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Jon Ossoff blames Republicans for DHS shutdown despite opposing funding bills | Fox News

By Adam Pack | Fox News
Published March 17, 2026 3:00pm EDT

Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl discusses the severe impact of the partial government shutdown on TSA agents, who are working without pay.

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Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is seeking to pin the blame on Republicans as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown begins to snarl air travel in his state despite repeatedly voting against funding bills.

Ossoff, who is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent running for re-election, has appeared to embrace Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., hardball tactics during the 32-day partial shutdown. The Georgia lawmaker has joined nearly all Democrats in repeatedly voting against full-year DHS funding bills as the party demands reforms to immigration enforcement in exchange for their support for funding the agency.

With the shutdown beginning to wreak havoc on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — the world’s largest — Ossoff is showing few signs of breaking ranks with his party to end the funding lapse. Rather, he has chosen to blame Republicans for the current impasse.

“Senate Republicans have blocked multiple attempts to pass legislation to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and key agencies,” an Ossoff spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Republicans should stop objecting to this common-sense proposal.”

SHUTDOWN SPARKS FLIGHT CHAOS AS TSA LINES SPILL INTO PARKING LOTS WITH 3-HOUR WAITS OR LONGER

Republicans have consistently shot down Democrats’ attempts to withhold appropriations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) while funding the non-immigration functions of DHS. However, Senate Republicans insist that all DHS employees must be paid and report to work as the nation faces a rise in terror threats.

Georgia Republicans have sought to tie Ossoff to the travel disruptions at the Hartsfield-Jackson airport.

“It’s because of this temper tantrum being thrown by Jon Ossoff, who is refusing to pay TSA workers to do their jobs,” Georgia Republican Party chairman Josh McKoon told Fox News Digital. “This guy pretends to be for the average working person while he deprives them of the ability to take care of their families.”

The Hartsfield-Jackson airport reported security checkpoint wait times averaging two hours Tuesday morning as a shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees has slowed operations. TSA employees, many of whom cannot afford to miss a paycheck, did not receive their salary on Friday and will not be paid for the remainder of the shutdown.

SEAN DUFFY URGES DEMOCRATS TO ‘COME TO THEIR SENSES’ AS TSA SQUEEZE CRIPPLES AIRPORT OPERATIONS

The Hartsfield-Jackson airport also experienced more than 500 cancellations Monday as severe weather exacerbated staffing constraints. At least 300 TSA employees have quit their posts since the shutdown began in mid-February, the White House announced last week.

McKoon told Fox News Digital that Ossoff’s posture during the DHS shutdown could be a drag on his campaign heading into November.

“I just don’t think that’s something that’s going to wash for people at election time,” McKoon said. “For him to say, ‘Well, I wanted you to have to wait in lines and miss your flight and potentially … lose your employment, because I wanted to make a political point standing firmly with my good friend: the illegal alien criminal.”

McKoon also argued that Ossoff’s position on the DHS shutdown is in line with the incumbent senator’s decision to toe the party line on major pieces of legislation over the past year. Ossoff aligned himself with Democrats’ shutdown strategy over expiring Obamacare premium subsidies in late 2025 — in addition to voting against Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act and legislation prohibiting biological males from participating in women’s sports.

Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are vying in a three-way primary contest in May to advance to the general election and face Ossoff. President Donald Trump has yet to make an endorsement.

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Several vulnerable House Democrats facing competitive re-election challenges are also holding Republicans responsible for the current DHS funding lapse, despite voting against bipartisan legislation to fund the agency. Just four House Democrats crossed party lines in an attempt to end the standoff earlier in March.

“Why are Trump and congressional Republicans so determined to protect the dangerous and chaotic status quo of ICE that they’re willing to screw over TSA, the Secret Service, FEMA, and the Coast Guard?” Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.

“We could end this shutdown today, and we should,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, said. “All it takes is for congressional Republicans to stop blocking Democrats’ efforts to individually fund DHS functions and work with us to rein in reckless immigration policies.”

Both Landsman and Gonzalez are expected to support a Democratic effort to force a vote on a DHS appropriations measure minus funding for immigration enforcement in the coming weeks.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro blistered Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s command of the Iran War as if he’s “playing with toy soldiers” and condemned the way the Pentagon and White House are describing the military operation to the public.

Shapiro, who is running for reelection but is also seen as a 2028 Democratic presidential possibility, made the remarks on former Obama aide Jon Lovett’s podcast where he also said China is monitoring the Trump administration’s “weakness” as they carry out the Iran operation alongside Israel.

