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Trump taps US Senator Mullin to replace Noem as DHS chief

March 5, 2026 6:46 PM UTC / Reuters / By Ted Hesson

• Summary

• Noem embraced harsh immigration rhetoric and actions
• Staffing change may alter Trump’s immigration strategy
• Critics accuse Noem of targeting non-criminal immigrants

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) – One of the top officials overseeing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, will leave her role, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday, ​a major staffing move that raises questions about the direction of the Republican president’s immigration agenda.

“I am pleased to announce that the ‌Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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Noem will serve as “Special envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” Trump said.

Noem, a former governor of South Dakota, became one of Trump’s most high-profile Cabinet secretaries with social media posts ​that portrayed immigrants in harsh terms, highlighting cases of alleged criminal offenders and using vitriolic language.

She faced criticism in January when she quickly ​labeled two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis as committing “domestic terrorism.” Videos that emerged after the deaths undercut ⁠the assertion by Noem and other Trump officials that the two deceased – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – were violent aggressors.

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The public backlash for deaths led the ​Trump administration to move to a more targeted approach to immigration enforcement in Minnesota after months of sweeps through U.S. cities that led to violent clashes with residents opposing ​the crackdown.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives moved to impeach Noem and at least two Republicans in Congress called for her to lose her job after the incidents. During congressional hearings in March, Democrats and some Republicans criticized Noem for her approach to the immigration crackdown and management of DHS, including concern over a $220 million ad campaign that heavily featured Noem.

The staffing ​change raises questions about whether the Trump administration could seek to intensify its mass deportation push or retreat to a more targeted approach. Under Noem’s leadership, ​masked immigration agents surged into Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., scouring neighborhoods and Home Depot parking lots in search of possible immigration offenders.

The popularity of Trump’s immigration approach fell as agents ‌detained U.S. ⁠citizens and tear-gassed streets in an attempt to drive up deportations, which last year fell short of the administration’s goal of 1 million per year.

STRONG EMBRACE OF TRUMP’S HARDLINE IMMIGRATION APPROACH

While Noem, 54, served as a prominent proponent of Trump’s agenda, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a long-time Trump aide, controls Trump’s immigration policy.

Noem was quickly confirmed to lead the 260,000-employee Department of Homeland Security in January 2025 after Trump took office. On social media, she referred to immigrants convicted ​of crimes as “scumbags” even as the number ​of non-criminals arrested by immigration authorities ⁠rose under Trump.

She joined immigration enforcement operations on the ground in New York City and visited a maximum-security prison in El Salvador where Venezuelan immigrants deported by the Trump administration were being held without charges or access to lawyers.

The number of migrants ​caught trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border plummeted under Trump’s restrictive policies, a steep drop after high levels ​of illegal immigration under ⁠former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Noem, reflecting Trump’s agenda, also took steps to cut legal immigration programs and increase vetting. She ended several Temporary Protected Status programs that provided work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti and other nations, drawing legal challenges.

After an Afghan immigrant was accused of attacking National Guard members in ⁠Washington, D.C., ​Noem said she recommended that Trump place “a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been ​flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

Critics said Noem demonized immigrants and promoted an immigration enforcement strategy that targeted non-criminal, working immigrants and families.

During Noem’s tenure, the number of deaths in ​immigration detention rose to a two-decade high while staff in DHS oversight offices were slashed sharply.

Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Craig Timberg, Nia Williams and Deepa Babington

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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RFK Jr. challenges Dunkin’ and Starbucks over safety of sugary drinks

March 5, 2026 / 12:41 PM EST / CBS News

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is challenging two major coffee chains – Dunkin’ and Starbucks – as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.

Kennedy recently called on the two companies to prove their high-sugar drinks are safe for teenagers and suggested the Trump administration could place limits on your morning cup of coffee.

“We’re gonna ask Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it. I don’t think they’re gonna be able to do it,” Kennedy said late last month.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, where Dunkin’ is based, responded to Kennedy on X, posting “COME AND TAKE IT” with an image of a Dunkin’ cup.

Federal dietary guidelines published earlier this year recommend meals should have no more than 10 grams of added sugar – but nearly every drink on the Dunkin’ menu exceeds that amount and at least six have more than 100 grams, according to the coffee chain.

