NationalWatch

Former Vice President Kamala Harris faced swift Republican backlash after calling on Democrats to consider expanding the Supreme Court and gutting the Electoral College the next time they are in power.

“Let’s invite ideas, for example, that are about Supreme Court reform, including the notion of expanding the court,” Harris said on a call with the left-wing nonprofit Emerge. “Let’s invite a discussion about how do we push for statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C.; how are we thinking about the Electoral College.” 

“We’ve got to neutralize this red state cheating,” she continued. “There’s a brutality at play on the other side, and a ruthlessness. And we need to play to win.”

Harris’ plea for “bold” reforms came after Democrats suffered two major setbacks in the redistricting wars, as both parties scramble to draw new congressional seats ahead of November’s midterm elections.

HARRIS’ ‘NO BAD IDEA BRAINSTORM’ FOR DEMS INCLUDES PACKING SCOTUS, ELIMINATING ELECTORAL COLLEGE

In late April, the Supreme Court moved to curb the use of race in the drawing of electoral districts, effectively gutting Black-majority districts held by Democrats across the South. Democrats were dealt another blow at the Virginia Supreme Court earlier in May when a Democratic-friendly gerrymander was struck down over a procedural concern.

“What they have done with this decision, by saying that the politics of redistricting is okay, is they are back-dooring racism through politics,” Harris also said on the call. “What they are doing is intentionally about trying to suppress the voice of the people.” 

The 2024 presidential candidate’s ideas drew a sharp rebuke from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who accused Democrats of being “institutional arsonists.”

“It’s a dangerous thing, a dangerous gambit,” the speaker said. “You don’t just blow up the system when you lose.”

“For the former vice president of the United States and a candidate for president to suggest that you should pack the Supreme Court or destroy these institutions because they lost is I just think outrageous,” he added.

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Conservative Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., also criticized Harris’ comments, calling them “totally insane” in an interview with Fox News.

“That’s why we can’t let her become president,” he said. “People … rejected her before; they’ll reject her again.”

Not all Democrats are in agreement with Harris.

“I think that’s putting the cart before the horse,” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News. “Right now I’m focusing on lowering costs, health care, ending a runaway war that’s costing Americans tens of billions of dollars. Those are the things that my constituents are talking to me about.”

Harris’ calls for Democratic retaliation come as Republicans are emerging as the clear winners in the redistricting battle ahead of the midterms. The GOP could pick up more than a dozen seats after a bevy of GOP-led states have drawn new congressional maps while Democratic gains have so far been limited to California and Utah.

Earlier in May, Tennessee carved up its lone Black-majority district, represented for decades by a white Democrat, allowing Republicans to pick up a seat that had long eluded them.

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Louisiana and South Carolina are conducting similar efforts to erase several Democratic-held seats following the Supreme Court’s ruling.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has vowed to respond with his own gerrymander push in a swath of blue and purple states, including New York, New Jersey, Colorado and Oregon. But those states are not likely to move forward with new maps until 2028, making it a moot point ahead of November.

Senators will now go without pay during future government shutdowns, but for many, they don’t need the paycheck. 

The Senate unanimously agreed to forgo their paychecks during future shutdowns, with the money being withheld until a deal is struck to reopen the government. But much of the upper chamber is populated with lawmakers who are already wealthy before their time in office. 

“There are some members who are very independently wealthy that their congressional paycheck is a rounding error to their investments,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. “Fine, I’m not pejorative of that at all. But we need to actually end government shutdowns.” 

SENATORS AGREE TO GO WITHOUT PAY DURING SHUTDOWNS AFTER HISTORIC CLOSURES LEFT WORKERS UNPAID

In the last year, Congress has been unable to keep the government open twice. The first time for 43 days, and the most recent for 76 days.

Republicans worry that before the midterm elections, and before the rule change becomes official, that Senate Democrats may again try to shutter the government to gain a political edge. They hope that the rule change, pushed by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is at least enough to convince some lawmakers not to do it. 

However, nearly three-quarters of the Senate are millionaires, according to an analysis of financial disclosure data reviewed by Fox News Digital and first reported by NOTUS, meaning the fear of missing a paycheck may not be enough to quell the desire to score political points. 

SENATE WEIGHS NEW, PAINFUL LEVERAGE TACTIC AS FEARS OF ANOTHER GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GROW

“It certainly doesn’t stop future shutdowns,” Lankford said. “It just says, ‘Hey, people are not being paid, we’re not being paid either.’”

Others were more optimistic that by installing the new guardrails on themselves, it could open the door to future legislation that may take shutdowns off the table entirely — like Lankford’s bill that would automatically extend government funding on a temporary, two-week basis if lawmakers miss the mark. 

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who is one of the wealthier members of the Senate, believed that the success of Kennedy’s resolution could open the valve to his legislation that would dock members’ pay during shutdowns. 

“It’s about brick by brick, rebuilding confidence in the institution,” Moreno told Fox News Digital.

GOP CAN’T AGREE ON KEY PART OF TRUMP’S HOUSING AFFORDABILITY PUSH AS INFIGHTING CONTINUES

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., another of the Senate’s wealthiest members, contended that lawmakers shouldn’t hold federal workers “hostage based on what we’re doing.” 

Over the past several months, hundreds of thousands of federal employees went without pay. And in the case of workers under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), they went without paychecks twice. 

“Hopefully it’ll get people to focus on getting [appropriations] done, because, you know, we don’t have a process to get this stuff done,” Scott told Fox News Digital. 

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Meanwhile, Kennedy, who successfully pushed Senate Republican leadership to put the bill on the floor, viewed its success as progress.

But it’s not as far as he wanted to go. 

“Look, if I were king for a day, I would pass a bill that doesn’t suspend member pay, it forfeits member pay during a shutdown,” Kennedy told Fox News Digital. “And I will also include in the bill a prohibition against members leaving Washington while we’re in a shutdown. But I don’t have the votes to do that. So I’m doing as much as I can.”

EXCLUSIVE: At President Donald Trump’s “Rededicate 250” prayer event on the National Mall this weekend, Bishop Robert Barron will address the “marginalization of God” and religion in society, which he said he considers a “true threat to democracy.”

Rededicate 250 is a major prayer event set for Sunday as a way of “rededicating” the nation as “One Nation Under God” ahead of America’s 250th anniversary. The event, which is being organized by the Trump-aligned “Freedom 250” nonprofit, is expected to include the president, White House Cabinet members and major faith leaders.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Barron, perhaps America’s most well-known and beloved Catholic bishop, revealed that his address at the event will emphasize his belief that “if you marginalize and privatize religion, democracy is in danger.”

“God is essential to the very foundations of American democracy,” he asserted. “There’s a lot of talk today about the threats to democracy, that is a true threat to democracy, the marginalization of God.”

TRUMP LAUNCHES MASSIVE ‘FREEDOM 250’ PUSH TO IGNITE AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Barron explained that many of the societal ills seen today are due to this cultural separation from God.

“Take God out of the equation, what are you left with? Radical self-choice. Welcome to wokeism. Welcome to the culture of self-invention. ‘I make myself up, values is up to me, my gender, it’s up to the whole structure of my life, it’s my choice,’” he said. “That’s deadly to our democracy.”

“Religion belongs to the very fabric of our democracy, that’s the theme of my talk,” he said.

Barron said he will begin his speech by invoking Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

“We know from the early written versions [that] Lincoln didn’t have the phrase ‘under God’ when he said that this nation might have a new birth of freedom. But when he delivered the speech, he said this nation ‘Under God might have a new birth of freedom.’ So, what prompted Lincoln, as he was giving the Gettysburg Address, to add that phrase?” he said. “You could say, ‘Oh, it’s just a little pious declaration.’ No, no, no, I think that’s born of a very, very deep and correct intuition, America is a nation that’s conditioned by these great values, moral values, spiritual values that come finally from God.”

Barron argued that one of America’s most foundational ideas — that all men are created equal — is a novel concept made possible only by Christianity.

“We’re not equal in any way. Look at the classical political philosophers; they would never affirm the equality of all people. We’re not equal in intelligence or moral virtue or beauty or courage or anything. We’re radically unequal. So where does this come from?” he asked. “Why would you go from we’re not equal at all to it’s ‘self-evident that we’re equal’? And the answer is in that little word, ‘created,’ that ‘all men are created equal.’ So, despite all our differences, we are all equally children of God and then endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.”

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This second concept of all possessing inalienable rights, Barron argued, is a uniquely Christian idea imbued in America’s values.

“No one in the classical world believed that. Aristotle didn’t, Plato didn’t. Cicero didn’t, none of them,” he explained. “Look in societies more recent that don’t believe in God. Go to Soviet Russia, go to communist China, everyone has rights? No way.”

“Where do they come from?” he said. “Well, Jefferson gives away the game. They’re endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Take the creator out of the equation, rights will go out in a minute. So, Lincoln’s intuition to say that this nation under God would have a new birth of freedom, God is essential to the very foundations of American democracy. If you marginalize and privatize religion, democracy is in danger.”

