Category: Dramas

A federal judge on Friday ordered that President Donald Trump’s name be removed from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, said the iconic venue cannot be renamed without an act of Congress, ruling that the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees overstepped its “statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming” the building.

As part of his ruling, the Trump administration will be required to take down all physical signage bearing Trump’s name and eliminate any references to a “Trump-Kennedy Center” from official materials.

TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER’S BOARD VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE $257M RENOVATIONS AND TWO-YEAR CLOSURE

“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” Cooper wrote. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

Roma Daravi, the Trump Kennedy Center vice president of public relations, said the board plans to appeal the decision. 

“We will review the decision carefully though the reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration – a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges,” Daravi said. “With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.” 

The ruling was part of a lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

BOARD VOTES KENNEDY CENTER TO BE RENAMED ‘TRUMP-KENNEDY CENTER,’ LEAVITT SAYS

Cooper previously denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by a preservation group to block the planned two-year closure of the Kennedy Center for a rehabilitation project. 

Trump secured $257 million from Congress as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to address disrepair and deferred maintenance of the Kennedy Center, which critics say has been neglected and mismanaged before Trump intervened. 

The funds appropriated by Congress are spent on maintenance, repairs, security, and capital projects related to the building and site. 

Beatty, who serves as an ex officio member of the board, praised Friday’s ruling.

“Today’s ruling rightly affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename and close the Center have no basis in law,” Beatty said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity. I am proud to have fought for the rule of law and to protect this sacred institution.”

Trump’s name was added to the venue last December following a unanimous decision by the board. In February 2025, Trump was elected chairman of the Kennedy Center board after removing 18 trustees appointed by former President Joe Biden.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., announced Friday she will not seek reelection, ending a long House career just days after she dismissed reports of her looming retirement as a “crazy rumor.”

Wilson, 83, known for her bedazzled cowboy hats and brightly colored suits, represents Florida’s 24th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic South Florida seat that includes parts of northern Miami–Dade County and southeastern Broward County. In Congress since 2011, Wilson has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump across both of his administrations.

“I think it’s time, and I think I really held on as long as I did because of the 5000 Role Models program, and my concern about the future of it,” the Democratic lawmaker told the Miami Herald, referring to the mentorship program she created for minority boys more than 30 years ago. 

The Herald reported that Wilson had made her decision a while back, but wanted to be “politically strategic” about how she went about it.

CONGRESS HAS TWO DOZEN LAWMAKERS 80 OR OLDER; MORE THAN HALF SEEKING RE-ELECTION IN 2026: REPORT

“I figured if I announced that I was retiring, what would the Legislature and the governor do? What would they say? Would District 24 be an easy target because Frederica is no longer there? I’m a strong candidate,” she told the Miami Herald. “With me not here, would that weaken the survival of District 24?”

Wilson’s future has been in question following a prolonged absence from Capitol Hill. The absence has been attributed to recovery from left eye surgery, though the weekslong stretch away from Washington also fueled broader questions about the 83-year-old lawmaker’s health and future in Congress.

Wilson’s announcement comes after Axios reported several days ago that Wilson had told allies she was preparing to retire, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. But, Wilson denied the report at the time, telling the outlet it was “a crazy crazy rumor.”

“I’m almost distraught. It’s not true. I am still planning on running,” Wilson reportedly said.

‘DIVA’ CROCKETT SLAMMED IN SCATHING REPORT ALLEGING ‘TOXIC STAFF ENVIRONMENT’ WHERE STAFF IS BERATED TO TEARS

The outlet added that Wilson had returned to Capitol Hill to vote May 21 following her hiatus from Washington that included missing more than 40 votes, which Republican critics highlighted earlier in May. 

One of Wilson’s highly publicized clashes with Trump came in 2017 after Army Sgt. La David Johnson, a soldier from Miami, was killed in an ambush in Niger. Wilson said she was in the car with Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, when Trump called to offer condolences.

Meanwhile, Wilson claimed that Trump said on the call that the Army Sgt. “knew what he signed up for” when he became a soldier, a characterization Trump and his aides denied.

