NationalWatch

President Donald Trump’s new oil agreement with Venezuela could give the United States access to a 65 billion-barrel crude-oil prize — an energy-security win, even if drivers are unlikely to see benefits quickly.

The deal announced Friday would give the U.S. a stake in 17 Venezuelan oil fields holding an estimated 65 billion barrels of crude, according to Venezuela’s government.

Venezuela controls more than 300 billion barrels of crude reserves, roughly 20% of the world’s total. It is the largest oil stockpile on the planet, exceeding even Saudi Arabia’s.

TRUMP’S AMBITIOUS ENERGY BET COULD BE A WINNING HAND AS THE WORLD BURNS MORE OIL, GAS THAN EVER

Yet Venezuela has long struggled to turn that oil wealth into steady production. Political instability and deteriorating infrastructure have left the country producing only about 1% of the world’s oil despite holding an estimated 17% of global reserves.

For Trump, the potential benefit goes beyond the deal’s headline number.

Venezuela produces heavy crude, the type many Gulf Coast refineries were designed to process. Much U.S. production is lighter shale crude, while Gulf Coast refiners have historically relied on heavier imports from Canada, Mexico and Venezuela.

TOP ENERGY TRADER HAILS TRUMP’S VENEZUELA OIL DEAL AS A ‘GENERATIONAL WIN’ FOR GAS PRICES

A steadier Venezuelan supply could support Gulf Coast refineries, diversify U.S. oil imports and provide a buffer against future supply disruptions. It could also help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which remains well below its 714 million-barrel authorized capacity.

That prospect has taken on added importance as the war with Iran disrupts oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The average U.S. price for regular gasoline stood at about $4.07 a gallon Sunday, according to AAA, compared with roughly $3.19 a year earlier.

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For Trump, the deal is a bet that long-term access to Venezuelan heavy crude can strengthen U.S. energy security and eventually ease costs for Americans.

Whether it translates into relief at the pump will depend on how quickly Venezuela can turn its vast reserves into market-ready barrels.

Ankit Gupta, a general partner at Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator, is facing backlash after describing Vice President JD Vance’s call for American companies to “hire and train Americans” as a return of “DEI.”

“In a win for the woke left DEI is back,” Gupta wrote on X.

“No, Ankit. It’s called putting your own citizens first,” Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito wrote, arguing that American companies should prioritize American jobs and workers. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon, and Nalin Haley, the son of former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, also publicly pushed back on Gupta’s framing.

Gupta’s X post came in response to Vance’s call for American corporations to hire and train American workers when they need employees. 

TRUMP ADMIN’S PUSH TO SCRAP DEI IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKES LANDMARK STEP WITH NEW HIRING RULE

“Y Combinator is a supposed champion of ‘Little Tech’ but perhaps they’re nothing more than a front for the far left,” Ferguson wrote in response to Gupta’s post, which has since become private after the CEO changed his social media settings, according to X. “I’m deeply uncomfortable with wealthy investors attacking American workers like this. I’m afraid it’s increasingly obvious to many people that individuals such as this guy do not have the best interests of America and her citizens in mind. The purpose of the American economy is to promote the general welfare of American workers, not provide jobs for the rest of the world.”

Ferguson subsequently posted a screenshot of his X account, showing Gupta had blocked him amid the criticism.

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORPEDOES TRUMP’S BID TO PROTECT US JOBS BY REFORMING CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRATION POLICY

“It’s now DEI to train and hire Americans? Plenty of data to show that Americans are more than qualified, but corporate greed refuses to pay them respectable wages,” Haley added on X following Gupta’s post. “You can have a meritocracy in AMERICA but it has to apply to AMERICANS. Otherwise we’re just a globalist entity and not even a country anymore. Ban the H-1B Visa now!”

Fox News Digital reached out repeatedly to Y Combinator and Gupta for comment on his characterization but did not receive a response.

CEO UNDER FIRE FOR MASS LAYOFFS AMID FOREIGN WORKER HIRING SPREE NOW APPOINTED TO FED’S TASK FORCE ON JOBS

Dhillon, meanwhile, accused some technology companies and other employers of exploiting visa programs and hiring practices to obtain cheaper foreign labor for jobs she said Americans could perform, including by failing to advertise openings through regular channels and relying on staffing pipelines.

“These are not good business practices; they are not patriotic economic practices; and they are illegal labor practices,” Dhillon wrote, adding that the Trump administration “will not allow American employers to discriminate against American workers.”

FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP’S $100K H-1B VISA FEE, RULING IT AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL TAX

Dhillon added that the Justice Department, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Labor Department were working together to “level the playing field for U.S. workers.”

The clash comes as the Trump administration pursues an overhaul of the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers to hire temporary foreign workers in specialty occupations. The Trump administration’s 2025 effort to impose a $100,000 payment on new H-1B petitions through a presidential proclamation was blocked by a federal judge. The administration is now trying a different route, with the Department of Homeland Security proposing a formal rule that would establish a $103,265 fee for cap-subject petitions.

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The Labor Department has separately proposed changing how wages are calculated in H-1B and related visa programs. The department said the proposal is intended to curb incentives to hire foreign workers at below-market pay and to protect the wages and job opportunities of American workers.

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.

A coalition of House Republicans is escalating its push for answers after lawmakers said New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill failed to address most of their questions about the state’s noncitizen voter-registration scandal and instead directed criticism at President Donald Trump.

Republican Study Committee member Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told Fox News Digital there will be consequences after Sherrill sent a response that he characterized as “snarky” and politicized and said largely sidestepped the lawmakers’ questions.