Barron said he will also address the nature of freedom itself.

“It’s a very modern sense of freedom that it means spontaneous choice, I’m free if I could just do whatever I want,’” he said. “But see, the founding fathers were trained both biblically and classically; they did not understand freedom that way.”

TRUMP CHAMPIONS JESUS’ ‘MIRACULOUS RESURRECTION’ IN PALM SUNDAY MESSAGE VOWING TO ‘DEFEND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH’

“Freedom is more like this, it’s an ordering of desire toward the good, so as to make the achievement of the good first possible and then effortless.”

He pointed to mastering a new language or the piano as examples.

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“Think of the way you become a free speaker of a language, not by talking any old way you want, but rather internalizing the laws of the language. How do you become a free player with the piano? Not by doing whatever you want, but by internalizing the structure of music.”

“That’s the kind of freedom we’re talking about,” he said. “It’s the moral freedom to become the person you’re meant to be, that you can now effortlessly achieve the good, that this nation under God might have a new birth of freedom.”

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden was spotted by paparazzi in West Los Angeles this week, where the former first son briefly reacted to questions about ongoing litigation surrounding former President Joe Biden’s interview tapes and alleged government UFO files.

“Hunter, what do you think of the DOJ when they release your father’s interview tapes from the biography that he did?” a reporter asked as he approached Biden near Wilshire Boulevard.

“What are you talking about?” Hunter Biden said.

BIDEN SEEKS TO BLOCK DOJ RELEASE OF 2017 AUDIO, COURT FILING SAYS

The exchange comes amid ongoing litigation seeking the release of audio tied to former President Joe Biden’s classified-documents probe, which fueled scrutiny over the elder Biden’s memory and fitness while in office.

The probe examined Joe Biden’s handling and discussion of classified material during conversations with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. Special Counsel Rob Hur said the author had deleted the files, but the Justice Department was able to recover them.

BIDEN INTERVIEW AUDIO REVEALS WHO BROUGHT UP BEAU’S DEATH — AND IT WASN’T HUR

The conservative watchdog Oversight Project sued the DOJ seeking release of audio recordings from Joe Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur. Biden has denied wrongdoing and said he cooperated fully with the probe.

“I don’t know, man — I hadn’t heard that one,” Hunter Biden later said.

ASHLEY BIDEN SLAMS REPORTING ABOUT HER DAD’S MENTAL ACUITY AS ‘DISRESPECTFUL AND UNTRUE’

The reporter also asked about the recently released UFO Files.

“It’s crazy right?” Hunter Biden replied, but did not elaborate.

Hunter Biden was also one of several recent individuals whose Secret Service protection was rescinded by the Trump administration.

TRUMP REVOKES SECURITY CLEARANCES OF FORMER OPPONENTS KAMALA HARRIS, HILLARY CLINTON

Trump announced in March 2025 that Hunter Biden and his half-sister Ashley Blazer Biden — child of Jill and Joe — would cease to have such protection.

The president criticized the fact that Hunter had “as many as 18 people” on his USSS detail.

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Hunter Biden’s appearance marked a rare public sighting for the former first son, who has largely stayed out of public view in recent months.

BATON ROUGE, La. — After taking out five Indiana state senators who opposed his push for congressional redistricting, President Donald Trump‘s next target is Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

Cassidy, who five and a half years ago voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial, is fighting for his political life in a competitive race against two major challengers, including one backed by the president, in Saturday’s GOP Senate primary in the solidly red southern state.

Trump and his allies, including Republican Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, are backing GOP Rep. Julia Letlow in the Senate primary. Also in the race is former Rep. John Fleming, who is the state treasurer. If no candidate cracks 50% of the primary vote, the top two finishers will face off for the nomination in a June 27 runoff election.

The primary is the latest test of Trump’s endorsements in GOP nomination races and of the president’s immense grip over the Republican Party.

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After cruising to re-election six years ago, Cassidy was one of only seven Senate Republicans who voted in early 2021 to convict Trump after he was impeached by the House for his role in the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters who aimed to upend congressional certification of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

But since the start of Trump’s second term, Cassidy has been supportive of the president’s agenda and his nominees, including voting to approve Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

But Kennedy and his Make America Healthy Again movement are out for revenge.

That’s because Cassidy, a doctor, has been a skeptic of Kennedy’s push to reform the nation’s health policies, including Kennedy’s efforts to cut back on vaccine recommendations.

And Kennedy allies blamed Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, for helping sink the surgeon general nomination of Casey Means, a close Kennedy ally and top MAHA advocate, after Cassidy did not bring it to a committee vote.

Meanwhile, Trump has blasted the senator as a “very disloyal person.”

And on the eve of the primary, the president took to social media to praise Letlow as a “Highly Respected America First Congresswoman.”

Making Cassidy’s climb to renomination even tougher, Louisiana will now run separate party primaries in the Senate race, which replaces a system where all candidates appeared in one single jungle primary. That guarantees a more conservative and pro-Trump electorate for the GOP nomination.

Cassidy is highlighting his record over two terms in the Senate in delivering for Louisiana, which is one of the nation’s poorest states. And he’s showcased his support for Louisiana’s large oil and gas industry, which accounts for roughly 15% of the state’s workforce.

“When people ask things such as, can you work with President Trump, I point out that he has signed into law four bills that I wrote or negotiated,” the senator said in a primary eve interview with Fox News Digital. “We continue to work together, by the way.”

And Cassidy touted that he’s “a conservative senator who delivers.”

In trying to avert becoming the first elected Republican senator in nearly a decade and a half to be ousted in a primary, Cassidy and an allied super PAC have dished out more than $20 million on ads, according to AdImpact, a national ad tracking firm. That total is more than Letlow and Fleming, combined, have spent.

Some of those ads have knocked Letlow over her past support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs during her tenure at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Cassidy argued that Republican voters are “concerned about her shifting position on DEI. She was all in for DEI.”

LETLOW EXPLAINS HER PAST SUPPORT FOR DIVERSITY PROGRAMS

Defending her record, Letlow explained in a Fox News Digital interview on Friday that “back in 2020 whenever DEI was introduced to us, we had no idea what it was back then, and I quickly witnessed it. I was in higher education at the time. I quickly witnessed the left completely hijack it, turn it into this Marxist leftist indoctrination of our children. And so, when I got to Congress for the last five years, I’ve been fighting against it.

And she charged that the criticism of her from Cassidy and Fleming over DEI is “all baseless attacks, desperate attacks.”

Letlow won her congressional seat in 2021, after her husband, Luke Letlow, died six days after being sworn into the U.S. House after his 2020 election victory for the seat she now holds.

She was backed by Trump even before she entered the race.

“Not only did he encourage me to get into this race, but also to have his complete and total endorsement has been, wow, the honor of a lifetime,” Letlow said.

Letlow has taken aim at Cassidy for his bipartisan efforts in the Senate, including his vote for the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law that was a signature domestic achievement for then-President Joe Biden.

Asked about her criticism, Cassidy said the “people want someone who can deliver for Louisiana. The Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act has brought $13.5 billion to Louisiana for roads and bridges and high-speed internet, and along the way creating a lot of good paying jobs. My opponent opposed that bill.”

Fleming, who served as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, has argued that he’s the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary.

‘They see me clearly MAGA,” Fleming told Fox News Digital, as he referred to Louisiana Republicans.  “I served in his entire first administration at various capacities. I was one of the first congressmen that endorsed him in 2016.”

Fleming claimed that Letlow is “not the prototype for a Trump endorsement. She’s much more like a Democrat.”

And Fleming, apparently, has become a threat to Letlow, as a super PAC supporting the congresswoman started to run ads attacking him.

But Trump’s endorsement in the nomination race weighs heavily in a state he carried by 22 points in his 2024 election victory.

“It’s the most powerful endorsement in the world,” Letlow said, adding that Louisiana Republicans “are huge fans of the president.” 

And the Louisiana primary comes a week and a half after Indiana’s primary, where Trump-backed challengers ousted five state senators who had defied the president over his redistricting push.

The political world was closely watching Indiana’s primary because it was the first of a series of major tests this month of Trump’s endorsement power in GOP nomination showdowns, and the president cleared his first hurdle with ease.

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Voters in Louisiana will also cast ballots in primary contests for State Supreme Court, Public Service Commission and state school board, along with five proposed state constitutional amendments.

But the primaries for the U.S. House seats were postponed by Landry after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s current congressional district map.

Republican state senators in Louisiana on Thursday advanced a plan to eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black congressional seats ahead of the midterms. Louisiana’s state House will likely vote on the map next week. The U.S. House primaries are being postponed until November.

Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced on Friday that he signed a document requesting not to be included on the ballot in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.

The congressman described the district determined by “new lines” as “nothing like the 9th district that I’ve represented.”

The Democratic primary in the district is scheduled to take place in August.

