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Kristi Noem ousted from Homeland Security post amid recent turmoil

Trump reportedly furious with Noem’s performance in congressional hearings this week over controversial ad contract

By Charles Creitz
Fox News

Published March 5, 2026 1:44pm EST | Updated March 5, 2026 2:09pm EST

[Top 5 most viral moments as Noem’s Senate hearing goes off-the-rails]

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem sparred with Senate Judiciary Committee lawmakers Tuesday over ICE actions, court orders, and more as the agency’s partial shutdown neared the one-month mark.

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Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota congresswoman and governor who has led President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security thus far in his second term, was ousted from her position on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he will nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to replace Noem, effective March 31.

“The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.’”

Trump said Mullin has done a “tremendous job” in Congress and cited his resume as a former undefeated MMA fighter.

“As the only Native American in the Senate, Markwayne is a fantastic advocate for our incredible Tribal Communities. Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN,” Trump said.

Mullin is the first Native American senator in decades, following Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado.

Noem, 54, will likely be at least temporarily replaced by Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, a Navy veteran and former mayor of Los Alamitos, California, in the line of succession for the agency.

Noem’s tenure marked a distinct reversal of the open-border policies permitted by predecessor Alejandro Mayorkas during the Biden administration, and DHS has notched record drug interdictions totaling more than half a million pounds of illegal drugs in her first year.

Her management of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda has also led to more than 2 million reported self-deportations in 2025 and about 670,000 removals of illegal immigrants, a figure supporters have hailed as the most successful immigration enforcement operation in history.

Her agency has also been unafraid to hit back at high-profile critics, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; and 2026 midterm candidate David Trone of Maryland, who accused DHS of “executing people in the streets” as he filmed a protest ad outside a Williamsport compound recently purchased for use as a detention facility.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is seen after visiting a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, November 19, 2024(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Such criticisms of her mass deportation operations, particularly in Minneapolis, appeared to somewhat sour public sentiment on the administration’s handling of the immigration issue, as U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino — a DHS subordinate — was replaced in the Twin Cities by Border Czar Tom Homan amid the firestorm.

Meanwhile, reports surfaced Thursday that Trump is “furious” with Noem over her performance in bicameral Judiciary Committee hearings this week, particularly over a contract for an advertisement that Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and others grilled her on.

Trump reportedly took issue with her suggesting to Kennedy that he approved a taxpayer-funded ad subcontracted to a firm connected with her inner circle, according to National Review, which also reported that Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is being considered a top candidate for her replacement.

“I haven’t talked to the president,” Mullin told the magazine.

In Wednesday’s House hearing, Noem was questioned by Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., over rumors of an affair with DHS “special government employee” Corey Lewandowski, a top figure in Trump’s 2016 campaign.

[TRUMP UNLOADS ON ‘RADICAL LEFT’ AS HE STANDS BY KRISTI NOEM AMID IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT UNREST]

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem speaks in front of the border wall amid political pressure and calls for her resignation while touring both U.S. borders.(Mikaela McGee/DHS)

Noem criticized Kamlager-Dove in response, as her husband, insurance company owner and former South Dakota first gentleman Bryon Noem, sat just feet behind her.

Kamlager-Dove asked Noem if at any time during her tenure she had “sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski,” before slamming the longtime Trump aide as a “failed campaign manager” and someone lacking military experience.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., followed up, pressing Noem on Lewandowski while wearing a Justice for Cricket pin referencing the dog Noem once wrote she had to euthanize on her farm.

“I really think you need to say the word ‘no’ into the record so that you can clear that up,” Moskowitz said.

Noem pushed back hard on both Democrats, saying what they were implying is “offensive” and telling Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that she was “shocked that we’re going down and peddling this tabloid garbage in this committee today.”

“The socialist, liberal left: you go off and you attack conservative women and you say that we’re either stupid or we’re sluts. That’s what you do. And I will tell you sir… I am neither of those,” Noem fumed at Moskowitz.

Through the recent turmoil, many Republicans remained highly complimentary of Noem’s tenure.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., a former law enforcement officer himself, said during the hearing that he was “embarrassed by the antics of my colleagues across the aisle.”

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“Madam Secretary, you inherited a disaster, and you turned it around. An astonishing 97% decrease in illegal crossings isn’t a coincidence; it’s leadership. Know that this committee has your back,” Higgins said.

When Swalwell pressed her on the ad campaign and contract, Noem shot back that while the Alameda Democrat was “focusing on photo-ops and luxury jets, I’m focused on the fact that the Coast Guard might not get paid because your party is choosing not to fund them.”

Related Article

[Watch the most viral moments as Kristi Noem’s hearing goes off the rails]

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

While running as a moderate with bipartisan appeal, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for the Democratic Senate nomination, has a history of making controversial statements on matters of religion, race, gender, border security and beyond.

