A U.S. District Court judge Thursday blocked implementation of a new Idaho law that would prevent transgender students from using restrooms, locker rooms and showers that do not align with their biological sex at birth in public schools.

According to court documents, U.S. Judge David Nye said in his temporary restraining order that ‘preserving the status quo pending a more complete review is the most fitting approach at the current juncture.’

‘This is not a full adjudication of any argument on the merits. The Court is simply holding S.B. 1100 in abeyance and preserving the situation as it existed prior to the parties’ disagreement,’ Nye noted.

‘School districts may choose how to organize their bathrooms, changing facilities, and overnight accommodations — whether that is sex-separate or transgender-inclusive; whether it is consistent with what it did last year or not. But the State of Idaho will not be mandating that decision at this time.’

The restraining order prevents Idaho public schools, which are scheduled to reopen for the school year Aug. 16, from enforcing gender-separation rules in its bathrooms.

In July, the Idaho state legislature enacted Senate Bill 1100, which forbids individuals from using public school restrooms and changing facilities that do not align with their sex as recorded at birth. Additionally, students have the right to sue their peers for up to $5,000 if they witness them using restrooms that do not correspond to their birth-assigned sex.

The injunction comes as a seventh-grade student, who identifies as transgender, joined by the school group Boise High School’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance, sued the state last month arguing SB 1100 violates the student’s privacy and discriminates against gender. 

The lawyer for the plaintiffs said in a statement to Reuters, ‘The court’s ruling will be a relief for transgender students in Idaho, who are entitled to basic dignity, safety, and respect at school.’

But Idaho’s Education Committee, which authored the bill, wrote in the bill’s legislative findings section that ‘requiring students to share restrooms and changing facilities with members of the opposite biological sex generates potential embarrassment, shame, and psychological injury to students, as well as increasing the likelihood of sexual assault, molestation, rape, voyeurism, and exhibitionism.’

‘A statewide policy ensuring separate school restrooms and changing facilities on the basis of biological sex is substantially related to the important governmental interest in protecting the privacy and safety of all students,’ the committee added in another legislative finding clause.

Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas are among the states that have passed laws in some capacity requiring public school students to use restrooms matching their biological sex.  

More than a dozen House Republicans from Texas have joined Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, in a call for lawmakers to stop funding for the Department of Homeland Security until a number of steps are taken ‘to secure the border,’ as numbers once again increase at the border.

‘Simply put, no member of Congress should agree to fund a federal agency at war with his state and people,’ the fiery letter to colleagues says. ‘We have a moral obligation to protect our states, our nation, and, importantly, the migrant children getting abused from the disaster transpiring at our southern border.’

‘No border security, no funding.’

The letter claims that Texas ‘is bearing the brunt of a national crisis at our southern border directly resulting from the unlawful and irresponsible actions of President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.’

The letter highlights the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border, as well as the role of criminal cartels, deaths of migrants and sex-trafficking across the border, as well as the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

It notes Texas’ own efforts to secure the border in Operation Lone Star, which has seen the surging of resources and law enforcement to tackle the crisis. Most recently the state set up a floating border barrier in the Rio Grande, which was immediately hit by a lawsuit from the Justice Department.

The lawmakers note the House’s passage of a sweeping border security and asylum reform bill passed by the Republican majority earlier this year, but they say the legislation ‘amounts to nothing more than political theater if we are unwilling to use the strongest tool granted to us by the founders – the power of the purse – to force the change necessary to protect Texas and secure the border.

The chamber is in recess but will need to pass a continuing resolution or appropriations measure before funding runs out at the end of September. The lawmakers say that there should be no appropriations for DHS until a number of steps are taken, including the signing into law by President Biden of HR 2, additional policies to allow law enforcement to target cartels, the removal of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and a $10 billion reimbursement of Texas for its own border security efforts.

Roy had made those calls earlier this week after images emerged, reported by Fox News, of armed men crossing into Texas. 

Roy called on Republicans to act and ‘stop funding’ a ‘government that is at war with the people of Texas.’ 

‘We are not going to fund the government that is perpetuating the lawlessness, empowering cartels, allowing fentanyl to kill Americans, and allowing little girls to get raped in stash houses in Texas. Enough! This is our fight, and I’m tired of Republicans who are giving lip service to it and for years have been supporting it because they want cheap labor.’ 

The letter came on the same day as the Biden administration sent a new supplemental funding request, which included $4 billion for border and migration funding.