MIKE JOHNSON PREDICTS GOP COULD GAIN UP TO EIGHT SEATS IN MIDTERMS, DEFYING HISTORICAL TRENDS

Redistricting was approved in the state last week.

A press release from the Tennessee Secretary of State website states, “Candidates who previously qualified for 2026 congressional elections may run in the new district that has the same district number. Candidates who wish to change districts or withdraw may do so by filing a notarized statement with the State Division of Elections, attention Coordinator of Elections.” 

Cohen’s office says the lawmaker’s “majority-Black district was gerrymandered into three Republican-leaning districts by the state General Assembly last week.”

ALABAMA REPUBLICANS PLOW FORWARD ON REDISTRICTING

Cohen is ending his re-election bid after more than 19 years in Congress — he took office in early 2007.

Speaking after his announcement on Friday, Cohen slammed President Donald Trump, describing the president as “the greatest threat to democracy,” “decorum,” as well as to “grace, that we’ve ever seen.”

Cohen stated that he would not seek reelection in any of the three newly gerrymandered districts that now divide Memphis. He tied his departure to the current map and left the door open to return if that map is overturned.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.

EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Robert Barron slammed “borderline communists” in the Democratic Party, explaining in an interview with Fox News Digital why he believes the “extreme leftward shift” in politics poses a serious danger to the American way of life.

Barron, who leads the Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and is the founder of the massively successful Word On Fire Ministries, is set to give an address at President Donald Trump’s “Rededicate 250” prayer event on the National Mall this weekend. Besides being a high-ranking leader in the Catholic Church hierarchy, he is perhaps best known for his unapologetic social media defenses of Christianity and Western civilization.

This January, Barron slammed socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for using his inaugural speech to praise the “warmth of collectivism,” writing on X “for God’s sake, spare me.”

Speaking with Fox News Digital this month, Barron shared that hearing Mamdani’s collectivist line “just triggered something in me.” He said that he has heard many, even in the Catholic Church, referring to capitalism as the “economy that kills.”

“Capitalism, like all economic systems, is going to be flawed because it’s made up of flawed human beings, but the economy that kills? Socialism is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of people,” he said, adding that “collectivism has been such a disastrous concept.”

BISHOP ROBERT BARRON SLAMS ZOHRAN MAMDANI ‘WARMTH OF COLLECTIVISM’ LINE: ‘FOR GOD’S SAKE’

Barron explained that he is “against socialism precisely as a Catholic,” emphasizing that the church’s social teaching unequivocally condemns the theory.

He admitted he has been surprised by the “extreme leftward drift of the Democratic Party” in recent years, which he said is evidenced by the broader acceptance of socialist candidates like Mamdani.

“We have a two-party system. If one of our two parties has gone that far to the left where explicit socialists, even, I would say, borderline communists, are being proposed as serious candidates, I think we’ve got a problem in our body politic.”

As a bishop, Barron said he has looked on with concern as figures such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democrats, have gone from isolated lone wolves to the norm among new members of the party.

“When Bernie Sanders first emerged … I thought, ‘Well, he’ll never go anywhere.’ But of course, he was quite successful,” he noted. “But to go from let’s say Bill Clinton style Democratic Party to Bernie Sanders, that’s a pretty big shift in a relatively short time.”

FAITH RETURNS TO THE PUBLIC SQUARE DURING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM, CHRISTIAN LEADER SAYS

Yet rather than standing by silently, Barron called on Christians to not “retreat into privacy” but rather “stand to thwart socialism.”

“There are forces that want us to withdraw into privacy, to be on the margins of society. [But] it’s especially now that the religious, I think, have to assert themselves in the public square.”

To Barron, this means “talking about the faith publicly and with confidence and with panache.”

“It means entering into dialogue and debate. It means living out your faith in a public manner. It means getting into university culture and getting into the institutions of our country in a way that’s not aggressive, but at the same time not apologetic,” he explained.

DNC CHAIR DOWNPLAYS SOCIALIST–MODERATE RIFT AS MAMDANI’S RISE HAS SOME DEMS RATTLED

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He noted that this taking of the faith into the public sphere is an “unrealized dream” of the Catholic Church’s Vatican II Council.

“What we have to fight for is a democratic civilization predicated upon objective moral value and finally upon God who presides over the very freedom that we exercise,” he said. “Fight for that culture in entertainment and in politics and in communication and in every aspect of life. That is a cultural war worth fighting.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders and Mamdani for comment.

Following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that led to the arrest of a three-time felon in Virginia, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin took aim at Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

Mullin spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital after a 4 a.m. trek to Manassas, Virginia, and a moonlit raid resulted in the arrest of Marvin Len Morales, a multiple-time felon who had been deported twice before. Morales had felony drug charges and a misdemeanor DWI charge on his record.

The DHS secretary said the arrest underscored what he views as the consequences of Spanberger and Virginia Democrats limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, arguing the policies make it harder for ICE agents to remove repeat offenders from communities.

“Well, unfortunately, we’re not working with [Spanberger] at all. She’s criminalized us to some degree. She went out there, she’s warned all law enforcement not to work with us,” Mullin told Fox News Digital standing just feet away from the handcuffed migrant. 

“This individual right here that we just arrested, this is his third time to be deported. He self-deported once, he was deported again. He’s snuck back across, he’s been living back here in this country again with a history of criminal activity. This shouldn’t be happening in our streets, in our neighborhood,” Mullin told Fox News Digital.

ICE NABS IRANIAN NATIONAL WITH RAPE, SODOMY CONVICTIONS AFTER VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO CURB COOPERATION

Mullin lamented the lack of local cooperation with federal law enforcement and Virginia’s sanctuary state status, arguing the policies lead to an influx of criminal activity.

“They wanted to cancel all the 287G programs,” he said of Spanberger’s government. “This is where we have local law enforcement that partner with federal to get these criminals off the streets like this.”

A spokesperson for Spanberger punched back in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying that the governor supports prosecution of violent criminals to the fullest extent of the law, and that she is open to working with ICE to apprehend “criminal offenders.”

“Under Governor Spanberger’s leadership, Virginia state law enforcement agencies continue to assist ICE in the apprehension of criminal offenders as part of task forces and ongoing interagency cooperation,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

“Virginia Department of Corrections also continues the long-standing practice of notifying ICE when individuals born outside of the United States are in state custody,” the spokesperson added. “As a former federal law enforcement officer who served search and arrest warrants alongside local police officers, Governor Spanberger will always prioritize the safety and well-being of Virginia families and communities.”

“Just use Fairfax, Virginia, for example. Roughly 50% of the murders in Fairfax, Virginia… the perps are illegal, shouldn’t even be in the country to begin with. That’s just in Fairfax. You think about what’s happening in Virginia. When you make Virginia a sanctuary city, you encourage more illegal activities,” he said.

“We want to have local partnership,” he told Fox News Digital. “Ideally I wouldn’t want to be picking this guy up. Ideally we’d want local to pick him up. He’s been picked up for a DUI before. It would have been great to have a detainer on him, go and pick him up and deport him that way without us having to go through the neighborhood.”

‘AMERICANS FIRST’: ICE SWEEPS UP CHILD PREDATORS, RAPISTS ACROSS US AS MULLIN TAKES HELM OF DHS

He also criticized Democratic leaders who he argued are placing political aspirations over following the law.

“They start causing all the political theater because they’re too afraid of their own base and they’re afraid that they’re gonna get beat in a primary,” he said. “You can’t work that way, I’m sorry. Either we are going to work together to make sure that we have a nation of laws that we’re gonna enforce, that by the way Congress passed, and allow law enforcement to do their job.”

Mullin lauded federal agencies like ICE for their work despite a lack of local and state support.

“Right now what you’re seeing is ICE doing their job. I mean, it’s early in the morning and these guys are out there working every day, protecting their roads, protecting their streets,” Mullin told Fox News. “We have 22,000 ICE officers, 80,000 officers throughout DHS, and they’re doing their jobs.”

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“They’re doing exactly what President Trump said he wants to. Get America’s streets safe again, the previous administration let them run amok that these are criminals. Even when we have you know politicians that want to protect the criminals, President Trump is still protecting all our neighborhoods and these guys around here doing their job even early in the morning,” Mullin added.

Margaret Thatcher once ran Britain. John Kennedy’s “Margaret” mostly runs him into the ground.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is going viral after posting a tongue-in-cheek workout video introducing followers to “Margaret” — his elliptical trainer named after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — while wearing a red bandanna and speaking directly to the camera from his Louisiana carport.

“Hey X, I have somebody I’d like you to meet,” Kennedy says at the start of the minute-long video posted to social media Friday.

“This is Margaret. Margaret is my elliptical trainer. I named Margaret after Margaret Thatcher because both kick butt and take names.”

ERIC SWALWELL’S ‘CRINGE’ WORKOUT VIDEO MOCKED FOR BENCHING LIGHT WEIGHT

Kennedy goes on to explain that “Margaret” lives outside under the carport for three reasons: the machine is too heavy to move, his wife “won’t let” him bring it inside and because he enjoys getting in a workout during Louisiana summers.

