Boston Mayor Michelle Wu rejected a City Council proposal that would have cut funding for the city’s police department and veteran services.

‘Our budget must be responsive to the needs of our constituents, fiscally responsible, and built on a foundation of effective delivery of City services that are central to our residents’ quality of life,’ Wu said in a letter to members of the Boston City Council on Friday, according to a report from the Boston Globe.

The Democrat mayor’s letter comes after the council approved a $4.2 billion operating budget for the city that would have reduced funding for the Boston Police Department by $31 million and $900,000 in cuts to veteran services. Along with the proposed cuts were an $8 million increase funding for participatory budgeting, a city process that allows for more engagement on how tax dollars are spent by Boston residents.

The figures came in vastly different from Wu’s proposed budget, which only included $2 million for the participatory budget process. In her letter to members, the mayor said the council’s proposed cuts to the police budget ‘are illusory, as the City is obligated to cover salary and overtime expenses incurred by the department.’

The veto means the budget will now be sent back to the council where it will need two-thirds of the members to override Wu. With 12 members serving on the council, that would mean eight members would have to vote to override the veto. Seven of the 12 members voted to approve the proposal sent to Wu.

Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, chair of the city’s Ways and Means Committee, told the Boston Globe on Friday that the council’s proposed cuts would not have led to any city employees losing their jobs, instead arguing that her analysis found the Boston Police Department could have close to $25 million in extra funds next year.

Fernandes Anderson also blasted the Wu administration for not providing more transparency, saying the ‘administration does not work well with the council.’

But Fernandes Anderson, who has a son who serves in the Marines, expressed regret about the proposed cuts to veteran services, noting that funding would not have been affected because the proposed cuts were a line item that was eligible to be reimbursed by the state.

‘I want to extend my apology, I don’t want to send that message,’ she said.

Fernandes Anderson’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.

Wu’s veto was also criticized by the Better Budget Alliance, a group that has advocated for more participatory budgeting.

‘It is unacceptable that Mayor Wu vetoed a higher $10 million [allotment] for participatory budgeting and used false criticisms to undo the council’s critical investments in Boston’s underfunded working class, BIPOC communities,’ the alliance said in a statement, adding that Wu ‘has chosen to protect unused police funds and excessive overtime in the bloated BPD budget instead of funding real community investments.’

The decision to veto the proposal was praised by the head of the city’s largest police union.

‘Undoubtedly, we’re grateful the mayor saw fit to reject the council’s misguided efforts to dramatically and disproportionately impact the BPD budget, and, by extension, the department’s ability to effectively protect and serve the people of Boston,’ Larry Calderone, the president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, said in a statement, according to the Boston Globe.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.

Marc Short, who served as chief of staff for former Vice President Mike Pence, condemned the pardons former President Donald Trump handed down in the final hours of his administration.

Short made the comments during an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ telling host Shannon Bream that the pardons were among the worst parts of the end of Trump’s administration.

‘One of the most unseemly parts of the end of our administration was the pardons that Donald Trump gave to cocaine traffickers, to family members, to people guilty of violent crimes,’ Short said.

‘I think we have to have a real conversation of what would people actually do with the power of the pardon,’ he continued. ‘There’s a couple people on the stage who have been governors and understand it, but I think even when you look at Donald Trump’s record when it came to pardons, it was indefensible.’

Trump issued 73 pardons and 70 sentence commutations on Jan. 20, 2021, his final day in office. The pardon recipients included former White House adviser Steve Bannon and rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was serving a near-30-year sentence on corruption charges, was among the 70 who had their sentences commuted.

Short’s comments came the same day that Pence defended former President Donald Trump’s right to have his day in court, but dodged questions about whether Trump should be convicted if allegations against him are proven true.

Pence appeared on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday for a lengthy interview with host Chuck Todd. Todd kicked off the conversation by mentioning Trump’s indictment and subsequent appearance at a Miami federal courthouse, but Pence repeatedly skirted around the host’s questions.