“This isn’t about any one brand. Ultra-processed foods and beverages are bad for you, regardless of who happens to sell them,” said CBS News contributor Dr. Céline Gounder. “Your go-to beverage really shouldn’t be liquid candy.”

Studies show taxes on sugary drinks and photo warnings reduce consumption. Dr. Gounder said a direct ban is unlikely to happen.

“It’s gonna require either new legislation and regulation, or state and local governments stepping in where they can,” she said. “The FDA is not the sugar police and it can’t ban sugar from beverages.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, frequently drinking sugary drinks is associated with “weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities.”

The Department of Health and Human Services said it has strengthened reviews and closed loopholes, but did not clarify what action Kennedy may take to stop businesses from selling high-sugar drinks.

Dunkin’ and Starbucks have not responded to Kennedy’s comments. On Thursday, Dunkin’ announced the release of a zero-sugar energy drink available in six flavors.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/massachusetts-governor-pushes-back-after-rfk-jr-calls-out-popular-coffee-chains/

24 states sue Trump administration over tariffs imposed after Supreme Court ruling

By Mary Cunningham
Updated on: March 5, 2026 / 2:34 PM EST / CBS News

Two dozen states sued the Trump administration on Thursday, alleging that President Trump exceeded his authority in imposing new global tariffs after the Supreme Court in February struck down emergency import duties he introduced last year.

The lawsuit centers on 10% tariffs the Trump administration recently implemented under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Mr. Trump later said he would raise the tariffs to 15%. The states argue that the tariffs violate the Constitution’s separation of powers principle.

In a 6-3 decision last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Trump did not have the right to impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

“As with his unlawful use of IEEPA, the president has once again exercised tariff authority that he does not have — involving a statute that does not authorize the tariffs he has imposed — to upend the constitutional order and bring chaos to the global economy,” the states said in the suit.

Trump administration officials have said that raising tariffs on imports will restore fairness to global trade, spur investment in the U.S. and generate government revenue. Data shows the U.S. collected $287 billion in customs duties, taxes and fees in 2025, up 192% from the previous year.

Stinging legal defeats

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The lawsuit asks the U.S. Court of International Trade to rule that Section 122 tariffs are illegal and to order the U.S. government to refund states for any costs while the tariffs were in effect.

The litigation also intensifies the pushback against the Trump administration over its tariff policies since the high court’s ruling striking down its IEEPA levies. A Court of International Trade judge ruled on Wednesday that businesses that paid IEEPA tariffs are entitled to refunds. Separately, a federal appeals court on Monday declined to delay implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA.

Trade experts estimate that the U.S. government could owe as much as $175 billion to businesses that paid IEEPA levies.

Edited by Alain Sherter

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trumps-10-global-tariffs-take-hold/

EXCLUSIVE: Minnesota Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya slammed Gov. Tim Walz’s testimony on the massive fraud scandal roiling Minnesota during a contentious House hearing on Wednesday and outlined her plan to combat fraud, which she says voters have been clamoring about on the campaign trial.

House Oversight Committee Republicans grilled Walz over allegations he knowingly permitted the sprawling fraud scheme to continue under his watch despite repeated warnings from whistleblowers. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also testified under oath at the hearing.

“Seeing Tim Walz testify today on fraud was everything I expected it to be: dodging, giving answers that were incomplete, not having information at his disposal, simply kind of passing the buck and taking credit for people behind bars that really he had nothing to do with,” Tafoya told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

“This is par for the course for Tim Walz,” Tafoya said. “This is why he is no longer running for governor for a third term. It was more of the same. Same with A.G. Keith Ellison.”

Tafoya, a longtime former NFL sideline reporter, recently launched a campaign for Minnesota’s open Democratic-held Senate seat. She is vowing to crack down on the fraud scheme involving the state’s welfare programs, which unfolded during the tenure of Walz and his deputy, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Tafoya could face Flanagan, a progressive Democrat running for the state’s open Senate seat, in the November general election.

Federal prosecutors allege fraudsters stole as much as $9 billion in taxpayer money and have charged nearly 100 individuals, many of Somali descent, in various Minnesota fraud-related cases.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a three-part anti-fraud plan from Tafoya’s campaign, which she is promising to enact if elected to the Senate in November.