The Senator said he enjoys working outside during Louisiana summers, a detail that drew disbelief from many viewers familiar with the state’s famously brutal heat and humidity.

“As you can see, Margaret, my elliptical trainer, is out here under my carport in Louisiana,” Kennedy says. “After Margaret kicks my butt, I look for air conditioning.”

The surreal, self-aware clip quickly drew thousands of reactions online, with users roasting Kennedy’s bandanna look while also praising the senator’s everyman personality.

SEN KENNEDY PRAISES FETTERMAN AS A ‘TOTAL BANGER,’ WHO ‘DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN’ ABOUT ANGERING LIBERALS

“You are rocking the dadgum crap outta that bandana,” one user wrote. “I thought you were representing the Bloods for a minute. Tell Margaret I think she’s cute but evil.”

Others praised Kennedy’s personality and down-home delivery style.

“You are a gem to us normal folk Mr. Kennedy. Live long and prosper!” one supporter posted.

“Senator Kennedy is that kind of Southerner that makes you feel you’re sitting on the front porch having some bit of common sense enlighten you in that poetic Southern way,” another wrote.

The Louisiana Republican has long cultivated a folksy, humorous public image that often breaks through online with colorful one-liners and unconventional social media moments.

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Kennedy ended the video with a line that only added to the internet’s fascination.

“My work here is done,” he said. “And I can see myself out.”

President Donald Trump returned from his high-stakes summit in China with President Xi Jinping touting trade progress and warmer ties, but several of the biggest pressure points in the U.S.-China relationship — from trade and Taiwan, to AI and human rights — appeared to end without firm public breakthroughs.

“We had a great stay. It was an amazing period of time. President Xi’s an incredible guy. We’ve made a lot of great trade deals,” Trump said Friday aboard Air Force One while returning to the White House.

The trip gave Trump several economic talking points, including potential Chinese purchases of Boeing aircraft, U.S. soybeans and American energy, but public readouts and Trump’s recent remarks show some major questions went unresolved.

WHAT XI WANTS FROM TRUMP AS BEIJING SEEKS LEVERAGE IN HIGH-STAKES SUMMIT

Taiwan

During the summit, Xi warned that mishandling the Taiwan issue could lead to “clashes and even conflicts” between the two countries. 

Trump said “he heard [Xi] out” on Taiwan, adding, “He does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation.”

There was no pledge from Beijing to reduce military pressure or any visible easing of the core Taiwan dispute.

TRUMP WARNS TAIWAN NOT TO EXPECT BLANK CHECK FROM US MILITARY AFTER INTENSE XI SUMMIT

Lawmakers have pressed Trump over Taiwan’s security and U.S. arms sales to the island, though Washington does not formally recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state and maintains a longstanding “One China” policy.

“We’ve had it for thousands of years. And then, at a certain period of time, they left that they were going to get it back. They had the Korean War. A lot of things happened and all this. But no, yeah — Taiwan, he feels very strongly. I made no commitment either way,” Trump said, referring to Xi’s view of Taiwan and Beijing’s historical claim to the island. 

A White House official said Trump is expected to decide soon whether to move forward with a new Taiwan arms package, pointing to his December 2025 approval of $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan and arguing that his record remains consistent with decades of U.S. policy.

The official also noted that Trump approved more Taiwan arms sales during his first term than any previous president, and said his first-year total in the second term exceeded the full amount approved during former President Biden’s four years in office.

TRUMP SPEAKS WITH CHINESE PRESIDENT XI, WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL CONFIRMS

Human Rights

The cases of jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai and detained house-church pastor Ezra Jin loomed over the summit, with Trump saying Xi is “giving very serious consideration” to releasing Pastor Jin, though Lai’s future may be less certain.

“That’s a tougher one. I did bring it up. It’s a tough one for him. It’s a tough one,” Trump said. “He said Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do. You know, he went through a lot — right and wrong, he went through a lot. So he told me that would be a tough one. He said he’s going to strongly consider the pastor.”

Jin, also known as Ezra Jin Mingri, is a Chinese house church pastor whose family and advocates have urged Washington to press Beijing for his release. Lai is a British citizen, Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist who has been jailed under Hong Kong’s national security law. 

The two are often linked in coverage focused on human rights, freedom of the press, and China’s crackdown on dissent.

Neither case appeared to produce a public release commitment before Trump departed Beijing.

Lai’s daughter, Claire, commended Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their “continuous commitment to freeing my father and securing his freedom” during an appearance on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Friday.

“Of course, the dream was that he would fly back with my father this time, but I am still extremely confident that he is the president and this is the administration that will secure my father’s freedom,” Lai said.

AI and Tech Race

China’s AI advances remain a major concern for U.S. policymakers and technology leaders as Washington weighs how to preserve its edge in advanced chips, computing power and export controls without accelerating Beijing’s push to build domestic alternatives.

DONALD TRUMP DETAILS ‘MOST EXCITING PART’ OF CHINA TRADE AGREEMENT

Trump said on Air Force One that discussions about chips did not come up. 

U.S. officials said China continues to weigh whether to buy advanced U.S. chips or accelerate domestic alternatives, while Trump said the two sides discussed the possibility of AI guardrails.

TRUMP REVERSES COURSE ON MIDDLE EAST TECH POLICY, BUT WILL IT BE ENOUGH TO COUNTER CHINA?

“As to whether the Chinese are going to buy [U.S. chips] or not, they’re making their own determinations,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday on Bloomberg TV. 

“They’re very committed to domestic production. They often see U.S. high tech as a threat to them. If we’re ahead of the game on AI chips, sometimes they feel that can stop their own growth,” he added.

Trump said China may “want to try and develop their own” chips.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES CHINA WILL RESTART RARE EARTH MINERAL SHIPMENTS TO US AFTER PRODUCTIVE CALL

Trade and tariffs 

At the final meeting between the two leaders, Trump touted what he called “fantastic trade deals” during the summit.

Trump said China agreed to purchase 200 Boeing planes and expressed interest in buying as many as 750 once the first deliveries are completed.

While few details have been released regarding the specific agreements reached, Trump also said agricultural deals were pledged while at the same time stating tariffs were not discussed.

“The farmers are going to be very happy. They’re going to be buying billions of dollars of soybeans,” Trump said.

The president added during a gaggle on Air Force One during his trip home that he and Xi did not discuss tariffs during the meetings, even though such duties have served as one of Trump’s central tools for pressuring Beijing on trade.

TRUMP PUSHES XI ON TRADE AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING DENTS KEY CHINA PRESSURE TOOL

“We didn’t discuss tariffs – I mean they’re paying tariffs. They’re paying substantial tariffs,” he said at one point.

The talks come as Trump’s tariff agenda faced a setback after a Supreme Court ruling limited his use of emergency powers to impose duties, which cut directly into one of his preferred tools for pressuring Beijing.

Trump also suggested an energy deal was close, saying China could begin buying oil from Texas, Louisiana and Alaska.

“They’re going to go to Texas. We’re going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska. And I think that was another thing that was agreed to. That’s a big thing,” Trump said.

Iran was an area where Trump could point to a clearer diplomatic win, saying Xi told him China would not provide military equipment to Tehran and that both leaders agreed Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon.

But broader concerns remain over Beijing’s economic support for Iran through oil purchases, dual-use exports and intermediary networks.

China remains a major buyer of Iranian crude despite U.S. sanctions.

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Trump said that Xi and his wife will visit the U.S. in September.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) unveiled an aggressive new workforce overhaul on Friday aimed at tackling chronic staffing shortages, excessive overtime and aging technology across the nation’s air traffic control system.

The newly released 2026-2028 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan calls for hiring thousands of new controllers, modernizing scheduling systems and replacing aging infrastructure across the National Airspace System.

The plan comes months after FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford warned lawmakers that air traffic control towers would “never” reach full staffing levels if the agency continued operating under its current structure.

“We’ll never catch up,” Bedford said during a December congressional hearing. “The system is designed to be chronically understaffed.”

PRIVATIZE THE TSA: 3 STEPS TO BETTER SERVICE AND ENHANCED SECURITY

The overhaul also comes amid heightened scrutiny of aviation safety following a series of airport disruptions, delays and close-call incidents that have raised fresh questions about whether the nation’s air traffic control infrastructure is keeping pace with growing travel demand.

“This forward-thinking plan delivers on President Donald J. Trump’s promise to provide the American flying public with a world-class air traffic control system, and that starts with highly trained, professional air traffic controllers,” Bedford said in a statement.

“We can’t continue to operate the same way and expect better results,” he added. “We’re changing how we hire, train and schedule our controller workforce — and providing them with the state-of-the-art tools they need to succeed.”

AI AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM PROMISES FEWER FLIGHT DELAYS

The FAA said the plan identifies a full staffing target of 12,563 certified professional controllers based on forecast demand. As of April 2026, the agency said roughly 11,000 certified professional controllers were deployed across more than 300 air traffic facilities.