With Talarico in the national spotlight for the first time, many commentators and strategists are resurfacing some of his past remarks. Among them is a 2021 video of Talarico on the Texas House floor in Austin opposing a bill to ban men from women’s sports and claiming that “God is non-binary.”

“God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary,” said Talarico, adding, “Trans children are God’s children, made in God’s own image.”

A self-identified Presbyterian seminarian, Talarico casts many of his political stances in Christian and biblical language. However, while speaking on a January episode of “The Ezra Klein Show,” Talarico appeared to equate Christianity with other religions, including Hinduism and Islam.

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks at a primary election watch party Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Austin.(Eric Gay/AP Photo)

“I believe that Jesus Christ reveals that reality to us, but I also believe that other traditions reveal that reality in their own ways, with their own simple structures. And I’ve learned more about my tradition by learning more about Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam and Judaism. And so, I see these beautiful faith traditions as circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos,” he said.

Despite his use of biblical language, Talarico’s stances on many core religious issues stand in stark contrast with most traditional Christian denominations.

He has used the Bible to defend abortion and, on his campaign website, advocates codifying Roe v. Wade into national law. On an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” last year, Talarico said the story of Jesus Christ’s incarnation justifies his support for abortion.

“I say all this in the context of abortion, because before God comes over Mary, and we have the incarnation, God asks for Mary’s consent… so to me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent. You cannot force someone to create… so that’s how I come down on that side of the issue.”

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022, Talarico said, “This summer, more than half our population became second-class citizens. Every one of our neighbors with a uterus became the property of the State. And nothing is more un-Christian.”

In a video going viral on social media, Talarico appears to be giving a sermon in a church in which he says, “Did they teach you in Sunday school that Jesus Christ himself was a radical feminist?”

Beyond religion, he has also taken stances that break with common scientific understanding. In a Texas House Committee on Public Education hearing, he stated, “Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes; in fact, there are six.”

During the same hearing, he went even further, saying, “The point is that biologically speaking, scientifically speaking, sex is a spectrum, and oftentimes can be very ambiguous.”

State Rep. James Talarico on the Texas House of Representatives floor in Austin.(James Talarico Senate campaign)

In another sermon, he said the use of the term “woman” in the context of women’s rights should not be understood as an “exhaustive” term.

“Our trans community needs abortion care too. Defending trans Texans is something we have to do every day at the state Capitol, and you better believe I’ll be giving sermons on that too,” he said, continuing, “So when I use the word ‘woman,’ it should not be understood as an exhaustive lens through which we understand, examine and interrogate patriarchy. Similar to how we specify anti-Black racism.”

In a series of 2020 tweets, Talarico referred to racism as a “virus” spread by all White people, regardless of whether they exhibit its “symptoms.”

“White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus. But we spread it wherever we go —through our words, our actions, and our systems. We don’t have to be showing symptoms—like a white hood or a Confederate flag—to be contagious,” he wrote, adding, “The only cure is diagnosing the virus within ourselves and taking dramatic actions to contain the spread. The first small step is proclaiming loudly and unequivocally that #BlackLivesMatter.”

On the Senate campaign trail, Talarico has framed his candidacy as one in opposition to billionaires, who he said are “destroying” the U.S.

“The only thing the media wants to ask me about are trans athletes. The only minority destroying this country is the billionaires,” he said during an interview with MSNBC. “Trans people are 1% of the population. Undocumented people are 1% of the population. We are all focused on the wrong 1%. Trans people aren’t taking away our healthcare. Undocumented people aren’t defunding our schools. It’s the billionaires and their puppet politicians.”

Police investigate the scene where a shooter opened fire on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, on Sept. 24, 2025, in Dallas.(Stewart F. House/Getty Images)

He has also harshly criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, accusing them of using terror to target immigrant families.

“Those neighbors of ours deserve a lot better than ICE terrorizing them and their children, ICE tearing families apart,” he said in an interview with local outlet KRWG.

Regarding border security, Talarico said during the Texas Democratic Senate debate against Crockett that “Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door.”

He continued, “We can welcome immigrants who want to live the American dream. We can build a pathway to citizenship for those neighbors who have been here, making us richer and stronger, and we can keep out people who mean to do us harm.”

Talarico defeated Crockett in the Democratic primary by a comfortable margin despite her already having a national following. Now, Democrats believe that Talarico stands a good chance to flip a Texas Senate seat blue for the first time in 33 years.

He will face off against either longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, depending on which candidate emerges victorious from the GOP’s May 26 primary runoff election.

Republicans quickly took aim at Talarcio on Tuesday evening, even before his victory over Crockett was called.

“James Talarico is an open borders, Trump-hating radical who can never be allowed to set foot in the U.S. Senate,” National Republican Senatorial Committee communications director Joanna Rodriguez charged in a statement.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a primary election night watch party Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Dallas.(Julio Cortez/AP Photo)

Paxton, in a primary night speech in Dallas, claimed Talarico is a “far-left radical who wants to abolish ICE, says God is non-binary — I’m not even sure I know what that means — and thinks Christians are commanded to put boys in girls’ sports. He will do nothing more than be a puppet for Chuck Schumer and the national Democrats.”

