NationalWatch

House Democrats are nuking Republicans’ effort to assuage one of President Donald Trump’s biggest concerns about the future of the federal government.

A vote on a constitutional amendment to cap the number of Supreme Court justices failed on Wednesday afternoon after the vast majority of Democrats voted against it.

Trump has warned for months that he believes Democrats would seek to expand the Supreme Court if they took back control of Congress — something affirmed by top progressives, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

House GOP leaders sought to head that off with a proposed amendment led by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., that would mandate that just nine justices can sit on the high court.

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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., opted to fast-track the legislation past multiple procedural hurdles in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds, a maneuver known as “suspending the rules.” But it failed to clinch that number, even though the majority of House lawmakers supported the amendment.

The U.S. Constitution allows Congress to set the number of seats on the Supreme Court bench, which is currently occupied by eight justices and one chief justice.

However, the Constitution itself does not dictate how many justices can exist. Republicans argued that changing that could make it much harder for a Democrat government to pack the court in the future in order to stack the judicial odds in its favor.

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“Here’s the question every American should ask: if a sitting majority can change the size of the Supreme Court the moment it dislikes rulings, what happens to the next time the other side is in power?” Biggs posed on Wednesday. “Once you go down that road, the court stops being an independent check on government power. It becomes another political institution controlled by whoever happens to hold the majority.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., among the progressives calling to increase the number of justices to 13, argued that Congress has changed the number of Supreme Court justices multiple times throughout history and dismissed the current tally as arbitrary.

“MAGA’s proposal is to strip Congress of all authority in the matter, to freeze it, and cemented permanently in the constitutional architecture for all time with the suddenly magic number nine,” Raskin said.

“It’s another partisan power grab by MAGA, our colleagues, who fear for the results of the November election as their policies have brought us nothing but war, inflation, corruption, lawlessness and a $40 trillion debt — one quarter of it’s supplied by this presidential administration. So the MAGA party wants to cement into place a profoundly partisan and lopsided…court that was gerrymandered and engineered by Mitch McConnell.”

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He was referring to former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his critical role in helping secure the current conservative majority on the high court.

Progressives have argued that expanding the court to 13 would mean there is one justice for every federal circuit court.

Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., attacked the left’s push as an effort to seize political power.

“For decades, we have heard calls from those unhappy with the ideological balance of the Supreme Court to pack the court. The alarming rise of such calls should worry all of us, because their objective is not to uphold ethical principles or even to protect individual rights, but rather to consolidate power and intimidate the court,” Harris said.

Later, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., said that locking the number at nine would only extend the current conservative majority’s power.

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“I think it would be a grave mistake to dictate how many justices should sit on the Supreme Court in perpetuity, and thereby lock in for a generation or more a right-wing majority, which is engaged in an unprecedented assault on Supreme Court norms and our constitutional order for the past several years,” Scanlon said.

DETROIT — A propaganda newspaper that once accepted a massive grant from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation falsely described beleaguered leftist Michigan U.S. Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed as a veteran, according to a copy of that paper obtained by Fox News Digital.

“El-Sayed — veteran, doctor, and former health official — is Democratic Senate pick,” reads a headline in the August 2026 edition of The Michigan Independent.

The papers were distributed in Michigan, and photos of the headline made the rounds on social media last week. The breadth of the paper’s circulation is unclear, but Fox News Digital obtained a physical copy in Michigan.

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The purportedly independent paper circulating in Michigan has a Washington, D.C. non-profit’s name and address — The American Independent Foundation at 800 Maine Ave SW — emblazoned in the bottom left corner of the front cover.

As it turns out, the papers aren’t independent at all.

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In 2024, The American Independent Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, received a $500,000 grant from George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society, according to that organization’s IRS 990 disclosure form.

Soros, a billionaire businessman, investor and philanthropist, is a renowned leftist mega donor known for his support of progressive and Democratic causes. The Washington Free Beacon first reported the Soros connection.

The content of the Michigan Independent story mentions nothing of El-Sayed being a veteran, nor does it clarify that while El-Sayed holds an M.D., he has never been a physician.

El-Sayed’s campaign forcefully condemned the publication’s classification of the candidate.

“Abdul has never claimed to be a veteran, he never would out of his respect for those who served, and any outlet or group writing about our campaign should do their homework and not allow this to happen again,” spokesman Cole Wozniak told Fox News Digital.

The American Independent did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Twelve other state-based newspapers are part of the network Soros helped fund, including papers in key swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia and others that have become increasingly important in the 2026 midterms due to competitive U.S. Senate races, including Maine and Alaska.

Some of the outlets share the same featured stories. At the time of this writing, both The Ohio Independent and The Pennsylvania Independent feature a story titled “Report: Trump and Big Oil see financial windfall as Americans pay more at pump”.

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An associated 501(c)(4) political activism organization, American Independent Media, is also affiliated with the network of news outlets. Each state-based website says it is a project of American Independent Media whose mission is “to use journalism to educate the public, giving them the information they need about local and federal issues.”

David Brock, founder of the far-left media watchdog Media Matters and a high-profile Democratic operative, is also connected to the shadowy network of papers.

He is the founder of the 501(c)(3) American Bridge, also a titan in left-wing politics. American Bridge’s 501(c)(4) arm, the AB Foundation, donated $23.5 million to American Independent Media in 2024.

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The story about El-Sayed was penned by Alyssa Burr, whose LinkedIn page says she’s the Michigan Politics Reporter at The American Independent.

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She previously worked at MLive Media Group, which publishes prominent state newspaper Michigan Live, and before that, the New York Times.

A New York prosecutor accused state Attorney General Letitia James’ office of directing employees to “find and pursue crimes” involving President Donald Trump and entities tied to him, according to a report.

The allegation stems from an email sent by Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld, who works in the Investor Protection Bureau of the New York Office of the Attorney General, which is led by Shamiso Maswoswe, the Times Union reported. The email was allegedly later wiped from the office’s servers, according to the outlet, while James’ office dismissed the matter as a personnel issue and rejected claims that the office was targeting people based on political beliefs.

Wiesenfeld alleged that Maswoswe directed him to target “Trump himself, Truth Social, Hewlett Packard (DOJ approved merger) … without having a credible reason for targeting [these] organizations and individuals,” according to the Times Union.

Maswoswe previously worked as a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section from January 2016 until her termination in December 2017, under Trump’s first term. In February 2021, she filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Justice Department, alleging she was unfairly terminated and subjected to discrimination based on her race, pregnancy and caregiving responsibilities.

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Wiesenfeld reportedly sent an agency-wide email to colleagues Friday with instructions “to find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump,” the Times Union reported.

The email reportedly was then allegedly wiped from servers, with a subsequent email sent from Attorney General Letitia James’ general counsel, Kumiki Gibson, informing employees that it was an “internal” matter and no employees were “in danger,” the Times Union reported.

“This is a personnel matter. The Office of the Attorney General is committed to upholding New York’s laws and protecting the rights and freedoms of all New Yorkers, regardless of political beliefs. We strongly reject any assertion to the contrary,” a spokesperson for the Office of the New York Attorney General told Fox News Digital.

The Office of the New York Attorney General did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital request on Tuesday. The New York Post reported Wiesenfeld was placed on paid administrative leave.

