NationalWatch

The Smithsonian Institution, whose museums in Washington, D.C. have come under fire from conservatives and President Donald Trump over what they describe as increasingly left-wing messaging, is the world’s largest museum complex, comprising a sprawling network that spans the country and influences millions of people each year.

Founded in 1846 with funds from the will of British scientist James Smithson, who never visited the United States but left his fortune to establish an institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge,” the Smithsonian steadily grew from a single museum into the world’s largest museum, education and research complex.

Today, the Smithsonian owns or leases nearly 700 facilities across eight states, Washington, D.C., and Panama, encompassing roughly 13.6 million square feet of museums, laboratories, archives, warehouses, research stations and support facilities.

The organization now houses more than 157 million artifacts and specimens, operates 21 museums along with the National Zoo and 14 education and research centers, maintains 21 libraries, and partners with more than 200 affiliate museums and cultural institutions nationwide.

TRUMP ORDERS SIGNS OUTSIDE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM AMID ROW OVER ITS DEPICTION OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Visitors see only a fraction of the Smithsonian’s overall collection. Roughly 99% of the Smithsonian’s more than 157 million artifacts and specimens are kept in storage facilities, laboratories and archives, where they are preserved and studied by researchers.

The Smithsonian as a whole welcomes over 30 million in-person visitors each year, while its educational resources and digital platforms reach millions more. The institution operates on an annual budget of more than $1 billion.

The Smithsonian isn’t just a museum operator, it’s effectively a national education and research institution that has a vast reach across school campuses nationwide as it helps shape the educational experience of the nation’s students.

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Through initiatives like the Smithsonian Learning Lab and Smithsonian Science Education Center, the institution provides millions of free lesson plans, classroom activities, virtual field trips and other educational resources used by teachers and students nationwide. It also offers professional development for educators and educational programming that extends well beyond its museums.

On college campuses, the Smithsonian is actively involved in partnering with schools across the country on internships, fellowships, research collaborations and joint academic programs which put the organization in touch with thousands of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students each year.

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Earlier this month, the White House released a sweeping report warning about an alleged infiltration of leftist politics inside the Smithsonian, a report an expert told Fox News Digital is an example of the “long march through the institutions” that socialist and communist activists have been pushing in the United States for decades.

“That shift from history to activism is clearly documented in this report. Anthea Hartig, NMAH’s director since 2019, has explicitly stated that she sees history as a ‘prime tool of social justice’ and one of her roles as connecting ‘research and scholarship to activism and advocacy,’” the White House report stated.

Last week, President Trump ordered his administration to install signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History directing visitors to what the White House describes as “accurate” information about the nation’s past, guaranteeing that the controversy over the Smithsonian’s cultural influence will remain a topic of conversation for months to come.

EXCLUSIVE: The rise of a new type of fraudster has a top Trump administration investigator sounding the alarm as new — albeit brazen — schemes for ripping off hard-working American taxpayers emerge.

The Department of Labor (DOL) Inspector General is warning of a growing cottage industry of online scammers, dubbed “fraudfluencers,” who boast their skill in exploiting government programs and facilitate fraud on behalf of others. Typically, the scammers take a cut of the fraudulently obtained benefits.

“This isn’t just a crime — it’s a deliberate and public betrayal of every hardworking American who plays by the rules,” DOL Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito told Fox News Digital. “Fraud is not a trend or content; it’s theft of taxpayer dollars, and it will be prosecuted.”

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In one case, a California Employment Development Department (EDD) contract employee named Britteny Egland openly used her social media to invite others to participate in her schemes. She offered to help her followers take advantage of taxpayer-funded programs they weren’t qualified for by using insider information and stolen identities to file fraudulent unemployment insurance, grant and rent relief applications. 

Egland had nearly 10,000 followers on Instagram and over 1,500 followers on X at the time of the posts. Her actions exhibit a growing cottage industry of online schemers who brazenly solicit others to team up and commit fraud.

She went on to steal $2.8 million from government coffers.

“NEW OR REGULAR CLAIMS ONLY,” a typical post from the fraudfluencer, who used the handle @Britisshh on X, reads. “IF YOU DID PANDEMIC EDD THIS ISN’T FOR YOU! EVEN IF YOU HAVE A REMAINING BALANCE IT WILL NOT WORK.”

EXCLUSIVE: FBI ADDS ALLEGED COVID FRAUDSTER ACCUSED OF TAKING $5M FROM KIDS’ MEAL PROGRAM TO MOST WANTED LIST

“IF YOU HAVEN’T DID EDD DURING THAT PERIOD LET’S RUN IT UP. 10-30K,” the post continued, before offering for her to “check a claim” for the price of $150.

Egland prompted users to “get with the winning team” by defrauding the U.S. government, but warned potential clients against asking her too many questions because she was unable to address the influx of messages.

“IT’S A LOT OF MONEY ON THE FLOOR! PLEASE DON’T BE STUPID AND MISS OUT,” another post from the perpetrator said. “NOBODY WENT TO JAIL OR OWE BACK FOR ANYTHING – LITERALLY – THE WHOLE WORLD IS SCAMMING THE GOVERNMENT AND ALL THESE PROGRAMS.”

In a third post, the scammer offered her services in defrauding a $20,000 grant program, saying that she would take $5,000 and give the rest to her client.

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 447 HOSPICES IN LOS ANGELES OVER MORE THAN $600M IN SUSPECTED FRAUD

The law eventually caught up with Egland. In June 2025, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Egland was sentenced 60 months in federal prison, 36 months of supervised release and ordered to repay the full $2.8 million she stole.

“What makes this increasingly dangerous is the growing effort by fraudsters on social media to glamorize and normalize stealing from their own communities — turning theft into entertainment and betrayal into a lifestyle,” said D’Esposito.

“My office, working in close coordination with Vice President Vance’s White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, has zero tolerance for those who cheat the system. We will pursue these cases aggressively, seek prison sentences, and ensure real accountability.”

Egland’s case isn’t isolated.

Investigators are increasingly seeing fraudsters use social media to normalize theft, advertise their methods and build audiences around criminal behavior.

An Atlanta man named Jonathan Dupiton, who had a podcast with the motto “F.R.A.U.D is Dope,” was convicted in April and sentenced to seven years in federal prison for using stolen identities to brazenly obtain $3.8 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits from the same California EDD program.

In 2022, a Memphis rapper called “Nuke Bizzle,” whose real name is Fontrell Antonio Baines, was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison after exploiting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provisions from the CARES Act, meant to help struggling Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Baines bragged about his $788,000 in ill-gotten gains in a music video posted to YouTube.

“The criminal mindset hasn’t changed — only the platform has,” said D’Esposito, a former NYPD detective. “I’ve seen criminals make mistakes. Today’s ‘Fraudfluencers’ make those mistakes in high definition. They steal from taxpayers, boast about it on social media, and leave a digital footprint our investigators can follow.”

D’Esposito and the White House Fraud Task Force was created, in part, to crack down on taxpayer funds being paid out to fraudsters and to end the widespread abuse of government programs.

HAMILTON, OHIO — Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy gave Fox News Digital an update on his campaign roughly 100 days from the midterms and said the contrast between him and his opponent was on display at Dr. Anthony Fauci’s controversial Senate hearing this week.

“I think if every person in Ohio votes for the candidate who’s going to bring high-paying jobs most quickly to our state, we’re going to win in a decisive victory,” Ramaswamy said at the Butler County Fair Wednesday after speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of roughly 100 people.

“And my pledge is really simple: lower costs, that’s lower electric bills, lower property taxes and lower healthcare expenses, bigger paychecks, more high-paying jobs in the state and better schools by bringing standards back to public education. And one of the things I’ve seen is that that’s a message that isn’t just limited to Republicans. It’s resonating with voters across the state.”

One of the most talked about issues at the fair, including two attendees who spoke to Fox News Digital, was property taxes and which candidate would best address that growing and often disruptive expense.

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“The top issues that people are struggling with is, No. 1, the property tax burden. It’s gotten way too high,” Ramaswamy said when asked what he’s hearing most from voters in terms of what they are most concerned about.

“We’ve laid out a practical plan to give the biggest property tax relief package Ohio’s ever seen. No. 2 is the electric bills, which have gone up way too quickly. It more than doubled in many parts of the state. Producing more energy and ending load forecasting inflation, those are things that a governor actually can do. And that’s something that I’m gonna lead with.”

Ramaswamy added that the third issue he hears about most from voters is healthcare costs and the overall cost of living.

“The No. 1 way I’m going to be able to address that is by raising take-home pay, both by bringing more high-paying jobs to the state, but also by allowing Ohioans to keep more of what they earn by becoming a zero-income tax state, just like Texas and Florida and Tennessee. Ohio can be that state, and I’m confident I’ll be able to put the state on a path to get there starting next year.”