“The response that we got from the governor was almost like she took a political mailer and embossed it upon her official letterhead,” Van Drew said. “As governor of the state of New Jersey, it was beneath her, it was beneath me, and it was unfortunate.”

SHERRILL ESCALATES TRUMP FIGHT OVER VOTER FIASCO DAY AFTER MULLIN PRAISES NJ COOPERATION

“I state the obvious,” Van Drew said. “If you are an American, you should be voting in an American election. If you’re not an American, you shouldn’t be voting in an American election.”

Lawmakers focused their original inquiry on how the registration failure occurred, its potential consequences and how New Jersey would prevent another breakdown.

The July 24 letter from dozens of RSC members, led by Van Drew and Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, posed 12 specific questions about the registration failure and its potential impact.

Sherrill replied that affected residents have been mailed notifications, but Van Drew said the overall response failed to address Congress’ concerns.

“We’re not done with this,” Van Drew pledged.

Van Drew said he is planning a hearing as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee, with expert witnesses expected to testify.

Van Drew said he is working with the full committee under Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to get the requested information from Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, the state’s elections chief.

‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’: NJ ILLEGAL VOTING SCANDAL EXPLODES WITH MORE KEY SYSTEMS AT RISK

“If there’s a complete lack of cooperation after we build up a case, there is a possibility, it’s not definite,” Van Drew said. “But if they’re not, we do, in my opinion, have to look at subpoenas as well.”

Sherrill defended her administration while criticizing Congress, Trump and the Republican-backed SAVE America Act.

SHERRILL DROPS HEAD-TURNING VOTER ID DECLARATION IN WAKE OF REGISTRATION FIASCO: ‘SIGNIFICANT SHIFT’

“Washington Republicans … seem much more concerned with using the issue for political gain than they are with protecting our elections,” Sherrill wrote, accusing several signatories of supporting Trump’s efforts to “undermine our election system” and noting that seven had challenged electoral votes after the 2020 election.

Sherrill also disputed Republicans’ contention that the SAVE America Act would have prevented the error, writing, “I encourage you to become more familiar with the legislation you have cosponsored.” She also raised privacy and abuse-of-power concerns about proposals to expand the federal government’s role in voter registration, including through a centralized voter registry.

Van Drew told Fox that “when you have a motor-voter law, [via which] people basically are automatically registered to vote – First of all, New Jersey is a sanctuary state… Illegal criminals shouldn’t be even in the state. But now we find out that illegals were also obviously having the ability to register to vote and were being registered and some of them actually were voting.”

The White House also rebuked Sherrill’s response, calling it “laughable” that she would criticize the Trump administration on election integrity.

“[This] after she and her fellow Democrats have denied for years that non-citizens are registering and voting in our elections,” said White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis.

Sherrill spokesperson Sean Higgins hit back at the criticisms, telling Fox News Digital the governor’s reply detailed how Trenton “moved with transparency and accountability to remediate this error from 2023.”

“But Republicans are more interested in playing political games. Considering that Jeff Van Drew’s campaign employed an operative convicted of voter fraud, bribery and blackmail, he might not be the best voice on what is too ‘political’ on this topic,” Higgins said, pointing to a 2020 Politico report about ex-Atlantic City council president Craig Callaway.

Pfluger told Fox News Digital that Sherrill spent “three pages on political theater and barely a sentence answering our questions,” adding that she “dodged” whether any elections were decided by fewer votes than the number of illegal ballots cast.

“We are not letting this story get buried. It is high time we pass the SAVE America Act to make sure our elections are secure, transparent, and worthy of the public’s trust,” he said.

Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., the state delegation’s most senior member and an RSC colleague, said Trenton must give Congress “complete transparency” and a corrective path forward.

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“Secure elections are the bedrock of democracy; we must take all steps necessary to ensure that votes are cast only by those who have a right to vote,” Smith said.

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The inquiry will continue on several tracks. Van Drew’s subcommittee is preparing a hearing, the Judiciary Committee is seeking additional state records and lawmakers are weighing further compulsory action as separate executive branch scrutiny continues.

A federal court in South Carolina ruled that the state’s rules for mail-in-voting violated the constitution last week.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling relates to South Carolina’s mail-in ballot laws and certain allowances it makes for voters over the age of 65.

Typically, voters looking to send mail-in ballots must meet certain criteria, such as being out of the country during the early voting period or being disabled.

SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY

A state law removed those requirements for all voters over the age of 65, however, and the fourth circuit’s ruling found that provision to be unconstitutional.

“By granting voters aged sixty-five and older unconditional access to absentee-by-mail voting while conditioning that same option for younger voters on eligibility categories, documentation, and a rigid deadline, the state allocates voting opportunities unequally based solely on age,” U.S. Circuit Chief Judge Roger Gregory wrote in the order.

The case arose after a group of younger voters sued the South Carolina Elections Commission in 2023, arguing the rule violated the 26th Amendment.

A lower court initially dismissed their argument, but the case continued on appeal until it appeared before the Fourth Circuit.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT REJECTS TRUMP BID TO ENFORCE MAIL BALLOT ORDER AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS

The new ruling sends the case back to lower courts with specific instructions on how to decide the case. Gregory wrote that either all South Carolina voters must be entitled to vote absentee without restrictions, or none of them can be.

That is unlikely to be the end of the question, however, as representatives of South Carolina say they plan to appeal further, potentially reaching the Supreme Court.

NEWSOM PROMISES NEW LEGAL FIGHT AFTER TRUMP GETS SUPREME COURT VICTORY ON MAIL-IN VOTING

The order came the same week that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a largely favorable ruling for President Donald Trump’s effort to limit mail-in ballots across the country.