“This is more proof of the weaponization of the justice system by Letitia James to target President Trump and her political opponents. The far-left Democrats lawfare against President Trump, his family, and allies must stop,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

Before Maswoswe joined New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office in February 2022, she filed a discrimination suit against the DOJ.

LETITIA JAMES HAMMERED AFTER NY MEDICAID FRAUD UNIT FUNDING FROZEN OVER INEFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT

She filed a complaint in February 2021 alleging she was unfairly fired during the Trump administration in 2017 and discriminated against for being black and having a child.

Maswoswe accused the DOJ of race discrimination due to her Zimbabwean descent and was scrutinized over her pregnancy, breastfeeding and caregiving responsibilities – seeking reinstatement, back pay and damages, according to court docs.

In 2023, the two parties reached a settlement with Maswoswe, awarding her $795,000 to resolve all claims related to her employment and lawsuit. 

DOJ expressly denied that Maswoswe’s claim were true and the agreement says the payment was a compromise of disputed claims—not an admission that discrimination or retaliation occurred.

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James has been a longtime critic and legal adversary of Trump, launching a civil fraud lawsuit against him and the Trump Organization in 2022 after campaigning on investigating his business practices.

The case initially resulted in more than $450 million in penalties, though an appeals court later upheld Trump’s liability while voiding the financial penalty.

Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall argues that his Democratic counterparts do not care about election integrity in the same way Republicans do, as they attempt to block measures designed to root out illegal voters they have long claimed do not exist.

Marshall addressed a legal challenge brought by 25 Democratic state attorneys general challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that included provisions for federal agencies to help states ensure only citizens receive mail-in ballots, and for the U.S. Postal Service to institute practices to make the ballots trackable.

“The left, because they’re concerned about losing at the midterms, want to be able to obstruct this administration’s efforts to ensure the integrity of our elections,” Marshall told Fox News Digital this week, ahead of Thursday’s oral arguments before U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston.

“You have to wonder – when those that are objecting to this – how confident they can be in the security of their elections, as opposed to becoming just a partisan opportunity to ensure the Democrats win and keep conservative voices from being heard, not only in local and state levels of government, but particularly in Washington.”

DHS PLANS COSTLY CRACKDOWN ON STATES THAT DON’T COOPERATE ON ELECTION SECURITY

Marshall led a letter in July from 13 Republican attorneys general, backing the U.S. Postal Service’s following up on President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order that set up an audit of states’ voter rolls.

“There shouldn’t be a reason why we object to that, but yet Democrats simply don’t want to have fair elections in a way that people can have confidence,” Marshall claimed.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Democratic Attorneys General Association for comment on Marshall’s remarks, but they did not immediately respond.

Democrats, in various arguments to block the audit of voter rolls before the mailing out of absentee ballots, claim that it would lead to “disenfranchisement,” “chaos,” “unconstitutional overreach,” and a partisan “power grab.”

Democrats’ concern is that if they refuse to share their voter rolls with the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to crosscheck the eligibility of legal voters, the USPS can stop the mailing of state’s absentee ballots.

“USPS’s interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote,” Talwani, appointed by former President Barack Obama, wrote in her restraining order against the Trump administration.

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“The postal service is not a partisan organization. As the postmaster said, I think most recently, we’re just there to deliver the mail. They’re experts in how it is that this can be configured.”

Marshall stated that the problem of voter fraud is documented, not “unsubstantiated,” as Talwani put it, with evidence in his own state.

USPS WOULDN’T DELIVER BALLOTS IN STATES THAT REFUSE TO FORK OVER MAIL-IN VOTER INFO UNDER PROPOSED RULE

“This is not a solution looking for a problem,” he said. “This is in response to what we know is going on across the country. And this provides a common-sense, straightforward way for states to be able to ensure elections, but most importantly, for the people of this country to have belief that their elections in fact are accurate.”

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“It’s not a shock that Democrats are standing up the ability for us to pass the SAVE [America] Act because they don’t want to allow for there to be assurances what is already in the law: That somebody here illegally cannot be able to vote,” he added. “But here we have the president being able to make sure that we are allowing for government resources to be used in an appropriate way to simply allow those who are qualified to vote, vote, and those who aren’t, don’t.”

Marshall has little confidence the Obama-appointed judge in Boston is going to side with the Trump administration and the law.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I would fully expect her to continue with the Democratic Party line,” he said. “The Trump administration has already filed a request with the First Circuit to try to get a stay of that order, but yet we’re going to continue to battle this case along with the administration and look forward to standing beside them when they obtain this victory.”

TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN ON MAIL-IN VOTING RESTRICTIONS BEFORE MIDTERMS

Marshall maintains Republicans are not stopping anyone from getting an absentee ballot – they’re just trying to make sure the process is conducted legally and securely.

“Here we have a barcode that allows us to be able to connect it directly with the voter – we have the assurance that that ballot is being cast by the person in fact that receive that ballot,” he said. “Democrats and Republicans alike ought to praise this as a common-sense effort to be able to restore election integrity in this area, but it’s not a shock that Democrats have opposed it.”

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Marhall pointed to the 2005 bipartisan commission chaired by Jimmy Carter and James Baker that identified mailed absentee ballots as being susceptible to fraud.

“This is about securing elections, not interfering with states’ abilities to conduct elections, and we think that we’ll be able to eliminate many of the issues that we’ve seen, including in Alabama, that have occurred in the past.”

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The restraining order Talwani issued will remain in place for up to one more week while she considers whether to issue a longer-term preliminary injunction blocking the rule. The hearing is Thursday in Boston, but the fight will go on from states on both sides as the midterm mail-in ballot season officially gets underway.

Americans remain starkly divided on whether President Donald Trump should be allowed to build a ballroom on the site of the White House’s East Wing, according to people who spoke with Fox News Digital last week.

Trump has called the ballroom an improvement and a necessity for the White House, arguing it would help avoid another near-death experience for himself, the press and dignitaries after a gunman charged into the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in May.

“No, definitely not,” Frank of Kansas City, Missouri, said of the ballroom project’s necessity.

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“Tearing down the East Wing without all proper authorizations was improper. The way the money is being raised is improper, so I’m ‘no’ to all of it.”

Frank appeared to allude to the litigation the administration is fighting to keep its project afloat.

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Danisha from Washington, however, said she approved of the new project in her hometown.

She professed to be an ardent supporter of Trump’s and said he deserves to have a ballroom.

“I think the White House definitely should use the ballroom to be beautiful and nice. Because, I think that the president should be able to have fun and invite people to the ballroom,” she said.

Sherry and Bill from Knoxville sided with the president on the project:

Bill called the U.S. the “greatest country in the world” and therefore a ballroom for the president is a great idea.

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“It’s brilliant,” Sherry added. “We need it.”

“Who cares who’s in the administration, Democrat or Republican? They’re gonna use the ballroom,” Bill said. Sherry noted the ballroom is privately funded, suggesting that aspect should assuage tax-sensitive critics.

Meanwhile, Chuck from Washington called the ballroom a “horrible idea” in the present and in the future.

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“There’s so much more we have to tackle. And building a ballroom should not be a priority one or a priority two,” he said.

As of Monday, the Supreme Court allowed construction to proceed as litigation makes its way through the appeals process, with plaintiffs seeking relief from the high court if it chooses to hear the full case, according to reports.

A Harvard University webpage that provides resources for parents of students at the school features “anti-racism resources,” including a list of books written by controversial authors who have espoused anti-White rhetoric and have suggested discrimination is OK as long as it’s against White people.

