The House Ethics Committee is meeting this Wednesday after previously postponing a meeting when the panel was expected to discuss its investigation of now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Fox News has learned.

Lawmakers were expected to vote last Friday on whether to release the committee’s report into Gaetz before that meeting was canceled without explanation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters that Gaetz had resigned from Congress effective immediately on Wednesday, hours after he was tapped to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general.

House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters after Gaetz’s nomination that his panel would lose jurisdiction over the Florida Republican if he left Congress.

‘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,’ Guest said before news of Gaetz leaving.

‘Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued. That’s not unique to this case.’

The committee’s probe was put to an end after Gaetz’s resignation.

However, several Republicans have already said the report should be released if Gaetz were to go through the attorney general vetting process, including GOP senators whose support would be critical to Gaetz being confirmed.

The House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Gaetz, which began in 2021, stems from accusations of illicit drug use and sex with a minor.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), which Gaetz has been tapped to lead, also previously investigated the matter but closed that probe with no charges filed.

Gaetz himself has denied any wrongdoing.

A spokesperson for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment on the new Wednesday meeting, which was first reported by CNN.

Johnson lent his voice to the increasingly heated debate on Friday, telling reporters he did not believe the report should be released.

‘The Speaker of the House is not involved with those things. I am reacting to media reports that a report is currently in some draft form and was going to be released on what is now a former member of the House. I do not believe that that is an appropriate thing,’ the house speaker said.

‘That would open up Pandora’s box and I don’t think that’s a healthy thing for the institution, so that’s my position.’

Fox News Digital reached out to a Gaetz spokesperson for comment.

Fox News’ Daniel Scully contributed to this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris spent a whopping $1.5 billion during her 15-week campaign that ended in defeat to President-elect Donald Trump, including burning through millions of dollars on star-studded events on the eve of the election, according to a report.

According to The New York Times, Harris’ swing state rallies on the night before Election Day exceeded the campaign’s planned budget, ballooning to over $10 million. 

These pricey celebrity events featured Lady Gaga in Philadelphia, Jon Bon Jovi in Detroit, Christina Aguilera in Nevada, James Taylor in North Carolina and Katy Perry in Pittsburgh. While the singers did not receive compensation, the newspaper said officials confirmed that the support staff was compensated.

Part of the higher-than-expected costs came from having to rebuild an entire rally venue in Pittsburgh after the Secret Service said the initial location could not be properly secured, The Times reported.

How Harris spent such an exorbitant amount of money during her compressed campaign has left questions as to where all that cash went. 

One payment being scrutinized in recent days has been the reported $1 million payment to Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions.

An initial report by the Washington Examiner showed the Harris campaign made two $500,000 payments to Winfrey’s Harpo Productions on Oct. 15, a month after Winfrey’s town hall with Harris and weeks before the pair appeared at a Harris Philadelphia rally. Now, two sources have told The Times that the full price of the event with Winfrey was closer to $2.5 million.

A Harpo Productions spokesperson acknowledged to Variety that the company took money from the campaign but claimed it was for ‘production costs.’

‘Oprah Winfrey was at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo,’ the spokesperson said.

Other major costs for Harris’ failed campaign included $111 million in online ads seeking donations, about $50 million for door-to-door canvassers and $2.5 million paid to three digital agencies who work with online influencers, The Times reported.

Eyebrow-raising expenses were listed in a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing obtained by Fox News Digital. According to the FEC filing, in the month of October alone, the Harris campaign spent $2,626,110 on private flights. 

The costs ranged from $3,500 to $940,000 per disbursement, with $2.2 million going to a company named Private Jet Services Group, while $430,000 went to Advanced Aviation Team, a charter flight broker.

The Harris campaign is believed to be $20 million in debt, but Harris campaign chief financial officer Patrick Stauffer said in a statement reported by the Times that ‘there will be no debt’ on the upcoming December filings for the campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

President Biden is asking Congress to approve nearly $100 billion in emergency funding to aid recovery efforts for the recent deadly storms that ravaged parts of the South.

Biden sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday asking him to quickly take up his supplemental disaster aid request, specifically aimed at helping people affected by storms Helene and Milton.

The White House letter did not specify a total, but Fox News Digital was told it amounts to roughly $98 billion.

‘With the Congress now back in session, I write to request urgently needed emergency funding to provide for an expeditious and meaningful Federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters,’ Biden wrote.