Former White House deputy counsel Gene Hamilton said federal agencies such as the Postal Service can now move forward with parts of Trump’s election-integrity order, including new ballot-mail standards and efforts involving state citizenship lists, as opposing states wait to see which concrete federal actions could form the basis of new lawsuits.

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Further litigation is expected on that front as well.

Icelanders voted Saturday on whether to reopen negotiations to join the European Union, with President Donald Trump‘s push for U.S. control of neighboring Greenland adding a new security dimension to a debate that has divided the NATO ally for years.

Iceland, strategically positioned in the North Atlantic and roughly 180 miles from Greenland, has no military of its own and relies on NATO and a longstanding defense agreement with the United States for its security, according to RTE and The Associated Press.

Trump’s repeated interest in acquiring Greenland has unsettled some Icelanders and raised questions about whether closer ties with the EU could provide another layer of security for the island nation, the AP reported.

TRUMP SAYS NATO FAILED TWO KEY TESTS DURING HIGH-STAKES TURKEY SUMMIT: ‘NOT HAPPY’

Roughly 275,000 eligible voters were asked whether Iceland should resume membership negotiations with the EU. As of Saturday evening, the result had not been officially called.

If the referendum passes, Iceland would resume negotiations with the EU, followed by another referendum on actual membership, RTE reported.

Iceland’s government, led by Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, has vowed to respect the result, although the referendum is technically nonbinding.

“This has been a tight race, extremely exciting,” Frostadóttir said after voting Saturday.

She said the campaign had “lifted discussions about the EU, about Iceland’s place in the world, about our general geopolitical situation and status, to a higher level.”

While domestic and economic issues have played a central role in the referendum campaign, Trump’s ambitions for neighboring Greenland have also cast a shadow over Iceland’s debate about its place in Europe and the broader geopolitical landscape.

TRUMP ARRIVES AT NATO SUMMIT AS IRAN RIFT LOOMS ABOVE ALLIANCE TALKS

Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, previously saying the U.S. would obtain the strategically important Arctic island “one way or the other.”

The Trump administration has also previously weighed options for acquiring Greenland, including the potential use of military force. Such a move against territory belonging to Denmark, a fellow NATO member, would pose an extraordinary challenge to the alliance and its collective-defense commitments.

Trump has also mistakenly referred to Iceland while discussing Greenland on multiple occasions, according to the AP.

Iceland itself was drawn into the discussion earlier this year after former Rep. Billy Long, who is now Trump’s ambassador to Iceland, apologized for privately joking to House lawmakers that the country could become the “52nd state” with him as its governor.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A mayor of a small city in Mississippi is arguing against lowering the flag to honor Dolly Parton, worrying that it would “lessen the meaning of the gesture” in the future.

“I believe lowering the American flag to half-staff should mean something very significant,” Olive Branch, Mississippi, Mayor Ken Adams wrote on the city’s Facebook page on Friday. “In my opinion, it should be reserved for our military heroes, fallen first responders, presidents and other major national leaders, or events that have had a tremendous impact on our country.”

He added, “If we lower the flag every time a well-known or beloved person passes away, I believe we eventually lessen the meaning of the gesture.”

DOLLY PARTON’S LIFE IN HER OWN WORDS: FROM SMOKY MOUNTAINS POVERTY TO COUNTRY MUSIC IMMORTALITY

Adams began his post by acknowledging the “9 to 5” songstress as a “great person” who “brought happiness to millions of people and has done tremendous things for others throughout her life.”

He said he had “nothing but respect for her.”

SHERRILL RIPPED AFTER NEW JERSEY SKIPS FLAG DIRECTIVE HONORING GRAHAM: ‘MOST POLITICAL GOVERNOR’

Adams went on to say that while he doesn’t believe local governments should disregard the president or the governor, Mississippi operates under “Home Rule,” which he said gives local governments broad discretion.

Both President Donald Trump and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves ordered U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff for one week after her death at 80 years old on Tuesday.

DOLLY PARTON REFUSED TO PICK POLITICAL SIDES FOR DECADES: ‘I’M NOT IN POLITICS, I’M AN ENTERTAINER’

“The President can make the decision for the country. The Governor can make the decision for the State of Mississippi. I believe a mayor should have the ability to make a decision for his or her city,” Adams continued. “I also don’t believe residents elected me to be a ‘salute and execute’ Mayor but to lead with conviction.”

He stressed that his decision wasn’t about “disrespecting Dolly Parton. It isn’t about politics. And it certainly isn’t about saying she wasn’t a great American.”

DOLLY PARTON’S BELOVED LITERACY MISSION SEES SURGE OF SUPPORT AFTER COUNTRY ICON’S DEATH

“It’s simply my belief that the American flag at half-staff is one of the highest honors we can give, and I believe that honor should be reserved for truly extraordinary circumstances,” he said. “Sometimes preserving the meaning of an honor means being selective about when we use it.”

Adams faced criticism in the comments, with one person writing, “She did more for children than any politician ever has. That should raise her status in your eyes from ‘just a celebrity.’”

BROADCAST BIAS: DOLLY PARTON TAUGHT THE WORLD THE WAY TO BE UNIVERSALLY BELOVED

“I’d lower it for Dolly before any politician,” a second person stated.

A third commenter wrote: “When you said ‘it’s simply my belief’, I guess you said it all. Doesn’t matter to you what the President, the Governor or your residents believe. And ‘reserved for people who made a tremendous impact?’ Well…she was probably the most unifying figure of the past 40 years; and she donated 325 million books to kids. Sounds like an impact.”