Tafoya said she would cosponsor the Deporting Fraudsters Act, which would allow for noncitizens who are convicted of fraud to be deported and barred from entering the United States. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced the legislation in 2025, but the bill has since stalled in the Senate.

“If you are an immigrant in this country, you are a guest of this country, and you are convicted of defrauding the American people, you will be deported,” Tafoya said.

[DEMOCRAT IN KEY SENATE PRIMARY SAYS SHE ‘REGRETS’ VOTE ON LAKEN RILEY ACT, DRAWS GOP BACKLASH]

Tafoya is also pledging to crack down on Americans convicted of stealing taxpayer money. She told Fox News Digital that she would work to enact new mandatory minimum sentences for those involved in fraud schemes.

“This is not a second-class crime anymore,” the Minnesota Republican added. “This deserves the full weight of the law.”

Thirdly, Tafoya voiced support for the Trump administration’s recent moves to temporarily halt hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to states that fail to implement anti-fraud controls.

The Trump administration recently announced it would withhold roughly $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota until the state government puts guardrails in place to eliminate fraud. Federal officials have said the state could see more than $1 billion in deferred payments if Walz fails to comply with the president’s “war on fraud.”

Though Minnesota voters tend to favor Democrats at the federal level, Tafoya argued the fraud scandal gives Republicans an opening to flip the seat. Senate Republicans are also targeting Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire during the midterms.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP]

“When I go and talk to people around the state of Minnesota and the word fraud comes up, there is an audible sort of hum or roar of disapproval,” Tafoya said. “People are sick to their stomach over it, and I think it really is driving people to the polls this November.”

Tafoya, who is backed by Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, is expected to cruise to the general election despite facing a crowded field of candidates.On the Democratic side, Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig are engaged in a bitter fight for the party’s nomination ahead of the August primary.

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Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390397984112

Dow plunges more than 1,000 points as surging oil prices renew inflation fears

2026-03-05T14:41:17-0500 / CBS/AP

Stocks plunged Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 1,000 points as oil prices jumped amid the war with Iran. Higher energy prices are sparking concerns on Wall Street that they could reignite U.S. inflation.

The Dow tumbled 1,014 points, or 2.1%, as of 2:14 p.m. Eastern time. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 1.1%.

Oil prices rose after Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Israel, American bases and countries around the region. The war’s escalations are raising worries about how long disruptions to the production and transport of oil and natural gas in the region could last.

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 4.2% to $84.75. That’s up from close to $70 late last week. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude climbed 6.9% to $79.80.

Financial markets are again taking their cue from oil prices. Investors are growing concerned that a prolonged spike could strain households’ ability to spend, grind down the global economy and push interest rates higher.

“These events are unfolding while gasoline demand is low, but the longer the conflict lasts, the more households will feel the pinch from higher pump prices,” Oxford Economics economists Bernard Yaros and Sara Godfrey wrote in a March 4 research note.

Prices at U.S. gasoline pumps have already jumped due to higher oil prices. The average per-gallon price is nearly $3.26, up 26 cents per gallon from last week, according to GasBuddy.

“The consequences of the war for gas and liquefied natural gas are uncertain but could rival those that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” said Simon Flowers, chief analyst at energy data firm Wood Mackenzie. “Much will depend on whether the disruption is a short-lived blip or is more enduring, and whether gas and LNG infrastructure in the region suffers major damage.”

Historical performance

---

To be sure, the U.S. stock market has a history of bouncing back relatively quickly following conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. That history has led many professional investors to urge patience and ride out the market’s swings.

“While further escalation remains a risk, we think the more likely outcome is an increase in market risk aversion that likely lasts only a short time until investors can see a winding down of hostilities,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

But if oil prices spike — say, rising as high as $100 per barrel — and stay there, it could be too much for the global economy to withstand. Uncertainty about that has caused this week’s sharp swings, and much will depend on what happens with the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically sails through the narrow waterway off Iran’s coast.

Stocks of retailers fell to some of the U.S. market’s worst losses on Thursday. High gasoline prices mean their customers would have less to spend on other things.