The speaker’s office confirmed it received the request, and it was being reviewed by staff.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle have repeatedly said they would stand ready to act on storm relief funds once a cost estimate was made.

Johnson told Fox News Digital in early October that Helene would likely be ‘one of the most expensive storms that the country has ever encountered.’

‘It affects at least six states – a broad swath of destruction across many, many areas – and I think that’s why it’s going to take awhile to assess,’ Johnson said at the time. ‘As soon as those numbers are ready, Congress will be prepared to act.’

Helene barreled into the Southeastern U.S. in late September, killing more than 100 people in North Carolina alone and causing billions of dollars of structural damage.

Hurricane Milton, another deadly storm, hit Florida and Georgia roughly a week later.

Biden’s funding request is expected to cover the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund, and disaster funds for the Small Business Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant areas.

It comes as FEMA faces some backlash after an official was caught instructing workers to ignore houses with pro-Trump campaign signs in Florida after Milton and Helene. 

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell condemned the incident, which she called an isolated event.

Criswell is due before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday for a high-stakes hearing.

And while any supplemental relief package is expected to get broad enough bipartisan support to pass, House GOP hardliners are expected to oppose the measure if it does not offset the costs with cuts elsewhere.

— The House Homeland Security Committee is demanding interviews with three FEMA employees on possible ‘systemic bias’ against Trump supporters — as the agency deals with fallout from now-fired employee Marn’i Washington telling relief workers to skip houses visibly advertising support for President-elect Trump during recovery efforts after Hurricane Milton. 

In a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., asks to speak with three employees who would have been responsible for policy in Florida, where Washington was assigned. Those employees are FEMA Region 4 Administrator Robert Samaan, Deputy Region 4 Administrator Robert Ashe and Chad Hershey, the lead for FEMA’s disaster survivor assistance crew. 

The letter cites recent comments by Washington, including to Fox News, that she’s being scapegoated for doing what her superiors told her to do. 

Green is joined on the letter by Reps. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., and Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., who chair relevant Homeland Security subcommittees. 

‘Ms. Washington’s statement contradicts FEMA’s press release and points to a possibly systemic bias within FEMA against individuals that support President-elect Donald J. Trump,’ the lawmakers said in the letter. ‘If such bias is present within FEMA, the Committee is deeply concerned that households that support President-elect Trump and even neighborhoods consisting of primarily Republican-aligned households might be receiving diminished levels of resources, manpower, and support, significantly protracting recovery following natural disasters.’ 

Criswell said in a statement after the Daily Wire first reported on Washington’s order that it was ‘reprehensible’ and ‘a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles.’

‘I’m just simply executing, again, what was coming down from my superiors,’ Washington shot back in an interview with Trace Gallagher on ‘Fox News @ Night’ last week. 

‘This was the culture. They were already avoiding these homes based on community trends from hostile political encounters,’ Washington also said. 

Green’s letter asks that FEMA schedule the interviews with Hershey, Ashe and Samaan by the end of this week. Fox News is also told by a source familiar that the Homeland Security Committee will have another transcribed interview request on FEMA oversight soon. 

‘If [Washington] is right and there is a broader ‘policy’ of discriminatory practices in the agency’s recovery efforts, this Committee will demand accountability from the highest levels,’ Green said in a statement to Fox News. 

Washington emphasized to Fox News that FEMA prioritizes ‘avoidance’ and ‘de-escalation’ in situations where some employees may feel unsafe, and that isn’t necessarily politically targeted at Trump supporters. This could include other situations, like urban areas where there are unleashed dogs, she said. 

Washington told Gallagher that discriminating against people explicitly because of political leanings would violate the Hatch Act, but said ‘unfortunately, again, the passionate supporters for Trump, some of them were a little bit violent.’ 

Criswell will nevertheless face a congressional grilling Tuesday. She appears before a House Transportation & Infrastructure subcommittee at 10 a.m. EST and then will testify to the House Oversight Committee at 2 p.m. EST.  

Fox News’ Trace Gallagher and Melissa Summers contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden for the first time authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-given long-range missiles to strike inside Russia, a prospect that President-elect Donald Trump’s allies believe could threaten ‘World War III.’

Ukraine can now target positions in the Kursk region, where Russia has lined up some 50,000 troops, including 10,000 North Koreans, senior U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News. Ukrainian forces seized the Russian territory earlier this year. 

‘This is another step up the escalation ladder, and no one knows where this is going,’ Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Trump’s incoming national security adviser, said on Fox News. 

