House Republicans are claiming vindication after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted his company was pressured by the Biden-Harris administration to ‘censor certain COVID-19 content’ during the pandemic.

‘For too long, the Harris-Biden admin pressured social media companies to censor Americans’ views online. This was a deliberate abuse of power to stifle free speech,’ Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House GOP’s campaign arm, said on X. 

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the No. 3 Republican leader, said on the site, ‘Mark Zuckerberg’s letter to [the House Judiciary Committee] leaves no room for doubt: this was an intentional assault on our First Amendment rights. This abuse of power must end now.’

Zuckerberg wrote to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, earlier this week that he wished he and his company had been more outspoken about government censorship concerns in 2021.

‘Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure,’ the billionaire Facebook founder said. ‘I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.’

Zuckerberg said the administration ‘repeatedly pressured our teams for months,’ though he noted, ‘We regularly hear from governments around the world and others with various concerns around public discourse and public safety.’

Jordan has been conducting a monthslong investigation into whether the Biden administration colluded with social media companies to suppress free speech, something the White House has pushed back against.

But Republicans now say Zuckerberg’s letter is proof their suspicions were correct.

‘Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden-Harris regime pressured him to censor conservative voices. There must be accountability within the federal government,’ Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., wrote on X.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., said, ‘Wow. If it wasn’t glaringly obvious enough already (it was), Zuckerberg is now coming clean and admitting that Facebook censored information at the request of the Biden-Harris WH. It’s time to finally hold Big Tech accountable for their blatant censorship of conservatives.’

‘When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety,’ the White House said Tuesday of Zuckerberg’s letter.

‘Our position has been clear and consistent: We believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.’

Fox News’ Kate Sprague contributed to this report.

The Biden-Harris administration may be attempting to ‘Trump-proof’ the Department of Justice (DOJ) by hiring permanent appointees to some federal positions, according to findings from a watchdog group’s public records request. 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents obtained by Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) and shared with Fox News Digital show the administration is using an ‘obscure hiring authority’ that bypasses normal hiring processes based on merit to secure DOJ positions that could thwart former President Trump’s agenda if he takes office in 2025. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is utilizing Schedule A hiring authority to fill hundreds of attorney and judge positions in career civil service roles without competitive selection, the watchdog group noted. 

‘The foundation of our democracy or our republic is the Constitution, and the Constitution vests decision making authority in the executive branch and the president, and then also in principal and inferior officers in the government agencies, so they are supposed to be representing the people,’ PPT founder and former U.S Department of Education worker Michael Chamberlain told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

‘The president is elected by the people. Now attempts to fight, whether it comes from career officials inside the government or others outside the government – especially inside the government – to undermine the ability of those principal and inferior officers to make those decisions, that seems to me to be very undemocratic,’ he said.

According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), while Schedule A is designed to hire individuals with disabilities or for specific roles like chaplains and scientists, it also secures positions beyond the current president’s term. 

Although federal law restricts Schedule A appointments from being ‘policymaking or confidential,’ they are being used to staff highly ‘politicized’ offices, such as the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), which plays a key role in advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s environmental policies and ensuring their continuity even under a potential future administration change.

According to the documents, more than 150 attorneys were placed inside the DOJ’s Anti-Trust Division, and more than 100 immigration judges. Immigration judges determine ‘whether a noncitizen may remain in the United States or must leave the country,’ according to the DOJ.

‘Until recently, anti-trust enforcement was a relatively technical and non-partisan division. But the Biden-Harris administration’s increasingly aggressive implementation has sparked complaints of politicized enforcement. The administration is also using Schedule A to install immigration judges – again, outside of the normal merit-based system – who will rule on cases of those in a position to benefit from the administration’s immigration policies,’ PPT said in a news release.

Schedule A was also used to hire attorneys for ENRD, which is responsible for enforcing environmental laws pertaining to the administration’s climate agenda, which includes the ‘collective pursuit of environmental justice,’ and upholding the interests of Native American tribes, according to its website.

‘The ENRD is a vital office in advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s energy and climate policies, and the placement of Biden-Harris loyalists is a means to defend those policies even if a future Trump (or other) administration seeks to change them,’ PPT said.

‘We were struck mainly by the magnitude of the hires rather than by any individual names,’ Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain added that certain offices, including ATF, the Office of the Inspector General and the Civil Rights Division, denied sharing records under privacy or related exemptions.

Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration made it harder to fire federal workers. 

Biden deemed the rule to be ‘a step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people.’ 

The Office of Personnel Management, the government’s chief human resources agency, implemented new regulations this year barring career civil servants from being reclassified as political appointees, or as other at-will workers, who are more easily dismissed from their jobs. It comes in response to Schedule F, an executive order Trump issued in 2020 that sought to allow for reclassifying tens of thousands of the 2.2 million federal employees and thus reduce their job security protections, according to The Associated Press. 

Fox News Digital did not hear back from the White House by publication deadline. 

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report. 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is issuing a subpoena for information on the political work conducted by the daughter of New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan.

Jordan sent a letter to Michael Nellis, the founder and CEO of Authentic Campaigns — a company that’s done political work for top Democratic clients like President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — accusing him of failing to comply with House investigators’ demands for any and all documents related to the prosecution of former President Trump.

The committee wrote to Loren Merchan, the company’s president and Judge Merchan’s daughter, earlier this month requesting documents in its probe into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump.

Jordan pointed out in his Wednesday letter that Nellis himself rejected that request as well as a subsequent one later in the month.

‘As such, the Committee is left with no choice but to resort to compulsory process,’ Jordan wrote. ‘Popularly elected prosecutors, such as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, have engaged in an unprecedented abuse of authority by prosecuting a former President of the United States and current nominee for that office. Of relevance to the Committee’s oversight is the impartiality of Judge Juan Merchan, the presiding trial judge, due to his refusal to recuse himself from the case in light of his apparent conflicts of interest and biases.

‘One such conflict is Ms. Merchan’s — daughter of Judge Merchan and President of Authentic Campaigns — work on behalf of President Trump’s political adversaries and the possible financial benefit that Ms. Merchan and Authentic Campaigns received from the prosecution and conviction of President Trump.’

Jordan said public reports indicated to him that both Nellis and Loren Merchan were ‘closely involved in the presidential campaigns of both President Biden and Vice President Harris.’

‘During Ms. Merchan’s employment with the Harris campaign, Authentic Campaigns received over $7 million in compensation for its services. You also worked for then-presidential candidate Harris and it appears you continue to do so. Authentic Campaigns conducted work for the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign and, according to public records, was paid just over $2 million in a one-month period for its work,’ he wrote.

The subpoena is narrower in scope than Jordan’s previous request for information. His Aug. 1 letter demanded Loren Merchan hand over documents related to any work for Biden and Harris, in addition to any work that refers to Trump’s prosecution or indictment.

Jordan is giving Nellis until Sept. 13 to comply, according to the subpoena viewed by Fox News Digital.

Nellis reacted to the subpoena in a post on X on Wednesday afternoon, saying the company was ‘thoroughly reviewing the subpoena with our legal team and will provide updates as soon as we have more information.’

‘Let us be clear: these allegations against our company are completely false and purely politically motivated,’ Nellis wrote. ‘This is a blatant attempt to intimidate us and divert attention from Donald Trump’s conviction. We refuse to be bullied, and we will not allow House Republicans or MAGA extremists to spread lies about our work. We remain steadfast in our mission and are deeply grateful for the unwavering support of our friends and family during this time.’

Republicans have accused Judge Merchan of political bias over his daughter’s political work. Trump’s legal team asked Merchan to recuse himself before the trial began, which he did not.

A New York state ethics panel backed Merchan’s decision in a June 2023 decision.

Jordan argued in his letter, however, ‘Judge Merchan’s conflicts of interest and biases in the case against President Trump, the Republican nominee in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, implicate serious federal interests.’

‘Congress has a specific and manifestly important interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions of current and former presidents, especially in venues in which real or perceived biases exist. Among other things, if state or local prosecutors are able to engage in politically motivated prosecutions of Presidents of the United States (current or former) for personal acts, this could have a profound effect on how presidents choose to exercise their powers while in office,’ the letter said.

Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to claims he paid an adult film actress to keep quiet about their affair — which the ex-president has denied. His lawyers are appealing that ruling in light of the Supreme Court’s July decision fleshing out presidential immunity. 

His sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for Sept. 18.

Fox News Digital reached out to Authentic Campaigns for comment.