A fourth person who said they were a veteran and first responder wrote that they were “100% ok with lowering the flags for Dolly. She gave her time and money to the military and multiply organizations. She earned this.”

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Adams didn’t clarify if his statement meant the flag would not be lowered in Olive Branch.

Fox News Digital reached out to Adams’ office for comment.

LANSING, Mich. — Socialist-adjacent Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed addressed the media during Saturday’s state Democratic Party Nominating Convention, where he was dogged by many of the same questions that have plagued his campaign for months.

Surrounded by media in a hallway at the Lansing Center, where the convention took place, El-Sayed was peppered with questions from the press about his relationship with far-left online personality Hasan Piker, along with his stance on Israel and Gaza, which has driven a wedge between his campaign and some Democrats, especially Jewish ones.

“We’re in the state of Michigan. If you want to make this race about a streamer in California, I just think you’re missing the boat,” El-Sayed told reporters. “This is about affordability in Michigan. This is about seeing a doctor in Michigan. This is about Donald Trump’s disastrous policies in Michigan. That’s what I’m focused on right now.”

ABDUL EL-SAYED PLAYS DOWN HASAN PIKER TIES AFTER STREAMER’S VIRAL ANTISEMITISM FIRESTORM

Four different reporters asked El-Sayed about Piker, with whom he campaigned and partied during his primary race. He dodged all of them, falling back on describing the polarizing streamer as “a streamer from California” who is irrelevant to his race in Michigan.

“I am not interested in a conversation about a social media person in California. And to folks who want to make this about a social media person in California, let’s not forget what actually matters in our politics, what our politics are really about,” he said. “I don’t ever want my comments to hurt anybody’s feelings. It’s important to me that people understand that I take serious the pain of all communities in this state. But I don’t want to have a conversation about a Twitch streamer in California. This is not a serious conversation.”

EL-SAYED DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM HASAN PIKER AFTER DISTURBING REMARKS ABOUT JEWISH AMERICANS

Piker is known for saying “America deserved 9/11,” praising Mao Zedong and Communist China, arguing that capitalists should be murdered in the streets and making a litany of antisemitic comments.

Fox News Digital asked El-Sayed about a recent controversy stemming from comments he made in March in response to an attack on a Michigan synagogue, when federal investigators say a gunman inspired and radicalized by Hezbollah crashed into the place of worship seeking to kill as many Jewish people as he could.

“Hurt people, hurt people,” he said in response to the attack. He has been criticized by members of his own Party, including Secretary of State Dana Nessel, who discussed the comments in a recent interview with The Atlantic, and declined to attend Saturday’s convention partly over concerns of anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party.

JEWISH DEM DEFECTIONS THREATEN EL-SAYED IN MICHIGAN SENATE RACE DECIDED BY RAZOR-THIN MARGINS

El-Sayed told Fox News Digital his comments “might have been misconstrued to be justifying something I did not intend to justify,” but then offered an apology.

“To anybody who feels like my comments may have been hurtful, I’m really sorry. That was not my intention. We condemned that terrorist attack. We condemned it outright,” El-Sayed told Fox News Digital. “What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context and you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain.”

JEWISH AG’S CONVENTION BOYCOTT EXPOSES DEEPENING ISRAEL FAULT LINE AMONG MICHIGAN DEMOCRATS

He also said it was the responsibility of the Democratic Party to come together.

Michigan Democrats swarmed the convention center Saturday afternoon, where the theme was “unity” amid the controversies faced by the state’s highest-profile candidate for elected office.

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Other statewide candidates took the stage to rally attendees, and presented a united front, often invoking their opposition to President Donald Trump as a point of common interest.

Then-President Joe Biden put Georgia at the center of the national voting-rights fight in 2021 when he branded the state’s Republican-backed election overhaul “Jim Crow in the 21st century.”

Now, five years later, a separate Georgia voting-rights battle involving allegations of racial discrimination is garnering national attention as it plays out in federal court. This time, the dispute centers on the state’s redrawn Congressional and state maps redrawn in 2021, with challengers facing a significantly tougher burden of proof following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.

The latest development came when the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court judgment striking down Georgia’s 2021 maps and returned the case to U.S. District Judge Steve Jones.

The appeals court instructed Jones to reconsider the challenge under the new framework established in Callais, which raised the bar for plaintiffs alleging racial discrimination in redistricting.

Under that standard, evidence that a map weakened Black voters’ electoral influence is not enough by itself. Plaintiffs must present evidence supporting a “strong inference” of intentional racial discrimination and distinguish the effects of race from those of partisan politics.

SUPREME COURT RULES ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULE AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WAGE REDISTRICTING WAR

That distinction is especially important in Georgia, where Black voters overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates, creating significant overlap between race and partisan affiliation. That overlap could make it more difficult for the challengers to prove that race, rather than political advantage, drove the district lines.

Black voters and voting-rights organizations filed three lawsuits challenging the maps between December 2021 and January 2022, arguing that the districts diluted Black voting power in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Jones ruled for the challengers in 2023 and ordered Georgia to create additional majority-Black districts, including one Congressional district, two state Senate districts and five state House districts.

Georgia subsequently enacted replacement maps that satisfied Jones’ order while preserving the Republican Party’s political advantage elsewhere. Those maps were used in the 2024 elections and remain in place for the 2026 election cycle, while the legality of the original maps remained at the center of Georgia’s appeal.

MEDIA OUTRAGE OVER SUPREME COURT’S VOTING RIGHTS ACT DECISION COLLIDES WITH REALITY

Before Callais, plaintiffs suing based on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act could win their case without proving that lawmakers intentionally discriminated on the basis of race. Courts focused heavily on whether a map had the effect of diminishing minority voters’ ability to elect their preferred candidates. But under Callais, courts must more closely examine whether present-day racial discrimination was behind the redrawing of the maps rather than political advantages.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior fellow at Advancing American Freedom, said he does not believe the Georgia challenge will survive the new test.

