House Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced legislation that aims to find ways to deliver reparations to Black Americans who are descendants of slaves.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is co-leading the reintroduction of H.R.40, or the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, to Congress with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Pressley, a progressive member of the Squad, said during a news conference that ‘reparations are a necessary step in achieving justice.’

‘We are in a moment of anti-Blackness on steroids and we refuse to be silent,’ Pressley said. ‘We will not back down in our pursuit of racial justice.’

The bill aims to create a federal commission charged with investigating the enduring impacts of slavery and its aftermath, along with developing concrete proposals for reparations to African Americans who are descendants of slaves, Pressley said.

Reparations can take different forms but broadly refer to payments or other forms of recompense to the descendants of Black individuals affected by slavery or past racist policies.

Democratic politicians in blue states, including California, in recent years have floated reparations as a way to atone for what proponents describe as a legacy of racist policies that created disparities for Black people in housing, education and health.

Democrats on the Hill and in California have pushed for passage of reparations legislation, with other cities and states proposing ideas for reparations.

In August, however, a pair of reparations-related bills for the descendants of enslaved Black Americans failed to pass in the California legislature after backers said the bills would not move forward and were at risk of being vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Booker’s office released a statement last month on the bill’s reintroduction, which 17 Democratic senators are cosponsoring. 

‘We as a nation have not yet truly acknowledged and grappled with the ways slavery, racism, and white supremacy continue to disadvantage African Americans,’ Booker said in a statement. ‘Commissioning a study to better understand where our country has fallen short will help lawmakers better address the racial disparities and inequalities that persist today as a result of generational injustices.’

Fox News’ Joshua Q. Nelson and Jaime Joseph contributed to this report.

Elon Musk’s DOGE team has successfully canceled millions of dollars of government contracts that the administration says were a waste of taxpayer dollars. 

A senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that DOGE has worked with various agencies to cancel several contracts in the Social Security Administration, the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor, and several other areas. 

‘Taxpayer dollars will no longer be wasted on nonsense,’ the official told Fox News Digital. 

The canceled spending includes a $36,000 contract for DEI related workshops at Homeland Security and the cancellation of a $1 million contract that supports the ‘Gender X Initiative’ and involves public-facing SSA applications that allow for the ‘non-binary’ field. 

At the Department of Agriculture, a $1 million contract for a diversity communications campaign for agricultural professionals has been canceled. 

Contracts are also being canceled at the Forest Service, a branch of USDA, including one for $375,000 on DEI and onboarding services and another for $30,000 on a ‘Central America Gender Assessment Consultant.’

The Department of Agriculture will also cancel a $230,000 contract for Brazil forest and gender consultant services. 

The Department of Labor, according to the official, will cancel a $4 million contract for DEI consultation services and training in its Jobs Corps program.

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is canceling a $100,000 contract to purchase a two-year subscription with Gartner HR Leaders to ‘obtain research and advisory services covering employee experience, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and work-life integration.’

The Trump administration has cut hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts across various departments in the government, with many related to DEI efforts that Trump railed against on the campaign trail as programs that make the United States weaker by focusing on gender and race rather than meritocracy. 

DOGE posted on Jan. 28 that the group is ‘saving the Federal Government approx. $1 billion/day, mostly from stopping the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, deletion of DEI and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations, all consistent with the President’s Executive Orders.’

Many Democrats in Congress have rallied against DOGE arguing that it represents a ‘constitutional crisis’ and making the case that the cuts are too drastic and are slashing vital government programs.

Fox News Digital’s Eric Revell contributed to this report

Current and former state attorneys general are praising the Trump administration’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its ‘common sense’ decision to roll back a Biden-era climate rule requiring companies to disclose their carbon emissions.

‘We’ve led multiple common letters over the years against this radical Biden climate fiasco, and we’ve taken multiple steps to try to ensure that all of the federal agencies act consistent with the law,’ West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. ‘So we’ve always had deep concerns about the legality of what the SEC was trying to do and the burdens that would it would impose on public companies. So this is a great day for the rule of law and against federal overreach, and I think it shows again, what happens when you have people in leadership positions that are willing to do the right things and not fall prey to the radical climate agenda.’

