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Karoline Leavitt says Jean-Pierre had 'hard time' as press secretary because of Biden's poor transparency
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that her predecessor, Karine Jean-Pierre, struggled in the role because she did not have an open relationship with former President Joe Biden.
Leavitt spoke in an interview with Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, saying President Donald Trump’s "authentic" approach removes the need for political spin.
"I saw my predecessor in this role have a bit of a hard time," Leavitt said, referring to Jean-Pierre. "I think it's because she wasn't able to communicate with her boss in a very open and transparent way."
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE INSISTS IT'S 'NOT TRUE' BIDEN SPOKE 'WAY LESS' TO THE PRESS THAN TRUMP
In contrast, Leavitt described Trump as "honest" and open about his views with staff and the public.
"He just lays it on the table. There's no guessing, there's no questioning, there's no spin, it's just, it is what it is with him," Leavitt said.
Jean-Pierre served as press secretary for nearly three years under Biden. She was frequently criticized by Republican lawmakers for relying heavily on notes and struggling to discuss the president’s positions beyond prepared remarks.
She also frequently defended Biden's mental acuity from the podium, although later reports would suggest that even the president's allies had reservations about his ability to do the job.
CNN HOST KAITLAN COLLINS REVEALS KAROLINE LEAVITT DEFENDED HER PRESS ACCESS IN SAUDI ARABIA
Leavitt said Trump’s openness about his views makes her job easier. However, he has also faced criticism for his unfiltered social media posts.
"We never know what you're [going to] get when you walk into the White House these days. Every day is an adventure," Leavitt said.
Since leaving the White House, Jean-Pierre has registered as an Independent and written about that decision in her new memoir. In a podcast interview promoting her book, she defended Biden’s communication style.
"The president spoke to the American people a couple times a week. He traveled and did domestic travel and talked directly to the American people,"Jean-Pierre said on "The Bulwark" podcast last October.
"We are talking about a time politically that is incredibly partisan. It is hard to break through any messaging, and it was an incumbency as well," she added.
Jean-Pierre has also pushed back on claims about Biden’s age, telling "CBS Mornings" she saw someone who was "always engaged. I saw someone who understood policy, pushed us on the policy, and also understood history."
Fox News Digital reached out to Jean-Pierre for comment.
President Donald Trump briefed on downed F-15 fighter jet in Iran
President Donald Trump has been briefed Friday on an F-15 fighter jet that went down over Iran, Fox News has learned.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and state media claimed to have shot down a U.S. fighter jet over central Iran, specifically in the mountainous Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.
Initial Iranian reports claimed the aircraft was an F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. However, subsequent photos of wreckage released by Iranian media suggest the aircraft may be an F-15E Strike Eagle, likely from the 494th Fighter Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath.
U.S. officials for weeks have insisted the U.S. and Israel have "complete control over Iranian skies," and recently sent the slower, non-stealthy B-52 bombers into Iran, underscoring how confident they were that Iranian airpower had been nearly eliminated.
"We are in this military operation … for 32 days," Trump said in an address Wednesday. "And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat."
"They have no anti-aircraft equipment," Trump said. "Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable."
Aviation experts say the aircraft seen in the circulating footage appears consistent with an F-15 based on several distinctive features, including its twin vertical tails, wide fuselage, and dual-engine configuration. The F-15s widely spaced engine intakes and rectangular air inlets are also key identifiers that distinguish it from other U.S. fighter jets.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Trump cabinet shakeup expands after Noem exit, Bondi firing — who’s under pressure next?
Kristi Noem is gone from the Department of Homeland Security and Pam Bondi is out the door at the Justice Department.
It's not unusual for a president to shake up the cabinet ahead of crucial elections.
And that appears to be the case right now for President Donald Trump, who's saddled with underwater approval ratings and an unpopular war ahead of this year's crucial midterm elections, when Republicans are working to hold onto their slim House and Senate majorities.
The big question going forward: Who may be next on Trump's chopping block.
PAM BONDI ALREADY FIRED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, CABINET OFFICIAL TEED UP AS REPLACEMENT: SOURCES
The White House is pushing back against reporting that other cabinet secretaries may soon be given pink slips. But it's worth noting that Trump announced in a social media post that he was letting Bondi go hours after media reports first crossed that the attorney general's job was in jeopardy.
