National security advisor Mike Waltz and other National Security Council staffers were ousted from their office on Thursday, in the most high-profile executive office exits of the second Trump administration. 

Fox News confirmed on Thursday morning that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were ousted following a Signal chat leak debacle that unfolded in March, when the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic magazine was inadvertently added to a group chat with high-profile Trump officials such as Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe discussing military strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Speculation had mounted for weeks that Waltz would be removed from his position amid the fallout of the chat leak, though the administration has maintained that no classified material was shared in the group chat and that the president had confidence in his National Security Council team. 

Fox News Digital took a look at who President Donald Trump could select to replace Waltz now that the position is open. 

Steve Witkoff 

Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who has been a top U.S. negotiator with Russia amid its war against Ukraine, could be tapped for the open national security advisor position. 

Witkoff is a former real estate tycoon and longtime ally of Trump’s whose focus under the Trump administration has been on negotiating with Russia for a peace deal in Ukraine, and negotiating with Iran regarding its nuclear program. Witkoff was notably credited with helping secure the reality of U.S. school teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison in February. 

Witkoff traveled to Moscow on April 25 as the White House reportedly extended its final offer to Russia as it continues waging a war against Ukraine that has raged since February 2022. 

‘Ambassador Witkoff is in Russia to meet with President Putin as part of President Trump’s efforts to make peace,’ an official with knowledge of the talks and visit told Fox News Digital at the end of April. 

‘It’s long past time for the death and destruction to stop, to move past the failed strategies of the past and for an end to this devastating conflict,’ the official added, without commenting on the ‘substance of negotiations.’

The war has continued, with the U.S. making strides with Ukraine, however, Wednesday, as Trump works to secure a peace deal. Ukraine signed a deal with the U.S., allowing America access to the country’s rare minerals as it continues to hash out a peace agreement. 

Ric Grenell 

Trump could potentially tap Richard Grenell, former ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence under the first Trump administration, to take the national security role.

The former ambassador currently serves as the president of the Kennedy Center, the national cultural center of the U.S., under the second Trump administration. 

Grenell’s name has been floated for other high-profile roles under the second Trump administration, such as a potential replacement for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations after Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik withdrew her name in March to retain her seat in the House. Grenell, however, said he was a ‘hard no’ on serving in the U.N. ambassador role. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik

Trump previously named Stefanik as his pick for ambassador to the U.N. but announced March 27 that she withdrew her nomination to ‘remain in Congress to help me deliver Historic Tax Cuts, GREAT Jobs, Record Economic Growth, a Secure Border, Energy Dominance, Peace Through Strength.’

‘With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat,’ he added. ‘The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day. There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations.’ 

Stefanik is a fierce Trump ally, who notably grilled Ivy League college administrators from Penn and Harvard, her alma mater, in December 2023 regarding whether ‘calling for the genocide of Jews’ violates the respective school’s codes of conduct.  

Trump potentially selecting Stefanik as a replacement for Waltz, however, would leave the Republican House majority vulnerable to an even tighter margin if Stefanik left her New York seat. 

President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other staffers are out at the National Security Council, sources confirmed to Fox News. 

Democrats quickly reacted to the news during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

‘I’m not surprised that there is turmoil after the Signal gate fiasco, but I think there’s a lot more. In the words of the late and great John McCain, there’s more shoes to drop off the centipede,’ Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, told Fox News. 

‘Mike Waltz has left the chat,’ the former Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn, said on X, in a nod to Waltz accidentally adding The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat where war plans were reportedly discussed. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told Fox News on Thursday that the Trump administration ‘should fire him, but they’re firing the wrong guy.’

‘They should be firing Hegseth,’ Schumer said before adding, ‘Everyone knew that Hegseth was the wrong guy for DOD, given his background, given his attitude towards women, but given the fact that he had no experience and had never shown an ability to run an organization.’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Waltz should step down and agreed with Schumer that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who reportedly shared war plans in a second Signal chat with family members, should be fired by the Trump administration. 

‘The Trump administration is the most incompetent administration ever assembled, particularly as it relates to the defense and national security apparatus. Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified secretary of defense ever. He’s got to go. And if he doesn’t have the dignity to resign, Trump should fire him. Now the National Security Advisor is out. He’s the first person to leave. He will certainly not be the last,’ Jeffries told Fox News. 