“I don’t think a challenge will succeed because there is no evidence of current racial discrimination going on in the state legislature,” von Spakovsky said. “Prior rulings against the state were based on judges misconstruing and misinterpreting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by claiming there was racial dilution resulting from partisan gerrymandering.”

“That is not the correct legal standard under Section 2,” he continued. “Partisan gerrymandering is constitutional and is not a violation of Section 2.”

GEORGIA REDISTRICTING BATTLE REVIVED AFTER APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS FEDERAL COURT DECISION

Georgia can argue that lawmakers were pursuing partisan objectives rather than targeting Black voters because of their race. Because the state’s Black and Democratic voting blocs substantially overlap, separating those possible motivations could prove difficult for the challengers.

“The Supreme Court in the Callais decision specifically said that a viable claim under Section 2 can only be shown if there is evidence of current racial discrimination, and judges must distinguish between racial and political bases for the way people vote,” von Spakovsky said.

“In other words, there’s no racial dilution going on when individuals are voting a particular way because of their politics,” he added.

Jones must now decide how to handle the remanded case. The plaintiffs could ask to supplement the record with revised maps, updated statistical analyses or additional evidence addressing the Supreme Court’s new requirements. The 11th Circuit, however, did not automatically grant them a new trial or authorize them to rebuild their case from the beginning.

Georgia could argue that the plaintiffs already received a full trial and that Jones should apply the new standard solely to the existing record.

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Whatever Jones decides is unlikely to alter Georgia’s districts before the November 2026 midterm elections. The appeals court did not order the state to reinstate the original 2021 maps, and Georgia has already conducted its primaries using the replacement districts created from the 2023 map.

A day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” amid a trade war with Canada, the leader of Seneca Nation of Indians asked him to reverse it.

Calling his order “unpresidential,” president J. Conrad Seneca on Friday wrote: “The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action. His order should be rescinded, and the name Lake Ontario should be left as it is, reflective of the Seneca people, other Haudenosaunee nations and all Indigenous people surrounding the lake.”

Seneca explained that the lake derived its name from Indigenous roots.

TRUMP TAUNTS CANADA ON RENAMING LAKE ONTARIO THE ‘LAKE AMERICA’ AMID RISING BORDER TRADE RIFT

“In our traditional Seneca language, its name is sga:nyodai:yoh, meaning ‘beautiful lake,’” he wrote in a message shared in the nation’s newsletter. “Long before the United States existed, and before settlers brought the English language to our lands, our Seneca and Haudenosaunee ancestors traveled Lake Ontario and surrounding waterways for many reasons, including diplomacy among our nations. Now, we are seeing the exact opposite of diplomacy.”

He added that to the people of Seneca Nation, Lake America is not a “political pawn” but rather land that Indigenous people have lived on for thousands of years.

HILLARY CLINTON’S DIG AT TRUMP OVER LAKE ONTARIO NAME CHANGE SPARKS VIRAL BACKLASH: ‘SHOOTING BLANKS’

“The action that President Trump is taking is starkly un-presidential and demeaning to his office and his standing as the leader of the free world,” Seneca argued. “His blatant disrespect toward the Seneca people, other Haudenosaunee nations, and all Indigenous people is unacceptable.”

He noted that first President George Washington signed a treaty with several nations, including the Seneca, in 1794 “promising to live in peace and friendship with one another.” 

“The United States also promised our people the free use and enjoyment of our lands forever,” Seneca said. “President Trump’s aggression toward our culture with his Executive Order violates that peace, friendship and commitments of the Canandaigua treaty.”

“This is the latest in a long history of willful attempts to disregard the United States’ commitments to the Seneca and other Haudenosaunee nations,” he continued. “President Trump needs to be reminded of those commitments.”

He added that Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution “clearly states that treaties are the ‘supreme Law of the Land,’ and need to always be honored as such.”

HOUSE DEM’S ‘LAKE NATALIE’ JAB AT TRUMP AIDE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ABLAZE: ‘STAY CLASSY’

Seneca called on all Native groups and federal, state and local representatives — “regardless of political party” — to stand against the name change.

“We will always call Lake Ontario by the name derived from the language of our ancestors — the name that, like the strength and influence of the Seneca people, will live on forever, long after the intrusive political tirades of individual men,” he said.

‘CAPTAIN CANADA’ FIREBRAND UNLOADS ON TRUMP WITH PROFANE ONE-LINER AS TRADE WAR ESCALATES

Trump announced the name change on Thursday.

“The Lake of America was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, actually,” he told reporters while signing the Executive Order in the Oval Office. “As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico — we changed it — and now it’s very routinely the Gulf of America,” Trump said in the Oval Office.”

TRUMP TRADE CHIEF WARNS CANADA WALKED AWAY FROM ‘THE BEST DEAL’ TO TRIGGER 50% U.S. TARIFFS

The president said he had directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the department to update the Geographic Names Information System to reflect the name change.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the name change on X, writing, “The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always.”

VANCE SAYS CANADA FRIENDLIER TO CHINA ON TRADE THAN TO US: ‘INSANITY’

The move to rename the lake, which sits on the U.S.-Canada border, came amid a breakdown in trade between both nations, with Trump accusing Ottawa of unfair trade practices.

Trump floated renaming the lake hours before Carney’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports.