‘As it relates to the border, the supplemental funding request represents the resource requirements DHS believes are essential to manage the border through the end of the calendar year. Border dynamics are fluid, and the Administration will continue to communicate with Congress as conditions evolve. 

Mayorkas has been at the center of Republican criticism for the ongoing crisis at the border, with critics accusing him of unraveling Trump-era policies, and in the process encouraging the new wave of migrants seen since 2021. Mayorkas has rejected that narrative, instead calling on Congress to approve more funding and to pass legislation to fix a ‘broken system.’ He had also pointed to a drop in numbers in June as a sign that recent policies are working.

‘Our approach to managing the borders securely and humanely, even within our fundamentally broken immigration system, is working,’ Mayorkas told lawmakers last month. 

‘Under President Biden’s leadership, we have led the largest expansion of lawful, safe and orderly pathways for people to seek humanitarian relief under our laws. At the same time, imposing tougher consequences on those who instead resort to the ruthless smuggling organizations that prey on the most vulnerable.’

However, recently there have been signs that numbers have been going back up, with agents encountering around 6,000 migrants a day this week.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Heckman and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he ‘can’t relate’ to President Biden concerning the appointment of a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, because his son was ‘defending this country’ in the military while he was serving as vice president.

‘I just heard news that the appointment of the special counsel in the matter involving President Biden’s son Hunter. To be honest with you, I can’t relate to what his son was doing when he was vice president. When I was vice president, my son was flying an F-35 for the Marine Corps defending this country,’ Pence said during a press gaggle at the Iowa State Fair.

‘But I think it’s about time that we saw the appointment of a special counsel to get to the bottom of not only what Hunter Biden was doing, but what the Biden family was doing. The American people deserve answers, and I welcome the appointment,’ he added.

Earlier on Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, as well as any other matters that arose or may arise from that investigation.

Weiss is the federal prosecutor who has investigated the business dealings of Hunter Biden and brought charges against him in Delaware. His appointment as special counsel indicates that, contrary to Hunter’s defense lawyers’ claims, the Department of Justice investigation into President Biden’s son is not over.

Other Republicans have also sounded off over the appointment, torching Garland’s selection of Weiss, who led the prosecution in Hunter Biden’s tax and gun charges, to head up the special counsel probe.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called Garland’s announcement ‘part of the Justice Department’s efforts to attempt a Biden family coverup in light of [House Oversight Republicans’] mounting evidence of President Biden’s role in his family’s schemes selling ‘the brand’ for millions of dollars to foreign nationals.’

Comer said Garland’s ‘move is really about’ the DOJ ‘trying to stonewall congressional oversight as we have presented evidence to the American people about the Biden family’s corruption.’

‘This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption,’ House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted Friday.

‘If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel?’ McCarthy added. ‘House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people.’

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo, Jake Gibson, David Spunt and Houston Keene contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis torched former President Donald Trump for refusing to sign the GOP candidate pledge to support the eventual nominee.

While talking to reporters in Iowa, DeSantis blasted the former president for refusing to sign the required pledge to punch his ticket to the debate stage.

DeSantis noted that he signed the pledge, officially qualifying for the debate by doing so, and jabbed at Trump for running in the GOP field but saying he may not support the eventual nominee.

‘I mean you can’t, on the one hand, say that the country’s going in such a bad direction, which we all believe, and then, on the other hand, say you’re just going to take your ball and go home,’ DeSantis said.

‘Really? So, you know, I’m happy to do that. I’ve voted Republican my whole life,’ the Florida governor said. ‘And, you know, even though, you know, I’m confident we’ll be the nominee, at the end of the day, you know, you respect the judgment of how this works out, and you don’t take your ball and go home.’

‘It’s not just about you. It’s about a larger mission that we have to accomplish for Americans,’ he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

The former president said he is refusing to sign a loyalty pledge to the Republican Party, raising doubts about whether he will be debating fellow GOP candidates.

Trump dismissed the idea of making the pledge in an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday, telling ‘Eric Bolling The Balance’ that the gesture would not be worth it.

‘I wouldn’t sign the pledge,’ Trump said. ‘Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have?’

‘I wouldn’t have certain people as, you know, somebody that I endorse. So they want you to sign a pledge,’ the former president said of the candidate field. ‘I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So right there, there’s a problem right there. There’s a problem.’

Trump took particular issue with the low bar for entry into the Republican debate regarding polling percentage and national support.

The former president said he would not want to give unpopular candidates with only a percentage of the vote a chance to say ‘nasty’ things about him.