The feud escalated further when then-White House chief of staff John Kelly defended Trump from the White House briefing room and attacked Wilson for having a history of politicizing solemn moments to score political points.

Wilson and her supporters subsequently demanded an apology from Kelly, arguing he painted her in a false-light about allegedly seeking credit for obtaining funding for a new FBI field office in Miami at a dedication ceremony that included remarks from survivors of a 1986 clash between law enforcement and drug traffickers.

So far, Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert are among those who have reportedly been mulling runs if Wilson retires, NOTUS reported earlier in May. 

A day after Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill praised “lots of peaceful protesting” happening outside a New Jersey ICE facility this week, the Department of Justice announced it is searching for an agitator who threatened to kill a federal agent and his wife and children.

Sherrill responded to the threats by calling on “everyone — especially members of federal, state, and local government” to “lower the temperature.”

The anti-ICE agitator was caught on camera on Wednesday night shouting to federal law enforcement, “I’ll kill your whole f—— family, your whole f—— is dead. Your children, your wife, all dead.” The agitator added, “I have your face, motherf—–, you’re dead, dead.”

Speaking with Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “That’s a federal crime, and not only threatening the ICE officer but think about how disgusting this individual is, threatening his family and his children with death.”

“What is this man doing? He’s just doing his job, standing there,” he continued. “We see his face, and I promise you, we will find him, and when we find him, we will arrest him, because it is a crime not only to threaten law enforcement but not surprisingly to threaten their family as well.”

WATCH: POLICE ABSENT FROM DELANEY HALL CHAOS AS AGITATORS BLOCK ICE VEHICLES AND AGENTS USE PEPPER SPRAY

After days of confrontations between anti-ICE agitators and federal officials outside Newark’s Delaney Hall, Sherrill said before the incident that “over the last couple of days” there has been “a lot of peaceful protesting going on, which, we’re going to continue to support.”

At the same time, Sherrill went on to say, “What seems to really be inciting a lot of this are really the ICE agents.”

“The ICE agents really need to stay out of there,” she continued, adding, “That seems to really be inciting a lot of this right now.”

In response to the man’s threats to agents, Sherrill told Fox News Digital that “threats of violence are unacceptable.”

She added, “I am a military veteran who has taken oaths to protect the Constitution with everything up to and including my life — and we are ensuring that people can protest peacefully as we share concerns about the horrific conditions inside Delaney Hall.”

“I am calling on everyone — especially members of federal, state, and local government — to keep people safe, de-escalate the situation, and lower the temperature,” Sherrill told Fox News Digital.

ANTI-ICE AGITATORS CLASH WITH FEDERAL AGENTS OUTSIDE NEW JERSEY DETENTION CENTER AS TENSIONS ESCALATE

Demonstrations have been ongoing for days after detainees in the facility wrote an open letter claiming they were not being fed, not receiving proper medical care and not being allowed to speak to their families.

The demonstrations have turned violent at several points. On Wednesday night, keffiyeh-clad agitators clashed with ICE, hurling objects across a barrier as tensions continued to escalate. The agitators, protesting allegedly poor conditions for illegal immigrants held at the detention center, wielded mattresses and large traffic cones as makeshift shields.

Video obtained by Fox News Digital shows agitators shouting, “kill yourself, bro!” and “how do you live with yourself?” while tossing mattresses and other objects at agents.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: DEMS SLAMMED FOR DEMANDING ‘FIVE-STAR ACCOMMODATIONS’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AT ICE FACILITY

The ICE agents deployed batons, pepper spray and threw objects back, in one instance tossing a wooden pallet at an agitator after yanking it away, according to video from the scene.

Sherrill has called for the closure of Delaney Hall. She attempted to access the facility on Memorial Day, though she was denied entry by officials. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., was granted access to conduct congressional oversight, though Sherrill was not. Kim detailed his entry into the facility in a series of X posts, calling the conditions “unacceptable” and citing a carton of milk he saw that was set to expire the next day.

Fox News Digital reached out to Sherrill for additional comment. 