‘​​No one anticipated that Joe Biden would ESCALATE the war in Ukraine during the transition period. This is as if he is launching a whole new war,’ Ric Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

‘Everything has changed now – all previous calculations are null and void. And all for politics.’

‘The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives. Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!’ Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s son, wrote on X.

‘On his way out of office, Joe Biden is dangerously trying to start WWIII by authorizing Ukraine the use of U.S. long range missiles into Russia,’ said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on X. ‘The American people gave a mandate on Nov 5th against these exact America last decisions.’

Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, did not comment specifically on long-range missiles, but suggested the introduction of North Korean forces factored into the White House’s decision. 

‘The United States has been clear throughout this conflict that we will make our policy decisions based on the circumstances we identify on the battlefield, including in recent days and weeks a significant Russian escalation that involves the deployment of a foreign country’s forces on its own territory,’ Finer said.

Ukraine has pleaded for months with the Biden administration to be allowed to strike inside Russia — and hawkish members of Congress have issued similar demands. But Biden officials feared getting the U.S. further entrenched in the war.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., called the authorization an ‘impeachable offense.’

‘By authorizing long range missiles to strike inside Russia, Biden is committing an unconstitutional Act of War that endangers the lives of all U.S. citizens. This is an impeachable offense, but the reality is he’s an emasculated puppet of a deep state,’ Massie wrote on X. 

Ukrainian forces have been using drones for some deep strikes, but believe the U.S.-made ATACMS would be more effective. 

ATACMS, a surface-to-surface missile system fired from a mobile launcher vehicle, can strike anywhere between 100 and 190 miles away. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to respond to reports the U.S. will cross one of his ‘red lines,’ but his spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, accused the U.S. of adding fuel to the fire. 

‘This is a qualitatively new round of tension and a qualitatively new situation in terms of U.S. involvement in this conflict,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in a Monday briefing. ‘It’s clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to, they’ve said so, to continue to add fuel to the fire and to further provoke the level of tension.’

Ukraine has not yet used any ATACMS in Russia, according to a senior defense official. 

Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer and author of ‘Putin’s Playbook,’ suggested the reports could be a ‘trial balloon to disrupt Trump’ and Biden may not have formally authorized the ATACMS strikes yet. 

‘Biden knows the danger of dragging the U.S. into conflict with Russia,’ she said. ‘But if the reports are true, then what it means to Putin is that he has been correct all along in thinking that the U.S. is serious about destroying Russia, using Ukraine, and he was correct all along to devise a plan to defeat the U.S., if necessary, with kinetic means.

‘It will mean when Trump comes, Putin does not trust the U.S.… he will likely just proceed to destroying Ukraine. That is why he is not in a rush to negotiate, because he thinks that he can do it, because Russia has Ukraine outgunned and outmanned.’

Trump has insisted he could bring a quick end to the war, a belief Koffler predicted Putin would play to his advantage. 

‘He’s going to pretend that he’s interested in negotiations, and drag it on, drag it on. And you know, trying to get the best deal possible. In the meantime, he’s going to proceed [with] destroying Ukraine.’

Other congressional hawks welcomed the reported lift on restrictions, but said it had taken too long.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mo., ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, said the decision ‘does not excuse the administration’s deliberate slow-walking of items and assistance long authorized by Congress for use against] Putin’s illegal aggression.’

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, called the new move ‘long overdue,’ saying, ‘President Biden should have listened to President Zelenskyy’s pleas much earlier.’

Earlier this month, Biden, for the first time, authorized U.S. contractors to deploy to Ukraine to help the country’s military maintain and repair U.S.-provided weapons systems. 

The announcement came after Great Britain and France authorized Ukraine to launch SCALP/Storm Shadow missile strikes, according to French outlet Le Figaro.

Biden’s announcement also came just hours after Russia concluded one of its largest missile and drone attacks in months, launching more than 200 targeting Ukraine’s power and energy infrastructure.

Putin has previously said that giving Ukraine the green light on missile use would effectively mean that the U.S. and NATO are ‘in the war.’

‘Flight assignments for these missile systems can, in fact, only be entered by military personnel from NATO countries. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this. And therefore, it is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is a question of making a decision whether NATO countries directly participate in the military conflict or not,’ Putin said in September.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

President-elect Trump announced that he is nominating former Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, who is also a Fox News contributor and FOX Business co-host, to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

‘Sean has been a tremendous and well-liked public servant, starting his career as a District Attorney for Ashland, Wisconsin, and later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District,’ Trump said in his announcement on Monday. ‘Sean will use his experience and the relationships he has built over many years in Congress to maintain and rebuild our Nation’s Infrastructure, and fulfill our Mission of ushering in The Golden Age of Travel, focusing on Safety, Efficiency, and Innovation. Importantly, he will greatly elevate the Travel Experience for all Americans!’