The artist who sketched former President Donald Trump’s arraignment last week in Florida responded to criticisms that he portrayed Trump as younger and more physically fit than reality.

‘It’s rare I get any kind of feedback,’ sketch artist William J. Hennessy Jr., 65, told the Boston Globe.

Hennessy was one of three artists who captured Trump’s appearance at his arraignment in federal court in Miami last Tuesday. Trump was indicted on 37 federal charges related to alleged willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty and slammed the charges as a ‘witch hunt.’

The sketches came under criticism by some on social media who claimed that Hennessy portrayed Trump as younger than his age of 77 and thinner than reality.

‘Is this William J Hennessy Jr’s audition to do Trumps official Whitehouse portrait?’ one Twitter user asked of the sketch. 

‘They got Trump looking like ‘Prince of Tides’ Nick Nolte in this sketch,’ another Twitter user wrote.

‘That last sketch of Trump looks almost exactly like the recent photo of his son Barron,’ another wrote.

Hennessy told the Globe that he received a mix of responses to his sketches, about half being favorable and half criticizing him.

‘Some said he looked too thin, too young, and some said he looked too good,’ Hennessy said, telling the outlet that the negative comments appeared to come from people who ‘didn’t care much for Trump.’

For Hennessy, he said the day in the Miami court was ‘a pretty stressful’ one but that he drew his sketches just how he saw them. 

‘I don’t editorialize,’ he said. ‘I just draw what I see.’

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Former Vice President Mike Pence says he will fire FBI Director Christopher Wray and insisted that former President Donald Trump’s ‘policy is the same’ as President Biden’s.

The comments from Pence — who launched a Republican presidential primary campaign earlier this month — came during an interview released Saturday by the New York Post. During his conversation with the outlet, Pence, 64, discussed a range of subjects and homed in on what he believes are missteps by the Department of Justice and Trump, as well as the potential for America to lose its positioning on the world stage if a different Republican gets elected.

‘The American people have lost confidence in the Department of Justice. And if I’m President of the United States, on day one, we’re going to clean house on the top floor of the Department of Justice and bring in a whole new group of people,’ Pence said, adding that he would fire Wray, a Trump appointee, if he’s elected president.

The former vice president also took aim at Trump on a number of fronts and concluded during the discussion that he ‘was’ his friend at one time.

Pence, who served in the Trump administration for the totality of his tenure, also said he believes the recent indictment wielded against Trump ‘includes serious charges, and I can’t defend what is alleged.’

On Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records at Mar-a-Lago in federal court in Miami.

Pence said he will ‘always be proud of the record of the Trump administration’ and reiterated that he ‘was always loyal to President Trump . . . right up until when my loyalty to the Constitution required me to do otherwise.’

Asked about the differences between the documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and those found within his own home, Pence, a former governor of Indiana, noted that he was fully cooperative with authorities and overturned the materials quickly.

‘I’m pleased that they concluded that it was an innocent mistake. But let me be clear. It was a mistake. I took full responsibility for it, because the protection of classified materials of the United States is a very serious matter,’ he said.

Pence also recognized that the Trump administration didn’t meet certain expectations for spending, which contributed to the nearly $32 trillion national debt of today.

‘Frankly, we didn’t do as good a job as we could on controlling spending. And truth is, we have a national debt the size of our nation’s economy today,’ he said.

Under the Trump administration, the national debt grew by $7.8 trillion, with a total of three debt ceiling increases by Congress and no cuts to spending.

‘Donald Trump’s policy is the same as Joe Biden’s. I mean, they both have refused to engage in any discussion about reforming Social Security and Medicare,’ Pence said.

Reaffirming his support for the pro-life movement, Pence bashed Trump for his take that the 2022 midterm election losses were a result of the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to rule on the issue.