Pope Leo XIV met with Chicago’s far-left mayor Brandon Johnson as the mayor led a Chicago delegation that included George Floyd family lawyer Antonio Romanucci in a Thursday trip to the Vatican.

Johnson gifted Pope Leo with an array of apparel from Chicago, including a Chicago Cubs hat.

Joining Johnson in the delegation were a number of political, spiritual and business leaders from Chicago, including Antonio Romanucci, according to CBS News.

Romanucci served as co-counsel to Ben Crump as attorneys for George Floyd’s family in their record lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and Minneapolis police officers Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng.

WHITE SOX INSTALLING POPE LEO XIV GRAPHIC NEAR HIS 2005 WORLD SERIES SEAT

Also present in the delegation were multiple city aldermen, president of the Chicago Teachers Union Stacy Davis Gates and United Airlines director Kristopher Anderson, in addition to more than 40 other leaders.

Pope Leo, a noted fan of Chicago’s other baseball team, the White Sox, refused to don the Cubs hat, joking that he was already wearing a hat, according to FOX 32 Chicago.

During the visit, Johnson also presented Pope Leo with a key to Chicago and an invitation to visit Chicago, the city in which the Pope was born and raised, FOX 32 reported.

POPE LEO SAYS COUNTRIES HAVE RIGHT TO CONTROL THEIR BORDERS, ADVOCATES FOR HUMANE TREATMENT OF MIGRANTS

Johnson recounted the day — Oct. 5, 1979 — that Pope John Paul II visited Chicago and officiated Holy Mass in Chicago’s Grant Park, a day he called “the most spiritually inspiring day in Chicago history” in a letter to Pope Leo.

Johnson invited Pope Leo to officiate a Holy Mass in Grant Park again in 2027.

“Your Holiness, you were a young priest-in-training at the time. Perhaps you were there. Perhaps you would consider a repeat Papal visit nearly 50 years later to share your own message of hope, unity and service,” he wrote.

The mayor’s office also conveyed their wishes to work with the Pope on political issues, offering up a series of gifts that stressed the mayor’s political priorities.

The mayor offered Pope Leo letters from families of detained immigrants, a pin from the Southwest Community ICE Watch, a sanctuary city pin and a hat reading “Immigrants Make America Greater” from the Chicago Sister Cities International program, FOX 32 reported.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who has repeatedly referred to Russia as a “pariah state,” reiterated his call for the United Nations Security Council to remove Russia from the panel.

“The United Nations General Assembly should vote on removing the Russians from the Security Council. Russia is a pariah state and should be treated that way,” Bacon asserted in a Friday post on X.

The Russian Federation is one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

ISRAEL ACCUSES UN OF PLACING IT ON SAME SEXUAL VIOLENCE BLACKLIST AS HAMAS TERRORISTS, SEVERS TIES

The other permanent members include the U.S., the United Kingdom, China and France.

In a February 2022 post on X, Bacon wrote, “It is obscene reality that Russia now Chairs the UN Security Council. We should kick the Russians out of as many international organizations and forums as possible. Russia is a pariah state and should be treated as such.”

In a December 2023 post, he declared, “The United Nations is an embarrassment with Russia sitting on the Security Council. Russia invaded its neighbor and is committing crimes against humanity. Kick Russia off the Security Council.”

DRONE STRIKES APARTMENT BUILDING IN NATO MEMBER ROMANIA AS RUSSIA ATTACKS NEIGHBORING UKRAINE

Bacon wants the U.S. to provide more military assistance to Ukraine.

“Russia is losing on the battlefield and in the Black Sea. Its economy is in tatters. All it can do is bomb Ukrainian cities and civilians. This is why we must pass Russian sanctions and military aid to Ukraine. The House will vote on this in two weeks,” he declared in a Sunday post on X.

PENTAGON SLASHES NATO COMBAT COMMITMENTS AS TRUMP PUSHES EUROPE TO DEFEND ITSELF

The lawmaker, who has served in Congress since early 2017, announced last year that he would not run for re-election in 2026.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who spoke before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Friday, stood behind the Trump administration’s work releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, according to a copy of her prepared opening remarks obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Before we start today, I want to reiterate what I have said many times regarding the Department’s handling during my tenure as Attorney General of the voluminous materials that are now commonly known as the Epstein Files,” she told the committee, according to the document.