RAMASWAMY: MEDICAID FRAUD RAISES HEALTHCARE COSTS FOR HARDWORKING OHIOANS

Fauci made headlines this week after invoking the Fifth Amendment over 100 times during a Senate hearing on his handling of the coronavirus, a moment Ramaswamy told the crowd and Fox News Digital that relates to his opponent Dr. Amy Acton’s time as director of the Ohio Department of Health from 2019 to 2020.

Ramaswamy pointed to a comment from Acton, which Fox News Digital reported on earlier this month, claiming the COVID mortality rate was at 50% when in reality it was significantly lower. Acton’s campaign responded by saying she had been referring to death rates in hospitals and that she “worked to keep Ohioans safe.”

“I think people look at that and say, ‘Is that somebody who has the kind of character that has the capacity to deal with data and make objective decisions and lead?’” Ramaswamy explained. “And while those questions are playing out for Anthony Fauci at the national level, I think they’re really resonating right here in Ohio. 

“You could walk around, and you could even see some of the signs at this fair that are protesting the decisions she made because she actually wanted Ohio to shut down county fairs while still allowing BLM protests to rage wild on the streets at the same time in the name of science. That’s not objective decision-making.”

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Ramaswamy is making the case that Ohioans are “rejecting that mentality” in favor of “common sense.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Acton campaign spokeswoman Addie Bullock labeled Ramaswamy an “out-of-touch billionaire” who is “pushing tax scams that would raise costs on working families.”

“While Dr. Amy Acton is laser-focused on lowering costs for Ohio families, Vivek Ramaswamy has made it clear he doesn’t care about Ohioans; he only cares about himself and enriching his billionaire buddies,” Bullock said. 

Polling suggests the race between Ramaswamy and Acton will be a tight one, with the Real Clear Politics’ average of polling showing a dead heat despite President Trump winning Ohio by commanding margins in the past three presidential election cycles, including by 12 points over former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

Republicans in California are making a voter ID ballot initiative the centerpiece of their 2026 strategy as Americans’ frustration grows over affordability and education issues.

“Californians need to feel secure in our elections,” California GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin told Fox News Digital in an interview. “The way it is now, there’s so much room for uncertainty and confusion. What Proposition 39 is going to do is it’s going to sort of close the loopholes. It’s a commonsense solution that will strengthen our democracy.”

Beyond the ballot measure, Rankin argues the initiative reflects broader voter frustration that Republicans hope to capitalize on in the 2026 midterms. She claims California voters are primarily concerned about affordability, education and confidence in state government.

SEN MARK WARNER CALLED OUT IN ABC INTERVIEW FOR INACCURATE VOTER ID CLAIMS

“Californians need to feel like we can trust our election systems, and trust is not given. Trust is earned and this will allow Californians to feel more like they can trust our election system,” she added.

The Golden State’s primary race on June 2 garnered national attention and widespread criticism after it took weeks to deliver results. California election officials continued to count ballots postmarked by Election Day even if they arrived within seven days — and they are permitted up to 30 days to certify results.

In the primaries, the Los Angeles mayoral race became the center of controversy, and President Donald Trump’s was among the chorus of voices challenging the runoff election results, alleging irregularities as the count continued past Election Day.

Spencer Pratt ultimately lost the race with far-left City Council Member Nithya Raman advancing to face incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass in the general election in November. The race was called six days after the June 2 elections.

“There’s so many other states throughout our country and throughout the world actually that seem to be able to have a winner on election night,” said Rankin. “It’d be wonderful if California could do the same.”

CALIFORNIA’S SLUGGISH VOTE COUNTING RIPPED ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM: ‘EXTREMELY EMBARRASSING’

While election reform is the party’s signature ballot effort, Rankin says kitchen table issues will determine whether Republicans make gains in November.

She said affordability is the No. 1 concern among voters with California recently landing in the top five most expensive states, according to The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s quarterly Cost of Living Index.

“A lot of parents want their adult children to stay in California, to be a part of and contribute to the same California dream that was so great for our grandparents and our parents,” said Rankin. “We want it to be great for us and for our children. Affordability is the top issue.”

NEWSOM UNDER FIRE AS CALIFORNIA GAS TAX HIKE SENDS PUMP PRICES EVEN HIGHER

California drivers are paying about $5.65 per gallon for regular gasoline, roughly $1.25 more, or about 28% higher, than they were at this time last year, according to AAA and federal energy data.

Rankin also said Californians are concerned about their school systems with zip codes determining the quality of education students receive, which has long been an argument in the Republican push for school choice.

“When [candidates] keep their race focused on their district, focused on the voters in their district and the issues that matter most to those voters, stay focused on issues like affordability, children’s education, the prices of gas and groceries, things like that,” said Rankin. “That’s what voters want to hear. That’s what they care about. They care about what happens locally.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is serving his second and final term, fueling speculation about a 2028 presidential bid and creating what Rankin believes is an opportunity for Republicans to win back voters disillusioned with Democratic leadership.

Pointing to the state’s troubled high-speed rail project, Rankin argued California has become a cautionary tale of government waste under one-party rule.

“We’ve got a bullet train that he’s been funding with billions of dollars for years, yet we have no train. So, where’s the money going to?” Rankin asked.

Critics have long scrutinized the project, which was approved by voters in 2008 with an estimated $33 billion price tag but is now projected to cost more than $200 billion.

Rankin said the spending reflects what she views as a broader ideological shift within the Democratic Party, arguing California has embraced policies that are now spreading nationwide.

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“I think that the Democrats have gone so far to the left that many Californians just don’t see themselves … many Democrats in California just don’t relate to the current flow of the Democrat party,”Rankin said.

“They’re moving way too far into the extremism of socialism. I think a lot of people have red flags and just don’t want to be part of it.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Gavin Newsom for comment.

President Donald Trump blasted Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Saturday for opposing his nomination of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the permanent position, suggesting he could keep Blanche in the temporary Justice Department leadership role and ensure the Anti-Weaponization Bill is passed.

While blasting the rogue GOP senators, Trump tied the Blanche nomination fight to the Anti-Weaponization Bill, proposed legislation that would establish a congressionally authorized compensation program for alleged victims of political “weaponization,” replacing the controversial DOJ-created Anti-Weaponization Fund.

The fund was formed through a settlement Blanche reached with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate alleged victims of political persecution. Amid criticism that the executive branch lacked authority to create such a program without congressional approval, the Justice Department later said it would not move forward with the fund, effectively shelving it.

“If Senators Cornyn and Tillis, both upset because I wouldn’t Endorse them (they lost, and quit, respectively!), aren’t going to approve Todd Blanche, one of the most respected professionals, according to everybody, in the Country, to be the United States Attorney General, then I will keep Todd as Acting A.G., and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill, which takes care of those who have been so badly treated by the Crooked Joe Biden (and Obuma!) Administration (I get nothing, although I was treated horribly!), PASSED. Todd Blanche was a voice of reason! It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done,” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning post on Truth Social.

TRUMP THREATENS TO YANK HIS OWN AG NOMINEE AS GOP REVOLT GROWS

Cornyn and Tillis, both of whom faced electoral opposition from Trump in some form, each indicated that they would not vote to advance Blanche’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I think I am prepared to vote no, but I do think I owe it to my constituents and to Mr. Blanche to try to negotiate in good faith,” Cornyn told Capitol Hill reporters on Wednesday. “And that’s what we’ve been doing. And so we’ll see where things are this morning and see where we go from here,” he added.

Though both Blanche and Trump have previously said the Anti-Weaponization Fund is “dead,” Cornyn and Tillis both indicated that they want the fund’s demise to be formalized in writing before supporting Blanche’s confirmation.

Cornyn questioned Blanche about the fund during his mid-July confirmation hearing.

“Has there been a written agreement of the parties to modify the settlement fund?” Cornyn asked Blanche.

“No, the settlement fund is just not moving forward,” Blanche replied.

TRUMP UNLOADS ON CORNYN, TIES AG NOMINATION FIGHT TO BITTER TEXAS PRIMARY

Tillis, who announced in 2025 that he would not be seeking re-election just one day after Trump threatened to back a primary challenger, also criticized the Anti-Weaponization Fund, calling it a “payout pot for punks” in a Saturday morning response to Trump on X.

“Despite comments as late as yesterday that the fund is dead, President Trump clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against. It’s unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal. Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday,” Tillis wrote

Cornyn, who has been a senator since 2002, lost his GOP primary to Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during the state’s May 26 contest, losing by nearly 400,000 votes, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.

Trump, during his Friday Cabinet meeting at Camp David, theorized that his backing of Paxton was Cornyn’s motivation for opposing Blanche.

“This is being done by a senator. And I don’t really blame him, to be honest with you. I endorsed his opponent. And as soon as I endorsed his opponent, his opponent went through the roof and he won the primary election in Texas,” Trump said.

“And the man that lost, the man that I didn’t endorse has become very angry. And that’s okay. I understand that. I probably would do the same thing,” the president added.

Cornyn, for his part, downplayed that possibility.

“That’s a convenient excuse, and it happens to be untrue,” Cornyn told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday, according to CBS News.

Trump also told reporters during the Cabinet meeting that though he considers the anti-weaponization fund “dead,” he wishes it wasn’t.

