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Pope Francis dead at 88, Vatican says

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Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, who worked to instill progressive influences on the global church while maintaining unity with conservatives amid years of turmoil, died Monday morning, Vatican camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced. 

He was 88 years old.

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«Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church,» Farrell announced.

«He taught us to live the values ​​of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.»

U.S. Vice President JD Vance had just met with the pope on Sunday.

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«I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul,» Vance said early Monday morning in a post on X.

Pope Francis meets with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his delegation during an audience at Casa Santa Marta on April 20, 2025, in Vatican City, Vatican. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

The pope preached frequently on the Catholic virtues of mercy, kindness and humility. He did not shy away from controversy, and American presidents, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, were not immune from his views. 

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Less than a month into President Donald Trump’s presidency, the pontiff criticized the Republican’s plans for the mass deportations of migrants, stressing that the forceful removal of people simply for their immigration status deprives them of their inherent dignity and «will end badly.» 

In a strongly worded letter to U.S. Catholic Bishops, the pope appeared to counter remarks made by Vice President JD Vance — who had recently converted to Catholicism — after he suggested Americans should care for family, communities and the country before caring about others. 

«Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,» the pontiff wrote. «Worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations.» 

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POPE FRANCIS EXPOSES CONFIDENTIAL DETAILS ABOUT HIS ELECTION AND RELATIONSHIPS IN LENGTHY INTERVIEW 

Pope Francis in Kazakhstan

Pope Francis meets with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 15, 2022. (Reuters/Pavel Mikheyev)

Pope Francis in 2015 became the first pontiff to ever address a Joint Meeting of Congress where he spoke on a range of topics including immigration, family, the death penalty, climate change, extremism, religious freedom and the refugee crisis. 

He joined American bishops and urged American leaders to abolish capital punishment and said Congress has a «role to play» in addressing global warming. 

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In 2022 he questioned then President Biden’s conscience on abortion in an interview during which he described the commander-in-chief’s religious identity and views on abortion as incoherent. «A month after conception, the DNA of the fetus is already there and the organs are aligned. There is human life,» the pontiff said in the interview with Spanish-language outlet Univision. 

He also weighed in on candidates Trump and Harris during the election campaign, where he bashed them both, saying, «Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ he said, according to the Associated Press. 

Just weeks before President Trump’s second inauguration, he appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy to be the Archbishop of Washington. McElroy had been critical of Trump’s immigration policies during his first term as president. 

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Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 to Italian immigrant parents in Argentina, Francis made history as the first pope from the Americas — as well as the first Jesuit to hold the office.  

He was elected pope in 2013 after the almost unprecedented retirement of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.  

Bergolio’s father, Mario, was an accountant for the railway industry, and his mother, Regina, was a homemaker and caregiver for her five children.  

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POPE FRANCIS FUELS NEW SPECULATION ON FUTURE OF PONTIFICATE 

Pope Francis obituary, file image of the dead pontiff

Pope Francis, born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is shown here with his family. From left to right, standing, brother Alberto Horacio, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Oscar Adrian and sister Marta Regina, sitting, sister Maria Elena, mother Regina and father Mario Jose Francisco. (API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Throughout his early years, the future pope worked a number of menial jobs. He labored briefly in the stocking factory where his father was an accountant before moving on to other opportunities, including jobs as a bar bouncer and janitor.  

He eventually sought a career as a chemical technician, receiving a diploma in chemistry from the secondary school Escuela Técnica Industrial N° 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen. He also worked briefly in a food laboratory. However, his career in chemistry was short-lived. 

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He entered the priesthood at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto in Argentina. Francis was ordained a priest in 1969 and made his final profession with the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, in 1973. The same year, he was appointed as a provincial for the order.  

His appointment as provincial was concurrent with the Dirty War, a period of intense state-led persecution of left-wing leaders and political dissidents. Bergolio experienced constant threats to his own safety as he worked to hide or aid in the escape of government targets, including many Catholic faithful.  

Pope Francis obituary, file image of the dead pontiff

Pope Francis’ is a fan of Argentina’s San Lorenzo Futbol Club. (API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

During that time, two Jesuit priests under his supervision were disappeared by the government, drugged and left barely alive in a field five months after their kidnapping. Pope Francis has said he was forced to negotiate with the regime for their release.  

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Bergolio would spend the next two decades bouncing from position to position at the direction of his superiors. He served as a professor of theology, seminary instructor, rector, doctoral student and parish priest.  