‘My former running mate has taken to blaming overturning Roe versus Wade for election losses of ’22, suggesting that pro-life legislation in states around the country is too harsh,’ he said.

As for the coronavirus pandemic and whether he believes Trump should have fired Dr. Anthony Fauci from his post during his time in the White House, Pence declined to comment.

‘I’ve thought very deeply about that,’ he said. ‘I regret the way Dr. Fauci became a symbol for, and a justification for, the heavy hand of government by Democrat governors and mayors. And it’s among the lessons that we should learn.’

‘But at the end of the day, I’m very proud of what the American people accomplished during the worst pandemic in 100 years,’ Pence added.

Taking aim at his fellow presidential hopefuls, Pence also expressed concern over how they would handle the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on the world.

‘When I look at where my former running mate and frankly, others in the field want to take our party . . . you know, as war rages in Eastern Europe, my former running mate and others in this primary would diminish America’s obligation as the leader of the free world and the arsenal of democracy,’ Pence said.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

President Biden on Saturday claimed that a Chinese spy balloon that drifted across the U.S. and caused a major international incident was ‘more embarrassing than it was intentional’ by the communist regime. 

The president also said he hopes to talk to China’s President Xi Jinping about how the U.S. and Beijing can ‘get along.’

Biden was asked whether Secretary of State Antony Blinken can ease tensions with China as part of his trip to the country. Biden, in response, raised the issue of the balloon, which flew over the U.S. in February until it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

‘China has some legitimate difficulties unrelated to the United States, and I think one of the things that balloon caused was not so much that it got shot down, but I don’t think the leadership knew where it was, knew what it was in it and what was going on,’ he said.

‘I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional,’ he said.

The incident led to intense criticism of the administration from a number of Republicans, who said it should have been shot down much earlier, and caused Blinken to postpone a planned trip to China. The administration had cited safety concerns about shooting down the heavy object over populated areas.

An NBC News report in April said that the spy balloon was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites. The Pentagon later said it could not confirm that there was any real-time transmission of data. The Chinese have said that the balloon’s movements were accidental.

This week, more than a dozen Republican senators wrote to President Biden, complaining that the administration has not yet given a public account of the spy balloon incident’s ‘flagrant violation of U.S. sovereignty.’

‘While four months have passed since a Chinese surveillance balloon was allowed to fly across the United States, your administration has yet to provide the American people a full accounting of how this spy platform was allowed to traverse across sovereign U.S. territory, what the balloon carried, and what it collected during its mission,’ the lawmakers said.

On Saturday, Biden said he hoped to meet with Xi and discuss areas of potential cooperation between the two countries.

‘I’m hoping over the next several months, I’ll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have but also how there are areas we can get along.’

Last week, the administration confirmed that China had been working to increase its spying efforts in Cuba, calling it an ‘ongoing issue’ that predates Biden, after saying that reports that Beijing had secured a deal to build a new spy base on the island 90 miles from the U.S. were inaccurate.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., donned a hoodie and a pair of shorts with sneakers for a Saturday event with President Biden and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in Philadelphia, where officials discussed Interstate-95 and the reconstruction efforts underway.

Fetterman was seen in the outfit while meeting Biden at the airport upon his arrival in the state, and later at an event where Biden and Shapiro updated Americans on the work that has taken place to ensure a safe reopening of the major highway.

The combination of clothes — a Carhartt hoodie and athletic-wear shorts with sneakers — has become a part of the junior senator’s wardrobe for official functions. Fetterman was seen numerous times on the campaign trail last year wearing the same get-up, and last month he appeared at a Senate news conference wearing a similar outfit.

Speaking at the event, Fetterman touted Biden’s accomplishments and insisted he is ‘committed to infructure [sic].’

‘Little over a year ago, the president and I were standing right next to each other at a collapsed bridge in Western Pennsylvania, a bridge that I drove over just the night before with my young son. He showed up within just hours after that bridge collapsed there,’ Fetterman said of Biden. ‘And he promised to make sure that any resources that they needed and any help and support and guess what? That bridge was built less than a year well, well in front of time.’

