Politics
Impeached Homeland Security secretary navigates working with Republicans who want him out
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas was expected to be testifying about his agency’s 2025 budget Wednesday just as House Republicans advanced impeachment articles against him to the Senate.
Instead, Republicans held off, choosing to wait until next week while they attempt to make the case for a full Senate trial of the first U.S. Cabinet official impeached in nearly 150 years.
It has been two months since Mayorkas, a California native and the highest-ranking Latino in the federal government, was narrowly impeached by a single-vote margin.
House Republicans, eyeing chaos at the southern border as a path to regain control of the White House and Senate, have said his failure to prevent record arrivals of migrants meets the constitutional bar for impeachment of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” They’ve accused him of refusing to enforce existing immigration laws and breaching the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure.
On Wednesday, Mayorkas carried on, testifying before the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees on homeland security. The at times tense back-and-forth of the hearings demonstrated the precarious position of the embattled secretary, who must find a way to work with Republicans who want him gone.
Mayorkas testified that his agency needs funding for more Border Patrol agents, asylum officers, detention capacity and deportation flights, while reiterating calls for Congress to pass the bipartisan national security bill that failed earlier this year.
Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), echoing the arguments behind the impeachment case, told Mayorkas he was pointing fingers at Congress for a crisis of his own making.
“I called for your resignation last year and I stand by my request,” she told him.
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) recalled Mayorkas referencing expanding lawful pathways to the U.S. and asked him, “Who makes laws?”
“Congressman, if you must ask me questions the answers to which you know, allow me to answer: Congress,” Mayorkas replied.
Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) brought up reports that Biden is exploring an executive order to shut down the border without congressional authorization. Guest asked if Mayorkas was involved in those discussions.
“We are consistently evaluating what options are available to us,” Mayorkas replied. “I will share with you that executive action, which is inevitably challenged in the courts, is no substitute for the enduring solution of legislation that will fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system.”
Still, Republican lawmakers were pleased to hear Mayorkas refer to the situation at the southern border as a crisis. He told NBC News it was a crisis in February, after Biden did so, but in previous congressional hearings had stopped short of using that word.
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Fla.), referencing what she called a “baseless impeachment effort,” thanked Mayorkas for his commitment to the job.
“You’ve faced an unprecedented, vicious and personal campaign against you and your staff at the Department of Homeland Security from my colleagues on the right,” she said.
At the onset of the Senate appropriations hearing Wednesday afternoon, Chair Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.) called out the impeachment articles as an elephant in the room.
“There’s not a single act of impeachable misconduct alleged by these articles,” he said. “The process was an embarrassment to the House of Representatives. These articles are laughable on their face.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), meanwhile, criticized Democrats for, as he sees it, trying to sweep the impeachment under the rug.
“Most Republicans don’t trust you, and a vast majority of the American people don’t trust you,” Kennedy said to Mayorkas. “That’s why you’ve been impeached.”
Republicans hoping for a full Senate trial are likely to be disappointed. Democrats hold the Senate majority and appear poised to immediately dismiss the case when it reaches the upper chamber next week. Democrats’ majority in the Senate is narrow, though, creating the possibility that the plan to dismiss the case may fall short if just a couple of Democrats defect.
Even if it did go to trial, Mayorkas is sure to be acquitted because it would take two-thirds of the Senate to convict him, and no Democrats have signaled support for the impeachment effort. Several Republican senators have also criticized it.
“We want to address this issue as expeditiously as possible,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in floor remarks Wednesday. “And as I said yesterday, impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements. That sets an awful precedent. So, when the time comes for the Senate to receive the articles of impeachment from the House, we’ll be ready.”
Democrats have called the impeachment effort a politically motivated overreach and say Mayorkas is being used as a pawn in the upcoming presidential race.
Mayorkas narrowly escaped the House’s first impeachment attempt when three GOP lawmakers, including one from California, broke ranks with their party and joined Democrats to vote against it. House Republican leaders succeeded on their second attempt.
“When I say that I am not focused on the impeachment proceedings, I actually mean it,” Mayorkas told reporters Friday. “It is my hope that my time is not taken away from my work.”
Politics
McCarthy says Trump will use ‘everything he can’ to force Senate action on SAVE America Act
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
As infighting over the SAVE America Act throws congressional Republicans into disarray, President Donald Trump’s bid to get the stalled election bill across the finish line gained one notable ally.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital that he supports the election integrity measure and indicated that Trump should continue to use every available tool to pressure the Senate to pass it.