TRUMP JUST EXPANDED HIS TARIFF PLAYBOOK WITH A POWERFUL TRADE WEAPON NO PRESIDENT HAS EVER USED

The U.S. imposed new 50% tariffs on Canadian goods such as wine, furniture and dairy products, while Carney said U.S. trade demands proved Washington wanted to “destroy our major industries,” including autos, steel and aluminum, FOX Business previously reported.

“Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade,” Trump said Thursday. “Very sadly, even the military, you know, we defend Canada for nothing. We don’t get anything. They don’t pay us to defend Canada.”

Trump also jokingly floated renaming the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

“So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake,” he said. “Now, all we need is an ocean. So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”

Trump previously used geographic names to make political statements, ordering the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Trump’s executive order has been criticized by several governors, including Democrats New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott.

“New York won’t be calling it that,” Hochul wrote on X.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan, announced that she plans to introduce House legislation that would nullify the change.

“Donald Trump can sign all the executive orders he wants, but it will always be Lake Ontario,” she wrote in a press release. “Canada is not our enemy. It is our neighbor, our ally, and one of Michigan’s most important economic partners. It is a friendship that no stroke of a pen can erase.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., introduced a measure Thursday condemning socialism in all its forms, telling Fox News Digital he wants to use the vote to force moderate House Democrats to take a more public stance against the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

“I keep hearing people like Hakeem Jeffries and others in the Congress saying that they oppose the DSA. Let’s see if they’re willing to vote for a resolution that would oppose them,” Crank told Fox News Digital in an interview on Friday.

Crank’s House resolution cites New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory as one of the clearest signposts of the DSA’s growing political momentum.

A recent Brookings Institution analysis found that as of August 12, 123 candidates endorsed or recommended by national, state or local DSA chapters had won primaries this cycle. Most were running for local or state-level office.

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

Crank described the DSA movement as “anti-American” and “anti-Constitution,” arguing that its members are often hostile to free speech, one of the core rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.

He also accused DSA members of being anti-Semitic in their advocacy against Israel, particularly after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel.

“I would almost say the DSA in some ways is the marriage between socialism, the traditional socialism of Bernie Sanders, and the anti-Semitism of this sort of radical Arab movement,” Crank said.

He continued: “If that’s a marriage, their child is violence, right? It’s violence and intimidation. It’s showing up at town hall meetings and trying to shout elected officials down, which, by the way, is completely anti-democratic.”

MAMDANI FACES QUESTIONS OVER TIES TO OUTLET ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITIC TROPES

One recent example of DSA members disrupting an elected official came in February, when San Francisco DSA led a protest at a news conference held by Mayor Daniel Lurie, who is Jewish.

Lurie was announcing a tax-cut proposal when demonstrators repeatedly chanted “Tax the rich.” During the disruption, a woman also shouted “tax the Jews,” though DSA and other protesters said she was not affiliated with the group.

Crank also took aim at several proposals contained in the DSA’s national program, arguing that they undermine “free and fair elections.”

His House resolution calls for passage of the SAVE Act — which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections — while also highlighting the DSA’s support for extending voting rights to “noncitizens.”

According to the DSA’s program, all permanent U.S. residents should have the right to vote, as should incarcerated people and those with criminal convictions.

CLINTON-APPOINTED JUDGE TRIGGERS APPEAL AFTER BLOCKING KEY VOTER CITIZENSHIP LAW

The program also calls for abolishing the Senate and replacing the Supreme Court with “a judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.”

Crank also criticized the DSA’s explicit opposition to capitalism, arguing that socialism has repeatedly failed both in the United States and abroad.

“I find it ironic that many of the people who are pushing socialism or who are involved in the DSA movement, they’re people who came here from a different country and now they come here and want to impose… the socialism that they left, that didn’t work,” Crank said.

He singled out Mamdani as “the first verified failure of socialism,” citing his pied-à-terre tax.

DSA CO-CHAIR PUSHES BACK ON SOVIET UNION COMPARISONS, WANTS PRISONS TO BE ‘LESS NECESSARY’

“You’re seeing socialism at its worst in places like New York with Mamdani who’s saying, ‘Well, I am just going to tax anybody who has a big house here,'” Crank said. “Well, people can choose to not have a house in New York. So they leave. It doesn’t work.”

He added: “He’s the first one to sort of get elected, and now he’s trying to spread it and get other DSA members around the country elected.”

Crank also mentioned Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old DSA member who won her Colorado primary in July after handily defeating Democratic incumbent Diana DeGette.

“[Kiros] said America deserved 9/11. So tell me why that’s different? When you have a bunch of terrorists on September 11th killing Americans because of ideology, how is that different than what Mao did? It isn’t. This is the insidiousness of this movement,” Crank said.

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Crank’s resolution similarly draws a line between modern Democratic socialists and past communist regimes under leaders such as Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin, asserting that socialism has led to famine, mass killings and more than 100 million deaths worldwide.

Kiros’ comments on 9/11 stem from an interview she did on June 22 with 9News journalist Kyle Clark, who asked her whether she believed the attacks were an “inevitable consequence” of American intervention.

“Inevitable in the sense that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East, which led people to believe that another act of violence was the only response. And again, just like I said before, our responsibility is to get rid of those conditions that lead to violence in the first place,” Kiros said.

Crank’s resolution will be considered by the House Rules Committee on Monday, and there will be a vote likely sometime next week, the congressman told Fox News Digital.

President Donald Trump on Friday touted an agreement with Venezuela that he said would lower gas prices by giving the U.S. majority control over 65 billion barrels of oil from the South American country’s proven reserves.

The breakthrough comes as disruptions to global energy markets from the Iran war continue to push up prices at the pump, with Americans now paying an average of $4.08 per gallon for regular gasoline, up from $3.20 a year ago, according to AAA.