American Eagle Outfitters fell 13.7% even though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Airlines also took sharp losses. Higher oil prices are increasing their already big fuel bills, while the war has left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded across the Middle East.

American Airlines lost 7%, United Airlines fell 6.5% and Delta Air Lines sank 5.3%.

Small company stocks

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Stocks of small companies, meanwhile, took the heaviest losses. That’s typical when worries are growing about the strength of the economy and about interest rates rising. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest stocks fell 2.7%.

Wall Street’s drop would have been worse if not for Broadcom. The chip company’s stock rose 2.9% after it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It’s one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because it’s one of the biggest by total value, and CEO Hock Tan said it benefited from a 74% jump in revenue for AI chips.

In the bond market, Treasury yields climbed as rising oil prices put more upward pressure on inflation, which could keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14% from 4.09% late Wednesday and from just 3.97% before the war with Iran started.

The Fed could keep interest rates high to keep a lid on inflation. But high interest rates would also keep it more expensive for U.S. households and companies to borrow money, weighing on the economy.

The central bank had indicated it planned to resume cutting interest rates later this year, in hopes of giving a boost to the job market and economy. Because of the war and higher oil prices, traders have pushed their forecasts further into the summer for when the Fed could begin cutting rates again.

Several reports on the U.S. economy also came in mixed.

One said fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. That’s an encouraging signal for the job market.

US House committee wants travel companies to answer questions on AI use for pricing

By David Shepardson
March 5, 2026 4:01 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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Chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer (R-KY) speaks during the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing investigating fraud in Minnesota state social services, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

• Summary
• Companies

• US Representative Comer raises concerns over surveillance pricing algorithms
• Travel companies asked to disclose AI pricing practices by March 19
• California AG Bonta probes personalized pricing practices

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) – The chair of the U.S. House Oversight Committee on Thursday asked the CEOs of five major ‌travel companies including Uber, Lyft and Expedia to disclose whether they were using surveillance pricing of consumers to hike costs.

Representative James Comer, the Republican chair of the committee, raised concern in letters to the companies that the rise of surveillance pricing algorithms and use of ​highly personalized consumer data may create opportunities “for companies to weaponize personal data and pad their profit margins at ​the expense of providing transparency to consumers.”

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Surveillance pricing is a strategy where companies use a ⁠consumer’s personal data — such as browsing history, location and shopping habits — to set individualized, algorithmic prices for products, as ​opposed to using standard, market-wide pricing.

Comer said in letters first reported by Reuters that travel companies utilize surveillance pricing to ​deploy algorithms that determine a consumer’s emotional state, purchase intent and maximum willingness to pay, and that an individualized price is tailored accordingly.

Comer cited a media report that Uber deployed AI-based pricing technology to offer varying prices for identical products. Uber said on Thursday it ​does not engage in surveillance pricing and does not personalize prices. “Fares are determined by factors like location, time, and ​demand, not by a customer’s individual characteristics, past behavior, or device information,” Uber said.

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The other companies that received letters, which also include ‌Booking.com and ⁠Instacart, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Comer’s letters seek documents by March 19 including communications detailing revenue management algorithms and their financial impacts.

“Often this takes place in a ‘black box’ environment where consumers do not know that personalized pricing is taking place or what information collected about them are driving prices,” Comer wrote.

Comer noted that companies use consumer ​data to create a “profile” based ​on individualized data such as “geolocation, ⁠demographics, browsing history, purchase history, device type, battery life, and even mouse clicks to assign different prices to different individuals.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in January a broad ​probe into the practice of using personal data to set individualized prices.

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In November, two dozen ​U.S. House ⁠Democratic lawmakers asked Delta Air Lines to answer questions about whether it will use generative artificial intelligence to help set ticket prices.

Lawmakers have raised concerns that airlines could use AI, personal data or consumers’ internet usage – for example, visiting a funeral home ⁠website – to ​pinpoint when people most want to travel, and subsequently hike air ​fares or other prices. Delta has said “there is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with ​individualized offers based on personal information or otherwise.”

Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

• Suggested Topics:
• Artificial Intelligence
• Consumer Protection
• Data Privacy
• Public Policy

U.S. manufacturers are still shedding thousands of jobs, as workers ask White House for help

March 5, 2026 / 2:42 PM EST / CBS News

About 350 Whirlpool factory workers in rural Iowa will lose their jobs on March 9 — a blow to a community where the plant has anchored the local economy for eight decades. The layoffs are also another sign of U.S. manufacturers’ ongoing struggles, which have persisted despite the Trump administration’s pledge to revive the sector.

In April of 2025, President Trump said that “jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country” due to his tariff policies, which sharply raised taxes on imports from nearly every U.S. trading partner. Although some companies have responded to the tariffs by promising to invest in the U.S., building those factories could take years. Such commitments are also nonbinding, leaving it unclear when, or if, such projects will be shovel-ready.

In the meantime, employment data shows American manufacturers are continuing to cut jobs, with the U.S. shedding 83,000 manufacturing jobs during Mr. Trump’s first year in office. Economists point to a range of factors for the job losses, including automation, long-standing headwinds from lower wages overseas to increased costs and economic uncertainty partially caused by the Trump administration’s tariffs. Those import duties have hurt some U.S. manufacturers that rely on imported parts and goods to make their products domestically.

“Jobs are still in jeopardy”

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The union that represents the workers at Whirlpool’s Amana, Iowa, plant appealed to Mr. Trump for help in a Feb. 24 letter, citing his “America First” manufacturing pledge and asking him to “demand that Whirlpool halt these planned layoffs.” The labor group said it hasn’t yet received a response from the White House.

“This is a story that needs to be told to the American public,” Brian Bryant, international president of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the union that represents about 1,300 Whirlpool workers, told CBS News. “Everything’s not rosy in this country, and every day, workers’ jobs are still in jeopardy by corporations that favor profits over the workforce.”

He added, “As much as this administration preaches that they’re going to stop that, we’re not seeing that.”

The White House didn’t reply to a request for comment.

In a statement to CBS News, Whirlpool said the planned job cuts are part of a “multi-year modernization plan that will position the Amana plant for stability and success.”

The publicly traded company, which has a market worth of $3.9 billion, is the biggest U.S. manufacturer of appliances. In 2025, Whirlpool reported net income of $318 million on sales of $15.5 billion.

Manufacturers face multiple challenges, from the cost of the Trump administration’s tariffs to long-term competitive pressures, economists told CBS News.

The Trump administration’s tariff policies are also in flux, adding to the uncertainty facing many U.S. businesses. Last month, the Supreme Court struck down the president’s “liberation day” tariffs, although Mr. Trump imposed new global tariffs of 15% shortly after the ruling.

“The last year was a continuation of a long-standing trend — nothing pivoted, nothing reversed,” said Aaron Terrazas, an economist with Gusto, which provides payroll services to small and midsize businesses.

The U.S. has lost 4.5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000. By comparison, overall global manufacturing employment over that period has increased by about 71 million workers, with most of that growth in China, India and Vietnam, according to a 2025 research brief from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

One of the many goals of Mr. Trump’s tariffs is to sufficiently raise the cost of production outside the U.S. so that companies have an economic incentive to reshore their factories and hire American workers.

But some domestic companies are still finding it cheaper to shift jobs overseas. A 2025 survey from the Reshoring Institute, a nonpartisan think tank focused on returning manufacturing to the U.S., found that one-third of U.S. equipment manufacturers said they were planning to move their production offshore, citing cost as the main impetus.

Whirlpool’s plant in Amana, whose population is less than 1,000 people, has itself felt the impact of that trend, union officials told CBS News. The factory now has about 1,300 workers, down from 3,000 employees in 2020, with jobs being shifted to a Whirlpool plant in Mexico, IAM’s Bryant said.

“If you look at the last 20 years, they’ve invested over a billion dollars into beefing up their Mexico manufacturing, and their exports that are coming out of Mexico have exponentially increased,” he said. “This is not modernization — this is offshoring of jobs.”

A shifting economy

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A key yardstick for the U.S. labor market, payroll processor ADP’s monthly employment report, showed on Wednesday that the U.S. lost 5,000 manufacturing jobs in February, even as the private sector as a whole added 63,000 jobs last month.

“Almost all the growth was coming from health care,” Laura Ullrich, Indeed’s director of economic research for North America and a former official at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said of the latest ADP numbers.