“He’s going to try everything he can to make sure he passes that through,” McCarthy said in a brief interview outside the U.S. Capitol.
The ex-speaker’s comments came after Trump abruptly called off a signing ceremony Wednesday for a bipartisan housing bill to pressure the Republican-controlled Senate to act on the SAVE America Act.
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Pa., on June 23, 2026. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
IRATE REPUBLICANS ACCUSE TRUMP OF HANDING DEMOCRATS A WIN AFTER BLOWING UP HOUSING PACKAGE
The move surprised Republican lawmakers, some of whom were praising the bill’s passage at a press conference when Trump’s Truth Social post broke.
But Trump has repeatedly cast the election measure — requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and voter identification requirements — as his top legislative priority.
The legislation’s momentum, however, has slowed in the upper chamber, where Republican leadership insists the votes aren’t there amid widespread Democratic opposition. Senate Republicans have also been unwilling to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to pass the legislation.
Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks during a ceremony honoring President Ronald Reagan on the 115th anniversary of his birthday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Feb. 6, 2026. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group)
TRUMP CALLS MAIL IN VOTING CORRUPT AS SENATE BEGINS DEBATE ON SAVE ACT REQUIRING VOTER ID
Amid the SAVE standoff, a group of conservative lawmakers effectively shut down the House floor in an effort to force Senate action on the election bill.
But the Senate recessed Wednesday for two weeks over the July 4 holiday, leaving the measure in limbo until lawmakers return.
The conservative-led blockade sparked fierce backlash, with several members inside the GOP conference telling Fox News Digital the move risked torpedoing their own legislative agenda.
Meanwhile, the House has also yet to pass a version of the legislation incorporating several of the president’s priorities, including a mail-in voting crackdown and provisions banning men from competing in women’s sports and child sex change procedures.
Trump has not indicated whether he will sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, despite the likely existence of a veto-proof majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday that the housing bill had been transmitted to the White House for Trump’s signature following a meeting with the president.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol on June 10, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump now has 10 days to sign the package or veto it. If he does nothing, the legislation automatically becomes law at the end of the 10-day period.
Politics
Trump budget request omits funds for L.A. fire relief, prompting criticism from senators
WASHINGTON — California’s two Democratic senators on Thursday criticized the Trump administration after it requested $87.6 billion from Congress to address some of the nation’s most “urgent needs” but omitted funding for victims of last year’s Los Angeles wildfires.
“Donald Trump’s desire to punish Los Angeles and the state of California for not voting for him, means once again that thousands of Angelinos are left watching this administration fight for anything but them, their businesses, and their communities,” Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff said in a joint statement.
“These fires did not discriminate based on party or political preference. Neither should this administration,” they added.
The omission is the latest strain in a yearlong standoff between California leaders and the Trump administration over federal disaster aid, and it comes after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger met with President Trump at the Oval Office in April to request the funding.
At the meeting, Trump signaled his commitment to working with local officials to help with disaster recovery efforts. The officials asked for $16 billion that would be split between the city and county. The money would consist primarily of disbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency flagged for communities hit by the fires, part of a $33.9-billion wildfire relief funding request made by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Two months later, those talks have yet to yield results sought by local leaders.
The budget request, submitted by the Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday, mostly seeks funding for the Pentagon to address costs related to the Iran war. It also includes $11.1 billion in economic assistance for American farmers, $1.4 billion to address the Ebola virus outbreak in Central Africa, $500 million to support “ongoing efforts to complete restorations and construction projects” across the nation’s capital and $1 billion to boost the pensions of workers at General Motors that were cut as a result of the automaker’s bankruptcy.
“I urge the Congress to take action on these important and urgent requests as soon as possible,” White House budget director Russell Vought wrote in a letter addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Vought said the administration was open to discussing “additional relief for other urgent matters.” The White House did not immediately respond when asked why the budget request did not mention the Eaton and Palisades disaster relief funds.
State leaders, including Newsom, have repeatedly accused the Trump administration of stonewalling billions in wildfire aid. The governor visited Washington in December to meet with lawmakers, including three who serve on the Senate and House appropriations committees, to push for the funding.