‘You look at the debate, and they want you to debate, but you’re debating — it’s not really fair — somebody like Asa Hutchinson, who’s polling at zero percent, will ask me nasty questions,’ Trump said. ‘Somebody like Chris Christie is falling at 1%, and he’s going to ask me nasty questions and others, too.’

Trump also cited decisions by previous Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon to skip primary debates.

Historically, political parties have avoided holding presidential primary elections if they are already in control of the White House.

However, Trump is not currently president, meaning the GOP primary election is on.

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.

Top GOP leaders sharply criticized President Biden’s recent plea to Congress for an extra $24 billion to Ukraine on Friday amid a surging border crisis and soaring fentanyl epidemic. 

Biden’s request comprises $13 billion for defense and $11 billion for economic and humanitarian aid in Ukraine. 

The administration’s petition is part of a larger supplemental package sent to Congress Thursday that includes $4 billion for the border crisis and countering foreign involvement in the fentanyl epidemic. The U.S. has sent more than $100 billion to Ukraine since the Russian invasion last year. 

Some Republican lawmakers say the US has already provided enough, especially after a $3 billion accounting error overvaluing Ukraine’s weapons aid was reported in May. 

‘This additional spending request deserves strict scrutiny from Congress and the American people,’ Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital on Friday. ‘While the Biden Administration has ignored the security and humanitarian disaster happening at the border, their appetite to spend billions on other priorities has no end.’

He added: ‘We have real work to do here at home. The United States has doubled what other NATO countries have contributed – combined. Our NATO allies need to step up because the U.S. will not shoulder this alone.’

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who sits on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees and has been a vocal critic of aid to Ukraine, told Fox News Digital the request shows how ‘Joe Biden is totally out of step with the American people.’ 

‘By plowing billions more of our taxpayer dollars into a war in Europe, Joe Biden is sending a clear signal that Ukraine takes priority over securing our southern border, deterring China in the Pacific, and getting costs down for working families at home,’ Hawley said. 

Hawley, along with other members of Congress, has brought forth this year several pieces of legislation to restrict aid to Ukraine and institute an independent auditor. 

Last year, Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mt., a member of the House Border Security Caucus, introduced legislation to prohibit U.S. involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war until the southern border is secured. 

‘This is nothing more than a ploy by the Biden Administration to direct more money to Ukraine and disingenuously send over $3 billion to the southern border,’ Rosendale said to Fox News Digital. ‘Not to secure it, but to house the tidal wave of illegals they are bringing to our country.’

Rep. Matt Gaetz, another vocal critic of the outbound funds and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said to Fox News Digital, ‘We fought wars for decades in the Middle East because oil companies had their hooks in the Bushes.’
 
He added: ‘Now we plow arms and cash into the homeland of the Burisma Biden Bribers. No thanks.’

In July discussions, Gaetz and four House Republicans sought to amend the National Defense Authorization Act, aiming to significantly curtail Ukraine’s aid. Although the amendment was rejected with bipartisan opposition, 70 Republicans voted in its favor.

Meanwhile, in the upper chamber, a similar amendment to the NDAA was proposed by GOP Sens. Hawley, John Kennedy, Jim Risch, and Roger Wicker to create a Ukraine oversight office to audit funding. That was also rejected. 

But Biden’s request is unlikely to gain support in the GOP-led House. McCarthy previously promised he wouldn’t bring a supplemental funding bill to the floor. 

Biden’s appeal coincides with an ongoing surge of illegal border crossings along Texas’ border with Mexico. All sectors of the border are grappling with overcrowding by illegal entrants and are near or at capacity limits for detainment. 

As of the end of June 2023, Border Patrol so far this year had encountered nearly 1.8 million illegal entrants.

Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Il., said to Fox News Digital Friday he supports continuing aid to Ukraine and that he would work to get those funds approved in the Senate. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement he would carefully review Biden’s request to make sure it’s ‘necessary and appropriate to keep America safe, secure our borders, support our allies, and help communities rebuild after disasters.’

Fox News’s Brandon Gillespie and Liz Elkind contributed to this report. 

DES MOINES, Iowa – Former Vice President Mike Pence thinks former President Donald Trump — his former running mate and current rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination — Is ‘missing out’ by skipping a sit-down interview with popular Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at the Iowa State Fair.

