NationalWatch

For the first time in decades, the world’s two largest nuclear superpowers are no longer bound by any treaty limiting their arsenals.

The last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, known as New START, expired Thursday.

WORLD ENTERS UNCHARTED ERA AS US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR TREATY EXPIRES, OPENING DOOR TO FASTEST ARMS RACE IN DECADES

The lapse removed limits on how many nuclear weapons Washington and Moscow could deploy on missiles, bombers and submarines, and ended the requirement that both sides notify one another whenever nuclear weapons were moved.

The scale of what’s now unconstrained is vast. 

Globally, there are more than 12,200 nuclear weapons spread across nine nuclear-armed nations, according to a recent analysis. The United States and Russia alone account for roughly 10,636 of those weapons.

NO LIMITS, NO INSPECTIONS: US AND RUSSIA FACE POST–NEW START ERA AS TRUMP PUSHES NEW NUCLEAR DEAL

While the exact size of each country’s arsenal is closely guarded, below is a breakdown of estimated nuclear stockpiles, based on data from the Federation of American Scientists. 

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Ahead of the New START agreement’s expiration, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (a badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future.”

He has previously argued that China should be included in any new agreement with Russia, pointing to Beijing’s growing nuclear arsenal, the world’s third largest after the U.S. and Russia.

President Donald Trump’s beef import plan aims to cut prices, but cattle ranchers say it misses what’s crushing them most — the power of meat packers.

“Meat packers have created a system where they win no matter what — at the cost of everyone else,” said Will Harris, a fourth-generation cattleman and owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia.

Harris, who plans to hand off the operation to his children, said his farm handles every step of production, from raising cattle to processing and selling beef, giving him a clear view of how prices are set.

AMERICA’S SMALLEST CATTLE HERD IN 70 YEARS MEANS REBUILDING WILL TAKE YEARS AND BEEF PRICES COULD STAY HIGH

At the center of that pricing power sit the “Big Four” — Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef — anchoring the U.S. beef supply chain from pasture to plate.

Together, the packing titans process about 85% of the grain-fattened cattle that become steaks, roasts and other supermarket cuts.

“The U.S. beef market is so highly concentrated that a small number of dominant packers control processing, distribution and pricing. This allows them to pay ranchers less for cattle while charging consumers more at the store. When cheap imported beef enters the system, it allows packers to increase their margins,” Harris told Fox News Digital.

It’s a concern echoed deep into cattle country.

Texas cattle rancher Cole Bolton said he sees the same problem in the Lone Star State.

IN TEXAS CATTLE COUNTRY, ONE RANCHER WELCOMES TRUMP’S FOCUS ON DECADES OF THIN MARGINS

“What the real issue is, is the price differential between the big four packers and what they’re paying us for the product,” said Bolton, the owner of K&C Cattle Company.

Those margins, Bolton said, have been squeezed for decades. “Ranchers have dealt with such thin margins of profitability for the last 20 years.”

While ranchers like Bolton and Harris say Trump’s temporary expansion of U.S. beef imports from Argentina may help ease prices in the short term, both warn it is no substitute for rebuilding domestic production.

“Imports should be a bridge, not a long-term replacement,” Harris said. “We must rebuild the American cattle herd, protect American farmers and ensure transparency, so consumers understand where their beef comes from. Long-term affordability depends on a healthy, resilient domestic cattle industry — not permanent dependence on foreign beef.”

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Years of drought, high feed costs and an aging ranching population have thinned herds, leaving the U.S. cattle supply at its lowest level in more than 70 years.

“I think it’s going to take a while to fix this crisis that we’re in with the cattle shortage. My message to consumers is simple: Folks, be patient. We’ve got to build back our herds,” Bolton told Fox News Digital.

He noted that the cattle industry, over the last five years, has weathered one setback after another, from market turmoil to extreme weather conditions.

One of the most anticipated parts of Super Bowl Sunday is not necessarily the game, it’s the commercials throughout the big game.

Hundreds-of-millions in advertising revenue will hit the airwaves Sunday night, but not everyone is trying to get you to buy something. Viewers can expect to see anti-hate ads, ads that focus on Christianity, and ads supporting political candidates that want viewers to buy in to their political views.

A 30-second spot during this year’s game costs around $8 to $10 million.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY MENUS ARE CHANGING; PARTY HOSTS SERVE UP SURPRISES THIS YEAR

1. Pro-Trump group commercial touting Trump Accounts

A pro-Trump nonprofit, Invest America, bought time during the pre-game broadcast to promote the president’s new tax-free “Trump Accounts,” which were established in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act as tax-free savings accounts for American children, many of which will be seeded with $1,000 from the federal government. Children will be able to use the funds from these accounts for things like education expenses, or down payments on a new home.

The ad will feature children talking about the importance of investing.

“It’s gonna get a lot of attention. All your viewers, watch the Super Bowl right after the national anthem, we’re gonna have a big rollout,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month on a local Midwest radio station. 

2. Another anti-hate ad from Robert Kraft

New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s nonprofit the Blue Square Alliance, which was formerly called the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, will have another advertisement this year against antisemitism. His group has been buying ad spots at the Super Bowl since at least 2022 to promote anti-Jewish hate messages. Last year, the group’s ad featured appearances from celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady. 

This year’s advertisement will focus on antisemitism among younger people, particularly those in schools. The ad encourages supporters to post an image of a blank blue square, resembling a sticky note, to illustrate their support against Jewish hate.

3. Michigan gubernatorial candidate’s “anti-halftime” ad 

A Republican candidate running to be Michigan’s next governor, Perry Johnson, has been sponsoring ads running from several days before the game up until Sunday evening, according to the candidate’s campaign. The advertisement, which will only be seen in select Michigan TV markets, urges folks to turn the channel during the Bad Bunny halftime show and tune into the halftime show being produced by the late-Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA). Bad Bunny’s selection by the NFL has created a political stir, with critics calling him anti-American.  

ANTI-TRUMP PERFORMERS LITTER SUPER BOWL LX IN CALIFORNIA

“Join me in changing the channel during halftime to Turning Point’s ‘All American Halftime Show’ for some great American entertainment during America’s game,” Johnson’s ad encourages viewers.

4.  Senate candidates’ campaign ads

Viewers in Maine and Texas will see advertising from the political campaigns of incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Democrat challenger to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, James Talarico, who is a state senator in Texas. 

Collins’ campaign ad was purchased on her behalf by One Nation, a nonprofit tied to the Senate Leadership Fund, the top super PAC for Senate Republicans. They are coughing up about $5.5 million for a several-months-long ad buy planned to focus on the Maine viewing market.

According to the local Portland Press, her 30-second ad features stock clips of firefighters while discussing Collins’ efforts to pass legislation banning “forever chemicals” linked to cancer. “Call Senator Collins and thank her for protecting Maine’s first responders,” a narrator concludes the advertisement, according to a version reportedly shared on YouTube.

Talarico, who reportedly spent more than $100,000 from his campaign to air his ad, according to local reports, shared his advertisement on social media. Talarico focuses on slamming billionaires and ethics, particularly related to campaign finance and congressional stock trading.

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“Millionaires don’t just influence politicians, they own them. That’s why I don’t take corporate PAC money. That’s why I fought to cap campaign contributions,” Talarico says in his ad. “In the Senate I’ll ban billionaires from making unlimited, secret donations. I’ll stop members of Congress from trading stocks. And I’ll raise taxes on those at the top to fund tax cuts for the rest of us.”   

5. He Gets Us ad  

The pro-Christian ad campaign that launched in 2022 with help from the family behind Hobby Lobby has been criticized over the years as its commercials have become a talking point following past Super Bowls. The campaign’s ads have typically focused on social conflicts and it plans to unveil yet another ad during this year’s game.

This year’s message touches on wealth, image, insecurity, digital addiction, fame and other pressures in life, rather than social conflicts, similar to ads they have done during past Super Bowls, according to pre-releases of the ad ahead of the game.

A relatively brief, but lucrative ICE surge into West Virginia netted roughly 650 illegal immigrant arrests earlier this month — a two-week, statewide operation officials say unfolded with little disruption and now stands as a counterpoint to the turmoil surrounding similar enforcement efforts in Minnesota.

From Jan. 5 through Jan. 19, federal agents fanned out across the Mountain State — at times working with local law enforcement — targeting illegal immigrants with criminal histories or prior deportation orders, DHS officials told Fox News Digital.

Officials involved contrast the West Virginia operation with recent tensions in Minnesota, where ICE-related enforcement actions have sparked sustained protests, surveillance of federal agents and confrontations with law enforcement.

“I think the most important thing to notice here is that West Virginia and similarly situated states … have made it very, very easy for criminal illegal aliens to be picked up and processed by ICE,” West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

MANY OF AMERICA’S SAFEST CITIES ARE IN JURISDICTIONS THAT COOPERATE WITH ICE

Some of the operations even reached the state’s bluer-tinged Eastern Panhandle, the fast-growing exurb of Washington, D.C., where officials say cooperation, not confrontation, defined the response.