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who is a Navy combat veteran, also shifted blame to Hegseth, telling Fox News that the ‘most toubling’ part of the Signal controversy wasn’t ‘accidentally putting a journalist on there,’ but ‘sharing incredibly sensitive information about a strike off of an aircraft carrier, putting pilots at risk.’

‘I think they fired the wrong guy,’ Kelly added. 

Sources told Fox News that Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong are out, with additional names likely to come. Democrats on Thursday said they would not be the last. 

The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich, Tyler Olson, Kelly Phares and Monica Oroz contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump joked that his administration could end the separation of church and state on Thursday, saying they are ‘bringing religion back to our country.’

Trump made the statement during a speech at the White House celebrating the National Day of Prayer. He touted the White House’s faith office and its leader, Paula White.

Trump began by thanking White for serving in her role as senior advisor to the faith office, remarking that his other advisors had questioned the move. ‘They said separation of church and state, they told me. I said let’s forget about that for one time. We said, really? Separation? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I’m not sure,’ Trump said.

‘But whether there’s separation or not, you guys are in the White House where you should be, and you’re representing our country,’ he continued. ‘We’re bringing religion back to our country.’

Trump signed an executive order establishing a White House Faith Office in early February.

The new office is meant to ’empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to better serve families and communities,’ according to a White House statement.

The office plans to coordinate with other agencies on training for religious liberty and on elevating grant opportunities for non-profit faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship. It will also collaborate with the Department of Justice on identifying constitutional religious liberty protections. 

The order came just one day after Trump signed another aimed at creating a task force to identify ‘anti-Christian bias.’

The White House said this ‘Task Force to End the War on Christians’ will comprise members of the president’s Cabinet and key government agencies, and the order seeks to ‘end the anti-Christian weaponization of government.’ 

President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor is sounding the alarm about the Justice Department’s proposal to break up Google’s illegal monopoly on online search, saying in a letter to White House leaders that the government’s proposal is overly broad and poses ‘drastic’ and far-reaching national security risks. 

In a letter to the White House National Security Council, obtained by Fox News Digital, Trump’s former national security advisor, Robert O’Brien, argued that the Biden-era DOJ framework is in ‘direct conflict’ with Trump’s policy priorities, and risks hobbling U.S. competition with China in a high-stakes race to develop new and advanced technology. 

The U.S., he said, ‘now finds itself in a literal ‘technology race’ – as significant and critical to our nation’s strength, and the Trump Administration’s objectives, as the ‘arms race’ of the past century,’ O’Brien said.

‘To prevail, the U.S. must maintain and expand its global leadership in key technologies.’ 

The letter was sent to White House national security advisor Mike Waltz before he was ousted from his role Thursday along with his deputy, Alex Wong, in the wake of the Signal controversy earlier this year. It was not immediately clear who Trump planned to install as his replacement. A copy was also sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

News of the letter, first reported by Fox News Digital, comes as lawyers for the Justice Department and Google continue to spar in federal court over how far Google should go to break up what a judge ruled last year to be its illegal monopoly on online search.

O’Brien in his letter said the plans proposed by the Biden-era DOJ would cripple Google’s ability to compete or innovate on the global stage – undermining U.S. leadership on cutting-edge technologies, such as AI and quantum computing, in its race against China, and presenting grave new economic and national security risks. 

DOJ’s Antitrust Division is ‘aggressively pursuing the misguided policies of the prior Biden Administration and its European-like approach to crippling our nation’s largest and most robust technology companies,’ O’Brien said.  ‘By ignoring their enormous value to our country’s strength, the Antitrust Division is seeking, through draconian remedies, to import European-style regulatory restrictions and prohibitions at home here in the Google Search case.’

He also urged the Trump-led Department of Justice to review the framework to restructure Google’s search engine and amend it in a way that would still allow the company to compete.

‘Splitting Google into smaller companies and forfeiting its intellectual property would weaken U.S. competitiveness against the giant, state-backed Chinese tech companies, since, separated entities would lack the enormous resources needed,’ O’Brien said.

‘Experts in multiple fields critical to national security confirm these basic principles and loudly address the concern that handcuffing our high-tech powerhouses would undermine U.S. leadership and superiority in these key technologies, and risk ceding the world’s technology leadership to China,’ he said.