“Well, it is dead. But you know, I wish it weren’t to be honest with you, I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused. This has nothing to do with this was me, horribly abused. And I’d like to see them compensated for the the pain,” Trump said.

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Blanche is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for a vote on whether to advance his nomination out of the committee and to the full Senate for confirmation.

Fox News Digital contacted the White House, the Justice Department, Cornyn and Tillis for further comment.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump publicly broke with his top local prosecutor Saturday, insisting damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was “a pure case of VANDALISM” despite federal officials citing contractor failures as they moved to dismiss a felony case against a former U.S. Olympian.

“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I don’t know what she was thinking?”

Trump’s remarks came one day after Pirro’s office asked a federal judge to dismiss a felony destruction of property charge against former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, who was accused of damaging the landmark after allegedly pulling up a loose section of its protective lining on June 19 despite being told by a National Park Service employee to stop.

“To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area,” Trump continued, referencing a separate vandalism incident that had occurred about a week earlier.

U.S. Park Police previously discovered the numbers “86 47” etched into the grass near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The phrase has become a politically charged slogan directed at Trump. Supporters of the president, including Trump himself, have argued it amounts to a call for his assassination.

WHO IS DAVID HEARN? US OLYMPIAN WHO DENIES VANDALIZING REFLECTING POOL AFTER VIRAL ARREST

Pirro’s office dropped the charges against Hearn on Friday after concluding that reports disclosed by the Department of the Interior revealed that there were many flaws with the renovation project, including that the lining appeared to begin peeling days after installation.

“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” the motion concluded.

Trump acknowledged there potential issues with the project but rejected the Justice Department’s conclusion that construction problems were primarily responsible for the damage.

“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” Trump wrote.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LOST OR ABANDONED HUNDREDS OF LAWSUITS AGAINST ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS, MIGRANTS: REPORT

Hearn was indicted on July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property after U.S. Park Police alleged he pulled at the pool’s protective coating, with authorities initially estimating the damage exceeded $1,000.

According to Pirro’s office, the Department of the Interior initially provided only “barebones” reports and did not disclose documents showing the Reflecting Pool’s newly installed coating had begun failing almost immediately after construction.

“Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” prosecutors wrote in Friday’s filing.

“It was not until after the return of the indictment, that the DOI provided additional documents to the USAO-DC indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings (‘AIC’), and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026,” the filing continued.

The case against Hearn was dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought again in the future.

Court filings show Atlantic Industrial Coatings received a no-bid contract worth more than $14 million to install a new protective lining across the Reflecting Pool’s 68,000-square-foot floor.

The project began in early May but was slowed by rain and complications with the pool’s expansion joints, adding pressure to complete the work before the July Fourth festivities celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.

According to prosecutors, problems surfaced almost immediately.

TRUMP SHARES NEWS OF ‘CRYSTAL CLEAR’ REFLECTING POOL, CALLS FOR VANDALISM SUSPECT’S ARREST

Just two days after the project was completed on June 9, a National Park Service engineer reported that sections of the new lining were already peeling.

“I stated my concern that this ‘overspray’ along the perimeter of the pool could lead to a 1′-2′ strip that is vulnerable to peeling,” the engineer wrote in a June 11 email obtained by the New York Post. “The contractor would not confirm in field if this was or wasn’t a risk.”

Following the dismissal request, Hearn’s legal team accused the government of rushing to prosecute the case.

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“The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought. Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology,” attorneys Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin said in a statement to the New York Post.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Pirro’s office for comment.

Michigan House candidate and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Will Lawrence advocated for a national data center moratorium Saturday during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

“What I see is that there is an urgent need to have a federal moratorium on new AI data centers so that we can have a national conversation about if we’re going to be generating this hyper intelligent AI, what’s the best way to do it, and how do we ensure that it benefits everybody rather than just a few billionaires in Silicon Valley?” Lawrence said at a campaign event in South Lansing, Michigan.

“I do support a federal moratorium because there may be a right way to build these data centers and generate super-intelligent AI, but what’s happening now is the wrong way, because it’s abandoning the basic principles of democracy and self-determination that are foundational to the American identity,” he also said.

BLANCHE URGED TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN FIGHT AGAINST DATA CENTERS

“You have billionaires from Silicon Valley and Wall Street who are coming into small towns and then just telling everybody, ‘Trust us, trust us, your energy bills aren’t going to rise. This is going to be a great deal for everybody,'” Lawrence continued.

In addition to backing a data center ban, Lawrence also bashed President Donald Trump for a number of policies and, like other DSA members, advocated for major campaign finance reform in the form of publicly funded elections.

“There’s a lot of money in politics, there’s no doubt about it. And, I think it does a disservice to the democratic process,” Lawrence said.

SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LIMIT ON PARTY CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN COORDINATION WITH CANDIDATES

He then took aim at the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, a landmark 2010 decision which ruled that political contributions should be treated as a First Amendment-protected form of free speech.

“Unless there’s change in the Supreme Court, Citizens United will need to be overturned with a constitutional amendment because it’s a Supreme Court decision. But beyond just ending Citizens United, which deals with the dark money in politics, I also support public financing of elections, which would mean that every single candidate who has legitimate grassroots support gets access to the same pool of public funding and the same amount of dollars to run their campaign with,” he said.

Lawrence avoided a question about a broader slate of DSA policies – such as abolishing the Supreme Court, the presidency and the Senate – potentially turning off centrist voters.

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

“That’s not what we’re talking about. So I can’t speak to whether people are turned off by it or not. We’re focused on stopping these AI data centers, stopping these wars around the world, and ensuring that everybody has health care,” he responded.

Lawrence, who’s backed by prominent leftists like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is running in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary to claim the House seat in Michigan’s 7th district.

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The district is currently represented by Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., a first term congressman who won the seat after current Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., vacated it to run for Senate.

Lawrence is vying with a number of other Democratic candidates to face off against Barrett in November’s election, including former Obama National Security Council member and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink.

Fox News Digital contacted the Barrett and Brink campaigns and the DSA for comment.

A Massachusetts federal judge has once again blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia, issuing a new administrative stay after plaintiffs rewrote their lawsuit around constitutional claims just days after a federal appeals court threw out similar stays terminating TPS for Ethiopia and South Sudan.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued the administrative stay Friday after African Communities Together and other plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging the Trump administration violated the Fifth Amendment by terminating Somalia’s TPS designation based on racial and national-origin discrimination.

The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint and emergency motion on Thursday in a renewed bid to keep Somalia’s TPS protections alive after the Supreme Court’s June ruling in Mullin v. Doe sharply limited lower courts’ ability to block TPS terminations.

Burroughs’ latest order has intensified growing criticism over whether district judges are using administrative stays to work around higher court rulings. It comes just days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed similar administrative stays issued by U.S. District Judges Brian Murphy and Patti Saris, who had temporarily delayed the Trump administration’s TPS terminations for Ethiopia and South Sudan.

LIBERAL COURT STUNS WITH RULING THAT HANDS TRUMP MAJOR IMMIGRATION WIN

The First Circuit based its rulings on the Supreme Court’s Mullin decision, which ruled lower courts generally cannot block TPS terminations based on non-constitutional claims.

The latest order drew an immediate rebuke from DHS General Counsel James Percival, who accused Burroughs of continuing a pattern of judicial obstruction.

“Judge Allison Burroughs just entered yet another order preventing the termination of Somalia TPS. There is no serious debate about what is going on in these cases — defiance, obstruction, and delay,” Percival wrote on X.

Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan argued Burroughs’ order improperly grants emergency relief despite what he described as legally deficient claims.

“I looked at the amended complaint in the Somalia TPS case,” Wessan wrote on X. “The district judge has entered a novel ‘administrative stay’ to sort out the claims. She has declared the TPS termination ‘void’ for now, while deciding whether any of the claims can justify a more permanent pause.”

DHS EVISCERATES MEDIA FOR ‘ABSOLUTE ABSURDITY’ OVER CONCERN ABOUT ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ACTIVIST JUDGES LIST

Wessan argued that the order “turns the law upside down,” writing that four of the lawsuit’s five claims are foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin and describing the remaining claim as “frivolous.”

“Even if this was a fresh lawsuit without the baggage, the claims cannot justify any relief– much less meet the high bar for interim relief,” Wessan wrote. “This is very bad. I hope that, with time to review, Judge Burroughs vacates her administrative stay to allow the correct status quo to continue.”

The plaintiffs contend, however, that their amended complaint presents a fundamentally different case than those recently rejected by the First Circuit.

BIDEN JUDGE BLOCKING ETHIOPIAN DEPORTATIONS DESPITE SCOTUS RULING CLASHED WITH ICE BEFORE

The amended lawsuit argues the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to revoke Somalia’s TPS designation was predetermined, pointing to President Donald Trump’s November 2025 Truth Social post announcing the end of TPS months before DHS had completed the review process. Plaintiffs argue that deprived Somali TPS holders of the fair process guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because the decision had effectively already been made before the agency completed the review required by law.

