Category: fox-news/politics/house-of-representatives/republicans

Several senior House Republicans still silent on Trump 2024 amid growing pressure for party unity

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Former President Trump’s decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary this week spurred several new endorsements from lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have so far been silent on the race.

Among the most notable pivots was House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., who endorsed Trump over the weekend minutes after his preferred candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, dropped out of the race.

As of Thursday afternoon, Trump has more than 120 House Republican endorsements – the majority of the House GOP Conference and far outpacing former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s one backer.

Fox News Digital took a look at some of the senior House Republicans who have yet to weigh in despite mounting calls to unify behind the former president.

RAMASWAMY: HALEY SHOULD DROP OUT FOR GOOD OF COUNTRY AS OBSERVERS SAY SHE'S STILL ‘ALIVE AND KICKING’

Comer has not weighed in on the 2024 presidential primary publicly so far. It’s worth noting his hands have been full on Capitol Hill leading an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s rival, President Biden.

Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., who are also leading the inquiry, have both endorsed Trump. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Comer’s office but did not immediately hear back.

HALEY AND PHILLIPS OUTPERFORMED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT IT'S STILL A TRUMP VS BIDEN HORSE RACE 

Fitzpatrick, a more moderate member from a Pennsylvania swing district, also hasn’t picked a side in the 2024 primary.

When Trump was indicted in June over his handling of classified documents, Fitzpatrick was one of the few Republicans who did not rush to his defense. The former FBI agent urged people to respect the legal process and not rush to judgment.

"No one is above the law or beyond prosecution," he said. "No one should be targeted for prosecution merely because of their status, position or affiliation."

Fitzpatrick’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McMorris Rodgers is seen as one of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, but unlike Johnson, R-La., she has yet to weigh in on the 2024 presidential primary race. Johnson endorsed Trump late last year.

In December 2019, she was named a state honorary co-chair for Trump’s reelection bid, according to the Spokesman-Review newspaper.

She made clear there was some distance between them after the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, reportedly telling constituents in August 2023 that efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss that day were "un-American."

BIDEN CHALLENGER DEAN PHILLIPS BLASTS PRESIDENT AS 'UNELECTABLE AND WEAK' AS BIDEN SET TO SKIP NEW HAMPSHIRE

But she reportedly said, "I also believe that Donald Trump, or any American, deserves due process."

Fox News Digital reached out to McMorris Rodgers' campaign for comment.

Roy went into the 2024 presidential primary cycle as one of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ most enthusiastic supporters. But unlike Freedom Caucus Chair Good, Roy has not stepped behind Trump so far in the two-candidate race. 

Trump threatened to recruit a primary challenger against Roy, who is popular in his district and running unopposed, for his support of Trump’s former rival.

Roy said on CNN in late December, "I was just at multiple events with Ron DeSantis, where he’s shaking their hands and looking them in the eye while Donald Trump hangs out in his basement in Florida, afraid to actually debate."

He said on "Fox Across America" on Thursday that Trump is "likely going to be the nominee" and called on him to "stand up in defense of the hardworking American family getting steamrolled by corporate America and by Republicans too weak-kneed to fight for them."

Roy's office pointed to his earlier comments when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday afternoon.

Moore stepped into House leadership after a crowded race for a position left by Johnson when he took the gavel in October.

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He’s rarely spoken out about Republican Party politics in the 2024 presidential primary, preferring to keep election discussions focused on the House of Representatives.

With his recent leadership role, Moore is also the highest-ranking House Republican to have voted in favor of a Sept. 11-style bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Fox News Digital tried to contact his campaign but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

Republicans probe DHS Secretary Mayorkas over role in housing migrants on federal lands

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FIRST ON FOX: House Republican leaders on the Natural Resources Committee are probing the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) role in placing migrants on federal lands in New York.

In a letter sent Monday to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., who chairs the panel's oversight subcommittee, cited interviews they conducted with federal officials who confirmed DHS's involvement in the decision to house migrants at Gateway National Recreation Area's Floyd Bennett Field, managed by the National Park Service (NPS).

While DHS, according to the letter, intervened to ensure Floyd Bennett Field, in New York City's Brooklyn borough, would be leased to the local government for migrant housing, the land is managed by the Department of the Interior (DOI) and NPS. In one interview, a senior DOI official told congressional investigators that they "did what DHS asked us to do" when they moved forward with the plan last year.

