NationalWatch

Democratic Senate candidates Sherrod Brown and James Talarico reportedly headlined a star-studded New York City fundraiser hosted by celebrity jewelry designer Alexis Bittar, whose recent public comments describe the United States as a “s—hole” and characterized the American flag as “a symbol of aggression.”

The fundraiser, held Monday evening in Manhattan, featured contribution levels ranging from $500 to $27,000 and also listed actor Robert De Niro among the high-powered hosts, according to an invitation cited by the Washington Free Beacon.

Bittar’s recent record includes a July interview during which he discussed his concerns about the country’s future, while promoting a documentary centered on “reclaim[ing]” the American flag. 

During the interview, Bittar questioned what Americans were doing to create “the country we want to live in” before adding: “I have three kids, and they’re little, and they’re growing up in this s—hole. So if we don’t do something now, we’re f—ed.”

FIRST ON FOX: JAMES TALARICO SLAMMED FOR CALLING AMERICAN FLAG ‘COMPLICATED SYMBOL’ AHEAD OF INDEPENDENCE DAY

The Free Beacon highlighted separate remarks Bittar made about the American flag while discussing the documentary, saying in an interview with Forbes in July 2025 that the American flag had become “a symbol of aggression” during President Donald Trump’s political rise. 

“Thinking about the new administration and what actions I can take to combat their policies. It seemed folks were in shock and experiencing malaise. But I homed in how the flag was co-opted by the right and how did the left let that happen?” he said in the interview. “It’s become such a symbol of aggression, the American flag, like ‘we’re coming for you’ during Trump’s era.”

Bittar has been active in progressive Democratic politics. Gothamist previously reported that he was among the donors who gave the maximum amount to support New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani‘s transition and served on the mayor’s Arts & Culture transition committee. He has also been unafraid of the “socialist” label, the Free Beacon reported. 

“Hey people … it’s voting time!!! Bringing in all the Democrat Socialists!! Let’s change America…!” he said while urging people to go out and vote for various candidates in New York several weeks ago on Instagram.

Bittar also recently hosted a fundraiser for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, while in an August Instagram video with the U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan. Bittar declared that “the traditional Democrats have one foot in the grave” and that “the revolution has begun.”

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Bittar’s jewelry has been worn by celebrities including Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, and he has built a high-profile fashion brand while also becoming increasingly active in progressive Democratic politics.

One of Bittar’s past marketing campaigns featured a fictional female serial killer. While speaking with V Magazine about the campaign in December 2025, Bittar said he had “always [been] intrigued by people who kill” and said the project was intended to “raise the bar” for marketing.

“I am always intrigued by people who kill, and I love to trace their own personal history and the trajectories that led them to become killers,” Bittar said. “Meet Amanda Gates … she is the most unlikely new fashion icon.”

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A spokesperson for Talarico’s campaign declined to comment about the fundraiser, while neither Brown nor Bittar returned Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

The U.S. Navy has tapped Boeing to build a new fighter jet that officials say will help American pilots dominate the skies, defeat enemies and come home safely.

The Department of War announced Tuesday that Boeing secured a contract worth more than $20 billion for full-scale development of the F/A-XX, a sixth-generation strike fighter intended to expand the reach of Navy aircraft carriers and eventually replace some of the service’s longtime combat aircraft.

The deal gives Boeing its second sixth-generation fighter program following its selection for the Air Force’s F-47 in 2025, the company said.

“Delivering two advanced fighters in parallel was always our plan, and we invested accordingly. We are ready and able to build multiple concurrent future combat aircraft franchise programs,” Steve Parker, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in a statement.

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The Navy contract includes multiple test aircraft for ground testing, airworthiness evaluations and systems and weapons integration, according to the Department of War.

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“The F/A-XX is a critical pillar in our commitment to maintaining peace through strength. F/A-XX will dominate contested airspace, extend operational reach, and deliver a decisive combat advantage for the warfighter,” Michael P. Duffey, under secretary of war for acquisition and sustainment, said in the announcement.

Duffey called the aircraft a “crucial, non-negotiable investment” in America’s national security and long-term air combat capabilities.

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“We are joining forces with Boeing to field these capabilities rapidly, ensuring our warfighters possess the lethal and highly networked systems required to deter aggression, project undisputed power, and secure absolute air superiority,” he said.

The F/A-XX falls under the Next Generation Air Dominance program. The department said the carrier-based fighter will extend the Navy’s operational reach and work alongside both manned and unmanned aircraft, including Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

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Officials said the fighter will also increase the capability of the unmanned aircraft it teams with.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao hailed the contract as the beginning of “a new era” for the service.

TRUMP TAPS ‘TRUE WARRIOR’ HUNG CAO AS NAVY SECRETARY AFTER 4 MONTHS AS ACTING LEADER

“The Sixth-Generation fighter is a generational leap in air superiority and will provide the world’s best aviators with unparalleled capabilities to fight, win, and come home safe,” Cao said.

“We are excited to partner with Boeing, and for our warfighters to continue to dominate the skies and defeat our nation’s enemies.”

AMERICA FACES A CRISIS IN OUR MILITARY ARSENAL THAT TRUMP IS RACING TO FIX

Boeing said the aircraft will bring advances in mission systems and operational reach and capacity, though technical and program details remain classified under U.S. national security and export laws.

“It’s an honor to be selected to produce the Navy’s first sixth-generation platform,” Parker said, adding that the company’s team is “ready to execute this critical program.”

INNOVATION IS KEY TO AMERICA STAYING A SUPERPOWER. BUT IT IS MISSING AN ESSENTIAL PIECE

The company said construction continues on a secure manufacturing facility in St. Louis as it prepares to build multiple aircraft with next-generation capabilities.

“Investment in facilities is just one part of the story; we’re also investing in technology and people so that we can deliver for our customers,” Parker said.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe celebrated the announcement, pointing to the state’s role in building America’s next generation of military aircraft.

“St. Louis is Fighterland, USA!” Kehoe wrote on X. “Proud of this incredible win that further cements Missouri as a critical leader in the future of America’s air dominance, innovation, and national defense.”

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Beginning in the 2030s, the F/A-XX is expected to augment and eventually replace legacy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers, according to the Department of War. It will also operate alongside the F-35C.

During his time as director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., allowed over $1 billion in COVID-19 relief funding to go out the door without required monitoring, records reveal.

The 2022 State of Florida Compliance and Internal Controls over Financial Reporting and Federal Awards flagged the weakness in its annual audit, stating, “FDEM did not monitor the activities of any subrecipients.”

While Fox News Digital is not aware of fraud that may have been committed with those funds, the resurfaced audit casts an unflattering light on Moskowitz as he pursues re-election in one of the country’s most competitive districts.

It also raises questions about oversight efforts for state-level allocations for government funds, an issue Republicans have signaled merits more attention.

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Moskowitz’s FDEM approved $210,562,500 in funding to 39 local government recipients in the 2020-2021 fiscal year from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), according to the audit. The next year, it distributed $1,026,225,200 to 55 locations.

Taken together, the grants add up to $1.23 billion.

“Contrary to Federal regulations, the FDEM did not monitor the activities of CRF subrecipients,” the audit states. “Such monitoring is to include, for example, reviewing subrecipient audit reports and determining whether management decisions are required for any audit findings related to the federal award.”

According to the report, an acceptable level of oversight would normally include inquiries of the recipients as well as checks like onsite evaluations.

“Monitoring of the subrecipient must include reviewing financial and performance reports, following up and ensuring that the subrecipient takes timely and appropriate action on all deficiencies pertaining to the federal award detected through audits, on-site reviews and other means,” the audit states.

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Notably, Moskowitz wasn’t head of FDEM for the entire 2020-2021 fiscal year. He resigned from the post at the end of April, two months before the end of the fiscal year in June, making him the head of the FDEM for the vast majority of the 2020-2021 audit cycle but not the complete window.

Even so, his congressional opponent, Republican candidate Scott Singer, believes the responsibility lies squarely on Moskowitz’s shoulders.

“When Jared Moskowitz ran a state agency, federal regulators and state auditors found that there was a gross lack of oversight of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds, a lack of reporting, a lack of review of where the funds were going,” Singer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“And that’s unacceptable, especially with public tax dollars. But it’s not surprising.”

Singer argued the audit echoed earlier questions about Moskowitz’s work involving disaster recovery funds.

He pointed to an incident in 2017, when Moskowitz, as an attorney for AshBritt, a disaster-cleanup company, had renegotiated compensation from the City of Parkland after Hurricane Irma. Disclosure reports showed that he was being paid over $400,000 by the company while also serving as a state legislator.

“When Jared was a state representative, he went to his own city and demanded that they pay more for hurricane cleanup that went to a disaster recovery company that paid him millions,” Singer said.

“We can’t afford people who are continuing to do the same thing. A gross oversight of funds and self-dealing.”

When asked about Singer’s criticisms, Moskowitz’s campaign fired back, stating that the congressman was proud of the work that he did, noting that he had been reappointed to the role by a Republican governor.