There, Jefferson County Sheriff Thomas Hansen confirmed a two-week operation with ICE in his jurisdiction, which includes Charles Town, Harpers Ferry and Summit Point.

“The (JCSO) was impressed with the professionalism and work ethic of the agents and how well they interacted with the citizens and local law enforcement officers,” Hansen said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

McCuskey said the lack of disruption in West Virginia reflected a cooperative approach that he argued prevented the kind of disorder seen elsewhere.

“When you contrast that with places like Minnesota, where you have Keith Ellison — who’s obviously embroiled in a massive fraud scandal involving Somali immigrants, et cetera, what you see is riots and violence,” he said.

McCuskey suggested the West Virginia mission shows Minnesota’s leadership can no longer blame federal law for its approach, noting that all states still operate under the same immigration statutes that have remained intact since the Obama administration.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION VICTORY IN A MINNESOTA COURT IS A WIN FOR ALL LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS

“All God-fearing Americans believe in immigration. We believe that the promise of this country should be available to those who want to come to America the right way, follow our laws, and become great parts of this incredible quilt that is the American experience,” McCuskey said.

“And if your first act as a hopeful new American is to break our laws, that trust has been broken.”

McCuskey also accused Minnesota’s leadership of failing on parallel issues, calling Ellison “dalliant” in confronting social services fraud.

“My office [oversees] the same things,” he said, noting West Virginia also has a high proportion of residents on entitlements but lacks the level of fraud he says plagues Minnesota.

Just across the Potomac River from ICE’s Martinsburg sting, Maryland Democrats lambasted ICE’s presence in Washington County.

ICE REVEALS ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ARRESTS IN JUST ONE DAY AFTER ROUNDING UP ‘THUGS’ CONVICTED OF VILE CRIMES

McCuskey called that a “representation of the generalized idiocy of most of the Democrats in Congress, who have sat on their hands for the last 25 years and done nothing about the very immigration laws that they’re very angry about being enforced.”

Ellison, by contrast, showered protesters with praise at a recent public appearance, calling ICE’s operations a “federal invasion” and telling those assembled in the Twin Cities that he “wanted you to know that I was here with you, fighting with you, standing with you. Keep fighting, stand up strong, don’t back down.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Ellison and Gov. Tim Walz for comment, but neither office responded. DHS officials, however, said they expect states that cooperate with ICE to see similar success to West Virginia.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said “work[ing] together can make America safe again.”

DHS told Fox News Digital of similarly low-profile ICE operations in Alabama, including activity near Birmingham that netted a violent illegal immigrant accused of stabbing a federal agent, along with enforcement actions in other cities reported by local media.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Sen. Tommy Tuberville told Fox News Digital they will continue to welcome federal agents in the Yellowhammer State, with Tuberville, a candidate for governor, quipping that one mayor who has pledged to protect illegal immigrants “won’t like me very much” if he succeeds Ivey.

Those arrested in the West Virginia sweep included Mexican national Enrique Vergara — convicted of assault with a weapon — Guatemalan national Isaias Santos — convicted of several violent charges — Julian Garza, charged with auto theft; Brayan Canelis-Giron, charged with domestic violence and gun offenses; and Dennis Paz-Vallecillo, convicted of child neglect.

Not every Mountaineer leader was on board, however, as WVDP Chair Mike Pushkin — a state delegate from Kanawha County — told Fox News Digital people “have to be honest about what’s really going on here.”

FROM PROTEST TO FELONY: THE LINES MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS MAY BE CROSSING

“The difference between what you’re seeing in Minnesota and what’s happening in West Virginia isn’t complicated — it’s courage,” Pushkin said, crediting Minnesota leaders with standing up to President Donald Trump “trampl[ing] due process and ignor[ing] the Constitution.”

“Republican leaders here won’t even clear their throats — and trying to compare the size and scope of the Minnesota operation to what happened here is just silly. That’s like comparing a house fire to a burnt piece of toast and pretending they’re the same emergency,” he said.

Pushkin cited a Clinton-appointed judge’s order that some of the detainees be released, including two men picked up on the West Virginia Turnpike.

“In the court’s words, there wasn’t ‘a shred of evidence to justify the government’s position’ — that should be the headline. That should alarm anyone who cares about freedom or the rule of law,” Pushkin said.

“Minnesota leaders pushed back. West Virginia’s Republican leadership just clicked their heels, saluted, and fell in line.”

HOMAN ANNOUNCES DRAWDOWN OF FEDERAL PRESENCE IN MINNESOTA, HAILS ‘UNPRECEDENTED COOPERATION’ FROM LOCAL POLICE

Fox News Digital also asked several blue-state leaders about the cooperation contrast but heard back from only one.

A spokeswoman for California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that if the feds truly cared about getting “hardened criminals off our streets, they would pick up every person released from our state prisons that have immigration detainers placed on them.”

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Diana Crofts-Pelayo said there’s only a one-in-eight rate in that regard, which she said shows the Trump administration just wants to “cause panic and fear to ultimately ensure compliance to a dangerous immigration agenda that threatens Americans’ safety, affordability and freedom.”

A California source familiar with the immigration enforcement dynamic there said that immigrants who commit crimes are subject to certain exceptions that do allow local law enforcement cooperation with ICE, particularly those charged with a violent felony.

DHS said that cooperation with federal law enforcement is the safest and most effective option for state officials.

“Sanctuary politicians who refuse to cooperate with DHS law enforcement are wasting law enforcement time, energy, and resources, while putting their own constituents in danger,” McLaughlin told Fox News Digital, crediting West Virginia officials with allowing such a quick and effective operation and expressing hope that other states would follow suit.

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the Trump administration’s mass detention policy, allowing illegal immigrants to be detained without bond.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can lawfully deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested nationwide under the Constitution and federal immigration law.

Attorney General Pam Bondi reacted to the ruling, saying the Department of Justice (DOJ) “secured yet another crucial legal victory” in support of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

“The Fifth Circuit just held illegal aliens can rightfully be detained without bond — a significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn,” she wrote on X. “Thank you to Ben Hayes who argued this case, Brett Shumate and the @DOJCivil Division. We will continue vindicating President Trump’s law and order agenda in courtrooms across the country.”

BOASBERG ORDERS TRUMP TO BRING BACK CECOT MIGRANT CLASS DEPORTED IN MARCH

Circuit judge Edith H. Jones wrote in the majority opinion that “unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the United States.”

Many illegal immigrants who were not detained at the border previously had the opportunity to request a bond hearing as their cases progressed, and those without a criminal history who were not deemed flight risks were often granted bond.

“That prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority under” the law “does not mean they lacked the authority to do more,” Jones wrote.

SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TRUMP ICE RAIDS TO RESUME IN CALIFORNIA

Writing in dissent, Circuit Judge Dana M. Douglas said that the members of Congress who passed the Immigration and Nationality Act roughly 30 years ago “would be surprised to learn it had also required the detention without bond of two million people.”

Douglas noted that some of the people detained are “the spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens.”

The ruling stems from two separate cases filed last year against the Trump administration, both involving Mexican nationals who had lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and were not considered flight risks, according to their attorneys.

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Although they did not have criminal records, both were jailed for months last year before a lower court in Texas granted them bond last October.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nicki Minaj’s recent embrace of President Donald Trump, including her support for voter ID laws and public praise for the president, is now sparking a fresh wave of political reaction online with some fans saying they are leaving the Democrat Party and aligning with Republicans.

The fan posts, first reported by Newsweek on Saturday, surfaced after a week of heightened attention around Minaj’s political comments. 

Several self-identified fans, often known as the “Barbz,” said on X that Minaj’s stance had influenced their own political thinking.

One fan wrote on X, “Today is the day I switch to republican,” in a post that had been viewed more than 300,000 times. The user later wrote in replies that they had never voted before but planned to do so.

NICKI MINAJ PRAISES TRUMP, JD VANCE AT TPUSA EVENT, SAYS SHE HAS ‘UTMOST RESPECT’ FOR THEM

Another fan account posted, “Officially a Republican!!!!!!! I’ll never vote for a democrat ever again,” alongside a photo of Minaj and Trump. The post also surpassed 300,000 views.

A third account wrote, “MAGA BARBZ IT IS I will never vote dem again!!” in a post that drew more than 70,000 views.

The online reaction follows a series of political statements and public appearances by Minaj over the past week that drew widespread attention. Earlier this month, the rapper voiced support for voter ID laws in a post on X, questioning why the issue remains a subject of debate in the U.S. The comments drew praise from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.