The agency also has an additional 4,000 controllers in the training pipeline, including about 1,000 who were previously fully certified but are now training at new facilities, according to the plan.

Rebuilding the workforce will take time. The FAA said it can take more than two years to fully certify a new-hire controller depending on the complexity of the facility where they are assigned.

FAA SCRAMBLES TO HIRE 8,900 AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS BY 2028 AS SHORTAGE REACHES CRISIS LEVELS

The agency plans to hire 2,200 new air traffic controllers in fiscal year 2026, 2,300 in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028 while expanding partnerships with colleges, universities and technical schools.

The workforce plan also acknowledges the strain excessive overtime has placed on controllers.

“Use of a limited amount of overtime is a reasonable means of addressing unexpected variances of work demands,” the plan states. “However, the levels reached in FY 2023 – FY 2025 far exceed any reasonable use of mandatory overtime.”

“Chronic use of overtime leads to fatigue, controller burnout and ultimately loss of retention,” the report says.

The plan also notes that workforce scheduling and controller timekeeping are still handled manually by local facility managers.

“It is difficult to understand why no automation tools have been deployed to schedule our workforce or track time, attendance and functional work accomplished,” the report states.

TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT DEPLOYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO SPOT AIR TRAFFIC DANGERS, DUFFY SAYS

The FAA said improving average controller time on position from about four hours to more than five hours per eight-hour shift could increase effective workforce availability enough to meet current staffing targets.

The workforce plan also calls for replacing decades-old infrastructure with a fully digital system, expanding simulator-based training and using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to better manage air traffic demand.

Lawmakers also raised concerns during Bedford’s December testimony about the age of some FAA systems, including reports that certain facilities still rely on floppy disks.

“When you’re still using floppy disks, that makes everybody less safe, that makes the agency less effective,” Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C., said during the hearing.

Rep. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., also said she saw floppy disks still in use during a visit to the FAA’s terminal radar approach control facility on Long Island, which manages traffic into major New York-area airports.

Bedford told lawmakers the FAA had committed more than $6 billion of the $12.5 billion it received under Trump-backed legislation, including investments in telecommunications infrastructure and new radar surveillance systems.

SEAN DUFFY PROPOSES BIG PLANS TO UPGRADE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, USE AI TO FIND ‘HOT SPOTS’

The new workforce plan says the FAA will replace “decades-old, unreliable, analog infrastructure” with a “fully digital network system,” arguing that modern tools will improve reliability, reduce outages and give controllers a more stable working environment.

The FAA said the plan builds on its fiscal year 2025 hiring surge, when the agency hired 2,028 air traffic controller trainees, its highest total since 2008.

The agency also raised starting salaries for academy students by nearly 30% and implemented financial incentives for academy completion.

Still, the FAA said total workforce losses in fiscal year 2025 — including retirements, resignations, promotions, removals, training failures and academy attrition — totaled 1,460.

Nearly 400 retirement-eligible controllers were retained through a new bonus structure, according to the agency.

The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies previously found that about 30% of FAA facilities were staffed more than 10% below staffing targets, while another 30% were staffed 10% or more above targets.

The FAA said prior hiring disruptions, including sequestration, government shutdowns and the COVID-19 pandemic, had long-term effects on staffing levels, particularly at major facilities serving some of the nation’s largest airports.

Even with thousands of hires planned, FAA officials acknowledged the air traffic controller shortage will not be solved quickly.

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Between years-long training, retirements, staffing imbalances and modernization challenges, the agency’s own projections make clear the pressure on America’s air traffic control system is expected to continue even as air travel demand continues rising.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this reporting.

Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday commuted the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — the former election clerk convicted in connection with a 2021 voting equipment breach case that became a flashpoint in the election integrity fight — drawing immediate backlash from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and praise from President Donald Trump, who posted “FREE TINA!” on Truth Social.

Polis announced clemency for 44 individuals Friday, including 35 pardons and nine commutations, according to the governor’s office. Peters was among those granted a commutation reducing her prison sentence and granting parole effective June 1, 2026.

“The Clemency power is a serious responsibility, and not one that I take lightly,” Polis said in a statement announcing the clemency actions.

“This power has the ability to change lives – help grant a second chance for someone who has made grave mistakes – and it comes with great consideration, and sometimes even controversy,” he added.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PARDON FOR COLORADO CLERK: ‘SIMPLY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR ELECTIONS WERE FAIR’

The move immediately prompted a blistering response from Griswold, who accused Polis of legitimizing “the election denial movement.”

“This clemency grant to Tina Peters is an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country,” Griswold said in a statement Friday.

“The Governor’s actions today will validate and embolden the election denial movement, and leave a dark, dangerous imprint on American democracy for years to come,” she added.

FEDERAL JUDGE REFUSES TO RELEASE PRO-TRUMP CLERK CONVICTED IN 2020 ELECTION SCHEME

According to the executive order signed Friday, Peters’ sentence was commuted from 8 years and 3 months to 4 years and 4.5 months. The order grants her parole effective June 1, 2026, with conditions to be set by the Colorado Parole Board.

“Tina M. Peters be and hereby is granted a limited commutation such that her total sentence, inclusive of time in County Jail and the Department of Corrections, is commuted to 4 years and 4.5 months, and that she is granted parole effective June 1, 2026,” the order states.

The executive order also explicitly noted that the clemency action “shall not in any way affect the underlying criminal conviction.”

TRUMP PARDONS RUDY GIULIANI, MARK MEADOWS, SIDNEY POWELL, OTHERS INVOLVED IN 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE SAGA

Polis wrote in the order that “the constitutional and statutory conditions for granting this clemency petition have been satisfied, and granting this commutation is in the interest of justice.”

According to the executive order, Peters was convicted in 2024 of three counts of attempt to influence a public servant, along with conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation – cause liability, official misconduct, violation of duty elections and failure to comply with secretary of state requirements.

She had been sentenced to 8 years and 3 months in Department of Corrections custody, along with 6 months in county jail. Her mandatory release date had previously been listed in 2033, while her estimated parole eligibility date had been in 2028.

BIDEN SETS RECORD WITH FIRST-TERM CLEMENCY GRANTS, HERE’S HOW OTHERS PRESIDENTS RANK

Griswold’s office said Peters’ actions stemmed from a 2021 breach involving Mesa County voting equipment.

“In 2021, then-Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters compromised her county’s voting equipment trying to prove conspiracies,” Griswold’s office said in a release Friday.

The office said Griswold responded by decertifying the county’s voting equipment, working with Mesa County commissioners to remove Peters from election oversight and appointing a former Republican secretary of state to oversee the election process.

Griswold’s office also said Peters’ actions cost Mesa County “nearly one million dollars in replacement equipment.”

The secretary of state’s office noted that on April 2, 2026, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld Peters’ convictions while ordering that she be re-sentenced by the district court.

Trump weighed in on the commutation Friday afternoon with a brief Truth Social post reading simply: “FREE TINA!”

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Peters became a nationally known figure among 2020 election skeptics following the Mesa County voting equipment breach controversy and subsequent criminal prosecution.

Friday’s clemency order immediately deepened political divisions surrounding one of the highest-profile criminal prosecutions in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Trump administration marked a full year of “zero releases” at the southern border on Friday, a milestone officials touted as evidence that the president has effectively ended the catch-and-release policies that defined the Biden-era border crisis.

“Zero releases” refers to U.S. border patrol not releasing illegal border crossers into the U.S. interior after apprehension. It does not mean zero illegal crossings or zero apprehensions.

In a news release announcing the decline in releases at the southern border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pointed to broader enforcement statistics showing illegal crossings and apprehensions at levels officials said have not been seen in more than three decades. CBP said Border Patrol recorded 8,943 southwestern border apprehensions in April, 94% lower than the Biden administration’s monthly average, 96% below the December 2023 peak during Biden’s tenure and fewer than the number apprehended in just three days in April 2024.

“The days of catch and release are over,” said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “We are enforcing the nation’s laws and sending illegal aliens back to their home countries.” 

TRUMP ADMIN RELEASES SHOCKINGLY LOW NUMBER OF ILLEGAL ALIENS COMPARED TO BIDEN YEARS: ‘UNPRECEDENTED’

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told Fox News Digital that the administration’s claim of “zero releases” from Border Patrol custody “does appear true,” but noted that the figure does not capture migrants transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and later released on bond, parole, medical or humanitarian grounds, or after winning their cases.

“What a difference,” CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott said. “The U.S. Border Patrol released zero illegal aliens into our country again this month, unlike April 2024 when more than 68,000 were released under President Biden. Every minute of every day President Trump’s border security policies are making every American safer.”

DHS said the April daily average of 298 apprehensions was lower than a single hour during the height of the Biden-era surge, when officials said Border Patrol was averaging 336 apprehensions per hour in December 2023. CBP also said total encounters so far this fiscal year, 215,876, are 13% lower than the total recorded in April 2024 alone.