"The Committee is deeply concerned with the Biden administration leasing NPS land for use as a migrant encampment, a use that is not only inconsistent with the National Park Service Organic Act, but publicly recognized as legally perilous by DOI," Westerman and Gosar wrote to Mayorkas. 

REPUBLICANS ACCELERATE PROBE INTO BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S ACTIONS TO HOUSE MIGRANTS ON FEDERAL LANDS

"Moreover, the Committee is concerned with the role DHS played in the process, particularly as you described it in the letters to Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul and as described to Committee staff by DOI and NPS officials," the Republican lawmakers continued.

MAYOR'S OFFICE AVOIDS SAYING WHETHER IT BACKS NONCITIZENS VOTING AFTER WARNING MIGRANT CRISIS WILL DESTROY NYC

In August, Mayorkas sent letters to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, hitting back at the officials over their handling of the surge of migrants in New York City, Politico reported at the time. He further noted "structural issues" with New York's handling of the crisis and implored the city and state to accept a lease DOI sent for the temporary use of Floyd Bennett Field to house migrants.

"DOI seeks to finalize that lease as soon as you are ready," Mayorkas wrote to Hochul and Adams, according to Politico.

Weeks later, on Sept. 15, DOI and the local parties executed the agreement to lease portions of Floyd Bennett Field's property. Officials then constructed temporary housing on land along the shore of Jamaica Bay.

However, the Republican leaders have pointed out that, prior to the decision to lease the property, Hochul noted the DOI had itself argued such an action would likely violate federal laws. The governor, who has called for federal assistance in dealing with her state's migrant influx, remarked one month prior that officials told her office "they do not allow for use of shelter on any of their properties."

REPUBLICANS FUME AT BIDEN FOR VACATIONING AS BORDER CROSSINGS EXPLODE: 'DERELICTION OF DUTY'

The Republicans have also probed how the White House Council on Environmental Quality appears to have allowed DOI to bypass the normal eco review process mandated under the National Environmental Policy Act. The 1969 law requires federal agencies to review the environmental impacts of projects and proposals on federal land before approval.

Meanwhile, the housing facility erected at Floyd Bennett Field has been heavily criticized by migrants as inhumane and, according to a Venezuelan mother of three interviewed by The City, "like a hell." Thousands of migrants at the encampment were evacuated earlier this month and sent to a New York City high school, forcing the school to cancel in-person classes.

The Natural Resources Committee's ongoing investigation comes as migrants continue to flood the southern border in record numbers and Republicans call for the Biden administration to make structural reforms to secure the border.

In December, more than 302,000 migrants were encountered attempting to cross the U.S. southern border, by far the largest single month figure ever recorded. The number also brought fiscal 2024 first-quarter numbers to 785,000 encounters, the highest number ever recorded.

DHS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Republicans negotiate with president’s brother on deposition terms

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President Biden’s younger brother, James Biden, is in active negotiations to appear for a deposition before House Republicans, Fox News has learned. 

The younger Biden was subpoenaed as part of the investigation into Hunter Biden and President Biden in November. 

House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden believe that James has knowledge of Hunter’s business deals and whether the president was involved. 

The president’s brother was scheduled to appear for a closed-door deposition in early December, but that date came and went. Conversations continue between the House Oversight Committee and Biden’s legal team. 

HUNTER BIDEN'S HOLLYWOOD LAWYER ‘SUGAR BRO’ ALLEGEDLY VIOLATED PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT RULES: BAR COMPLAINT

"I'm going to hold off criticism of the president's brother. He obviously has due process and we have heard from his attorney. We're trying to make that work and I feel like that'll happen soon," House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said last month.

The Washington Post reported in December that James Biden’s conversations were swept up in an FBI investigation, though he was not the target. 

HUNTER HAS TIES TO NEARLY 2 DOZEN CURRENT, FORMER BIDEN OFFICIALS AS FEDERAL CHARGES, HOUSE PROBES LOOM

According to the Post, Biden’s conversations were recorded as part of an FBI investigation into a Mississippi attorney named Richard "Dickie" Scruggs. 