The governor also attempted to meet with FEMA about the matter, but said his request was denied. Newsom, a political foe of Trump’s, would not say whether he had attempted to meet with Trump to talk about the recovery efforts.
Politics
Trump administration pledges $150M in aid, deploys Navy warships after deadly Venezuela earthquakes
Secretary Rubio details US aid to Venezuela after earthquakes
Secretary Rubio, in Manama, Bahrain, outlines the comprehensive U.S. government response to the devastating back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela. He confirms immediate deployment of search and rescue teams, medical resources and humanitarian assistance, emphasizing the urgency to save lives. Rubio reiterates President Donald Trump’s commitment to supporting Venezuela and collaborating with international partners on recovery efforts and long-term stability.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Following a catastrophic set of earthquakes that left at least 235 people dead in Venezuela, the Trump administration has activated a government-wide humanitarian response, pledging $150 million in aid and deploying U.S. Navy warships to assist in life-saving rescue operations.
The rapid mobilization Thursday comes after back-to-back magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes rocked northern Venezuela roughly 120 miles west of Caracas Wednesday night.
The rare earthquake “doublet” injured more than 940 people and turned the state of La Guaira into a disaster zone, while forcing the closure of the damaged Simón Bolívar International Airport, according to Venezuela’s Health Ministry.
US RESCUE TEAMS TO DESCEND ON HARD-HIT CARIBBEAN AFTER CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE MELISSA’S IMPACT
Rescuers search for victims in a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026. (Manaure Quintero / AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday it is mobilizing $150 million in aid, which includes $50 million in new bilateral awards for relief partners on the ground — such as Samaritan’s Purse, Catholic Relief Services and World Vision — along with a $100 million contribution to a United Nations humanitarian pooled fund.
To spearhead efforts on the ground, the State Department has deployed a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team alongside two highly specialized urban search-and-rescue teams from fire departments in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County, California.
U.S. WARSHIPS TO PATROL INTERNATIONAL WATERS AROUND VENEZUELA AS TRUMP VOWS TO STOP CARTELS
Members of the County of Los Angeles Fire Department’s international urban search and rescue team (USA-2) prepare to leave for Venezuela, in Pacoima, Calif., Thursday. (Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said it is surging assigned U.S. military forces to the region, directing the USS Fort Lauderdale and the USS Billings to Venezuela to back the State Department-led operations.
The USS Fort Lauderdale will serve as a “floating command center” with a flight deck to support heavy-lift helicopters and a well deck to launch landing craft, according to SOUTHCOM.
Meanwhile, the agile USS Billings will provide critical support close to the shorelines to accelerate the disaster response missions.
U.S. SOUTHCOM said it has directed USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) and USS Billings (LCS 15) to Venezuela to support State Department-led U.S. government relief operations in Venezuela. (@Southcom/X)
SOUTHCOM said it is also sending rotary-wing aircraft, which will provide critical life-saving airlift support, transporting U.S. government response personnel, search and rescue teams and partners during relief operations.
Amid the crisis, the State Department emphasized that the safety of U.S. citizens remains the administration’s highest priority.
“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans. The Department of State is working tirelessly to provide consular assistance to U.S. citizens and their families in the affected areas,” officials wrote in a statement. “The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to helping Venezuela recover from this devastating disaster and will continue to explore additional ways to provide meaningful assistance during this critical time.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
U.S. citizens in Venezuela are urged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) and can contact the State Department 24/7 at 202-501-4444 for emergency assistance.
Family members in the U.S. seeking information on loved ones can call toll-free at 888-407-4747.
-
Los Angeles, Ca46 minutes agoWatch Project Angel Food's 'Lead with Love' telethon on KTLA
-
Detroit, MI1 hour agoMetro Detroit weather forecast, June 26, 2026 — 4 p.m. Update
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoNewlyweds celebrate Pride-themed weddings inside SF City Hall as parade preparations underway
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoAll Dallas restaurants firing up specials for July 4th and America’s 250th
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoHelping Venezuela: State Department deploys Miami-Dade search-and-rescue team
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoPhotos: Norway takes on France in high-powered World Cup matchup in Foxborough – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO2 hours ago
Denver Transplant Games sets Guinness World Record for mos living donors, recipients in one place at one time
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoHow to watch Egypt vs. Iran World Cup match in Seattle