The letter comes as Google and the Justice Department continue to spar in federal court in a so-called ‘remedies hearing’ to break up what U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled last summer was Google’s illegal monopoly in the online search engine space.

The two sides presented the court with starkly different plans for how they believe Google should go about resolving its monopoly – the first successful antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. against a major tech company since U.S. v. Microsoft in 2001. 

Justice Department lawyers said Google should be required to sell off its Chrome browser, share years of its consumer data with competitors, and potentially sell Android, Google’s smartphone operating system.

Their proposed framework also includes requirements that Google be required to disclose its consumer data and search information with other companies, including rivals located outside the U.S., for the next 10 years. 

They told the court these steps could also stop Google from obtaining a monopoly in the AI space – acknowledging that technology is going to evolve, and therefore remedies must ‘include the ability to evolve alongside it as well.’

Google has proposed a much narrower remedies plan, including options for shorter contracts with browser companies, like Apple and Mozilla; new contracts with Android, and other important steps they said would make the landscape more competitive. 

Google officials argue DOJ’s proposal goes ‘miles beyond’ the relief that was ordered by Judge Amit Mehta in August, and warned that the government’s proposed framework would stifle competition, fail to regulate anticompetitive conduct, and hobble Google’s ability to attract new investments or innovate in key areas like AI and quantum computing.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified in court Wednesday that DOJ’s proposal, if adopted, would result in a ‘de facto divestiture’ of Google’s search engine that would allow companies to reverse-engineer ‘any part’ of its tech stack, which he noted is the result of decades of investment and innovation.

If that happened, he said, it could all but kill the nearly $2 trillion company by giving its IP away to its competitors.

‘It’s not clear to me how to fund all the innovation we do,’ he said, ‘if we were to give all of it away at marginal cost.’

O’Brien serves as the co-founder and partner emeritus of Larson LLP, a firm that has represented Google as special outside counsel in unrelated matters, though O’Brien himself has not been involved in any of those cases.

The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the letter from O’Brien, or whether the Trump-led DOJ had plans to amend its proposed framework in the Google remedies case. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a presidential commission on religious liberty. 

Trump unveiled plans for the new commission during a National Day of Prayer event at the White House and signed it later in the event. 

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will serve as the chairman of the commission, Trump said from the White House Rose Garden. 

‘The last administration attacked people of faith for four years,’ Patrick said Thursday. ‘There’s a saying that no one should get between a doctor and a patient. I think we would say no one should get between God and a believer. No one should get between God and those seeking him.’

The Religious Liberty Commission will compose a report evaluating threats to religious liberty in the U.S., ways to enhance religious freedom and examine the history of American religious liberty, according to a White House fact sheet on the executive order. 

The report will address issues including parental rights in religious education, school choice, attacks on religious places of worship, and free speech issues for religious organizations, according to the fact sheet. 

‘Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, faith has not been pushed aside,’ Paula White-Cain, who leads the White House’s faith office, said at the prayer event. ‘It has been brought back to where it always belongs, and that is center.’ 

The commission will include leaders from ‘diverse’ religious backgrounds, clergy members, legal experts, academics and public advocates, the fact sheet said. 

Additionally, these leaders will provide guidance to the White House on policy and legislative solutions to advance religious liberty. 

Among those serving on the commission are American TV personality and author Phillip McGraw, known as Dr. Phil, who has his own television show. McGraw appeared at the White House Thursday during the prayer event. 

Trump previously stood up a White House Faith Office, as well as a task force at the Justice Department focused on eliminating anti-Christian bias. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

Thirty-five House Democrats are rebuking the Biden administration’s 11th-hour waiver that cleared a path for California to enact a full ban on gas cars by 2035.

A Republican resolution aimed at repealing the Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) move passed by a 246 to 164 vote on Thursday morning.

Notably, two California House Democrats were among the 35 who voted to rescind their own state’s clean energy waiver – Reps. Lou Correa and George Whitesides.

Other Democrats in the number include Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., and Frank Mrvan, D-Ind.

It was a stunning repudiation of their own former party leader’s policies targeting one of Democrats’ largest strongholds.

Republican leaders, meanwhile, cheered the resolution’s passage.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said of the California waiver, ‘This radical measure bans the sale of gas-powered vehicles, forcing electric vehicles on the American people and taking away consumer choice.’