As the then-West Virginia attorney general, Morrisey led a coalition of more than a dozen states — including Iowa, Georgia, Alabama and Alaska — in a lawsuit challenging the climate rule last year. Within 10 days of its passage, the rule faced over nine legal petitions. Among the challengers were Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services.

Liberty Energy was founded by Chris Wright, who now serves as President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Energy.

The SEC acting chairman, Mark Uyeda, issued a statement Tuesday calling the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors rule – which was implemented in March 2024 but immediately racked up multiple lawsuits that were eventually consolidated into Iowa v. SEC – ‘deeply flawed and could inflict significant harm on the capital markets and our economy.’

Uyeda added that the ‘the proposed rules overstepped the SEC’s regulatory authority’ and that the SEC’s filings ‘previously submitted in the cases consolidated in the Eighth Circuit do not reflect my views.’ Because of recent changes in the SEC’s leadership and President Donald Trump’s directive to freeze new regulations, Uyeda instructed SEC staff to inform the court of these developments and request a delay in the case while the agency reconsiders its stance. 

However, Uyeda’s commissioner, Caroline A. Crenshaw, issued a scathing statement in opposition to his request to delay the scheduling for oral arguments in the Appeals Court, arguing he acted ‘without the input of the full Commission.’

‘I agree wholeheartedly with the acting Chairman that agencies and those who lead them must act within the boundaries of constitutional and statutory authority,’ Crenshaw said in a statement. ‘Nonetheless, I dispute with equal vigor the notion that the agency acted outside of its remit. It did not. The only things that have changed since the Rule was passed have been matters of politics and not substance. As such, I disagree with the position unilaterally taken today by the acting Chairman.’

Under then-Chairman Gary Gensler, appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2021, the climate rule mandated that publicly traded companies include detailed information about climate-related risks, greenhouse gas emissions and the potential financial impacts of climate change in their annual reports and registration statements. 

Several attorneys general who were part of the group lawsuit last year told Fox News Digital the move was a win for ‘common sense’ returning to the federal government that would save companies from extreme financial burdens. 

‘Finally, common sense is prevailing,’ Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. ‘But cost of compliance, cost of missed opportunities, again, cost to rectify if the SEC had found a violation of what these companies were going to have to do – those are jobs and investment that would have been missed by these companies just because the federal government didn’t like the way somebody was doing it, and just because they turned client the climate agenda into their own religion.’

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who was also a co-signer on the lawsuit led by Morrisey, told Fox News Digital in a statement that Uyeda’s push to roll back the climate rule ‘is another sign that common sense has returned to our nation.’ He added in part that it was a ‘huge win’ for taxpayers who ‘rightfully expect the SEC to be focused on protecting investors and financial markets rather than radical environmentalism.’

Morrisey and Carr both expect similar actions against the climate change agenda to occur under the current Trump administration, citing several executive orders issued last month dramatically reversing previous international climate commitments and promoting traditional energy sources, including withdrawing from the Paris Agreement for the second time. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Kush Desai said Trump ‘has vocally and consistently championed dismantling ideological chokeholds over America’s institutions, entrepreneurs, and consumers to unleash our country’s unparalleled potential.’

‘The Trump administration will continue to prioritize merit, competence, and innovation over ESG and DEI activism,’ he said. 

An American is one of three hostages released from Belarus, the White House has announced. 

The identity of the hostage has not been released as the person wishes to remain private, U.S. Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler said. 

‘He’s made bringing hostages home a top priority and people respect that,’ Boehler said of President Donald Trump while announcing the releases. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt hailed the releases as another example of the president’s strong leadership skills. 

‘That speaks to President Trump’s dealmaking ability,’ Leavitt said. 

Leavitt said the two other prisoners released were Belarus nationals, one of whom is a journalist for Radio Liberty, a U.S. government-funded media organization. The outlet named the journalist as Andrey Kuznechyk, who worked for the outlet’s Belarus service. 