Pence, along with nearly all the other contenders in the large field of GOP White House hopefuls, are joining the conservative two-term governor for her ‘fair side chats’ at the Iowa fairgrounds in the state that holds the first contest in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

The only two contenders who are not taking part are former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is concentrating most of his firepower in New Hampshire — the state that holds the first primary and votes second in the Republican schedule — and Trump.

Pence, taking questions from reporters on Friday at the fairgrounds after joining Reynolds for her chat, was asked by Fox News about Trump’s decision not to join Reynolds.

‘I’m incredibly proud of Gov. Kim Reynolds,’ Pence said as he praised the governor. ‘The way she has balanced budgets, cut taxes, expanded educational choices, stood for the right to life, has really been an inspiration to people all across this state and all across the nation. I welcome the opportunity to sit down with her to answer her questions at that gathering here at the Iowa State Fair, and frankly I think anybody who skips that is missing out.’

Pence emphasized that ‘the people of Iowa have an historic tradition of knowing how to ask real questions and to come to understand our candidates and make that decision in ways that have shaped our nation in so many decades past.’

Taking aim at Trump without mentioning the former president — who has said he may skip the upcoming Fox News-hosted first GOP presidential nomination debate on Aug. 23 — Pence argued: ‘I think anybody that skips it — with Gov. Kim Reynolds — is missing an opportunity just as much they are if they skip a debate.’

Trump earlier this summer criticized Reynolds for staying neutral in the race for the GOP presidential nomination race.

‘I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL.’ I don’t invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points!’ the former president wrote in a social media post.

In 2017, Trump nominated longtime Republican Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as U.S. ambassador to China. Reynolds — who was lieutenant governor at the time — succeeded Branstad as governor. Trump endorsed Reynolds ahead of her narrow election in 2018 to a full term in office. Reynolds was easily re-elected by 19 points last year.

Reynolds’ pledge to stay neutral in the presidential nomination race is in line with previous Iowa governors. Iowa’s all-Republican congressional delegation is also staying neutral as the large field of 2024 presidential contenders descends on their state.

The governor joined Trump in March in Davenport, as the former president made his first stop in Iowa as a 2024 candidate. But Reynolds did not join Trump when he returned to the state in early June and again last month.

Trump will be at the state fair on Saturday, the same day the Reynolds holds chats with three of Trump’s rivals — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur and culture wars crusader Vivek Ramaswamy.  

The Trump campaign put out a statement last month, when Reynolds announced her fair lineup, saying that the former president ‘looks forward to interacting with tens of thousands of Iowans at the fair in an open and unfiltered setting.’

And Trump, calling into an Iowa talk radio program on Friday, complimented Reynolds and her family.

Trump took plenty of incoming fire for his criticism earlier this summer of Reynolds, and a Republican state senator who had endorsed the former president switched his support to DeSantis due to the incident. This week, the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down spotlighted Trump’s jabs at Reynolds in a new ad running in Iowa.

‘Why pick a fight with the most popular Republican in Iowa?’ David Kochel, a longtime Republican consultant and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns in Iowa and nationally, said to Fox News.

‘It doesn’t help him, because Gov. Reynolds is very well respected and well-loved by Republicans in Iowa,’ Kochel said. ‘I don’t understand what he gets out of it except to vent his spleen.’

President Biden ignored shouted questions from the press Friday as he departed the White House for Delaware after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel in the probe into his son, Hunter Biden.

Video from New York Post reporter Steven Nelson showed reporters shouting questions about the special counsel being appointed, the president’s alleged involvement in Hunter’s international business dealings and whether he expected to be impeached by the House of Representatives. 

Biden appeared to smile at one point but continued walking past them and toward Marine One. Biden, whose allergy to media interviews has set historic marks, has yet to field a question from the media since the special counsel was announced. 

Earlier in the day, Garland announced the appointment of U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe and any other matters that arose or may arise from that investigation.

Weiss is the federal prosecutor who has investigated the business dealings of Hunter and brought charges against him in Delaware. His appointment as special counsel indicates that, contrary to Hunter’s defense lawyers’ claims, the Justice Department investigation into Biden’s son is not over.

Garland confirmed Friday that the investigation is still ongoing. In a press release, the Justice Department said Weiss will serve as special counsel ‘for the ongoing investigation and prosecutions referenced and described in United States v. Robert Hunter Biden, as well as for any other matters that arose or may arise from that investigation.’

That language leaves open the possibility that other members of the Biden family, including President Biden, could be part of this investigation. When asked earlier in the day if President Biden is being investigated as part of this probe, a Department of Justice official declined to comment.

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