In 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed Bergolio as titular Bishop of Auca and as an auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. This was done at the request of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who consecrated him to the episcopacy.  

Bergoglio proved vital to the nation’s Catholic community, and he was quickly raised to the dignity of Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving alongside Quarracino and taking over the archdiocese entirely after his death the following year.  

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Bergoglio was given the crimson hat of a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001.  

In 2013, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Bergoglio was elected to the papacy, selecting the pontifical name «Francis» after St. Francis of Assisi — a choice that set the tone for the rest of his papacy.  

POPE DERIDES BIDEN’S ABORTION VIEWS, CATHOLIC SELF-IDENTITY AS ‘INCOHERENCE’

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Pope Francis obituary, file image of the dead pontiff

Newly elected Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, at the Vatican on March 13, 2013. White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney, and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out, signaling at the time that the Roman Catholic cardinals had elected a pope to succeed Benedict XVI. (Tony Gentile/Reuters)

Pope Francis’s teachings as a priest, bishop, cardinal and pope were deeply influenced by his Jesuit vocation — viewing each person as a unique creation of God, with whom they can have a personal relationship. His ministry and leadership were committed to keeping doors open and making the church approachable to the public.  

It was not only American politics that he had strong opinions of. 

He faced criticism for specific remarks he made against Israel’s military operation in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave «very serious and shameful.» During that same speech, he condemned the growth of antisemitism throughout the world, Reuters reported. He also called for an end to the war in Ukraine and expressed concerns over climate change.

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In 2023, seemingly looking to strike a balance, he formally allowed Catholic priests to give same-sex couples a blessing, which was seen as being a radical shift in church policy, the Associated Press reported at the time.   

Pope Francis is also remembered for living a life of intense simplicity, denying himself a lavish papal apartment in the Vatican upon his election, and opting instead for a two-room suite in the Domus Santa Marta, a residence built by Pope John Paul II.  

Pope Francis washes the feet of a prisoner

Pope Francis celebrates the traditional rite of the washing of feet at the Casal del Marmo juvenile penitentiary on April 6, 2023, in Rome, Italy. On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis went to the outskirts of Rome to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Casal del Marmo juvenile penitentiary, where he carried out the traditional rite of the washing of the feet of twelve of the young people there. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

In contrast to his immediate predecessors, Pope Francis eschewed ornate robes or luxurious clothing. His outfit rarely consisted of more than a plain, white cassock tied with a papal fascia.  

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Pope Francis even dressed down his Ring of the Fisherman — a piece of gold jewelry worn by popes to signify their office — by having it made with silver and only wearing it for ceremonies.  

Francis’s tenure continued the ongoing efforts to investigate decades of sexual abuse claims against priests across the world, including in the United States, with Francis vowing transparency in 2019. 

«Transparency is now being implemented at the highest level,» said Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Archbishop of Malta and Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after Francis gave legal authorities access to documents about sexual abuse cases and abolished the «pontifical secret» of the cases.  

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POPE FRANCIS DEFROCKS NOTORIOUS BISHOP WHO CONFESSED TO ABUSING HIS NEPHEW 

Pope Francis obituary, file image of the dead pontiff

Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump during his first term in the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace with his wife, Melania, his daughter, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.  (Vatican/Pool/Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori via Getty Images)

He continued Benedict’s work to root malicious clerics out of the Church hierarchy «with the wrath of God,» appointing task forces and establishing victim aid groups.  

Pope Francis proved frustrating for a wide variety of conservatives, liberals, traditionalists and progressives. 

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His gentle — at times vague and confusing — language on key social issues, such as sexuality and divorce, frustrated conservatives hoping for a more aggressive champion of Catholic moral teaching. 

In July 2017, a group of Catholic clergy and academics sent Pope Francis a «Filial Correction» document alleging seven serious theological mistakes made by the pontiff in public statements. The document’s assertions proved controversial within the Catholic Church and the document was never explicitly addressed.  

Conversely, his refusal to back down from traditional church teachings on abortion, gay marriage, women’s ordination and priestly celibacy frustrated progressives hoping for a more modern church.  

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Echoing his time as a prelate in Argentina, Pope Francis was at times criticized from both sides of the aisle for his heavy hand enforcing Catholic unity on national and international levels.  

Traditionalists voiced intense opposition to his apostolic letter «Traditionis custodes,» which restricted the celebration of the traditional Latin mass in an attempt to squash increasingly separatist conservative movements within the Church.  