Beyond illegal crossings, CBP highlighted drug and trade enforcement numbers, noting that nationwide seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana by weight increased 60% from April 2024. The agency said it seized 463 pounds of fentanyl in April and has seized 61% more drugs so far this fiscal year than during the same period in FY 2024.

US DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS PLUMMET 20% AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CRACKS DOWN ON SOUTHERN BORDER

“The specific claim of catch and release is in reference to the practice involving Border Patrol releasing migrants directly from Border Patrol custody,” Reichlin-Melnick clarified when speaking to Fox News Digital. “Some people are still crossing the border, and then eventually being released. It’s just that they’re not being released directly from the Border Patrol.”

Reichlin-Melnick acknowledged that Trump’s hardline immigration approach has produced results at the border, saying apprehensions are “down significantly” and that “the hardened tactics against migrants has produced results.” But he argued the administration’s policies have gone too far by effectively shutting off access to asylum at the southern border.

“The Trump administration has sent the message to the world that the United States is no longer a place where people can seek safety,” Reichlin-Melnick said.

Reichlin-Melnick agreed the asylum system had long needed major reform, including more asylum officers, more immigration judges and changes to screening standards. But, he said the goal should not be to end access to the system altogether, something he suggested the Trump administration has effectively done.

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“I think most Americans believe we should be a place where people can find safety,” he said, invoking Ronald Reagan’s image of America as a “shining city on a hill.” “I don’t think the answer was to shut it off completely.”

DHS officials, however, have argued the dramatic decline in border crossings shows the administration’s policies are working after years of record-setting illegal immigration under Biden.

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Joe Biden, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

The D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force is launching a massive “summer surge” of federal law enforcement to ensure Washington, D.C., is the safest city in America ahead of the nation’s 250th Independence Day celebrations.

During a news conference Friday, leaders touted the Trump administration’s success in driving down violent crime in the city since the D.C. task force launched last year.

The joint law enforcement operation has resulted in nearly 13,000 arrests, the seizure of more than 1,400 illegal guns, the apprehension of 32 murder suspects, and the recovery of 23 missing children.

Due to the aggressive enforcement efforts, overall crime in D.C. has plummeted 26%, with homicides dropping nearly 50% and carjackings down 60%. The U.S. Attorney’s Office added it has secured more than 7,000 convictions over the past year.

TRUMP’S ‘NO-NONSENSE’ DC CRACKDOWN TOPS 10K ARRESTS AS DOJ DECLARES ERA OF ‘UNCHECKED VIOLENCE IS OVER’

Officials said a focal point of the summer surge will be crushing the “teen takeovers” that have terrorized D.C. neighborhoods and shut down local businesses.

Blasting the D.C. Council for “refusing to deal with the problem,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced a zero-tolerance policy that shifts the legal burden onto the parents of delinquent youth.

Starting immediately, federal prosecutors will charge parents under a D.C. statute for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Parents who drop their kids off, fail to supervise them or allow them to skip school to participate in the chaos will face fines, court-mandated classes and up to six months in jail.

DC US ATTORNEY SAYS ‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’ AS YOUTH CRIME PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON NATION’S CAPITAL

“Law-abiding taxpayers should no longer have to pay for parental neglect,” Pirro said. “Parents, do your jobs or we will do ours. In the end, taxpayers will no longer subsidize the chaos caused by parental neglect.”

Noting that the task force is “coming for perfection,” officials said multiple federal agencies will flood the district with personnel and advanced technology to root out remaining criminal networks.

A formal request has been made for an additional 1,500 National Guardsmen to deploy to D.C., bringing the total troop presence to 5,000.

DC POLICE OFFICIALS FACE TERMINATION AFTER FEDERAL PROBE UNCOVERS ALLEGED MANIPULATED CRIME DATA BY DEPARTMENT

The task force will also deploy high-visibility patrols, drones, tactical K-9 units and helicopters to curb crime.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said it will ramp up resources to target out-of-state drug trafficking cartels, arguing that drug dealers should be “treated like terrorists.”

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said it will increase operations to seize illegal firearms being trafficked into the city from Maryland and Virginia.

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Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will double its special agents on the streets to target identity theft and those who fraudulently obtain housing without paying rent.

In a stark warning to anyone planning political violence in the capital, Pirro said offenders will face “the full wrath of the law,” announcing her office filed notice to seek the death penalty against Elias Rodriguez, 31, the suspect accused of murdering two young Israeli embassy staff members at the Capitol Jewish Museum on May 21, 2025.

President Donald Trump announced plans to build a National Garden of American Heroes in Washington, D.C.’s West Potomac Park in a Friday morning post on Truth Social.

“I am proud to announce the site of the NATIONAL GARDEN OF AMERICAN HEROES. This magnificent exhibition of statues will be located in West Potomac Park, which we are transforming into one of the World’s most beautiful public spaces,” Trump wrote.

“Right now, it is a totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate along our Mighty Potomac River. When finished, West Potomac Park will be a World Class Masterpiece with elegant Landscaping, and adorned with Beautiful Statues, and be yet another one of my great projects to make Washington, D.C., the Safest and Most Beautiful Capital in the World,” Trump’s post continued.

“The National Garden of American Heroes will feature the MOST BEAUTIFUL collection of statues of AMERICAN HEROES, featuring our Illustrious Founding Fathers, Military Warriors, Religious Leaders, Civil Rights Champions, World Class Athletes, Artists, Entertainers, and MORE. The people of America (and the World!) will come here to learn and be inspired by the ‘Greats’. The National Garden of American Heroes is one more project we are undertaking to honor the 250th Birthday of the Greatest Nation on Earth, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!” Trump’s post concluded.

GOP SENATORS PUSH FOR CHARLIE KIRK STATUE IN TRUMP’S NATIONAL GARDEN OF AMERICAN HEROES

The post also included an aerial photo of West Potomac Park, the planned site for the project.

The project would build upon Trump’s ongoing plans to significantly build legacy infrastructure in the nation’s capital.

The White House ballroom project, which is currently underway, is the most high-profile example of Trump’s D.C. buildout, but the president is also seeking approval for a number of other major projects.

WATCH: TRUMP REVEALS FLASHY NEW COLOR FOR NATIONAL MALL’S REFLECTING POOL MAKEOVER

For upcoming celebrations of America’s 250th birthday, Trump is renovating the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, addressing leaks in the pool’s structure and adding a blue liner to make the water more visually striking.

Trump said the project will cost under $2 million. “It’s so important for our country,” he said in a May 7 announcement.

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Trump is also seeking approval from Congress and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) for a massive “Triumphal Arch” to be placed in front of the Arlington National Cemetery.

The massive undertaking would be 250 feet high, making it taller than any building in D.C., White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in April.

Rick Jackson, a Republican billionaire running for Georgia governor on a pledge to ban DEI in state government and public education, founded a nonprofit that promoted a 2021 workplace initiative urging Georgia CEOs to invest in DEI, measure progress, examine racial pay gaps, use race-conscious hiring practices and lead workplaces “with race in mind.”

Jackson, the billionaire healthcare founder of Jackson Healthcare and its network of smaller companies, including Jackson Physician Search and Jackson Therapy Partners, has said he would be President Donald Trump’s “favorite governor,” modeled his campaign launch after the president’s and said he has never met a Trump policy he doesn’t like. Trump, meanwhile, has made ending DEI in the United States a key part of his second term, issuing an executive order shortly after he was inaugurated to remove it from public services, universities and beyond. His administration has also taken an aggressive stance against DEI in the courts.

In addition to his for-profit companies, Jackson is the founder and CEO of goBeyondProfit, a Georgia nonprofit. The philanthropic venture describes itself as a “no-cost resource for Georgia business leaders interested in evolving their corporate generosity efforts into a business strategy,” and adds that Jackson has “long shared the belief that businesses can and should be a force for good in the world.” In 2021, goBeyondProfit launched a DEI initiative focused on keeping “race in mind” in the workplace, which included a video series for CEOs to learn the “do’s and don’ts” of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The “Telly Award-Winning video series” aimed at helping companies implement DEI initiatives remains active on the nonprofit’s website.

One of the videos promoted critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How To Be An Anti-Racist,” which has been characterized by critics as a leading text of modern race-conscious ideology that rejects colorblindness and defends discrimination when used to achieve equity. The initiative also featured experts who argued “doing nothing” on DEI was “cringe worthy” and framed workplace race issues through slavery and Jim Crow.

GOP GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL’S PRO-TRUMP PITCH TO VOTERS CLASHES WITH PAPER TRAIL INSIDE HIS OWN COMPANY

Among those experts was then-Jackson Healthcare DEI executive Matthew Harrison, who, in the DEI initiative’s videos, touted how the share of “people of color” hired into new roles at Jackson Healthcare rose from 9% to 25% after the company implemented the diversity measures discussed in the initiative’s instructional videos.