The complaint also alleges the administration violated the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection guarantee by targeting Somali nationals based on race and national origin. It cites Trump’s past remarks describing Somali immigrants as “criminals,” “gang members,” and “low IQ,” as well as his statements that he doesn’t “want them in our country” and to “send them back.”

“These statements evince the Administration’s racist and xenophobic motivations to exclude Somali people from the country. At the same time, the Administration has expressed preferences for white immigrants as ‘nice’ and welcome in the U.S. and created protections for white Afrikaner refugees from South Africa,” the plaintiffs wrote.

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Burroughs has presided over the Somalia TPS litigation since earlier this year. On March 13, she initially entered an administrative stay preventing the Somalia TPS termination from taking effect while the litigation proceeded.

Fox News Digital reached out to African Communities Together for comment.

Silence is golden.

But actions speak louder than words.

That’s the solution which Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., is engineering for the reticence of Dr. Anthony Fauci. The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment a staggering 111 times when appearing under subpoena before Paul’s panel this week.

RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES

The only words Fauci spoke were his invocation of the Fifth Amendment on the advice of his attorney. But the action promised by Paul is contempt of Congress.

“There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today,” warned Paul after Fauci invoked the Fifth. “The Committee will have to consider after this hearing what appropriate action should be taken against you for the failure to testify after being directed to do so. It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress.”

But it’s not as though Fauci was completely mum during the entire hearing. He offered an opening statement before leaning on the Fifth Amendment as a shield for the next three hours.

“The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, ‘behind bars,’ unquote,” Fauci said. “Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion.”

And then Fauci fell mute. He ignored questions about his diary, inquiries about what ignited the pandemic, even interrogatives about the mundane.

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FAUCI’S HEARING: PAUL BOOTS LAWYER, MORENO ERUPTS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS

“What day of the week is it today?” asked Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

Hawley wasn’t done.

“What color tie are you’re wearing?” Hawley continued. “What is the color of the carpeting?”

From a legal standpoint, there is logic behind Hawley’s banal inquiries. These are carefully designed questions which a good prosecutor might ask a witness to trip them up.

To wit: If Fauci had already invoked the Fifth Amendment, why is he suddenly answering questions about the calendar, his tie or carpeting? If Fauci replied “Wednesday,” “blue” or “green” as answers to Hawley’s queries, Paul could have asserted that the Fifth Amendment shield no longer applied. Thus, the committee, or the courts, should compel Fauci to respond to any question.

By the same token, Republicans argued that Fauci should have been able to answer such trite questions from Hawley because they had nothing to do with the proceedings. It’s kind of a “we win, you lose” proposition for the GOP.

Yet Fauci never deviated from the script, invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times.

CAN FAUCI HIDE BEHIND THE FIFTH? GAME-CHANGING BIDEN PARDON MAY NOT PROVIDE COMPLETE COVER, EXPERTS SAY

By the way, Fauci’s repetitive legal recitation of the Fifth is not a Senate record. In 1958, mob boss Vito Genovese appeared before a Senate panel investigating organized crime. Genovese established the mark, invoking the Fifth a stupefying 150 times.

Republicans don’t think that Fauci had any right to invoke the Fifth even once, considering his pardon from former President Joe Biden. On one hand, they asserted he should be free to testify. Democrats took issue with that.

“I’m not surprised that he pled the Fifth because the objective is to put him in jeopardy of criminal prosecution,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “So the more prudent course was to claim the Fifth Amendment.”

Hawley saw it differently, citing the 1896 Supreme Court case Brown v. Walker.

In the late 19th Century, the Supreme Court granted auditor Theodore Brown immunity to testify in a railway rate-fixing case. But Brown still refused to testify. However, the High Court ruled that Brown had to speak. Writing for the majority, Justice Henry Billings Brown (no relation), who also wrote the opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, declared the following:

“If it be once conceded that the fact that his testimony may tend to bring the witness into disrepute, though not to incriminate him, does not entitle him to the privilege of silence, it necessarily follows that, if it also tends to incriminate, but at the same time operates as a pardon for the offense, the fact that the disgrace remains no more entitles him to immunity in this case than in the other.”

Translation: What you have to say may be embarrassing. But if you enjoy the privilege of immunity, you still have to cough up the goods, despite the Fifth Amendment.

How Fauci conducted himself in the hearing runs parallel to former IRS official Lois Lerner‘s conduct in 2014. Republicans believed that Lerner blocked groups affiliated with the Tea Party from tax-exempt status or targeted them for scrutiny. At a 2014 House Oversight Committee hearing, Lerner delivered an opening statement. She then invoked the Fifth.

The full House later voted to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress for not answering questions and referred her to the Justice Department for prosecution. The DOJ, then operating under the administration of former President Barack Obama, did not take action against Lerner.

Whether or not DOJ prosecutes contempt of Congress often comes down to which party on Capitol Hill is doing the referring, and which party controls the Justice Department.

For instance, the Republican House referred former Attorney General Eric Holder to the DOJ for contempt of Congress in 2012. But it was Holder who ran the Justice Department. So that was a dead letter.

The Democratic House referred White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the DOJ in 2008. But the administration of former President George W. Bush was simply not going to prosecute its own lead attorney at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The Democratic House held Trump administration figures Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress for failing to appear before the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot. Naturally, the Biden Justice Department prosecuted that duo.

So could Fauci face prosecution from the Trump Justice Department after a referral from the Republican-led Senate?

The Lerner case bears further study. The Obama DOJ declined to prosecute Lerner because she asserted her Fifth Amendment rights — but after her opening statement. Fauci did the same. Would the Trump administration perceive Fauci’s protocol at the hearing through a similar lens?

Paul will ask his committee to prep a resolution holding Fauci in contempt of Congress in the coming days. But the full Senate must approve such a measure before sending it to the DOJ for possible prosecution.

It’s easier to adopt a contempt of Congress resolution in the House because it only requires a simple majority. The same is true in the Senate. But it must also clear a filibuster, which needs 60 votes. That’s why contempt of Congress citations are more prevalent in the House than the Senate.

But Paul believes he has a workaround.

“I plan on sending it directly with the legal brief supporting the argument to the Department of Justice,” Paul told Fox News.

It’s then up to DOJ to prosecute Fauci or not.

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However, in his same appearance on Fox, Paul said he had “sent a criminal referral on Anthony Fauci twice under Biden and twice under Trump.”

President Donald Trump’s DOJ hasn’t prosecuted Fauci before. But would prosecutors see it differently after Fauci’s performance at the hearing?

That brings us back to Lerner.

She invoked the Fifth Amendment and the DOJ did not prosecute. That establishes a precedent. Would the Trump DOJ follow that model? Or are we in for what could be a lengthy, perhaps seminal court battle about whether Fauci was in the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment? That may trigger a legal fight over his pardon from Biden — and perhaps what the High Court ruled in Brown v. Walker.

We’ll know when or if the DOJ takes action. In the case of Fauci, silence may be golden. But in this instance, it may be up to the courts to determine if it’s legal.

In a recently released deposition transcript, Hunter Biden claimed that his family is broke and that he’s being crushed by legal fees.

The deposition is related to an ongoing lawsuit between Biden and firm Winston Taylor for unpaid legal bills. Winston Taylor, which has a history of representing leading Democrats, claims that the Biden scion owes them $17 million from representing him in criminal prosecutions, congressional investigations and defamation suits against his critics.

“My family doesn’t have any money, and it’s not their debt anyway,” he said, according to the transcript. “I don’t own anything of any value other than — and I don’t know the value of it — my paintings which I painted myself. So that’s it. And I don’t even have any other assets at all, stocks, bonds, anything like that, savings accounts.”

HUNTER BIDEN RESURFACES IN LA, REACTS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN TAPES, UFO FILES

Claims that the Biden family may be strapped for cash are reflected in other reporting.

The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2025 that former President Joe Biden is having far more trouble cashing in on his time in the White House than his predecessors.

Upon leaving office, the former president had accrued roughly $800,000 in personal debt and was burdened with increased property taxes on their $2.7 million Delaware home, according to a source familiar with his finances. Biden also has had trouble booking paid speaking engagements, a common source of funds for former presidents, owing to his unpopularity and fears of angering President Donald Trump.

CHARLAMAGNE RIPS JILL BIDEN’S CONFESSIONS ABOUT HER HUSBAND AS TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Former President Joe Biden, however, pulls in more than $400,000 a year in government pensions from his time in Congress and the White House, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

Hunter Biden’s claimed lack of assets follows years of partying and substance abuse.

The former president’s son reportedly spent large sums of cash on crack cocaine, alcohol, stays at luxury hotels, prostitutes and expensive jewelry for his brother’s widow, whom he was romantically involved with. His spending habits could help explain how he blew through the wealth he accumulated selling paintings and pulling in a seven-figure salary while employed by the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

‘PRIVILEGED’ HUNTER BIDEN, SPARED BY DAD’S PARDON, BLASTS TRUMP’S CLEMENCY POWER

“I don’t have any assets. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a phone,” Biden said in the deposition, which took place in February but was released by Biden’s new lawyers in recent days.