“I am proud of the Department’s record and commitment to transparency under my leadership. We demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to transparency in the Department’s search for, collection, and review of the Epstein files, producing nearly 3 million pages of material, including thousands of videos and hundreds of thousands of images,” Bondi asserted.

Bondi has since departed from the Capitol following her voluntary transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee, Fox News has learned. Friday’s interview was transcribed, though not video recorded.

BONDI GRILLED ON EPSTEIN FILES IN FIRST CAPITOL HILL RETURN SINCE DOJ OUSTER

“These investigations span FOUR administrations, dating back to the Bush administration and have gone on through the Obama administration, the first Trump administration, and the Biden administration. The only time federal prosecutors were permitted to launch investigations against Epstein and Maxwell was when President Trump occupied the White House. Only under President Trump were 3 million Epstein related documents released,” Bondi said, according to her prepared remarks.

The former attorney general further described “an enormously complicated and labor-intensive process.”

“To the best of my knowledge, the Department produced everything required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Our diligent and good faith effort to collect materials ensured that all potentially responsive documents that could be reasonably located would see the light of day,” she noted, according to the copy of her remarks.

“All Department components were directed to submit any potentially responsive records, resulting in a comprehensive review of millions of documents. As the head of a large Department with broad responsibilities, I did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself. I delegated oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche,” Bondi continue.

Blanche was appointed acting attorney general on April 2 after President Donald Trump announced Bondi’s departure. He is not considered Bondi’s permanent replacement as head of the DOJ.

Bondi told the committee on Friday that “the team of professionals who reviewed all of the materials that we collected assured me the only materials that were withheld were either non-responsive, privileged, or duplicative.”

“Although not required by the Act, the Department has given Congress access to unredacted, duplicative materials in the Reading Room in an effort at maximum transparency,” Bondi said.

“There were redaction errors,” she continued. “But since day one of this process, this Department has been committed to accountability and transparency. Our stance has always been that the Department stands ready to review any potential evidence of criminal activity related to Epstein and his associates and would pursue appropriate investigative or prosecutorial action wherever the facts and law warrant.”

FORMER PRINCE ANDREW, SARAH FERGUSON DUBBED ROYAL FAMILY’S ‘BONNIE AND CLYDE’ AS EPSTEIN FALLOUT GROWS: AUTHOR

“I would like to repeat what I shared before the House Judiciary Committee in February: I have spent my entire career fighting for victims and I will continue to do so. I am deeply sorry for what any victim has been through, especially as a result of that monster. If they have any information to share with law enforcement about anyone who has hurt them or abused them, the FBI is waiting to hear from them,” Bondi’s opening statement said.

“The bottom line is: justice and transparency in this matter have been delivered at the direction of President Trump and his administration,” she asserted.

Bondi was diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after departing the Department of Justice last month, according to reports this week. Katie Miller, a former White House staffer and podcast host who is married to White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, reposted an Axios report on X on Tuesday.

“Pam has been quietly kicking cancer’s ass the last few weeks,” she wrote.

Insurgent candidate Spencer Pratt has what it takes to become Los Angeles’ next mayor despite the “difficult job” ahead of winning over a heavily Democratic electorate, a senior California lawmaker told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt is resonating with voters in the deep-blue city by offering “common-sense” solutions to the dysfunction that has persisted under incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.

Pratt, a former reality television personality best known for “The Hills,” has risen to prominence in the race by calling attention to Bass’ alleged mismanagement of devastating wildfires that destroyed more than 18,000 structures — including his Pacific Palisades home — and the stalled recovery. He has also lit into Bass’ failure to make significant headway on street homelessness, drug addiction and crime.

“He’s catching fire among ardent historic Democrat voters because Karen Bass has been so ineffective,” Issa said in an interview. “And every time she opens her mouth, she’s talking about more of the same to people who have seen their streets, both crime-ridden and in fact … ineffectively managed.”