Here's a look at three cabinet members that media reports suggest could possibly be in the president's crosshairs.
The director of national intelligence may have earned Trump's ire by failing to condemn former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent after his abrupt exit from the administration last month after criticizing the president's move to strike Iran.
Gabbard, a former Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for her party's 2020 presidential nomination before crossing over and supporting Trump in the 2024 election and a military veteran who deployed to the Iraq War two decades ago, has not been as vocally supportive of the current conflict with Iran as others in the cabinet.
In backing Gabbard, Trump last weekend pointed to her stance on Iran and said, "I think she's probably a little bit softer on that issue, but that's okay."
Pushing back forcefully against speculation that Gabbard may be next to go, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung on Thursday said, "President Trump has total confidence in Director Gabbard, and any insinuation otherwise is totally fake news."
"The President has assembled the most talented and impactful Cabinet ever, and they have collectively delivered historic victories on behalf of the American people.," Cheung touted.
Trump's labor secretary is under investigation by the Labor Department's inspector general over numerous allegations, including drinking alcohol while working and having an affair with a security officer.
The resignation of some of her top aides has not helped matters.
The president's commerce secretary is a longtime Trump ally.
But there's speculation Lutnick may be on thin ice after admitting in February he traveled with his family to Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island in 2012, four years after Epstein was convicted of child sex trafficking.
Lutnick previously denied having any relationship with Epstein and stated that he "barely had anything to do with that person."
The White House is denying that either Lutnick or Chavez-DeRemer are in hot water.
"Secretaries Chavez-DeRemer and Lutnick are both doing a great job standing up for American workers, and they continue to have President Trump’s full support," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News.
But a source in the president's political orbit didn't rule out further changes in Trump's cabinet.
"The president is reshaping his team and his message is clear: loyalty is expected but performance is mandatory," the source told Fox News.
ICE detains president of Wisconsin's largest mosque, alleging he hid conviction for attacks on Israelis
Federal immigration authorities have detained the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, alleging he concealed a past conviction involving attacks on Israeli targets and lied on his U.S. immigration application.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Salah Salem Sarsour, a leader of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, in a targeted operation earlier this week, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement released Thursday, DHS said Sarsour is a Jordanian national who was previously convicted in Israel for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli armed forces and attempting to possess weapons and ammunition.
The agency alleges he failed to disclose that history on immigration forms and improperly obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States.
"Salah Salem Sarsour is a terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces. This illegal alien from Jordan lied on his green card application to gain legal status in the U.S.," said DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
Fox News' Brooke Taylor reported that, according to ICE, Sarsour eventually became a green card holder in 1998 under President Bill Clinton after lying on his application.
In a statement to FOX 6 Milwaukee, ICE said it worked with the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest Sarsour.
The Islamic Society of Milwaukee has also created a fundraising page to support Sarsour.
"Br. Salah is being targeted on the basis of his Palestinian and Muslim background, and his advocacy for Palestinian rights," the fundraiser says, in part. "We know this fight for Br. Salah is part of a larger trend of attacks on immigrants that whittle away at democratic norms and legal protections for everyone. That is why this fight is a fight for all of us."
Sarsour has been the board president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest Islamic organization in the state, for five years.
At a crowded news conference, boisterous supporters chanted to free Sarsour.
"He was targeted because of one thing, because he dared stand up to the Israeli army," Othman Atta, one of Sarsour’s attorneys, told the crowd. "And he was not a U.S. citizen."
A diverse group of religious leaders in attendance called Sarsour a valuable community member.
"This appears to be just the latest example of how this administration seeks to silence opposition and intimidate those who speak and act differently," said the Rev. Paul D. Erickson, bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson called Sarsour's detainment "an outrage."
"He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong," Johnson said Thursday in a post on X. "This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. immigration authorities."
Sarsour is being held at a county jail in Indiana. His attorneys have filed a petition seeking his release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Grammy Award-winning rapper set to play professional basketball in China
There is no fall off for J. Cole.