‘And now I’m standing next to the president again next to a collapsed bridge here,’ he added. ‘He is here to commit to work with the governor and the [delegation] to make sure that we get this fixed quick, fast, as well, too. This is a president that is committed to infructure [sic], yeah, and then on top of that the jewel kind of a law of the infraction [sic].’

After he concluded his remarks, Fetterman introduced Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., to the podium, referring to him as ‘Congressman Boyle Bile.’

Clay Travis of Outkick.com reacted to Fetterman’s speech in a Saturday tweet.

‘If the Lincoln-Douglas debates represented the pinnacle of American democracy Biden-Fetterman represents the all time bottom,’ Travis wrote.

Fetterman’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment about his attire at the Saturday event.

During his time as mayor of Braddock and campaign for the Senate, Fetterman was known for wearing sweats on the job, but he raised eyebrows when he showed up to the United States Senate in a hoodie.

Fetterman has been seen wearing a hoodie and shorts in the Senate several times since his return from a six-week hospital stay, where he was being treated for clinical depression.

Fetterman initially checked himself into the hospital in February and did not return in person to the Senate until April.

In his first appearance in the chamber since his weeks-long hospital stay, Fetterman was seen wearing a black Carhart hoodie and blue casual shorts.

Among the debate about Fetterman’s controversial Senate attire, Fox News Digital recently reported that the senator’s office had doctored his remarks in their transcriptions from several hearings, amid concern over the senator’s health.

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

President Biden on Saturday pledged the federal government’s full support for reconstruction efforts in Pennsylvania after a portion of Interstate 95 near Philadelphia collapsed last weekend.

The president delivered remarks at the Philadelphia airport after taking an aerial tour of the damage on I-95, where a tanker truck caught fire below an overpass causing the collapse last weekend. A delegation of Pennsylvania officials was with the president, including Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, senators Bob Casey, D-Pa., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., who represents the Philadelphia area. 

‘I want to say that we’re with you. We’re going to stay with you until this is rebuilt, until it’s totally finished,’ Biden said. 

‘There’s no more important project in the country right now as far as I’m concerned.’

The collapse is snarling traffic in Philadelphia as the summer travel season starts, upending hundreds of thousands of morning commutes, disrupting countless businesses and forcing trucking companies to find different routes.

One body was pulled from the wreckage. The resulting fire caused the collapse of the northbound lanes of I-95. The southbound lanes were compromised by the heat from the fire, authorities say. 

Construction crews began work on building a temporary roadway after debris from the collapse was demolished days ahead of schedule, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said Friday. 

Biden praised those who worked quickly to clear debris and said $3 million in federal emergency funds were immediately made available to offset the cost of repairs. 

‘This is just a down payment,’ Biden said. ‘We’ll be getting a lot more federal funding out the door in the coming weeks.’ 

Shapiro said Saturday that, with assistance from the federal government, I-95 will be reopened within the next two weeks. 

‘We are going to get traffic moving again thanks to the extraordinary work that is going on here by these union trade workers,’ Shapiro said. 

Fetterman spoke as well, comparing the moment to when he and Biden visited a collapsed bridge in western Pennsylvania last year. 

‘He promised to make sure that any resources that they needed and any help and support — and guess what? And guess what? That bridge was rebuilt less than a year well, well in front of time and again,’ the senator said. 

Biden said the federal government will reimburse Pennsylvania ‘100%’ of the costs during the first 200 days of reconstruction and 90% afterward. The president said more than 150,000 vehicles use I-95 daily, including 14,000 trucks. 

‘It’s critical to our economy. It’s critical to our quality of life,’ Biden said. ‘We’re going to continue to do everything within our power to get this back open as quickly and easily as possible, not leaving until it’s done.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.