NICKI MINAJ PRAISED FOR SPOTLIGHTING CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN NIGERIA: ‘BODY COUNT IS JUST TOO HIGH TO IGNORE’

Days later, Trump publicly praised Minaj while walking the red carpet at the premiere of Melania, calling her “a terrific person” and “a winner.” Minaj has also appeared alongside Trump at public events, including the Trump Accounts Summit, where she described herself as “probably the president’s number one fan.”

As the conversation continued online, conservative activists and organizations pointed to the fan reaction as a potential opportunity for voter outreach. Scott Presler wrote on X that he would personally help Minaj’s fans register to vote or change their party affiliation.

Tyler Bowyer of Turning Point Action also weighed in, writing on X, “Nicki Minaj should go on tour and we can all help register tens of thousands of new voters through her concerts.”

UN AMBASSADOR EXPLAINS HOW ‘UNLIKELY’ TEAM-UP WITH NICKI MINAJ CAME TOGETHER FOR GLOBAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PUSH

Minaj’s political shift has also drawn backlash from critics and some fans. Viral clips have circulated showing her music being booed in clubs, while online petitions calling for her deportation have gained traction. She has also faced public criticism from Trevor Noah at the Grammys last week.

Some critics have argued that Minaj’s alignment with Trump is motivated by a desire to secure pardons for her brother and husband. Minaj has pushed back on that narrative, saying that criticism of her political views “motivates me to support him more.”

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Despite the flurry of online discussion, it remains unclear whether the social media posts will translate into voter registration or turnout.

Fox News Digital reached out to Minaj’s representatives for comment but did not receive a response by publication time. 

Fox News Digital’s Lori Bashian, Ashley Carnahan, and Larry Fink contributed to this reporting.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard denied any wrongdoing on Saturday as Democrats question why a whistleblower complaint filed against her last May took nearly a year before it was referred to Congress.

“[Virginia Democrat] Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI ‘hid’ a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months,” Gabbard wrote in a lengthy X post on Saturday. “This is a blatant lie.”

She continued, “I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession or control of the Whistleblower’s complaint, so I obviously could not have ‘hidden’ it in a safe. Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson was in possession of and responsible for securing the complaint for months.”

The highly classified complaint by a U.S. intelligence official alleging wrongdoing on the part of Gabbard was filed eight months ago with the intelligence community’s watchdog office and was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal.

EXCLUSIVE: GABBARD OUTLINES ELECTION SECURITY ASSESSMENT, PRESENCE AT FULTON COUNTY SEARCH

The complaint has been locked in a safe since its filing, according to the Journal, with one U.S. official telling the newspaper that the disclosure of its contents could cause “grave damage to national security.”

The whistleblower’s lawyer has accused Gabbard’s office of slow-walking the complaint, which her office has denied, calling it “baseless and politically motivated.” 

Meanwhile, Democrats are also questioning why it took her office so long to hand the complaint over to Congress.

TRUMP CONFIRMS WHAT TULSI GABBARD WAS DOING AT GEORGIA ELECTION CENTER

“The law is clear,” Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday, according to NPR, adding that the complaint was required to be sent to Congress within 21 days of its filing. “I think it was an effort to try to bury this whistleblower complaint.”

Neither the contents of the complaint nor the allegations against Gabbard have been revealed.

Gabbard wrote on Saturday that the first time she saw the complaint was “when I had to review it to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress.”

TRUMP CLAIMS DNI TULSI GABBARD WAS AT GEORGIA ELECTION HUB SEARCH BECAUSE AG PAM BONDI WANTED HER THERE

“As Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner knows very well that whistleblower complaints that contain highly classified and compartmented intelligence—even if they contain baseless allegations like this one—must be secured in a safe, which the Biden-era Inspector General Tamara Johnson did and her successor, Inspector General Chris Fox, continued to do,” she continued. “After IC Inspector General Fox hand-delivered the complaint to the Gang of 8, the complaint was returned to a safe where it remains, consistent with any information of such sensitivity.”

She claimed that either “Warner knows these facts and is intentionally lying to the American people, or he doesn’t have a clue how these things work and is therefore not qualified to be in the U.S. Senate.”

Gabbard further wrote that “When a complaint is not found to be credible, there is no timeline under the law for the provision of security guidance. The ‘21 day’ requirement that Senator Warner alleges I did not comply with, only applies when a complaint is determined by the Inspector General to be both urgent AND apparently credible. That was NOT the case here.”

An inspector general representative said that it had determined some of the allegations in the complaint against Gabbard weren’t credible, while it hasn’t made a determination on others, according to the Journal.

Gabbard said she was made aware that she needed to provide security guidance on the complaint by IC Inspector General Chris Fox on Dec. 4, “which he detailed in his letter to Congress.”

Afterward, she said she “took immediate action to provide the security guidance to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, who then shared the complaint and referenced intelligence with relevant members of Congress last week.”

In closing her post, Gabbard once again accused Warner of spreading “lies and baseless accusations over the months for political gain,” which she said “undermines our national security and is a disservice to the American people and the Intelligence Community.”

Warner’s office told Fox News Digital Gabbard’s post was an “inaccurate attack that’s entirely on brand for someone who has already and repeatedly proven she’s unqualified to serve as DNI.” 

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Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees have backed up Gabbard, with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., writing on X on Thursday: “I have reviewed this ‘whistleblower’ complaint and the inspector general handling of it. I agree with both inspectors general who have evaluated the matter: the complaint is not credible and the inspectors general and the DNI took the necessary steps to ensure the material has handled and transmitted appropriately in accordance with law.”

He addded, “To be frank, it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like; it’s definitely not credible allegations of waste, fraud, or abuse.”

Gabbard’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem has been a lightning rod for criticism amid anti-ICE riots that have rocked the country, sparked a government shutdown and left many wondering whether the nation’s 8th DHS secretary would keep her job.

Despite the mounting pressure, Noem appeared calm, collected, and confident during a trip this week that included a stop in Mississippi to assess winter storm damage recovery efforts, visits to the southern border in Texas and Arizona as well as the northern border in North Dakota, and a BBQ dinner hosted and served by Noem herself to Border Patrol agents in Arizona.

During the first half of the four-day stint, Congress was still dealing with a partial government shutdown largely over how to fund DHS. The House ultimately reached an agreement, funding the agency through Feb. 13, but Noem’s focus remained the same before and after the bill passed, and her schedule was left unchanged.

During an exclusive interview along the border wall in Nogales, Ariz., Noem told Fox News Digital that the national security functions of the agency are too vital to be sidelined by a spending fight.

BORDER CROSSINGS HIT 55-YEAR LOW — AFTER DEMOCRATS SAID REFORM WAS THE ONLY FIX

“Every day [DHS is] finding terrorists and removing them from our country, protecting our cybersecurity systems, our critical infrastructure,” Noem told Fox. “Only 11% of the DHS budget is ICE. The rest of it is FEMA, TSA, that runs our security checkpoints at our airports.” 

“It is also the Coast Guard, which is absolutely critical to our maritime protection and also partnering with the Department of War,” Noem added. “We have weapons of mass destruction, science and technology, our national labs.”

“We have a lot of responsibilities that we absolutely need to fund in order to do them properly. So I’m hopeful that Congress will recognize that and pass this bill quickly,” Noem said.

KRISTI NOEM TO TESTIFY BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE NEXT MONTH

But the debate around government spending wasn’t about the Coast Guard, FEMA or TSA. It was almost entirely based on one of the 23 agencies which Noem oversees – Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Specifically, it centered around ICE’s actions in Minneapolis, a so-called sanctuary city in which the local authorities provide only minimal support to federal officers enforcing immigration laws.

Since the beginning of the year, DHS estimates that Operation Metro Surge has resulted in the apprehension of 4,000 criminal illegal migrants in Minneapolis. The operation was launched mainly due to a fraud scheme that involved members of the Somali community in Minnesota.

The mission then evolved into a heated clash between agitators and federal officers that ultimately left two U.S. citizens dead, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed by federal immigration agents.

NOEM VOWS CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AFTER CATCHING ALLEGED DHS ‘PROLIFIC LEAKER’

Noem quickly labeled both Good and Pretti as “domestic terrorists” and said their deaths were due to impeding “law enforcement operations,” sparking outrage from Democrats and some Republicans who began to call for her resignation. 

Rumors swirled whether Noem would actually resign or if President Donald Trump would fire fire her, but the president told reporters shortly after the death of Pretti that he had no intention of relieving her from her position as head of DHS.

When Fox News Digital asked Noem what she believed the American people want when it comes to ICE enforcing the law using the same tactics that led to riots, deaths and assaults on both agitators and agents, Noem said “I think people would want less conflict.”

LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT ‘WAVER’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN DESPITE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

“[The American people] want to know that we’re enforcing our laws and that we are going after dangerous criminals, and they don’t want them to be released on the streets to perpetuate more crimes,” Noem explained. 