Radio Liberty said that Kuznechyk had been detained initially for 10 days on hooliganism charges and then kept in prison on accusations that he had created or participated in an extremist organization. The outlet said the charges were politically motivated. 

‘It’s a remarkable victory on the heels of Marc Fogel returning to America last night,’ Leavitt said. 

Fogel, an American who had been detained in Russia since 2021, landed back in the U.S. on Tuesday. The history teacher was working at the Anglo-American School in Moscow and returned to the U.S. after his release from Russia following talks with the Trump administration. 

He was serving a 14-year sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for possession of drugs, which his family said was medically prescribed marijuana.

Wednesday’s announcement came just moments after Trump posted to Truth Social that he had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Those discussions included the Russian leader agreeing to ‘immediately’ begin negotiations over the war in Ukraine.

Last month, American Anastassia Nuhfer was also released from a Belarus prison. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the release at the time and said that she had been ‘taken’ under the Biden administration. 

It wasn’t clear why she was detained, but a former high-ranking Belarusian diplomat indicated that her detention was connected to the 2020 protests in Belarus. The exact nature of her involvement remains unclear.

Fox News understands today’s release was the second part of a two-part deal, with Nuhfer’s release being the first part. 

Belarus, formerly part of the Soviet Union, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe that is closely allied with Russia. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. 

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko extended his more than three decades in power last month in what political commentators say were orchestrated elections.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Jamieson Greer, advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday.  The vote was 15-12, with all Republicans on the panel voting for Greer, as well as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

His appointment now moves on to the full Senate for final confirmation.

Greer, who previously served as chief of staff to former USTR Robert Lighthizer during Trump’s first term, has been credited with assisting in imposing tariffs on China and renegotiating the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico during the first administration. He is also a lawyer and Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps veteran with one deployment to Iraq.

Greer’s first confirmation hearing last week came amid new announcements that Trump would impose tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada.

If confirmed by the entire Senate, Greer will be responsible for pursuing U.S.-international trade agreements that align with President Trump’s agenda to support well-paying American jobs and bolster supply chain resilience, which includes boosting domestic manufacturing and industrial jobs and diversifying sources for essential goods and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers. 

‘If the United States does not have a robust manufacturing base and innovative economy, it will have little in the way of hard power to deter conflict and protect Americans,’ Greer said in last week’s hearing. ‘Trade policy can play an important role in ensuring that we have the economic security that leads to strong national security. I am convinced that we have a relatively short window of time to restructure the international trade system to better serve U.S. interests.’ 

Greer also noted he would seek out a balanced U.S. trade system with countries like Vietnam, which has a trade surplus in the country, to ‘have better reciprocity.’ 

The White House announced this month a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, citing an ‘invasion of illegal fentanyl,’ along with a 10% tariff on Canadian energy and all Chinese imports. Tariffs on China took effect Tuesday, while those on Mexico and Canada were delayed at least a month following border security talks.

House Republicans have released their framework for a massive conservative policy overhaul to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda, just as the Senate advances its own version of the plan.

House and Senate GOP lawmakers have been at odds over how to go about executing Trump’s policy goals, and an earlier delay by House GOP leaders to kick-start the process in their chamber frustrated Senate Republicans, who released a narrower version of the House’s proposal.

Both chambers are aiming to advance their proposals on Thursday, with the Senate beginning its process Wednesday.

House and Senate Republicans are aiming to use the budget reconciliation process to pass a broad range of Trump policy goals, from border security to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages.

By lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority, it will allow the GOP to use their razor-thin majorities to get legislation signed into law with zero Democratic support, provided the measures included relate to the budget and other fiscal matters.

The House’s 45-page legislation directs $300 billion in new spending for homeland security, defense and the judiciary, while directing at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts for other areas of the federal government.

The text also calls for $4.5 trillion in new spending for the House Ways & Means Committee, aimed at extending measures in Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that are expiring at the end of this year.

The bill notably lifts the debt ceiling by $4 trillion – a key demand by Trump after projections showed the U.S. could run out of cash to pay its debts in the middle of this year if Congress does not act.

