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, voted with most Democrats against the measure.

‘Children are NOT experiments. No more drugs. No more surgeries. No more permanent harm. We need to let kids grow up without manipulation from adults to make life-altering decisions! Congress must protect America’s children!!!’ Greene wrote on X ahead of the vote.

Greene had reached a deal with House leadership to bring her bill to the floor in exchange for her backing a rule last week to advance the National Defense Authorization Act.

The bill faces a significant hurdle to pass the Senate, as Republicans would need Democrat support to approve the legislation in the Upper Chamber.

The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the House passage, saying the measure ‘would have immediate and devastating effects on the lives and transgender youth and their families across the country.’

‘Politicians should never prohibit parents from doing what is best for their transgender children,’ Mike Zamore, National Director of Policy & Government Affairs at the ACLU, said in a statement. ‘These families often spend years considering how best to support their children, only to have ill-equipped politicians interfere by attempting to criminalize the health care that they, their children, and their doctors believe is necessary to allow their children to thrive.’

‘But this bill also creates an incredibly dangerous precedent far beyond the specific care at issue, criminalizing care based on ideology and placing Washington politicians between families and their doctors,’ he continued. ‘We strongly condemn the passage of this measure and urge members of the Senate to do everything in their power to prevent it from ever becoming law.’

Greene and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, butted heads over the bill before its passage. The Georgia congresswoman, set to resign next month, had criticized Roy, who sits on the House Rules Committee, for introducing an amendment she argued would ‘gut the commerce clause.’

Roy’s amendment attempted to modify the bill to limit federal criminal liability under certain circumstances ‘by defining when prohibited conduct falls within federal jurisdiction,’ according to the Rules Committee.

But Greene contended that her bill ‘criminalizes ALL pediatric gender affirming care (transgender surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormones) NOT just those receiving federal funds and protects ALL children allowing them to grow up before they make permanent changes to their body that they can never undo!!!’

‘WTF is Chip Roy doing????? And this guy wants to be attorney general of Texas but refuses to protect children??!!!’ she wrote on X.

Roy responded that ‘the constitution matters & we should not bastardize it to use ‘interstate commerce’ to empower federal authorities.’

The Texas Republican, however, said in a statement on Wednesday that he would not offer the amendment ‘to avoid any confusion about how united Republicans are in protecting children from these grotesque procedures.’

Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, who announced on Wednesday that he will be departing from his role in January, later replied to FBI Director Kash Patel, who gave him a glowing review.

‘Dan is the best partner I could’ve asked for in helping restore this FBI. He brought critical reforms to make the organization more efficient, led the successful Summer Heat op, served as the people’s voice for transparency, and delivered major breakthroughs in long unsolved cases like the pipe bomb investigation. And that’s only a small part of the work he went about every single day delivering for America,’ Patel said in a post on X.

‘He not only completed his mission – he far exceeded it. We will miss him but I’m thankful he accepted the call to serve. Our country is better and safer for it,’ Patel added.

Bongino replied, thanking Patel.

‘Thank you my friend, it’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve beside you,’ he wrote.

Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who stepped aside from his work hosting a popular show as a conservative commentator to join the FBI, will depart the federal law enforcement agency less than a year after his swearing-in ceremony, which occurred in March 2025.

Prior to Bongino’s announcement on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said, ‘Dan did a great job,’ noting that he thinks Bongino wants to return to his show.

Attorney General Pam Bondi shared Bongino’s announcement post, commenting, ‘Americans are safer because of @FBIDDBongino’s service. Thank you, Dan.’

President Donald Trump’s eldest son and namesake, Donald Trump Jr., is engaged to Bettina Anderson.

‘President Trump just announced at the White House that his son @DonaldJTrumpJr and his girlfriend Bettina Anderson are getting married! They just got engaged. Congratulations to them both,’ Laura Loomer wrote in a Monday night post on X. 

She shared a video of the couple delivering remarks. In a footage, Donald Trump Jr. thanked his bride-to-be ‘for that one word: yes.’ 

Anderson said she feels ‘like the luckiest girl in the world.’

Her Instagram profile says, ‘I’m just your typical stay at home mom… only I don’t do household chores… or have a husband… or have kids.’

Donald Trump Jr. was previously engaged to Kimberly Guilfoyle. Last year, the president announced Guilfoyle as his pick for U.S. Ambassador to Greece. 

Trump Jr. is a divorcee who had five children with his first wife, including his oldest child, Kai Trump, who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

President Donald Trump isn’t offended by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’ comments in Vanity Fair describing him as someone with ‘an alcoholic’s personality.’

On Tuesday, Vanity Fair published the first part of a two-part story about Wiles and the second Trump administration — which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed featured comments that were ‘wildly’ taken out of context. 