One of the books is Ibram X. Kendi’s “How To Be An Anti-Racist”, another is the infamous “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo.

Kendi, born Ibram Henry Rogers, is known for racially inflammatory comments targeting White people.

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“Europeans are simply a different breed of human,” he wrote in a column in his college newspaper in 2003. “They are socialized to be aggressive people. They are taught to live by the credo, ‘survival of the fittest.’ They are raised to be racist.”

In his 2019 book, Kendi explained that discrimination is fine, as long as it promotes equity. On the contrary, he said, discrimination is wrong if it promotes inequity.

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“The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination,” the book says. “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”

Kendi also slammed “whiteness” at a film screening in November 2023.

“I don’t think White people worldwide have really reckoned with how much their own personal identity is shaped by constructions of whiteness, and how much that construction of whiteness prevents White people from connecting to humanity,” he said at the event.

Similarly, the resource page on Harvard’s site includes “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.”

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“White people are socialized to feel that they are inherently superior because they are white,” DiAngelo wrote in the 2018 book.

“Racism is a White problem. It was created by White people,” the book says. “It is wielded by White people, it benefits White people.”

She also wrote that White people are always racist.

“The question is not ‘Did racism take place?’ but rather, ‘How did racism manifest in this situation?'” she wrote in the book.

Other books recommended to parents include “Me and White Supremacy,” by Layla Saad, “Raising White Kids,” by Jennifer Harvey and “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” by Michelle Alexander.

A spokesperson for Harvard told Fox News Digital, “The site was created by staff more than five years ago and was not developed as an official Faculty of Arts and Sciences resource.”

The online page is title “Anti-Racism Resources” and the list of books is included under the “Information for Parents” tab of the Harvard website.

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The webpage also lists resources for teaching children as young as infants “anti-racism,” including Kendi’s “Anti-Racist Baby,” which “introduces the youngest readers and the grown-ups in their lives to the concept and power of antiracism,” according to Goodreads.

“Providing the language necessary to begin critical conversations at the earliest age, ‘Antiracist Baby’ is the perfect gift for readers of all ages dedicated to forming a just society” the description continues.

Harvard has faced issues of anti-White racism among its staff.

Gregory Davis, the former Dunster House Allston Burr resident dean at Harvard, was fired earlier this year after a series of anti-White, anti–police social media posts were unearthed. Other posts from Davis supported rioting and looting as legitimate forms of protest.

The posts in question were made between 2019 and 2024, mostly on X but also on Instagram. Davis became the dean of the dormitory in 2024.

“It’s almost like whiteness is a self-destructive ideology that annihilates everyone around it. By design,” he said on X in 2019.

During 2020, when tensions between police and left-wing rioters reached a fever pitch after George Floyd was killed, Davis slammed police.

“You should ask your cop friends to resign since they’re racist and evil,” he said on X at the time.

As rioters and looters wreaked havoc in major metropolitan areas nationwide, Davis defended the chaos.

“Something to keep in mind: rioting and looting are parts of democracy just like voting and marching,” he said on X. “The people WILL be heard.”

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In the same year, around the time President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, Davis said on X that he didn’t blame people who wished Trump ill. He followed that post with a second, captioned “But also, f— that guy,” attaching a meme that said “If he dies, he dies.”

More than 400 Democratic Jewish Michiganders are backing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and warning that they feel “threatened and alienated” by leftist candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his political allies.

Prominent Democratic donor Rob Orley, a senior advisor for O2 Investments, is among the signatories. He previously donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic campaigns, according to FEC campaign filings — but now he and other prominent Jewish leaders are ditching El-Sayed for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.

“Many of us have been fiercely supportive of Democratic candidates and principles,” a letter signed by Orley and hundreds of others stated.

“If El-Sayed were to win the general election in this important swing state, we fear the far-left and anti-Jewish elements in the Democratic Party would become dominant, including in the imminent 2028 presidential race,” the letter continues. “We cannot allow him to become the Democratic standard-bearer or Michigan’s senator.”

Fox News Digital reached out to O2 Investments for comment.

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The letter includes signatures from some of the most prominent members of Michigan’s Jewish community, including Robert Gordon, the former president of Temple Israel, the state’s largest Jewish congregation, which was the site of an antisemitic attack in March.

Shayna Levine, the daughter of the leading rabbi at Temple Israel; David Propis, cantor of Congregation Shaarey Zedek; Laurence Deitch, who served as a University of Michigan regent; and Hannan Lis, a Weight Watchers executive, have also signed the letter declaring that they feel “threatened and alienated by the politics and allies embraced by Abdul El-Sayed.”

But former Rep. Andy Levin, who is Jewish, is claiming that opposition to El-Sayed among Jewish Democrats is a minority view and that his old foe, the American Israel Political Action Committee, is really driving the letter. Levin lost his 2022 primary bid to Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., after AIPAC spent more than $4 million in the primary race against him.

“It’s not a surprise to me,” Levin said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “The people I know associated with it are all long-time AIPAC insiders and supporters.” Levin added that AIPAC “represents a distinctly minority position about Israel and Palestine within the Jewish community.”

Levin, who was first elected to Congress in 2018 to replace his late father Sander Levin, gave his endorsement to El-Sayed in November 2025.

“I am overwhelmed like literally every day except Shabbat — our sabbath on Saturday — with the incoming I get from Jewish people, young people, middle-aged people, older people, who are so mad about an effort like this and who want to do everything they can to make sure Abdul El-Sayed wins the election on November 3rd, that this U.S. Senate seat stays democratic, and that we do everything we can to save and expand our democracy,” Levin continued.

However, attorney Daniel Cherrin, who signed the letter, told Fox News Digital that he has not attended an AIPAC event since college more than 30 years ago. Cherrin said he has tremendous respect for Levin, whom he has known for years, and previously worked with Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit and Wayne County. Although he considers El-Sayed a “good” person, Cherrin said he cannot overlook the movement backing his candidacy.

“I am very concerned about the movement that is behind Abdul, and for the safety of my community, I don’t feel safe in that environment with the people that are standing in support of him,” Cherrin told Fox News Digital.

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“They don’t understand the impact that their words and their actions is having on me and my children and my neighbors,” Cherrin said. “And so, for that, I am very worried about should he be elected what that means for all those that are trying to advance his candidacy.”

Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who has called Orthodox Jews inbreds and said America deserved 9/11, has been a top surrogate for El-Sayed’s campaign. Over the past week, El-Sayed has attempted to distance himself from the social media influencer, suggesting that people focusing on his affiliation with Piker are “missing the boat.”

Levin, who has condemned Piker’s antisemitic falsehoods about the Oct. 7 attack, agreed with El-Sayed that too much focus is on Piker. He then argued that the Democratic National Committee received very little pushback for inviting Piker to stream during the 2024 Democratic National Convention, giving then-Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris an opportunity to reach Piker’s audience. Piker did not endorse Harris because of the Biden administration’s policy in the Gaza war.

“So I’m not accepting Hasan Piker, but look in the mirror, sister,” Levin said. “When it’s a guy named Abdul with a guy named Hasan, you’re blowing up about it and covering it massively. When it was not an Arab American or a Muslim who campaigned with him or did whatever Kamala Harris did, literally no one asked her a single question about it.”

Last month, El-Sayed said he had “no plans” to continue campaigning with Piker.