Biden argues that Winston Taylor knew he would be unable to pay his legal fees when it agreed to take him on as a client and claims the parties agreed to “work something out.” The law firm, meanwhile, says that it tried to connect Biden with donors in the Democratic ecosystem to help him cover his legal bills.

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The younger Biden won a comparatively small legal victory in July when a judge awarded him $1.7 million in a defamation suit. Winston Taylor, however, has sought to put a lien on the judgment, and the Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who was ruled against, is believed to be overseas, making collection complicated.

Representatives for Hunter Biden and former President Joe Biden did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital Friday.

Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci may be spending more time in the Deep South than he envisioned after officials in Alabama and Florida announced plans to investigate whether he can be held accountable under state law for maladministration of the COVID-19 response.

Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times during a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., argued that former President Joe Biden’s blanket pardon eliminated Fauci’s federal criminal exposure for covered conduct and undercut his basis for refusing to answer.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., alluded to that detail and told Fox News Digital that same pardon cannot prevent prosecution at the state level under the Constitution — which says presidential pardons cover “offences (sic) against the United States.”

CAN FAUCI HIDE BEHIND THE FIFTH? GAME-CHANGING BIDEN PARDON MAY NOT PROVIDE COMPLETE COVER, EXPERTS SAY

“Anthony Fauci is responsible for the deaths of millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Alabamians,” Tuberville told Fox News Digital. “The ‘pardon’ signed by Joe Biden’s autopen doesn’t apply to state-level crimes.”

“When I’m governor of Alabama, I will look into ways we can hold Fauci accountable for all of the Alabamians who died under his watch,” the former Auburn football icon said.

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FAUCI’S HEARING: PAUL BOOTS LAWYER, MORENO ERUPTS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS

Tuberville — who is favored to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Kay Ivey in November — indicated he would order Fauci to Montgomery, Alabama, as many times as he could to face state charges, and encouraged Alabamians to bring their own civil claims against the 85-year-old immunologist.

Speaking to Newsmax from the Capitol, Tuberville separately fumed that Fauci “should be locked up before he leaves this building today.”

FAUCI PRIVATELY TOOK CREDIT FOR COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS DESPITE PUBLIC DENIAL, NEWLY EXPOSED DIARY ENTRIES REVEAL

“We lost 20-30,000 (people) in Alabama alone and I hope every damn one of them sues Fauci.”

Tuberville said that if state prosecutors can’t imprison Fauci, he would support voluminous litigation to “put him in court for the rest of his life where he can listen to the death he caused.

He told Fox Business that when he regularly heard from Fauci during COVID on the HELP Committee, and now believes he “lied … and knew he was lying” due in part to revelations in the doctor’s diary.

“He’s going to court every day of his life for the rest of his life. And he’s going (to) have to look these people in the face, these families, because the pardon does not cover state government.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Ivey for comment on whether she would pursue similar action in the final months of her administration.

Florida is also investigating Fauci’s COVID-era tenure. Attorney General James Uthmeier confirmed to Fox News Digital that “any and all potential violations of Florida law” are on the table.

“Our inquiry will focus on what Fauci knew, when he knew it, and how he misled the American people. We will examine the physical and monetary harms to Floridians that may have resulted from his deceptions and determine whether his conduct exposes him to liability under state law,” said Uthmeier press secretary Jae Williams.

Lt. Gov. Jay Collins — who is running for governor to succeed boss Gov. Ron DeSantis — fully backed Uthmeier’s probe in an interview Thursday with Fox News Digital.

“There has to be accountability … between families getting threatened and our kids not being able to potentially go to school because of the risks coming from Fauci,” he said.

Collins noted he is a 100%-disabled retired amputee veteran, and said he couldn’t get care from Veterans Affairs unless he had a COVID-19 shot.

“I had to make a choice of getting my prosthetic care and having a leg to walk on versus taking an immunization that I didn’t want or believe in,” he said, blaming Fauci’s prescriptions for “generational loss” of businesses nationwide.

Asked about Fauci criticizing DeSantis in his diary, Collins said it was a badge of honor to be the state on the receiving end of “pejoratives.”

DeSantis “became America’s governor. Greatest governor in our state’s history, largely because of what he did in COVID. When our president, our federal government, other world leaders were attacking him, he stood there and took it over and over and over.”

“We protected America,” he said of Tallahassee’s government. “We pushed back on the Fauci-Ouchie and all the nonsense that came from it … I’m glad (Fauci) was offended.”

DeSantis similarly called Fauci the “most destructive bureaucrat in the history of the United States of America,” when asked on Fox News to respond to the diary entries that called him a “jerk” and more.

While California’s current leadership complied with and welcomed Fauci’s prescriptions, the state’s Republican gubernatorial nominee said after watching Fauci plead the Fifth, he drafted a plan similar to his Deep South compatriots to bring the bureaucrat to justice.

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“What an absolute disgrace — when will there be any accountability for this guy,” Hilton said in a statement.

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“I tell you, when I’m governor of California we will have a COVID Accountability Commission,” he said on Facebook, Hilton said the panel would examine Fauci and California officials over policies “who caused so much pain and suffering and cruelty in this absolute disaster of public policy.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Fauci via counsel for comment. DeSantis’ office directed Fox News Digital to his quoted comments.

The Democratic Socialists of America just won $5.2 million in an inheritance dispute, according to a new legal filing, handing the organization a major financial boost as it seeks to expand its influence within the Democratic Party.

The $5.2 million award is serious money for the Democratic Socialists of America, amounting to nearly an entire year of revenue for the organization, according to its tax filings.

For a little over a year, the Democratic Socialists of America had been embroiled in a legal dispute over the will of New York University professor David Greenberg, who died in July 2024. Greenberg stipulated in his will that the contents of his New York University retirement account should be transferred to the New American Movement, a now-defunct left-wing activist group, or “any successor thereof” upon his death.

The New American Movement merged with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee to form the Democratic Socialists of America in 1982, according to contemporary coverage in left-wing media outlets. Greenberg, a sociology professor, spent much of his life involved with left-wing movements, with his NYU obituary describing him as “a prominent figure in America’s radical criminology movement.”

BERNIE SANDERS, DSA REVEAL DEMANDS FOR DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK ELECTIONS

Martin Hecht, Greenberg’s nephew, contended that the Democratic Socialists of America failed to file the proper paperwork to be considered the legal successor and that New York University failed to fulfill its fiduciary duty to Greenberg by not making sure his will accurately reflected his wishes before his death. 

The judge presiding over the case ultimately sided with the Democratic Socialists of America, handing it the multimillion-dollar sum. Hecht initiated his lawsuit in April 2025 and the case was ultimately decided Monday. 

The $5.2 million constituted the majority of Greenberg’s wealth, with a separate account worth $1.3 million being transferred to his estate without dispute, per a legal filing.

FAR-LEFT SURGE: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST DEM ESTABLISHMENT INCUMBENTS

This cash comes at an opportune time for the organization.

Candidates affiliated with or backed by the Democratic Socialists of America have enjoyed a string of victories in recent months, beginning with Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York City mayor in 2025 and continuing with 2026 primary wins by candidates such as Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who bested establishment-backed opponents in New York’s congressional primaries. 

Socialist candidates have also won primary races in Philadelphia, the District of Columbia and Colorado. 

REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER FAR-LEFT GROUP’S PUSH TO TRANSFORM AMERICA INTO ‘CUBAN DICTATORSHIP’

The victories, several of which came against Democratic incumbents, have expanded the Democratic Socialists of America’s foothold in government and given the group greater influence over the party, particularly in heavily Democratic urban districts.

What the Democratic Socialists of America ultimately will use its newfound wealth to do has not been disclosed, but its past spending behavior may provide some clues.

The organization, for instance, regularly spends big on advertisements meant to convince people to vote for Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates. In an August 2024 blog post, one New York Democratic Socialists of America member floated paying for advertisements to support the organization’s recruitment efforts.

Tax documents filed by the Democratic Socialists of America in November 2025 show that the organization distributes cash to its local chapters and aligned groups while also spending big on community mobilization and messaging campaigns.

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These efforts appear to have borne some fruit. In early July, the Democratic Socialists of America announced that it had grown to 120,000 members, claiming that it had become the “largest socialist organization in United States history.”

The Democratic Socialists of America and Hecht’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

FIRST ON FOX: Nebraska Democratic congressional nominee Denise Powell publicly opposed Nebraska’s 2023 law restricting gender transition procedures for minors, calling it “discriminatory and hateful” and urging supporters to contact lawmakers, according to unearthed social media posts that are generating pushback from critics.

Before becoming her party’s nominee, Powell made multiple Facebook and TikTok posts opposing LB 574, Nebraska’s “Let Them Grow Act,” which prohibits gender transition procedures for minors and regulates the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for those under 19.