And Cornyn, in a Fox News Digital interview on Sunday, argued that both Talarico and Crockett “should be running for the Senate in California, not in Texas. They’re way out of the mainstream in Texas.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop in The Woodlands, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(Annie Mulligan/AP Photo)

Meanwhile, a veteran Republican operative who works in Senate races described Talarico as “Beto 2.0,” as he referred to former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the one-time rising star who came up short as the 2018 Democratic Senate nominee in trying to knock off conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, and who later ran unsuccessfully for the White House and for Texas governor.

“Republicans recognize that Talarico’s a formidable candidate but also know that Texas is still a pretty conservative state, and they’re going to try and brand him a far-left radical so that center-right voters and independent voters in the state don’t choose him over the Republican nominee,” longtime Texas-based GOP consultant Brendan Steinhauser told Fox News Digital.

“Republicans are going to find every speech on the Texas House floor that Talarico gave that was progressive in nature or to the left, and they’re going to use that time and again to try and brand him as a far left guy. That’s the kind of playbook I expect, and they’re not going to waste anytime doing that,” he added.

Among Talarico’s top supporters is progressive Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, who celebrated his primary victory by posting on X, “James Talarico is the future of the Democratic Party.”

State Rep. James Talarico shakes hands with supporters at his primary night celebration, on March 3, 2026, in Austin.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

“He unites working people of all kinds to take on the billionaires who are making life unaffordable. He’s going to show Texas Republicans how powerful working people are when we stand together. On to victory in November,” wrote Casar.

JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico’s campaign, responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by dismissing criticism of Talarico’s comments as “stale attacks to mislead Texans.”

In an emailed statement, Ennis told Fox News Digital, “John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott and the billionaires who prop them up are scared of James Talarico for good reason: our campaign is building a movement poised to change the politics of this state and take power back for working people.”

“While they lob stale attacks to mislead Texans, we are uniting the people of Texas to win in November.”

And the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, touted that “Talarico has spent years fighting for Texans in the state house, where he went to bat for teachers and students, fought to lower the cost of health care, and took on corruption in politics. Now, he’s ready to take that fight to the U.S. Senate.”

Meanwhile, conservative pundits believe Talarico will fail to gain the bipartisan appeal needed to flip Texas blue.

Matthew Schmitz, a conservative commentator, wrote on X, “James Talarico’s woke Billy Graham shtick has the same function as Tim Walz’s trans-affirming Elmer Fudd persona. Democrats desperately want a rural/religious-coded white male who can make their most unpopular positions seem American as apple pie.”

Talarico and Casar did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Trump taps US Senator Mullin to replace Noem as DHS chief

March 5, 2026 6:46 PM UTC / Reuters / By Ted Hesson

• Summary

• Noem embraced harsh immigration rhetoric and actions
• Staffing change may alter Trump’s immigration strategy
• Critics accuse Noem of targeting non-criminal immigrants

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) – One of the top officials overseeing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, will leave her role, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday, ​a major staffing move that raises questions about the direction of the Republican president’s immigration agenda.

“I am pleased to announce that the ‌Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

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Noem will serve as “Special envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” Trump said.

Noem, a former governor of South Dakota, became one of Trump’s most high-profile Cabinet secretaries with social media posts ​that portrayed immigrants in harsh terms, highlighting cases of alleged criminal offenders and using vitriolic language.

She faced criticism in January when she quickly ​labeled two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis as committing “domestic terrorism.” Videos that emerged after the deaths undercut ⁠the assertion by Noem and other Trump officials that the two deceased – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – were violent aggressors.

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The public backlash for deaths led the ​Trump administration to move to a more targeted approach to immigration enforcement in Minnesota after months of sweeps through U.S. cities that led to violent clashes with residents opposing ​the crackdown.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives moved to impeach Noem and at least two Republicans in Congress called for her to lose her job after the incidents. During congressional hearings in March, Democrats and some Republicans criticized Noem for her approach to the immigration crackdown and management of DHS, including concern over a $220 million ad campaign that heavily featured Noem.

The staffing ​change raises questions about whether the Trump administration could seek to intensify its mass deportation push or retreat to a more targeted approach. Under Noem’s leadership, ​masked immigration agents surged into Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., scouring neighborhoods and Home Depot parking lots in search of possible immigration offenders.

The popularity of Trump’s immigration approach fell as agents ‌detained U.S. ⁠citizens and tear-gassed streets in an attempt to drive up deportations, which last year fell short of the administration’s goal of 1 million per year.

STRONG EMBRACE OF TRUMP’S HARDLINE IMMIGRATION APPROACH

While Noem, 54, served as a prominent proponent of Trump’s agenda, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a long-time Trump aide, controls Trump’s immigration policy.

