The Trump administration is closing in on $1 billion in payments to American veterans, families and civilian employees who were exposed to toxic drinking water at Marine Corps Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between 1953 and 1987.

For many, the payouts would finally rectify a decades-long battle for justice.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), claimants have received more than $919.7 million since President Donald Trump began his second term in office in January 2025. The administration has paid out about 3,300 people who made claims under the 2022 law. From that year to the beginning of 2025, before Trump retook office, only 459 settlements had been paid, totaling $59.6 million.

Payments under the program range from $100,000 to $550,000, depending on the illness.

"Tonight I’m pleased to announce my administration has delivered $1 billion in cash settlements to these veterans and their families, in addition to 3.1 billion for the VA and ordering the DOJ to settle all remaining legitimate claims as soon as possible," Trump said at a rally in North Carolina on Tuesday night. "We don’t want to give any to the trial lawyers, we want it all to go to the families."

The claims are due to be paid out under a 2022 law, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, which includes the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. Under the law, victims who developed cancer or other illnesses from the drinking water on the base are entitled to relief.

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The Trump administration in March announced that it was making settlements a priority, and made a concerted effort to accelerate the pace of the payouts.

Ed Bell is a South Carolina-based attorney who spearheaded the charge to pass the law. He's been an attorney for 44 years, and for half of that time has been fighting for justice for the Camp Lejeune victims. He's the lead counsel on the case, helping victims to get the payouts they're owed.

"A lot of these people have been waiting a long time, and quite frankly, I think a lot of them are relieved," Bell told Fox News Digital. "A lot of them feel like the government has finally said, 'we're sorry,' by helping with the settlements, so I think it's very positive."

Bell estimates that about 300,000 claims will eventually be paid out, acknowledging that there's a long way to go to completely remedy the wrong that was done.

But he was complimentary of the team of people in the Trump administration dedicated to justice.

"I have to say, I'm very bullish on what the Department of Justice has been doing," he said, noting that he works closely with Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who he says is "working his tail off" on the settlements.

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"[Woodward] is excellent, but you have to remember, this case and any resolution involves hundreds and hundreds of details, and it is a laborious process," Bell said. "I am pleased to work with [the DOJ], and I think that eventually we'll get this resolved. I think that's the intent of the Department of Justice."

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Bell, who took his first case on the Camp Lejeune drinking water contamination in 2007, explained that each settlement is based on the level of harm caused to the victim. So, he explained, someone diagnosed with stage one cancer would ultimately be paid out less than someone who had stage four cancer.

"It's a fair system," Bell said.

Between 1953 and 1987, three of the base’s eight water systems contained contaminated water.

Bell said that even after the government found out the water was toxic, it did nothing, allowing troops to continue drinking the hazardous mix. Pregnant women drank the water, leading to the death of their babies. The contamination was found to cause four incurable diseases, according to Bell.

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The Justice Department and the Department of the Navy launched the "Elective Option" settlement program in 2023.

That program is designed as an alternative to litigation and offers quicker payouts to people with qualifying illnesses.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Rep. Ilhan Omar could face jail in addition to deportation, calling the Minnesota Democrat "a disgrace to our country" as she faces a federal investigation into allegations involving her citizenship.

Trump made the remarks inside the Oval Office during his fraud incentive program announcement, responding to FOX Business correspondent Edward Lawrence’s question about whether a problem with Omar’s age could lead to her deportation.

"Well, she could be. She could also go to jail," Trump said. "You know, they keep talking about deportation. No, she could go to jail."

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The president did not identify a specific criminal charge or present new evidence against Omar during the exchange.

"This is just my opinion," Trump added, before calling the congresswoman "a very dishonest person" who "hates our country."

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His comments come after border czar Tom Homan said Omar could lose her citizenship and be deported if investigators prove immigration fraud. Federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home Oct. 12, seizing her cellphone and other possessions.

The investigation centers on allegations that Omar or her father misrepresented her birth year on immigration paperwork. The disputed timeline concerns whether she was a minor when her father became a U.S. citizen in 2000 and qualified for citizenship through him, or was already 18 and needed to apply separately.

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Omar has denied wrongdoing. She and other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have denounced the investigation as political persecution targeting a prominent Trump critic ahead of the midterm elections.

Speaking Saturday on "The Big Weekend Show," Homan said the outcome would depend on the evidence.

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"Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody. We’ve done it before," Homan said. "And certainly, if the evidence points that way, that could happen."

Homan said Omar would be held to the same standards as anyone else, while declining to discuss the specifics of investigators’ findings.

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"I’m not going to get ahead of the bureau or HSI, but I’ve been told they have a strong case, and we’ll let the evidence lead where it leads," he said.