The outlet reported that the FBI secretly recorded conversations involving Biden because of his relationship with Scruggs, who went to federal prison for a bribery conviction involving a judge. 

James Biden was not the subject of the FBI probe and was never charged or accused of wrongdoing by the bureau.

James Biden’s nephew, Hunter Biden, is scheduled for a closed-door deposition on Feb. 28 after a public back and forth with the committee that almost led to a contempt of Congress vote.

‘Sense of hopelessness’: Michael McCaul sounds alarm on border patrol mental health crisis

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MCALLEN, Texas — House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul said he’s "profoundly" alarmed at the impact the ongoing border crisis is having on Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents’ mental health. 

The senior Republican spoke to Fox News Digital in the border city of McAllen, Texas, a bipartisan congressional delegation met with border and immigration officials while also touring facilities where migrants are brought and their asylum claims processed.

McCaul said the state of the border is "just worse" each time he’s seen it.

"Every time I come down here, it gets worse; the lack of detention space, the human tragedy you see here; what the Border Patrol has to deal with every day, day in and day out, looking at these migrants that are pouring in; this sense of hopelessness, that it won't stop," the Texas Republican said.

REPUBLICANS, DEMS SPAR AT MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING AS STATE AGS DESCRIBE IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS

"Profoundly, I worry about the mental health of our border patrol. The suicide rate is going up. They don't have the proper resources."

Seventeen CBP agents died by suicide in 2022 alone, Chris Cabrera, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Congress in March 2023. That’s the highest number since CBP began tracking it in 2007. There were 19,357 CPB agents on the job in 2022.

Since then, the number of migrant encounters at the border has continued to see historic highs, most recently this past December, while CBP has struggled somewhat to replenish its retiring forces.

REPUBLICANS MOVE FORWARD WITH MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT AMID EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY: DEMS DECRY ‘MAGA SPECTACLE’

McCaul said the cartels on the other side of the border that are bringing a constant flow of drug and human trafficking are better equipped, in some ways, than the federal officials patrolling on the U.S. side.

"For instance, we only have 20 drones here in the Rio Grande Valley sector, and the cartels are way out numbering us. And that's just eyes and ears on the ground," McCaul said. "So, we're not equipping them. But most importantly, more than money, is just the lack of policy."

Cabrera spoke to the media during his recent border visit, describing what he said were regular instances of officers getting overwhelmed.

MEXICAN SOLDIERS FIND FACTORY PRODUCING DRONE BOMBS, GRENADE LAUNCHERS, FAKE MILITARY UNIFORMS

"There’s times when you’re out there, two, three agents, and you’ll have 100 people there," he said.

"But then you also have the medical emergencies: pregnant women, dehydration, kids with illnesses, people that have broken legs along the journey. And then we have people that fall off the wall. So, while we’re dealing with two, three hundred people, or 50 people, you’re also having to deal with medical emergencies and issues like that."

Experts bash White House claims of shrouding Hunter Biden’s art buyers: ‘Proved as abstract’ as his art

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Top legal and ethical experts weighed in on art gallerist Georges Bergès' revelation of Hunter Biden's knowledge of his art buyers, saying the American people were "misled."

Fox News Digital reached out to several legal and ethical experts on Bergès' revelation during his closed-door, transcribed interview with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees earlier this month.

Bergès told the committees that an agreement to shield the knowledge of Hunter Biden's buyers from him was not put in place for months after the White House's statement that a "system" had been "established" to do so.

HUNTER BIDEN KNEW 70% OF ART BUYERS, CONTRADICTING WHITE HOUSE NARRATIVE ON ‘ANONYMOUS' COLLECTORS: GALLERIST

Hunter Biden's gallerist said that the first son knew the identities of approximately 70% of those buyers.

"The White House effort was the ultimate example of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted," George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital.

"The clear message given repeatedly to Congress and the public was that an ethical plan was in place to prevent such knowledge," he continued.

"The ethical claims of the White House proved as abstract as Hunter's art pieces," Turley said. "In reality, the breach had occurred long before the ethical plan was implemented."

"The testimony that Bergès did not have interactions with the White House on the plan further undermines these claims. Indeed, Bergès admitted that he was reading these statements from the White House with no knowledge of what they were referencing. Yet, Bergès and the Bidens proceeded knowing that the public was being misled."