Biden with Pope Francis

Pope Francis meets with then-President Joe Biden during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 29, 2021 in Vatican City.  (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool)

He similarly shut down discussion of many social issues that progressives have sought to reform.  

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In 2019, Pope Francis told a nun asking him to approve the ordination of women that «if the Lord didn’t want a sacramental ministry for women, it can’t go forward,» adding, «We are Catholics, but if anyone wants to found another church they are free [to do so].»  

The hyper-progressive leadership of the Catholic Church in Germany was a target of his ire after the country’s clerical leaders attempted an upheaval of traditional teachings regarding gender and sexuality. The Vatican issued a series of letters, approved by Pope Francis, accusing the German church of risking separation from the Catholic Communion.  

The conflict with German bishops encapsulated his papacy’s recurring themes of authority and unity, best exemplified in a passage from his «Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany.»  

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POPE FRANCIS URGES CATHOLIC VOTERS TO ‘CHOOSE THE LESSER EVIL’ BETWEEN TRUMP AND HARRIS

Pope Francis delivers his speech during the Holy Mass with

Pope Francis delivers a speech during the Holy Mass with newly appointed Cardinals.  (Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In the letter, Pope Francis wrote, «The universal Church lives in and of the particular Churches, just as the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church. If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die. Hence, the need always to ensure that communion with the whole body of the Church is alive and effective.»  

Pope Francis visited dozens of countries, including the United States and Cuba in 2015, and went as far afield as Papua New Guinea, as well as visits to predominantly Muslim countries including Egypt, Morocco and Jordan. 

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Pope Francis struggled with health complications throughout his reign.  

The pontiff dealt for many years with sciatica, a nerve condition that caused immense pain in his leg and at times hindered his ability to walk.  

In 2021, Pope Francis was hospitalized for an intestinal surgery that removed 13 inches of his colon. 

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In March 2023, Francis was again taken to the hospital after experiencing intense chest pain and difficulty breathing. He was treated for a respiratory infection and released after antibiotic treatment. 

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Pope Francis Travels To Mongolia

Pope Francis is welcomed as he arrives at the Apostolic Prefecture on Sept. 1, 2023 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. According to the Vatican, the trip was Pope Francis’s 43rd Apostolic Journey abroad and the 61st country he visited as Pope.  (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

In June of the same year, the pope was brought back for another abdominal surgery to repair an incisional hernia. He was released after making a full recovery.  

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He took a fall at his residence and suffered a contusion on his right arm in January 2025.   

In February, he was once again hospitalized after a bout of bronchitis.  

Following Pope Francis’ death, the Vatican has entered a time of sede vacante — in English, «empty seat.»  

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The Associated Press, Reuters and Fox News’ Annie Butterworth contributed to this report. 


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España: los documentos desclasificados sobre el intento de golpe de Estado de 1981 revelan por qué fracasó la asonada

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Desde un esquema del plan, bocetado a mano, sobre las operaciones civiles, militares y cívico-militares que se alzarían, hasta las declaraciones más contundentes de Juan Carlos I -“Cualquier golpe de Estado no podrá escudarse en el rey, es contra el rey”- que el Borbón le soltó a un general en la madrugada del levantamiento que no prosperó. Bajo el título “Documentación desclasificada relativa al intento de golpe de Estado del 23 de febrero de 1981”, la web del Palacio de la Moncloa (lamoncloa.gob.es) libera, desde este miércoles, informes, transcripciones de conversaciones y hasta un croquis del golpe fallido que el teniente coronel Antonio Tejero protagonizó un lunes de febrero cuando entró a los tiros en el Congreso de los Diputados en Madrid.

A 45 años de aquella fracasada intentona militar, el gobierno de Pedro Sánchez desclasificó más de 150 documentos recopilados en el Ministerio del Interior, de Defensa y en la Cancillería porque considera que ya no representan “riesgo para la seguridad y defensa del Estado”.

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“Es un día importante para la memoria, para la democracia y para la transparencia”, dijo este miércoles el ministro de Justicia, Félix Bolaños.

El anuncio de la publicación de los archivos que el presidente Sánchez realizó el lunes a través de un tuit generó 48 horas de revuelo y especulaciones que los españoles comenzaron a saciar este miércoles, a primera hora de la tarde, cuando 167 documentos fueron subidos a la web del gobierno.