Noem was quickly confirmed to lead the 260,000-employee Department of Homeland Security in January 2025 after Trump took office. On social media, she referred to immigrants convicted ​of crimes as “scumbags” even as the number ​of non-criminals arrested by immigration authorities ⁠rose under Trump.

She joined immigration enforcement operations on the ground in New York City and visited a maximum-security prison in El Salvador where Venezuelan immigrants deported by the Trump administration were being held without charges or access to lawyers.

The number of migrants ​caught trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border plummeted under Trump’s restrictive policies, a steep drop after high levels ​of illegal immigration under ⁠former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Noem, reflecting Trump’s agenda, also took steps to cut legal immigration programs and increase vetting. She ended several Temporary Protected Status programs that provided work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti and other nations, drawing legal challenges.

After an Afghan immigrant was accused of attacking National Guard members in ⁠Washington, D.C., ​Noem said she recommended that Trump place “a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been ​flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

Critics said Noem demonized immigrants and promoted an immigration enforcement strategy that targeted non-criminal, working immigrants and families.

During Noem’s tenure, the number of deaths in ​immigration detention rose to a two-decade high while staff in DHS oversight offices were slashed sharply.

Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Craig Timberg, Nia Williams and Deepa Babington

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

节点运行失败

RFK Jr. challenges Dunkin’ and Starbucks over safety of sugary drinks

March 5, 2026 / 12:41 PM EST / CBS News

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is challenging two major coffee chains – Dunkin’ and Starbucks – as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.

Kennedy recently called on the two companies to prove their high-sugar drinks are safe for teenagers and suggested the Trump administration could place limits on your morning cup of coffee.

“We’re gonna ask Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it. I don’t think they’re gonna be able to do it,” Kennedy said late last month.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, where Dunkin’ is based, responded to Kennedy on X, posting “COME AND TAKE IT” with an image of a Dunkin’ cup.

Federal dietary guidelines published earlier this year recommend meals should have no more than 10 grams of added sugar – but nearly every drink on the Dunkin’ menu exceeds that amount and at least six have more than 100 grams, according to the coffee chain.

“This isn’t about any one brand. Ultra-processed foods and beverages are bad for you, regardless of who happens to sell them,” said CBS News contributor Dr. Céline Gounder. “Your go-to beverage really shouldn’t be liquid candy.”

Studies show taxes on sugary drinks and photo warnings reduce consumption. Dr. Gounder said a direct ban is unlikely to happen.

“It’s gonna require either new legislation and regulation, or state and local governments stepping in where they can,” she said. “The FDA is not the sugar police and it can’t ban sugar from beverages.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, frequently drinking sugary drinks is associated with “weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities.”

The Department of Health and Human Services said it has strengthened reviews and closed loopholes, but did not clarify what action Kennedy may take to stop businesses from selling high-sugar drinks.

Dunkin’ and Starbucks have not responded to Kennedy’s comments. On Thursday, Dunkin’ announced the release of a zero-sugar energy drink available in six flavors.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/massachusetts-governor-pushes-back-after-rfk-jr-calls-out-popular-coffee-chains/

24 states sue Trump administration over tariffs imposed after Supreme Court ruling

By Mary Cunningham
Updated on: March 5, 2026 / 2:34 PM EST / CBS News

Two dozen states sued the Trump administration on Thursday, alleging that President Trump exceeded his authority in imposing new global tariffs after the Supreme Court in February struck down emergency import duties he introduced last year.

The lawsuit centers on 10% tariffs the Trump administration recently implemented under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Mr. Trump later said he would raise the tariffs to 15%. The states argue that the tariffs violate the Constitution’s separation of powers principle.

In a 6-3 decision last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Trump did not have the right to impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

“As with his unlawful use of IEEPA, the president has once again exercised tariff authority that he does not have — involving a statute that does not authorize the tariffs he has imposed — to upend the constitutional order and bring chaos to the global economy,” the states said in the suit.

Trump administration officials have said that raising tariffs on imports will restore fairness to global trade, spur investment in the U.S. and generate government revenue. Data shows the U.S. collected $287 billion in customs duties, taxes and fees in 2025, up 192% from the previous year.

Stinging legal defeats

The lawsuit asks the U.S. Court of International Trade to rule that Section 122 tariffs are illegal and to order the U.S. government to refund states for any costs while the tariffs were in effect.

The litigation also intensifies the pushback against the Trump administration over its tariff policies since the high court’s ruling striking down its IEEPA levies. A Court of International Trade judge ruled on Wednesday that businesses that paid IEEPA tariffs are entitled to refunds. Separately, a federal appeals court on Monday declined to delay implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA.

Trade experts estimate that the U.S. government could owe as much as $175 billion to businesses that paid IEEPA levies.

