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Dem Sen. Ben Cardin caught on hot mic telling Buttigieg how Dems will jam trillions of dollars for infrastructure
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., was caught on a hot mic telling Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that the budget reconciliation process would "most likely" be needed to get an infrastructure package into the end zone.

While at a Monday press conference featuring Buttigieg, Cardin was caught on a C-SPAN mic saying that Democrats will "most likely have to use reconciliation" to push an infrastructure package through Congress.

Cardin also told Buttigieg that the infrastructure bill will be constructed in a "similar" way to the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that President Biden signed last week.

"Ultimately, it’s going to be put together similar to how the American Rescue Plan was put together …," Cardin was caught saying. "Most likely, we’re going to have to use reconciliation."

Budget reconciliation is a parliamentary procedure that gained recognition as the Democrats looked for an avenue to get their COVID-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Plan, past a Senate filibuster and to President Joe Biden’s desk. It allows lawmakers to sidestep Senate filibusters. So no 60-vote requirement there. All you need is to find a simple majority to pass whatever bill you insert into a budget reconciliation package.

So, essentially, Cardin and the Senate Democrats can pass an infrastructure legislative package so long as they have 51 votes to pass the measure through budget reconciliation — an easier feat for Democrats to accomplish in the 50/50 Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote.

Neither Cardin’s nor Buttigieg’s office immediately returned Fox News’ requests for comment. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:
- AOC takes shot at GOP, says Dems passed COVID-19 bill while Republicans 'read The Cat in the Hat'
- Budget reconciliation: What to know about process used in COVID aid fight
- Biden to cancel $50K in student loan debt
- Pro-GOP group targets House Democrats over $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill

Arizona mayor outraged as feds plan to drop off illegal immigrants in his community
The mayor of Gila Bend, Arizona, told Fox News on Monday he is very concerned about the escalating crisis at the Mexican border as news of a potentially unending influx of illegal immigrants will be heading for his community.

Mayor Chris Riggs, an Independent, told "Your World" that his town -- about halfway between Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico and Phoenix, is essentially being made into a waypoint for illegal immigrants captured by federal authorities.He told host Charles Payne that Gila Bend is already "very economically depressed" and that it does not have even the basic resources necessary for what he fears could be an expensive unfunded mandate of sorts.

"We can barely afford to take care of the people that we have here and our community now, and as of this second, the Border Patrol advised us that they're going to drop people off here and do sort of like: 'They're your problem'," said Riggs.

We just do not have the ability to care for these people. Quite frankly, it's going to cost us tens of thousands of dollars a year to be able to just to provide them with a bottle of water and a sandwich when they get dropped off."

Riggs said that other than the notification his town will be a drop-off for captured illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, the feds are not providing any crucial, empirical information such as coronavirus infection rates of the migrants, the number of migrants Gila Bend can expect to see, or any other basic data. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
- Signs of new caravans headed to the border as WH faces backlash for not calling it a 'crisis'
- Illegal immigrant cousins sentenced for operating Georgia meth lab
- Texas GOP rep tells 'FOX News Primetime' Biden 'complicit' in human trafficking across US-Mexico border
- Migrants stuck at Mexico border thought they'd get easier entry: 'Biden promised us!'

Cuomo has 'preoccupation with his hand size,' former aide Charlotte Bennett tells investigators
A former aide who accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment told investigators Monday that the embattled Democratic leader has a "preoccupation with his hand size."

The former aide, Charlotte Bennett, met with outside investigators for more than four hours as part of New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the allegations against Cuomo. Bennett provided "more than 120 pages of contemporaneous records" as well as "other examples of documentary evidence," according to her attorney, Debra Katz.

"We remain confident that their investigation will substantiate Charlotte’s claims of sexual harassment against Gov. Cuomo, as well as the failure of his senior staff to meet their mandatory reporting requirements under the very laws he signed," Katz said in a statement. "She also provided detailed information about the sexually hostile work environment the Governor fostered in both his Manhattan and Albany offices and his deliberate effort to create rivalries and tension among female staffers on whom he bestowed attention."

"One piece of new information that came to light today was the Governor’s preoccupation with his hand size and what the large size of his hands indicated to Charlotte and other members of his staff," she added.

Top New York Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have called on Cuomo to resign in recent days amid the mounting scandal. Bennett is one of seven women, including five former staffers, who has accused the governor of sexual harassment or misconduct. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
- Cuomo accusers Ana Liss, Karen Hinton claim governor created toxic workplace for women
- Cuomo impeachment investigation will be 'very broad,' New York State lawmaker says
- Trump Jr: Andrew Cuomo the 'biggest predator in American politics today'
- Kamala Harris takes heat for silence on Cuomo accusations

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TODAY'S MUST-READS:
- Politico knocked on Twitter after praising Biden for 'largely gaffe-free' start to administration
- Newsom says RNC, white supremacist groups behind recall effort
- Great white shark caught at Florida beach, group catches video to prove it
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#The Flashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on "This Day in History."

SOME PARTING WORDS

Sean Hannity warned on Monday’s "Hannity" President Biden and Democrat’s plans for the first major tax hike since 1993 will spell economic disaster for the U.S.

"[Biden’s] radical extreme socialist agenda is moving forward, and full steam ahead" Hannity said. "Yes, the next order of business is redistribution and wealth confiscation. In fact, we can now tell you, the Biden administration is planning what will be the single, biggest tax on Americans in over three decades. This radical, Green Deal new socialism has to be paid for by somebody, including the wealth tax supported by Janet Yellen and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and by the way, buckle up for the class warfare you’re about to – by the way – all that rhetoric you think you can handle. It’s about to get bad."

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Fox News First was compiled by Fox News' Jack Durschlag. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We’ll see you in your inbox first thing Wednesday.