Allí se puede confirmar la participación en el intento golpista de seis agentes de los servicios secretos españoles y uno de los interrogantes más debatidos en España desde la Transición: cuál fue el verdadero rol del rey Juan Carlos, que llevaba seis años en el trono como jefe de Estado, después de la muerte del dictador Francisco Franco.

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La asonada, paso a paso

Un informe de nueve páginas que no lleva ninguna firma detalla, paso a paso, cómo se vivió el levantamiento militar en el Palacio de la Zarzuela y cuáles fueron los movimientos del monarca que reinó hasta 2014, cuando abdicó en favor de su hijo Felipe.

Sus conversaciones con algunos militares y el mensaje que envió a toda la fuerza a las 22.35 que es casi el mismo que luego leyó en cadena nacional: “La Corona, símbolo de la permanencia y unidad de la patria, no puede tolerar en forma alguna, acciones o actitudes de personas que pretendan interrumpir por la fuerza el proceso democrático que la Constitución votada por el pueblo español determinó en su día a través de referéndum”, dijo el rey ante las cámaras, pasada la medianoche.

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Las transcripciones revelan que, ocho minutos después del mensaje a los españoles, el monarca volvió a hablar con el teniente general golpista Jaime Milans del Bosch: “Afirmo mi rotunda decisión de mantener el orden constitucional -insistió Juan Carlos-. Después de este mensaje ya no puedo volverme atrás.”

El teniente coronel de la Guardia Civil Antonio Tejero, en Madrid, en una imagen de 2016. Foto: EFE

“Te ordeno que retires todas las unidades que hayas movido -le exigió el rey a quien era el capitán general de la III Región Militar con sede en Valencia-. Te ordeno que digas a Tejero que deponga inmediatamente su actitud.”

“Ni abdicaré ni abandonaré España. Quien se subleve está dispuesto a provocar y será responsable de una nueva guerra civil”, sentenció Juan Carlos I.

El rey, “objetivo a batir y anular”

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En otro documento, de seis páginas y posterior al intento golpista, los militares analizan el fracaso de la operación y concluyen que fue un error “dejar al Borbón -por el rey Juan Carlos I- libre y tratar con él como si fuese un caballero”.

“Es un objetivo a batir y anular”, postulaban.

En un informe se recopilan, además, las versiones falsas que circularon en torno al rol del rey. Los golpistas hicieron creer que Juan Carlos I era parte del levantamiento e hicieron circular mentiras como que la reina Sofía y sus tres hijos estaban abandonando España.

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El documento del Ministerio del Interior señala, entre otras falsedades: “El rey, junto con algunos generales, forzó la dimisión de (el presidente en funciones, Adolfo) Suárez y preparó el golpe en connivencia con los generales (Jaime) Milans del Bosch y Armada (Alfonso Armada había sido jefe de la Casa Real y se desempeñaba como segundo jefe de Estado mayor del Ejército”.

Otro “bulo” afirma que “la prueba de que el rey conocía los hechos que iban a producirse es que envió a sus hijos a Inglaterra. Curiosamente los hijos de los reyes de España salen del colegio una hora antes de lo normal y se dirigen con la reina a Barajas y salen para Londres”.

El rey emérito Juan Carlos I, en una imagen de archivo. Foto: EFE

La versión de Juan Carlos en sus memorias

“¿Cómo puedes creer que yo estuve involucrado?”, se cita a sí mismo Juan Carlos en el libro de memorias que publicó a fines del año pasado.

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El rey emérito, que vive fuera de España desde 2020, cuando la Casa Real y el gobierno de Pedro Sánchez resolvieron alejarlo por los escándalos que lo acorralaban, afirmó en su libro: “Alfonso Armada estuvo a mi lado durante 17 años. Lo quería mucho, y él me traicionó (…) Convenció a los generales de que hablaba en mi nombre”.

“La democracia no cayó del cielo”, insiste en Reconciliación, como bautizó a sus memorias.

La opinión de Felipe González

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Horas antes de la desclasificación de los documentos del intento golpista, el ex presidente Felipe González defendió, en un acto en el Senado, la actuación del actual rey emérito.

“Fue decisiva -dijo González-. En ningún momento de ese intento de golpe de Estado España se quedó sin las libertades garantizada en la Constitución.”

Por la mañana, durante la sesión de control al gobierno, el presidente del Partido Popular y líder de la oposición, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, ironizó sobre la apertura de los archivos del golpe fallido: “Trasparencia para todos menos para usted”, le dijo al presidente del gobierno.

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“Si sigue así, nos intentará hacer creer que el 23F lo paró usted”, agregó Núñez Feijóo.