The agreement with Venezuela will give the U.S. a 55% effective interest in the output of a new private company formed to manage the reserves, a U.S. official familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

While the U.S. will not immediately gain access to 35.75 billion barrels of oil, the 55% interest applies to the oil ultimately produced by the 17 Venezuelan fields covered by the agreement.

TRUMP PREDICTS GAS PRICES WILL GO DOWN TO $2.50 PER GALLON IF STRAIT OF HORMUZ FULLY OPENS

The agreement also allows the U.S. to purchase Venezuelan oil at cost, a provision that could give American buyers access to cheaper crude once production from the fields increases.

The deal is unlikely to translate into an immediate drop in U.S. gasoline prices, however, because experts have said bringing significantly more Venezuelan crude to market will require years of infrastructure work and billions of dollars in investment, according to the AP.

Rystad Energy, an independent energy research firm, said in July that Venezuelan oil production could jump 17% by 2028, but only if significant advances are made.

According to the firm’s report, Venezuela will need “higher drilling activity, extensive workover campaigns, improved infrastructure and significantly greater rig availability.”

Since much of Venezuela’s crude is extremely heavy and viscous, the country also needs a steady supply of diluents — lighter hydrocarbons blended with the crude to make it thin enough to flow through pipelines and reach refineries and export terminals.

In 2021, S&P Global described Venezuelan oil as having “the viscosity of asphalt.”

TRUMP BLASTS BIG OIL FOR ‘MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY’

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has also previously weighed in on Venezuela’s troubled oil industry.

In October 2023, after the Biden administration lifted most U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, the agency said “years of underinvestment and mismanagement” would limit growth.

The Trump administration, however, is betting that U.S. involvement and a massive influx of private investment can reverse the decline.

Trump said Friday the new agreement would greatly increase the U.S. oil supply and “substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future.”

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio similarly said the deal would bring nearly $100 billion in private investment to Venezuela and lower gas prices in the United States.

U.S. oil companies have been cautious about investing in Venezuela, citing the country’s deteriorated infrastructure and uncertain business environment.

Days after the Trump administration ousted Nicolás Maduro, Trump met with oil executives to discuss potential investment in Venezuela’s energy sector, but several expressed reservations.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said at the time that he viewed Venezuela as “un-investable.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s going to be at the Pentagon to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A reporter on Friday asked the president why he was not planning to be in New York for the somber occasion.

“Because I’m going to the Pentagon,” Trump shouted to the press at Joint Base Andrews.

On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Trump was not planning to attend the ceremony at Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers came down, because he wouldn’t be allowed to give a speech. The annual event has banned politicians from speaking since 2012.

I LOST MY WIFE ON 9/11. PLEASE LET THIS 25TH ANNIVERSARY BELONG TO THE FAMILIES

When asked about the Times report, a White House spokeswoman called Trump a “proud New Yorker.”

“President Trump has spoken about his own experiences watching the horrific events of September 11, 2001. On the 25th anniversary of this tragic day, the President will remember those who were killed at the hands of evil terrorists, honor their loved ones, and pay tribute to the brave first responders who put their lives on the line to rescue their fellow Americans,” White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to Fox News.

“The vice president is still traveling to NYC and all three sites will be represented with administration officials in attendance,” a White House official said, referring to the three Sept. 11 attack sites in Manhattan, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed.

After TMZ posted on X that Trump was “snubbing” the Ground Zero ceremony, White House communications director Steven Cheung fired back.

“FAKE NEWS,” Cheung wrote.

Trump lambasted the reporter behind in the Times article, writing on Truth Social Friday that she “made up a story that on September 11th, I’m not going to the World Trade Center, in New York City, because they won’t let me make a speech, and I’m going to the Pentagon in D.C., because I’m a featured speaker.”

“This is more Corrupt News, I’ve been to New York many times over the years, and no one ever speaks, it’s a ‘solemn ceremony!'” Trump wrote in part.

Trump said, “I would love not to speak, because I’m speaking all the time, and this is a day to remember the victims, and their beautiful family members.”

Last year, Trump also chose to speak at the Pentagon for the 24th anniversary of 9/11, though he traveled to New York City later in the day to attend a Yankees game.

JUDGE THROWS OUT KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED’S 9/11 CONFESSION IN ALREADY LONG WAIT FOR TRIAL

The last time he attended the Ground Zero ceremony was in 2024, when he was the Republican presidential nominee. He was there alongside then-President Joe Biden and his election rival, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump also did not attend the Ground Zero ceremony during his first term. He spoke at the Pentagon in 2017, then alternated in subsequent years between commemorations there and at the site in Pennsylvania.

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Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda hijackers crashed three commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Hijackers also seized United Airlines Flight 93, but passengers fought back before the plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

The 9/11 attacks, which remain the deadliest in the nation’s history, prompted the invasion of Afghanistan and helped usher in the broader War on Terror, which later included the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Fox News’ Patrick Ward contributed to this report.

Conservative legal experts say President Donald Trump’s latest attempts to narrow birthright citizenship and crack down on birth tourism may have stronger legal footing than his first effort.

After the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment, Trump issued two new executive orders taking narrower approaches to citizenship and birth tourism.

The first, signed Aug. 6, directs federal agencies to withhold documents recognizing citizenship from certain children born when neither parent is a U.S. citizen, including some whose parents are members of designated foreign terrorist organizations, foreign-government employees or participants in transactions or fraud intended to obtain birthright citizenship.

