Trump’s transition team has reportedly asked three senior career diplomats to step down from their roles, according to Reuters. Dereck Hogan, Marcia Bernicat and Alaina Teplitz, the career diplomats who were allegedly asked to leave their roles, oversee the State Department’s workforce and internal coordination. This request could signal the Trump team’s desire to implement major changes within the department.

‘There’s a little bit of a concern that this might be setting the stage for something worse,’ a U.S. official familiar with the matter told Reuters.

All three of the career diplomats named in the report have worked under Democratic and Republican administrations, Reuters noted. Unlike political appointees, diplomats do not typically resign when a president leaves office.

Throughout his political career, Trump has gone after the ‘deep state,’ and this move could be seen as part of his efforts to fundamentally change the government on a bureaucratic level.

‘It is entirely appropriate for the transition to seek officials who share President Trump’s vision for putting our nation and America’s working men and women first. We have a lot of failures to fix and that requires a committed team focused on the same goals,’ Trump’s team told Reuters in response to a request for comment.

This report comes as the world sees itself in the middle of a chaotic period with wars between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Hamas raging.

While there are those who are skeptical at best when it comes to Trump’s foreign policy plans, others see shifts on the world stage as early signs of success.

One of the hallmark foreign policy moves of Trump’s first term was the Abraham Accords, which saw peace break out in the Middle East. After more than a year of fighting, Israel and Hamas have come close to ending their war. In fact, Biden White House national security communications adviser John Kirby recognized Trump’s incoming Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff as a key figure in brokering the potential deal.

‘The president made it clear to us on the national security team that we needed to make sure that the Trump team, in particular Mr. Witkoff, were part and parcel and fully invested in everything we were doing because they were going to own it when we left office,’ Kirby told ‘Your World’ on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The conservative House Freedom Caucus has released a proposal for Republicans’ planned conservative policy overhaul that would raise the debt limit by two years or roughly $4 trillion.

Congressional Republicans are preparing for a massive conservative policy overhaul through the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from 60 votes to 51, reconciliation allows the party controlling Congress and the White House to pass broad policy changes — provided they deal with budgetary and other fiscal matters.

However, there has been some disagreement over whether to pass all of their goals – touching on border security, defense, spending cuts, tax cuts, and energy – in one single bill to not risk any items falling behind, or split the priorities into two separate pieces of legislation to ensure early victory on at least some measures.

President-elect Donald Trump has said he favors the one-bill approach, but would be open to two. He also tasked Republicans with raising or suspending the debt limit, with the U.S. Treasury projected to run out of funds to pay its debts by mid-June.

Freedom Caucus members are among the Republicans calling for two separate bills. The plan being unveiled on Thursday, first reported by Fox News Digital, calls for border security, defense, and steep spending cuts.

It would raise the debt limit ‘with commitment from congressional leadership on dollar-for-dollar savings over 10 years across both reconciliation bills and appropriations bills.’

Those cuts would then be used to offset tax breaks being extended in the second bill, Fox News Digital was told.

But the plan for the first bill calls for roughly $100 billion for border security across four years, and up to $200 billion for defense in the same time frame.

It also calls for repealing key Biden administration policies to cut spending, including President Biden’s electric vehicle tax credits, added funding for the IRS, and his student loan relief programs, among other items.

The conservative lawmakers presented the plan to Trump at Mar-a-Lago last Friday, but it is unclear how he responded.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., previously backed a two-bill approach in public comments. 

Opponents of that plan, which include Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee, have warned that leaving Trump’s tax cuts for a second bill would all but guarantee that provisions he passed during his previous term would expire by the end of the year, raising taxes for millions of Americans.

Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., previously pointed out to FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo that two reconciliation bills have not been passed in one term since the 1990s.

However, GOP negotiators have not decided whether to include action on the debt limit in their reconciliation bill, with both measures known to require difficult political maneuvering. 

The Freedom Caucus’ expected plan is a way for fiscal hawks who have traditionally scorned action on the debt limit to agree to do so.

That same group is also concerned that putting all the agenda items into a single bill will not result in sufficient cuts to offset the added spending. 

With two House Republicans departing for the Trump administration on Jan. 20, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will have to navigate a razor-thin majority until special elections are expected in April.