Former Bush administration ethics chief Richard Painter told Fox News Digital that the White House's "whole arrangement of keeping the buyers secret was completely the wrong way to go."

Painter said the White House "should have had nothing to do" with Bergès, and that the "best approach" for Hunter Biden would have been to "not sell the art at all during his father's presidency and certainly not sell it at those prices."

"The worst option is what they chose, which is to keep it all, to say it's all going to be confidential, and Hunter Biden won't know and nobody will know," Painter said. "And this is exactly what I said happens, is that the word gets around."

"Of course you find out who bought the art," Painter continued. "People hang the art on the wall."

"They don't stick it in closet," he added.

Attorney Sol Weisenberg said that we "don’t know right now the full ethical implications, if any, of this latest White House falsehood regarding Hunter Biden’s special privileges and ethical/legal lapses."

"It is simply another example of the Biden family’s leisurely approach to influence peddling," Weisenberg said. "As a citizen, I would rather know who is buying the paintings and how much they are paying than operating under the false illusion that Hunter and the family are being kept in the dark about the source of this latest largesse."

Fox News Digital reached out to Bergès and the White House for comment.

Bergès' interview with the committees came as part of the House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

House investigators, during his interview, showed Bergès a statement made by then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki on July 9, 2021.

"After careful consideration, a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards," she said. "All interactions regarding the selling of art and the setting of prices will be handled by professional galleries, adhering to the highest industry standards. Any offer out of the normal court would be rejected out of hand."

Psaki added, "The galleries will not share information about buyers or prospective buyers, including their identities, with Hunter Biden or the administration, which provides quite a level of protection."

When pressed further, Psaki stressed that "it would be challenging for an anonymous person who we don’t know and Hunter Biden doesn’t know to have influence — so that’s a protection." 

However, Bergès testified that at the time of the White House’s July 2021 statement, he had an agreement with Hunter Biden which called for him, instead, "to disclose to Hunter Biden who the purchasers of his art were." Bergès said that contract was agreed to in December 2020. 

Bergès said that it was not until September 2021 that a new agreement with Hunter Biden was created. That agreement stated that "the gallery will not disclose the name of any buyers of artist’s artwork to artist or any agent of artist."

Bergès stressed, though, that there was not a "White House-involved agreement," and that Hunter Biden did know the identities of approximately 70% of the buyers of his art. Meanwhile, Bergès testified that he had spoken to President Biden both on the phone and in person.

The art gallerist previously told Fox News Digital he "never violated the agreement we had with Hunter Biden."

"If he knew the identities of some of the buyers — it’s because they were his friends or by happenstance," Bergès said. "My obligation to Hunter is to not disclose the buyers — which I haven’t." 

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed reporting.

Hunter Biden’s art dealer lashes out after testimony, says Congress is where ‘real’ influence peddling happens

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EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden's New York City art dealer lashed out in defense of the first son following his closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee last week, arguing the halls of Congress was where the "real" influence peddling happens.

In an email to Fox News Digital, Georges Bergès, owner of the Georges Bergès Art Gallery in Manhattan that showcases Biden's paintings, decried the focus on his business as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, all "while the pigs are at the trough in Washington, D.C."

"Broadly speaking, if the issue is selling influence — then no one needs to look outside Washington, D.C., as there are plenty of lobbyist[s] advertising all the influence they have for sale on K street," Bergès wrote. 

ART DEALER REVEALS HUNTER BIDEN KNEW "SUGAR BROTHER" WAS TOP BUYER, MAKING WH ETHICS PLEDGE A ‘SHAM’: COMER

"If the issue is fear of family members of powerful politicians leveraging their ties for personal gain, then ban former congressm[e]n and their relatives from ever becoming lobbyists, but that’s never going to happen because that’s where the real peddling is happening," he wrote.

"So they want us to focus on the gallery in [New York City] while the pigs are at the trough in Washington D.C.," he added.

Bergès also told Fox that he never violated the agreement his gallery had with Hunter in which he would conceal his buyers' identities to avoid ethical problems for the presidential family selling potentially high-value items.