At some stops along Noem’s trip, agitators appeared. At a dinner she hosted inside a hotel in Tucson, Arizona, for CBP officers, protesters with drums, megaphones and seemingly pre-made signs gathered at the entrance of the hotel. Every other car driving by the demonstration honked, though it’s unclear whether they were honking in support or in disagreement with the protesters. 

A Quinnipiac University survey taken from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 showed 58% of those questioned saying that Noem shouldn’t have the job.

DHS SECRETARY NOEM STANDS BY BODY CAMERA REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL AGENTS FOLLOWING TRUMP COMMENTS

Fox News Digital spoke with a GOP insider who pointed to Noem’s inexperience on the national stage, saying her time as governor of South Dakota didn’t prepare her for one of the most challenging roles in the presidential cabinet.

Despite the critics, Noem’s record on securing the border has proven successful, according to figures provided by the department and the Trump administration. Trump’s goal to deter illegal migrants from crossing the border, which was Noem’s mandate, has been a priority for the White House. 

More illegal migrants crossed the southern border in one average month under former President Biden’s watch than have crossed under Noem’s entire watch, according to DHS.

NOEM DEPLOYS TO BOTH BORDERS, SAYS ICE WON’T BE DETERRED BY SANCTUARY OFFICIALS WHO ‘WANT TO CREATE CONFLICT’

“We have over three million people that have deported, and that includes probably about 700,000 that we have detained and removed,” Noem told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Beyond that, over 2.3 million have self-deported.”

“You know, you send the message around the world that America is now going to be enforcing its laws and making sure that if you’re in this country illegally, that you should go home, and we’ve been incentivizing that through a $2,600 payment and a flight,” Noem added. “Millions of people have taken us up on that.”

Trump defended Noem for a second time during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday when discussing if he would relinquish her command at DHS.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS HOLD ‘SHADOW HEARINGS’ AS THEY BUILD CASE TO IMPEACH KRISTI NOEM

“Why would I do that? We have the strongest border in the history of our country,” Trump said. “We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had going back to the year 1900. That’s 125 years. We have the lowest crime numbers.”

Trump also appointed Tom Homan, the former ICE director during Trump’s first term and the executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations under President Barack Obama, to serve as border czar, a role previously held by Kamala Harris. 

Some reports painted a picture of an unspoken rivalry between Homan and Noem following Trump’s decision to put Homan in command of the situation in Minneapolis.

NOEM SLAMS DEMS, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR LACKING ‘COMPASSION’ AMID ANTI-ICE TENSIONS

But Noem told Fox News Digital she credited Homan for working to get local leaders in Minneapolis to come to the table and negotiate order in what has been a chaotic scene in the Twin Cities.

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“What people need to remember is that Democrat policies were destroying our country,” Noem said. “And President Trump came in and said, I’m going to protect the American people. It’s not going to happen anymore. “

“Since [the Biden administration], thousands of people’s lives have been saved just here, just right here on the border, because those migrants are not victimized anymore,” Noem added.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is asking attendees at a Saturday campaign event to show government-issued photo ID — even while opposing similar standards for voters in federal elections.

Email confirmation information for an Ossoff rally in Atlanta detailed that “a matching government-issued ID will be verified against the RSVP list by name to enter.”

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who is running against Ossoff for a Senate seat in 2026, blasted what he called a double-standard.

VULNERABLE DEM’S SUPPORT FOR ALEX PRETTI COLLIDES WITH LAKEN RILEY ACT ANNIVERSARY

“Typical Jon Ossoff to say one thing and do another. It’s ridiculous that Jon Ossoff would require a government ID to listen to him speak about why you shouldn’t need a government ID to vote,” Collins said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Ossoff’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

In the wake of election security concerns highlighted by President Donald Trump in previous years, Republicans across Congress have made demands for tighter voter registration standards.

Most recently, lawmakers led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have called for the passage of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

In its current form, the SAVE Act would embed proof of citizenship requirements into existing voter-registration pathways and require states to conduct stricter audits of their voter rolls. The bill also defines documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and links it to some form of photo ID.

It is currently illegal for noncitizens to participate in federal elections, although Republicans maintain that the standard is applied inconsistently, leading to easily-exploitable election vulnerabilities. 

Democrats like Ossoff have blasted the legislation, arguing that it would only make it harder for people with limited access to photo ID to participate in elections.

SCHUMER FACES BACKLASH AFTER CALLING SAVE ACT ‘JIM CROW’ DESPITE PREVIOUS ALLEGATION FALLING FLAT

“This is a nakedly partisan, totally unworkable, bad-faith bill cynically intended to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters,” Ossoff said in a statement on the SAVE Act as the bill made its way through the House of Representatives last year.

An earlier version of the SAVE already passed the House in April 2025, attracting bipartisan support in a 216-208 vote. Four Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill.

Despite Ossoff’s previous opposition to the SAVE Act, his campaign event framed the requirement for photo ID as a security measure.

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“Due to security requirements … be ready to show ID that matches our RSVP list and these arrival instructions (printed or on your phone),” the campaign event’s confirmation email read.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most legislation reaches the chamber floor, is expected to consider an updated version of the SAVE Act in the House of Representatives on Monday.

Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas delivered a profanity-laden retort to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, amid a tense redistricting fight, arguing that Democrats had “f—ing finished” what she views as gerrymandering started by Republicans.

On Friday, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, signed a bill that would allow voters to weigh in on multiple amendments, including one that would allow for a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s congressional districts. Virginia lawmakers are aiming to put the amendments before the people on April 21, 2026, months before the midterm federal elections.

“Virginia voters deserve the opportunity to respond to the nationwide attacks on our rights, freedoms, and elections. Everyone deserves the freedom to marry who they love — and Virginia’s Constitution should affirm that all families are welcome in our Commonwealth. Women in Virginia deserve the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without politicians dictating their choices. When Virginians have paid their debt to society, they deserve to regain their right to vote. And when other states take extreme measures, I trust Virginia voters to respond,” Spanberger said in a statement on her website.

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO SEIZE REDISTRICTING POWER, OPENING DOOR TO 4 NEW LEFT-LEANING SEATS

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed the legislation saying in a post on X that it was “a brazen abuse of power [and] an insult to democracy.”

Lucas, the 82-year-old Democrat who spearheaded the plan, hit back at the senator, saying, “You all started it and we f—ing finished it,” referring to a controversial redistricting effort in Texas that sparked fights over districts in several states.

Several social media users slammed the Virginia lawmaker, including Braeden Sorbo, son of actor Kevin Sorbo, who asked, “So now gerrymandering is okay?” Many other responses spoke about the origins of gerrymandering as a practice, while some mocked Lucas for her use of profanity and her complaining about Texas’ redrawn maps.

Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, and the new 10-1 map would likely give them four more. This has caused some Republicans to say that the map disenfranchises large numbers of voters in the commonwealth.

VIRGINIA JUDGE VOIDS REDISTRICTING PUSH, RULES LAWMAKERS OVERSTEPPED AUTHORITY

Lucas had previously expressed a similar sentiment about the legislation during a news conference on Thursday.

“If Donald Trump had not started this power grab… we wouldn’t be in this place right now,” Lucas said, according to The Washington Post. “He started this mess, and Virginia is going to finish it.”

Democrats across the country were left fuming after the U.S. Supreme Court moved to allow Texas to use redrawn congressional maps. Many were upset because the proposal appeared to stem from the White House, as President Donald Trump proposed the idea of the mid-decade redrawing of maps in June 2025. The president is looking to fortify Republican control of the House, something he was unable to do in his first term when Democrats retook the House majority in 2018.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal Trump critic, quickly jumped into the fight, with his state passing Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that will temporarily sidetrack the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature. The move is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning districts in California, with the goal of offsetting the move made by Texas.

Several other states have also drawn new maps, including Missouri, North Carolina and Vice President JD Vance’s home state of Ohio.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Lindsay Kornick and Greg Wehner and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

One of the nine current leaders of Haiti’s transitional government admitted to Fox News Digital that his country is currently “helpless” to handle the return of its citizens, noting that Haiti relies on billions of dollars generated by U.S., Canadian and French-based migrants to keep its economy going.

Leslie Voltaire, a member of the nine-member transitional council leading Haiti ahead of scheduled elections later this year, described a state of total dependency on a “temporary” protected status that has now spanned more than 15 years, and which President Donald Trump is trying to end. Voltaire warned that a sudden termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would trigger an immediate crisis as the nation lacks the economic infrastructure to reabsorb as many as 400,000 repatriated citizens from the United States.

“We think that we are helpless if another country is sending back our compatriots,” Voltaire told Fox News Digital. “We cannot do anything about it – just accommodate them, give them money to go back to their provinces and to their cities, help them with food, but it’s very painful due to the small budget that we have in the government.”

Trump tried to end Haiti’s long-standing TPS status during his first administration, but similar to today, federal judges stepped in to block the move. In November, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice indicating that Haiti’s temporary status would not be renewed this month, but in a subsequent 11th-hour ruling earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from ending Haiti’s TPS status. Reyes argued the move was likely motivated by “hostility to non-white immigrants” as opposed to an objective view of the ongoing situation in Haiti. 

STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUES SECURITY ALERT AMID ‘HEAVY GUNFIRE’ NEAR US EMBASSY IN HAITI

Shortly before Fox News Digital spoke with Voltaire Thursday evening, three U.S. warships arrived off the coast of Haiti ahead of the country’s Feb. 7 deadline for the council to transition power to a soon-to-be elected leader, or leaders. In addition to the U.S. ramping up its presence, the United Nations recently approved, with U.S. support, the deployment of a new Gang Suppression Task Force to Haiti to help with the ongoing violence there.  

When asked for specific metrics on when Haiti might be stable enough to no longer require its TPS status, Voltaire did not point to anything concrete, like a certain number of police officers, territory controlled, or national GDP. Rather, Voltaire said that Haiti needs more time, more investment, and greater security before the country can be considered stable enough to take back hundreds-of-thousands of its people.

“The problem of security in Haiti is mainly to have jobs,” Voltaire told Fox News Digital. “There are no jobs because there is no investment right now. There is no investment because there is insecurity. And also we have to provide services to the population, so, there is a huge need of cash, of resources – financial resources … if they come with 400,000 people that would be a huge problem.”

FLASHBACK: 2024′ IMMIGRATION GROUND ZERO IN SPOTLIGHT AGAIN AS JUDGE’S 11TH HOUR RULING SPARKS OUTRAGE

Voltaire conceded the U.S. economy and migrant labor – pointing out Haitians living in the U.S., Canada and France bring $3 to $4 billion per year into Haiti through remittances – could be described as a “crutch,” indicating that around 85% of the country’s “professional” class resides abroad. 

Voltaire noted that Haitian leadership was currently “pleading” with U.S. leadership to give them a break on tariffs, something Voltaire thinks could improve his country’s economic situation. 

“We don’t have an economy that has the capacity to produce the kind of dollars that [migrant workers] are generating,” lamented Voltaire.

While admitting his nation is propped up by migrant labor from the U.S., as well as France and Canada, Voltaire simultaneously pointed the finger at the United States for the very poverty that necessitates the aid Haiti needs. 

Voltaire argued that a 19-year U.S. military “occupation” in the early 20th century “depleted” Haiti’s middle class by turning the country into a pool of cheap labor for neighboring sugarcane producers.

“I think one of the historic problems is that when the U.S. occupied Haiti between 1915 and 1934, they chose to use the Dominican Republic and Cuba as the sugarcane producers,” Voltaire said when asked about why the neighboring Dominican Republic has not dealt with some of the same instability as Haiti. “And Haiti, because it was densely populated, was treated as the labor for those countries. This is why we have like half-a-million Haitians in the Domincan Republic, and the same in Cuba … and we have been depleted.”

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Voltaire also cited the U.S. favoring the “dictatorship” of former president of Haiti between 1957 and 1971, Francois Duvalier, for the dire circumstances in Haiti and why the Domincan Republic has fared differently.

“The U.S. was favoring the dictatorship of Duvalier, which was bad with the Tonton Macoute, and which did not have the investment that we hoped we would have when Kennedy launched the Alliance for the Progress. We were not part of it. And we have been under a dictatorship, and then when the dictatorship disappeared, there was a dismantlement of the Haitian state that we have to re-consolidate,” Voltaire pointed out. 

Voltaire, who cited this history as a reason why 85% of its professional class, like university professors, artists and skilled technicians live outside of Haiti, mused that “maybe it’s a good thing” to begin repatriating Haitians back to their home country, but reiterated that economic and political development must continue for that to happen.

A man who was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance was also found with child sexual abuse materials, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).

Shannon Mathre, 33, of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of threatening to kill Vance during the vice president’s visit to Northwest Ohio in January, the DOJ said. 

Mathre is accused of saying, “I am going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him.” The DOJ did not give specific details about when or where the threat was made. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news release that, “You can hide behind a screen, but you cannot hide from this Department of Justice,” suggesting the threat could have been made online.

“Our attorneys are vigorously prosecuting this disgusting threat against Vice President Vance,” Bondi said.

SECRET SERVICE AWARE OF UMASS LOWELL-FUNDED RADIO DJ’S DIRECTIVE TO ‘KILL JD VANCE’

The U.S. Secret Service arrested Mathre on Feb. 6. A federal grand jury has since returned an indictment charging Mathre with making the threat against Vance.

While investigating the threats, federal agents found “multiple digital files of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM)” in Mathre’s possession, according to prosecutors. Subsequently, the grand jury also charged that “from about Dec. 31, 2025, to Jan. 21, 2026,” Mathre engaged in the receipt and distribution of CSAM.

CALIFORNIA MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY MAKING ONLINE DEATH THREATS AGAINST JD VANCE DURING DISNEYLAND VISIT

“While arresting this man for allegedly threatening to murder the Vice President of the United States, a serious crime in and of itself, federal law enforcement discovered that he was also in possession of child sexual abuse materials,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Thank you to federal, state and local partners in working together to bring justice twofold to this depraved individual.”

David Toepfer, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said “violent threats” such as the one made against Vance would “not be tolerated.” He vowed that those who make these threats “will face swift justice and prosecution.”

Mathre made his initial court appearance on Feb. 6, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, the DOJ said, adding that he remains in custody until his detention hearing, which is set to take place on Feb. 11.

If found guilty, Mathre faces up to five years in prison and a maximum statutory fine of $250,000 for the threat against Vance, according to the DOJ. Additionally, if found guilty on the CSAM charge, Mathre could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison and given a statutory fine of up to $250,000.

ATTORNEY FOR SUSPECT IN VANCE HOME VANDALISM RULES OUT POSSIBLE MOTIVATION

Vance faced multiple death threats and had his Ohio home vandalized last month.

William DeFoor, 26, was arrested in early January in connection with the vandalism of Vance’s home. DeFoor was booked on charges of vandalism, obstruction of official business, criminal damaging or endangering, and criminal trespass.

“I appreciate everyone’s well wishes about the attack at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I’m grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly. We weren’t even home as we had returned already to D.C.,” Vance wrote on X.

In another January incident, Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, of Anaheim, was also arrested after allegedly making multiple threatening comments on Disney’s official Instagram account referencing pipe bombs, imminent bloodshed and violent action against “corrupt politicians” on July 12, the same day Vance and his family were visiting and staying at the resort.

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Additionally, Fox News Digital reported exclusively that a volunteer radio show host resigned after authorities confirmed they are aware of a post threatening Vance on left-wing-dominated social media app Bluesky. The person identified themselves as a host of a radio show on WUML, which is funded by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

The university told Fox News Digital that it alerted authorities once it became aware of the post. Secret Service confirmed to Fox News Digital that it was aware of the post. The Haverhill Police Department directed Fox News Digital to the FBI, which declined to comment.

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace, Alexandra Koch and Peter D’Abrosca and Fox News’ Matt Finn contributed to this report.

The indirect nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran mediated by Oman were “very good,” according to President Donald Trump.

“Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly. We’ll have to see what that deal is. But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should. Last time they decided maybe not to do it, but I think they probably feel differently,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.

The president added that the U.S. had a “big Armada” heading towards Iran, something he has spoken about in the past.

When he was pressed on how long the U.S. would be willing to wait to make a deal with Iran, the president indicated some flexibility, saying that he believes the two nations can reach an agreement.

TRUMP WARNS IRAN, DELAYS STRIKES AS RED LINE DEBATE ECHOES OBAMA’S SYRIA MOMENT

“It can be reached. Well, we have to get in position. We have plenty of time. If you remember Venezuela, we waited around for a while, and we’re in no rush. We have very good [talks] with Iran,” Trump said.

“They know the consequences if they don’t make a deal. The consequences are very steep. So we’ll see what happens. But they had a very good meeting with a very high representative of Iran,” the president added.

American and Iranian representatives held separate meetings with Omani officials on Friday amid flaring tensions between Washington and Tehran. Oman’s Foreign Ministry said that the meetings were “focused on preparing the appropriate conditions for resuming diplomatic and technical negotiations.”

IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS NUCLEAR TALKS WILL CONTINUE AFTER US, TEHRAN NEGOTIATIONS HAD ‘A GOOD START’ IN OMAN

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that indirect nuclear talks were “a good start” and that there was a “consensus” that the negotiations would continue.

“After a long period without dialogue, our viewpoints were conveyed, and our concerns were expressed. Our interests, the rights of the Iranian people, and all matters that needed to be stated were presented in a very positive atmosphere, and the other side’s views were also heard,” Araghchi said.

“It was a good start, but its continuation depends on consultations in our respective capitals and deciding on how to proceed,” he added.