Until then, just one Republican ‘no’ vote will be enough to derail any piece of legislation that does not get Democratic support.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump transition team and the House Freedom Caucus for comment.

President Biden is warning Americans of an ‘ultra-wealthy’ ‘oligarchy’ taking shape that is presenting a danger to the country, but did not mention in his farewell speech Wednesday night the numerous billionaires that have supported his campaigns in recent years. 

Biden spoke about the ‘dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few, ultra-wealthy people’ and said ‘an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.’ 

Here are five billionaires who have recently supported President Biden: 

1. George Soros 

George Soros, a left-wing billionaire, investor and philanthropist, sent $250,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in September 2023, filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show. 

Soros’ check followed a maxed-out contribution directly to Biden’s campaign that summer. Soros and his son Alex, who recently took control of the Open Society Foundations network that funnels large amounts of money to left-wing nonprofits and causes, both pushed $6,600 to Biden’s campaign on June 30. 

During the last presidential election, George provided $500,000 to the Biden Victory Fund while sending millions more to super PACs backing him. Alex added $721,300 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. 

On Thursday morning, Alex Soros shared an Instagram story with a caption of Biden and the message ‘Joe Biden warns an ‘oligarchy’ is emerging in America in his final White House address.’

2. Reid Hoffman 

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman donated $699,600.00 on April 26, 2023, to the Biden Victory Fund, the campaign’s joint fundraising vehicle, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. 

Biden attended a fundraiser that Hoffman hosted on behalf of the super PAC at the private residence of Shannon Hunt-Scott and Kevin Scott in Los Gatos, California, in June 2023. 

3. Michael Bloomberg  

Former New York City mayor, billionaire entrepreneur and media magnate Michael Bloomberg contributed nearly $20 million to help boost President Biden in his 2024 election rematch with former President Trump, sources confirmed to Fox News last year. 

Bloomberg, a one-time Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, wrote a massive $19 million check to the Future Forward PAC, known as the FF PAC, which was the leading super PAC supporting Biden’s bid for a second term in the White House. 

4. Howard Schultz 

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced in 2020 that he would be voting for Biden that year and would be contributing to the former vice president’s campaign. 

‘In my view, our choice this November is not just for one candidate over another,’ Schultz wrote in a letter to supporters at the time. ‘We are choosing to vote for the future of our republic.’ 

Schultz went on to say, ‘What is at risk is democracy itself: Checks and balances. Rigorous debate. A free press. An acceptance of facts, not ‘alternate facts.’ Belief in science. Trust in the rule of law. A strong judicial system. Unity in preserving all of our rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ 

5. Tom Steyer 

In 2020, Biden reportedly brought in $4 million during a virtual fundraiser hosted by a small group of billionaires and other Silicon Valley donors. 

The virtual event was held by Climate Leaders for Biden, a group of environmental activists that includes billionaire and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer, according to an invitation. 

6. Michael Moritz 

Moritz, a billionaire Democrat mega-donor and venture capitalist, contributed at least $7.8 million to pro-Biden and anti-Trump causes during the last election cycle, according to The New York Times. 

However, in July last year, Moritz called on Biden to drop out of the race following his debate performance against Trump in June. 

‘He can either condemn the country to dark and cruel times or heed the voice of Father Time. The clock has run out,’ Moritz told the newspaper at the time.  

‘I would vote for Biden, but I would not give another penny to any fund-raising appeals from Democrats,’ he added in a statement. 

President-elect Trump is seeking to ‘save’ the popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, according to his transition team – even if the Supreme Court looks to enforce a federal law that could essentially outlaw it in the U.S.

When questioned on Wednesday about a Washington Post report claiming that Trump might issue an executive order to prevent TikTok from being banned, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Trump’s pick for national security adviser, suggested that Trump could consider the move.

‘If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the law, President Trump has been very clear. First, TikTok is a widely used platform by many Americans and has been instrumental in his campaign and in spreading his message,’ Waltz told Fox News’ Bret Baier. ‘But number two, he’s going to protect their data. He’s a dealmaker. I don’t want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we’re going to create this space to put that deal in place.’

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, echoed that sentiment on Thursday.