HOUSE RULES PANEL PAUSES CONSIDERATION OF HUNTER BIDEN CONTEMPT AMID NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW DEPOSITION DATE

"If [Hunter] knew the identities of some of the buyers — it’s because they were his friends or by happenstance," he wrote. "My obligation to Hunter is to not disclose the buyers — which I haven’t." 

The White House said in July 2021 that the "system" had been "established" to ensure the anonymity of Hunter's buyers' identities. But according to the transcript of his testimony, Bergès said that the agreement was not set up for several months following that statement and that the first son knew the identities of approximately 70% of those buyers.

Bergès’ testimony came after the House formalized the impeachment inquiry against Biden last month. It is being led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Comer, Jordan to issue new subpoena for Hunter Biden as deposition talks reignite

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House Republicans signaled they would subpoena Hunter Biden again in the near future after the president’s son opened the door to a deposition with impeachment investigators. 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell over the weekend stating that they would be willing to subpoena him a second time if that meant his cooperation in their probe.

"The committees welcome Mr. Biden’s newfound willingness to testify in a deposition setting under subpoena," the letter said. 

HOUSE GOP SAYS HUNTER BIDEN ‘VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW' BY DEFYING SUBPOENA, PREPARE CONTEMPT RESOLUTION

"Although the Committee’s subpoenas are lawful and remain legally enforceable, as an accommodation to Mr. Biden and at your request, we are prepared to issue subpoenas compelling Mr. Biden’s appearance at a deposition on a new date in the coming weeks."

It comes as House Republicans prepare a chamber-wide vote on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for skipping out on an earlier subpoena for a closed-door deposition.

But a source familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that Comer could recommend pumping the breaks on that contempt vote if Hunter Biden and his lawyers genuinely cooperate and work out a make-up deposition date.

HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER HUNTER BIDEN CONTEMPT RESOLUTIONS NEXT WEEK, SETTING UP FLOOR VOTE

Lowell wrote to the committee chairs on Friday arguing that the initial subpoena was invalid because it was issued before the House voted to formally authorize its impeachment inquiry last month.

"If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr. Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition," Lowell’s letter said. "We will accept such a subpoena on Mr. Biden's behalf."

HOUSE COMMITTEES FORMALLY RECOMMEND TO HOLD HUNTER BIDEN IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS

Hunter Biden and his lawyers had offered to come in for a public hearing, something the GOP committee chairs said they would be open to after a closed-door session had taken place.

Instead, he opted to make a surprise appearance outside the U.S. Capitol on the morning of his scheduled deposition, criticizing Republicans and their probe.

"They’ve invaded my privacy, attacked my wife and children," Hunter Biden said at the time. "Tried to dehumanize me and embarrass and damage my father."

He again made a surprise visit to the Capitol last week as the House Oversight Committee met to advance his contempt resolution.

Key moderate Republican comes out in favor of impeaching Mayorkas, says he should be ‘tried for treason’

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EXCLUSIVE: A key moderate Republican lawmaker is coming out in support of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, bringing House GOP leaders one step closer to unifying their conference on the issue.

Rep. John James, R-Mich., who represents a swing district that former President Donald Trump won by just 1% in 2020, told Fox News Digital that not only should Mayorkas be impeached but tried for treason as well.

"Secretary Mayorkas must be impeached and tried for treason," he said. 

"Evidence will prove that Mayorkas’ sustained and willful betrayal of the public trust makes him an accessory to the poisoning of millions of Americans, complicit in a modern-day slave trade and so derelict in his duty to secure the homeland that it crosses unequivocally into the realm of high crimes and misdemeanors."

TEXAS SEIZES CONTROL OF PARK, BLOCKS BORDER PATROL FROM ENTERING, AS PART OF ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EFFORTS

House Republicans kicked off the process to impeach Mayorkas last week when the Homeland Security Committee held its first hearing into the matter on Wednesday. 

Democrats have decried the move as political, while Republicans have accused Mayorkas of being responsible for the migrant crisis at the southern border. The number of encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border broke 300,000 for the month of December, shattering records.

BIDEN LAWSUIT OVER TEXAS IMMIGRATION LAW LATEST ATTEMPT TO STIFLE STATE'S MOVES TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Any future House floor vote on impeachment will likely not get any support from the left. For GOP leadership, that means bringing together a Republican conference that has been highly fractured for much of this term and getting moderates like James on board.