The bill would also set a goal of reducing mandatory spending by $2 trillion, with the caveat that a failure to find $2 trillion in savings would result in a reduction to the $4.5 trillion sum aimed toward Trump’s tax cuts. All sums are factored over a 10-year window. 

Senate Republicans had advocated for a two-bill strategy, arguing that separating border, defense and energy priorities from taxes would enable Trump to score a quick victory on issues that Republicans broadly agree on.

House Republicans are concerned that the significant political capital needed to pass a reconciliation bill with razor-thin majorities will mean Trump’s tax cuts will expire before the GOP can reckon with them this year.

The plan being advanced by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., includes new funding for border security and defense while offsetting those costs by rolling back green energy policies and other progressive Biden administration priorities.

Graham has dismissed multiple public pleas by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to allow the House to go first in the process. The House had delayed initial plans to advance a resolution last week after GOP fiscal hawks demanded deeper spending cuts than what leaders initially offered, between $300 billion and $600 billion.

Johnson said this week that Graham’s bill is a ‘nonstarter’ in the House.

It’s not clear as of Wednesday afternoon, however, whether all the House’s differences are resolved.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a fiscal hawk on the budget panel, told reporters that conservatives were still seeking additional items to be included in the resolution before the scheduled meeting to advance it on Thursday morning.

‘It’s dependent on what we add to it,’ Norman said when asked if he would support the bill on Thursday. ‘And it’s not just coming from me, it’s others too.’

He said of the public bill text, ‘We had to get this out as a skeleton. We’ve got to fill the skeleton in. And a lot of us have some real feelings, strong feelings, about what’s being included.’

Meanwhile, Republicans on the Ways & Means Committee are concerned that $4.5 trillion may not be enough to enact Trump’s tax policies over the next 10 years.

‘I have some concerns regarding Ways & Means not being provided with the largest amount to cover President Trump’s tax cuts – especially [State and Local Tax deduction (SALT)] relief and a tax reduction for senior citizens, which are both also priorities of mine,’ committee member Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. 

‘We will need to play with the parameters to see what we can come up with to satisfy members of our committee and conference,’ Malliotakis said.

House GOP Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore, R-Utah, told reporters that Republicans needed to be realistic about their expectations.

‘We may not have every tax benefit. Everybody’s going to have to give,’ Moore said.

Russian missiles struck Kyiv in the early hours of Wednesday, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said. 

The barrage of ballistic missiles hit hours before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited the Ukrainian capital, the first Cabinet-level Trump official to do so, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aide Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram. 

Bessent is visiting the city to meet with Zelenskyy and discuss President Donald Trump’s demand for access to $500 billion worth of rare Earth minerals as payment for U.S. military aid to Ukraine. He is also expected to talk about energy, having promised to ramp up sanctions on Russia’s oil sector. 

Zelenskyy said the recent attack proved Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in pursuing peace. 

Reporters from the French newswire AFP heard explosions ring out early Wednesday before discovering the body of one person killed, covered with a black plastic sheet. Zelenskyy said at least one person was killed, and four others were wounded – including a child. He said the attack damaged apartments and office buildings.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed it had conducted a ‘group missile strike’ on Ukrainian sites producing drones and added that all targets were hit. 

Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is expected to visit Kyiv next week as he hashes out a plan for peace with Russia. 

Kellogg, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are all traveling to Europe for the Munich Security Conference this week, when they will discuss peace options with Ukrainian and European officials.

In the region north of Kyiv, Chernihiv, local Gov. Vyacheslav Chaus said Russians had targeted critical infrastructure and at least two were wounded. 

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down six missiles and 71 of 123 drones, which included Iranian-designed Shahed attack vehicles.

Idit Ohel, the mother of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, urgently pleaded for President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the release of the remaining Oct. 7 captives held by Hamas amid fears the current ceasefire deal is disintegrating.

‘They have no more time. And please don’t go back to war. Please. Because if that happens, if we go back to war, the hostages could die. The hostages that are alive could die,’ she told Fox News Digital. ‘That’s what happened last time. Last time we saw that after the hostages came out and war started, so many hostages died and were murdered by Hamas. So we cannot let this happen. Please do everything in your power and do something for my son. He’s in the tunnels. He’s crying for help.’ 