The 41-year-old rapper, who recently released his seventh studio album, "The Fall Off," will be playing professional basketball in China, he recently announced.
ESPN reported that the two-time Grammy-Award winner, whose real name is Jermaine Cole, signed a contract with the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association.
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Cole has played professional basketball overseas before, suiting up for the Basketball Africa League's Rwanda Patriots in 2021 and the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League the following year.
The Fayetteville, North Carolina native hinted at the news last week in an interview with Revolt.
"The basketball s--- is like me just trying to scratch a last itch of, yo, let me see if I can do this," Cole said during the interview. "Could I train and be able to go play professional because these teams in these leagues are looking at it like, ‘He’s not a--. He can come be on the court, and he can give our league some publicity.'"
Cole said the Monkey Kings were offering him to play for them last year.
"I’m looking at the clock like, boy, I’m getting older. This might be my last shot. I’m going to keep my word to them and show up and play a couple of games, although I know I’m not in the best of shape because the album. I’m going to go out there and have fun with it."
Cole joined the mainstream rap game in the early 2010s, with his debut album, "Cole World: The Sideline Story," coming out in 2011 that featured hits like "Work Out" and "In The Morning" with fellow basketball fan Drake.
Cole is also a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets as part of the group that bought the organization from Michael Jordan for $3 billion.
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William Shatner slams AI fake news claiming he's dying, had heated Erika Kirk confrontation
William Shatner warned fans to be skeptical of "bizarre" stories about him, adding that AI-generated fake news has been spreading on social media that he’s dying.
The "Star Trek" alum clarified that he’s "fit as a fiddle."
"I wanted to put this out yesterday but given the day and the possibility that it would look like a joke I waited for today," Shatner wrote on his Instagram page on Thursday. "There is a page on @facebook that is using AI to create horrible fake news stories about me."
Shatner said the page is known as The Beanstalk Functions Group, which he said appeared to be an event planner in South Africa.
WILLIAM SHATNER TURNS 95 AND GIVES BLUNT LIFE ADVICE THAT KEEPS HIM 'SMOKIN'!'
"They have created stories that say I have stage 4 brain cancer, was in some kind of fight with Erika Kirk and that I’m dying," he continued. "All their stories are monetized. Most of the stories use an AI image of me. Facebook Support will not remove the page."
Facebook told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the page had been removed for "violating our policies."
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Shatner added, "Each story is accompanied by a website link in the post that is hosted on Next.js where some of you may have seen my post to the CEO of that company on X asking him to remove these fake stories. None of these stories are true but they apparently seem genuine enough for fans to repost them across social media and send messages of support to me and my family all while the culprits behind the account make money," he wrote, adding that this shows the "downside of AI and yellow journalism."
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He wrote that while AI "can be a wonderful tool in the right hands; it can be used as a weapon in the wrong hands," urging fans to be skeptical of "bizarre" stories about him.
A couple of hours later, Shatner shared a photo of himself smiling in a patio chair, saying that his daughter told him his granddaughter had heard he had brain cancer.
"She took this photo and sent it to me to upload to prove I'm not ill," he wrote. "The people who are ill are those that are spreading these ridiculous stories. I'm fit as a fiddle. You don't have to worry. This is getting insane."
NY prosecutor sidesteps sanctuary law and coordinates ICE arrest of Guatemalan child rape suspect
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A suspected child rapist from Guatemala who could have been released without bail under New York law was instead sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in a move that skirted the state's sanctuary policies while keeping him off the streets for months before prosecutors secured an indictment, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
"Two progressive reforms...had to be navigated deftly to hold the defendant responsible for his alleged horrific crimes," District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
Due to the state's controversial policies, prosecutors weren't even allowed to ask the judge to set cash bail or bond on the initial charge of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the DA's office.
And because of the state's 2020 "Protect Our Courts Act," ICE agents could be subject to prosecution if they arrested the suspect at the courthouse following his no-bail release.
IGNORED ICE DETAINERS ‘PUT LIVES AT RISK,’ DHS SAYS, TARGETING NEWSOM, PRITZKER, HEALEY
"Incredibly, up in Albany right now there are new sanctuary laws currently under consideration that would have prevented us from even talking to federal immigration authorities," Tierney said. "My message to our state legislators and governor is simple – stop protecting the rights of alleged child rapists at the expense of child victims."
