The Department of Justice (DOJ) this week released the final nationwide crime statistics under the Biden administration as the president prepares to leave office. 

Following an uptick in violent crime in 2021 during the pandemic, it began to trend down significantly in 2023, ‘including double-digit drops in homicide rates across many major cities,’ according to the DOJ. 

In 2024, violent crime continued to go down, according to preliminary DOJ data from 85 major cities. 

That included a 17.5% decrease in murder rates. There was also a 7.1% decrease in rape, 3.6% decrease in aggravated assault and 7.8% decline in robbery over the first three quarters of the year. 

Between 2021 and 2022, violent crime decreased by 1.7%, which became a 3% decrease between 2022 and 2023, and through the second quarter of 2023 to 2024 it went down by 10.3%. 

In the same time spans, the murder rate went down by 6.1% starting from 2021 to 2022, by 11.6% in 2023 and finally by 22.7% in 2024.

‘Since launching the Violent Crime Reduction Strategy in 2021, the Department has made historic progress against the most significant drivers of violent crime,’ Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. 

She added, ‘This report details the Department’s many successes in implementing its violent crime strategy and serves as a testament to the work of law enforcement officers around the country who have done so much to keep our communities safe.’

Shortly after taking office in 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that Monaco would be implementing a Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime.

‘Recognizing that every jurisdiction — large, small, rural, urban — faces unique challenges that cannot be addressed by a one-size-fits-all policy — the strategy was data-driven and deployed federal resources, including cutting-edge tools, in the most effective way: to act as a force multiplier for state and local law enforcement on the front lines of the fight against violent crime,’ the report said. 

Of the 85 cities included in the statistics, violent crime went up in 23 and down in 62, and murder rates went up in 19 and down in 64, the report said. 

The report said that while there is ‘no single cause’ for the decline or increase in violent crime, ‘the work of law enforcement across the country — a partnership between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies — has no doubt played a leading role.’

The DOJ said its strategy was to ‘focus on the most significant drivers of violent crime — including gun violence and repeat offenders.’ 

It also prioritized building trust in communities and investing in community-based prevention and intervention programs.

‘Since the start of this administration, this Department has been laser-focused on targeting the most significant drivers of violent crime — with gun violence at the top of that list,’ Monaco said. ‘Our strategy is data-driven and focuses on doing what we do best: acting as a force multiplier with our state and local law enforcement partners — who are on the front lines of the fight against violent crime — and deploying technology and other cutting-edge tools to go after the individuals most responsible for crime in our communities.’

She added, ‘We are seeing returns on our efforts. After a peak during the pandemic, violent crime is on a downward trajectory — including double-digit drops in homicide rates across many major cities.’

This is President Biden’s last week in office. President-elect Trump will assume office on Monday. 

While President-elect Trump and President Biden are jockeying for credit for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, some Republicans are wary of the deal and whether it will stick. 

‘There’s no part of me that trusts Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa martyrs Brigade, Fatah or the rank-and-file people that voted for Hamas,’ Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., the House’s new Foreign Affairs Committee chair, told Fox News Digital. 

‘There’s no part of me that trusts them in any way whatsoever. I do trust there’s a fear of God in them from the fact that President Trump is coming in, Secretary Rubio and Stefanik, others, [and] what’s not going to continue with programs like UNRWA,’ he added, referring to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. ‘I trust that there is a chilling effect, you know, how they see the world going forward. But there’s no part of me that trusts them in any way.’

Asked if he was celebrating the deal itself alongside some of his colleagues, Mast said, ‘I’m skeptical, like anything.’ 

‘If it gets Americans home, I’m happy about getting Americans home,’ Mast went on. ‘That’s been a problem for me that, you know, if there’s Americans detained abroad, I would have every expectation that there’s an American coming to get them. And, to me, unfortunately, that hasn’t been the result.’

The cease-fire is meant as a way to bring home the remaining hostages taken from Israel and provide a path to peace for the 2 million Palestinians who have been living in a war zone since Hamas’ bloody attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The deal has implications for the U.S.: Seven hostages who remain in Hamas’ clutches are Americans. 

‘Why is lame duck Joe Biden trying to cram down a bad deal on Israel on his way out the door?’ Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote on X. ‘The only ‘deal’ should be unconditional surrender by Hamas—which is already nearly destroyed—and return of ALL hostages. Instead, we hear reports that Biden is demanding that Israel withdraw from key terrain in Gaza, release dozens of hardened terrorists for every one hostage, and get back only SOME hostages?’

Sources confirmed Israeli reporting to Fox News Digital that it was Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who traveled to Doha, Qatar and strong-handed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into sitting down to finalize the deal that had evaded the Biden administration’s mediation for the better part of the past year. 

The first cease-fire in November 2023 lasted only one week, with both sides accusing the other of breaking it. In that time, 105 hostages were released, as were 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Trump had promised there would be ‘hell to pay’ if a cease-fire was not reached by the time he took office, which will be on Jan. 20. His surrogates developed close relationships with Arab leaders in swing states like Michigan throughout the campaign, promising Trump would bring peace to the Middle East.

The deal, brokered by Qatari negotiators, with the help of mediation from both the outgoing Biden administration and Witkoff, is set up in three phases. It will see three hostages released on the first day – Sunday – with new hostages released each week. That phase will entail a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Philadelphi corridor on Egypt’s border and the so-called buffer zone in the Gazan territory bordering Israel. 