The Democrat said he is troubled with Hegseth’s management of the Department of War’s effort, noting that Pennsylvanians are part of the contingent involved in the Iran offensive.

“I also have a problem with the fact that the guy who is supposed to be in charge of this, Pete Hegseth, is wildly incompetent,” Shapiro said.

“He’s like an eight-year-old playing with toy soldiers every day. His language is so f—ing offensive.”

Shapiro said the administration talks about the operation in a way that is disrespectful of the “humanity in the region” and of the American soldiers involved, which he added includes Pennsylvanians.

He said Congress had its chance to check Trump and Hegseth’s power but instead decided to be “wildly weak and pathetic souls” who gave away authority.

“You absolutely cannot trust Donald Trump to wage this war,” Shapiro said, adding that the administration’s messaging did not settle on a singular reason for attacking Iran.

“First he told us it was to go after their nuclear arsenal … then he said we went to war because if we didn’t, Israel was going to strike first [and] Israel forced our hand … then it was regime change, and now we’re left with the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who seemingly could be more dangerous than the father.”

Shapiro said the Iranian regime is, however, everything that critics say it is, and that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a “bad guy” who oversaw the largest export of terrorism worldwide while chanting “Death To America” for decades.

“These are bad people — it shouldn’t be hard to say that.”

But Shapiro said Trump “never once looked the American people in the eye, sitting in the Oval Office — where he should’ve been, not his swim club in Florida — and said to the American people ‘This is why we have to do this, this is the imminent threat’ — of which we’ve learned there is no imminent threat.”

Shapiro said America’s enemies are watching the war and seeing weakness instead of strength.

“President Xi in China, who is calculating every day about when he is going to make his move on Taiwan, saw the president of the United States not only not be able to rally the world around this cause … but couldn’t even rally his own people.”

He noted that while he has criticisms of former President George W. Bush’s War on Terror, the Texas Republican properly rallied the public to the cause.

Shapiro, who is Jewish, has also often broken with his own party over antisemitic displays from the far left amid the unrest in the Middle East — including condemnation of harassment of Jewish students at the University of Pennsylvania in West Philadelphia.

When asked about Shapiro’s comments, White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said that for 50 years, presidents of both parties have talked about eliminating the Iranian threat to the American people, but that Trump is the only one with the “courage to confront it.”

“President Trump has been clear about the goals of this operation: destroy the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile and production capacity, annihilate the Iranian regime’s Navy, end their ability to arm proxies, and guarantee that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” she said as Shapiro questioned the administration’s goals.

“Democrats will flip-flop on anything – even carrying water for a nation that chants ‘Death to America’ – in order to attack President Trump, but the President and his administration will always protect our Nation and put the American people first,” Wales added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

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.

House Oversight subpoenas AG Bondi in probe of Epstein case ‘mismanagement’

Bondi is ordered to appear for a deposition April 14

By Eric Mack
Fox News

Published March 17, 2026 1:42pm EDT | Updated March 17, 2026 2:26pm EDT

The House Oversight Committee has formally issued a subpoena compelling Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify in a deposition as part of its investigation into the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Separately, Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche have offered to provide committee members with a private briefing Wednesday.

Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued the subpoena for Bondi to testify on “possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell,” the cover letter for the subpoena released Tuesday read.

The committee voted earlier this month authorizing the move. Bondi is ordered to appear for a deposition April 14.

FORMER PRINCE ANDREW CAUGHT BAREFOOT IN BATHROBE WITH JEFFREY EPSTEIN IN SURFACED MARTHA’S VINEYARD PHOTO

The Department of Justice began releasing a trove of Epstein documents on Dec. 19 following President Trump’s signature on the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025.(Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

“The Committee has questions regarding the Department of Justice’s handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates and its compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Comer wrote, adding that Bondi is “directly responsible” for overseeing the review and release of related records.

A Justice Department spokesperson called the subpoena “completely unnecessary.”

“Lawmakers have been invited to view the unredacted files for themselves at the Department of Justice, and the Attorney General has always made herself available to speak directly with members of Congress,” the DOJ spokesperson said. “She continues to have calls and meetings with members of Congress on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is why the Department offered to brief the committee tomorrow. As always, we look forward to continuing to provide policymakers with the facts.”