Health care jobs also drove U.S. employment growth last year, a trend that Ullrich predicts will continue in 2026 due to demographic changes such as the aging baby boomer generation, whose members are requiring more medical services.

“I think we’re likely to see an outsized share of whatever job growth we have in that sector, and stagnation in the other sectors,” Ullrich told CBS News.

About 12.6 million Americans were employed in manufacturing at the start of 2026, or about 8% of the U.S. workforce — down from a peak of 38% in World War II, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Although manufacturing jobs aren’t as prevalent as they once were, these jobs still offer comparatively higher earnings for workers without college degrees, data shows. Manufacturing employees earn an average of about $36.20 per hour, above the $26 hourly pay for retail workers and $23.38 for leisure and hospitality employees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Manufacturing today isn’t the same as it was in 1950 — it’s a different type of work,” Gusto’s Terrazas said. “It’s this incredibly diverse sector. We tend to think of it as a Rust Belt ideal, but there is a lot of small light manufacturing as well,” such as local coffee roasters or food manufacturers.

But small manufacturers tend to be more sensitive to tariff costs and other economic headwinds, given they have less leeway to absorb financial shocks than bigger firms, Terrazas noted. For instance, many small U.S. coffee roasters were among those hit by the Trump administration’s tariffs, although the White House granted an exemption for coffee tariffs in November.

One roaster in Portland, Oregon, told CBS News in December that the increased costs from tariffs had forced him to lay off two full-time employees. “Now it’s down to just myself and one part-time employee,” Charlie Wicker of Trailhead Coffee Roasters said. “The fact that we’re still standing is a function of having a little bit of savings to keep the lights on.”

Layoffs would “hollow out” a community

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Whirlpool’s Amana division is one of those old-school factories that underlined the U.S.’ industrial strength. Founded in 1934 by inventor George Foerstner, the Amana company developed several refrigeration innovations, from the first upright home freezer in 1947 to the first bottom-freezer fridge in 1957, according to the company’s website. Whirlpool bought the Amana brand in 2006.

The job losses at the Amana plant will be devastating for the local economy, which is heavily dependent on agriculture and manufacturing, said Kerry Waddell, an IAM representative who worked at the Amana factory for 36 years, beginning in 1987.

“These are employees that spend their money in these communities, they send their kids to the schools there,” he told CBS News. “At this time, they’re getting laid off, they’re losing their health insurance — on March 9, they lose it immediately.”

Some Iowa lawmakers are asking Whirlpool to reconsider the job cuts, including Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson, both Republicans. The office of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“These layoffs would hollow out a community and undermine the very domestic manufacturing base that American workers have spent decades building,” they wrote in a letter to Whirlpool.

As of now, Whirlpool’s job cuts are still on track, and the union said the company has indicated there may be more layoffs in store.

“If something doesn’t change, you’re looking at the workforce shrinking down to 500 to 600 people” at the factory, Bryant said. “This, unfortunately, is not just a Whirlpool issue — we’re seeing it elsewhere in the IAM.”

“There’s a major problem, and it’s time for the federal government and the state governments to get involved in this,” he added.

Edited by Alain Sherter

DOJ signals it’s still digging into Biden autopen use despite reports probe fizzled

Republican-led House Oversight Committee called Biden’s autopen use a scandal and recommended further DOJ investigation

By Ashley Oliver
Fox News

Published March 5, 2026 11:26am EST

The Department of Justice indicated Thursday it is still investigating the legality of former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen despite reports that the probe has been shelved because prosecutors have been unable to identify any criminal charges to bring.

Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office was still looking into the Biden White House’s autopen use after the New York Times reported that the inquiry was recently tabled.

Pirro responded to the report in an X post on Thursday, saying the DOJ “cannot comment on ongoing investigations,” signaling the investigation remained open.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the “inquiry was quietly shelved” because the DOJ failed “to build a criminal case against Mr. Biden and his aides.”

Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor, previously said legal challenges to Biden’s autopen use would likely be unsuccessful.

“Many are suggesting that the Biden pardons may now be challenged in light of the disclosures of Biden’s use of an autopen,” Turley wrote on social media in 2025. “The chances of such challenges succeeding are vanishingly low. Presidents are allowed to use the autopen and courts will not presume a dead-hand conspiracy.”

