Dr. Dorothy Fink, acting secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced that the agency would begin reevaluating its current practices to ensure they are not utilizing federal dollars to promote non-medically necessary abortions.

HHS’s Office of Civil Rights has been tasked with investigating whether the agency’s programs, regulations and guidance are following federal guidelines under the Hyde Amendment, according to a Monday announcement from Fink. The review, Fink noted, will be conducted via guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget.

‘The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office for Civil Rights, is tasked with enforcement of many of our nation’s laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious exercise,’ Fink said in the announcement. ‘It shall be a priority of the Department to strengthen enforcement of these laws.’ 

The announcement from Fink is in line with President Donald Trump’s Jan. 24 executive order calling on all executive agencies to enforce laws under the Hyde Amendment, which prevents the use of federal funds for non-medically necessary, elective abortions. Trump’s Jan. 24 executive order also rescinded two executive orders implemented by President Joe Biden that sought to loosen restrictions on abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. 

‘Congress has enacted the Hyde Amendment and a series of additional laws to protect taxpayers from being forced to pay for abortion,’ stated a ‘fact sheet’ published Saturday by the White House. ‘Contrary to this longstanding commonsense policy, the previous administration embedded federal funding of elective abortion in a wide variety of government programs.’

Notably, Fink’s announcement about the agency-wide review came amid an external communications freeze implemented by the Trump administration. While essential agency functions have been permitted to continue under the freeze, these functions are not supposed to be promoted until it is over, according to a memo reportedly sent to officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from NIH acting Director Matthew Memoli.

Fox News Digital reached out to Fink and HHS to inquire about why this announcement about reevaluating its practices to ensure they align with the Hyde Amendment was permitted amid the communications freeze, but did not hear back in time for publication. 

In addition to announcing HHS’ plans to reevaluate programs under the Hyde Amendment, Fink’s announcement also praised the Trump administration’s decision to immediately rejoin the international Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family. 

According to a memo from the State Department, the declaration seeks to ‘secure meaningful health and development gains for women,’ ‘protect life at all stages,’ ‘defend the family as the fundamental unit of society,’ and ‘work together across the United Nations system to realize these values.’ Fink said in her Monday announcement that HHS’s Office of Global Affairs intends to support the U.S.’ efforts as part of this coalition.

The White House has issued a memo that temporarily suspends federal grants, loans and other financial assistance programs for executive departments pending an assessment of the funding. 

The Wall Street Journal first reported the memo, saying it was sent out by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) around 5 p.m. on Monday. 

A White House official told Fox News Digital that the memo was initially ‘misreported’ and does not constitute a funding freeze on federal financial assistance across the board. The official said the pause is expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities that may be impacted by President Donald Trump’s executive orders, such as ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that the White House suspect undermine national interest. 

The memo exempts any program that provides direct benefits to Americans from the review process. That includes Social Security, Medicare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the official said. 

‘This is a good government measure to ensure that taxpayer money is being spent in accordance with law and the President’s policies,’ the official said in defense of the memo. ‘The Biden Administration forced their extreme ideological views into every corner of government and weaponized the government against the American people. They were taking actions up until the last hours trying to tie the hands of President Trump from delivering for the American people.’ 

The White House official told Fox News Digital that the pause is not yet in effect and ‘was designed to give agencies lead time to begin determining which programs are not affected and which programs will need to be reviewed for conformity with the President’s executive orders.’ The official further explained that the directive includes a ‘safety valve’ that the pause ‘shall only occur as consistent with law, which will allow agencies to review spending in conformity with applicable laws.’ 

‘If the activity is not in conflict with the President’s priorities, it will continue with no issues,’ the White House official told Fox News Digital. ‘This is similar to how HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] stopped the flow of grant money to the WHO [World Health Organization] after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the organization. Or how the State Department halted several million dollars going to condoms in Gaza this past weekend.’  

The memo, which takes effect Tuesday at 5 p.m., said agencies ‘must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal,’ according to the Journal. 

The memo reportedly said the federal government spent more than $3 trillion on federal assistance, including grants and loans, in the 2024 fiscal year and that the pause allows ‘time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.’

Each agency must ‘complete a comprehensive analysis of all their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders,’ the memo continued, according to the Journal, adding that the pause must be applied ‘to the extent permissible under applicable law.’ 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned the memo, telling the Journal that pausing the funding puts ‘billions upon billions of community grants and financial support that help millions of people across the country’ at risk. 

‘It will mean missed payrolls and rent payments and everything in between: chaos for everything from universities to non-profit charities, state disaster assistance, local law enforcement, aid to the elderly, and food for those in need,’ Schumer said, adding that Congress approved the funding for the federal assistance programs.