Roslyn Schindler attends Congregation T’chiyah, which is a progressive Reform synagogue that touts its support for Black Lives Matter, and transgender rights, with Levin. A daughter of Holocaust survivors, Schindler has lived in the metro Detroit area for 50 years and taught Holocaust studies at Wayne State University. She shared with Fox News Digital that she has supported El-Sayed well before his primary victory, and that the Democratic Party is in need of a “major shake-up,” citing El-Sayed’s support for progressive policies like Medicare for All and getting money out of politics.

“I am certainly not an anti-Zionist, as many Jews who don’t support Abdul think we are, but I am a committed Jew,” Schindler told Fox News Digital. “I’m a committed Democrat. I believe that the Democratic Party should be a large tent, so to speak, that includes all members of that party, no matter what their perspective.”

Fox News Digital asked Schindler for her thoughts on El-Sayed’s affiliation with Piker and whether there is a place in the Democratic Party for people who follow his ideology.

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“As a Jew, I certainly don’t want anyone to be anti-Semitic. I don’t want anyone to be anti-Muslim. I don’t want anyone to be anti-LGBTQ, and the list goes on,” Schindler said. “Is that realistic? Probably not. Do I want those people to be part of the Democratic Party? It’s not really for me to want. It is what it is. They’ll either be part of it or they won’t.”

“But I do believe there is enough traction within the Jewish community at large to counter anti-Semitism, and that’s across the board,” Schindler continued.

But Cherrin said the fact that his family has to pass security officers guarding synagogues and temples is evidence to him that the Jewish community at large can’t tackle antisemitism by itself.

“It’s not about AIPAC for me,” Cherrin said. “It is about it is about how are we protecting the sanctity of the Jewish community in Michigan and frankly and across the country with all these other races that are out there.”

“People within the Jewish community, who typically identify as Democrats, don’t feel comfortable voting for the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate and are looking for a place to channel their frustration. That should not be discounted,” Cherrin continued.

Cherrin pushed for both Rogers and El-Sayed to continue to reach out to Jewish community members outside of politics to get a “real pulse” on what Jewish voters are thinking.

“Abdul is grateful for the good conversations he’s had with Jewish leaders across Michigan, and he’ll continue to be actively engaged with communities to build the coalition that will defeat Rogers, restore Democratic control of the U.S. Senate, and put a much-needed check on Trump’s reckless agenda,” a spokesperson for El-Sayed’s campaign said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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Rogers, who previously served in Congress for 15 years, said he appreciates the growing support from the Jewish community — especially those crossing party lines to back his bid for U.S. Senate.

“As antisemitism rises and Jewish families worry for their safety, it’s critical that we have leaders who will confront hatred — not inflame it,” Rogers said in a statement. “That’s where my opponent and I couldn’t be more different.”

“Abdul El-Sayed fans the flames of antisemitism. We’re fighting to extinguish it,” Rogers continued.

Although for progressive Jewish Democrats like Levin and Schindler, President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies like Rogers are the biggest threat to democracy.

“We have a chance to protect our Democracy by keeping this U.S. Senate seat democratic and expanding our democracy, by, for the first time, having, uh, electing a Muslim to the U.S. Senate,” Levin said. “Most Jews that I know so believe in this democratic experiment, this Democratic project called America.”

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“And it’s about damn time that Muslims had a senator and there’s a brilliant person running here in Michigan who we can elect to be the first one. Will he do exactly what a Jewish person would do or something? No, but he will be someone we could talk to and who will be a great representative for all of Michigan and for the Arab American and Muslim communities in particular,” Levin said.

Senior administration officials touted President Donald Trump’s use of military force against cartels in the Western Hemisphere during a press call on Tuesday.

“So, the president directed, the Department of War executed, the first ever plan and strategy to use direct military force to defend the homeland from this threat,” one of the officials said.

“The effects have been spectacular, and we’ve seen the largest and steepest reduction in U.S. casualties inflicted by the cartels in American history,” the individual added.

US KILLS 4 ALLEGED DRUG SMUGGLERS ON BOAT IN CARIBBEAN, BRINGING TOTAL TO 227 IN 68 STRIKES

The official also indicated that the U.S. action “has created the political space — because we are now taking the fight to the cartels — for new governments to be elected that are going to partner directly with us to fight this battle.”

“And so now you see governments all across the Western Hemisphere rising up, saying that they recognize this as a military threat, and they’re gonna meet it as a military threat,” the official noted, pointing to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador as examples.

NEWLY UNCLASSIFIED PENTAGON IMAGES SHOW SUSPECTED DRUG BOATS AS OFFICIAL ISSUES DEADLY WARNING

One of the other officials noted that “U.S. Southern Command’s counter-narcotics operations have driven record reductions in illicit maritime activity,” which “includes a 65% reduction in the Western Caribbean,” a decline of 60% for the eastern Caribbean, as well as “a nearly 50%” decrease in key regions of the Eastern Pacific.

With Trump as commander-in-chief, the U.S. military has executed dozens of deadly attacks against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”

The president’s policy of using the lethal strikes against alleged drug traffickers has been controversial.

US KILLS TWO ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS’ IN STRIKE 2 MONTHS SINCE LAST ANNOUNCED ANTI-‘NARCO-TRAFFICKING’ ATTACK

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An official on the call said that America’s actions in the Western Hemisphere have yielded “a huge deterrent impact on bad actors all around the world” by showing the nation’s “willingness to use lethal force to protect our core interests.”

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is set to travel to Los Angeles in September for a high-dollar fundraiser with Hollywood celebrities, according to a report.

Politico reported that “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof and his wife, Heidi, will host a fundraiser for Talarico in Brentwood on Sept. 10. Tickets for the event start at $500 and go as high as $13,500, according to the outlet. This will be Talarico’s second Hollywood fundraiser in a few months. The first was held in June and was described by Page Six Hollywood as a “glitzy Dem fundraiser” at the home of Hollywood producer Peter Chernin. Fox News Digital reached out to the Lindelofs and Chernin for comment.

Meanwhile, Talarico’s opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, will gather in Dallas for the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention, along with President Donald Trump and other Republicans. The same night Republicans rally in Dallas, former President Barack Obama will headline a Democratic House fundraiser in New York, according to The New York Times. The events put prominent Democrats on the coasts while Republicans gather in Texas.

Fox News Digital previously reported that donors from outside Texas accounted for roughly 50% of the funds raised by Talarico, according to first-quarter campaign finance records.

TALARICO SAYS THE DIVIDE IS ‘TOP VS. BOTTOM’ — THEN HEADS TO ONE OF AMERICA’S RICHEST DONOR ENCLAVES

Talarico is taking heat from Republicans for his out-of-state fundraising. RNC spokesperson Zach Kraft told Fox News Digital that “it is no surprise that James Talarico feels more comfortable in crazy liberal California than when his handlers force him to wear a fake cowboy hat and rent a pickup truck to pretend to be a ‘real’ Texan.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico’s campaign for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Talarico currently serves as a progressive Democratic lawmaker in the Texas House of Representatives. Since winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, Republicans have continually knocked him for his record of controversial statements, including calling God “nonbinary,” saying that there are six sexes and saying that reducing meat consumption was “existential” to fight climate change.