Women, children and men over 50 will be prioritized initially. Over the course of the 42-day first phase, 33 of the remaining Israeli hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. 

That group is likely to include some who have been convicted of murder. On Thursday, Netanyahu delayed ratification of the deal over disagreements about whether he would get a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released. Israel’s Cabinet will now meet Friday to ratify the deal. 

‘This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,’ Trump wrote on social media. 

Biden said from the White House that ‘my diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.’

He added, ‘This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration.’

President-elect Trump on Thursday announced multiple nominations just days before his inauguration on Jan. 20.

In a series of posts on Truth Social on Thursday afternoon, Trump congratulated his picks.

Nominees include a former test engineer of missile defense systems for secretary of the Air Force, as well as a trade partnership CEO for secretary for trade and foreign agriculture affairs.

Trump selected Chris Stallings to be assistant administrator for disaster recovery and resilience of the Small Business Administration.

Stallings currently serves as the director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency and will work closely with Kelly Loeffler, the incoming small business administrator.

‘[Stallings and Loeffler will] make sure that when disasters happen, our Government responds quickly and capably to protect our Small Businesses, which are the backbone of our Economy,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump tapped Luke Lindberg as U.S. undersecretary for trade and foreign agriculture affairs at the Department of Agriculture.

During Trump’s first term, Lindberg served as chief of staff and chief strategy officer at the Export-Import Bank, where he earned the Distinguished Service Award.

He is currently the president and CEO of South Dakota Trade and a member of the board of directors of the National Association of District Export Councils.

South Dakota Trade is a 501(c)(6) public-private partnership that navigates international trade for the state, according to the organization’s website.

Lindberg has been featured on Fox News and other outlets for his ‘Thought Leadership’ on international affairs and agricultural policy.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Lindberg would make sure American farmers and ranchers get the ‘smart’ trade deals they deserve.

Troy Meink has been picked to serve as secretary of the Air Force. 

Meink is serving as the principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, and he began his career as a KC-135 tanker navigator, according to Trump’s post.

He later worked as a test engineer for missile defense systems.

‘Troy will work with our incredible Secretary of Defense Nominee, Pete Hegseth, to ensure that our Nation’s Air Force is the most effective and deadly force in the World, as we secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH,’ Trump wrote. ‘Congratulations Troy!’

Dudley Hoskins was selected as undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the Department of Agriculture.

He currently holds the title of counsel on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and he previously spent four years at the Department of Agriculture during Trump’s first term as the chief of staff for marketing and regulatory programs and senior adviser to the secretary, according to Trump’s post.

‘[Hoskins] will work with our great Secretary of Agriculture Nominee, Brooke Rollins, to make sure American food is the safest and healthiest in the World,’ Trump wrote. ‘Congratulations Dudley!’

The announcement by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook and Instagram would end their work with third-party fact-checkers and ease certain content restrictions was praised by some conservative activists, who cheered it as a ‘vindication’ for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who dissented from the rest of the court in late 2023 in a case involving content regulation that included a post by the former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The case centered on whether Meta was acting outside its scope when its platform, Facebook, temporarily removed a 30-minute video posted by Kennedy, which included vaccine misinformation and other false claims about COVID-19. The Supreme Court majority declined to take up the case without explanation, but Alito disagreed, writing as the sole dissenter for the court.

Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, blasted the video’s removal in a scathing dissent, saying that the platform had censored a type of political speech in its attempts to crack down on misinformation, and could therefore be seen as acting on behalf of the U.S. government and possibly causing what he described as ‘irreparable’ harm.

‘Our democratic form of government is undermined if government officials prevent a candidate for high office from communicating with voters, and such efforts are especially dangerous when the officials engaging in such conduct are answerable to a rival candidate,’ Alito said in the dissent. 

‘I would allow him to intervene to ensure that we can reach the merits of respondents’ claims and to prevent the irreparable loss of his First Amendment rights,’ he added.

‘Because Mr. Kennedy’s arguments on the merits are essentially the same as respondents’, allowing intervention would not significantly affect petitioners’ burden with regard to that issue,’ Alito wrote. ‘But the denial of intervention is likely to prevent Mr. Kennedy from vindicating the rights he claims until the spring of 2024 and perhaps as late as June of that year. And by that time, several months of the presidential campaign will have passed.’ 

Zuckerberg announced earlier this month that Meta would end its previous content restrictions used on Facebook and Instagram — which were put into place after the 2016 elections — acknowledging in a video posted on social media that they had ‘gone too far’ and allowed for too much political bias from outside fact-checkers.

‘We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship,’ Zuckerberg said in the announcement.

‘The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point toward once again prioritizing speech. So we are going to get back to our roots, focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.’

Meta will now replace that system with a ‘Community Notes’-style program, similar to the approach taken by social media platform X, he said. X is owned by Elon Musk, the co-director of the planned Department of Government Efficiency.

That news was praised by Mollie Hemingway, the editor-in-chief of The Federalist, who noted on X that the decision from Zuckerberg ‘vindicated’ Alito’s dissent. ‘Kind of crazy how Zuck was like ‘what they did had to be illegal’ but majority on Court was like ‘I mean, who can know?” Hemingway said of the Supreme Court’s decision not to take up the case.