The committee indicated the probe could lead to legislative changes aimed at strengthening federal anti-trafficking efforts and reforming the use of non-prosecution and plea agreements in sex-crime cases.

Comer also underscored the panel’s authority to compel testimony, noting it has broad jurisdiction to investigate “any matter” and can require witness participation and document production as necessary.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche meets with reporters as the Justice Department says it’s releasing 3 million pages of documents in the latest Jeffrey Epstein disclosure, along with 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, in Washington, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.(J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

KING CHARLES, KATE MIDDLETON, PRINCE WILLIAM HECKLED BY PROTESTERS DEMANDING ANSWERS ON ANDREW’S EPSTEIN TIES

Notably, the investigations of Epstein have spanned decades since former President George W. Bush’s administration, through the two terms of President Barack Obama and the first President Donald Trump term. Trump has long noted to critics, he was the president that brought Epstein to justice.

READ THE SUBPOENA COVER LETTER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE

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The prosecution of Maxwell came during former President Joe Biden’s administration, but Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act last November that has led to a bevy of scrutiny on the DOJ’s handling. Critics have rebuked Bondi and Blanche’s slow drip of the documents, which they have publicly contended has been necessary due to concerns over victim protections and the massive volume of the Epstein files.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

Eric Mack is a writer for Fox News Digital covering breaking news.

Senator wants White House to answer if TikTok investors will pay $10 billion to US Treasury

March 17, 2026 6:35 PM UTC / Reuters

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U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) speaks during the 2026 Infrastructure Summit of government officials, corporate executives, and labor leaders, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo [Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab]

March 17 (Reuters) – The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence ​Committee on Tuesday asked ‌the White House to answer if investors are paying $10 ​billion to the ​Treasury as part of the ⁠Trump administration-brokered sale ​of TikTok’s U.S. operations.

Senator ​Mark Warner cited a Wall Street Journal report that investors ​in the new TikTok ​joint venture – including Oracle, Silver ‌Lake, ⁠Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and other investors – have already paid $2.5 billion to the ​Treasury and ​will ⁠pay the remaining $7.5 billion in installments. ​ByteDance said in ​January ⁠TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will secure U.S. ⁠user ​data, apps and ​algorithms through data privacy and ​cybersecurity measures.

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Reporting by David Shepardson

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Trump says most NATO allies ‘don’t want to get involved’ in Iran operation, but US ‘NEVER’ needed their help

Published March 17, 2026 11:44am EDT | Updated March 17, 2026 1:09pm EDT

President Donald Trump declared in a Tuesday Truth Social post that most NATO countries have noted that they do not want to involve themselves in the U.S. attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the president declared in the Truth Social post.

“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street —We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” he added.

MULTIPLE ALLIES DECLINE US CALLS FOR STRAIT OF HORMUZ SUPPORT AMID RISING MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House on March 06, 2026 in Washington, DC.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump continued, “Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military — Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again! Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer “need,” or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The U.S. has been waging war against Iran in conjunction with Israel, a close American ally.

OIL, GAS PRICES JUMP AS TRUMP FLIRTS WITH STRIKING IRANIAN OIL INFRASTRUCTURE

US President Donald Trump (R) speaks with NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 21, 2026.(Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

Joe Kent resigned from his position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday because he does not support the war.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent said in his resignation letter, which he posted on X.

TOP IRANIAN OFFICIAL, COMMANDER KILLED IN STRIKE, ISRAEL DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, is sworn in to the House Homeland Security Committee hearing titled “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,” in Cannon building on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2025.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Trump pushed back on Tuesday, saying that “it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it.”

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

Dan Caldwell hired by Tulsi Gabbard at DNI despite leak allegations | Fox News

Dan Caldwell was fired from Pentagon in 2025 in a high-profile investigation that never produced charges

By Morgan Phillips | Fox News

Published March 17, 2026 3:15pm EDT

A former top advisor to War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was ousted amid a high-profile leak investigation, has been hired to work under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to a source familiar with the move.

Dan Caldwell’s return to a sensitive intelligence role comes less than a year after he was publicly accused of leaking classified information — allegations that have never been publicly substantiated — and as the Trump administration navigates an escalating war with Iran.

The hiring also places a prominent advocate of a more restrained U.S. foreign policy inside the intelligence apparatus at a moment of growing internal tension.

Earlier Tuesday, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned, citing opposition to the Iran war and arguing Tehran, Iran, did not pose an imminent threat to the United States — a rare public break from within the administration.