During Tuesday’s exchange, Trump also attacked Omar’s criticism of the United States, questioning why she sought to tell Americans how to run the country after coming from Somalia.

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"Then she comes over here, and she says that she wants to tell us how to run America," Trump said. "She wants to tell us how to run the United States of America."

He also criticized her assertions of constitutional rights and called her election to Congress "amazing."

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"She’s a disgrace to our country," Trump said.

The president ended the exchange by saying he hoped Omar would receive fair treatment.

"I hope they treat her fairly," he said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Omar's office for comment.

Fox News Digital's Max Bacall contributed to this report.

Vice President JD Vance said he isn't sure if he'd receive President Donald Trump's endorsement "right out the gate" if he were to run for president in 2028.

Vance expressed that uncertainty during a Monday interview with journalist Mark Halperin on his platform 2Way. The interview aired just weeks before the midterm elections, as Republicans and the White House are focused on maintaining control of Congress.

Vance emphasized that his top priority was the midterms and said he wasn't certain that a 2028 presidential run was in his future.

However, he said, "I think if I run, the president will endorse me."

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"Right away?" Halperin asked.

"I would think so, but I don’t know, man," Vance said. "I haven’t talked to him about it."

Halperin suggested it might be "weird" if Vance were to share with Trump his 2028 ambitions and for Trump to sit on an endorsement, a characterization that Vance pushed back on.

"No, I don’t think it’d be weird," Vance said. "Again, I think I would get his endorsement, but I also think there’s something to be said for people actually running their own race, and because the president’s endorsement is so dispositive, you could absolutely see a scenario where the president says, ‘You know what? We need to let, like, this race play out and not, like, preemptively prejudge the results.'"

Earlier in the conversation, Halperin brought up previous remarks by Vance in which he said that "whoever the president endorses for the Republican nomination will ultimately win the Republican primary."

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Vance said this is typically true of both the Democratic and Republican parties, but that Trump's endorsement is much more consequential because he first won the trust of everyday voters while Republican Party elites rejected him. Vance said Trump's endorsement signals to voters that a candidate is not beholden to the party's elite.

"That’s the person they say, ‘Okay, if Trump is with a guy, that must mean that the elites are against that guy," Vance said. "I think that Trump’s endorsement just carries more weight than any political endorsement in history because of that. Obviously, the voters are gonna decide. Donald Trump is only one vote of many, but I think his endorsement is still the most powerful."

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Vance's uncertainty over winning Trump's blessing comes after Trump previously teased pitting Vance against Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his endorsement in the 2028 presidential race. Trump called Vance and Rubio the "dream team," at a May Rose Garden Club event but has refused to say who would be at the top of the ticket.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Education Secretary Linda McMahon is set to launch a multistate speaking tour Tuesday titled "The Next 250: American Education," laying out her vision for the next 250 years of American education while championing the Trump administration's efforts to reduce federal oversight and return power to local communities.

"The Trump administration has moved at a rapid pace over the last 21 months to bring much-needed change to our nation’s education system. ‘The Next 250: American Education’ speaking series is an opportunity to highlight all we have accomplished and look to the work to come for American students, families and educators," McMahon told Fox News Digital ahead of her first stop in Utah.

McMahon will arrive in Utah on Tuesday to tout the administration’s efforts to reform K-12 education by delivering a keynote address on "returning education to the states, investing in meaningful learning and proven interventions, and expanding education freedom for millions of American students and families," according to Department of Education (ED) officials.

"In every decision we make, we are not asking what’s better for growing government power, ideological agendas or bureaucrats’ careers. We are returning education to its most basic obligation: to nurture the God-given potential of our children," McMahon said.

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Following her Utah visit, McMahon plans to visit Nevada, Arizona and Tennessee, where she will address workforce training programs, Pell Grants for community college students and rising higher education costs.

McMahon’s upcoming tour follows the department’s broader 50-state "Returning Education to the States" tour. The department has repeatedly emphasized to parents that administrative authority must shift to local leaders, citing $3 trillion in federal spending and national assessment results that the administration says show only three in 10 American students are proficient in math and reading.

"Despite $3 trillion in taxpayer investment in a federal Department of Education, only three in 10 students are proficient in reading and math. That is exactly why the Trump administration is returning education to the states and putting local leaders and parents back into the driver’s seat," an ED spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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McMahon, who pledged upon taking office to dismantle the agency from within, has previously said she would hire staff committed to eliminating their respective positions as part of a long-term goal to phase out federal oversight.