‘Americans should choose which car best suits their needs and the needs of their family, not the government,’ Scalise told Fox News Digital.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said, ‘There is no reason the radical climate policies of California should regulate the entire American population and rob every American of consumer choice.’

‘House Republicans are righting yet another wrong done by the Biden administration and returning basic freedom to choose whatever car you want to the American people,’ Emmer told Fox News Digital.

Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., vice chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, introduced a resolution of disapproval last month targeting a Biden administration-era waiver granted to California that would help the state realize its goal of a full ban on the sale of new gas cars by 2035.

A resolution of disapproval, under the Congressional Review Act, allows lawmakers a mechanism to oppose unilateral rules made by federal agencies.

Biden’s EPA approved a waiver for California in December 2024, just over a month before he left office, that would make it possible for the state to phase out new gas-powered car sales by 2035.

The waiver was granted despite concerns raised by major automakers earlier that year about the feasibility of California’s goals – but state officials pushing the plan have insisted it was critical to take on climate change.

At the time, the Biden administration argued the waiver amounted to an order rather than a regulatory rule, meaning it would not be subject to congressional review.

However, it has been the subject of a standoff between the Trump administration and the federal bureaucracy since then.

The Trump administration asked Congress to review the waiver in late February of this year – paving the way for a potential repeal under the GOP-controlled House and Senate.

However, the Government Accountability Office said in March that California’s waiver is not subject to the Congressional Review Act.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., said the United States is in a ‘constitutional crisis’ after appearing alongside President Donald Trump in Michigan on his 100th day as president. 

Jon Favreau, former President Barack Obama’s speechwriter turned ‘Pod Save America’ host, asked Whitmer in a social media clip posted Wednesday if the U.S. is in a ‘constitutional crisis’ – just one day after she greeted Trump on the tarmac in Michigan before his speech to National Guard members. 

‘We are,’ Whitmer said. ‘I think that no one is above the law. The thought that we’ve got an administration that is just blatantly violating court orders should, I think, scare everybody. This is a very serious moment.’

Democrats have consistently described the country’s current political moment as a ‘constitutional crisis’ since Trump returned to the White House about 100 days ago. While Whitmer has warned of the ‘peril’ Trump’s tariffs will have on Michigan’s auto industry and urged him to deliver disaster relief to her constituents impacted by ice storms, the Democratic governor and potential 2028 presidential candidate has struck a more diplomatic tone than her colleagues in the past 100 days. 

‘Trump is currently investigating Michigan colleges and universities for their diversity policies. He’s already tried to kick dozens of Michigan foreign students out of the country. He’s threatening to unlawfully freeze federal funding for Michigan public schools, as he’s already doing that in Maine, because Governor Mills spoke up in a meeting. Have you asked the president to stop targeting people and institutions in your state?’ Favreau challenged Whitmer in a subsequent social media clip posted Wednesday. 

‘I have not had that direct conversation on this subject yet, but I’m not afraid to do that,’ Whitmer said. 

‘Isn’t it worth speaking up for the rights and the freedoms of those people when you’re at an event with him, or you are in a meeting with him?’ Favreau asked, articulating the criticism Whitmer has faced within the Democratic Party for her treatment of Trump. 

‘Whenever I get the opportunity, I use every minute of that to cover a lot of different issues. So this is, I think, a very important one that you’re raising. There’s no question. And I will continue whenever I have opportunities to make sure that I’m covering as much as I can. No question,’ Whitmer said. 

Returning to the question of a ‘constitutional crisis,’ Whitmer said, ‘Many of us are fighting the fights we can,’ but it’s the court of law that should ‘have the last word.’

‘I hope that we finally see some backbone out of some of the Republicans in Congress to stand up to the courts to enforce their orders. There are a lot of people that aren’t doing their jobs to protect the foundations of this country,’ Whitmer added, shifting blame onto congressional Republicans for not standing up to Trump. 

The clips were posted one day after Whitmer appeared alongside Trump ahead of his 100th day rally in Michigan. Whitmer successfully lobbied Trump to retire an A-10 Warthog aircraft based out of Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan with 21 brand-new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets.

Trump thanked Whitmer for bringing the issue to his attention and once again applauded her job as governor. Whitmer’s diplomatic moves seemed to put her out of step with her party on Tuesday as Democratic governors, many similarly rumored to harbor 2028 presidential ambitions, instead hosted a counter-programming event to Trump’s speech slamming his first 100 days in office. 