Jackson’s business orbit has a history of DEI-friendly messaging and efforts that could complicate one of his central campaign pitches: that he is the candidate best positioned to root out DEI and restore merit-based policies in Georgia. Jackson’s campaign platform says he would prohibit DEI programs in state government, public universities and classrooms, while his campaign messaging has vowed to “ban DEI insanity” and “criminalize reverse discrimination.”

“We need to ban every bit of idiotic DEI insanity and criminalize reverse discrimination,” he recently posted on social media.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jackson’s campaign, Jackson Healthcare and goBeyondProfit for comment, including questions about whether Jackson was aware of the “Race in Mind” initiative, whether he approved of the DEI materials at the time and how he squared the nonprofit’s past race-focused workplace efforts with his current anti-DEI campaign platform.

“Rick hires like the Georgia Bulldogs: only the best players hit the field, and he will prohibit reverse discrimination as governor,” a Jackson campaign spokesperson said in response to Fox News Digital’s questions. 

The campaign added that “many of Georgia’s most successful and conservative business leaders” have been “program ambassadors or members” at goBeyondProfit, citing Chick-fil-A’s involvement and the involvement of Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus until his death.

In 2021, at the height of the social justice movement following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others, Jackson’s goBeyondProfit launched “Leading a Thriving Workplace with Race in Mind,” a DEI initiative that included a “Telly Award-Winning video series” aimed at helping CEOs navigate the “do’s and don’ts” of DEI and make “impactful changes” in their workplaces.

NEARLY ALL FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES STILL MAINTAIN CORPORATE DEI COMMITMENTS: REPORT

The goBeyondProfit video series featured DEI experts, including Harrison, a former Jackson Healthcare executive, urging CEOs and their companies to invest in DEI, measure progress, examine racial pay gaps and use race-conscious hiring practices to increase workplace diversity.

In one video, Harrison described implementing a “Rooney Rule” hiring policy at Jackson Healthcare after he took over talent acquisition in 2019, saying the company increased the share of “people of color” hired into new roles from 9% to 25% within a year.

“Personally here at Jackson Healthcare, I took over leading talent acquisition here in June of 2019 and put that in place, and within a year, we saw our increase in the number of people of color that we hired into new roles. It went from 9% to 25% and that’s the only thing we changed,” Harrison says.

HOW TRUMP IS UPROOTING RADICAL ’60S FOUNDATIONS OF POISONOUS DEI AND CRT PROGRAMS

A separate speaker from the DEI video series discusses the importance of tying DEI metrics to employee evaluations, encourages “taking those proactive steps and being anti-racist” as discussed in Kendi’s book that CEOs were encouraged to read, implored “employers do periodic pay equity reviews for their employees,” and urged executives to financially invest in DEI work, saying companies needed to “put your money where your mouth is” on DEI efforts. 

That same speaker framed workplace race issues through slavery and Jim Crow, saying slavery was “America’s first race-based economic system” and arguing that the “vestiges of slavery” still live on “even in the American workplace.”

“Oddly, the American workplace is the one place where we should be having more of these conversations, but ironically, it’s the one place where we’re least likely to do,” Harrison adds in one of the videos. Meanwhile, at another point in one of the videos, Harrison described how Jackson Healthcare started a “race series” using an outside vendor in order to prevent it from being viewed as “this HR mandate” by employees.

US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACCUSED OF LEADING ‘WOKE CORPORATE AMERICA’ AS TRUMP DISMANTLES DEI AGENDA

A related goBeyondProfit blog post authored by Harrison and the other DEI expert from the video series encouraged executives to take an Implicit Association Test to measure subconscious biases and create a “Bias Breaker” list cataloguing their known biases, including those involving “gender, sexual orientation, race or skin color, weight, age, and the list goes on.”

This revelation about the DEI past of Jackson’s companies is not the first time the issue has come to haunt his campaign. Fox News Digital reported in March that Harrison, who wrote his thesis on “Colorism,” said during a 2020 podcast interview that Jackson Healthcare and its leaders “get and see the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in our workforce.” He even credited Jackson for inspiring “a learning experience about race during the interview. Meanwhile, Fox News Digital also reported last month that one of Jackson’s companies focused on healthcare staffing produced numerous materials ridiculing Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

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The unearthed DEI efforts come as a brutal Georgia GOP gubernatorial primary nears its conclusion, with the election slated for next Tuesday, followed by the general election in November.

At times, the primary race has centered on which candidate can claim the mantle of President Donald Trump’s fiercest ally. Georgia Lt. Gov Burt Jones has Trump’s formal endorsement, and Trump recently warned voters during a tele-rally that while others were claiming his support, “I endorse a man named Burt Jones.” Jones’ campaign has branded Jackson a “Never-Trumper” and a “fraud,” often citing the fact he funded many of Trump’s political opponents, like Jeb Bush, in the past.

Jackson, meanwhile, has tried to run as a Trump-style outsider, pledging to be “Trump’s favorite governor,” donating $1 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. as he launched his campaign, modeling his campaign launch after Trump with a celebratory elevator descent, and telling local media he can’t name a single White House policy from the Trump administration he doesn’t like.

Jackson has blasted Jones as part of the political establishment, while likening Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another one of his main primary opponents, to the Biblical character “Judas” for being disloyal to Trump during his efforts to contest the 2020 election.

Democrat Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow accrued nearly a year’s worth of unpaid utility charges on her million-dollar home while campaigning on affordability.

Until Friday, McMorrow and her husband, former Gawker executive Ray Wert, had not paid water or sewer charges on their home in Royal Oak, Mich., since June 2025, according to records reviewed by Fox News Digital. The property had accrued $3,000.37 in unpaid bills and late fees. 

The debt was paid shortly after Fox News Digital reached out for comment. 

“The bills in question have been paid,” the spokesperson said. “We respect the commitment to covering anything other than the fact that every single American’s bills – from gas to groceries to electricity – are going way up because of Donald Trump and his enablers like Mike Rogers.”

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL RIPPED FOR TRASHING MIDDLE AMERICA IN UNEARTHED SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS: ‘TICKS ME OFF’

McMorrow, a state legislator vying for the Democratic nomination in one of the country’s top Senate races, has repeatedly fallen behind on payments in recent years. 

Records show the couple has been fined 10 times totaling more than $400 in late fees for nonpayment since late 2021, when they purchased a $1.28 million home in the Detroit suburb. A report in the Detroit Metro Times that year described the property — with a pool and outside courtyard — as a home “to marvel at.”

McMorrow and Wert also let overdue water bills pile up on the home in the latter half of 2024, when they went five months without making a payment. When the couple finally paid $917 in January 2025, records showed an unpaid balance of $45 in late fees.

Royal Oak Township sends water bills quarterly and assesses a 5% late fee on unpaid balances. If McMorrow had failed to pay the balance by June 1, another 5% penalty would have been added, according to a billing notice.

Under Royal Oak policy, unpaid water and sewer bills can eventually be added to the couple’s property tax bill and prolonged nonpayment can result in water shutoff.

The delinquent payments come as recent disclosures show McMorrow and her husband may be millionaires. 

She estimated her net worth between $588,041 and $1.87 million last year, Michigan Advance reported. Up to $1.15 million was reported under her name or as a joint asset with her husband, according to a financial disclosure filed last year.

McMorrow earned $101,554 from her state senator salary, according to the filing. She also reported just over $106,000 in royalties. 

BLUE STATE DEM CANDIDATE WHO MADE ‘AFFORDABILITY’ A KEY ISSUE IN CAMPAIGN RIPPED FOR CHARGING $13 FOR WATER

While McMorrow was falling behind on payments, she championed “affordability” legislation that would end water shutoffs for not paying city bills. 

McMorrow cosponsored a measure last year that would cap water bills for qualifying low-income residents and offer debt forgiveness for overdue balances. The program would be funded through a regular surcharge on most Michigan water customers.

She has also backed the Human Right to Water Act, which would recognize access to affordable drinking water as a right and direct the state government to develop “affordability criteria.”

In a March 2021 Facebook post, she advocated for legislation that would “end water shutoffs.”

“Let’s be clear, access to water is a human right, even when there’s not a pandemic,” she wrote.

McMorrow’s delinquent water bills come as she is running in a combative three-way Democratic primary to succeed Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who is retiring. 

The swing seat is a must-win race for Democrats hoping to retake Senate control, but Republicans also view the contest as a top flip opportunity. Former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., cleared the field last year with President Donald Trump’s backing while the Democratic candidates continue to duke it out ahead of the August primary.

McMorrow is campaigning on a progressive platform that includes calling on the wealthy to pay their “fair share” in taxes. Democrat Sen. Bernie Sanders-backed Abdul El-Sayed is running to her left, and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a candidate with support from the party’s establishment swing, has espoused more centrist views.

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Progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., have endorsed McMorrow’s campaign.

She recently faced scrutiny for deleting thousands of old social media posts prior to her Senate campaign launch that denigrated “Middle America” and associated Trump and his base with Nazi Germany. CNN first reported on the trove of since-deleted posts. 