While in Congress, Duffy helped advocate for fiscal responsibility, economic growth and rural development.

Duffy joined FOX News Media as a contributor in 2020. He currently serves as the co-host of FOX Business’ The Bottom Line alongside Dagen McDowell. He also provides political analysis across all FOX News Media platforms.

Prior to joining the network, Duffy served nearly nine years as a United States Congressman representing the people of Wisconsin’s Seventh Congressional District, the state’s largest district.  During his time in office, he was on the Financial Services Committee and served as the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Insurance and Housing. Previously, he was the District Attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin where he dedicated resources to prosecuting child sex crimes. Working together with law enforcement, he established Ashland County one of the first counties in the state to investigate and prosecute child Internet sex crimes.

He recently contributed to the extensive coverage of the 2024 Republican National Convention.

Duffy is married to FOX & Friends Weekend co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, whom he met on MTV’s iconic reality television show, The Real World. Together, they have nine children: Evita, Jack, Lucia-Belen, John-Paul, Paloma, Maria-Victoria, Margarita, Patrick, and Valentina. In 2021, they co-author authored ‘All American Christmas,’ the third title under the newly launched FOX News Books imprint. Featuring an inside look at how the family of 11 celebrates the holidays, along with stories from several FOX News Media personalities. the book, which topped the New York Times bestsellers list in the hardcover nonfiction category. Notably, the title was among the top 50 bestselling books in the country in 2021, according to Bookscan.

He is a graduate of St. Mary’s University and holds a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is introducing a resolution to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol.

Mace is expected to file the resolution on Monday.

She told Fox News Digital of the measure, ‘The sanctity of protecting women and standing up against the Left’s systematic erasure of biological women starts here in the nation’s Capitol.’

The South Carolina Republican plans to introduce a measure ‘prohibiting Members, officers, and employees of the House from using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex, and for other purposes,’ according to text previewed by Fox News Digital.

It comes just before the first openly transgender lawmaker, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., is set to join Congress in January.

House Republicans have previously changed rules on their side of Congress, such as when ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., scuttled metal detectors outside the House chamber after winning the gavel from previous Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Mace’s legislation would charge the House sergeant at arms with enforcing the rule.

It’s a preview of what kind of changes Republicans could look to pass when they control both houses of Congress next year. 

Republicans hammered Democrats on transgender issues in the most recent election, particularly the topic of trans youth athletes in school sports.

The House GOP moved to restrict federal dollars for transgender health care and to block trans student athletes from participating in school sports teams of their chosen gender.

Mace previously introduced a bill that would have forced illegal immigrants with a history of sex crimes or violence against women to be deported. That bill passed with the support of 51 Democrats and all House Republicans.

Just hours before the United Nations Security Council is slated to vote on an alleged anti-Israel resolution pushed by Algeria to impose an end on the Jewish state’s war of self-defense against Hamas, the Biden administration has gone silent about how it will vote.

The irony of the notoriously anti-Israel Algeria devising the resolution recalls the witty line of the late Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., Abba Eban, who said, ‘If Algeria introduced a (U.N.) resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.’

The proposed resolution has triggered outrage from several quarters, including a leading Republican U.S.senator.

‘This resolution is just one of several assaults on Israel being planned at the United Nations, meant to preemptively and permanently undermine the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress,’ Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

‘I will work with my Republican colleagues and with President Trump to take whatever steps are necessary to undo these measures, including fundamentally reevaluating our relationship with the U.N. and the Palestinians, broadly cutting aid, imposing sanctions on specific officials responsible for those measures, and countering governments and NGOs pushing or implementing them,’ he said.

Fox News Digital reported last week that U.N. experts believed Biden’s administration might seek to replicate Obama’s parting shot at Israel, in which he failed to veto an anti-Israel resolution in the closing weeks of his administration.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield delivered remarks on Monday at the world body but did not address the pending draft resolution. However, she noted, ‘The United States has exercised leadership and resolve in pursuing clear objectives: End the war in Gaza — end the war in Gaza by securing the release of hostages, while surging aid to Palestinians, who did not start and cannot end this conflict. Avoid a broader regional war while forcefully countering Iran’s terrorist proxies and destabilizing activities, and demonstrating an ironclad, unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security.’