NBA STAR PLACES $36,000 BET ON OUTSIDER LA MAYORAL CANDIDATE SPENCER PRATT WINNING HEATED RACE

“Do I see his common-sense campaigning as resonating? Absolutely,” he continued.

Pratt is vying in a nonpartisan June 2 primary against Bass and socialist City Council member Nithya Rahman. No candidate is expected to receive more than 50% of the vote, meaning the top two vote-getters will advance to a November runoff election.

Recent polling shows all three candidates in a dead heat, even as Bass enjoys the support of high-profile Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif.

But Pratt, a registered Republican, faces long odds in a city where fewer than 20% of voters identify with the GOP.

Bass-aligned groups have also run ads criticizing Pratt’s party affiliation despite the political newcomer officially running as an independent.

KAREN BASS REFUSES TO GIVE ‘YES OR NO’ ANSWER ON WHETHER NONCITIZENS SHOULD VOTE IN LA: ‘IT DEPENDS’

Issa, however, said there is precedent for Los Angeles electing a mayor with Republican ties despite its Democratic leanings.

“I will say that Dick Riordan, now deceased, but a Republican who was mayor a generation ago, had that same sort of common sense … and he did resonate. He was elected,” the California Republican said. “He goes down in history as a period in which Los Angeles did improve very much, like New York and Rudy Giuliani.”

Riordan was the last Republican elected mayor of Los Angeles after winning a second term in 1997.

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, a Republican-turned-Democrat, lost a 2022 mayoral battle against Bass despite spending north of $100 million on his campaign.

In a likely attempt to win over Democratic voters, Pratt has sought to divorce the race from national politics.

“In L.A., they want to feel safe, they don’t want to step in human poop,” he told NBC News in an interview Thursday. “I don’t need to have personal opinions about anybody that doesn’t affect them stepping in human poop.”

Asked by the outlet about President Donald Trump’s vocal support for his campaign, Pratt said he did not need it. Trump has yet to offer a formal endorsement.

“I don’t need anyone’s endorsement but mothers’. That’s who’s getting me elected,” he replied.

Anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations continued to escalate Thursday night at Newark, New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention center, as rioters bit, kicked and punched agents.

Agents responded by deploying pepper spray and beating back agitators on the sixth night of demonstrations.

Nine rioters were arrested during the clashes Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital.

Approximately 100 agitators mobbed the area surrounding the detention center, chanting “F— ICE” and brandishing black umbrellas, gas masks and other gear to protect themselves from pepper spray and various anti-riot measures.

WATCH: POLICE ABSENT FROM DELANEY HALL CHAOS AS AGITATORS BLOCK ICE VEHICLES AND AGENTS USE PEPPER SPRAY

ICE agents pushed heavily into the crowd, beating back agitators and deploying pepper spray as crowds screamed but continued to physically confront the agents.

Photos from the scene, captured by Fox News Digital, showed agitators washing eyes out after being exposed to pepper spray.

“On the evening of May 28th, approximately 100 anti-ICE rioters gathered around the Delaney Hall ICE facility. Rioters bit, kicked, and punched law enforcement officers,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Governor Sherrill refused to allow state police to assist our officers,” he added. “Assaulting and obstructing ICE law enforcement is a crime and felony. Throughout the night, nine rioters were arrested. Anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Law and order will prevail,” Mullin added.

Amid the intense altercations, Fox News Digital captured a Newark Police Department squad car briefly driving by the scene. The appearance was notable as local police have largely refrained from assisting federal forces in containment measures, according to Mullin.

On Wednesday evening, DHS reported that approximately 100 anti-ICE rioters gathered around the Delaney Hall ICE facility. While rioters assaulted and threw objects at law enforcement, DHS said “local police refused to help our officers.” Six rioters were arrested Wednesday night for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers.

“We called local police, we called state police multiple times. Listen, I know the law enforcement there would love to respond, but because of Governor Sherrill’s behavior what the governor is doing, she’s not allowing public officers and state officers to respond,” Mullin said during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends.