However, the White House official denied that the memo would result in any devastating effects on programs, explaining to Fox News Digital that the OMB explicitly instructed agencies to identify programs with immediate deadlines so that ‘exceptions can be granted without any program impact.’ It does not constitute a permeant stop of the funds. 

The pause ‘could be as short as a day if an agency determines that the funds at issue do not conflict with the Administration’s policies,’ the official said. ‘To act as faithful stewards of taxpayer money, new administrations must review federal programs to ensure that they are being executed in accordance with the law and the new President’s policies. If the pause will have an adverse impact, the memo expressly provides that agencies can seek exemptions on a case-by-case basis.’

The memo included a footnote that said Medicare, Social Security benefits and assistance provided directly to individuals were exempt from the pause, but its otherwise broad language caused confusion Monday night among some federal employees, as administrators requested advice from their internal counsel regarding which programs the pause applied to and how the departments should respond, one source told the Journal. 

The memo included a Feb. 10 deadline for agencies to submit a thorough summary of all paused programs, projects and activities to the Office of Management and Budget.

China’s influence on the Panama Canal poses ‘acute risks to U.S. national security,’ Sen. Ted Cruz is warning Tuesday, alleging the Chinese Communist Party has taken a ‘militaristic interest’ in the vital global shipping passage. 

The Texas Republican told lawmakers during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation hearing that President Donald Trump recently has highlighted two key issues — ‘the danger of China exploiting or blocking passage through the canal’ and ‘the exorbitant costs for transit.’  

‘Chinese companies are right now building a bridge across the canal at a slow pace so as to take nearly a decade. And Chinese companies control container ports at either end. The partially-completed bridge gives China the ability to block the canal without warning and the ports give China ready observation posts to time that action,’ said Cruz, who is the chairman of the committee. 

‘This situation I believe poses acute risks to U.S. national security,’ he added. 

‘Meanwhile, the high fees for canal transit disproportionately affect Americans because U.S. cargo accounts for nearly three quarters for canal transits. U.S. Navy vessels pay additional fees that apply only to warships. Canal profits regularly exceed $3 billion dollars,’ Cruz continued. ‘This money comes from both American taxpayers and consumers in the form of higher costs for goods.’ 

Cruz’s comments come as newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama for his first international trip as the nation’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned.  

Trump said during his inauguration speech last week that ‘China is operating the Panama Canal’ and ‘we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.’ 

Panama is denying the Chinese influence, with President José Raúl Mulino saying that ‘There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration,’ according to the Associated Press.

However, Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Louis Sola testified Tuesday that ‘Since 2015, Chinese companies have increased their presence and influence throughout Panama. 

‘Panama became a member of the Belt and Road Initiative and ended its diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Chinese companies have been able to pursue billions of dollars and development contracts in Panama, many of which were projects directly on or adjacent to the Panama Canal,’ he told lawmakers. ‘Many were no bid contracts, labor laws were waived, and the Panama and Panamanian people are still waiting to see how they’ve been benefited. 

‘It is all more concerning that many of these companies are state-owned and in some cases even designated as linked to the People’s Liberation Army,’ Sola added. ‘We must address the significant growing presence and influence of China throughout the Americas and in Panama specifically.’ 

Cruz also said during the hearing that the Chinese Communist Party has taken a ‘militaristic interest in the canal’ and that ‘Panama has emerged as a bad actor.’ 

‘Panama has for years flagged dozens of vessels in the Iranian ghost fleet, which brought Iran tens of billions of dollars in oil profits to fund terror across the world,’ Cruz said. 

‘We cannot turn a blind eye if Panama exploits an asset of vital commercial and military importance, and we cannot stay idle while China is on the march in our hemisphere,’ he concluded. 

Fox News’ Nick Kalman and Bradford Betz contributed to this report. 

The Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) went on a memo blitz Monday, sending at least three letters to federal agency leaders on directives stretching from return to office instructions to pausing federal grants, copies of the memos obtained by Fox News Digital show. 

President Donald Trump’s administration already has issued a handful of directives aimed at federal agency heads since he took office Jan. 20, including ordering agency chiefs to shutter diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, which was followed by another memo to begin terminating DEI chiefs. 

On Monday, the OMB, an executive office that evaluates agency programs and handles the president’s budget, and OPM, an independent agency that serves as the federal government’s human resources department, issued memos on Monday to further move federal agencies in line with the president’s vision of government. 

Return to office plans 

A joint OMB and OPM memo sent Monday regarding return to office plans outlined that agency heads have until Feb. 7 to provide a plan on returning staff schedules to full-time in-person work. 