“As Director of FDEM, I worked directly for Governor DeSantis and his administration. Florida had one of the best COVID responses in the country,” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP ANTI-FRAUD DIVISION’S FUTURE RESTS WITH SENATE DEMS AFTER BIPARTISAN HOUSE WIN

“I left almost a year before this report was issued as I had to leave the agency to be with my dad, who was battling cancer. Governor DeSantis appointed me again to the Broward County commission. To my knowledge, Florida COVID spending has passed the FEMA audit for reimbursements,” he added.

Moskowitz also pointed out that he had received praise from even Republicans for his disaster-related work, including from Singer himself. Moskowitz shared communications between them in which Singer said the state was “in a much better place because of what you’ve done.” Singer also highlighted a second communication from Singer to Moskowitz stating, “seriously, thank you for all of the amazing work you’ve done and all the help you’re providing to our stay [sic].” 

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Having cleared their parties’ respective primaries, Moskowitz and Singer will face off in the Florida general election Nov. 3.

EXCLUSIVE — Andrew Bailey is heading home to Missouri, and the outgoing FBI co-deputy director has a blunt message for anyone suggesting turmoil at the bureau pushed him out.

“This was 100% about my need to get home and raise my four small children,” Bailey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “I love my kids.”

Bailey, who announced Monday that he is leaving the FBI after just over a year, rejected suggestions that problems at the bureau played a part in his decision. 

KASH PATEL TO TOUT ‘LARGEST’ YEAR-TO-YEAR VIOLENT CRIME DROP IN US HISTORY

“My decision to go home is based solely upon my need to be a parent to my four children,” he said.

He accused some news outlets of spreading “lies” about the reason for his departure and offered a forceful defense of FBI Director Kash Patel amid scrutiny of the bureau’s leadership.

“Any accusation that Director Patel has focused on anything other than fulfilling the president’s promise to make America safe again are bold-faced lies,” Bailey said. “We wake up every day and work early every morning and stay up late, oftentimes without sleep, to ensure mission accomplishment.”

‘WORSE THAN WATERGATE’ NEW FBI FILES DETAIL AGENT’S PUSH TO JOIN TRUMP PROBE, INVESTIGATE ELON MUSK

Patel, in his own statement Monday, said Bailey was leaving to return to his family in Missouri and praised his role in the FBI’s overhaul.

“Andrew’s leadership at the FBI will be missed but we are grateful he answered the call to serve!” Patel wrote. He said Bailey had helped institute “critical reforms” and thanked him for his dedication to the bureau’s mission.

EXCLUSIVE: FBI EXTRADITIONS SOAR AS PATEL RAMPS UP FOREIGN OUTREACH, VOWS ‘NO SANCTUARY’

Bailey had left his post as Missouri attorney general to join the bureau in 2025.

Asked whether anything about the job factored into the timing of his exit, Bailey insisted it did not. He said protecting children had been central to his work as Missouri attorney general and remained a priority at the FBI.

FBI NABS MORE THAN 350 ALLEGED CHILD SEX ABUSE OFFENDERS

According to Bailey, the bureau added 55 agents to child protection efforts and increased the number of victim service providers in field offices nationwide.

During field office reviews, Bailey said he pressed staff on whether the bureau was “fulfilling our moral and legal obligation for victim notification and quality victim services.” He called the FBI’s victim services program “top-notch.”

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Bailey portrayed his time in Washington as part of what he called a “truly historic transformation” of federal law enforcement under President Donald Trump and Patel.

He credited the administration’s creation of homeland security task forces and designation of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations with helping law enforcement pursue its mission. He also said the FBI had made it easier for state, tribal and local officers to join its task forces, adding more than 2,000 task force officers in a year.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAYS FEDERAL AUTHORITIES HAVE ARRESTED MORE THAN 10,000 SUSPECTED GANG MEMBERS

Bailey also pointed to what he described as a 20% reduction in homicides, more than 5,000 violent offenders arrested by the FBI and thousands of child victims identified and rescued as evidence that the administration’s approach is working.

The outgoing official also said the bureau had seized 3,258 kilograms of fentanyl in one year and arrested more than 4,200 members of foreign terrorist organizations. He cited 11,000 child victims located and identified, without specifying a time period for those latter two figures.

Asked what the public might misunderstand about the FBI, Bailey described the scale of an agency with roughly 38,000 employees and 11,000 armed agents, charged with both criminal investigations and national security work. He said the leadership team had pushed resources from headquarters to field offices, where agents could have a greater impact.

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“We’ve done so much to push resources out of headquarters back to the field where they can maximize their impact,” he said.

PROSECUTOR JOSEPH DIGENOVA RESIGNS FROM DOJ ROLE INVESTIGATING TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBES

Bailey said more than 1,500 positions had been shifted from headquarters to field offices and that reducing layers of approval allowed agents to follow leads more quickly. He said the FBI processed more than 1.8 million DNA samples and reduced its backlog to zero for the first time in bureau history.

Asked about political considerations at the FBI, Bailey said protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution were “the only considerations.” When asked how he protected agents’ ability to follow the facts, he pointed to those staffing and approval changes. He did not address whether he had seen politics influence a specific investigation or personnel decision.

He rejected criticism of Patel’s approach as resistance to change inside an organization accustomed to the status quo. Bailey alleged that the FBI had previously been “weaponized” against Trump and his family and said Patel wanted to return it to its core mission of protecting Americans and upholding the Constitution.

“That is going to anger those sacred guardians of the status quo,” Bailey said.

As for what comes next, Bailey said he expects to return to public service someday, though he did not name a role. He traced a career that took him from the Army and two deployments to Iraq through Missouri state government and the FBI before returning to the reason he is leaving now.

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“I’ve dedicated my life to public service and anticipate that I’ll look to serve again in the future in some capacity,” he said. “But I’m excited right now to get home to the kids and be able to enjoy time with them and their activities.”

The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed the Trump administration an interim victory in its ongoing immigration crackdown, clearing the way for officials to continue deporting illegal aliens to third countries while the justices consider a legal challenge to the policy.

The justices granted the administration‘s request to stay a February ruling from a federal district court in Massachusetts that imposed additional procedural requirements before illegal immigrants could be removed to countries other than their own.

The high court also agreed to hear the administration’s challenge, treating its emergency application as a petition for review and ordering the parties to prepare for arguments during the court’s December session.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT DEALS BLOW TO TRUMP DEPORTATION AGENDA

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have denied the administration’s request for a stay.

The decision gives the administration the immediate relief it sought as it presses ahead with third-country removals, even as the Supreme Court has yet to decide whether the policy remains.

The dispute centers on the Trump administration’s efforts to remove illegal aliens to third countries. Lower courts have not categorically prohibited those removals but have required procedures intended to give aliens an opportunity to raise claims that they could face persecution or torture in the destination country.

The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court last week, arguing that those requirements were interfering with its ability to carry out removals and disrupting sensitive diplomatic negotiations with countries willing to accept deportees.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S IMMIGRATION PUSH FUELS ICE’S BIGGEST ARREST MONTH IN AGENCY HISTORY

“The order below also undermines our standing abroad,” the administration argued in its filing, according to the ruling. “Finding third countries willing and able to accept aliens is a delicate diplomatic endeavor.”

The government also argued that judicial intervention in those arrangements could cause “significant and irreparable harm to U.S. foreign policy.”

Attorneys challenging their policy pushed back, arguing that the lower court’s ruling did not prevent the administration from conducting third-country removals but instead required the government to provide notice and an opportunity for illegal aliens to raise protection claims before they were sent abroad.

“The judgment does not require release from detention, prohibit third-country removals, or undo existing arrangements,” the challengers argued in their response.

DHS’ TOP LAWYER THREATENS PENALTIES FOR ATTORNEYS CLOGGING ASYLUM SYSTEM

They alleged that illegal aliens removed without meaningful notice or an opportunity to raise country-specific protection claims had faced “prolonged and arbitrary detention, beatings and sexual assault, disappearance, and chain refoulement.”

Tuesday’s order puts the February district court judgment on hold while the Supreme Court considers the case. The stay will remain in effect until the high court sends down its judgment.

The decision gives the administration the immediate relief it sought as it presses ahead with third-country removals, even as the Supreme Court has yet to decide.

“For the third time in 18 months, the Supreme Court has been called upon to stay the same local district judge’s campaign to halt the Trump Administration from removing illegal aliens including many of the worst-of-the-worst criminals to countries willing to receive them,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

“The President will stop at nothing in his effort to make America safe again,” Bis added. “Today’s ruling from the Supreme Court yet again affirms the lawfulness of the President’s homeland security agenda.”

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The court directed its clerk to establish a briefing schedule allowing the case to be argued during its December 2026 argument session.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is seeking to disrupt with a sweeping set of sanctions a sprawling Sinaloa cartel network accused of corrupting Mexican officials just across the U.S. border.

Los Mayos, a powerful faction of the Sinaloa cartel, and its U.S.-born leader are accused of funneling fentanyl and drug money through California and hiring hitmen to kill rivals on American soil.

The Treasury Department, according to material exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital ahead of their public release on Tuesday, will sanction 21 individuals and 25 entities in a crackdown against Los Mayos and their alleged illegal activity within U.S. borders.

The targets of the sanctions include Ismael Zambada Sicairos, known as “Mayito Flaco,” a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen born in Anaheim, California, whom Treasury describes as the “undisputed head” of Los Mayos.