IRAN SEIZES OIL TANKERS, THREATENS ‘MASSACRE’ IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ HOURS BEFORE US TALKS

While both sides expressed optimism about a possible deal, the U.S. moved to impose fresh sanctions on Iran after the talks. The State Department announced that the U.S. was sanctioning “15 entities, two individuals and 14 shadow fleet vessels connected to the illicit trade in Iranian petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical products.”

“Instead of investing in the welfare of its own people and crumbling infrastructure, the Iranian regime continues to fund destabilizing activities around the world and step up its repression inside Iran,” the statement read.

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“So long as the Iranian regime attempts to evade sanctions and generate oil and petrochemical revenues to fund such oppressive behavior and support terrorist activities and proxies, the United States will act to hold both the Iranian regime and its partners accountable.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment on the sanctions.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis celebrated how the Department of Justice reportedly decided to dismiss a complaint into the Hope Florida scandal that rocked the former presidential candidate and became a talking point for DeSantis critics.

The Floridian reported that President Donald Trump’s DOJ looked into the controversy in late 2025, but a source within the agency told the local outlet that there is “no predicate to open up an intake on this” and that “no further action is anticipated.”

“The witch hunt against the Hope Florida Foundation was orchestrated by left-wing media and their RINO allies,” DeSantis said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital in response to the report. “As we’ve said from day one, all agency actions were appropriate and legally sound.”

“The Hope Florida initiative continues to be the most successful conservative anti-poverty initiative of any state in the country,” DeSantis added.

TRUMP-BACKED DONALDS VOWS TO MAINTAIN DESANTIS ‘TRAJECTORY,’ TAKE FLORIDA TO ‘WHOLE NEW LEVEL’

The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the complaint has been dropped. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

The controversy originated after Centene, a major health insurance company focused on government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, agreed to return $67 million to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration to settle allegations that it overbilled Medicaid. After the settlement was finalized in September 2024, $10 million of the recovered funds was directed to the Hope Florida Foundation.

The Hope Florida Foundation then distributed the $10 million as two $5 million grants to 501(c)(4) organizations: Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida’s Future, Inc.

Of the funds distributed, $8.5 million ultimately flowed to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee known for its efforts to defeat Florida Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana through a constitutional change. Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife who has been floated as a potential candidate for governor herself, has consistently expressed opposition to the legalization of marijuana.

Critics argue that the funds that wound up at Keep Florida Clean, which existed due to a government settlement, should never have been funneled into a political action committee for political campaigning. 

The funds were originally unearthed by Florida state Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, who told Fox News Digital in June that DeSantis’ then-chief of staff turned attorney general, James Uthmeier, was allegedly the lead culprit of the movement of funds. 

Andrade noted at the time that he didn’t “see how Casey or [Ron] DeSantis are involved.”

DESANTIS SIGNALS RESET WITH TRUMP AS FLORIDA BACKS ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ PLAN

Trump’s DOJ reportedly dismissing the complaint is yet another example of the president breaking bread with a governor who was once a fierce opponent for the Oval Office. 

DeSantis’s relationship with Trump has evolved since the two faced off in what was thought to be a toss-up GOP primary election for the White House. DeSantis’s highly anticipated run was stopped short just before the New Hampshire primary, with the Florida governor stating he didn’t see a path to victory. 

Rumors continue to swirl whether Casey DeSantis will enter the race for Florida governor in 2026, though Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., has already declared his candidacy and received an endorsement from Trump.

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June 12 is the filing deadline to run for governor in the Sunshine State, should Casey DeSantis decide to enter the field.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

FIRST ON FOX: A former “Squad” House Democrat running for her old seat recently dished out over $20,000 to a consulting firm that appears to be the same firm that Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., received backlash over after paying out over $400K for “fundraising consulting” between 2020 and 2024.

A Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission filings reveals Cori Bush’s House campaign paid $23,761 to “Unbought Power,” which appears to still be under the leadership of far-left activist Rasha Mubarak. 

Bush, who is currently running to reclaim the seat she lost in 2024 in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, reported two separate disbursements of $12,761 and $11,000 to Unbought Power on Dec. 5. The expense description on both disbursements was also “Fundraising Consulting.”

TRUMP RIPS ‘CROOKED’ ILHAN OMAR AS HOUSE RAMPS UP INVESTIGATION INTO EXPLODING NET WORTH

While Unbought Power is a Florida-based political consulting firm that was founded by Mubarak in March 2020, Bush’s most recent FEC filing lists Unbought Power’s address as the same P.O. Box as the Bush campaign’s P.O. Box, prompting multiple inquiries from Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Bush campaign and Mubarak multiple times about the payments and whether this was the same company, but neither responded. 

Mubarak recently came under fire in a new report released earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, which was exposing Tlaib’s ties to radical groups. 

Mubarak and Unbought Power were included in the report, highlighting her affiliation “with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial.”

“Mubarak has also been a speaker at events held by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), an organization that promoted the BDS movement,” the report continued.  “Previously, in September 2023, she served as the press contact for the Arizona-based non-profit Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), which was investigated for ties to Samidoun, an anti-Israel advocacy group banned in Germany, Canada, and Israel and classified as a terrorist entity in the United States for financing the PFLP.”

Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital that “Personnel is policy. Hiring a consultant with such a well-documented track record of anti-American and antisemitic ideas tells us everything we need to know about Cori Bush’s priorities.” 

Mubarak, a Palestinian American activist, has been involved in grassroots advocacy for over 15 years. She has publicly called for defunding the police multiple times. In April 2021, she tweeted that she believes the United States should “abolish the police.” Before that, in two separate tweets from July 2020, Mubarak called for Orange County, California, to “defund the police.” 

The Florida activist has also tweeted about her involvement with Dream Defenders, an activist group co-founded by self-described socialist and former Bernie Sanders surrogate Phillip Agnew, who faced backlash for saying Zionism is a “racist, exploitative, and exclusionary ideology.”

ONLY ONE OUT OF NEARLY 20 SURVEYED DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN IN 2028 SAYS A MAN CANNOT BECOME A WOMAN

Dream Defenders has been vocal about defunding the police across their social media platforms. 

In a now-deleted social media post, Mubarak tweeted a link to Dream Defenders’ “Sunday School” session video about how to defund the police and encouraged her followers to donate to their bail fund amid the riots in summer 2020. She also encouraged her followers to donate to the Dream Defenders organization.

Mubarak has also repeatedly criticized Israel, accusing Israel of “ongoing ethnic cleansing” weeks before Hamas’ terrorist attack on innocent civilians. She also has a history of criticizing Israel over what she calls its “state-sanctioned violence.”

“These aren’t clashes – it’s an ongoing occupation,” the Palestinian activist tweeted in May 2021. “These aren’t evictions – they are forced expulsions. This isn’t a conflict – it’s settler colonialism, it’s ethnic cleansing, it’s oppression, it’s apartheid.”

“Say it loud. Say it clear. Palestine will be FREE,” she added.

In 2022, Fox News Digital reported that Tlaib’s campaign and PAC sent Unbought Power 32 checks totaling $204,000 for fundraising consulting. Mubarak simultaneously acted as treasurer of Tlaib’s leadership PAC, Rooted in Community Leadership, which donated almost $8,000 to Bush’s past campaigns.

The Squad Victory Fund, a joint fundraiser that props up the campaigns and leadership committees of the far-left Squad members, including Bush, also dished out over $85K to Unbought Power between 2022 and 2023. The joint fundraiser would go on to transfer almost $60K to Bush’s campaign between 2022 and 2024.

Washington Examiner reported in 2024 that Tlaib’s campaign manager announced the campaign had severed its ties with Mubarak in an automated email saying, “Our campaign is no longer working with Rasha Mubarak’s firm Unbought LLC, so if you need any assistance in fundraising or have questions on how to support congresswoman Tlaib, please know I am here to help.” 

Bush recently took flack for complaining on social media that Congress doesn’t prioritize public transit funding, even though she once was part of a cohort of radical lawmakers who voted against a bill providing billions for transit improvements because it didn’t allocate enough money for their far-left agenda.

Bush was just one of five other Democratic Party lawmakers, all part of the progressive group dubbed “The Squad,” who voted against the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, despite it allocating up to $108 billion for public transit investments. Bush and her other far-left colleagues at the time wanted more money to also be allocated to environmental and social programs, like funding for universal pre-K, Medicare and Medicaid expansions, affordable housing, green infrastructure, a Civilian Climate Corps, and also included oil drilling and leasing bans.

CORI BUSH RIPPED FOR ‘JAW-DROPPING’ HYPOCRISY ON KEY ISSUE AMID COMEBACK HOUSE BID

At the time of “The Squad’s” stand against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Bush argued that she “didn’t come to Congress to allow [her constituents’] priorities to be put on a shelf.”

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Meanwhile, Bush lamented to her followers on social media last week – amid her run to regain her position in the House – that funding for public transit is not prioritized in Congress. She implied this was a major problem because transit funding, Bush said, “is essential in meeting the most basic needs” of her constituents.