While other presidents have used autopens, including Trump — who has said he used it on “unimportant” documents — Biden’s became a flashpoint as scrutiny of his mental acuity grew during his tenure.

BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee investigated the matter, interviewing several former Biden staffers. The committee alleged in a report that Biden’s use of the autopen amounted to a scandal and recommended the DOJ investigate further.

“As President Biden declined, his staff abused the autopen and a lax chain-of-command policy to effect executive actions that lack any documentation of whether they were in fact authorized,” the report read.

Trump has been eager to see accountability over the autopen, claiming on social media that any staff who used the autopen on behalf of Biden did so “illegally” and threatening the former president with perjury charges.

Biden has forcefully denied the allegations, saying in a statement last year he was in charge of decision-making.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” Biden said. “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”

The committee had homed in on Biden’s pardons, including five controversial pardons for his family members in the final days of his presidency, saying there was a lack of “contemporaneous documentation” to corroborate that Biden directly ordered the pardons.

The committee asked the DOJ to investigate “all of former President Biden’s executive actions, particularly clemency actions, to assess whether legal action must be taken to void any action that the former president did not, in fact, take himself.”

TRUMP RENEWS ATTACKS ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS, CLAIMS HE ‘NEVER GAVE THE ORDERS’

Asked for comment, the White House deferred to the DOJ.

DOJ headquarters declined to comment.

Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Who will be Iran’s next supreme leader? One name, Mojtaba Khamenei, stands out.

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Mike Johnson asks embattled House Republican Tony Gonzales to drop re-election bid

Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing a runoff election in May

By Elizabeth Elkind
Fox News

Published March 5, 2026 12:58pm EST

House GOP leaders have asked embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, to drop his bid for re-election.

“The Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Congressman Tony Gonzales’s conduct, and we urge them to act expeditiously. Congressman Gonzales has said he will fully cooperate with the investigation,” the statement by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other top Republicans reads.

“We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues. In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”

Gonzales’ re-election bid has been plagued by scandal for weeks ever since allegations emerged that he had an affair with his late aide and sent her sexually explicit text messages.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, arrives for a press conference in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

The same aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, committed suicide by setting herself on fire outside her home late last year.

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., leader of the House GOP campaign arm, told Fox News Digital, “I agree with the Speaker and the rest of leadership, Tony should withdraw from the runoff and allow the Ethics process to move forward while focusing on his family and serving his constituents for the remainder of his term.”

Gonzales suggested the affair did occur on the conservative “Joe Pags Show” on Wednesday evening but gave no indication he would drop out.

“I made a mistake and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions. Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has, and my faith is as strong as ever,” the Texas Republican said.

He previously fought back against any accusation of impropriety and accused Santos-Aviles’ husband of extortion.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., praises President Donald Trump’s policies and agenda ahead of his State of the Union speech, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.(J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

“During my six years [in Congress, not a single formal complaint has been levied against my office. Now days away from an election, coordinated political attacks reign in. IT WON’T WORK. Halfway through early voting and the intensity resides w/ TG voters. I’d rather be us than them,” he posted on X in late February.

The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Gonzales on Wednesday, one day after he advanced to a runoff in his re-election bid.

Gonzales is facing Brandon Herrera, a social media influencer and firearms activist who previously challenged the incumbent lawmaker in 2024. Herrera lost to Gonzales by less than 2% in the previous election cycle.

This time, however, neither clinched an outright majority in the race and will now face off again in late May, if Gonzales does not drop out.

Fox News Digital reached out to Gonzales’ congressional office for comment.

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Republican congressional candidate Brandon Herrera speaks during a campaign rally at the Constantino’s Pizza restaurant in Somerset, Texas, on Feb. 26, 2026.(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, the growing scandal has prompted several of Gonzales’ fellow House Republicans to call for his resignation before the end of his term.

“I would encourage him to consider resigning,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told reporters last week.

His fellow Texas lawmaker, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, urged Gonzales not to run for re-election. “America deserves better. Tony should drop out of the race,” he posted on X.

Gonzales previously told reporters he had no intention of resigning.

Fox News Digital reached out to Gonzales’ congressional office and campaign for comment.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com