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The action lays out how one of Mexico’s most powerful cartel factions allegedly maintains its grip on two critical trafficking corridors along the U.S. border — through political and police corruption, money laundering and violence that Treasury says has extended into Southern California.

It also exposes what Treasury describes as deep cartel penetration of government and law enforcement in Baja California, the Mexican state bordering California.

The Treasury says Sinaloa-linked “narco-corruption has reached the highest levels” of the state government, alleging that the ex-husband of Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda used his political influence to protect cartel operations and that a former Mexicali public security chief accepted bribes to allow the cartel to exert control over municipal police.

The allegations shed new light on a controversy that erupted last year when the U.S. revoked the visas of both Ávila and her then-husband, Carlos Torres Torres.

The State Department revoked Torres’ U.S. visa in May 2025 over what Treasury now describes as his “cartel affiliation and work on behalf of the Sinaloa cartel.” Olmeda’s U.S. visa was also revoked around the same time, though U.S. officials did not publicly disclose a reason for the action against her.

The Department of War also played a role in the effort through Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which works with federal law enforcement, intelligence agencies and Treasury to identify cartel financial and facilitation networks.

“These sanctions reflect the impact of sustained interagency collaboration and intelligence fusion in identifying and disrupting the networks that enable violent transnational cartels,” Brig. Gen. Maurizio Calabrese, director of JIATF-Counter Cartel, told Fox News Digital.

Calabrese said the task force contributed analysis and operational insight on cartel-linked financial and facilitation networks to support the broader effort behind the sanctions.

POTENTIAL SECURITY THREAT PROMPTS US TRAVEL SUSPENSION FOR BORDER CITY ON ALERT

Treasury also alleges the cartel’s reach extended directly into California.

Lorenzo Castillo Maldonado, an associate in Mayito Flaco’s network, allegedly hired hitmen on the cartel leader’s orders to kill rival cartel members in Southern California. Another part of the network allegedly worked with complicit Southern California money exchanges to collect bulk cash from U.S. drug sales and move the proceeds back to Mexico.

The sanctions are aimed in part at disrupting Los Mayos’ grip on the Tijuana and Mexicali “plazas,” strategic corridors Treasury says the cartel uses to move fentanyl and other narcotics into the U.S.

“Today’s action underscores that no cartel kingpin, corrupt Mexican government official, or financial facilitator is beyond the reach of Treasury’s authorities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “Our message is clear: the Trump administration will identify and disrupt any cartel actor who threatens our security or the integrity of our financial system.”

The designations effectively cut the targets off from the U.S. financial system, blocking property and assets under U.S. jurisdiction and generally barring Americans from doing business with them. Foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for sanctioned individuals could also face U.S. sanctions.

At the center of Tuesday’s action is Mayito Flaco, who Treasury says has emerged as the undisputed leader of Los Mayos following the July 2024 arrest of his father, longtime Sinaloa cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia.

SINALOA CARTEL BOSS ‘EL MAYO’ SENTENCED TO LIFE, ORDERED TO PAY $15B IN DRUG TRAFFICKING PROFITS

El Mayo’s arrest set off a violent struggle between Los Mayos and Los Chapitos, the Sinaloa faction led by sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Treasury says the two factions remain locked in a costly internal war that has forced both sides to rebuild their leadership and alliances.

Mayito Flaco, 44, was born in Anaheim in 1982 and later filed a U.S. name change to Fernando Sicairos Aispuro, according to Treasury. He was federally indicted in California in 2014 on drug trafficking and money laundering charges and remains a fugitive in Mexico.

The Treasury says he now commands Los Mayos’ drug trafficking, murder, extortion, corruption and kidnapping operations.

The sanctions also target Torres’ brother, Luis Alfonso Torres Torres, whom Treasury accuses of collecting bribes and laundering illicit funds through companies and political campaigns.

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Former Mexicali Public Security Director Pedro Ariel Mendivil Garcia is also being sanctioned. The Treasury alleges Mendivil accepted bribes from Los Rusos leader Juan Jose Ponce Felix, known as “El Ruso,” in exchange for allowing the cartel to exert control over municipal police, facilitate drug trafficking and carry out enforcement operations.

Reported guidance directing some ICE offices to pull back on arrests of illegal immigrants without criminal histories triggered backlash from policy hawks, raising questions whether the Trump administration is sending conflicting signals on enforcement.

The guidance was rescinded within hours, and Trump told Fox News there had been no change in an enforcement posture that prioritizes — but is not limited to — the “worst first.” The verbal guidance had been relayed to ICE field offices around the country, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, though it remains unclear who initially issued the instruction.

Administration officials later characterized it as a misunderstanding rather than a formal policy change, and new guidance reaffirming there had been no change in enforcement policy was sent within hours. The episode nevertheless reinforced concerns among some immigration hawks who say recent public messaging from administration officials has suggested a narrower approach to interior enforcement than Trump campaigned on.

Mike Howell, a leader of the Mass Deportation Coalition and president of The Oversight Project, argued public criticism helped force the reversal but said the episode also fit what he views as a broader pattern of mixed messaging from DHS on interior immigration enforcement.

“[The guidance] was walked back, allegedly, which is great, and I think it was in large part walked back because people spoke out very, very loudly,” Howell said, while adding there is a troubling undercurrent to some of DHS’ messaging on the greater matter:

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As an example, Howell pointed to a tweet from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin posted one day before the ICE guidance news broke, in which the secretary said the department was “not conducting worksite operations in Kansas” but was targeting criminal illegal immigrants and those facing removal.

The post followed ICE operations in Kansas that prompted complaints from Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said DHS had failed to coordinate with local authorities during operations in cities including Liberal.

“I’ve never seen a secretary put anything like that in writing,” Howell said. “[If it were] an Obama or Clinton or Biden DHS secretary, we would have called for impeachment if they said that.”

‘GONE TOO FAR:’ GOP CANDIDATE RUNS TO TRUMP’S LEFT ON SIGNATURE ISSUE IN DEEP RED DISTRICT

Asked to put a finer point on it, Howell stated outright: “If Mayorkas tweeted that, I would have immediately called for his impeachment: for flagrant admission that they are not enforcing the laws and faithfully executing them — It was amnesty by another means.”

Howell emphasized that he was not calling for Mullin’s impeachment, but using the comparison to underscore how seriously he views any pullback from broad immigration enforcement.

He further argued that shifting signals are unfair to rank-and-file ICE agents who served during the Biden administration.

It remained unclear who originated the guidance, but Fox News was told it was a “misunderstanding” and that the person responsible would likely face reprimand.

A source told Fox News Digital on Sunday evening that the order “definitely went out” and that some immigrant-heavy Republican districts have seen anger over family members being caught up in worksite-enforcement removals. The source pointed to Kansas as an illustration.

“This type of ping-pong is deeply unfair to ICE, the men and women there tasked with actually deporting these people,” he said. “They watch the news, they read X, they see these mixed signals and it’s affected operations.”

EXCLUSIVE: DHS SECRETARY MULLIN SLAMS SANCTUARY POLITICIANS AS ATTACKS ON ICE OFFICERS SKYROCKET

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis pushed back, saying Trump has been clear that “no one is off the table.”

“DHS continues to deliver results for the American people including the most secure border in history and three straight months of a record number of ICE arrests,” she said, citing more than 3 million deportations thus far.

An ICE report also put arrests-per-month at a record high of 51,000 in August, while a source familiar confirmed that ICE guidance that went out was a “miscommunication” and not from the top.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for tighter immigration controls, said the situation is uniquely instructive because it comes at a time when factions of the Republican Party are at odds, whether silently or not, over the immigration enforcement issue.

“All of this comes on the backdrop of conflicting goals and messages within the administration on immigration,” he said.

Krikorian said the administration may have contributed to that confusion by repeatedly emphasizing its focus on the “worst of the worst,” even as officials including border czar Tom Homan have said immigrants without criminal records are not exempt from enforcement.

“The administration does need to get its story straight internally so that they can then present a consistent message externally,” Krikorian said.

He argued the larger unresolved issue is worksite enforcement, which he said is critical to encouraging self-deportation but creates political tension between business interests seeking labor and working-class Republicans demanding tighter enforcement.

Republican donors who favor the “loose labor market” that low-wage migrants bring clash with the working-class Republican bloc demanding tighter labor markets and stricter enforcement, Krikorian said.

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Krikorian said he had hoped Trump or Mullin would clarify after the Kansas controversy that the administration was not “randomly” cracking down on employers, but conducting worksite enforcement based on intelligence about businesses employing illegal immigrants.

Several Republicans, including Marshall and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., have criticized aspects of the administration’s immigration push ahead of the midterms. Krikorian argued that conflicting signals could also carry political consequences with Trump voters focused on enforcement – citing competing pressures between big-business and the base.

“You don’t tweet out that you’re not doing what voters want you to do,” he said.

Krikorian praised the administration’s border policies but argued interior and worksite enforcement create more complicated political tradeoffs for the Trump coalition.

After the Wire report broke, DHS responded in part “this is false. No one is off the table.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Salazar and DHS for further comment.

Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: House GOP lawmakers are rolling out a slew of new bills after a bombshell report found that hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars are potentially being targeted by fraudsters every year.