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Trump’s fraud czar nominee touts Minnesota blueprint to root out Obamacare fraud, senior scams

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The crackdown on fraud in Minnesota will serve as a blueprint for a new Department of Justice office focused on protecting taxpayer funds from scams, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as the nation’s «fraud czar» explained in his nomination hearing Wednesday. 

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«The work in Minnesota has been pivotal. The work of the U.S. Attorney’s office there, and the personnel there, has been pivotal to highlighting the problems of fraud that permeate our taxpayer funded programs,» nominee to serve as assistant attorney general for a new Justice Department division tasked with rooting out fraud, Colin McDonald, said Wednesday. 

«That sort of effort … is what the National Fraud Enforcement Division will be looking to do and scale to an extent that we’ve not seen before within the Department of Justice,» he continued. 

Trump tapped McDonald as the nominee in January, just days after establishing the Department of Justice’s new division for national fraud enforcement that will «investigate, prosecute, and remedy fraud affecting the Federal government,» according to the White House. The new office follows a sweeping Minnesota fraud scandal, where hundreds of millions of dollars was allegedly swindled from taxpayers through welfare and social services programs.

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Colin McDonald appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, where lawmakers grilled the nominee about the new office, how it will operate and if it will operate independently of the White House.  (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

«I will be working with the inspectors general community,» McDonald continued. «With our federal agencies and federal partners, with our state and local partners to ensure that we find the fraud where it’s occurring and that we have the resources to prosecute it, to investigate it and prosecute it, and ultimately ensure that the fraud that we’re seeing annually, perpetrated against these programs comes to an end.»

McDonald appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, where lawmakers grilled the nominee about the new office, how it will operate and if it will operate independently of the White House. 

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Trump delivered his State of the Union address Tuesday evening and announced Vice President JD Vance will lead the administration’s «war on fraud.» 

McDonald explained that his office will work to tackle all fraud bleeding taxpayers, citing Government Accountability Office data that estimates between $320 billion to $520 billion in taxpayer funds is lost to fraud on an annual basis. 

«My commitment is to work tirelessly to build a division, a national fraud enforcement division, where no fraud is too big for the Department of Justice, and no fraud is too small for the Department of Justice,» he continued. 

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At the top of lawmakers’ minds were fraud concerns surrounding Obamacare and senior citizens. 

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn cited that the Government Accountability Office could not reconcile over $21 billion in Obamacare marketplace subsidies in tax year 2023 during his questioning of McDonald. 

Colin McDonald's nomination hearing

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, left, and Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, during a confirmation hearing.  (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

HEAVILY-REDACTED AUDIT FINDS MINNESOTA MEDICAID HAD WIDESPREAD VULNERABILITIES

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«I commit to working tirelessly to root out the sort of fraud that you’ve identified there, and to make sure that every single dollar that’s supposed to go to these programs actually goes to the programs, to the beneficiaries, the intended beneficiaries of these programs, and not to fraudsters. That is my commitment,» McDonald told Cornyn during the hearing regarding potential fraud surrounding Affordable Care Act subsidies. 

Scams targeting the elderly also took the spotlight throughout the hearing. Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pressed McDonald on his efforts to protect seniors from scams, noting that America’s seniors lose $28 billion annually to financial schemes. 

The fraud czar nominee pledged that the DOJ would work to protect seniors from the increasingly high-tech scams, which often include using artificial intelligence to confuse and swindle people, noting that the fraud affects entire families. 

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Quality Learing Center sign

Quality Learning Center in Minnesota was found at the center of an alleged childcare fraud scandal in the state. (Madelin Fuerste/Fox News)

«It’s not just the grandmothers and the grandfathers, it’s also their family members who bear the weight of these scams and the fraud that’s perpetrated against them,» he said. «My grandmother, one of them, turns 89 years old in two days. And she has seen these … sorts of efforts toward her. And it’s a major issue that the Department of Justice is focused on, and we will be using all available tools to ensure that we combat that problem.»

The massive Minnesota fraud case has reverberated across the nation, with federal Republican lawmakers reinvigorating calls to tighten and monitor the release of taxpayer funds to various programs, most notably social and welfare offices. 

DR OZ DETAILS ‘WEAPONIZATION OF FRAUD’ IN MINNESOTA, ESTIMATES TOTAL MEDICAID FRAUD TO BE $100 BILLION

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Trump spotlighted the fraud in his State of the Union address Tuesday, claiming the scams are even worse in states such as California, Massachusetts, Maine.» 