In a March 2023 Facebook post, Powell, listed as an administrator on The Bellwether Initiative Nebraska page, urged Nebraskans to contact their state senators and join her at the Capitol on the final day of the first round of floor debate over the bill while wearing a shirt that read “PROTECT TRANS KIDS.”

“Today is the final day of the first round of floor debate on LB 574, a bill that would prohibit and punish healthcare providers from providing gender affirming care to children under the age of 19,” she wrote.

WATCH: BATTLEGROUND DEMOCRAT CALLED IOWA A ‘BACKWATER’ OVER TRANSGENDER ATHLETES BAN

“Laws like this one are passing all over the country — Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, to name a few. Nebraska has the opportunity to set an example; to show trans kids and families around the country that we won’t stand for this discriminatory and hateful behavior.”

Powell also praised lawmakers “fighting this on the front line” and urged supporters to “call or tweet at your senators TODAY.”

“Trans people belong in Nebraska and everywhere and we will never ever stop fighting for their right to exist and thrive,” she wrote.

SEN HAWLEY WARNS IT WOULD BE ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’ IF BILLIONS OF TAXPAYER FUNDS FLOW TO TRANS KIDS’ SEX CHANGES

Powell also took to TikTok under the username “dbpinomaha” to oppose the legislation.

In a video posted Feb. 8, 2023, Powell wrote, “Aaaaand we’re back, this time to oppose LB 574, a bill that would make it illegal for kids to access gender-affirming care,” before the video showed her sipping from a mug beneath the words, “Lord it’s too early for the garbage.”

The video then showed a photo of the Nebraska State Capitol exterior with the words, “Democracy happens here. Sometimes,” before cutting to footage of protesters holding signs reading, “Trans Nebraskans Belong.”

The video also included photos appearing to show Powell in her car holding one of the protest signs herself.

DEMOCRATS STAY QUIET ON NEXT STEPS AFTER SUPREME COURT TRANSGENDER SPORTS RULING

“LB 574 hurt kids,” she wrote in the caption. “Call your senator and tell them TRANS NEBRASKANS BELONG.”

In a separate TikTok posted on March 31, 2023, Powell shared a video of student walkouts at high schools around Omaha and Lincoln, writing that students had walked out in support of transgender youth and adding, “we are here for it!”

The Nebraska Legislature passed LB 574 by a 33-15 vote, and Gov. Jim Pillen later signed it into law.

That same year, Nebraska First PAC poll found that 61% of likely Nebraska voters supported prohibiting “gender altering procedures like surgeries, puberty blockers, or hormone therapies” for those under 19, while 78% agreed children should wait until adulthood before undergoing “irreversible, sex-change surgeries.”

In April, a bill from Republican state Sen. Kathleen Kauth to expand LB 574 by banning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for those under 19 failed to advance, according to the Nebraska Examiner .

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“NE-2 is a swing district known for electing moderates, but Denise Powell is about as radical as it gets,” Jon Schweppe, former Trump official at the FTC and senior advisor at American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital.

“Not only has she been an advocate for transgender sex changes for kids, but she served on the board of an organization which opposes parental rights in education and promotes an ‘LGBTQ liberation’ curriculum for fifth graders. These are the issues she clearly cares about the most.”

Zach Bannon, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) told Fox News Digital that Powell is a “rubber stamp for the radical far-left, supporting their most extreme policies, including sex change surgeries for kids.”

“Denise Powell continues to prove that she rejects common sense and is completely out of touch with Nebraska values,” Bannon added.

Powell is challenging Republican Omaha City Councilman Brinker Harding for Nebraska’s open 2nd Congressional District, a seat Democrats are seeking to flip as Republicans try to hold on to their razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.

According to her campaign website, Powell says her priorities are lowering costs, protecting healthcare access and abortion rights, supporting workers, and opposing President Donald Trump’s “abuse of power and attacks on our democracy.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Powell’s campaign multiple times for comment.

Applied Behavior Analysis therapy is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of American families — helping children with autism develop communication, social and daily living skills.

But as Medicaid spending on the autism therapy has exploded into the billions and with fraud on the rise, a partisan divide is emerging over how states should handle public assistance programs for the ballooning treatment option.

Republican-led states like Florida have prioritized fraud enforcement and tighter oversight, while debates in states like Georgia have centered on reimbursement rates and preserving access to care. The scrutiny comes as the Trump administration has made it a focus of his second term to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse across federal programs, including Medicaid, a central policy priority.

Supporters of stronger oversight argue that every dollar lost to fraud is money that cannot be used to provide care for children and families who depend on Medicaid-funded autism therapy.

TRUMP ADMIN PAUSING OVER $1B IN MEDICAID PAYMENTS TO MINNESOTA, CALIFORNIA OVER FRAUD, COMPLIANCE CONCERNS

According to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Medicaid provider spending data, Medicaid paid more than $5.15 billion between 2018 and 2024 under one of the primary billing codes used for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy.

Three providers received roughly $685 million in Medicaid reimbursements during that period.

ABA therapy is one of the most common treatments for children with autism, using structured, one-on-one sessions to build communication, social and daily living skills.

Much of that therapy is delivered by Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs), entry-level workers who complete a 40-hour training program and work under the supervision of Board Certified Behavior Analysts, whose job it is to design and oversee treatment plans.

MEDICAID FRAUD FEARS GROW AMID MASSIVE RED STATE BILLING SPIKE IN SECTOR THAT ALSO PLAGUED MINNESOTA

As Medicaid spending on ABA therapy has surged, so has scrutiny over how taxpayer dollars are being spent.

In May, federal prosecutors charged two Minnesota autism clinic operators with allegedly billing Medicaid $46.6 million for services prosecutors say were unnecessary or never provided, including claims tied to children with allegedly fraudulent autism diagnoses.

Earlier this year, another Minnesota woman pleaded guilty in a separate $14 million Medicaid autism fraud scheme.

Investigations by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have also documented allegations that some providers billed for services that were never provided, inflated therapy hours and aggressively expanded as Medicaid spending surged.

MINNESOTA FRAUD SUSPECT SKIPS COURT, FORFEITS BOND, THROWING $11M MEDICAID CASE INTO DOUBT

The Medicaid data also identifies examples of providers receiving unusually large reimbursements under the ABA billing code, including some claims that equate to hundreds of dollars per minute of therapy based on a standard 15-minute billing unit. The data alone does not explain why those reimbursements were so high, and billing experts say unusually large payments can reflect a variety of factors, including claim adjustments or other administrative processes.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees Medicaid in partnership with states, told Fox News Digital it has observed “significant growth” in Medicaid spending on ABA therapy in recent years.

“While access to medically necessary services remains a priority, rapid program growth also underscores the importance of ensuring services are clinically appropriate, delivered by qualified providers, and supported by strong program integrity safeguards,” a CMS spokesperson said.

As concerns over fraud have grown, states have responded differently.

Florida says it recovered more than $72 million in improper Medicaid payments over the past year and prevented hundreds of behavior analysts from participating in Medicaid because of documented fraud concerns.

Last month, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a statewide Medicaid Integrity Initiative to strengthen provider screening, enhance fraud detection and increase oversight aimed at protecting taxpayer dollars.

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While Florida has focused on strengthening fraud enforcement, Georgia lawmakers have focused on reimbursement rates. Lawmakers recently questioned a Medicaid managed care organization’s decision to reduce ABA reimbursement rates by 20%, even as industry representatives testified that use of autism therapy services had increased by more than 300% in recent years.

The debate reflects the difficult balance between rooting out fraud and preserving access to a therapy that many families say has been life-changing for children with autism.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday embraced a series of progressive policy proposals she did not campaign on in 2024, including expanding the Supreme Court and abolishing the Electoral College, as she continues weighing a potential 2028 presidential bid.

Speaking at the National Urban League Conference in Nashville, Tenn., Harris endorsed several proposals she did not publicly campaign on during her 2024 White House run.

“We must allow for a real conversation about revisiting certain things,” Harris said. “I know this is gonna be controversial coming from me, in particular. We need to revisit the Electoral College.”

HILLARY CLINTON STILL FUMING OVER ELECTORAL COLLEGE, CALLS IT AN ‘ABOMINATION’ IN NEW NETFLIX SERIES

Harris lost both the Electoral College and the popular vote to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

She also voiced support for expanding the Supreme Court.

“We need to revisit the point of expanding the court to 13 justices like we have 13 district courts,” Harris said.

SEN DEB FISCHER: THE LEFT’S WAR ON THE SENATE AND SUPREME COURT PUTS OUR REPUBLIC AT RISK

While Harris has previously supported term limits for Supreme Court justices, expanding the court was not part of her 2024 campaign platform.

She also suggested the U.S. should revisit statehood for Puerto Rico, expanding beyond her previous support for statehood for Washington, D.C.

Despite the new policy positions, Harris said she has not yet decided whether she will seek the presidency in 2028.

KAMALA HARRIS IS THE ‘FAIRLY OBVIOUS’ 2028 PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER, DEMOCRATIC INSIDERS SAY

“I have not made a decision,” she told attendees. “I am fully, sincerely, focused on these midterms.”