The Senate hopeful largely defended her posts in an interview with the network, arguing she “tweeted normal things like a normal person.”

The Senate was two votes away from taking a step toward handcuffing President Donald Trump’s war authorities in Iran this week. 

It’s the closest Senate Democrats have come to trying to reassert Congress’ authority on the matter, and was nearly successful thanks to one Senate Republican known for an independent streak: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. 

That vote, in particular, came after Congress had sprinted past the 60-day deadline to either authorize or halt Trump’s war. Murkowski argued that she hoped the administration would give more clarity on next steps, but so far hadn’t received such information. 

SENATE DEMOCRATS FINALLY CRACK GOP UNITY ON TRUMP’S IRAN WAR AS MURKOWSKI FLIPS

“So I felt that it was now time to advance a discharge so that we can discuss our responsibilities through the War Powers Act,” Murkowski said. “So it’s — we’re in a different place than we were last time we voted on this.”

Many of her votes for or against any given piece of legislation are determined by a simple principle: how will this vote affect Alaska? 

“Senator Murkowski approaches every decision thoughtfully, always asking what is best for Alaska,” Joseph Plesha, a spokesperson for Murkowski, told Fox News Digital. “When she believes a policy advances those priorities, she supports it, regardless of party or politics.” 

That style of decision-making was on full display last year, when Murkowski cast the deciding vote for the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” his most significant legislative accomplishment of his second term to date.

But at the time, Murkowski described the decision as “agonizing,” and one that she came to only after securing a spate of wins for Alaska.

“I had to look on balance, because the people in my state are the ones that I put first,” Murkowski said. “We do not have a perfect bill by any stretch of the imagination. My hope is that the House is going to look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.”

Murkowski had hoped that the Senate and House would go into conference to iron out a better product, but that never came. After the upper chamber advanced the package, the House passed it several hours later to adhere to Trump’s July 4 deadline.

SENATE PASSES TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AFTER MARATHON VOTE-A-RAMA

Just a few weeks later, she bucked Trump and Republicans on a package designed to claw back billions in funding to public broadcasting and “woke” international aid programs. 

Murkowski, an appropriator, argued that instead of legislating, “what we’re getting now is a direction from the White House and being told, ‘This is the priority we want you to execute on it. We’ll be back with you with another round.’” 

“I don’t accept that,” she said at the time.

She also went against Trump’s actions in Venezuela earlier this year, joining Democrats on a successful procedural vote that was ultimately later struck down after a heavy lobbying campaign from the White House and top Trump officials flipped key votes against the war powers resolution. 

Similar to her reasoning on the Iran war powers vote, Murkowski contended that while the administration argued that the Venezuelan government was complying after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, there had been “no meaningful end state” given by Trump officials. 

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

And on the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, Murkowski once again went against the president.

She teed up her resistance to the voter ID and citizenship verification legislation early, weeks before Republicans launched a campaign on the Senate floor to debate the doomed bill. 

Murkowski noted that when congressional Democrats “attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed.”

“Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she said. 

Perhaps Murkowski’s biggest break from Trump came as he was exiting office shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on Capitol Hill.

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Murkowski was one of a handful of Republicans who voted to convict Trump. 

“If months of lies, organizing a rally of supporters in an effort to thwart the work of Congress, encouraging a crowd to march on the Capitol, and then taking no meaningful action to stop the violence once it began is not worthy of impeachment, conviction, and disqualification from holding office in the United States, I cannot imagine what is,” Murkowski said in a statement at the time.

Progressive journalist Austin Ahlman announced he is running for Congress in Nebraska’s first congressional district as a nonpartisan independent on Thursday, challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Democratic nominee Chris Backemeyer.

Ahlman, a journalist for the progressive left-wing outlet The Intercept, entered the fray Thursday, two days after his opponents advanced in their respective primaries.

Flood has held his seat since winning a special election in 2022. Democratic challenger Backemeyer is a former State Department employee who worked in President Barack Obama’s administration and also served as a Special Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris on national security and policy issues.

Ahlman criticized Backemeyer as a “creature of the establishment in D.C.” and said he didn’t see much of a difference between the Democrat and Flood.

FROM NEBRASKA TO WEST VIRGINIA TO NEW JERSEY: PRIMARY CLASHES SET STAGE FOR FIERCE MIDTERM FIGHT

“I have taken on the corporations that are actually hollowing out our state. I have uncovered the corruption among the politicians that are crushing us and selling us out. And I don’t think that either one of the two can say that,” Ahlman told the Lincoln Journal Star.

“I think that they have just been a part of the system. They are the establishment, and I am not that. I’m actually from the working class,” he said.

After winning his 2022 special election by a five-point margin, Flood won both of his general elections by a comfortable margin. He won by 15 points in the 2022 general election and by more than 20 point in 2024. Nebraska’s first district is also a solid Republican stronghold, according to the Cook Political Report.

Cook posits it would take both an “anemic” Republican turnout and a strong Democrat one to turn the tables for Democrats in Nebraska’s first district. The prospect is now made more complicated with Ahlman, as some of Nebraska’s political leader point out to local press that the progressive candidate could split the vote.

KEY HOUSE PROJECTION SPELLS TROUBLE FOR TWO REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS

“Mike Flood has failed this district, and splitting the vote with a fringe third candidate won’t fix that,” Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said in a Thursday statement provided to the Nebraska Examiner. “Nebraska doesn’t need noise from either extreme. We need a steady, experienced leader who will fight for fairness and protect our democracy. That’s Chris Backemeyer.”

Backemeyer’s campaign told the Examiner, “After winning almost every county by a large margin in the primary, Chris is focused on defeating congressman Flood in order to stop Trump’s tariffs, devastating healthcare cuts and illegal war that are hurting Nebraskans.”

Meanwhile, Flood’s team pointed to the independent challenge as a weakness in the Democratic Party, claiming Ahlman is “trying to sabotage the campaign of a Kamala Harris adviser because the Democratic Party is in shambles.”

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“While Backemeyer and Ahlman fight over which D.C. transplant finishes second, Congressman Flood will keep getting things done for Nebraskans,” Flood spokesperson Daniel Bass told the Examiner.

Fox News Digital contacted the Ahlman, Backemeyer and Flood campaigns for additional comment.

Home foreclosures in the U.S. are up 26% from last year as inflation rates and rising costs are catching up with homeowners.

Indiana was hit hardest and logged one foreclosure filing for every 739 housing units in the first quarter of 2026, according to findings from property data firm ATTOM. This is nearly two-thirds higher than the nationwide rate of one in every 1,211 house facing foreclosure in that same period.

The latest data released in April shows that red states are being hit the hardest by the sweeping affordability crisis — and with the 2026 midterm elections approaching, economic woes are at the top of mind for many voters and policymakers.

WHITE HOUSE TEASES MAJOR HOUSING AFFORDABILITY PLAN AS PRICES SQUEEZE AMERICANS

The top three states with the worst foreclosure rates at the start of 2026 all voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. South Carolina came in second behind Indiana with one in every 743 properties with foreclosure filings in the first quarter of the year, and Florida was in third with one in every 750 housing units facing the same fate.

While foreclosure activity is on the rise across the U.S., it remains well below levels seen during the 2008 housing crisis. But that isn’t stopping Democrats from pouncing on the issue, and using affordability, inflation and rising housing costs as their candidates’ leading messaging ahead of the November elections.

A total of 118,727 U.S. properties had a foreclosure filing in the first quarter of 2026, up 6% from the previous quarter and 26% from a year ago.

Foreclosure filings came in for 45,921 properties for March alone, increasing 18% from February and 28% from March of last year.

THE PRICE OF BUILDING A HOME KEEPS CLIMBING — AND UNCERTAINTY ISN’T HELPING

Looking more closely at the data, more homes are entering the foreclosure process, a potential sign of future distress. A total of 82,631 properties started foreclosure processes in the first quarter of 2026, up 20% from the year prior, while lenders repossessed 14,020 properties, marking a 45% annual increase.

Blue states like Delaware and Illinois are also facing high foreclosure rates — showcasing that the issue crosses party lines. Among major metro areas, cities like Cleveland, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; and Indianapolis, Indiana ranked among the highest for foreclosure rates.

The revelation of spiking foreclosure rates comes as the U.S. grapples with a slew of housing challenges that have helped contribute to today’s crisis. 

Against that backdrop, experts say rising mortgage rates, higher living costs and other homeownership expenses are putting increasing pressure on some homeowners, pushing up monthly payments and making it harder to keep up with housing costs.

THE TOP 3 REASONS HOUSING HAS BECOME SO UNAFFORDABLE IN THE US MARKET

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.37% for the week ending May 7, up from 5.98% in late February.

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Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, said that while foreclosure levels remain below those seen during the housing crisis, the recent uptick suggests more homeowners may be coming under financial strain.

Taken together, the data points to a housing market that remains stable overall, even as affordability challenges persist for some homeowners.