As people across the U.S. are battling high costs that make it hard to make ends meet, a report released Tuesday by the House Energy & Commerce Committee warns that federally subsidized healthcare programs are rife with fraud and abuse — “impacting every single American, in one way or another.”

While no estimate for Medicare and Medicaid fraud exists specifically, the report noted, a 2024 estimate by the Government Accountability Office said $233 billion to $521 billion taxpayer dollars going to federal programs are lost to fraud every year. Federal healthcare programs accounted for 24% of federal spending in 2024, according to the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities.

Medicaid specifically is rife with vulnerabilities making it susceptible to fraud, the report said, which is why House Republicans are rolling out 14 bills aimed at closing loopholes in the system, shrinking bureaucracy, and making it easier for states to recoup lost dollars while also incentivizing them to go after potential fraudsters.

“Taxpayers that fund benefit programs with federal and state taxpayer dollars are cheated by fraud, inflating healthcare costs that are passed along to everyone,” the committee’s report states. “Every dollar stolen from federal health care programs is a dollar that is not spent on high quality healthcare for those that need it most.”

WHITE HOUSE PUSHES ‘WATERSHED’ FRAUD-FIGHTING REFORM IN CONGRESS AS VANCE CONVENES TASK FORCE

“The amount of fraud that the Biden-Harris Administration allowed to go unchecked in government health programs is unacceptable. Every dollar stolen by fraudsters or wasted on improper payments is a dollar that cannot be used to support families in need who rely on these programs,” House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital.

REPUBLICANS DECLARE WAR ON ‘ORGANIZED THEFT’ WITH GOVERNMENT FRAUD CRACKDOWN

Republicans’ new bills can be lumped into three categories: legislation aimed at improving identification of fraud in state and federal health programs, legislation aimed at enforcing anti-fraud rules, and legislation to hold states that allow fraud to run rampant accountable.

One bill led by Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, for example, would force states to designate a single role for internal financial controls of state Medicaid programs.

READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD

A bill by Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Ohio, would force each state to annually report to the federal government on any potential Medicaid fraud vulnerabilities and their plan to fix it.

And legislation by Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., would require states to check whether someone enrolling for Medicaid was removed from another taxpayer-funded healthcare program.

The report released on Tuesday said that Medicaid spending accounts for an average 30.7% of states’ budgets, and that those outlays have increased exponentially in recent years.

States like New York and California are also projected to see costs spike, the report said.

TOP FEDERAL PROSECUTOR CALLS CALIFORNIA A ‘FRAUDSTER’S PARADISE,’ WARNS STATE OFFICIALS COULD FACE CHARGES

The Golden State is expected to see annual Medi-Cal spending, its state healthcare program, rise from $83 billion per year in 2014 to $219.7 billion by 2027, the report said, adding, “New York is projected to spend 11% more on Medicaid from all funding sources in 2027 — a total of $124 billion.”

The report noted that federal healthcare is ripe for fraud given its size and complexity, as well as the traditional enforcement model of “pay and chase,” which relies on law enforcement to investigate fraud suspicions after a false claim has already been settled.

Provider fraud is also a common area of losing tax dollars, with healthcare providers being known to submit multiple claims for a single service or bill services and equipment for patients that they have never seen at all, the report said.

Transnational criminal groups have also profited from U.S. healthcare fraud, the report said, alleging that hardworking Americans are seeing their tax dollars not only lost to fraud at home but overseas as well.

TRUMP ADMIN’S FRAUD CRACKDOWN TARGETS FOREIGNERS ACCUSED OF INFILTRATING US FEDERAL PROGRAMS

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) “Operation Gold Rush” uncovered that Russian organized crime actors billed over $10 million in false claims made via 30 medical supply companies they purchased in a years-long scheme, the report said.

It highlighted further foreign healthcare schemes that saw malign actors in Hong Kong, Georgia, Estonia, Pakistan and elsewhere attempt to steal billions more in U.S. taxpayer dollars.

The fraud reports come at a time when millions of Americans across the country are struggling with high living costs that have made it a challenge to make ends meet.

Guthrie said the House GOP legislative package amounted to “commonsense steps” to ensure states can recoup lost fraud dollars and incentivize them to close loopholes in the future.

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It comes as the Trump administration is also prioritizing healthcare fraud crackdowns. Vice President JD Vance announced last week that 760,000 enrollees under the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, would be removed over fraud claims.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration announced $500 million in waste and fraud findings at the Office of Personnel Management – revealing a recovery of potentially fraudulent funds for federal health benefits programs.

Health insurance carriers in the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs reported preventing nearly $510 million in losses before or during payment and recovering an additional $21.9 million after claims were paid, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

“OPM runs health insurance for about 8.9 million retirees and federal employees, and we spend about $80 billion a year,” Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Fox News Digital. “The $500 million, a little more than half percent, is a good number, but certainly we have a long way to go here to root out more fraud, waste and abuse.”

FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP ADMIN OPENS NEW FRONT IN FRAUD CRACKDOWN TARGETING HEALTH INSURERS, DRUG MIDDLEMEN

The White House anti-fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance has reported $260.7 billion in fraud uncovered since Trump took office, and $72 billion in fraud stopped on an annualized basis.

Kupor said his agency is conducting its own review of health insurance claims data for the first time, allowing the agency to analyze billing patterns across providers and health plans to identify unusual prescribing habits, surgery rates and other anomalies that could signal overuse, misuse or potential fraud.

TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKS MORE THAN $1.6B IN POTENTIALLY IMPROPER MEDICARE LAB PAYMENTS, AGENCY SAYS

He said the agency will use those findings to remove providers from federal health programs when warranted and will refer cases involving suspected criminal conduct to the agency’s Office of Inspector General and the Justice Department for further investigation.

Kupor leads the agency responsible for overseeing the federal workforce while managing key employment and benefits programs for millions of current and former federal employees. One of the most prominent examples of his work stems from Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) targeting of a mine in Pennsylvania.

EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE THE SECRETIVE MINE DOGE HELPED DRAG OUT OF A DECADES-OLD BUREAUCRATIC BLACK HOLE

Last April, Fox News Digital first reported that the United States government applied the use of artificial intelligence for federal employee recordkeeping – the first time the federal government implemented AI at scale.

The movement was led by Kupor and Musk, and Musk didn’t hide his shock that federal records were being stored and managed solely on paper at the time.

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“The speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move determines how many people can retire… And the elevator breaks down and then nobody can retire,” Musk said last February. “Doesn’t that sound crazy?”

When asked for an update on progress made on modernizing the mine, Kupor said it is now fully operational on an electronic system.

“This past year, we did 180,000 electronic online applications for retirement, which is just unprecedented,” he said. “That’s almost double the production that we’ve had in any prior year. Electronic applications can get solved in less than half the time today that a paper one does.”

“We will take something that has been a six-month, nine-month, 12-month horrendous process for retirees, and I think we will be able to do it in as little as 15 days with the continued development of technology.”

WHITE HOUSE PUSHES ‘WATERSHED’ FRAUD-FIGHTING REFORM IN CONGRESS AS VANCE CONVENES TASK FORCE

Kupor’s previous experience working with artificial intelligence has led to his name being floated to serve as the AI czar in the Trump administration – a role cast into the spotlight as data center development and artificial intelligence have become midterm election talking points.

After working as an investment banker at Credit Suisse, Kupor worked at Loudcloud, which was co-founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, in 1999. He was then hired as the first employee by Andreessen and Horowitz at the duo’s venture capital firm. Kupor also served as the chair of the National Venture Capital Association from May 2017 to May 2018.

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When asked about whether he has had any conversations with the White House about the role, Kupor said he had seen the reports he was being floated, and discussed President Donald Trump’s views on artificial intelligence broadly.

“I’ve read all the same reports you’ve read and don’t have anything to add there,” he said. “What the president has said is exactly 100% right, which is that AI is the most important piece of technology that will determine economic growth for us, national security, sovereignty for our country.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNCOVERS $1.2B IN SUSPECTED COVID CONTRACT FRAUD TIED TO BIDEN-ERA SPENDING

“One of the things that I know, again, having spent all my life in the venture world, is there is no limit to the intellect and inventiveness of entrepreneurs in this country. And we just need to make sure that the conditions around, you know, regulatory controls and others continue to allow the U.S. to flourish in the way that it’s always done.”

Kupor did not rule out accepting the role if Trump should offer it to him, saying that while he is focused on his job as director of the agency, he serves “at the will of the president.”

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Reports had suggested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was being considered for the AI czar position, but last week Trump said he would not be selecting him for the role.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled America.gov, an AI-powered website designed to consolidate information from tens of thousands of federal webpages into a single searchable database.

After delivering brief remarks at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., Trump signed an executive order that directs all federal agencies to make their websites “integrate directly” with America.gov as soon as possible.

The site is live as of Tuesday and allows users to type questions into a search bar that generates AI chatbot-style responses.

“Anyone who has used Grok or Gemini or ChatGPT will understand instantly how to use America.gov,” Trump said.

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Currently, the site can only answer questions and direct users on how to complete various tasks themselves.

U.S. Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia, who helped create America.gov, said that by 2027, citizens will be able to use the site to complete government forms and track the status of various applications.

In his speech, Trump highlighted several ways the site could streamline interactions with the federal government, including simplifying the paperwork involved when a woman changes her last name after getting married.