A source familiar with the move described Caldwell’s new position as an “administrative role,” focused on internal management and coordination rather than directly shaping intelligence assessments or national security policy. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) plays a central role in coordinating intelligence across 18 agencies and shaping the president’s daily intelligence briefing.

The source said Caldwell has completed a polygraph test, and passed a series of background and security checks and is currently in the onboarding process.

Gabbard’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

A recent Quinnipiac poll found the war is dividing Americans just as it is those within the administration: 53% of those surveyed opposed the military intervention while 40% supported it.

Caldwell’s hiring signals the apparent end of a leak investigation that began in April 2025, when Caldwell and two other senior Pentagon officials, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, were abruptly fired and escorted out of the Pentagon. All three aides have denied any involvement in leaks, and no public evidence has been produced to support the allegations.

Hegseth said at the time the three aides would be investigated for leaking and suggested there was evidence of wrongdoing, but none of the men were ever charged, and Caldwell retains his security clearance.

The Pentagon has not disclosed whether the investigation remains active or has concluded.

Fox News Digital previously reported that the three aides had clashed with then-chief of staff Joe Kasper, who was also later removed from his role.

Hegseth continued to accuse the aides of leaking even after their departure, saying at the time: “Those folks who are leaking, who have been pushed out of the building, are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president’s agenda and what we’re doing. And that’s unfortunate.”

Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran and prominent voice in the restraint-minded foreign policy sphere, advised Hegseth primarily on European issues and has been outspoken against prolonged U.S. military involvement overseas. His views align with a faction inside the administration that has long warned against entering another major Middle East conflict.

That debate has taken on new urgency as the U.S. enters its third week of war with Iran, and as Gabbard — who built much of her political identity opposing regime-change wars — has remained largely quiet publicly about the conflict despite overseeing the nation’s intelligence apparatus.

After his firing, Caldwell suggested the trio’s removal may have been tied to internal power struggles. “We threatened a lot of established interests inside the building and outside the building,” he said.

The Pentagon declined to comment on Caldwell’s hiring and the status of the investigation. The Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations did not respond to a request for comment.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390868799112

Shigeaki Mori, Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor who was embraced by Obama, dies at 88

Updated on: March 17, 2026 / 12:46 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Shigeaki Mori, a Japanese atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima and a historian but best known for a big hug he was given by then U.S. President Barack Obama during his historic visit to the city a decade ago, has died. He was 88.

Born in 1937, Mori was 8 years old when he survived the Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. attack. He was just one and a half miles away from the blast. About 30 years later, he learned a little known fact — that American prisoners of war held in Japan were among those killed by the atomic bomb dropped by their own country.

Working as a full-time company employee, Mori researched U.S. and Japanese official documents and tracked down 12 American POWs. He wrote letters to their bereaved families in the U.S. who didn’t know how their loved ones had died.

The U.S. atomic attack on Hiroshima instantly destroyed the city and killed tens of thousands. The death toll by the end of that year was 140,000. A second bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed another 70,000.

President Barack Obama hugs Shigeaki Mori at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial park cenotaph in Hiroshima on May 27, 2016. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

Mori authored a book, “The Secret of the American POWs Killed by the Atomic Bomb,” published in Japanese in 2008. The book won him a prestigious Kikuchi Kan Prize, and was later translated into English.

Editors of the English translation of his book said on their website that Mori died on Sunday. Japanese media reported that he died at a Hiroshima hospital.

His research eventually led to U.S. confirmation of the deaths of the 12 captured American service members in the bombing.

“The research I spent more than 40 years was not about people from the enemy country. It was about human beings,” Mori later said.

Obama, who became the first U.S. leader to visit Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in 2016, mentioned in his speech “a dozen Americans held prisoner” as being among the victims. He recognized Mori for seeking out the Americans’ families, believing their loss was equal to his own, and later gave him a hug.

Mori appeared overwhelmed with emotion as he shook hands with him.

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Shigeaki Mori at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 27, 2016. Akio Kon / Bloomberg via Getty Images

“The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged,” Mori told reporters afterwards.

“I heard screams”

Mori was thrown into a river by the force of the huge blast on August 6, 1945.

“I crawled up out of the water and saw a woman tottering toward me,” Mori told AFP before meeting Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 2016.

“Blood was everywhere on her body, and internal organs hung from her abdomen,” he recalled.