‘President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok, and there’s no better dealmaker than Donald Trump,’ Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

A recent law giving the company nine months to either divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services was the subject of oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court in January.

Trump’s attorneys filed an amicus brief in the case in December, urging the Supreme Court to delay a potential ban until Trump takes office. 

The Supreme Court’s decision on the fast-tracked case will determine whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – a law signed by President Biden that passed Congress in April with bipartisan approval – would be enforced and restrict U.S. access to the app.

There are roughly 170 million active American users on the social media app, data shows. 

While Trump tried to ban the app from U.S. access during his first administration, he credited TikTok for reaching young voters during the 2024 presidential campaign. 

Fox News Digital reached out to TikTok for comment and did not receive a response by time of publication. 

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Thursday morning that he is ‘confident’ that a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal can still be ‘implemented’ Sunday as families of two Americans slated for immediate release await answers. 

‘There’s a deal,’ Kirby told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. ‘We’re confident that we’re going to be able to start implementing it on Sunday. There are some implementing details that still need to be ironed out. We’re working with the Israelis on that very, very hard right now.

‘But we’re confident that we’re going to get there,’ he added.

Confusion over whether a deal had been successfully reached – as both the U.S. and Qatar had confirmed on Wednesday – erupted after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday claimed Hamas was ‘creating a last-minute crisis that prevents a settlement.’

‘Hamas is backing out of the explicit understandings agreed upon with the mediators and Israel in a last-minute blackmail attempt,’ he claimed, according to a statement shared by Israeli news agency TPS-IL.

Hamas has reportedly rebuffed the Israeli government’s accusations.

Netanyahu deferred a cabinet hearing that was supposed to be set for Thursday morning to vote on the deal until ‘the mediators announce that Hamas has approved all the details of the agreement.’

But Kirby appeared determined to make clear that the deal had not collapsed and told MSNBC, ‘It’s not breaking down.’

Also telling NBC ‘We’re aware of these issues that the prime minister has raised… We’re confident that we’ll be able to solve these last-minute issues and get it moving.’

Some 33 hostages have been slated to be released in the first phase of the agreement that will prioritize the release any potential children, women, the elderly and the sick or wounded.  The initial phase will last a 42-day period with hostages being incrementally released, including three captives that will be freed on the first day that the deal is implemented.

Some reports have suggested that three Israeli female soldiers may be released on the first day of the agreement.

Though a senior administration official on Wednesday told Fox News, as well as other reporters, that two of the three living Americans in Gaza are slated to be released on the first day.

‘We will see – and I don’t want to say until we actually see them – but Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen will come out in the first day and Edan will come out of Gaza, no doubt about it,’ the official said.

Edan Alexander is a 21-year-old American Israeli who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the day of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, though soldiers are not slated to be released until the second phase, which will begin on the 43rd day of the cease-fire. 

Specifics of the release of the remaining hostages, both dead and alive, will begin to be negotiated on the 16th day of the first phase. 

At least 98 hostages continue to be held in Gaza, 94 of whom were taken on Oct. 7, 2023. While 62 of them are believed to be alive, 36 are assessed to be deceased. 

‘We are committed to getting all Americans. These are American-Israeli citizens, all of them out of Gaza,’ the official said. ‘Whether living or remains. That is our commitment.’ 

The Trump-Vance Transition Team unveiled on Thursday the administration’s official portraits of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.

‘In just four days, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States and JD Vance as the 50th Vice President of the United States — and their official portraits are here,’ the team said in a statement.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

A pair of Republicans are introducing legislation that would offer service members who were fired over the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate a chance to get their jobs back and receive back pay. 

The AMERICANS Act, put forth by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and freshman Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., bans the Pentagon from instituting any additional COVID-19 vaccine mandates without congressional approval. 

It would offer reinstatement to any service member discharged solely for their refusal of the COVID vaccine and credit them for the time of their involuntary separation for retirement pay, 

It would also restore the rank of anyone who was demoted over the vaccine mandate, offering them back pay and benefits for any compensation they lost as a result of their demotion. 

For those who do not want to rejoin service, it would restore their discharge to ‘honorable’ to restore their GI Bill and health care benefits. 

In August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a requirement that troops take the COVID-19 jab for ‘readiness’ purposes. That order was rescinded in January 2023 after lawmakers directed the Pentagon to do so in the annual defense policy bill Congress passed for that year. 