Edited by Alain Sherter

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trumps-10-global-tariffs-take-hold/

EXCLUSIVE: Minnesota Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya slammed Gov. Tim Walz’s testimony on the massive fraud scandal roiling Minnesota during a contentious House hearing on Wednesday and outlined her plan to combat fraud, which she says voters have been clamoring about on the campaign trial.

House Oversight Committee Republicans grilled Walz over allegations he knowingly permitted the sprawling fraud scheme to continue under his watch despite repeated warnings from whistleblowers. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also testified under oath at the hearing.

“Seeing Tim Walz testify today on fraud was everything I expected it to be: dodging, giving answers that were incomplete, not having information at his disposal, simply kind of passing the buck and taking credit for people behind bars that really he had nothing to do with,” Tafoya told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

“This is par for the course for Tim Walz,” Tafoya said. “This is why he is no longer running for governor for a third term. It was more of the same. Same with A.G. Keith Ellison.”

Tafoya, a longtime former NFL sideline reporter, recently launched a campaign for Minnesota’s open Democratic-held Senate seat. She is vowing to crack down on the fraud scheme involving the state’s welfare programs, which unfolded during the tenure of Walz and his deputy, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Tafoya could face Flanagan, a progressive Democrat running for the state’s open Senate seat, in the November general election.

Federal prosecutors allege fraudsters stole as much as $9 billion in taxpayer money and have charged nearly 100 individuals, many of Somali descent, in various Minnesota fraud-related cases.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a three-part anti-fraud plan from Tafoya’s campaign, which she is promising to enact if elected to the Senate in November.

Tafoya said she would cosponsor the Deporting Fraudsters Act, which would allow for noncitizens who are convicted of fraud to be deported and barred from entering the United States. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced the legislation in 2025, but the bill has since stalled in the Senate.

“If you are an immigrant in this country, you are a guest of this country, and you are convicted of defrauding the American people, you will be deported,” Tafoya said.

[DEMOCRAT IN KEY SENATE PRIMARY SAYS SHE ‘REGRETS’ VOTE ON LAKEN RILEY ACT, DRAWS GOP BACKLASH]

Tafoya is also pledging to crack down on Americans convicted of stealing taxpayer money. She told Fox News Digital that she would work to enact new mandatory minimum sentences for those involved in fraud schemes.

“This is not a second-class crime anymore,” the Minnesota Republican added. “This deserves the full weight of the law.”

Thirdly, Tafoya voiced support for the Trump administration’s recent moves to temporarily halt hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to states that fail to implement anti-fraud controls.

The Trump administration recently announced it would withhold roughly $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota until the state government puts guardrails in place to eliminate fraud. Federal officials have said the state could see more than $1 billion in deferred payments if Walz fails to comply with the president’s “war on fraud.”

Though Minnesota voters tend to favor Democrats at the federal level, Tafoya argued the fraud scandal gives Republicans an opening to flip the seat. Senate Republicans are also targeting Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire during the midterms.

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“When I go and talk to people around the state of Minnesota and the word fraud comes up, there is an audible sort of hum or roar of disapproval,” Tafoya said. “People are sick to their stomach over it, and I think it really is driving people to the polls this November.”

Tafoya, who is backed by Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, is expected to cruise to the general election despite facing a crowded field of candidates.On the Democratic side, Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig are engaged in a bitter fight for the party’s nomination ahead of the August primary.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390397984112

Dow plunges more than 1,000 points as surging oil prices renew inflation fears

2026-03-05T14:41:17-0500 / CBS/AP

Stocks plunged Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 1,000 points as oil prices jumped amid the war with Iran. Higher energy prices are sparking concerns on Wall Street that they could reignite U.S. inflation.

The Dow tumbled 1,014 points, or 2.1%, as of 2:14 p.m. Eastern time. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 1.1%.

Oil prices rose after Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Israel, American bases and countries around the region. The war’s escalations are raising worries about how long disruptions to the production and transport of oil and natural gas in the region could last.

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 4.2% to $84.75. That’s up from close to $70 late last week. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude climbed 6.9% to $79.80.

Financial markets are again taking their cue from oil prices. Investors are growing concerned that a prolonged spike could strain households’ ability to spend, grind down the global economy and push interest rates higher.

“These events are unfolding while gasoline demand is low, but the longer the conflict lasts, the more households will feel the pinch from higher pump prices,” Oxford Economics economists Bernard Yaros and Sara Godfrey wrote in a March 4 research note.

Prices at U.S. gasoline pumps have already jumped due to higher oil prices. The average per-gallon price is nearly $3.26, up 26 cents per gallon from last week, according to GasBuddy.

“The consequences of the war for gas and liquefied natural gas are uncertain but could rival those that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” said Simon Flowers, chief analyst at energy data firm Wood Mackenzie. “Much will depend on whether the disruption is a short-lived blip or is more enduring, and whether gas and LNG infrastructure in the region suffers major damage.”

Historical performance

To be sure, the U.S. stock market has a history of bouncing back relatively quickly following conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. That history has led many professional investors to urge patience and ride out the market’s swings.