When Fox News Digital reached out for comment on the discrepancy, a campaign spokesperson commented that “Universal pre-K, expanded Medicare, the Child Tax Credit, and lower prescription drug prices were all policies that Missouri’s 1st District sent the Congresswoman to DC to win.” 

The spokesperson said Bush has “been clear and consistent on this: her vote was because the infrastructure bill was uncoupled from Build Back Better, which contained those policies. With so much on the line for St. Louis and the nation, the Congresswoman wanted to fight for more, not settle for less.”

President Donald Trump said he issued a presidential proclamation reopening thousands of square miles of protected Atlantic Ocean waters off New England to commercial fishing, saying the move would reestablish fishing access and reduce what he called burdensome restrictions on fishermen.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social late Friday, writing that the move was “another BIG WIN for Maine, and all of New England.”

The proclamation would reestablish fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod that was created by former President Barack Obama. Trump rolled back protections in the area during his first term, and President Joe Biden later restored them.

“Today, I signed a Presidential Proclamation to UNLEASH Commercial Fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, advancing the America First Fishing Policy!” Trump wrote. “I am restoring nearly 5,000 square miles of fishing access off the Coast of New England, which will revitalize our fishing industry and strengthen our booming economy.”

ZELDIN OVERHAULS BIDEN-ERA WATER RULE TO END ‘WEAPONIZATION’ THAT LED ‘PUDDLES’ TO TRIGGER PRICY PERMITS

Trump has long been critical of the marine monument, which Obama described at the time as a way to protect vulnerable undersea corals and ecosystems. Trump has described the restrictions as an unfair penalty on commercial fishermen.

Trump said Democrats had imposed excessive and unnecessary regulations on fishermen for years.

“In my first term, I reversed the prohibitions placed on commercial fishing, but Joe Biden, or whoever was using the AUTOPEN, foolishly reinstated them,” Trump wrote. “Since Day One, I have taken historic action to end these disastrous policies.”

ENERGY GROUPS CELEBRATE TRUMP’S LATEST MOVE TO UNLEASH ALASKA DRILLING

Earlier this year, Trump also signed a broader order directing federal agencies to reduce the regulatory burden on fishermen, according to the White House.

Commercial fishing groups welcomed the move, saying it would expand access while allowing the industry to operate sustainably.

“We deserve to be rewarded, not penalized,” John Williams, president and owner of the New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Atlantic Red Crab Company, told The Associated Press. “We’re demonstrating that we can fish sustainably and continue to harvest on a sustainable level in perpetuity.”

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Environmental groups criticized the proclamation and warned that reopening the area could threaten sensitive marine ecosystems.

“The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was created to provide strong protections for the wide range of marine life that live in these unique habitats,” Gib Brogan, fisheries campaign director at environmental group Oceana, told the outlet.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The federal Small Business Administration suspended more than 111,000 California borrowers after uncovering $8.6 billion in suspected fraudulent activity linked to the COVID pandemic, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced Friday. 

“We have suspended nearly 112,000 borrowers tied to at least $9 billion in suspected fraud,” Loeffler said in a press release on Friday. “This staggering number represents the most significant crack-down on those who defrauded pandemic programs, and it illuminates the scale of corruption that the Biden Administration tolerated for years.”

The SBA reported that all in, it suspended 111,620 California borrowers who received 118,489 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans, totaling $8.6 billion. 

THE BORDER GETS THE ATTENTION WHILE FRAUDULENT GOVERNMENT BENEFITS BLEED TAXPAYERS DRY

PPP loans were COVID-era federal relief program that gave small businesses money to keep workers on the payroll, while EIDL loans are part of an SBA program that provides low-interest disaster relief loans to help businesses survive during times of diaster, including the pandemic. 

“Once again, the Trump SBA is taking decisive action to deliver accountability in a state whose unaccountable welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners,” Loffler continued. 

CHILDCARE EXPERT EXPOSES KEY ROADBLOCK TO UNCOVERING POTENTIAL FRAUD SCHEMES IN MINNESOTA: ‘REALLY DIFFICULT’

The announcement follows California Attorney General Rob Bonta saying on Thursday that the Trump administration was promoting “baseless claims” of persistent fraud in the state. 

“Trump claims California is wasting money when, in reality, our programs are helping lower-income individuals and lower-income families get healthcare, food and housing assistance,” Bonta said on Thursday. 

“Trump claims, wrongly, California is perpetuating fraud when we are the victim,” he added. 

Bonta’s office noted that California recovered nearly $2.7 billion in various fraud schemes across the last 10 years, “including by partnering with the federal government.” 

EXCLUSIVE: SENATE BILL TARGETS MINNESOTA-STYLE ‘RUNAWAY FRAUD’ TO FORCE SCAMMERS REPAY TAXPAYERS

Fox News Digital reached out to Bonta’s office on Friday for additional comment. 

Newsom’s office directed Fox News Digital to the Governor Newsom Press Office X account, which mocked the SBA announcement. 

“OMG. The Trump Administration found MAJOR FRAUD in programs THEY control, Newsom’s Press Office‘s X account posted, linking to a New York Post exclusive on the announcement. 

“The state has no role running / administering these programs.Were they hiding this??? California doesn’t hide fraud … we fight it. Nearly 1,000 arrests + over $125 billion STOPPED under @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom.”

Loeffler continued that the alleged California fraud comes after the SBA suspended 6,900 borrowers in Minnesota associated with 7,900 potentially fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans, which totaled roughly $400 million. 

“As we did in Minnesota, we are actively working with federal law enforcement to identify the criminals who defrauded American taxpayers, hold them to account, and recoup the stolen funds. As we continue our state-by-state work, our message is clear: pandemic-era fraudsters will not get a pass under this Administration,” Loeffler said, comparing California to its investigations in Minnesota. 

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Minnesota became ground zero for welfare and social services fraud surrounding the pandemic late in 2025, when investigators uncovered sweeping fraud schemes that could top $9 billion. 

Nigeria and some U.S. lawmakers have not always seen eye to eye on terrorism and the violence affecting Christian communities in Africa’s largest nation. This week, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu arrived in Washington to clear the air. 

America’s Christmas Day strike on Islamist militants in northwest Nigeria was a “blessing,” Tinubu said, signaling that her husband’s government welcomes further U.S. involvement as it confronts insurgents and criminal gangs.

“The intervention of the U.S. was quite a welcome development,” Tinubu told Fox News Digital during a week-long visit to Washington, D.C. 

“Nigeria is looking forward to collaboration” with the U.S. on security issues. “We are expecting that there will be more.”

ANOTHER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AT RISK IN AFRICA AS EXTREMISTS AND WAR TAKE THEIR TOLL

The fight against Islamist militants — whose attacks have included the kidnapping and killing of Christians and the desecration of churches — has become a focal point in U.S. political debate, drawing attention from President Donald Trump and some of his most vocal supporters.

Trump designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over violations of religious freedom. Tinubu and her husband, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have pushed back on that characterization, arguing that the violence plaguing the country is real and severe, but not limited to any one faith.

Gunmen believed to be Islamic extremists killed at least 162 people in Nigeria’s Kwara state earlier this year, torching homes and looting shops in Muslim-majority villages where residents were targeted for refusing extremist ideology — an attack that underscored how the violence now cuts across regions and religious lines.

TRUMP TARGETS ISIS IN NIGERIA AMID WARNINGS SAHEL REGION IS BECOMING ‘EPICENTER OF TERRORISM’

“Terrorist groups hide in the forest, and also bandits and other people are kidnapping for ransom,” Tinubu said.

“We are concerned about our people’s safety,” she added, pointing to steps taken by the Nigerian government, including a nationwide security emergency, plans to recruit 50,000 new police officers and the redeployment of more than 11,000 officers from VIP protection duties to conflict-prone areas.

Despite the negative attention, the U.S.’s focus on Christian killings kicked off conversations between Nigeria and the U.S., according to Tinubu.

“We have that attention. We have the conversation going. And we are expecting that there will be more. You know, it’s going to yield better fruit for us, and both for us and also America.”

During her Washington visit, Tinubu met with senior administration officials, where she said she sought to explain the realities of Nigeria’s security crisis. “We live in Nigeria. We know the situation on the ground,” she said.

A political figure in her own right, Tinubu served as a senator until 2023. She is also part of an interfaith marriage at a time of deep religious tension in Nigeria: Tinubu is a Christian and an ordained pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the country’s largest megachurches, while her husband is Muslim.

NIGERIA NAMED EPICENTER OF GLOBAL KILLINGS OF CHRISTIANS OVER FAITH IN 2025, REPORT SAYS

Tinubu hosts a Christian podcast and carries out much of her outreach through the Renewed Hope Initiative, a nonprofit aligned with her husband’s agenda to support vulnerable communities. But this week, her presence in Washington places a prominent Christian voice at the center of Nigeria’s response to U.S. scrutiny over religious violence.