More than 8,400 troops were separated in the year and a half that the order was in effect. Thousands of others sought religious or medical exemptions. 

Austin’s repeal did not require the Pentagon to reinstate troops separated because of the mandate and stipulated that commanders would still have the authority to consider troops’ immunization status when making decisions on deployments or other assignments. He added that 96% of U.S. forces had taken the vaccine. 

‘Our military is still dealing with the consequences of the Biden administration’s wrongful COVID-19 vaccine mandate,’ Cruz said in a statement. ‘The AMERICANS Act would provide remedies for servicemembers whom the Biden Department of Defense punished for standing by their convictions. It’s the right thing to do.’

‘The Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate wasn’t about science or readiness—it was about control,’ said Harrigan. ‘As a Green Beret, I’ve seen the sacrifices our service members make firsthand, and I will not stand by while their honor is tarnished.’ 

The legislation is in line with a pledge President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, made on Tuesday to re-recruit those who parted ways with the military over the vaccine. 

‘Service members who were kicked out because of the experimental vaccine,’ Hegseth told lawmakers, ‘they will be apologized to. They will be reinstituted with pay and rank.’

Trump told supporters over the summer he would ‘rehire every patriot who was fired from the military’ because of the mandate. 

Pentagon leadership considered offering back pay to troops after the vaccine mandate was rescinded in early 2023, but it never came to fruition.

Republicans have long railed against the vaccine mandate and the separations it caused, arguing it was a detriment to morale at a time of major recruitment issues. Pentagon leaders argued that their forces had been required to get vaccines for years, particularly if they deployed overseas. 

President Biden is warning Americans of an ‘ultra-wealthy’ ‘oligarchy’ taking shape that is presenting a danger to the country, but did not mention in his farewell speech Wednesday night the numerous billionaires that have supported his campaigns in recent years. 

Biden spoke about the ‘dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few, ultra-wealthy people’ and said ‘an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.’ 

Here are five billionaires who have recently supported President Biden: 

1. George Soros 

George Soros, a left-wing billionaire, investor and philanthropist, sent $250,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in September 2023, filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show. 

Soros’ check followed a maxed-out contribution directly to Biden’s campaign that summer. Soros and his son Alex, who recently took control of the Open Society Foundations network that funnels large amounts of money to left-wing nonprofits and causes, both pushed $6,600 to Biden’s campaign on June 30. 

During the last presidential election, George provided $500,000 to the Biden Victory Fund while sending millions more to super PACs backing him. Alex added $721,300 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. 

2. Reid Hoffman 

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman donated $699,600.00 on April 26, 2023, to the Biden Victory Fund, the campaign’s joint fundraising vehicle, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. 

Biden attended a fundraiser that Hoffman hosted on behalf of the super PAC at the private residence of Shannon Hunt-Scott and Kevin Scott in Los Gatos, California, in June 2023. 

3. Michael Bloomberg  

Former New York City mayor, billionaire entrepreneur and media magnate Michael Bloomberg contributed nearly $20 million to help boost President Biden in his 2024 election rematch with former President Trump, sources confirmed to Fox News last year. 

Bloomberg, a one-time Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, wrote a massive $19 million check to the Future Forward PAC, known as the FF PAC, which was the leading super PAC supporting Biden’s bid for a second term in the White House. 

4. Howard Schultz 

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced in 2020 that he would be voting for Biden that year and would be contributing to the former vice president’s campaign. 

‘In my view, our choice this November is not just for one candidate over another,’ Schultz wrote in a letter to supporters at the time. ‘We are choosing to vote for the future of our republic.’ 

Schultz went on to say, ‘What is at risk is democracy itself: Checks and balances. Rigorous debate. A free press. An acceptance of facts, not ‘alternate facts.’ Belief in science. Trust in the rule of law. A strong judicial system. Unity in preserving all of our rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ 

5. Tom Steyer 

In 2020, Biden reportedly brought in $4 million during a virtual fundraiser hosted by a small group of billionaires and other Silicon Valley donors. 

The virtual event was held by Climate Leaders for Biden, a group of environmental activists that includes billionaire and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer, according to an invitation.