«When it comes to the corruption that is plundering — it really, it’s plundering America — there’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. Oh, we have all the information,» Trump said Tuesday. 

Donald J. Trump delivers the State of the Union

U.S. President Donald J. Trump delivers the first State of the Union address of his second term to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Seated behind him are Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA).  (Kenny Holston /Pool via Reuters)

«And in actuality, the number is much higher than that, and California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse. This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we are working on it like you wouldn’t believe,» he continued, before naming Vance as the administration leader taking on fraud. 

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The White House referred Fox Digital to Trump’s State of the Union comments and McDonald’s testimony when approached for additional comment on the federal fraud crackdown efforts. 

FEDERAL WELFARE SPENDING IS A FRAUD MAGNET — AND TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING THE PRICE

Vance joined Fox News’ «America’s Newsroom» Wednesday, and said his efforts will include a «full, whole government approach» to investigating fraud concerns, and enlisting the Justice and Treasury Departments to lead probe on fiscal records. 

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«There’s a whole host of tools that we have that have never been used, and the president and I talked about this a couple of months ago and said, ‘What if we just did everything that we could to stop the fraud that’s being committed against the American taxpayer?’ The president said, ‘Great idea, let’s do it,’ and we’re going to work on that very aggressively over the next year,» Vance said. 

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US military base at Diego Garcia thrown back into uncertainty amid Chagos deal turmoil

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The Chagos Islands deal fell into disarray Wednesday amid conflicting U.K. government messages about whether ratification was paused for talks with the United States over the strategic Indian Ocean military base Diego Garcia.

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Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer had told members of Parliament that ratification of the deal to cede the islands to Mauritius had been paused while discussions with Washington continued.

A U.K. government spokesperson later denied there was any formal suspension of the process, insisting no deadline had ever been set and reiterating that Britain would not move forward without American backing.

«We are continuing discussions with the U.S., and we have been clear we will not proceed without their support,» the spokesperson said, Reuters reported.

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Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands is a strategic Indian Ocean military base hosting 2,500 U.S. personnel. (Reuters)

The confusion saw critics claim the deal reveals weaknesses that could affect Western security amid heightened tensions.

«The U.S. saw this first-hand when the U.K. alerted Mauritius to an impending operation against Iran — an alert Mauritius then protested,» Robert Midgley, spokesperson for Friends of the British Overseas Territories, told Fox News Digital.

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«This is what prompted President [Donald] Trump’s statement,» Midgley said, after Trump publicly criticized the deal despite having initially supported it.

Trump had reignited the controversy Feb. 18 in a post on Truth Social, urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to abandon the agreement.

«DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!» Trump wrote, calling the deal a «big mistake» and placing additional strain on transatlantic negotiations.

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STARMER SENDS UK STRIKE GROUP TO ARCTIC, CITES RISING RUSSIA THREAT AS TRUMP PUSHES GREENLAND DEAL

Diego Garcia

The agreement would see Britain cede sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius while securing a 99-year lease over Diego Garcia, the strategically vital island that hosts a major joint U.S.-U.K. military base. (Planet Labs PBC)

Midgley argued the deal should be «withdrawn» in line with Trump’s wishes.

«The U.K. government should now go one step further and withdraw the bill from Parliament and find an alternative solution,» he said.

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«Ministers have inadvertently exposed that the deal has no legal basis and risks creating a more insecure world in the face of states like China and Iran,» he added.

The agreement, struck last year, would see Britain cede sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius while securing a 99-year lease over Diego Garcia, the strategically vital island that hosts a major joint U.S.-U.K. military base.

The base plays a central role in operations across the Middle East, Africa and the Indo-Pacific, meaning the proposal has faced mounting political pressure on both sides of the Atlantic.

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TRUMP SIGNALS WILLINGNESS TO DEFEND DIEGO GARCIA MILITARY BASE IF FUTURE DEAL THREATENS US ACCESS

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President Trump has urged the United Kingdom to not give away Diego Garcia. (Reuters Photos)

The legislation is currently before the House of Lords, where objections have been raised. No date has yet been set for a debate or vote, further adding to the uncertainty.

Midgley urged Washington to continue to resist the agreement and back Britain in retaining control of the territory.

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«The U.S. should stand firm, continue to reject the deal, and support the U.K. in asserting sovereignty to help preserve the future of Western security,» he warned.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the UK government for comment.

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