In response, Trump and his allies have come to dish out praise for Wiles, following the publication of a story where Wiles issued some unsavory remarks about Trump and others in his orbit. Hours after the Vanity Fair story was published, Trump told the New York Post that he wasn’t insulted by Wiles’ description of his personality. 

‘No, she meant that I’m — you see, I don’t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that — but I’ve often said that if I did, I’d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic. I have said that many times about myself, I do. It’s a very possessive personality,’ Trump told the Post. 

‘I’ve said that many times about myself. I’m fortunate I’m not a drinker. If I did, I could very well, because I’ve said that — what’s the word? Not possessive — possessive and addictive type personality,’ Trump said. ‘Oh, I’ve said it many times, many times before.’

The White House referred Fox News Digital to the Post’s reporting when asked for comment. 

Included in the Vanity Fair story were several quotes from Wiles describing others within Trump’s orbit in an unflattering manner. In addition to the remarks about Trump, Wiles was quoted claiming that Vice President JD Vance has been a ‘conspiracy theorist for a decade,’ and that Attorney General Pam Bondi ‘completely whiffed’ how she handled the release of documents pertaining to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Likewise, she described the Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as ‘a right-wing absolute zealot,’ and claimed that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who headed up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was an ‘odd duck’ and an ‘avowed ketamine (user).’ 

Even so, Wiles was also quoted praising Trump’s Cabinet, claiming that they are ‘a world-class Cabinet, better than anything I could have conceived of.’

In response to the story, Wiles claimed that the story was a ‘disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.’

‘Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,’ Wiles said in a post on X Tuesday. ‘I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.’ 

Meanwhile, other members of the Trump administration also swiftly came to Wiles’ defense — including some of those who were mentioned in an unfavorable way. 

Vance dismissed Wiles’ comments during an event in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he claimed that he and Wiles have privately joked that the vice president is a conspiracy theorist. 

‘Sometimes I am a conspiracy theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true,’ Vance said. 

Bondi also issued some praise for Wiles, and asserted that ‘any attempt to divide this administration will fail.’

‘Any attempt to undermine and downplay President Trump’s monumental achievements will fail,’ Bondi said in a post on X Tuesday. ‘We are family. We are united.’ 

Vought, who also served as director of the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term, said that Wiles is an ‘exceptional’ chief of staff and that this is the most seamless era he’s experienced in his two terms working for Trump. 

‘In my portfolio, she is always an ally in helping me deliver for the president,’ Vought said about Wiles. ‘And this hit piece will not slow us down.’

Meanwhile, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claimed the piece was a playbook from the left to ‘trash & smear our best & most effective people.’ 

‘They do it to President Trump daily — and now to Chief Susie Wiles. Susie is the most TRUSTED, most PROFESSIONAL & most EFFECTIVE Chief of Staff of my lifetime,’ Hegseth said in a post on X Tuesday. ‘Absolutely nobody better!’ 

United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz, who previously served as the national security advisor at the White House, said he’d known Wiles for over a decade and that she ‘exemplifies integrity & dedication to our incredible President and country.’

‘The Queen of Florida politics – the architect of multiple successful governor’s and Presidential campaigns – she’s calm under fire, forthright, & results focused. Period,’ Waltz said in a post on X on Tuesday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also weighed in, describing Wiles as ‘the single most effective operator whom I have ever met.’ 

‘Susie is an exceptional Chief of Staff, and her tireless dedication, loyalty, and commitment to the President are beyond reproach,’ Bessent said in a post on X on Tuesday. ‘Powerful leadership often works quietly – never seeking credit and always relentlessly driving results. Our Chief exemplifies that.’

‘No one is more insightful, effective, and loyal,’ Bessent said. ‘She never loses sight of the big picture while managing the daily agenda.’ 

Bessent also challenged Vanity Fair’s portrayal of the Trump administration in the piece, claiming that the faulty characterization is ‘precisely why the insular chattering classes in America lose their minds as we notch victory after victory for the American people.’

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Conde Nast, which owns Vanity Fair, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham warned that the U.S. mission in Venezuela must end with Nicolás Maduro removed from power, arguing that leaving the embattled leader in place after a major U.S. show of force would be a ‘fatal mistake to our standing in the world.’

‘If after all this, we still leave this guy in power… that’s the worst possible signal you can send to Russia, China, Iran,’ Graham, R-S.C., told reporters after a classified all-senator briefing with War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump administration officials did not say whether a series of narco-strikes in the Caribbean could escalate into direct strikes against Venezuelan territory or a broader campaign to oust Maduro. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital the briefing was ‘absent of specificity and detail’ and left ‘more questions than answers.’

‘I want to reassert, again, you cannot allow this man to be standing after this display of force, and I did not get a very good answer as to what happens,’ Graham said. ‘What I want is some clarity going forward. Is that in fact the goal?… If it’s not the goal, it is a huge mistake.’