“While holding them, she asked me where she could find a hospital. Crying, I ran away, leaving her alone,” he said.

“People who were still alive were collapsed all around me. I escaped by stamping on their faces and heads. I heard screams from a broken down house. But I ran away as I was still a child with no power to help.”

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

US Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino to retire at end of March

By Ted Hesson
March 17, 2026 4:15 PM UTC Updated 3 hours ago

Item 1 of 2 U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino outside a Speedway gas station after his convoy stopped there, where protesters and community observers gathered, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Madison Swart/File Photo

[1/2]U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino outside a Speedway gas station after his convoy stopped there, where protesters and community observers gathered, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Madison Swart/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary
• Companies

• Bovino led aggressive immigration sweeps in major U.S. cities
• Trump’s immigration approach faced backlash and legal challenges
• Bovino removed after controversial incidents, retirement plans confirmed

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – U.S. Border ​Patrol official Gregory Bovino plans to retire at the end of March, he ‌confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday, marking the formal departure of a prominent leader of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Bovino, 55, led confrontational immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, Chicago and other major U.S. cities. Under his leadership, ​masked border agents clashed with residents as they scoured neighborhoods for possible immigration ​offenders.

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“The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border ⁠Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in ​some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced,

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Trump bids goodbye to intel official who resigned over Iran: ‘Good thing that he’s out’

‘He said that Iran was not a threat,’ Trump notes. ‘Iran was a threat’

By Eric Mack
Fox News

Published March 17, 2026 12:22pm EDT | Updated March 17, 2026 1:21pm EDT

After the abrupt resignation of counterterror official Joe Kent, President Donald Trump said ‘it’s a good thing that he’s out,

A Biden-appointed federal judge who drew Supreme Court intervention twice in a separate deportation case is facing fresh conservative backlash after temporarily blocking Trump administration vaccine policies on Monday.

Judge Brian Murphy’s ruling in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts was the latest in a string of high-profile decisions that blocked administration policies and were later reversed on appeal, prompting sharp criticism from the Department of Justice and intensifying scrutiny of his record.

“How many times can Judge Murphy get reversed in one year?” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on X. “The same day he is stayed for repeatedly refusing to follow the law, he issues another activist decision. We will keep appealing these lawless decisions, and we will keep winning.

“The question is, how much embarrassment can this Judge take?”

Earlier Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit paused a decision by Murphy to block the Department of Homeland Security’s third-country deportation policy. Murphy’s decision had prevented DHS from deporting what court papers said could be thousands of illegal immigrants and followed the judge issuing similar, related decisions last year that were both rejected by the Supreme Court.

In the vaccine case, brought by medical organizations against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Murphy issued a sweeping preliminary injunction, finding Kennedy likely broke the law by overhauling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine policies.

In both instances, Murphy’s decisions interfered with top Trump administration agenda items — cracking down on immigration and restructuring vaccine mandates — that raised eyebrows on the right.

Murphy’s decision in the vaccine case granted preliminary relief to the medical organizations by staying a January 2026 immunization schedule that reduced the number of vaccine requirements for children and invalidated a newly appointed vaccine advisory committee and the committee’s decisions while the lawsuit proceeds through the courts.

Quoting Carl Sagan, Murphy said in his order that science is “the best we have” and touted the efficacy of vaccines as he blocked the CDC’s new vaccine schedule.

University of Minnesota law school professor Ilan Wurman questioned what he viewed as the judge’s “double standard.”

“When I litigated COVID cases against the government, the courts regularly said they had to defer to the public health experts,” Wurman said. “I assume there’s a good reason for the double standard here? Or are there some health experts federal judges in Massachusetts like more than others?”

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said Democrat-appointed judges sided with the Biden administration and progressive groups on transgender policies that took an expansive view of sex and gender, which Banks said flew in the face of science and did not jibe with Murphy’s ruling.

“Progressive district court judges claim RFK’s vaccine policies aren’t based on science yet had no problem with Biden’s radical gender policies. Seems like they’re the ones not following the science,” Banks said.

Murphy first gained headlines when the Supreme Court stayed Murphy’s injunction over the third-party deportation policy in a 6-3 order last June. The high court followed up with a rare, second 7-2 order a week later admonishing the judge for flouting its decision.

George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley observed at the time that Murphy had given “a stiff arm” to the Supreme Court.

“Regardless of your views on the merits, this system cannot function with such rogue operators at the trial level,” Turley said.

Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.