“Very soon, all she’ll have to do is ask America.gov and it’ll fill out the forms, track the progress and send her a new Social security card, passport and insurance card in the mail,” Trump said.

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“Whether you’re a scout leader who wants to reserve a campsite at a national park, a senior citizen trying to choose a Medicare plan, or an American veteran trying to get the benefits that you’ve earned and so justly deserve, America.gov will be there to help,” he added.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz followed Trump’s remarks with a demonstration of how America.gov could simplify prescription ordering and other services.

Oz brought a woman named Lisa onstage who said she had spent more than a year trying to enroll in Medicare before revealing her newly issued beneficiary card on a large banner.

Oz said America.gov “explains what applies to Lisa’s situation and guides her through the decisions.”

At the same event Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that beginning in 2027, Americans will be able to use America.gov to apply for their first U.S. passport.

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“Today, if you need your first passport, you start at the State Department’s website,” Rubio said. “There’s a lot of information up there, but if you actually want to apply, that is where the maze starts.”

Rubio said the site will allow users to upload their own passport photos, eliminating the need to visit a pharmacy or retail store to have one taken.

“No printing forms, no drugstore hostage photo, no appointment, no line, no middleman that you’re paying to do something that should be available to you,” Rubio said. “You tell America.gov what you’re trying to do and it walks you through every single step.”

More federal services are expected to be added over the coming months as agencies begin to integrate with America.gov.

FIRST ON FOX: FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau is expanding its global hunt for sprawling scam compounds that prey heavily on Americans, telling Fox News Digital that Operation Blackout has seized roughly $17 billion tied to the schemes. 

“At 71 years old, I’m old enough to know that people my age are certainly often targeted because of our unfamiliarity with certain new technologies. Thanks so much for looking out for us,” one victim told the FBI.

“I watched my grandmother lose her life savings to scammers and I would love to see them all be put away,” said another victim.

Operation Blackout is the FBI’s global campaign to identify, disrupt and dismantle foreign scam compounds targeting Americans, combining overseas raids and asset seizures with efforts to cut off the networks’ communications, rescue trafficked workers and return stolen money to victims.

FBI WRAPS UP CYBERCRIME OPERATION TARGETING GLOBAL NETWORKS PREYING ON AMERICANS

Patel said the FBI-led initiative is targeting criminal syndicates operating massive scam compounds across Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where trafficked workers are forced to carry out fraud schemes against victims thousands of miles away.

“Unfortunately, the majority of the targets are senior citizens in America,” Patel told Fox News Digital, pointing to schemes carried out through social media, phone calls, text messages and Telegram.

“Our initiative, Operation Blackout, is to prevent, disrupt, and dismantle,” Patel added. 

FBI SEIZES RECORD-SETTING $8 BILLION IN CRYPTOCURRENCY AMID INTERCONTINENTAL ‘SCAM COMPOUND’ CRACKDOWN

In one common version of the scheme, criminals cultivate an online friendship or relationship with a victim before steering them toward a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform.

Victims may initially believe their investments are generating significant returns, only to discover they cannot withdraw their money.

“These are towns, these are cities,” Patel said of the scam compounds targeted by the operation. “These are actual villages with structures where they force people into forced labor.”

An August operation at Cambodia’s roughly 200-acre O’Smach Resort scam compound involved searches of 28 buildings over three days and resulted in the seizure of 113 hard drives, 15 computers and 35 boxes of evidence, according to the FBI.

The bureau is also trying to stop Americans from becoming victims before their money ever reaches the scammers.

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Under Operation Level Up, its domestic prevention component working with U.S. Secret Service, the FBI proactively identifies and contacts potential victims of cryptocurrency investment scams. The bureau says it has notified 10,406 victims and prevented an estimated $660 million in losses, while seizing or freezing another $122 million in cryptocurrency.

The FBI said 77% of the people it contacted did not know they were being scammed. The bureau has also referred 99 victims for suicide intervention, seized 584 scam websites and sent 7,670 scam accounts to private-sector companies for action.

THE SECRET LIST THAT TELLS SCAMMERS YOU’RE AN EASY TARGET

In September, a DOJ Scam Center Strike Force team that included FBI Honolulu personnel helped authorities in Madagascar take down 13 scam centers operated by Chinese organized crime syndicates and process more than 3,200 electronic devices.

Patel said the geographic shift is part of a broader migration by the criminal networks.

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“That’s why you’re seeing the migration of these scam compounds to central and sub-Saharan Africa, which is where we are already pre-positioned to take them off,” Patel said.

The key focus of this election, like many before it, is the economy, but the Senate has spent its waning weeks in Washington focusing on something else: college sports.

And that has proven a sticking point for some Republicans who are eager to maintain power in the upper chamber and worried that they aren’t meeting the moment to address voters’ concerns over the cost-of-living.

“I’m just hoping that this will be the best bill ever passed by the United States Senate considering the ungodly amount of time we’ve spent on it,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital.

“So maybe this will be the most perfect and pristine piece of legislation ever,” he quipped.

FOX NEWS POLL: SQUEEZED BY COSTS, FRUSTRATED VOTERS TURN TO THE DEMOCRATS

“There’s a lot of things we could be doing and should be doing,” the senator added. “So I hope we’ll do those before we leave. We’ll see.”

Hawley rattled off those issues that he hoped lawmakers would tackle that all ended in one word, costs — be it for fuel, prescription drugs, health care or the financial burden of the artificial intelligence boom.

The Senate is expected to leave the nation’s capital on Wednesday to hit the campaign trail for the homestretch of the fast-approaching midterm elections. But from the summer of 2025 to now, with several shutdowns and partisan fights in between, the sting on voters’ wallets, to some concerned Republicans, has become an afterthought.

Still, Republicans are quick to tout their accomplishments from last year, notably the “big, beautiful bill,” as their signature achievement to tackle the growing issue of affordability in the country — it was a predominant pitch during the midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month, and can be heard increasingly in the halls of the Senate as Nov. 3 nears.

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The concern over inaction in the recent weeks and months has intensified as the main business in the Senate has been devoted to passing the Protect College Sports Act from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which cruised through the upper chamber late Monday night.

“We’ve been spending all week on trying to make the football coaches happy,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “I’m voting for the bill, but I can assure that moms and dads out there across America, when they lie down to sleep at night … they’re not worried about the football coaches.”

Kennedy said that he and others have been pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to take another shot at reconciliation tailored exclusively toward affordability issues, or at the very least to put a bill that would shield consumers from increasing electricity costs as part of the AI boom.

“Because we haven’t done a damn thing,” Kennedy said. “And it’s biting us in the ass right now.”

ANXIETY GROWS OVER EMERGING ELECTION ISSUE, BUT GOP SAYS WASHINGTON ISN’T THE ANSWER

Thune did tee up what will likely be the Senate’s last attempt at dealing with affordability for a vote this week on a bill that would require AI companies to bear the brunt of rising utility costs from data centers.

That bill, from Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is expected to be blocked by Democrats, however, who aren’t eager to give Republicans or Trump a victory — especially so close to the midterm elections.

But for some Republicans, it’s too little too late when it comes to actually trying to address voters’ worries.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., recalled a story when he won the North Carolina House and became speaker. He ran to fix the economy, and once he won the power to do so, he and Republicans in the state would have to own the issue, regardless of the previous administration’s actions.

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“That’s how you actually show some leadership and get it done. You can’t rationalize that we’re here because of a problem caused by the prior administration,” Tillis told Fox News Digital. “That’s how we got elected. But you gotta fix it if you promise to. And that’s what we have to work on. I just think rationalizing away, that’s just not good politics.”

Still, Republicans are asking for a second chance this fall, specifically Vice President JD Vance, who earlier this month asked voters to “give us another chance.”

When asked about Vance’s plea, Tillis said, “You know what? If it works, it’ll be a first.”

FIRST ON FOX: Former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigators obtained records containing communications between nearly 50 journalists and Trump administration officials — including Fox News personnel — after subpoenaing text-message records associated with dozens of White House phones during the federal election investigation of President Donald Trump, Fox News Digital has learned ahead of Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Previous congressional disclosures showed investigators obtained records involving members of Congress. The latest records reveal the production also included communications between government officials and journalists working for some of the country’s largest news organizations.

The communications appeared in records produced by the National Archives in response to a subpoena seeking material associated with 87 White House phones from Trump’s first administration, according to a spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, citing whistleblower disclosures made to the chairman.

“What will the partisan media say about this disgraceful government overreach? This wasn’t a normal prosecution by any means,” Grassley challenged in comments to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, as critics have highlighted the lack of concern or coverage given to Smith’s probe by legacy media.

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One organization identified Tuesday as having been swept up in the probe was the Media Research Center. Its president, David Bozell, announced in 2025 that “not one single broadcast network aired one solitary second” about Smith’s alleged spying on conservative organizations and senators following a tranche of public disclosures.

Fox News is among the organizations whose journalists appear in the records, along with CNN, CBS News — including its newsmagazine “60 Minutes” — NBC News and CNBC.

The records also include communications involving journalists from the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, Reuters, the Associated Press and NPR, as well as The Federalist and Washington Times.