Under the current circumstances, House GOP leaders cannot lose more than two votes to still pass anything along party lines. 

James was among more than 60 House Republicans who visited the border at the start of this month.

"I believe that legal immigration is an economic and moral imperative for this nation. But we're talking about border security right now," he told reporters on a press call afterward.

BIDEN DOJ SEEKS SUPREME COURT INTERVENTION OVER TEXAS RAZOR WIRE AT SOUTHERN BORDER

"We have Border Patrol agents that are underfunded, that are underappreciated, and they're at their wit's end. And part of the only reason they're still sticking around is because if they leave, they feel like they're leaving their buddies behind. That resonates with me… as a former military member."

James also discussed the toll of human trafficking by smugglers taking people across the border illegally.

"These are human beings we’re talking about. These are men and women. These are children," he said. "These are God's creatures, who are being herded like cattle, like chattel, like, like animals, by these coyotes. And they're being bought and sold to the tune of $32 million per week just in the Del Rio sector."

Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for fueling the crisis by rolling back Trump-era border policies. 

House conservatives are currently pushing to bring many of them back via their own border security bill, known as H.R.2.

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing in the Senate to cobble together a border security deal — talks which Mayorkas has been part of.

Asked for comment on Republicans' impeachment push, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a memo, "After decades of Congressional inaction on our broken immigration laws, Secretary Mayorkas and a bipartisan group of Senators are working hard to try and find real solutions to address these challenges. Instead of working in a bipartisan way to fix our broken immigration laws, the House Majority is wasting time on baseless and pointless political attacks by trying to impeach Secretary Mayorkas."

The memo also pointed out that Republican lawmakers have fundraised off the Mayorkas impeachment push and the rhetoric around it, and that some in the GOP have decried it as a waste of time.

Rep. Rosendale vows to restore Trump-era policies with immigration package: ‘Biden is destroying our country’

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FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., on Friday introduced a broad immigration package that includes measures to "shut down the border" and reverse key Biden-era policies that Republicans blame for the historic crisis at the southern border.

The package introduces or reintroduces five bills that would limit entries into the U.S., restore Trump policies that Republicans have credited for slowing illegal immigration and limit the effects of immigration on the U.S.

The "Remain in Mexico Act" would restore the Trump-era policy of the same name that kept migrants in Mexico as they waited for their asylum hearings rather than being released into the U.S. 

Supporters of the program said it stopped a key pull factor drawing migrants to the border but was shut down by the Biden administration, which called it ineffective and inhumane.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARING ON BIDEN ADMIN ‘EFFORTS TO UNDERMINE’ IMMIGRATION LAW 

Another bill in the package would make it a federal crime to flee from law enforcement at checkpoints, changing current law that only makes it illegal to do so in a vehicle at high speed.

Meanwhile, the American Worker Protection Act is focused on legal immigration and would codify a Trump-era rule regarding H-1B visas, a controversial guest worker program used predominantly by Big Tech. 

REPUBLICANS, DEMS SPAR AT MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING AS STATE AGS DESCRIBE IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS 

The rule, an effort to prevent American workers from being replaced by cheaper foreign competitors, would have changed the methodology for the wage level that must be met by those seeking to bring in foreign workers instead of the current lottery system. That rule was scrapped by the Biden administration. 

Rosendale’s Mass Immigration Reduction Act would also create a moratorium on most immigration for five years, and it would only be lifted once the number of illegal crossings is under 10,000 a year. In fiscal 2023, there were more than 2.4 million such crossings. A version of that bill was first introduced in the early 2000s.

Finally, the Count Only Citizens Act would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship and legal presence question in the census so that illegal immigrants are not counted for the purposes of congressional representation. President Trump had pushed for a similar move, but it was unsuccessful.

MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES 

"Biden is destroying our country with his open border policies," Rosendale said in a statement. "My immigration bills will set the proper mechanisms in place to shut down the border, give DHS the tools to pursue criminals evading border checkpoints, encourage American companies to hire American employees, protect taxpayer dollars by only counting citizens in the census and require those waiting on an immigration hearing to wait in Mexico.