Agencies must ‘prepare plans to expeditiously implement’ the memo and submit their plans ‘for review and approval by no later than Friday, February 7th at 5:00pm EST,’ the memo, obtained by Fox News Digital, states. 

The directive, addressed to ‘heads of executive departments and agencies,’ detailed that agency chiefs must craft plans that include details such as how they will ‘revise telework agreements for all eligible employees,’ as well as ‘provide timelines for the return of all eligible employees to in-person work as expeditiously as possible, including the date that the agency will be in full compliance,’ and ‘describe agency’s process for determining exceptions based on disability, qualifying medical condition, and or other compelling reason.’

Both the acting director of OMB, Matthew J. Vaeth, and OPM acting director, Charles Ezell, issued the memo. 

The directive comes after Trump railed against federal employees working from home years after the pandemic and social distancing mandates ended. On his first day in office, Trump issued a presidential action calling on federal agencies to terminate remote work. 

Executive branch department and agency heads ‘shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,’ the Jan. 20 presidential action read. 

Pausing federal grants and loans in effort to end ‘wokeness’ 

The OMB issued another memo on Monday that pauses all federal grants and loans, out of an effort to end ”wokeness’ and the weaponization of government,’ and to promote ‘efficiency in government.’ 

‘Federal agencies must temporarily pauseall activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,’ the memo, obtained by Fox Digital reads. 

The pause takes effect at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday. 

The memo explained that out of the $10 trillion spent by the federal government in fiscal year 2024, $3 trillion was allocated to ‘federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans.’

‘Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,’ the memo states. ‘Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again.’ 

The memo was sent to all heads of executive departments and agencies by Vaeth. 

‘The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,’ it adds. 

Agency chiefs are required to submit ‘detailed information on any programs, projects or activities subject to this pause’ to the OMB by Feb. 10 for review. 

New federal employee classification 

Agency leaders were directed in another memo sent Monday by OPM to review government positions that could be moved to the Trump administration’s new ‘schedule policy/career’ federal employee classification. 

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office focused on federal employees who hold sway over policy decisions, as part of an effort to ‘maintain professionalism and accountability within the civil service,’ which Trump’s order said was ‘sorely lacking.’ 

The executive order created a new ‘schedule policy/career’ federal employee classification, which will work to remove civil protections from federal employees in ‘policy-influencing’ positions, making the individuals more vulnerable for termination. 

Trump’s executive order creates a new classification ‘for positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy- advocating character (policy-influencing positions) and filled by individuals not normally subject to replacement or change as a result of a Presidential transition. Such career positions will be rescheduled into Schedule Policy/Career,’ the memo stated. 

The memo states that agency leaders have until April 20 to craft a plan on positions that would shift to the new classification. The 90-day period for review began on Jan. 20, when Trump signed the executive order. 

‘Agencies have 90 days to conduct a preliminary review of positions and submit petitions, with an additional 120 days to finalize their review and submit any remaining petitions,’ the memo reads. ‘Agencies may, and are encouraged to, submit such petitions on a rolling basis.’ 

: Dozens of top former intelligence officials are urging members of the Senate to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, saying she will ‘begin undoing the gross politicization that has come to characterize intelligence bureaucracies,’ Fox News Digital has learned. 

Former White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, Navy SEAL veteran and member of the intelligence community Erik Prince and more than four dozen other former intelligence officials penned a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., on Monday, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. 

‘We, the undersigned former intelligence and national security officials, urge members of the United States Senate to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to serve as President Trump’s Director of National Intelligence,’ they wrote. ‘Her service as DNI will begin undoing the gross politicization that has come to characterize intelligence bureaucracies, which has been to the great detriment of the freedom and security of the United States and its citizens.’ 

The officials said Gabbard’s experience ‘more than qualifies her for this important position.’ 

Gabbard is a military officer with more than 20 years of service and multiple combat deployments. She also served in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years and served on numerous national security committees. 

The officials said Gabbard was ‘an outspoken champion for America’s warriors and for our cherished constitutional freedoms.’ 

‘In both these roles, she experienced first-hand how intelligence, when used as intended, provides critical support to America’s military and political leaders,’ they wrote. ‘When intelligence was abused, Lt. Col. Gabbard spoke up and insisted on safeguards.’

The officials said that ‘in contrast to the many former senior intelligence officials who politicized their profession and disgraced themselves by running misinformation operations to undermine the President of the United States—such as by signing the infamous Biden laptop ‘Russian disinformation’ letter or appearing on partisan programs to knowingly mislead the public with false claims of inside knowledge and access to classified information—Lt. Col. Gabbard stood up for truth, integrity, and following the facts.’ 

The officials said those are ‘precisely the values necessary for the leader of the intelligence community.’ 