READ THE LIST: 44 LAWMAKERS SWEPT INTO JACK SMITH TEXT SWEEP AS HIS LEGAL RECKONING GROWS

The nationally syndicated “Mark Levin Show,” hosted by Fox News host and former Reagan Justice Department chief of staff Mark Levin, also appears in the records.

The records stem from a June 2, 2023 subpoena issued by Smith’s office to the National Archives seeking text messages from phones associated with numerous officials who served in the first Trump White House.

JACK SMITH HIT WITH CRIMINAL REFERRAL AS GOP MOVES TESTIMONY FIGHT TOWARD PROSECUTION

The Archives produced responsive records on Aug. 21, 2023, according to documents previously disclosed through congressional oversight by Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., of Arctic Frost.

Grassley and Johnson pressed the Justice Department and FBI in May for information about how potentially privileged material in that production was screened before investigators could review it.

An Aug. 21, 2023 email from assistant special counsel Thomas Windom instructed members of Smith’s team, including prosecutors and FBI personnel, to download documents associated with text messages from the White House phones.

“We are writing to determine what procedures and protocols, if any, Smith and his team used to filter privileged or potentially privileged materials from being impermissibly accessed, reviewed and/or used,” Grassley and Johnson wrote.

The senators requested DOJ’s filtering protocols and the names of officials assigned to review material for privilege before it reached investigators.

The committee has identified the individual journalists whose communications appear in the records but does not plan to release their names because of privacy concerns, a Grassley spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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The disclosure broadens questions surrounding Smith’s handling of the White House records ahead of Tuesday’s Senate hearing, including what safeguards governed investigators’ access to communications involving lawmakers, journalists and other third parties. The Judiciary Committee is expected to examine Smith’s investigative practices and the broader scope of Arctic Frost.

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Fox News Digital is reaching out to counsel for Smith as well as the Justice Department for comment.

For years, being “soft” on China was a political insult hurled across the aisle. Great-power competition ruled. Washington increasingly prepared for the possibility of war with Beijing as the national security world pivoted toward the Indo-Pacific.

The scene in D.C. last week looked markedly different as President Donald Trump attempts to welcome in a new era with the world’s second-biggest superpower and growing adversary — especially when it comes to the ever-changing tech landscape.

Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping with a red carpet and the pomp of a state visit last week, speaking warmly about his relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader as the two sides looked for new areas of cooperation.

“The summit went great — for Xi Jinping,” Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.

‘RED CARPET FOR A DESPOT’: TRUMP’S LAVISH XI WELCOME COLLIDES WITH GOP ANTI-COMMUNISM MESSAGE

The reception was striking given how Washington’s leaders have spent years describing the challenge posed by Beijing: Chinese hackers penetrating American networks, state-backed efforts to steal U.S. technology and trade secrets, unfair trade practices and a rapidly expanding military with its sights set on Taiwan.

Gordon Chang, a China analyst and author who has long advocated a harder line toward Beijing, said there was a distinction between keeping lines of communication open with a rival and giving Xi the reception he received in Washington.

“I understand that you have a need for dialogue, but when you have that dialogue, you don’t necessarily have to have all of the ceremony and all the legitimization,” Chang told Fox News Digital. “We can talk to the Chinese, but we don’t need to do it in the way that occurred last week.”

Trump, however, is betting that a warmer relationship with Xi can produce results despite those enduring disputes. The question is how much Beijing’s behavior has actually changed — and what Washington is willing to live with in pursuit of a more stable relationship.

Kennedy explained that “the U.S. got a few small things — agreement to lower tariffs on $60B worth of goods, some purchases of specific items (such as agricultural and coal), the standing up of an AI dialogue, and alignment on major goals with regard to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.”

“But Xi came away the winner because the current commercial ceasefire works mainly to Beijing’s advantage,” he added. “It gives them time to continue unabated their drive for tech self-reliance, narrow the lead in various sectors, including AI, and maintain an imbalanced commercial relationship with its trading partners.”

TRUMP’S QUIET CHINA WINS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN XI’S EMPTY STATE VISIT

Chang identified the same commodity as particularly valuable to Beijing: time.

“While we talk, we defer taking action,” Chang said. “So China got delay. And that is, I think, absolutely critical.”

The administration has gotten movement from Beijing on some long-running disputes.

China has tightened controls on chemicals used to make fentanyl and, according to the White House, arrested 21 Chinese nationals in August based on information supplied by U.S. law enforcement. Trump is still pressing Xi to permanently restrict additional precursor chemicals, but the steps mark tangible progress on an issue that has bedeviled Washington for years.

Trade is more complicated.

Trump and Xi emerged from last week’s talks with a new list of $30 billion in American products and $30 billion in Chinese products recommended for lower tariffs. For U.S. exporters, that could mean better access to the Chinese market for agricultural products, seafood, timber, cosmetics and medical devices.

But there is a gap between the announcement and its impact. The two countries have agreed to consider favorable tariff treatment for the products — they have not yet put all of those lower tariffs into effect.

AMERICA AND CHINA ARE FIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE OF AI — CHIPS ARE THE BATTLEFIELD

And Washington is still trying to get Beijing to make good on commitments it already made.

Nowhere is that more consequential than critical minerals, where China’s dominance over global supply chains gives it enormous leverage over industries ranging from automobiles to weapons production.

After his May summit with Xi, Trump announced that China had agreed to address U.S. concerns over shortages of rare earths and other critical minerals.

Four months later, the issue remains unresolved.

The White House said after last week’s summit that Washington and Beijing “continue to work” on restoring adequate shipments. No new comprehensive critical-minerals agreement was announced.

“China has not been living up to its commitments on supplying those minerals,” Chang said.

The gap between Washington’s warmer posture and its longstanding concerns about Beijing extends beyond trade.

Ahead of Xi’s visit, Trump was asked about Chinese spying and cyber activity — an issue U.S. officials have spent years describing as one of the most persistent threats from Beijing.

“When they say China spies on us, I say you’re right, and we spy on them too,” Trump said. “They basically do what we do.”

Trump’s own intelligence community describes the threat in markedly different terms.

The intelligence community’s 2026 Annual Threat Assessment calls China the “most active and persistent cyber threat” to U.S. government, private-sector and critical infrastructure networks. U.S. officials have accused Beijing-linked hackers of burrowing into telecommunications networks through the Salt Typhoon campaign and pre-positioning inside critical infrastructure through Volt Typhoon — activity officials have warned could give China the ability to disrupt communications, energy, transportation and water systems in a future crisis.

“Yes, we do spy on each other, but there’s a difference in the spying world,” Chang said.

“There are so-called legitimate targets. That’s the governments of each state, defense contractors. What is not considered legitimate is spying on civilian institutions, NGOs, universities, all the rest of it. China does that.

“I don’t think it’s his job to make excuses for China. His job is to protect the United States.”

Taiwan offers another test of the new relationship.

A roughly $14 billion weapons package for the self-governed island remains in limbo months after Trump described it as a “very good negotiating chip” in his dealings with Beijing. China claims Taiwan as its territory and has continued military activity around the island even as relations with Washington have warmed.

“My sense is that Taiwan is nervous,” Chang said, pointing to the still-pending package. “We still have not had that package green lighted.”

Trump has also looked to Xi for help beyond the Indo-Pacific. U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue said Trump warned Xi against Chinese intelligence, components or military assistance reaching Tehran amid the war with Iran and suggested Beijing subsequently took action, saying, “They pulled some things down.”

Perdue did not publicly specify what China curtailed.

The emerging relationship, then, is not simply a story of rapprochement. It is a test of Trump’s wager that engagement with Xi can produce concrete results while managing threats that Washington still considers serious.

So far, that record is mixed.

Beijing has taken steps on fentanyl, and the two countries are exploring lower tariffs on billions of dollars in goods. But China’s critical-minerals commitments remain unresolved. Its cyber operations remain a top U.S. intelligence concern. U.S. defense strategy remains heavily focused on deterring China in the Indo-Pacific, and Taiwan remains one of the most dangerous potential flashpoints between the two powers.

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What has changed most dramatically, at least so far, is the relationship at the top — and Trump’s willingness to bet that engagement with Xi can manage those risks better than confrontation alone.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that a recent thwarted terror plot near a United Kingdom military base used by the United States involved a “foreign actor,” linking the incident to global threats from adversaries such as Iran.

“What happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the U.K. over the weekend is a very serious situation,” Rubio told Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday night. “It’s one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor.”

“I won’t get into great detail about that yet.”

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Rubio added there would be “repercussions” for threats against U.S. interests.

“I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is, we are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally,” he continued. “We’re going to always take that very seriously. There will be repercussions for that, if it ever were to happen or even attempted.”

Rubio thanks the partners in the U.K. for helping thwart the “very serious threat” of an attack.

TRUMP WARNS US WOULD ‘DECIMATE AND DESTROY’ IRAN OVER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

“I want to thank the U.K. for their cooperation and their help on it,” he said. “There’s a lot more news that will come out on this in the days to come. But there’s only so much I can say right now at this point about it, other than this was a very serious thing and it was responded to appropriately.”

British police declared a major incident at the RAF Fairford base in western England following the arrests early Sunday, and the government held a national emergency meeting.

Police, however, released the five on bail Monday, but said the investigation was not over and they were examining whether individuals acting for a foreign state were involved.