"This package puts into statute the many successful policies that President Trump implemented and will not only tackle the crisis head on, but it will also reverse the reckless, crime-encouraging, open-border policies of the Biden administration."

The package is the latest effort by Republicans to tackle the ongoing crisis at the southern border. Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for rolling back Trump-era policies and expanding releases into the U.S. interior.

The administration says it is dealing with a Hemisphere-wide crisis and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform — including greater legal immigration and an amnesty for illegal immigrants — from Congress.

But Republicans instead have eyed more restrictions on asylum and releases as part of any supplemental funding deal and, as Rosendale’s bill package shows, there is an appetite among some members for placing some restrictions on legal immigration as well.

Hunter Biden lawyers say they will ‘comply for a hearing or deposition’ if House panels issue new subpoena

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FIRST ON FOX: Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell told the House Oversight and House Judiciary Committees on Friday that if a new subpoena is issued under the "duly authorized impeachment inquiry," the first son "will comply for a hearing or deposition." 

The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees this week formally recommended to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, after he defied congressional subpoenas for a closed-door deposition as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden. 

HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER HUNTER BIDEN CONTEMPT RESOLUTIONS NEXT WEEK, SETTING UP FLOOR VOTE

But Lowell penned a letter to the committees on Friday, saying the initial subpoenas were "legally invalid" as they were issued before the full House of Representatives voted to formalize the impeachment inquiry against the president. 

"If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr. Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition," Lowell wrote. "We will accept such a subpoena on Mr. Biden's behalf." 

Lowell's offer comes ahead of a House Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16, where lawmakers will prepare a contempt of Congress resolution. Once prepared, it will set up a full floor vote on whether to recommend the first son for prosecution on the matter. 

Sources told Fox News Digital a full House vote on the matter could come as early as Wednesday. 

Lowell, in a footnote, states that "Rep. Glenn Ivey suggested a procedure for a hybrid process-a public deposition; hearing with alternating rounds of questions for Republicans and Democrats, and with similar rules (e.g., role of counsel in questioning), as is done in a closed-door deposition." 

HOUSE COMMITTEES FORMALLY RECOMMEND TO HOLD HUNTER BIDEN IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS

"Four Republicans actually voted in committee in support of this process," the footnote states. "Perhaps that could be the basis for our discussion." 

Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance at the House Oversight Committee markup with his attorneys Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris. Biden and his attorneys ultimately left the markup session before the vote on the resolution. 

Hunter Biden, ahead of his subpoenaed deposition on Dec. 13, had offered to testify publicly. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, rejected his request, stressing that the first son would not have special treatment and pointed to the dozens of other witnesses who have appeared, as compelled, for their interviews and depositions. Comer and Jordan vowed to release the transcript of Hunter Biden’s deposition.

The first son, though, defied the subpoena, ignored the offer and delivered a public statement outside the Capitol. At the time, he said his father "was not financially involved in my business." 

Comer said Wednesday that Hunter Biden "blantantly defied two lawful subpoenas." 

Comer said "Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with the committees’ subpoenas is a criminal act" that "constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution as prescribed by law."

HOUSE GOP SAYS HUNTER BIDEN ‘VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW' BY DEFYING SUBPOENA, PREPARE CONTEMPT RESOLUTION

"We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name," Comer said. "All Americans must be treated equally under the law. And that includes the Bidens." 

Lowell's offer also comes after Hunter Biden on Thursday pleaded not guilty to all federal tax charges stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss's investigation. Hunter Biden also pleaded not guilty in September to all federal gun charges from Weiss' probe. 

Meanwhile, the White House refused to answer questions on whether it was told in advance that Hunter Biden would attend the House Oversight's markup session on Wednesday. 

"So here's what I'll say. And I've said this many times before: Hunter, as you all know, as a private citizen, he's not a member of this White House," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "He makes his own decisions, like he did today about how to respond to Congress."

She went on to refer "any further questions, any additional questions about this process" to Hunter Biden’s attorneys.

When pressed again on whether the White House was informed in advance, Jean-Pierre said, "I don’t have anything — we don’t have anything else to share beyond that."

Last month, Comer and Jordan expanded their investigation to probe whether President Biden was involved in his son's "scheme" to defy his subpoena for deposition, which, they say, "could constitute an impeachable offense."