Carlos Aguilar Reynoso, 27, has now been indicted for the alleged rape of a 5-year-old girl he was supposed to be babysitting while her mother was at work on Feb. 1. Her injuries were severe enough to require surgery, according to prosecutors.
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Police arrested Reynoso the next day — before the crime lab finished testing the evidence. So he was initially only charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Tierney's office and the Suffolk County Police Department found a loophole. They released Reynoso with only a desk appearance ticket, rather than bringing him to court — and that allowed them to coordinate his immediate arrest by ICE for allegedly entering the U.S. illegally.
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He was in ICE custody for 11 days while DNA testing was underway. When the results came in, they showed a match between Reynoso and samples collected from the 5-year-old victim, according to Tierney's office.
It would be more than a month before his March 23 arraignment on five charges, including three felonies: sexual assault of a child, first-degree rape and first-degree sex abuse.
He remained in ICE custody the whole time.
In a statement, ICE's New York Enforcement Removal Operations field office director, Kenneth Genalo, said the case shows how Empire State's sanctuary laws expose helpless victims to "unnecessary harm."
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"Had there not been coordination in this case, this depraved criminal — who brutally terrorized a young child who will forever bear the physical and emotional scars of this violent attack — would be free to harm additional children in our state," he said in a statement posted to X.
The charges in the indictment rose to a level that allowed the judge to order Reynoso held without bail at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
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"I would also like to commend ICE as a law enforcement partner for preventing this defendant from potentially fleeing these very serious charges," Tierney said.
Authorities said they declined to release specifics about the case, including where the abuse took place, in order to protect the victim's identity.
Reynoso is due back in court on April 27.
The DA is also taking a hands-on role in the prosecution of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann and has been a critic of bail rules that he has said allow allegedly dangerous people to go back into the community.
Those include a group accused of dismembering someone and scattering body parts around the town of Babylon in 2024.
Dem lawmaker busted on camera slipping into bash with reality TV stars as Americans feel shutdown pain
A Democratic U.S. congressman was caught on camera sneaking in through the side entrance of a premiere watch party for "The Real Housewives of Rhode Island" as the federal government's partial shutdown creeps towards 50 days.
Fox News Digital was on hand Thursday night when Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., attempted to stealthily make his way into the event, where he rubbed elbows with the cast of the new show. The first episode of Bravo's Ocean State-centered season of the massively successful "Real Housewives" franchise aired at 9:00 p.m.
Magaziner co-hosted the event with Democrat state lawmakers Rep. Jackie Baginski and Sen. Hanna Gallo.
He was spotted in a blue jacket and white collared shirt hobnobbing and posing for photos with cast members and other event attendees.
Gallo posted an open invite to the posh party on her Facebook page on March 21. The event began at 7:30 p.m. at the upscale Elliotte on Park in the town of Cranston, featuring hors d'oeuvres, specialty cocktails and door prizes.
BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN RIPS CONGRESS FOR PAID VACATION AS TSA AGENTS STRUGGLE WITHOUT PAY
"I can't wait to see our state in the spotlight, and remember ... bring a friend, bring the drama!" Gallo's invite said.
At the time of the invite, Congress was furiously bickering over a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, as Democrats refused to allocate funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Ultimately, the legislature agreed to partially fund DHS a week ago, and members of both parties hastily jetted off for a spring recess. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was hit hard by the shutdown, and consequently, American travelers were saddled with hours-long lines at airports nationwide.
HOMAN FIRES BACK AT CBS HOST ON DHS SHUTDOWN BLAME, POINTS TO DEMOCRATS AS THE CULPRIT
Some TSA employees received their first paychecks in a month-and-a-half on Thursday, while Americans prepare to travel en masse for the Easter and Passover holidays.
Massive lines at LaGuardia Airport persisted on Thursday.
"Representative Magaziner believes it is outrageous that Speaker Johnson continues to refuse to call the house back from recess," Magaziner's office told Fox News Digital on Friday. "In the meantime, he will continue to hold events in meetings in his district with his constituents."