BRITAIN INTRODUCES SWEEPING NEW POWERS TO TARGET FOREIGN STATE-LINKED GROUPS INCLUDING IRAN’S IRGC

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that the incident “might be” connected to Iran, with which the United States is at war since late February, and that he would not have released the suspects on bail.

“I wouldn’t have done that,” he said.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that three large white vans the men appeared to travel in had not contained viable explosives.

TRUMP RETALIATES AFTER IRAN ATTACK AS EXPERT WARNS REGIME IS GROWING MORE DANGEROUS

The Reuters source said Sunday’s police response had not been intelligence-led – an indication that the five were not under direct surveillance – but security had been beefed up at the base, suggesting there was information it was being targeted.

The five arrested are all British nationals in their early 20s from London. They were detained in the early hours on Sunday after police were alerted by a local farmer to the three white vans parked near RAF Fairford.

Local residents have said security was significantly beefed up at the base in the days leading up to Sunday. The local farmer told reporters that one neighbor, driving past the base on Saturday night, had been ordered by U.S. security personnel to stop and put their hands out of their car.

AMERICA BUILT A FORTRESS AFTER 9/11. THEN THE THREAT STARTED HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

The farmer, who asked not to be named, called the police after she returned home around 1 a.m. local time and found three large vans parked in the road, one with a fake telephone number on it, and a group of hooded and masked men running away.

A large cordon remained around the base Tuesday morning and roadblocks were in place, although local media reports said residents from nearby homes which had been evacuated were returning.

Western governments have warned in recent years of the threat of hostile actors from Iran, Russia and elsewhere organizing destabilizing activity or hiring proxies to carry out plots.

PUTIN AND IRAN ‘NEED EACH OTHER DESPERATELY,’ EXPERT SAYS, AS RUSSIA VOICES SUPPORT FOR REGIME

Britain raised its national terrorism threat level to its second highest in April after a series of antisemitic incidents in north London, meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

It has also imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Iran, accusing them of involvement in hostile ‌activity including plotting attacks and providing financial services to groups seeking to destabilize Britain and other countries.

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Iran has denied involvement in attacks or plots in Britain and elsewhere, and Monday denied any involvement in the incident at Fairford.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Trump administration’s recent effort to bring the law down on Rep. Ilhan Omar could go as far as seeking to strip the Minnesota congresswoman of her citizenship for alleged immigration fraud. But a criminal investigation is unlikely to yield results the president wants, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Michael Wildes, an immigration attorney, told Fox News Digital that investigators face a “very high bar” to build a case against Omar after White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is conducting a “criminal” investigation against the progressive squad member.

It all stems from claims that Omar married her brother to gain U.S. citizenship, which she has repeatedly denied.

President Donald Trump has a longstanding feud with Omar going back to when she was first elected in the middle of his first term, and quickly became one of his most vocal critics in Congress. Trump has repeatedly called for Omar to be sent back to Somalia because of her alleged fraudulent activity.

The Trump administration continues to ramp up efforts to denaturalize and deport individuals accused of immigration fraud. And Vice President JD Vance claimed earlier this year that the Department of Justice is investigating Omar for alleged fraud and immigration violations.

But questions remain over what a potential prosecution and denaturalization case against the Somali-born lawmaker would require.

Wildes said that investigators would need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Omar knowingly entered her marriage — to a man critics allege is her brother — for the sole purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws.

DOJ MOVES TO STRIP CITIZENSHIP FROM 17 PEOPLE ACCUSED OF HIDING DISTURBING CRIMES

“In order to establish a successful marriage fraud case, the government would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt… that the defendant knowingly entered into a marriage with the primary purpose to evade immigration laws and get a benefit,” Wildes said.

Wildes noted that even if Omar and her husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, decided after getting married that their partnership could be a scheme for Elmi to fast pass America’s immigration process, this would not be considered marriage fraud in court.

He continued, “Those are very high bars and thresholds that they would have to surmount. The immigration benefit cannot be a byproduct, or secondary consideration. This is not deemed to be illegal.”

If evidence was presented to prove Omar and Elmi committed marriage fraud, the Minnesota Democrat could face up to five years in jail, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both.

Wildes also pointed out that there are statutes of limitation that could hinder a potential prosecution and make it more difficult to prosecute Omar for marriage fraud, as that marriage was in 2009. But there is still a pathway for Omar to be denaturalized, which Homan described as a “very serious process” while discussing the investigation into the congresswoman.

“The question is: Do they have it factually, and is it the right thing to do?” Wildes said.

“The question is whether or not inadvertences were made not purposefully and whether or not it’s over the top to then denaturalize somebody,” he said. “We’re talking about taking away a benefit and then banishing them from the United States.”

FORMER USCIS OFFICIAL, ACCOMPLICE CHARGED IN ALLEGED $960K CITIZENSHIP BRIBERY SCHEME

For Omar to be denaturalized, the process would have to be related to allegations that she falsified information when obtaining her own citizenship in 2000. Omar claims she was granted automatic citizenship because she was a minor when her father was naturalized.

Congressional records state Omar became a citizen at age 17, but speculation that she was older at the time of her naturalization began after former Minnesota congressional candidate AJ Kern accused Omar’s birth year of being revised on the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library website.

This caused allegations to circulate on social media that she was not a minor at the time, which if ever proven true, could lead to her denaturalization. Even if her father lied in his citizenship paperwork, this could also potentially lead to Omar being stripped of her citizenship.

Wildes also explained that the government makes a “case-by-case” decision when it comes to pursuing denaturalization cases. He also pointed out the relevancy of an intentional lie as opposed to a mistake.

“If the government were to prosecute for document fraud, we would also want to know whether or not she was represented by counsel, and if there were simple mistakes on her application or inadvertences that may be deemed to be fraudulent,” Wildes said.

“Whether or not [these] things are truthful, hypothesized, or can be backed up in fact, will play heavily in that prosecution.”

Homan didn’t answer whether the federal government has evidence that Omar committed either marriage or immigration fraud, while also declining to go into detail into what particularly DHS is investigating Omar for.

Omar told Fox News Digital just last week that she has not been contacted by DHS or made aware of any ongoing investigation into her marriage or immigration status, saying she isn’t worried about it because “the right wing always had this s — going.”

‘SQUAD’ DEM DISMISSES FRAUD PROBE SPECULATION AFTER $29M NET-WORTH DROP

But Wildes said her being unaware that she is being investigated is not unusual and doesn’t invalidate Homan’s confirmation of a “criminal” investigation against her.

“The Congresswoman’s not being aware doesn’t change anything,” Wildes said. “There is no obligation for the government to show their hand and they’re going to want to make sure that they have a good prosecution and they don’t give anything up in the interim because of the politics that this presents as well.”

“I haven’t seen anything that I think is worthy of a prosecution,” Wildes said. “This is a member of Congress. It may not be your politics, but we have to also make sure that we engage in prosecutions properly and not frivolously. “

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Neither Omar nor DHS responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Officers with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a shipment of 450 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $6 million at a port along the U.S. northern border with Canada last Tuesday, the agency revealed to Fox News Digital.

After CBP conducted a routine inspection on a northbound commercial tractor-trailer, a physical inspection revealed modifications to the floor, leading to a K-9 inspection. Agents soon uncovered 174 vacuum-sealed packages carrying cocaine.

“This significant seizure highlights the exceptional vigilance, advanced training and relentless dedication of our CBP officers and canine teams at the Lewiston Bridge border crossing,” Sharon Swiatek, acting port director for the Area Port of Buffalo, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

BORDER AGENTS UNCOVER $20M COCAINE STASH HIDDEN BENEATH TRUCK FLOORBOARDS IN MASSIVE BUST

The seizure follows other recent cases involving drugs concealed in commercial trucks caught by CBP in recent months, demonstrating the continued challenge federal agencies face in stopping the flow of narcotics across both the U.S. southern and northern borders despite greatly reduced illegal crossings.

Since President Donald Trump returned to office at the outset of 2025, border crossings have plummeted at the southern border — an issue that captured much public attention in the 2024 presidential election. Since October 2024, illegal border crossings have dropped from over 240,000 to just 12,200 this past August, a reduction of over 94%.

The drop also extends to the northern border. There, encounters have plummeted from over 17,000 to under 6,100, a 64% decrease.

TRUMP DHS HITS 16 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH 0 RELEASES AT THE BORDER

Even so, CBP has continued to battle the smuggling of drugs, weapons and human trafficking rings into — and out of — the U.S.

While the majority of CBP’s work focuses on securing the American border, a number of its busts have centered on preventing dangerous shipments from entering neighboring countries as well. According to Swiatek, the CBP acting port director, it’s a mission that carries the same gravity as its southern counterpart.

“While a large focus of our border security mission is on inbound threats, our officers remain equally sharp during outbound operations to dismantle transborder criminal networks, disrupt the flow of dangerous narcotics and protect communities on both sides of the border,” Swiatek said.

NEVADA MAN FUNNELED 140 GUNS TO VIOLENT MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS, INCLUDING POWERFUL ‘MILITARY-STYLE’ RIFLES: DOJ

In April, for example, CBP announced it had prevented a car carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks, 20 pistol grips, and other weapon parts from crossing the border into Mexico.

“CBP prevented these dangerous weapons from wreaking havoc on the good people of Mexico,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Ron Vitiello said at the time.