“While further escalation remains a risk, we think the more likely outcome is an increase in market risk aversion that likely lasts only a short time until investors can see a winding down of hostilities,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

But if oil prices spike — say, rising as high as $100 per barrel — and stay there, it could be too much for the global economy to withstand. Uncertainty about that has caused this week’s sharp swings, and much will depend on what happens with the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically sails through the narrow waterway off Iran’s coast.

Stocks of retailers fell to some of the U.S. market’s worst losses on Thursday. High gasoline prices mean their customers would have less to spend on other things.

American Eagle Outfitters fell 13.7% even though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Airlines also took sharp losses. Higher oil prices are increasing their already big fuel bills, while the war has left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded across the Middle East.

American Airlines lost 7%, United Airlines fell 6.5% and Delta Air Lines sank 5.3%.

Small company stocks

Stocks of small companies, meanwhile, took the heaviest losses. That’s typical when worries are growing about the strength of the economy and about interest rates rising. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest stocks fell 2.7%.

Wall Street’s drop would have been worse if not for Broadcom. The chip company’s stock rose 2.9% after it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It’s one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because it’s one of the biggest by total value, and CEO Hock Tan said it benefited from a 74% jump in revenue for AI chips.

In the bond market, Treasury yields climbed as rising oil prices put more upward pressure on inflation, which could keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14% from 4.09% late Wednesday and from just 3.97% before the war with Iran started.

The Fed could keep interest rates high to keep a lid on inflation. But high interest rates would also keep it more expensive for U.S. households and companies to borrow money, weighing on the economy.

The central bank had indicated it planned to resume cutting interest rates later this year, in hopes of giving a boost to the job market and economy. Because of the war and higher oil prices, traders have pushed their forecasts further into the summer for when the Fed could begin cutting rates again.

Several reports on the U.S. economy also came in mixed.

One said fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. That’s an encouraging signal for the job market.

US House committee wants travel companies to answer questions on AI use for pricing

By David Shepardson
March 5, 2026 4:01 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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Chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer (R-KY) speaks during the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing investigating fraud in Minnesota state social services, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

• Summary
• Companies

• US Representative Comer raises concerns over surveillance pricing algorithms
• Travel companies asked to disclose AI pricing practices by March 19
• California AG Bonta probes personalized pricing practices

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) – The chair of the U.S. House Oversight Committee on Thursday asked the CEOs of five major ‌travel companies including Uber, Lyft and Expedia to disclose whether they were using surveillance pricing of consumers to hike costs.

Representative James Comer, the Republican chair of the committee, raised concern in letters to the companies that the rise of surveillance pricing algorithms and use of ​highly personalized consumer data may create opportunities “for companies to weaponize personal data and pad their profit margins at ​the expense of providing transparency to consumers.”

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Surveillance pricing is a strategy where companies use a ⁠consumer’s personal data — such as browsing history, location and shopping habits — to set individualized, algorithmic prices for products, as ​opposed to using standard, market-wide pricing.

Comer said in letters first reported by Reuters that travel companies utilize surveillance pricing to ​deploy algorithms that determine a consumer’s emotional state, purchase intent and maximum willingness to pay, and that an individualized price is tailored accordingly.

Comer cited a media report that Uber deployed AI-based pricing technology to offer varying prices for identical products. Uber said on Thursday it ​does not engage in surveillance pricing and does not personalize prices. “Fares are determined by factors like location, time, and ​demand, not by a customer’s individual characteristics, past behavior, or device information,” Uber said.

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The other companies that received letters, which also include ‌Booking.com and ⁠Instacart, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Comer’s letters seek documents by March 19 including communications detailing revenue management algorithms and their financial impacts.

“Often this takes place in a ‘black box’ environment where consumers do not know that personalized pricing is taking place or what information collected about them are driving prices,” Comer wrote.

Comer noted that companies use consumer ​data to create a “profile” based ​on individualized data such as “geolocation, ⁠demographics, browsing history, purchase history, device type, battery life, and even mouse clicks to assign different prices to different individuals.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in January a broad ​probe into the practice of using personal data to set individualized prices.

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In November, two dozen ​U.S. House ⁠Democratic lawmakers asked Delta Air Lines to answer questions about whether it will use generative artificial intelligence to help set ticket prices.

Lawmakers have raised concerns that airlines could use AI, personal data or consumers’ internet usage – for example, visiting a funeral home ⁠website – to ​pinpoint when people most want to travel, and subsequently hike air ​fares or other prices. Delta has said “there is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with ​individualized offers based on personal information or otherwise.”

Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

• Suggested Topics:
• Artificial Intelligence
• Consumer Protection
• Data Privacy
• Public Policy

U.S. manufacturers are still shedding thousands of jobs, as workers ask White House for help

March 5, 2026 / 2:42 PM EST / CBS News

About 350 Whirlpool factory workers in rural Iowa will lose their jobs on March 9 — a blow to a community where the plant has anchored the local economy for eight decades. The layoffs are also another sign of U.S. manufacturers’ ongoing struggles, which have persisted despite the Trump administration’s pledge to revive the sector.

In April of 2025, President Trump said that “jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country” due to his tariff policies, which sharply raised taxes on imports from nearly every U.S. trading partner. Although some companies have responded to the tariffs by promising to invest in the U.S., building those factories could take years. Such commitments are also nonbinding, leaving it unclear when, or if, such projects will be shovel-ready.

In the meantime, employment data shows American manufacturers are continuing to cut jobs, with the U.S. shedding 83,000 manufacturing jobs during Mr. Trump’s first year in office. Economists point to a range of factors for the job losses, including automation, long-standing headwinds from lower wages overseas to increased costs and economic uncertainty partially caused by the Trump administration’s tariffs. Those import duties have hurt some U.S. manufacturers that rely on imported parts and goods to make their products domestically.

“Jobs are still in jeopardy”

The union that represents the workers at Whirlpool’s Amana, Iowa, plant appealed to Mr. Trump for help in a Feb. 24 letter, citing his “America First” manufacturing pledge and asking him to “demand that Whirlpool halt these planned layoffs.” The labor group said it hasn’t yet received a response from the White House.

“This is a story that needs to be told to the American public,” Brian Bryant, international president of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the union that represents about 1,300 Whirlpool workers, told CBS News. “Everything’s not rosy in this country, and every day, workers’ jobs are still in jeopardy by corporations that favor profits over the workforce.”

He added, “As much as this administration preaches that they’re going to stop that, we’re not seeing that.”

The White House didn’t reply to a request for comment.

In a statement to CBS News, Whirlpool said the planned job cuts are part of a “multi-year modernization plan that will position the Amana plant for stability and success.”

The publicly traded company, which has a market worth of $3.9 billion, is the biggest U.S. manufacturer of appliances. In 2025, Whirlpool reported net income of $318 million on sales of $15.5 billion.

Manufacturers face multiple challenges, from the cost of the Trump administration’s tariffs to long-term competitive pressures, economists told CBS News.

The Trump administration’s tariff policies are also in flux, adding to the uncertainty facing many U.S. businesses. Last month, the Supreme Court struck down the president’s “liberation day” tariffs, although Mr. Trump imposed new global tariffs of 15% shortly after the ruling.

“The last year was a continuation of a long-standing trend — nothing pivoted, nothing reversed,” said Aaron Terrazas, an economist with Gusto, which provides payroll services to small and midsize businesses.

The U.S. has lost 4.5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000. By comparison, overall global manufacturing employment over that period has increased by about 71 million workers, with most of that growth in China, India and Vietnam, according to a 2025 research brief from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

One of the many goals of Mr. Trump’s tariffs is to sufficiently raise the cost of production outside the U.S. so that companies have an economic incentive to reshore their factories and hire American workers.

But some domestic companies are still finding it cheaper to shift jobs overseas. A 2025 survey from the Reshoring Institute, a nonpartisan think tank focused on returning manufacturing to the U.S., found that one-third of U.S. equipment manufacturers said they were planning to move their production offshore, citing cost as the main impetus.

Whirlpool’s plant in Amana, whose population is less than 1,000 people, has itself felt the impact of that trend, union officials told CBS News. The factory now has about 1,300 workers, down from 3,000 employees in 2020, with jobs being shifted to a Whirlpool plant in Mexico, IAM’s Bryant said.

“If you look at the last 20 years, they’ve invested over a billion dollars into beefing up their Mexico manufacturing, and their exports that are coming out of Mexico have exponentially increased,” he said. “This is not modernization — this is offshoring of jobs.”

A shifting economy

A key yardstick for the U.S. labor market, payroll processor ADP’s monthly employment report, showed on Wednesday that the U.S. lost 5,000 manufacturing jobs in February, even as the private sector as a whole added 63,000 jobs last month.

“Almost all the growth was coming from health care,” Laura Ullrich, Indeed’s director of economic research for North America and a former official at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said of the latest ADP numbers.

Health care jobs also drove U.S. employment growth last year, a trend that Ullrich predicts will continue in 2026 due to demographic changes such as the aging baby boomer generation, whose members are requiring more medical services.

“I think we’re likely to see an outsized share of whatever job growth we have in that sector, and stagnation in the other sectors,” Ullrich told CBS News.

About 12.6 million Americans were employed in manufacturing at the start of 2026, or about 8% of the U.S. workforce — down from a peak of 38% in World War II, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Although manufacturing jobs aren’t as prevalent as they once were, these jobs still offer comparatively higher earnings for workers without college degrees, data shows. Manufacturing employees earn an average of about $36.20 per hour, above the $26 hourly pay for retail workers and $23.38 for leisure and hospitality employees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Manufacturing today isn’t the same as it was in 1950 — it’s a different type of work,” Gusto’s Terrazas said. “It’s this incredibly diverse sector. We tend to think of it as a Rust Belt ideal, but there is a lot of small light manufacturing as well,” such as local coffee roasters or food manufacturers.