JAMES TALARICO DOESN’T DRIVE HIS OWN TRUCK IN VIRAL TEXAS CAMPAIGN AD FEATURING DODGE RAM

Despite the attacks, Talarico and Paxton are running a tight race, and many Democrats believe this could be the year Texas finally flips blue. A Fox News poll from July gave Talarico a 3-point edge over Paxton, 51% to 48%, which was within the survey’s margin of sampling error.

Paxton, meanwhile, has told Fox News Digital that Talarico’s lead is not surprising given his head start in the general election following his particularly messy primary runoff against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.

Speaking with Fox News on Sunday, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that “money is an issue” in the race.

FIRST ON FOX: MAJOR CORNYN BACKER GOES ALL-IN FOR PAXTON AS GOP RALLIES AFTER RED STATE SHOCK POLL

“Mr. Talarico has been raising bucketloads of money from California, Hollywood,” he said.

He called on Trump to help Paxton with cash, saying, “We in the Senate don’t have the money budgeted for Texas; we need help from the president.”

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For his part, Trump has promised: “I’m going to help Ken Paxton, and I’m going to spend a lot of time in Texas.”

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Touting his history of winning the state three times on the presidential level, he said, “I’ll be going to Texas, and we’re working really hard. We want to win that race.” Trump called Paxton a “very good candidate,” while taking a jab at Talarico, saying, “‘Talafreako,’ they call him, because he is a little freaky.”

EXCLUSIVE — The head of an influential Senate committee is urging Congress to reconsider the charter of the nation’s largest teachers union, citing its far-left associations and allegedly irresponsible financial activity.

In recent years, the National Education Association, which represents roughly 3 million educators, has come under fire for mobilizing students and teachers to support liberal activist campaigns, been criticized by its Jewish members for failing to address antisemitism, spent millions in membership dues supporting left-wing causes and partnered with organizations that portray political violence and far-left extremism favorably.

Now, Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is calling on his colleagues to take a closer look at the NEA’s congressional charter.

BLISTERING REPORT EXPOSES HOW NATIONAL K-12 GROUP’S DEI AGENDA IS TRICKLING DOWN TO LOCAL SCHOOLS

“Children are struggling to read and to do basic math. Instead of helping students succeed, teachers’ unions are injecting a dangerous, anti-American agenda into our classrooms,” Cassidy told Fox News Digital. “Parents deserve to send their children to school without worrying that they will be indoctrinated with DEI and taught that Americans have ‘misplaced faith’ in our institutions.”

Cassidy, in a report outlining the NEA’s activity obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, puts a spotlight on the Zinn Education Project and Rethinking Schools — a pair of interlinked educational nonprofits that the top teachers union has collaborated with extensively.

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The Zinn Education Project and Rethinking Schools, for instance, have published curricular materials that justify the actions of the Black Panther Party — a left-wing militant Black nationalist organization that operated during the Cold War — and praise its members, including those who were involved in acts of political violence, according to the report. 

“The Marxist and communist ideologies espoused by the Black Panther Party are inconsistent and incompatible with the foundation of the United States Constitution,” Cassidy’s report, published by the HELP committee, reads. “The Black Panthers advocated for the use of armed force against police and were involved in the murders of civil servants and members of their own party.”

SCOPE OF SPLC’S DEEPLY EMBEDDED INFLUENCE TRAINING TEACHERS NATIONWIDE UNCOVERED IN SWEEPING REPORT

Rethinking Schools also published a lesson plan where students are meant to role-play as “queer liberation” activists fighting against the “Religious Right,” according to the report. Another lesson plan, titled “Expanding Intersectional Queer History in the Elementary Grades,” instructs teachers on how to incorporate LGBTQ material into lessons for young students.

The union has worked closely with the duo of nonprofits over the years, giving them prominent space and speaking opportunities at conferences, collaborating with them on curriculum development and nationwide teaching events, and praising and promoting their lessons. The union has also incorporated the groups’ work into educator handbooks and helped distribute their lesson plans to teachers.

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Congress chartered the NEA in 1906 under the expectation that it would “elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching; and to promote the cause of education in the United States,” a mission Cassidy and some other Republicans argue it has since strayed from. Revoking the NEA’s charter would primarily be a reputational blow to the union, as it would still be able to operate even without it.

As another example of the NEA allegedly failing to live up to its charter, the HELP committee points to its involvement in the left-wing protest movements.

MAY DAY PROTESTS ‘JUST THE BEGINNING’ OF STUDENT ACTIVISM PUSH, EXPERT WARNS

The labor union promoted and participated in the 2026 May Day protests, which were critical of President Donald Trump and his Republican allies. In one planning webinar the NEA hosted in the lead-up to the demonstrations, educators were advised to “bring activism into the classroom,” targeting children as young as three years old. Students in Chicago were reportedly encouraged by teachers to skip class for the protests, even as Chicago Public Schools see subpar reading and math competency scores.

On the financial side of things, Cassidy points to data showing that, since 2015, the NEA has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to advocacy organizations and political action committees, the vast majority of which are left-of-center. In some cases, political organizations funded by the NEA later provided members of the union’s leadership team with cushy jobs, according to the report.

FAR-LEFT ACTIVIST CONFERENCE AT TEACHERS UNION HQ RAISES CLASSROOM CONCERNS

“The central issue is not whether every such expenditure is impermissible. Rather, it is whether members receive sufficient transparency about how their dues are used, whether union leadership has adopted adequate safeguards against conflicts of interest and whether these expenditures advance the purposes for which members joined the union in the first place,” the Senate committee report reads.

Organizations funded by the NEA include the Sixteen Thirty Fund and the Tides Foundation, two of the largest Democratic-aligned dark money operations in the country, as well as millions to its own PAC, which almost exclusively supports Democratic candidates.

JEWISH EDUCATORS FACE RAMPANT ANTISEMITISM IN TEACHERS UNIONS, NEW REPORT FINDS

The HELP committee report also alleges that the NEA has failed to represent the interests of Jewish educators, citing an August 2025 letter where the union’s Jewish Affairs Caucus claimed its members reported “shunning, harassment and antisemitic comments” at the union’s annual assembly.

While not congressionally chartered like the NEA, the American Federation of Teachers drew flak from Cassidy’s report for many of the same reasons.

The report cites the AFT’s participation in “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump, its boycott of Target over immigration enforcement and its advocacy on LGBTQ+ issues, as well as its routing of tens of millions of dollars to liberal causes, as evidence of alleged mission drift at the union.

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The NEA, AFT, Rethinking Schools and the Zinn Education Project did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

The scrutiny comes as the NEA transitions to new leadership. Princess R. Moss, a former NEA vice president and secretary-treasurer, began a three-year term as president on Tuesday, succeeding Becky Pringle, who led the union for six years.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed a “slate” of Republicans statewide Tuesday, including GOP gubernatorial nominee U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. 

“I’m endorsing the slate here tonight … because I know it’s important for the state of Florida,” DeSantis said at the Florida GOP Leadership Forum in Tampa.

The event showcased Donalds, Attorney General James Uthmeier, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

Last year DeSantis appointed Ingoglia as CFO and Uthmeier as attorney general. Later in 2025, the governor endorsed Ingoglia for election to the CFO post. He then backed Simpson for re-election this year. 

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“Tonight I was honored to earn Governor @RonDeSantis’s endorsement,” Donalds wrote in a post on X.

“Governor DeSantis has done incredible work to make Florida the envy of America. As your next Governor, I will build on his success and defend the Florida Dream,” he said.