The federal immigration enforcement agencies, along with the Coast Guard, Secret Service and other DHS entities remain unfunded while lawmakers galavant nationwide.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. was spotted at Disney World earlier this week, and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the influential House Oversight Committee, at a casino bar in Las Vegas.
The White House has urged Congress to return from recess to finish the funding process.
"Nothing will be truly normal again until Democrats do the right thing to fund this agency fully again," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Monday's daily press briefing. "The president has stepped in — in the meantime to do what's right to end this crisis that we've had at air travel, at airports across the country in the meantime.
"But again, Congress needs to come back. Democrats need to fund the Department of Homeland Security so we can formally and fully get these great employees paid long into the future."
Fox News' Eric Mack contributed to this report.
State top cop moves to crush alleged DHS records restriction as county denies ICE-out
FIRST ON FOX: Montana’s attorney general is demanding a county reverse a policy whereby the state's top cop denies Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to criminal justice data, warning the position is unlawful and undermines coordination with federal law enforcement, as a top local official pushed back.
Montana banned sanctuary cities under Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's pen in 2021, and that policy also allows Attorney General Austin Knudsen to enforce compliance and investigate alleged aberrations under threat of civil action against any such state agency or local or county government.
Knudsen notified Gallatin County — anchored by the city of Bozeman — that its policy stance is "legally incorrect" and that Big Sky Country is not Big Sur.
"Let me be clear: Montana is not California. This state does not embrace policies that isolate law enforcement partners or undermine the enforcement of duly enacted federal law," Knudsen will write to Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell.
When asked about claims her county does not recognize ICE as a criminal justice agency qualified to receive confidential criminal justice information (CCJI), Cromwell said such a claim is not accurate.
When presented with the text of an email sent from her aide to county law enforcement stating the Gallatin County Attorney's Office does "not legally recognize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a law enforcement agency entitled to receive Confidential Criminal Justice Information (CCJI)," Cromwell's office responded several hours later with a lengthy release stating in part that "there is no blanket policy in Gallatin County prohibiting cooperation with ICE or any federal agency, nor is there a policy restricting the sharing of information."
"The County Commission, not the County Attorney’s Office, is the only governing body with the authority to establish county policy," Cromwell's office said.
"In the specific instance raised by the Records Department in September, ICE requested nonpublic CCJI regarding an individual for a civil matter. After legal review, the civil division of the County Attorney’s Office determined that ICE, in this context, was not acting as a 'criminal justice agency' under Montana’s CCJI statutes because the request was civil in nature and did not fall within the statutory definition tied to the administration of criminal justice," the statement also read, adding that the email in question should not be considered "policy."
FORMER MAINE COUNCILOR GIVES IMPASSIONED SPEECH OPPOSING CITY BLOCKING COOPERATION WITH ICE
In his own warning to Cromwell, Knudsen wrote that "Montana supports cooperation among all levels of law enforcement, including ICE, to ensure community safety and uphold the rule of law."
"I write in response to your office’s determination that [ICE] is not a ‘criminal justice agency’ entitled to receive CCJI absent a court order. Your policy is legally incorrect and inconsistent with both Montana law and governing federal statutes. Montana law defines the term ‘criminal justice agency’ as a matter of statute—not local discretion," he wrote, adding that it is not up to an individual prosecutor to make that call.
An October email from a Cromwell aide to two county law enforcement officials, obtained by Fox News Digital, described the policy that drew Knudsen’s ire.
"Good afternoon [officials], I am writing to inform you that the Gallatin County Attorney's Office does not legally recognize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a law enforcement agency entitled to receive Confidential Criminal Justice Information (CCJI).
FORMER MAINE COUNCILOR GIVES IMPASSIONED SPEECH OPPOSING CITY BLOCKING COOPERATION WITH ICE
"Accordingly, ICE is not authorized under Montana law to access CCJI without a court order."
"Therefore, ICE is only entitled to public documents. All other documents being requested should be processed like a standard CCJI request," the email read.
When asked about the reported policy, Cromwell told Fox News Digital, "That report is inaccurate."