Demonstrations over conditions for detainees began Friday, May 22, after detainees penned an open letter claiming they were being denied access to medical care, being insufficiently fed and detained without due process.

SOMETHING TO HIDE? ICE UNDER FIRE FOR SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT FOR-PROFIT DETENTION CENTER

DHS denied the veracity of those claims.

“The facts are all detainees are provided with three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries. Illegal aliens also have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the department said in a statement.

Still, agitators continued to brawl with ICE agents, buoyed by frequent appearances from prominent Democratic lawmakers. In addition to New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., New York lawmakers such as Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., showed up as well.

Federal authorities are currently trying to track down agitators who allegedly made direct threats to kill federal agents and their families on Wednesday night.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News’ Will Cain that an agitator, who told an ICE agent, “Your children, your wife, all dead. I have your face motherf—–, you’re dead,” committed a federal crime by doing so.

“Think about how disgusting this individual is, threatening his family and his children with death. What is this man doing? He’s just doing his job standing there,” Blanche said.

“I promise you, we will find him and when we find him we will arrest him,” Blanche vowed.

Sherrill, for her part, blamed ICE agents for the violence and said that her administration will continue supporting the demonstrators. The governor categorized the demonstrators as peaceful.

Sherrill also announced that the state’s Department of Health conducted a health inspection on a limited part of Delaney Hall.

Fox News Digital contacted Newark Police, Sherrill’s office and representatives for Goldman and Nadler for additional comment.

The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it filed lawsuits against four Democrat-led states over their refusal to issue undercover license plates to ICE agents.

DOJ Civil Division Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate previously issued an ultimatum to Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington, giving them until May 22 to provide immigration enforcement officers with undercover plates for their vehicles. Justice Department officials argue the states’ refusal unlawfully discriminates against federal law enforcement and violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

These lawsuits escalate a months-long standoff between the Justice Department and Democrat-led states over immigration enforcement. The cases could test the limits of the Supremacy Clause as the DOJ seeks to assert legal authority over state motor vehicle departments, while the states themselves maintain that they are not required to assist with civil immigration enforcement.

“This Department of Justice will exercise any and all lawful authorities to support the brave men and women of law enforcement,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe and must be able to carry out their duties effectively. By denying undercover license plates to DHS components, including ICE, while issuing them to their own state agencies, these governors are pursuing discriminatory and obstructionist policies against federal law enforcement.”

DOJ PUTS BLUE STATES ON NOTICE AS ICE FIGHT BARRELS TOWARD NEXT CONSTITUTIONAL SHOWDOWN

An official in the Massachusetts governor’s office previously told Fox News Digital that the commonwealth does issue undercover plates to federal agents, but only if they are investigating criminal offenses. It refuses to do so in cases where civil infractions are being investigated, which covers most immigration cases.

“In Massachusetts, we support law enforcement doing legitimate criminal investigative work, and local, state and federal agencies doing that work can request confidential plates,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement flagged for Fox News Digital by her staff. “But that’s not what we are seeing from ICE and its unconstitutional tactics.”

Oregon, meanwhile, has gone a step further by placing a general moratorium on issuing undercover plates to federal agents, while Maine and Washington, like Massachusetts, are declining to provide plates for civil investigations.

FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST DHS ON WARRANTLESS IMMIGRATION ARRESTS IN OREGON 

“We look forward to defending this lawsuit,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a statement his office shared with Fox News Digital. “We take public safety seriously, and work with federal partners to voluntarily provide hundreds of undercover plates every year for criminal investigations. Judges across the country have found that the Department of Homeland Security’s tactics in conducting civil immigration enforcement routinely violate the Constitution.”

“That is unacceptable,” he added. 

A spokesman for the Oregon governor’s office told Fox News Digital that Gov. Tina Kotek is waiting for the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to conduct a review of its undercover plate policy and that she expects the agency to “communicate next steps.”