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Donalds, who won the Florida GOP gubernatorial primary in August with the backing of President Donald Trump, will face Democratic gubernatorial candidate former U.S. Rep. David Jolly in the general election.

While he is currently running for governor as a Democrat, Jolly previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican.

BYRON DONALDS SHUTS DOWN BILL MAHER’S CLAIM ON GOP PRIMARY RACISM, SAYS ‘FLORIDA IS A MERITOCRACY’

Under the Florida Constitution, DeSantis, who is serving his second consecutive term, is not eligible to seek another consecutive term as governor this year.

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“No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term,” the Florida constitution states.

Massachusetts Democrats rewarded incumbency in marquee primaries Tuesday, but the clearest message came in the state’s generational showdown, with 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey routing moderate Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, after Moulton argued it was time for the party to “pass the torch.”

Tuesday night’s results underscored Democratic dominance in the deep-blue state rather than a single ideological sweep. Voters backed established incumbents across the party’s factions and selected a Biden-Harris-backed former White House aide in the closely watched open-seat contest to take over Moulton’s House seat after he abandoned it to run for Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans failed to nominate House candidates in four districts — the first, second, fifth and seventh — while only fielding write-ins for the blue stronghold’s secretary of state race.

Markey’s victory over the more moderate Moulton, however, stood out as the night’s clearest win for the party’s progressive wing.

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“Its very clear that the dem voters care more about policies and having a progressive represent them in the senate, than age!,” controversial Twitch streamer and far-left activist Hasan Piker said after the Associated Press projected Markey would win. “Another w for our movement!”

Moulton highlighted the difficult battle he faced trying to unseat a longtime incumbent like Markey following his concession, but said the effort was not for nothing, noting “we started conversations that needed to happen” and adding that he is “confident … others will be inspired to buck the system when they’re told to wait their turn.”

Markey faced attacks during the campaign over his far-left positions, including his support for transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports, but the progressive bona fides of the Massachusetts lawmaker, who has represented the state in Congress for nearly five decades, were not a significant enough sticking point for voters to abandon him.

SCANDAL-PLAGUED ‘SQUAD’ REP CRUISES TO DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION WITH NO GOP ROADBLOCKS IN VIEW

“Ed Markey has spent decades fighting for LGBTQ+ equality, for working people, and for a more livable world,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Kelley Robinson following Markey’s win. “He knows why equality matters.  He’s stood with us no matter what. We were proud to endorse him this year, and when a pro-equality majority takes back the Senate this fall, we will continue to count on him as a champion for our community.”

The incumbent success Markey saw carried into the House during Tuesday night’s Massachusetts primaries, where Reps. Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch fended off younger challengers, while Reps. Katherine Clark and Jake Auchincloss also advanced. The string of wins offered little evidence of broad anti-incumbent turbulence in the state’s Democratic delegation.

Massachusetts Democrats also picked former Biden White House aide Dan Koh to succeed Moulton in the open 6th Congressional District. Koh’s victory gives the delegation a new face, but it did not come at an incumbent’s expense as Moulton vacated the seat for his unsuccessful Senate bid, creating the district’s first open-seat contest without an incumbent on the ballot in decades.

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Massachusetts Republicans, meanwhile, failed to field nominees in several House districts, including the Boston-area 7th District, leaving Democrats such as Rep. Ayanna Pressley without GOP opposition in November. Pressley ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary.

Republicans will still have a statewide standard-bearer in November after businessman Michael Minogue defeated Brian Shortsleeve for the GOP gubernatorial nomination and advanced to face Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who won her primary unopposed Tuesday night.

The GOP also nominated House candidates in five of the state’s nine districts: the third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth.

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The most notable is the open 6th District, where Republican Micah Quinney Jones will face Koh, who was backed by former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, alongside several other alumni of the Biden administration. The support gave Koh a powerful establishment coalition in the crowded contest to succeed Moulton.

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Following Koh’s win, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin congratulated the former Biden administration aide.

“From Boston City Hall and the U.S. Department of Labor to the White House, Dan Koh has dedicated his life to public service and ensuring government actually delivers for working families. He is a Massachusetts native who knows how to bring people together to solve problems and fight for our communities,” Martin said in a statement. “In Congress, Dan will prioritize bringing down costs, protecting healthcare, making housing more affordable, strengthening workers’ rights, rooting out corruption, and holding Donald Trump accountable. The DNC is ready to work alongside him to make life more affordable for people throughout Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating other school districts and contemplating additional lawsuits over alleged violations of federal parental rights laws, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told Fox News Digital Tuesday, calling the DOJ’s newly filed “first-of-its-kind” case against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools the “first of many.”

The DOJ sued Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) Tuesday, alleging the district violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) with a district policy that facilitates “secret gender transitions” for students at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

“No, we’re not waiting. What we do is we ask for documents, we investigate and then we try to resolve cases with school districts. And if we cannot, then we file lawsuits. And, so, there are many other lawsuits contemplated here and other investigations that are ongoing,” Dhillon said when asked whether DOJ would wait for the Kansas case to conclude before pursuing other districts.

Dhillon declined to identify the other districts under investigation, saying she did not want to prejudge the outcomes.

EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE COMMITTEE PROBES CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS OVER HIDING ‘GENDER AFFIRMATION’ FROM PARENTS

“This is a really important lawsuit for us. And the point I wanted to emphasize is that it’s the first of many,” she said.

The DOJ lawsuit against KCKPS centers on internal guidance for transgender and gender non-conforming students. The DOJ alleges the district has used versions of the guidance since 2017.

Under the guidance described in the complaint, students can ask that their parents be excluded from school planning meetings and that their transgender or gender non-conforming status not be disclosed to their parents. The resulting written plans can address names, pronouns, school records, restroom and locker room use, sports and other accommodations.

Asked about KCKPS’ assertion that it complies with federal law, Dhillon rejected the district’s position.

FIRST ON FOX: SCHOOL LIED, HID DAUGHTER’S GENDER TRANSITION UNDER DISTRICT POLICY, PARENTS ALLEGE

“Well, I think you can get that from the complaint, but they had secret gender transition plans that locked parents out of knowing what was being asked of their children. So, I obviously completely reject that,” Dhillon said.

KCKPS disputed DOJ’s allegations Tuesday in a news release.

“Contrary to the allegations in the complaint, the district maintains that it is in full compliance with FERPA and PPRA and is disappointed by the DOJ’s decision to file the lawsuit,” the release read.

The district said it would respond through the federal court process and would not comment further while the litigation is pending.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION THREATENS KANAS SCHOOL DISTRICT FUNDING OVER TRANSGEDNER STUDENT POLICY

The DOJ argues the written plans constitute education records under FERPA and that excluding parents can prevent them from exercising their rights to inspect and challenge those records.

The government separately alleges the district violates PPRA by allowing students to participate in meetings and evaluations that can reveal sensitive information without prior written parental consent.

The Department of Education opened a FERPA investigation into KCKPS in August 2025.

The federal government advised the district Aug. 12 that its guidance violated FERPA and PPRA, and the complaint states the government ultimately determined KCKPS would not voluntarily comply.

The DOJ is asking a federal court to declare the district’s practices unlawful and prohibit enforcement of the guidance or similar policies that violate FERPA or PPRA.

Dhillon said the DOJ intends to pursue potential violations elsewhere.