Knudsen said in his letter to Cromwell on Thursday that Montana’s legal definition of a criminal justice agency is intentionally broad to incorporate federal agencies when applicable and that ICE "plainly meets that definition."
He went on to tell Cromwell that state law allows for an expansion of the definition of "law enforcement agency" rather than a restriction and that Gallatin’s position endangers public safety because ICE must be able to share information to keep the community safe.
Knudsen also accused the county in the letter of crafting the policy as a "deliberate effort to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities while avoiding explicit acknowledgment."
DHS TORCHES NEW JERSEY’S PROFANE ‘F---ICE ACT’ AS ASSAULTS ON AGENTS SKYROCKET 1,300%
"Such an approach resembles a ‘sanctuary’ policy in practice, if not in name," he said, noting Gov. Greg Gianforte’s ban on sanctuary cities.
Knudsen then gave Gallatin until Monday to take corrective action and communicate that to him via Solicitor General Christian Corrigan — the state’s principal litigator — and to retain all documents and correspondence about the policy.
Knudsen has been involved in several nationally relevant issues, including collaborating with West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey to object to the inclusion of a controversially constructed climate change chapter in a scientific evidence manual for federal judges.
Montana’s capital, Helena, also reportedly backed down from its stance of noncooperation with ICE following legal threats from Knudsen’s office.
That move came after the city’s commissioners heard analysis from outside legal counsel that Helena could face thousands of dollars in penalties every five days if it were found to be violating the state’s ban on sanctuary policies, according to Montana Public Radio.
ICE has continued to face political and, at times, physical attacks amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, with a four-figure increase in assaults and threats against ICE and CBP agents, according to information shared with Fox News Digital by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Trump eyes next attorney general as key GOP senator signals potential roadblock
President Donald Trump's decision to fire Attorney General Pam Bondi tees up another whirlwind confirmation in the Senate, and some in the upper chamber are already drawing lines in the sand.
The Senate confirmed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin last month after a sprint to elevate him from lawmaker to Cabinet official following Kristi Noem’s firing. Lawmakers will again be tasked with confirming Bondi’s replacement in the coming weeks.
While Trump has selected Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) on an interim basis, speculation is swirling over who he will tap as the next attorney general.
PAM BONDI ALREADY FIRED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, CABINET OFFICIAL TEED UP AS REPLACEMENT: SOURCES
Whoever he picks will have to go through the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said in an interview with CNN that the next nominee must align with his views on the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.
"The threshold for somebody following Pam Bondi ends the moment I hear they say one thing that excused the events of January 6," Tillis said. "I’ve been very clear on that. So I hope whoever they have in mind to follow General Bondi is very clear-eyed about my position on January 6."
"That’s why I didn’t support two other nominees who were coming through the Judiciary Committee, and I won’t support any nominee who thinks any element of January 6 was excusable," he continued.
MULLIN CONFIRMED AS DHS CHIEF AS LAWMAKERS NEAR SOLUTION ON SHUTDOWN STANDOFF
Tillis will have a key vote on the Republican-led panel that could make or break any nominee’s chances of reaching a full Senate vote. Last year, he notably tanked Trump’s pick for top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., Ed Martin, over his comments on Jan. 6.
Trump is reportedly eyeing Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin for the job, but whether he taps another sitting senator remains an open question.
Some lawmakers in the upper chamber are reportedly pushing for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to get the job. But Lee — who is pushing for the Senate to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act — doesn’t appear keen on the idea.
BONDI OUSTER IGNITES BIPARTISAN UPROAR: 'PARTISAN, PETULANT, POLITICAL HACK'
"I’m not going anywhere," Lee said on X.
Then there is Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who was previously under consideration for the job when Trump won in 2024.
Schmitt has a strong relationship with the president that dates back to his first campaign and has developed into regular invitations to join Trump for rounds of golf. But he turned down the job, opting to stay in the Senate after just winning his seat in 2022.
He confirmed his decision on X at the time, saying he was "just getting started" in the Senate.
"We need America First fighters who don’t just say they support the agenda but are willing to stand in the breach and actually fight for it — and for the hopes and dreams of the American people," Schmitt said. "I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and be a champion for President Trump in the Senate."