Fox News Digital approached the U.S. State Department and the United States mission to the U.N. for comment about the proposed draft.

Anne Bayefsky, President, Human Rights Voices in New York, told Fox News Digital, ‘Allies of Hamas are licking their chops at the prospect of the outgoing Biden administration refusing to veto an Israel-bashing resolution scheduled for adoption at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.’ She claimed, ‘For weeks, the United States has been busy massaging the terms of a draft, leaked to news outlets Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.’

‘The U.N.-U.S. operation is to pretend it’s all about humanitarianism, when it is exactly the opposite. It guarantees to prolong the war and the suffering of the hostages and ignore the actual root causes: Iran, antisemitism and the illegal denial of Israel’s right of self-defense. If adopted, it would be the fifth Security Council resolution President Biden has allowed to pass since Oct. 7 that doesn’t even condemn Hamas,’ she said.

Speaking earlier at the Security Council, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, criticized the draft resolution, stating, ‘Any resolution that does not condition the cease-fire on the release of the hostages means abandoning the 101 hostages to the hell of the terrorist monsters.’

Danon added, ‘The decision being promoted in this Council only strengthens Hamas and terrorism and abandons the hostages. We cannot allow the U.N. to tie the hands of the State of Israel from protecting its citizens, and we will not stop fighting until we return all the kidnapped men and women home.’

Criticisms have mounted surrounding President-elect Trump naming former Rep. Matt Gaetz as his pick for U.S. attorney general, following nearly four years of actions taken by the Biden administration’s Department of Justice that came under fierce fire from conservatives. 

Trump named Gaetz as his pick for attorney general last Wednesday, coming as a surprise to both conservatives and liberals alike. Democrats have notably slammed the choice, citing the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct with a minor. Gaetz has long denied any wrongdoing, and the Trump transition team said they are confident the Senate will confirm Gaetz. 

‘I know Matt personally. He is a great person. He’s a man of integrity. He also is a brilliant litigator. He served on the House Judiciary Committee for eight years. Anyone who has watched him in those hearings knows that he’s incredibly impressive,’ Karoline Leavitt, the transition team’s spokesperson and Trump’s recently announced pick for press secretary, said on Fox News last week. 

‘Like President Trump, Matt Gaetz has been a victim of the weaponized Department of Justice, and one of the promises President Trump made to the American people was to root out the corruption at the DOJ. We have seen this agency turn against the American people because of their political beliefs. Matt Gaetz and President Trump are going to put an end to that, and that’s what the American people want. That’s why they elected him,’ Leavitt added. 

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has repeatedly come under fire for a series of actions viewed as targeting conservatives. 

The DOJ was heavily criticized by parents nationwide in 2021, when Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to use counterterrorism tools related to parents speaking out at school board meetings against transgender-related issues and critical race theory curricula. The memorandum followed the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sending a letter to President Biden, asking that the federal government investigate parents protesting at school board meetings, claiming school officials were facing threats at meetings. 

The NSBA requested that parents’ actions should be examined under the Patriot Act as ‘domestic terrorists,’ sparking Garland’s eventual memo, which did not use the phrase ‘domestic terrorist.’

‘After surveying local law enforcement, U.S. Attorney’s offices around the country reported back to Main Justice that there was no legitimate law-enforcement basis for the Attorney General’s directive to use federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources to investigate school board-related threats,’ the House Judiciary Committee stated in an interim report on the memo last year. 

Garland testified before the Senate last year that the memo ‘was aimed at violence and threats of violence against a whole host of school personnel,’ not parents ‘making complaints to their school board,’ but the memo set off a firestorm of criticism from parents, nonetheless. 

‘The premier law enforcement agency of the United States of America, the FBI, was used as a weapon by the DOJ against parents who dared to voice their concerns at the most local level – their school board,’ Moms For Liberty founder Tiffany Justice told Fox News Digital last year. 

Other parents sounded off on social media, facetiously asking if they looked like a ‘domestic terrorist,’ and others stating ‘arrest me’ online in response to protesting liberal school policies. 

The Biden DOJ again came under fire for claims it was fraudulently targeting religious Catholics when the FBI arrested a Pennsylvania dad in 2022 who frequently prayed outside of abortion clinics. 

Mark Houck, a Catholic dad of seven who would often pray outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic, was arrested at his rural Pennsylvania home in Kintnersville by the FBI. The arrest stemmed from an altercation he had with a Planned Parenthood escort in Philadelphia in October 2021. Houck was accused of pushing the abortion clinic escort, who allegedly verbally harassed Houck’s 12-year-old son outside the clinic.  