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“But I want there to be a very clear message to every school district in the United States. They are on notice that if they violate FERPA and PPRA, the United States Department of Justice stands ready to protect the rights of parents and the rights to pupils to privacy, dignity and parental rights in determining how children are educated in the United States,” Dhillon said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas referred questions about the lawsuit to the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs.

Former medical device executive Mike Minogue won the Massachusetts gubernatorial primary Tuesday, defeating Brian Shortsleeve, a former executive at the MBTA, the state-run transit agency.

The winner will now face favored Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who is running for a second term. Massachusetts has had continuous Democratic representation in Congress since 1996, but Republicans have had considerably more success in races for the governor’s mansion since the Reagan era.

Minogue emphasized his business credentials in campaign materials, citing his work at GE Healthcare before leading Danvers-based Abiomed.

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Minogue said that, while he was at Abiomed, the company developed the world’s smallest heart pump and doubled the size of its headquarters, increasing its in-state capabilities and creating jobs.

Minogue also drew attention on social media when Boston-based Canadian American investor Kevin O’Leary, better known as Shark Tank’s “Mr. Wonderful,” appeared in one of his videos and said he does not usually “show for politicians.”

“Massachusetts is ‘dead-money’ now. We need a guy like this to run the show,” O’Leary said in July.

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According to The Boston Herald, Healey launched a last-minute ad attacking Minogue as “MAGA Mike,” which the newspaper said shows the executive “has Healey’s attention” and may help Shortsleeve.

Minogue won the state’s GOP convention endorsement with 70% of the vote, while Shortsleeve earned his ballot position with a fraction of a percentage point more than the required 15%, according to reports.

Minogue self-funded roughly $7 million of the more than $7.5 million he raised in the first quarter, hosted a fundraiser with Vice President JD Vance and has donated to Trump and the RNC. Shortsleeve raised about $646,500 in the first quarter of 2026.

Healey was formally renominated Tuesday after running unopposed. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, a fellow Democrat, also advances unopposed to the November election.

Republicans, however, have no candidates in about half of the state’s congressional districts or in the races for secretary of state and state auditor. A signature problem has forced lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Anne Manning Martin to run a write-in campaign.

The district in the Berkshires, the district covering much of the Massachusetts Turnpike corridor, and two exurban Boston-area districts to the north and west have no Republican candidates competing Tuesday, guaranteeing Democratic nominees will advance in those races ahead of November.

Massachusetts state government has not always been as reliably Democratic in modern times despite the conditions in this year’s contests.

Former Gov. Charlie Baker, a moderate Republican, preceded Healey from 2015 to 2023.

Former Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, served as Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007 and opted against re-election before launching an unsuccessful presidential bid against President Barack Obama.

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Romney was preceded by several Republican governors. From 1997 through the end of Romney’s tenure, Republicans continuously held the governor’s office.

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Former libertarian presidential candidate Gov. William Weld, former Gov. Paul Cellucci and former Gov. Jane Swift were consecutive Republican governors. Swift was elevated to the office when Cellucci became then-President George W. Bush’s ambassador to Canada.

Weld was preceded by 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Gov. Michael Dukakis, and Democrats more often held the governor’s office in the preceding era.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is nominating acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to permanently lead the service, calling the former Navy special operations officer a “true WARRIOR” and urging the Senate to quickly confirm him.

Cao has served as acting secretary for the past four months, overseeing the Navy and Marine Corps as the Trump administration pushes to expand U.S. shipbuilding and strengthen the military’s maritime capabilities.

“I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR, Hung Cao, to become the next Secretary of the Navy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“We need Patriots like Hung leading our Navy and Marine Corps, and I can think of no one better than him to make sure our Great Navy and Marine Corps remain the FIERCEST and BEST Force the World has ever seen,” the president continued.

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Trump called on the Senate to move quickly on the nomination, pointing to Cao’s tenure already leading the department.

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“The Senate needs to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP, so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past 4 months,” Trump wrote.

Cao thanked Trump shortly after the announcement and said his priorities would continue to include shipbuilding and homeland defense.

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“Thank you, Mr. President. It’s an honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team,” Cao wrote on X. “I’m grateful for your leadership and support as we continue to get after shipbuilding and ensure the defense of the homeland.”

Cao is a retired Navy captain who served for 25 years in uniform after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. His military career included service in special operations and deployments to combat zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Virginia Republican later entered politics, mounting an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2022 before challenging Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine for his Senate seat in 2024.

Trump endorsed Cao during the 2024 campaign, touting his military background. Cao ultimately lost to Kaine before joining the Trump administration and taking over the Navy in an acting capacity earlier this year.

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If confirmed by the Senate, Cao would formally assume responsibility for the Department of the Navy, which includes both the Navy and Marine Corps.

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The White House and the U.S. Navy did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, who has cultivated a relatively conservative reputation while representing Massachusetts for the past quarter-century, has defeated a well-funded progressive challenger.

Patrick Roath, an attorney and one-time aide for former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, challenged Lynch from the left, outraising him by about $300,000. Lynch and Roath clashed over a number of issues on the campaign trail, namely immigration, healthcare, money in politics and housing.

Lynch was one of 46 House Democrats to vote in favor of the Laken Riley Act, legislation requiring federal authorities to detain certain migrants accused or convicted of theft and other specified crimes. Roath, who supported dismantling and replacing ICE, cited Lynch’s support for the bill as part of his reason for entering the race.

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Roath criticized Lynch’s support of the bill as “shortsighted and expedient” and argued that it “demonstrates a fundamental failure to take seriously the threat that the Trump Administration poses to all Americans.”

Lynch acknowledged that the Laken Riley Act was “imperfect,” but defended his vote principally as a response to what he called an immigration system that was “completely out of control.”

On healthcare, Roath supported moving toward universal, government-funded coverage and has backed Medicare for All, while Lynch has supported a public option and sharply criticized the role of for-profit companies in the hospital system.

Lynch, notably, was one of just a handful of Democrats to vote against the Affordable Care Act. The congressman justified his vote by arguing that it provided too many concessions to insurance companies.

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While Roath ran as an outsider populist, Lynch attempted to challenge that posturing by pointing to the progressive’s career as a corporate lawyer. Before becoming a member of Congress in 2001, Lynch was previously an iron worker, union president and lawyer.

Both Lynch and Roath managed to pull together an impressive coalition of supporters.

The Boston Globe, David Hogg’s Leaders We Deserve, Indivisible, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Boston Teachers Union and American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts all endorsed Roath, while Lynch secured the backing of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, Iron Workers Local 7, Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts and the American Federation of Government Employees.

In addition to falling within the context of the power struggle between the Democratic Party’s progressive and moderate wings, the primary in Massachusetts’s 8th Congressional District was also a generational battle. Lynch is 71 and Roath is just 39.

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Despite his voting record, Lynch has said that his reputation as a conservative or a moderate is overstated.

“Calling me the least liberal member from Massachusetts is like calling me the slowest Kenyan in the Boston Marathon,” he said in 2010. “It’s all relative.”

While Lynch is conservative compared to his colleagues in the Massachusetts delegation, he has shifted to the left in recent years. Once a proud pro-life Democrat, the long-time congressman now defends Planned Parenthood and throws his support behind pro-abortion legislation.

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Massachusetts’ 8th Congressional District is heavily Democratic. Robert Burke, a retired telecommunications worker and small businessman, is the GOP’s nominee in the constituency.