Earlier this month, Whitmer hid behind a folder in the Oval Office in an image that went viral and earned her the ire of Democrats discontent with her diplomacy. The Michigan governor found herself in the corner of the Oval Office for a press conference where Trump praised her, after consistently ridiculing her on the 2024 campaign trail. 

The Michigan governor’s trip to Washington last month brought her 2028 presidential ambitions into the national conversation as she directly engaged with Trump. Whitmer’s office explained that she was meeting with Trump to discuss recovery aid for the northern Michigan ice storm, investing in Michigan’s defense assets and building the American economy for everyday Michiganders. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

House Republicans are discussing measures that could potentially end federal funding of groups like Planned Parenthood as cost-savings in their multitrillion-dollar bill advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Two sources close to the House Energy & Commerce Committee told Fox News Digital that the move was being floated as lawmakers look to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts to offset the cost of Trump’s tax priorities.

It comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said earlier this week that Republicans would target ‘big abortion’ in the budget reconciliation process.

‘We are working on a lot of different options, but that’s been discussed,’ Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital when asked directly about Planned Parenthood. ‘Yeah, it’s been discussed.’

The House Energy & Commerce Committee alone is tasked with finding $880 billion in spending cuts under its jurisdiction, while intra-GOP disagreements over how to handle potential Medicaid cuts persist.

Republicans are working to use the reconciliation process to pass a vast bill with Trump’s priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, defense, energy and the debt limit sometime this spring or summer. 

By lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party controlling both houses of Congress and the White House to pass sweeping legislation while entirely sidelining the opposition, in this case Democrats.

The first major hurdle, passing a framework with ‘instructions’ for various committees to find spending cuts or ways to enact a small increase, was passed earlier this year.

The Energy & Commerce Committee has a wide jurisdiction that includes health, energy, telecommunications and other policies.

Democrats and other critics of Republicans’ reconciliation plans have accused them of trying to slash critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security while trying to pay for Trump’s other priorities.

However, Republicans have consistently said they will not touch Medicare, and Trump is pushing them to drop taxes on retirees’ Social Security as part of the bill.

How deeply to cut Medicaid, however, has been the subject of fierce debate between fiscal hawks and Republican lawmakers in blue states.

Defunding Planned Parenthood directly is impossible under reconciliation rules, but Republicans can target groups like it that provide abortions and receive federal Medicaid funds. It could provide some extra wiggle room, but could also be a similarly tricky vote for those front-line members.

One House Republican who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital, ‘I don’t even know what they’re defunding, because you already can’t use federal funds for abortion.’

They noted the longstanding Hyde Amendment prevents the use of federal dollars on abortions.

Planned Parenthood gets Medicaid dollars for the other health services it provides, not abortion, but critics say those federal dollars are helping prop up the abortion industry.

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., told Fox News Digital at an anti-abortion rally in late March, ‘Congress holds the power of the purse, and President Trump has begun the defunding of Planned Parenthood.’

‘So when we pass the reconciliation bill, we can include defunding Planned Parenthood, and I will do anything possible to make that happen,’ Miller said.

No final decisions have been made, and it is possible that such provisions do not make it into the final bill.

However, the Energy & Commerce Committee is expected to advance its portion of the legislation next week, meaning its plan could be revealed within days.

Additionally, while it was not clear before that the conversations had reached the committee level, defunding Planned Parenthood in the reconciliation process has been something that groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America have been pushing for months.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., alluded to Republicans’ plans in a speech at the interest group’s gala earlier this week.

Johnson said Republicans’ reconciliation bill would redirect funds from ‘big abortion’ to ‘federally qualified health centers’ on Tuesday night.

When reached for comment, a spokesman for the House Energy & Commerce Committee told Fox News Digital, ‘Chairman Guthrie, along with other Energy and Commerce Republicans, have been and are continuing to work with members across the Republican Conference to deliver on President Trump’s agenda through the reconciliation process.’

‘The committee is not yet ready to comment on any policy-specific items that may or may not be included in the final bill text. Energy and Commerce is examining a full menu of options from the committee’s broad jurisdiction such as energy, environment, health, telecommunications, and more,’ the spokesman said.