With a population of more than 230 million, Nigeria’s bustling and sometimes turbulent cities and villages are home to people of strikingly diverse backgrounds. The country’s more than 500 languages and mix of Islam, Christianity and traditional indigenous faiths have long been marred by tension, with Muslims dominating the northern regions and Christians concentrated in the south.

Despite vast oil and mineral wealth, decades of corruption and mismanagement have left much of the nation impoverished. Tinubu, whose husband took office in 2023, said his government inherited those missteps and is now trying to dig out of them.

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Nigeria’s growing cache of lithium, cobalt, nickel and other rare minerals has drawn quiet U.S. attention as Washington looks to counter China’s dominance in Africa’s critical-minerals market. The Commerce Department and U.S. International Development Finance Corp. have eyed investment opportunities in Nigeria’s nascent lithium industry, but persistent insecurity in mining regions threatens Western access and future development.

Addressing security concerns, Tinubu said, goes hand in hand with attracting foreign investment. She linked her trip not only to counterterrorism cooperation but also to reassuring investors that Nigeria is open for business.

“We’re doing all we can to make sure that when investors come, they can feel comfortable and their investment can yield,” she said.

Violence tied to Islamist insurgencies and criminal militias has killed tens of thousands of Nigerians over the past decade, destabilizing large swaths of the country. Groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, alongside bandit networks that often overlap with extremist elements, have carried out mass killings, kidnappings and raids.

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Christian advocacy organizations argue that Christians have borne a disproportionate share of the bloodshed, especially in rural communities where attacks on churches and clergy have been frequent. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law estimates that more than 50,000 Christians have been killed and tens of thousands abducted since 2009 — figures that are difficult to independently verify but widely cited by U.S. religious freedom advocates pressing Washington to take a harder line.

Tinubu’s government has paired its security push with painful economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidies and efforts to stabilize the currency, arguing that restoring growth and attracting investment will ultimately reduce the conditions that fuel violence.

The Senate Republican campaign chair has a stark warning for his party as the GOP defends its 53-47 majority in the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Tim Scott, pointing to a ballot box deficit the GOP’s facing in the latest Fox News national poll, said it could impact specific Senate races this year.

And Scott said the toughest challenge may be in Maine, where longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election for a sixth six-year term in the blue-leaning northern New England state.

The straight talk from Scott, at a closed-door meeting earlier this week with fellow GOP senators, comes as Republicans, as the party in power in the nation’s capital, face traditional political headwinds in the midterms. And the GOP is also facing a rough political climate, with President Donald Trump‘s approval ratings remaining underwater while Democrats are energized as they work to win back the House majority and possibly recapture the Senate.

GOP CALLS TRUMP ITS ‘SECRET WEAPON’ — BUT POLLS SHOW WARNING SIGNS HEADING INTO MIDTERMS

While the NRSC remains optimistic they can not only defend but expand their majority, the GOP will be playing defense in half a dozen key races.

Here’s a look at the most vulnerable Republican Senate seats up for grabs in the midterms.

Maine

Collins is the only Republican senator running for re-election this year in a state that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in her 2024 presidential election defeat to Trump.

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And Collins has seen a deterioration of her poll numbers among Mainers from her last re-election six years ago.

But Collins, who has long been a top target of the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has proven tough to beat.

Complicating the Democrats’ push to flip the seat is a competitive primary between two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has the tacit backing of longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the DSCC, and veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner, who is running to the left of Mill and who is backed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

North Carolina

Republicans are defending an open seat in the southeastern battleground state, with GOP Sen. Thom Tillis retiring at the end of this year.

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Democrats landed their top recruit when former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper launched a Senate campaign last summer. Cooper enjoys tons of name ID in North Carolina and is 6-0 when running statewide races.

Republicans are rallying around former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley, who has the president’s backing.

The race is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive Senate showdowns this year.

Ohio

Democrats scored another major recruiting victory when former longtime Sen. Sherrod Brown announced he would challenge Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

A former lieutenant governor, Husted was appointed to the Senate a year ago after then-Sen. JD Vance stepped down to serve as vice president.

Ohio, once a premiere general election battleground, has turned red over the past decade, and Democrats view Brown as their only competitive candidate in the race to serve the final two years of Vance’s term.

Brown lost re-election in 2024 by roughly four points while Trump carried Ohio by 11 points.

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Similar to North Carolina, the showdown is expected to be very expensive and competitive.

Alaska

Democrats were given a big boost in the red-leaning state when former Rep. Mary Peltola announced last month that she would challenge GOP incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Peltola lost re-election last year in the at-large district that covers the entire state by three points, while Trump carried Alaska by 11 points.

Iowa

Republicans are defending an open seat in Iowa, a onetime swing state that’s shifted to the right over the past decade.

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But the GOP has rallied around Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is backed by Trump, in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

Hinson, a former local TV news anchor who flipped a Democratic-held seat in 2020, is seen as a rising star in the party.

Democrats have a contested primary that includes state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian, state Sen. Zach Wahls and military veteran Nathan Sage.

Texas

Longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is in the middle of a competitive and combustible GOP nomination battle against state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt.

Trump, to date, has stayed neutral in the primary, which will be held early next month.

If neither Cornyn, Paxton, nor Hunt win a majority of the vote next month, a runoff will be held in May.

Cornyn enjoys the backing of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the NRSC, which worries that the seat would be vulnerable if Paxton, who has plenty of political baggage, wins the primary.

The Democrats, who are eyeing the seat in the right-leaning state, have a competitive contest for their nomination between progressive firebrand and vocal Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, a rising star in the party.

GOP on offense

While playing defense, the NRSC is also eyeing three Democratic-held Senate seats.

The GOP’s aiming to flip open seats in battleground Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is ending her long career, in which she made history as the first woman elected governor and senator.

Republicans are also eyeing battleground Georgia, where they view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election this year.

The NRSC is also spotlighting the open Senate seat in blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith is retiring.

Former longtime sportscaster Michele Tafoya is being backed by the NRSC as she runs for the GOP nomination.

Some Republicans are calling last weekend’s double-digit shellacking in a special state Senate election in Texas in a district Trump carried by 17 points in 2024 a wake up call.

The stunning ballot box setback for Republicans, coming amid backlash over the Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration, is further energizing Democrats as they aim to win back congressional majorities.

The victory in Texas was the Democrats’ latest win or over performance in a slew of elections since Trump returned to power in the White House a year ago, as the party stays laser focused on the issue of affordability amid persistent inflation.

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“The White House needs to focus less on foreign policy and immigration and more on affordability to improve our chances in the midterms,” Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor and bundler, told Fox News Digital.

And Eberhart, pointing to some key Senate races, said he’s worried about “the money game.”

“We’re woefully behind in Georgia. We’re behind in North Carolina. I think that in Texas we’re going to have somebody limp out of a runoff,” he cautioned.

Thune, speaking to reporters this week following the NRSC briefing, said that “the Democrats are targeting a number of our incumbents. And so we’ve got some races that are going to be expensive and hard fought in places like Maine and North Carolina.”

But Thune added, “We feel really good about… where our Senate races are.” And he emphasized that “incumbents in our conference are seasoned veterans who will outwork any of their opponents.”

Meanwhile, DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Fox News Digital last month that “President Trump is creating a toxic agenda that’s harming people.”

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And Gillibrand emphasized she’s “optimistic that we have a shot to take back the majority.”

The Trump administration’s top immigration enforcement officials are urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom not to release more than 33,000 criminal illegal immigrants, some of whom have violent felony convictions, back onto the streets without notifying federal authorities. 

In a letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons are asking Newsom to honor ICE detainers of 33,179 inmates in California’s custody.

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“Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers from their jails back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said Lyons. “We are calling on Governor Newsom and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 33,000 criminal illegal aliens in California’s custody.”

“It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans,” he added. 

All told, the inmates account for 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses,” DHS said. 

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Newsom’s office referred Fox News Digital to a Friday post on X: “California cooperates with ICE when it comes to REMOVING CRIMINALS — like sick rapists and murderers — in our state prisons.”

Since Newsom took office in 2019, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has coordinated the transfer of more than 12,000 people, including murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders, into ICE custody.

“Contrary to Secretary Noem’s claims, California does not ‘harbor criminals,’” the governor’s office said in a news release. “California law ensures violent offenders are held accountable while also ensuring that victims and witnesses — including victims of domestic violence and human trafficking — are not terrorized into silence by fear of deportation.”

State law currently allows CDCR to notify and coordinate with ICE to take custody of individuals convicted of felony offenses who have served their terms in California’s state prisons.

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Newsom has heavily criticized ICE amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. California’s sanctuary state law – SB 54 – limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities for illegal immigrants unless they’ve committed certain serious crimes.