The tour follows President Donald Trump's recent back-to-school event at the White House, where he promoted school choice initiatives alongside McMahon, students, parents and educators in the Rose Garden. During the event, Trump argued that despite massive federal spending, student performance remains unacceptable and families require more educational flexibility. He also pledged to eliminate "far-left extremism" from classrooms.

As part of that push, the administration highlighted the upcoming Education Freedom Tax Credit. Scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, the program will allow individual taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 — and up to $3,400 for married couples filing jointly — for cash contributions made to approved scholarship-granting organizations.

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The policy effort aligns with a recent interagency agreement between the Department of Education and the Department of the Treasury. Agency officials described the pact as a milestone step toward winding down the Department of Education.

Under the agreement, student lending operations will shift to the Treasury Department, which will take over operational responsibility for defaulted federal student loan collection and support efforts to help borrowers return to repayment. This marks one of nearly ten interagency partnerships finalized over the past year as ED seeks to downsize and transfer programs to other executive branch departments.

"As a mother and grandmother, I know firsthand that we only get one opportunity to educate and help our children reach their full God-given potential. That is exactly why the Trump administration is returning education to the states and ushering in the largest expansion of education freedom in American history," McMahon said. "This tour has reached millions of families across our great nation, emphasizing the vital role parents play in their child’s life — not bureaucrats in Washington."

McMahon has consistently maintained that the agency functions primarily as a "pass-through" for federal grants rather than a governing body over local curricula, noting that the agency's role under federal law is frequently misunderstood.

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Later this month, McMahon will conclude her tour in Tennessee, delivering a keynote focused on rebuilding public trust, addressing administrative oversight and reviving academic standards in higher education, ED officials confirmed.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., called the backlash against her comments that the threat of prosecution could deter young people from working for the Trump administration "manufactured outrage" during television interviews Monday.

During an Oct. 13 University of Chicago event, Slotkin drew criticism after a clip went viral showing her saying she wants to pursue "signature cases" against people who "enabled" President Donald Trump and push a "deterrence message" for young people.

"I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration? Like, that sounds fun, I might get an opportunity.’ I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, and so let me avoid participating in that,’" she said. "I want that deterrence message," Slotkin said.

While speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday, Slotkin responded to a comment from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who wrote that it was "absolutely disgraceful" to "threaten young Americans for participating in politics and serving their country" with legal retribution.

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"Yeah, well, look, that’s manufactured outrage," Slotkin responded. "That’s his specialty. I think the thing that I’ve heard from my own Republican colleagues and peers, including interns and folks who work around the Hill who come to our events, they’ll tell you, 'I was worried. My parents were worried, you know. It’s really messy. I’m not sure what to get involved in.' Politics, in general, has become messy." 

"But, you know, when you’re being forced by this administration, for instance, to sign a contract that is given over to a company that Trump Jr. is on the board of, and you know that that’s a problem," she added. 

Slotkin then referenced her viral video from 2025, in which she and five other Democratic lawmakers urged military members to "refuse illegal orders." She claimed that in both circumstances she was only encouraging people to reject illegal activity.

"My point is, do not get yourself involved in illegal activity," she said. "It’s the same thing I was talking about a year ago. Whether you’re the uniformed military or a civilian in government, if you’re being asked to do something by the president or his team, that’s illegal, you have a responsibility to reject that. That is my point, and that was the point I was trying to make."

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Fox News Digital reached out to Lee's office for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump's previous comments on Slotkin.

"That's a hell of a statement. Slotkin said that there should be prosecutions in order to scare people from going into politics. That's a Democrat and that's what they do. That's all they're good at — and you know what? That's why they're getting their a--es kicked," Trump said.

Slotkin reiterated that she had no intention of targeting people for prosecution solely because of their political affiliation and only cared about people "breaking the law."

"If you are violating the law, then you should be held accountable, and that includes people who are supporting that activity. That’s the point I was trying to make. You’re not breaking the law? No problem. We can have disagreements all day long, and certainly Democrats and Republicans do. I don’t care if it’s just freedom of speech. I care if you’re breaking the law," Slotkin told CNN.

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During a separate interview on MS NOW, Slotkin suggested some of the backlash she received from Republican critics could be attributed to her gender.

"I think when you choose to call out their corruption, they clearly don't like that," Slotkin said on MS NOW's "Deadline: White House." "They're clearly trying to change the conversation given what the midterms are and the state of the economy, the state of things around the country. I do think there's something about being a woman and criticizing them and calling them out on that corruption that really gets under their skin, obviously, or they wouldn't respond." 

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When reached for comment, Slotkin's office directed Fox News Digital to her comments in the MS NOW interview.