But small manufacturers tend to be more sensitive to tariff costs and other economic headwinds, given they have less leeway to absorb financial shocks than bigger firms, Terrazas noted. For instance, many small U.S. coffee roasters were among those hit by the Trump administration’s tariffs, although the White House granted an exemption for coffee tariffs in November.

One roaster in Portland, Oregon, told CBS News in December that the increased costs from tariffs had forced him to lay off two full-time employees. “Now it’s down to just myself and one part-time employee,” Charlie Wicker of Trailhead Coffee Roasters said. “The fact that we’re still standing is a function of having a little bit of savings to keep the lights on.”

Layoffs would “hollow out” a community

Whirlpool’s Amana division is one of those old-school factories that underlined the U.S.’ industrial strength. Founded in 1934 by inventor George Foerstner, the Amana company developed several refrigeration innovations, from the first upright home freezer in 1947 to the first bottom-freezer fridge in 1957, according to the company’s website. Whirlpool bought the Amana brand in 2006.

The job losses at the Amana plant will be devastating for the local economy, which is heavily dependent on agriculture and manufacturing, said Kerry Waddell, an IAM representative who worked at the Amana factory for 36 years, beginning in 1987.

“These are employees that spend their money in these communities, they send their kids to the schools there,” he told CBS News. “At this time, they’re getting laid off, they’re losing their health insurance — on March 9, they lose it immediately.”

Some Iowa lawmakers are asking Whirlpool to reconsider the job cuts, including Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson, both Republicans. The office of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“These layoffs would hollow out a community and undermine the very domestic manufacturing base that American workers have spent decades building,” they wrote in a letter to Whirlpool.

As of now, Whirlpool’s job cuts are still on track, and the union said the company has indicated there may be more layoffs in store.

“If something doesn’t change, you’re looking at the workforce shrinking down to 500 to 600 people” at the factory, Bryant said. “This, unfortunately, is not just a Whirlpool issue — we’re seeing it elsewhere in the IAM.”

“There’s a major problem, and it’s time for the federal government and the state governments to get involved in this,” he added.

Edited by Alain Sherter

DOJ signals it’s still digging into Biden autopen use despite reports probe fizzled

Republican-led House Oversight Committee called Biden’s autopen use a scandal and recommended further DOJ investigation

By Ashley Oliver
Fox News

Published March 5, 2026 11:26am EST

The Department of Justice indicated Thursday it is still investigating the legality of former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen despite reports that the probe has been shelved because prosecutors have been unable to identify any criminal charges to bring.

Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office was still looking into the Biden White House’s autopen use after the New York Times reported that the inquiry was recently tabled.

Pirro responded to the report in an X post on Thursday, saying the DOJ “cannot comment on ongoing investigations,” signaling the investigation remained open.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the “inquiry was quietly shelved” because the DOJ failed “to build a criminal case against Mr. Biden and his aides.”

Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor, previously said legal challenges to Biden’s autopen use would likely be unsuccessful.

“Many are suggesting that the Biden pardons may now be challenged in light of the disclosures of Biden’s use of an autopen,” Turley wrote on social media in 2025. “The chances of such challenges succeeding are vanishingly low. Presidents are allowed to use the autopen and courts will not presume a dead-hand conspiracy.”

While other presidents have used autopens, including Trump — who has said he used it on “unimportant” documents — Biden’s became a flashpoint as scrutiny of his mental acuity grew during his tenure.

BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee investigated the matter, interviewing several former Biden staffers. The committee alleged in a report that Biden’s use of the autopen amounted to a scandal and recommended the DOJ investigate further.

“As President Biden declined, his staff abused the autopen and a lax chain-of-command policy to effect executive actions that lack any documentation of whether they were in fact authorized,” the report read.

Trump has been eager to see accountability over the autopen, claiming on social media that any staff who used the autopen on behalf of Biden did so “illegally” and threatening the former president with perjury charges.

Biden has forcefully denied the allegations, saying in a statement last year he was in charge of decision-making.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” Biden said. “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”

The committee had homed in on Biden’s pardons, including five controversial pardons for his family members in the final days of his presidency, saying there was a lack of “contemporaneous documentation” to corroborate that Biden directly ordered the pardons.

The committee asked the DOJ to investigate “all of former President Biden’s executive actions, particularly clemency actions, to assess whether legal action must be taken to void any action that the former president did not, in fact, take himself.”

TRUMP RENEWS ATTACKS ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS, CLAIMS HE ‘NEVER GAVE THE ORDERS’

Asked for comment, the White House deferred to the DOJ.

DOJ headquarters declined to comment.

Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.