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said he heard from briefers that there is a ‘very good process of determining if something’s a target or not’ before striking narco-trafficking boats, but the administration did not clarify its broader strategy toward the Maduro regime. 

‘Right now the focus has been on the boats,’ Bacon said. ‘I don’t know what we’re doing yet with Venezuela writ large.’

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said the classified session also failed to address core questions. 

‘I actually think that was, for me, more of an exercise in futility. I really have no answers. Really didn’t gain anything more than what the public already has gotten,’ he said. He added that there was ‘really no conversation about why… we got 15,000 troops there,’ arguing the deployment ‘doesn’t seem to be just about narcotics trafficking.’ 

Meeks said briefers provided ‘no real rational decision or real answers’ about whether the U.S. is preparing for ‘a war in Venezuela,’ raising what he described as a pressing war powers issue. He said he plans to bring forward legislation this week addressing the recent strikes ‘in the Pacific, in the Caribbean’ as well as any potential move by Trump ‘to go into Venezuela.’

Rubio told reporters the mission is ‘focused on dismantling the infrastructure of these terrorist organizations that are operating in our hemisphere, undermining the security of Americans, killing Americans, poisoning Americans.’

Hegseth told reporters the War Department would not release video footage of the Sept. 2 narco-strikes — in which Adm. Frank Bradley ordered a ‘double tap’ strike to kill survivors — to the public. The video will instead be shown to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Graham dismissed the footage as ‘the least of my concerns’ but said he urged Hegseth to release it so Americans could ‘make your own decisions.’

Hegseth and Rubio’s briefing came as the U.S. undertakes its largest military buildup in the region in decades: 15% of all naval assets are now positioned in the Southern Command theater. Graham cited the deployment as evidence that anything short of Maduro’s removal would undermine U.S. credibility. 

‘It got, yeah, 15% of the Navy pointed to this guy,’ he said.

Graham also pointed to historical precedent, arguing the U.S. has acted similarly when confronting hostile or destabilizing regimes. 

‘We have legal authority, in my view, to do in Venezuela what we did regarding Panama and Haiti,’ he said, recalling that in 1989 the U.S. ‘literally invaded Panama… took the president in power and put him in jail.’

He said he believes Trump intends a comparable outcome. 

‘Every indication by President Trump is that the purpose of this operation is to shut down the (Maduro) regime and replace it with something less threatening to the United States,’ Graham said.

Pressed on whether he meant regime change or lethal force, Graham replied: ‘I don’t care as long as he leaves.’

The public is now waiting to see whether the Trump administration will turn to direct strikes on Venezuelan territory as a means of pressuring Maduro to leave power — a step Graham argued is necessary for the operation to succeed.

A federal judge on Tuesday said he was ‘inclined to deny’ a bid to force the Trump administration to halt construction of the White House ballroom but warned officials not to undertake any irreversible work before a January hearing that could still stop the project.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said he will hold another hearing during the second week in January and hinted he may still order a pause.

‘Any below ground construction’ in the coming weeks that dictates above-ground work should be avoided, Leon said, adding, ‘be prepared to take that down.’

Lawyers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the U.S. argued the case is not about the need for a ballroom but about the need to follow the law.

They said any construction on federal land requires congressional approval.

Lawyers representing the National Park Service countered that President Trump has authority to direct construction at the White House, saying ‘work must continue for national security issues.’

‘See you in January,’ Leon said as he warned the government not to pursue anything irreversible.

Attorney General Pam Bondi weighed in Tuesday evening.

‘Today @TheJusticeDept attorneys defeated an attempt to stop President Trump’s totally lawful East Wing Modernization and State Ballroom Project,’ she wrote on X. ‘President Trump has faced countless bad-faith left-wing legal attacks – this was no different. We will continue defending the President’s project in court in the coming weeks.’

On Monday, the Trump administration argued in a court filing that pausing construction would undermine national security, citing a Secret Service declaration warning that halting work would leave the site unable to meet ‘safety and security requirements’ necessary to protect President Donald Trump.

The declaration said the East Wing, demolished in October and now undergoing below-grade work, could not be left unfinished without compromising essential security measures.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued last week to stop the project, arguing the government had to follow federal review procedures before any irreversible work began.

The group said the proposed 90,000-square-foot addition, now estimated at more than $300 million, would overwhelm the Executive Residence and permanently alter the White House’s historic design.

The administration countered that the lawsuit was premature, noting regulatory reviews were still coming and above-grade construction was not scheduled to begin until April 2026.

The National Trust said early intervention was necessary, citing warnings from architectural historians who said the ballroom would mark the most significant exterior change to the White House in more than 80 years.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.