Idit Ohel said she received confirmation that her son is still alive from released hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, two of the three gaunt, frail-looking Israelis forced to speak Saturday during a Hamas hand-over ceremony in Gaza. 

The mother said the released hostages, who were held with her son for part of their nearly 500 days in captivity, told her that Alon Ohel is unable to see out of an eye after being struck by shrapnel when Hamas was closing in on Oct. 7, 2023. Alon Ohel, a civilian, was attending the Nova music festival when terrorists attacked, and he took cover in a bomb shelter. Hamas pounded the shelter with grenades and gunfire, and he ‘was taken, wounded, with blood all over him,’ Idit Ohel said. 

Alon Ohel’s ancestors survived the Holocaust, including his great-grandfather who weighed just 30 kilos [about 66 pounds] when he was released from the Auschwitz concentration camp, Idit Ohel said. ‘So if he was alive today, he would probably die instantly just knowing that his great-grandson in the year of 2025 is starving,’ she said. ‘Alon has these genes. So he’s fighting. He’s fighting for his life every day.’ 

Under the deal, another three hostages were due to be released by next Saturday, but Hamas said Monday that the group would not let them go, accusing Israel of violating terms of the ceasefire agreement. 

Concerns that fighting will resume are rising. Trump has since said that Hamas must release all remaining 76 hostages by noon Saturday, or he would demand the ceasefire deal be canceled and ‘let all hell break out.’ Netanyahu backed the demand. 

Israeli media is reporting that Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is being dispatched to Israel and Qatar this week to prevent the ceasefire deal from unraveling. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected in Israel on Saturday. 

To Trump and Netayanhu directly, Idit Ohel said, ‘Do something and bring them home. Please. Please.’ 

‘Give him a chance. It’s unbearable. Something has to change. You have to do everything in your power to bring him home to me, to his family,’ she said. ‘There’s still hostages alive. There’s still hostages alive. Please. Please, do something.’ 

Idit Ohel said she learned her son is being held in tunnels without medical attention and little food and has been ‘tortured, chained and starved.’ 

‘It’s not humane. There’s so much food getting into Gaza, and he’s not getting any of it,’ she said.

‘Alon, right now as we speak, is still being not fed, sleeping on the floor, being chained, constrained. So he cannot move for 494 days,’ Idit Ohel said. ‘My son is important. My son is only an innocent civilian. He went to the Nova festival to have fun. He’s a pianist. He loves music. He did nothing wrong to nobody. We need to get him out now. He cannot continue. This is humanitarian.’ 

Days before Trump took office, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement. Former President Joe Biden said at the time that the first phase involved a ‘surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza’ – something Idit Ohel stressed her son is not getting. 

She said the International Committee of the Red Cross ‘have never seen Alon and have never seen any of the hostages – [he] didn’t get any treatment.’ 

‘Where is he? Why is he not coming?’ Idit Ohel added. ‘I do not understand it. I will never understand it. This is wrong. This is not moral.’ 

Ohel rallied thousands in Tel Aviv over the weekend on her son’s 24th birthday – the second birthday he has spent in captivity since the Oct. 7 attacks. 

‘I wanted to say happy birthday to my son. I couldn’t even talk [to him] and see and hear his voice,’ she said. ‘When I heard about his condition, I fainted … I haven’t been sleeping for days … I cannot control what Hamas is doing to my son.’ 

‘Every mother in this world. Think just for a second. If there’s one night that your son or daughter doesn’t eat, you can’t even live with yourself,’ Ohel added. ‘My son has not been getting food for 494 days.’

The mother also delivered a message directly to her son. 

‘If you’re listening to me, you know I love you and your father loves you. And we’re doing everything in our power to make sure that you’re home alive. You’re coming home. And there’s so many people all over the world and in Israel that are with you and are praying for you,’ Ohel said, asking fellow musicians to play songs in her son’s honor in the coming days. ‘And you are not alone, Alon. You are not alone.’