ANTI-ICE LAW SET TO TAKE EFFECT IN MAINE AS GOVERNOR FACES INCREASED CRITICISM FOR ALLOWING IT AMID SENATE RUN

The Maine governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

The lawsuits filed by the DOJ cite the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which establishes federal law as supreme over conflicting state laws, arguing that it can be used to make the four Democratic states issue undercover license plates to ICE agents. 

“The United States has sovereign authority to manage federal law enforcement activities and, under the Supremacy Clause, need not cede that authority to Maine (or any state) by abiding  by its dangerous policy which jeopardizes federal law enforcement operations and the officers who carry them out,” the lawsuit reads.

JONATHAN TURLEY: WHY BLUE STATES’ NEW ANTI-ICE LAWS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL VIRTUE SIGNALING

 “Under the Supremacy Clause, States do not have the power to dictate how the Federal Government executes its constitutional powers within their borders,” it continued.

Conservative legal experts previously told Fox News Digital that they believe the DOJ is fighting an uphill battle in trying to compel states to issue specific license plates by leveraging the Supremacy Clause.

“Federal law preempts state law when state law conflicts with a supreme federal law. And when it does, the state law is preempted, meaning that the state law cannot be given legal effect in those instances of conflict,” Charles “Cully” Stimson, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. “There is no law in my mind that is conflicting with federal law. You simply have state actors refusing to issue these types of license plates.”

Stimson did add that there is an underlying assumption that, by virtue of being in the union and as implied under the Constitution’s separation of powers, the four Democratic states should cooperate with the federal government to enforce laws.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

A U.S. judge temporarily blocked the Justice Department Friday from “taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation” of a $1.778 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” 

The Trump administration said last week that the fund will compensate Americans unfairly targeted by politicized federal investigations on a “case-by-case” basis.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema’s order on Friday comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of plaintiffs that includes a former career prosecutor who alleges he was fired for his handling of Jan. 6 cases. The plaintiffs are suing to block payout from the fund. 

The order, which lists the Justice Department as a defendant, states that the DOJ is blocked “from taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the Fund.” 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PUSHES BACK ON ‘SLUSH FUND’ ATTACKS AGAINST ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND AND LAYS OUT WHO QUALIFIES

The judge also set a hearing for June 12 in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

The plaintiffs challenging the fund include former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Floyd, an Alexandria resident who prosecuted Capitol riot cases in Washington, D.C., before he was fired last year by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Floyd was a deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Capitol Siege Section. He said he believes his firing was retaliation for his Jan. 6 work, according to The Associated Press. 

Another plaintiff is California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, who was acquitted of an assault charge. He was accused of throwing a tear gas canister at federal agents during a 2025 protest against an immigration raid at a Camarillo, California, cannabis farm. 

Also named as plaintiffs are the government watchdog Common Cause; the city of New Haven, Connecticut; and the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers.

New Haven claims the Trump administration officials have targeted it and other municipalities that they perceive to be “sanctuary” cities. The federation said it fears that the fund will issue payments to people who have attacked abortion clinics, providing an incentive for more violence against its members, the AP also reported. 

NEWSOM WANTS TO CLAW BACK TRUMP FUND CASH AS CALIFORNIA BURNS BILLIONS ON RAIL AND OTHER ‘BOONDOGGLES’

The Anti-Weaponization Fund was born out of a settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump filed the lawsuit against the IRS in January over the unauthorized disclosure of his tax records. 

Claims will be determined by a five-person board appointed by the attorney general, with at least one member selected with consultation with congressional leadership, according to a Justice Department press release. At any point in time, the president has the power to remove a member without cause, it added. 

“This is about seeking accountability for all Americans who were victims of law fare and weaponization: millions of Americans whose online speech was censored at the behest of the government, parents silenced at school boards, Senators whose records were secretly subpoenaed, churchgoers targeted by the FBI, and so on,” a Justice Department document stated. 

The Anti-Weaponization Fund was slated to last until Dec. 1, 2028. 

Funding for the Anti-Weaponization Fund is coming from the Judgment Fund, which is a permanent Treasury account used to pay for settlements and claims against the government. 

Fox News’ Elaine Mallon, Kerri Urbahn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.