‘As former collectors, analysts, consumers, and enablers of intelligence, we support Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard to lead the IC,’ they wrote. ‘She has the integrity, and moral courage, to restore objectivity and professionalism to the nation’s intelligence agencies.’ 

The letter comes as Gabbard has come under scrutiny from some senators who have been critical of her intelligence experience. 

But allies of Gabbard have defended her record, and said it is critical that someone with ‘fresh eyes’ and ‘without bias’ lead the intelligence community. They also have argued that Gabbard knows, firsthand, the consequences of inaccurate intelligence, given her service in the War on Terror. 

‘She has seen the true cost of war,’ a source close to Gabbard’s confirmation process told Fox News Digital. 

‘It is a strength, not a weakness, that she doesn’t have direct prior intel agency experience,’ the source continued. ‘She has been a consumer during her time deployed overseas — but not having direct agency background is a strength as she will come in with clear eyes and no bias to the intel community which needs to regain the trust of the American people and not be used as a political tool weaponized against them.’ 

Gabbard’s confirmation hearing with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is scheduled to take place Thursday morning. 

Trump has argued that Gabbard will bring a ‘fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights and securing Peace through Strength.’ 

The director of national intelligence leads the U.S. intelligence community, which includes overseeing the National Intelligence Program and advising the president on security matters. 

Gabbard has served as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves since 2021, after previously serving in the Hawaii Army National Guard for about 17 years. She was elected to the U.S. House representing Hawaii during the 2012 election cycle, serving as a Democrat until 2021. She did not seek re-election to that office after she entered the 2020 White House race. 

Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022, registering as an independent before becoming a member of the GOP in 2024 and offering her full endorsement of Trump amid his presidential campaign. 

Gabbard has received the support of dozens of national security officials, and in December received endorsements from more than 250 veterans, including high-profile names such as retired Gen. Michael Flynn and former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller.

A transgender inmate receiving taxpayer-funded medical treatments has launched the first lawsuit against the Trump administration and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that puts an end to medical transgender treatments for federal prisoners.

Trump’s executive order, titled ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,’ prohibits federal funds from being ‘expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.’ The order also declares there are only ‘two-sexes.’

The unnamed inmate, who goes by ‘Maria Moe’ in court documents and is represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lowenstein Sandler LLP, has been on medical hormones since they were a teenager and has not been housed in a men’s facility since their conviction. 

Once Trump signed the executive order, Moe was transferred to a men’s prison facility, and BOP records changed the sex from ‘female’ to ‘male,’ the complaint says.

The lawsuit, first reported by Reuters, claims Trump’s executive order will lead to transgender women ‘who are incarcerated in federal prisons’ being ‘unlawfully transferred to men’s facilities and denied medically necessary healthcare.’

‘If Maria Moe is transferred to a men’s facility, she will not be safe,’ the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Sunday, claims. ‘She will be at an extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault. She may be subject to strip searches by male correctional officers.’

‘She may be forced to shower in full view of men who are incarcerated. And she will predictably experience worsening gender dysphoria,’ the complaint continued.

Moe is claiming Trump and the BOP are violating the Fifth and Eighth Amendments and claims they are ‘at imminent risk of losing access to the medical care she needs to treat her gender dysphoria.’

Prior to Trump’s reversal of BOP gender dysphoria policies, the BOP began funding transgender surgical procedures for transgender inmates in December 2022, with Donna Langan – formerly known as Peter Kevin Langan – becoming the first federal prisoner to undergo transition on the taxpayer dollar. Langan was convicted in 1997 for involvement in a series of armed bank robberies across the Midwest during the 1990s. Langan was a leader of the Aryan Republican Army, a White supremacist group that carried out these robberies to fund their activities, according to court documents.

Langan’s gender transition followed years of advocacy and legal action, including a landmark settlement in 2021, when the BOP agreed to provide gender transition surgery to Cristina Nichole Iglesias, who was convicted in 1994 for threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction against British officials.

In the past year, multiple lawsuits have been filed over the denial of gender transition treatments for incarcerated individuals. Autumn Cordellioné, a transgender woman serving 55 years in Indiana for the murder of their 11-month-old stepdaughter, sued the state for refusing to conduct transgender surgery.

In April 2024, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice sued Utah’s Department of Corrections, alleging it created unnecessary barriers to gender dysphoria treatment for inmates.

In September 2024, Reiyn Keohane, a transgender woman imprisoned in Florida, filed suit against the state’s Department of Corrections. Keohane alleged officials violated the Eighth Amendment for discontinuing hormone therapy and access to female clothing and grooming products, despite Keohane’s prior diagnosis and treatment for gender dysphoria.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Moe’s attorneys, the White House and BOP.