Harris’ remarks come as multiple Democratic aides and strategists have suggested she is the leading contender for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination.

When asked by Rev. Al Sharpton at the National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary Convention in April whether she planned to run for president again, Harris left the door open.

“I might. I might. I’m thinking about it… I’ll keep you posted,” she said.

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Harris’ comments also come after she has recently courted progressive Democrats, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Fox News Digital previously reported that Harris called Mamdani in May and later met privately with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., during a Black women’s empowerment summit in Chicago.

The outreach comes as Harris continues meeting with influential figures on the Democratic Party’s progressive wing ahead of a possible 2028 campaign.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Hannah Brennan and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

As President Donald Trump intensifies his push to eliminate the Senate filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, lawmakers are exposing familiar fault lines over when the chamber’s 60-vote rule should, and shouldn’t, apply.

Democratic senators avoided endorsing an outright elimination of the filibuster. Some defended exceptions for certain legislation, with several arguing it should stay in place while Republicans push to pass the SAVE Act through the Senate.

“I would want to know what specific measure it covered,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital. “I’m in favor of eliminating the filibuster for specific measures, not across the board.”

TRUMP’S VOTER ID BILL CATCHES UNLIKELY BREAK AS MCCONNELL REMAINS SIDELINED

“When we wanted the Voting Rights Act passed, I was willing to do it,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash said.

“It depends on constitutional issues,” she said. “If there are people that are overriding the Constitution and not following the Constitution, that would be an area where I would think about [eliminating the filibuster.]”

Democrats previously pushed to create exceptions to the filibuster for legislation including voting rights bills after Republicans repeatedly blocked those measures during President Joe Biden’s administration.

As the SAVE Act stalls in the Senate, Trump has repeatedly urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to pass the election integrity bill.

“I think we have to be really careful,” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks said. “The filibuster is what’s preventing President Trump from his SAVE Act.”

Trump took to Truth Social urging Thune not to allow the Senate to leave for August recess until lawmakers either pass the Save Act terminate the filibuster. He also insisted that Senate Democrats would do it to advance their own legislation if they regained the majority.

WATCH: ELISSA SLOTKIN SAYS SAVE AMERICA ACT WOULD MAKE IT ‘HARD FOR ANY DEMOCRAT’ TO WIN AN ELECTION

“I think that the Democrats would absolutely eliminate the filibuster,” Sen. Roger Marshall said. “Every Democrat senator that’s here now, that was here when they had the chance, voted to end it.”

Marshall explained that his position switched on this, with him now having newfound support for eliminating the filibuster as he claims the Democratic party has become unwilling to cooperate.

“Democrats don’t want to cooperate,” Marshall said.

He continued, “They want to do everything they can to make life miserable in America, thinking it’s going to help them politically. Always putting their political goals ahead of what’s best for America.”

TRUMP DEMANDS THUNE KEEP SENATE IN SESSION UNTIL SAVE AMERICA ACT PASSES

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., acknowledged the same argument that Thune has defended himself to the president for not passing the SAVE Act: the votes in the upper chamber are not there to remove the filibuster.

“[Trump] knows the votes aren’t there to do what he wants to do, in the way he wants to do it,” Kennedy said. “The House has passed a budget resolution to get reconciliation started. We can pass the SAVE Act with the right… the correctly crafted bill.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is working to craft that bill to pass certain elements of the SAVE Act through the budget reconciliation process — dropping the need for Senate Democrats to vote in favor of the bill to get it passed to Trump.

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“There comes a time when you got to stop talking and just vote,” Kennedy said.

” I’m ready to vote, and I’m gonna vote yes. And I’ll stay here as long into August or September as I need to for us to get our work done.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., argued the discovery that roughly 6,600 noncitizens were mistakenly eligible to vote in New Jersey does not justify passing President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act, insisting the error is unrelated to a lack of federal voter ID requirements.

“Nothing in the SAVE Act would have prevented a clerical error like we’ve seen in Texas and Oregon and New Jersey,” Booker said. “We’ve got to protect our voting systems.”

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced last week that the state removed roughly 6,600 noncitizens from its voter roll who were eligible to vote in the 2024 presidential election. Sherrill blamed the issue on a “serious software error” in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS CONFRONT NJ GOVERNOR OVER 6,600 NONCITIZENS REGISTERED TO VOTE IN ALLEGED SOFTWARE FAILURE

The scandal comes to light as Trump has been hounding Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE Act, with some GOP members not in favor of passing the legislation and Democrats overwhelmingly opposing it.

“[The SAVE Act] would stop millions of Americans from voting,” Booker said about Trump’s efforts to pass the legislation.

Booker argued that Sherrill and the state are actively looking into what led to noncitizens being eligible to vote, as Sherill said she immediately ordered an investigation and for all noncitizens exposed to be taken off voter rolls upon finding out.

“We take this very seriously in New Jersey,” Booker said. “People are stepping up.”

DEMOCRATS CONCEDE NJ VOTER-ROLL FAILURE WAS ‘HORRIBLE’ — BUT REJECT BROADER FRAUD FEARS

“We have a governor that’s saying this is unacceptable. We’re gonna make sure that we get to the bottom of it. People need to be held accountable.”

Booker has been vehemently against passing the SAVE Act, referring to it as a “massive voter suppression bill.” Democrats opposing the legislation argue that requiring all voters to provide in-person citizen documentation will halt millions of Americans from being eligible to vote in elections.

Despite his opposition to the SAVE Act, Booker told Fox News Digital that election requirements “should always have proof of citizenship for voting.” But he argued this should be handled at the state level, even in federal elections.

WATCH: ELISSA SLOTKIN SAYS SAVE AMERICA ACT WOULD MAKE IT ‘HARD FOR ANY DEMOCRAT’ TO WIN AN ELECTION

“The states, as the Constitution says, should handle their voting when there’s problems or violations of the law. People should be prosecuted.”

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There is currently no national standard for identifying or reporting these errors in voting systems, like what was seen in New Jersey. This makes it nearly impossible to truly analyze how widespread the issue is. Republicans in favor of the SAVE Act argue the legislation would help resolve and expose these issues.

“We’re going to handle the problems in New Jersey, but I hate how it’s being weaponized by some people to advance schemes that actually would hurt Americans,” Booker said about the SAVE Act.

U.S. investigators believe a cyberattack that targeted dozens of water systems in Minnesota this week likely was orchestrated by Iranian hackers, a report said.

Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) said the “coordinated cyberattack targeted operational technology at more than 30 Minnesota community water systems” on Sunday and Monday, but the Minnesota Department of Health is “not aware of any active requests from Minnesota cities to have their residents modify their drinking water usage.”

U.S. and state officials and others familiar with the incident told The New York Times that Iranian hackers were likely behind the cyberattack.

The newspaper reported that three state officials briefed on an investigation into the cyberattack said the tradecraft used and the absence of a ransom demand led analysts to initially determine Iran was involved. Officials also cautioned that the assessment could change as more data is collected by investigators, according to the newspaper.

However, President Donald Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Friday that he would “blame it on Minnesota and the governor.”

“Today, I just want to mention that, we heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack, and they blame it on Iran. I don’t think so. I think I blame it on Minnesota because they’re grossly incompetent. There was a cyberattack of 30 water plants, and I would blame it on Minnesota and the governor, the corrupt governor of Minnesota,” Trump said, referencing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat. “They like to say, ‘oh it’s Iran.’ Iran should be so lucky. Iran’s got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota.”

IRAN-LINKED HACKERS TARGET US MEDICAL TECH COMPANY

The FBI said earlier in a statement to Fox News Digital on Friday that it is “aware of recent public reporting around Water and Wastewater sectors.”

“The FBI and our interagency partners are fully engaged to protect critical infrastructure and we remain well-equipped to protect against cyber threats of all varieties,” the FBI added.

The New York Times reported that the hackers targeted infrastructure used to manage and monitor water towers operated by municipal governments.

The mayor of the city of Braham, Nate George, said on Monday, a “plant operator found that the water tower was calling for water, but the well was not operating.”

“After learning that similar problems were occurring in at least four other Minnesota communities, Braham staff determined that the plant’s computerized control system had been compromised,” he continued.

“Public works isolated the affected system, restored a backup, and restarted the plant within approximately 90 minutes. While the plant was offline, residents continued receiving water from the city’s water tower. City administration temporarily requested that residents conserve water to prevent the tower’s limited supply from being exhausted,” George added.

LIVE UPDATES ON IRAN WAR: TRUMP ANNOUNCES HAMAS DISARMAMENT DEAL WHILE SAUDI ARABIA LAUNCHES RED SEA DEFENSE COALITION

In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, MNIT noted that “the investigation remains active, and Minnesota has not attributed the activity to a specific actor.”

MNIT said it “continues to collaborate with federal, state, local, Tribal, and private-sector partners to investigate the attack, support affected communities, and strengthen the security of Minnesota’s critical infrastructure.”

“Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure require a coordinated, whole-of-government response,” John Israel, MNIT assistant commissioner and Minnesota chief information security officer, said in a statement. “MNIT is working side by side with our partners to share intelligence, support affected communities, and help utilities restore operations safely while strengthening defenses against future attacks.”

Israel told the Times that the breach was first detected Sunday and that hackers targeted 36 municipal water systems.

“Minnesota was one of the early detectors of this, but we’re seeing that this same threat activity has likely been occurring in other states throughout the nation,” he was quoted as saying.

Nick Andersen, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) acting director, told the newspaper that the agency was aware of “multiple potential incidents affecting local water utilities.”

In the days leading up to the incident, CISA issued an advisory warning U.S. organizations of “ongoing Iranian-affiliated cyber activity targeting internet-connected operational technology (OT) devices.”

“Iranian cyber actors continue to target U.S. critical infrastructure, and the FBI is committed to identifying, disrupting, and imposing costs on those responsible,” Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division said in the advisory.

It stated that a “group of Iranian-affiliated actors” has “targeted devices spanning multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including Water and Wastewater Systems, Energy and Government Services and Facilities, to include local municipalities.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also issued an advisory on Thursday “to warn critical infrastructure asset owners and operators that malicious cyber actors are conducting cyber attacks targeting Operational Technology devices.”

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“Since 27 July 2026, Water and Wastewater Sector utility companies in at least seven states have reported incidents to the FBI, and some of that activity degraded water operations,” it added.

A liberal-led federal appeals court handed President Donald Trump two immigration victories Wednesday, reversing separate district court orders that had delayed the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants from South Sudan and Ethiopia.

The judgments from the First Circuit Court of Appeals come after U.S. District Judges Brian Murphy and Patti Saris issued back-to-back orders temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Ethiopia and South Sudan, respectively, late last week. The rulings drew sharp criticism from legal experts and Trump administration officials, who called the judges “rogue” and argued their decisions defied the Supreme Court.

The three-judge First Circuit panel consisted of Judges Julie Rikelman and Seth Aframe, both appointed by President Joe Biden, and Judge Joshua Dunlap, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.

BIDEN JUDGE BLOCKING ETHIOPIAN DEPORTATIONS DESPITE SCOTUS RULING CLASHED WITH ICE BEFORE

SUPREME COURT WEIGHS TRUMP EFFORT TO TERMINATE TEMPORARY PROTECTIONS FOR HAITIAN, SYRIAN MIGRANTS

In nearly identical rulings, the majority liberal panel found that the lower court judges’ orders conflicted with the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin v. Doe, which held that courts cannot block TPS terminations based on non-constitutional claims.

“Mullin held that ‘the TPS statute’s judicial-review bar applies to all non-constitutional claims’ challenging the Secretary of Homeland Security’s determination with respect to the termination of a TPS designation,” the judges wrote.

Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan told Fox News Digital that the First Circuit correctly applied the precedent established by the Supreme Court.

“These are clear wins for President Trump following his big win at the U.S. Supreme Court, explaining that district courts are not supposed to second guess TPS terminations, and even as this plays out, we’re moving towards the end of this litigation because district courts should not be hearing these disputes, and that’s what the Supreme Court said,” Wessan told Fox News Digital.

SUPREME COURT’S LATEST IMMIGRATION RULING WILL CAUSE AMERICANS TO ‘DIE AND SUFFER’ ATTORNEY WARNS

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson welcomed the rulings as “a win for the rule of law and common sense.”

“Temporary Protected Status is exactly that—temporary,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent.”

The lawsuits were brought by African Communities Together, a New York-based immigrant advocacy organization that serves as the lead plaintiff in both cases, alongside individual TPS recipients from Ethiopia and South Sudan. The plaintiffs argue DHS unlawfully ended the protections in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution, alleging the agency failed to properly assess conditions in the two countries and that the decisions were motivated by racial discrimination.

Murphy and Saris temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating TPS last week, issuing procedural orders to preserve the status quo while they considered whether the plaintiffs should be permitted to amend their complaints to pursue renewed constitutional claims.

DHS EVISCERATES MEDIA FOR ‘ABSOLUTE ABSURDITY’ OVER CONCERN ABOUT ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ACTIVIST JUDGES LIST

While the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin v. Doe foreclosed most statutory challenges to TPS terminations, it left open the possibility that courts could consider claims alleging constitutional violations.

However, Wessan said the district judges were operating outside the “legal bounds” by blocking the TPS terminations before any constitutional claims had been established.

“If they want to let the plaintiffs amend their complaint, they’re allowed to do that, but in the meantime, TPS is over,” Wessan told Fox News Digital.

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The First Circuit’s decisions mark the latest setback for Murphy and Saris after the Trump administration accused both judges of effectively sidestepping the Supreme Court’s June ruling. After Murphy’s order, DHS General Counsel James Percival wrote on X that the district judge was engaged in “mutiny against the Supreme Court,” while he described Saris’ ruling as “open defiance” of the justices’ decision.

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Murphy and Saris for comment.

Republicans online are raging at two turncoat red-state Senators who are obstructing the confirmation of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to take on the role permanently after just a few years ago endorsing and voting for former President Joe Biden’s pick for the same position.

Outgoing Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are threatening to block Blanche’s confirmation, despite backing former Attorney General Merrick Garland when Biden tapped him for the same role. At the time of Garland’s confirmation, both Republican senators characterized the polarizing figure as experienced and bipartisan, and swore he would be a responsible leader of Department of Justice (DOJ).

But during Biden’s presidency, Garland oversaw a DOJ that twice indicted Trump, prosecuted pro-life activists under an obscure federal law and investigated traditional Catholics as potential violent extremists, all moves that conservative critics argue were politically motivated.

TRUMP THREATENS TO YANK HIS OWN AG NOMINEE AS GOP REVOLT GROWS

“I think I am prepared to vote no, but I do think I owe it to my constituents and to Mr. Blanche to try to negotiate in good faith,” Cornyn told reporters on Capitol Hill regarding his threat to block Trump’s pick. “And that’s what we’ve been doing. And so we’ll see where things are this morning and see where we go from here.”

The perceived hypocrisy of Cornyn and Tillis was not lost on online critics who raged against their move to block Blanche for ascending to the Attorney General post as Trump threatened to pull his nomination until after the two Republicans are out of office in January.

“Both Tillis and Cornyn voted to confirm Garland and then sat back idly as a weaponized DOJ/FBI destroyed lives for purely partisan reasons,” said Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project. “The Anti-Weaponization Fund would begin to right the wrongs and that is why they oppose Todd Blanche. Pitiful.”

Columnist Mark Davis also recalled the pair voting for Garland.

“As John Cornyn and Thom Tillis high-five each other in their attempt to block Trump’s AG pick Todd Blanche, never forget that they both voted to confirm Merrick Garland,” he said.

“Pretty incredible that John Cornyn is proving us exactly correct about him after he lost his primary by close to 30 points. Everything we said about him is being proven 1000 percent correct,” said Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle.

Prominent commentator Julie Kelly mocked Cornyn for a 2021 speech he made in favor of Garland’s confirmation.

“Flashback to when John Cornyn gave a full throated endorsement of Merrick Garland so he could ‘depoliticize’ the DOJ,” she said, adding video of the speech.

A popular commentary account that boasts nearly three million followers posted the same video.

“This is exactly why Texas republicans [sic] fired incumbent Cornyn,” the account said. “He votes to approve Garland but refuses to support Todd Blanche. Merrick Garland was the most corrupt lawfare AG is U.S. history.”

CORNYN PREDICTS TRUMP MIDTERM ‘DISASTER,’ THEN ‘THE MOST MISERABLE TWO YEARS OF HIS LIFE’

During Garland’s confirmation, the Texas senator, who lost his primary election in a runoff landslide in June, raved about Garland whom he painted as an objective, apolitical nominee.

“This morning I had a very good conversation with judge Merrick Garland, who President Biden has nominated for attorney general,” Cornyn said at the time. “Judge Garland’s extensive legal experience makes him well-suited to lead the Department of Justice, and I appreciated his commitment to keep politics out of the Justice Department.”

WATCH: GOP HOLDOUT REJECTS TRUMP THREAT AS AG NOMINEE STANDOFF EXPLODES

Tillis said at the time of Garland’s confirmation that Garland, “has an outstanding record serving our country and has a deep understanding of the law,” raving about his reputation for “bipartisanship” and later adding that he had “no doubt he will serve with integrity” and “will respect the constitutional rights and liberties of all Americans.”

But earlier this month, the North Carolina senator warned Blanche not to make the same “mistakes that the Biden administration did” if confirmed, referring to the politicization that he Garland would avoid.

Tillis decided last year not to run for reelection. Cornyn, meanwhile, lost his Republican primary race against former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was backed by President Trump.

Trump on Thursday blasted the two outgoing Republican senators.

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“Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it! He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time,” Trump said on TRUTH Social. “However, John Cornyn, of Texas, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee, who will remain, in any event, as Acting.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Cornyn and Tillis’ offices but did not hear back by time of publication.