Hasan Piker, a controversial Twitch streamer and far-left activist who has supported several challengers against moderate Democrats, celebrated the victory of Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a primary contest that pitted the 80-year-old progressive stalwart against a far younger and more centrist candidate.

“It’s very clear that the Dem voters care more about policies and having a progressive represent them in the Senate than age! Another w for our movement!” Piker wrote on X after Markey defeated Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who is 33 years his junior.

Markey defeated Moulton, who centered his campaign on generational change, by casting himself as the race’s true progressive. He repeatedly questioned Moulton’s progressive credentials while continuing to push for transgender rights, particularly in sports — a position many Democrats have shied away from.

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The position, which Republicans have used as a political rallying cry on the campaign trail and which Democrats have largely avoided as they push to flip both chambers of Congress, is one that Moulton argued played a major role in Democrats’ losses across the board in 2024.

“Trans athletes should be able to play,” Markey told The New York Times. “That reflects Massachusetts and who we are. And Seth Moulton does not.”

Markey has also supported aggressive legislation on climate change, a platform that helped win over even groups that center around younger audiences.

“VICTORY! Congratulations to Ed Markey on his victory in Massachusetts tonight. Sen. Markey has been a leading climate champion in the fight for a Green New Deal to create jobs and lower costs for working people,” the Sunrise Movement said in a statement to X.

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The group describes itself as a “movement of young people fighting fascism to win a Green New Deal.”

David Axelrod, a top political consultant and former advisor to President Barack Obama, noted that Markey hadn’t always been a darling of the progressive left ahead of Tuesday’s election. He credited Markey’s pivot for his political longevity.

“[Ed Markey] was first elected to Congress 50 yrs ago as a social conservative, opposed to abortion rights and school busing,” Axelrod said in his own post to X.

“Now 80, he’s likely to sail in tonight’s primary in MA, despite his age, because, in his Golden Years, he’s grabbed on to the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, trans rights and other marquee priorities of the Left, undergirding himself against younger, more moderate challengers in very blue MA.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also praised Markey’s win. Like Markey, Sanders, 84, continues to shape the progressive movement despite the decades between him and many of its younger candidates.

“Congratulations to Ed Markey on his landslide victory in the Democratic Massachusetts Senate primary. Ed knows that, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, Congress must take on the billionaires and fight for working families,” Sanders wrote.

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Having cleared the primary election, Markey now heads to the general on Nov. 3, where he is heavily favored to win in the deep-blue Bay State.

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Markey last won reelection in a 66.2% to 33.0% victory over Republican challenger Kevin O’Connor, a local attorney.

A former Biden administration aide just won a crowded primary race in Massachusetts, setting up a glide path to the House of Representatives come November.

Dan Koh came out first among six candidates to replace Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who ended his House tenure with a failed run for Senate against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., that came to a conclusion Tuesday night.

Koh had the backing of both former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, which was no surprise after his stint working in the White House. He first joined the administration as chief of staff to then-Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and later became deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

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But his successful Tuesday primary is not the first time Koh ran for Congress. He narrowly lost the Democratic nomination in Massachusetts’ nearby 3rd Congressional District to Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., in 2018.

Koh is running on progressive campaign promises like abolishing “Trump’s ICE” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and universal healthcare.

He’s now poised to succeed Moulton in the 6th Congressional District, which includes the northeastern portion of Massachusetts and is rated a safe blue seat.

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Moulton, who served in the Marine Corps, has represented the district since 2015.

His campaign for Senate has been marked by a bitter primary battle against Markey, an 80-year-old progressive who has been in office since 2013.

Moulton, 47, ran his campaign based on generational change and arguing that Markey had long missed his chance to substantively make life better for Massachusetts residents, but that wasn’t enough to stave him off Tuesday. 

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Markey is backed by the far left’s marquee names, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Meanwhile, Koh himself is a figure of the establishment left, with both his father and uncle also serving in the federal government.

His father, Howard Koh, was an assistant secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under former President Barack Obama. His uncle served under the Obama and Clinton administrations.

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Koh now moves on to face Republican military veteran Micah Jones, who is running in his primary unopposed.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark toppled two progressive challengers Tuesday in Massachusetts’ safely Democratic 5th Congressional District, surviving a primary fight that put Gaza and pro-Israel political spending at the center of the race.

Clark, who won handily Tuesday night against fellow Democratic Party contenders Jonathan Paz and Tarik Samman, was first elected in 2013 during a special election and has held her position as House Democratic whip since 2022.

The second-highest ranking Democrat after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Clark has helped lead opposition to Republican spending, immigration and healthcare measures, including recent messaging against ICE funding and GOP cuts to Head Start and Medicaid.

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She ran against former city councilor, educator and union organizer Paz and 27-year-old Harvard Law School researcher and union organizer Samman.

Clark fended off two left-wing challengers who sought to make Gaza and pro-Israel political money central issues in the safely blue Boston-area primary.

Her fundraising operation dwarfed both challengers, raising $4.5 million, while Paz raised $88,500 and Samman brought in $43,800, according to FEC filings.

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While AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, endorsed Clark and has contributed to her campaign in the past, she has taken a critical stance toward the Israeli government’s handling of the war in Gaza.

AIPAC is an influential pro-Israel lobbying group that has been criticized for advocating for U.S. military aid to Israel amid the war in Gaza.

Last year, Clark used the word “genocide” at a district event before clarifying that she was not accusing Israel of genocide. Then, in July, she voted to cut $3.3 billion in U.S. military aid, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had failed to meet U.S. interests and values.

Clark has continued to support Israel as a sovereign Jewish state and backed U.S. assistance for some Israeli defensive systems but is critical of Netanyahu.

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Samman and Paz have argued that while Clark has increasingly criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza, she has yet to renounce the AIPAC money she has accepted.

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Clark ran unopposed in 2024. Her most recent general election opponent was Republican Caroline Colarusso, whom Clark defeated 74% to 26% in 2022.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss advanced Tuesday against Jason Poulos in Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District.

Auchincloss has held his seat since 2021, facing his first Democratic primary challenge since winning the seat.

Progressive challenger Poulos is an AI policy researcher who has been critical of Auchincloss regarding past support for military aid to Israel and ties to AIPAC while calling for an end to U.S. military assistance to Israel.

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Poulos, who previously volunteered for Bernie Sanders’ campaign, ran on Medicare-for-all, universal basic income, taxes on corporate automation, stronger unions, student-debt cancellation. He also wanted to reduce military spending and end U.S. military aid to Israel.

While Auchincloss is endorsed by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, he been critical of aspects of Israel’s conduct in Gaza by saying some Israeli actions in 2025 “crossed lines” on humanitarian conditions.

AIPAC is an pro-Israel influential lobbying group that has been criticized for advocating for U.S. military aid to Israel amid the war in Gaza.

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In July, Auchincloss voted with more than 100 House Democrats to eliminate $3.3 billion in U.S. military financing for Israel, while maintaining his support for the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Auchincloss campaigned on lowering housing and healthcare costs, promoting economic growth and positioning Democrats to better confront the economic disruption caused by AI.

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Auchincloss, who succeeded Joe Kennedy III, comes from a prominent Boston medical family.

He had previously been a registered Republican and worked on then-Gov. Charlie Baker’s campaign, a line his primary opponents used against him. He later returned to the Democratic Party.