The Biden administration alleged Houck violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone because that person provides reproductive health care. 

Houck was acquitted by a jury last year, after arguing that he was protecting his son. He and his wife Ryan-Marie argued the FBI used excessive force during the arrest, filing a lawsuit against the DOJ earlier this year alleging the arrest followed a ‘faulty and malicious investigation.’ 

In Georgia, the DOJ came under fire for suing the state after it passed the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which overhauled its election laws, including limiting ballot drop box locations and requiring absentee voters to provide a form of identification – such as a driver’s license or the last four digits of their Social Security number – when requesting an absentee ballot.

Biden, along with Democrats nationwide and Hollywood actors who frequently film in the Peach State, sounded off on the election laws, including the 46th president calling them ‘Jim Crow 2.0.’ 

‘This is Jim Crow in the 21st century. It must end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act,’ Biden said in March 2021.

‘This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience. Among the outrageous parts of this new state law, it ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote after their shift is over. It adds rigid restrictions on casting absentee ballots that will effectively deny the right to vote to countless voters,’ Biden added. 

The DOJ filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that portions of the law had a ‘purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race,’ the DOJ said in a press release at the time. 

‘The right of all eligible citizens to vote is the central pillar of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow,’ said Garland in a statement at the time. ‘This lawsuit is the first step of many we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote; that all lawful votes are counted; and that every voter has access to accurate information.’  

Conservatives slammed the Biden administration and Democrats for ‘fearmongering’ following the 2022 election cycle, which reported record-smashing early-voting numbers after Democrats claimed the laws would prevent some voters from casting ballots. 

Simultaneous to running for re-election, Trump had juggled a handful of lawsuits leading up to Nov. 5, including charges brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Garland appointed Smith as special counsel, with the Trump legal team arguing the AG ‘violated the Appointments Clause by naming private-citizen Smith to target President Trump.’ 

Smith indicted Trump in Washington, D.C., over alleged efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, as well as federal charges against the former president in Florida for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. The judge presiding over the Florida case tossed it over the summer, which Smith quickly appealed.  

Following Trump’s massive electoral win this month, however, Smith began winding the cases down as DOJ policy forbids criminal charges against a sitting president. 

Following the controversies within the DOJ under the Biden administration, Democrats are slamming Trump for naming Gaetz as his pick for attorney general. Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives following Trump’s announcement, but he still needs to be confirmed by the Senate in order to officially become attorney general in the second Trump administration. 

‘Three recent Trump nominees – Gaetz, Hegseth, and Gabbard – are far less qualified than Senate confirmation rejects like Bork, Tower, and Mier [sic],’ Harvard Professor Lawrence Summers, who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, posted on X, referencing Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Harriet Miers and Defense secretary nominee John Tower. ‘I hope that the Senate will do its duty.’

‘This is going to be a red alert moment for American democracy. Matt Gaetz is being nominated for one reason and one reason only: Because he will implement Donald Trump’s transition of the Department of Justice from an agency that stands up for all of us to an agency that is simply an arm of the White House designed to persecute and prosecute Trump’s political enemies,’ Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said last week. 

‘It’s just kind of like a God-tier kind of trolling just to trigger a meltdown,’  Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said. ‘But, really, the Dems’ opinions on Gaetz, that’s not really what’s interesting. The good ones are going to come by my colleagues on the other side, the GOP, on how they can justify voting for that j— off.’

While some Republicans have also sounded off on the choice and predicted that Gaetz won’t make it through the confirmation process, conservatives such as Fox News’ Mark Levin and Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson shut down such criticisms. 

‘The Democrat Party nominated and supported Tim Walz for vice president. I don’t want to hear from that party or its media that any of the Trump nominees are unqualified for their posts. They have demonstrated that they have no standards at all when it comes to selecting even a vice-presidential candidate.  Every Trump nominee has a solid record.  Perspective is very important,’ Levin posted to X last week. 

Johnson held up a photo of assistant HHS Secretary Rachel Levine and former senior Department of Energy official Sam Brinton when asked about the selection of Gaetz last week, asking, ‘Did you ask Democratic senators about this?’ Levine is the first openly transgender individual to be confirmed by the Senate, while Brinton identifies as nonbinary and was arrested for baggage theft at airports before he departed the DOE.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller, Gabriel Hays and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.