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With respect to the Tuesday cocaine seizure, the shipment has been referred to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo for investigational review, according to CBP.

The State Department is assessing how it could grant state and local officials access to federal passport records to verify voters’ citizenship status ahead of the midterm elections in November.

The department is weighing how to share passport information with state and local officials, as well as some nonprofit groups, as part of the initiative that aims to ensure registered voters are U.S. citizens.

The objective of the plan is to share the information in a way that “protects Americans’ data, deters fraud and supports the integrity of U.S. citizenship,” a department spokesperson said in a statement to NewsNation.

The Justice Department disclosed the plan in a court filing last week, saying federal officials plan to use passport records to identify potential noncitizens on voter registration rolls.

TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN IN ELECTION INTEGRITY FIGHT AS STATES GAIN NEW VOTER ROLL TOOL

According to the filing, the State Department will publish a notice in the Federal Register proposing to share information contained in the Passport Services Records system with other federal agencies.

The notice would permit “information sharing with various entities utilizing federal government verification platforms, for the purpose of verifying the identity or citizenship for users accessing government websites and applications, voter eligibility, and other governmental services,” according to the filing.

The records the Trump administration plans to share include personally identifiable information contained in the State Department’s Passport Services Records system.

The 1974 Privacy Act requires the federal government to provide public notice establishing a new “routine use” for records maintained in a federal records system.

The DOJ filing said the notice could be published in the Federal Register as early as Oct. 22.

The filing came just days before a 6-3 Supreme Court decision on Friday that allowed the Department of Homeland Security to share citizenship information so local governments can verify whether registered voters are U.S. citizens.

DEMOCRAT NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR SAYS THOUSANDS OF NONCITIZENS DISCOVERED ON VOTER ROLLS, PURGED

Earlier attempts by the administration to use federal records to verify voter eligibility primarily relied on records from the Social Security Administration and DHS, with several of those efforts halted by successful court challenges.

The filing was submitted in a lawsuit brought by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee against President Trump over his executive order on mail voting. The Supreme Court recently blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing parts of that order, though other provisions remain in effect.

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The filing was submitted in a case brought by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and other Democratic plaintiffs challenging Trump’s executive order on mail voting. The Supreme Court recently declined to lift a lower-court injunction blocking the U.S. Postal Service from adopting its final mail-ballot rule for the November elections.

FIRST ON FOX: In Kansas, cows are king, but a Democrat trying to seize power once told his congregation to repent for eating beef and raising cattle.

Adam Hamilton, the Democratic nominee running to unseat Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in the Sunflower State, for years led the largest United Methodist church in the nation. He would give sermons that Marshall charged were “woke,” and counter to Kansans’ values.

One such sermon, reviewed by Fox News Digital, saw Hamilton call on his congregation to repent over their carbon footprints.

GOP SENATOR ALLEGES SCHUMER BEHIND ‘HIT JOB’ REPORT ON FORMER PATIENTS

“That’s what repentance means — I saw things differently, it changed my heart, and it changed my behavior,” Hamilton said during a January 2020 sermon called, “What would Jesus say about climate change?”

“So what I’m calling you to today, and I’m calling myself to it, because I’ve been wasteful, I’ve done things that wasn’t, you know, I didn’t think about it, how it wasn’t really good stewardship of the earth around me,” he continued. “I’m calling us to repentance to say, ‘I realize that this has impact, even if it seems small, it has an impact on the world and future generations. And I feel badly about that, and I’m going to do something different from this time forward.’”

Despite Kansas’ 94-year history of being a ruby-red bastion for the GOP in the Senate, the race between Hamilton and Marshall has unexpectedly tightened in recent months as Republicans across the country face a sobering political environment.

BIG MONEY PROPELS DEM MEGACHURCH PASTOR TO VICTORY IN LONGSHOT KANSAS SENATE BID

Kansas slipped from “Likely R” in Fox News’ Power Rankings to “Lean R,” and Cook Political Report echoed the same shift, too.

“In a state with more cattle than people, Hamilton saying that Kansans need repent for eating too much beef and flip flopping on the Farm Bill proves he’d be just like every other liberal Democrat in the Senate,” Marshall told Fox News Digital in a statement.

High fuel prices, particularly diesel in an agriculture-centric state like Kansas, spurred by President Donald Trump’s Iran war are giving voters anxiety, and expanding the map of battleground states that Republicans need to defend to maintain their majority in the Senate.

Hamilton’s campaign countered to Fox News Digital that Marshall has “repeatedly introduced legislation to reduce emissions from cattle and claimed ‘everyone’s concerned about the methane production in the cattle industry.'”

“Marshall even bragged how the decline of the herd ‘eliminated half of the methane gas produced from cattle already,'” Tyson Brody, a spokesperson for Hamilton, said. “As Adam said at the debate, Roger should repent for failing to stand up for Kansas cattle producers on tariffs, foreign imports, and skyrocketing diesel prices, and now he should repent for attacking Adam for something Roger Marshall said himself in the Senate. Kansas producers don’t need lectures from someone who voted to put warning labels on hot dogs and bacon.”  

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s sermon was part scripture, part PowerPoint presentation on how greenhouse gases occur and their impact on the environment. And during his 44-minute talk, Hamilton suggested that one of Kansas’ staple economic drivers, beef, was a major contributor to the problem.

‘WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO US?’: ONE CRUCIAL TRUMP DECISION IS HURTING HIS BASE, REPUBLICANS WARN

“Some of the things that we grow, because we like to eat them, like cattle, end up producing more carbon dioxide than other crops that we could grow, other forms of food that we could have,” Hamilton said. “And so, in all of these ways, we are creating or adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in our world.”

Cattle is a major industry for Kansas, which is the nation’s third-largest producer of beef, according to the Kansas Livestock Association. There are more heads of cattle in the state, just over 5.8 million, than people, with the state’s population sitting at roughly 2.9 million.

It provides a major cash influx for the state’s economy, too, with cattle farming and ranching producing tens of billions of dollars and employing over tens of thousands of Kansans.

“It is disappointing that a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kansas, one of the nation’s top beef-producing states, would make a statement like this to his parishioners about beef’s impact on the climate,” Kansas Livestock Association Chief Executive Officer Matt Teagarden told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Beef is an important, nutritious part of the American diet, and cattle play a significant role in maintaining grassland health and conservation, while accounting for only 2% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.”

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Still, six years ago, Hamilton was calling on his congregation to change their habits to reduce their carbon footprint.

“Now, you got to do everything you can to reduce your own usage of fossil fuels, but maybe changing your diet so that the things that you eat are requiring less production that creates methane and carbon dioxide and everything else,” Hamilton said.

EXCLUSIVE: A bipartisan group of more than 50 lawmakers is urging the Trump administration not to finalize a proposed Medicare policy tied to the Biden-era drug price negotiation program, arguing it could discourage development of improved cancer treatments.

In a Sept. 21 letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the lawmakers called on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz to remove the agency’s proposed fixed-dose combination policy from its final rule implementing Medicare’s Drug Price Negotiation Program.

The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program was created under the Inflation Reduction Act, which former President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. The Trump administration proposed the policy in June as part of implementing that program.

At the center of the dispute is how Medicare would treat newer versions of existing drugs for price negotiation purposes.

DR OZ WARNS MEDICARE SCAMMERS ARE STEALING BILLIONS — AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION COULD BE NEXT

The lawmakers argue the proposal would cause some improved treatments to face Medicare price negotiations much sooner after receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. 

They say that would reduce incentives for drugmakers to develop better versions of existing medicines.

“If finalized, the proposed fixed-dose combination policy would subject these advancements to negotiation almost immediately after FDA approval, harming patient access as well as incentives to develop these improved therapies,” the lawmakers wrote.

CMS, meanwhile, said the proposal is designed to prevent drugmakers from avoiding or delaying negotiated Medicare prices by making only limited changes to existing drugs and introducing them as new products.

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The lawmakers pointed to advances in cancer immunotherapy that allow some patients to receive a quick injection instead of spending hours receiving an intravenous infusion. 

They said those improvements can make treatment faster, easier and more accessible, particularly for patients in rural areas.

“Patients fighting cancer deserve access to the most advanced new therapies, and if CMS finalizes this proposal, those advances are less likely to reach those who need it the most,” the letter states.

The lawmakers also argued the FDA already evaluates the therapies as separate medicines, requiring separate clinical trials and approvals.

They said CMS should treat those therapies as separate medicines under the Medicare drug price negotiation program.

The lawmakers also argued that CMS actuaries “have not been able to show this policy would produce meaningful savings for taxpayers.”

DR OZ REVEALS THE HEALTHY RETIREMENT HABIT THAT COULD MAKE AMERICA $1 TRILLION RICHER

“We strongly urge CMS to withdraw the fixed-dose combination proposal from the final rule,” the letter states. “The patients we represent need policies that expand access to lifesaving care and reward medical progress and innovation in the treatment of deadly diseases.”

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The letter was signed by more than 50 lawmakers from both parties, including Reps. John Joyce, R-Pa., Darin LaHood, R-Ill., Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, Tim Moore, R-N.C., Jim Costa, D-Calif., Donald Davis, D-N.C., and more.

CMS could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.