Experts from the Manhattan Institute, America First Legal and the America First Policy Institute, all right-of-center organizations, argued that Trump’s new order is narrower than his first and is built around longstanding exceptions to birthright citizenship that they believe could apply here.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS TARGETING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, BIRTH TOURISM AFTER SUPREME COURT SETBACK

“The Supreme Court has long recognized that there are exceptions to the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause for the aliens who are considered children of invading armies or the children of ambassadors,” America First Policy Institute senior fellow Chad Mizelle, who previously served as the Justice Department’s chief of staff, told Fox News Digital. “So in a situation where you have a terrorist here contrary to the laws of the United States … who is looking to do harm … That has long been recognized by the Supreme Court, and basically going back to the history of our country, as recognized exceptions to any sort of claim of birthright citizenship.”

United States v. Wong Kim Ark, decided by the Supreme Court in 1898, recognized exceptions to birthright citizenship for children of diplomats and children of alien enemies born during a hostile occupation. Trump’s order argues that members of foreign terrorist organizations can fall within that enemy exception.

TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT COMES ROARING BACK WITH ‘INVADERS’ PLAY AFTER KAVANAUGH ROADMAP

“The Supreme Court ruled that you can’t restrict birthright citizenship to kids of people in the country temporarily or illegally,” Manhattan Institute director of constitutional studies Ilya Shapiro told Fox News Digital. “But what the new executive order does is it goes to one of the classic exceptions to birthrights citizenship, two of the classic exceptions, those who owe an allegiance to a foreign government, meaning employed by a foreign governing diplomats otherwise, and those who are invaders of foreign armies and terrorists, members of foreign organizations hostile to America, certainly qualify in that category.”

David Bier, the director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, however, argued that the president’s attempt to redefine what constitutes an alien enemy without going through Congress puts the administration on legally shaky ground.

“Congress ultimately establishes what it means to be subject to U.S. jurisdiction,” Bier told Fox News Digital. “There’s this very limited exception for accredited diplomats and everyone else in the United States is subject to U.S. laws so the idea that the president himself on his own authority can decide who is subject U. S. jurisdiction and U.S. laws is really a radical expansion and assertion of executive power and really would be unprecedented in the history of the United States.”

JACKSON ACCUSES THOMAS OF ECHOING INFAMOUSLY RACIST COURT DECISION IN BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CLASH

“I really do think this case is testing a different proposition from the earlier case,” Bier added, explaining that the issue at hand has more to do with executive power than birthright citizenship. “And I think it’s a lot more questionable as well.”

Amanda Frost, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, pointed out that United States v. Wong Kim Ark specifies that only children of enemies “occupying” some portion of the country are barred from citizenship at birth, meaning that Trump’s order would not apply to terrorists simply residing within the country. She said the Trump administration could potentially expand who is legally defined as a diplomat to preclude more people from birthright citizenship, but explained such a move would make it difficult to prosecute individuals for criminal offenses, a concern shared by Bier.

Frost and Bier both believe the new executive order should be ruled unconstitutional.

Some have floated the issue of standing as a potential problem for those looking to challenge Trump’s order. Legal standing requires plaintiffs to show they suffered or imminently face a concrete injury caused by the defendant that a court can remedy.

“It’s going to be interesting to see who actually does have standing to challenge this order,” America First Legal co-founder and president Gene Hamilton told Fox News Digital. “Is there somebody who thinks that they’re going to swept up in the definition of a foreign terrorist organization? And if so, it would be kind of fun to see them try to sue the government or have someone sue on their behalf.”

Trump’s new order is already facing legal resistance.

TRUMP TO ASK SUPREME COURT TO REHEAR BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE AFTER ‘INSANE DECISION’

The same groups who challenged his initial order are now arguing that his new one unlawfully creates exceptions to birthright citizenship that conflict with the Supreme Court’s June ruling. The order remains on the books but is not scheduled to take effect until Sept. 6, with a Maryland judge scheduled to hear an injunction request Aug. 28 and a related motion still pending in New Hampshire.

Issued on the same day as the first new executive order, the second order directed the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to deny travel visas to or pursue removal actions against individuals believed to be in the country for the purposes of birth tourism. Birth tourism is a process through which noncitizens enter the United States while pregnant and give birth in order to secure citizenship for their child.

Hamilton described this second order as being on “sound, solid legal footing.”

“It relies and invokes Section 215(a) of the INA to impose conditions and delegates authority of the Secretary of State … to ensure that we are not granting visas and allowing people to remain on visas who may be engaged in birth tourism,” he explained. “It is the sovereign right and province of all governments across the world, and certainly the United States is no different, to determine who should be able to receive a visa and who shouldn’t. There’s no entitlement to a visa. There’s no constitutional right to a visa.”

SEN ERIC SCHMITT SEEKS TO END BIRTH TOURISM, REVOKE CITIZENSHIP FOR BABIES OF FOREIGN DIPLOMATS

Critics also argue that the administration already had tools to combat birth tourism. Since 2020, State Department rules have directed consular officers to deny visitor visas when they have reason to believe an applicant’s primary purpose is traveling to the United States to give birth and obtain citizenship for the child.

“No new executive orders are required for the federal government to go after birth tourism operators or deny fraudulent visa applications,” Center for American Progress senior director of immigration policy Debu Gandhi told Fox News Digital. “Americans should take note that from day one, the Trump administration has tried to evade the Constitution’s clear and unequivocal language on citizenship and unilaterally decide who is born an American.”

If the administration’s latest effort fails, supporters of further limits on birthright citizenship could turn to Congress or pursue a constitutional amendment, which would require approval by three-fourths of the states.

Shapiro says that the administration is on “solid ground” but noted that “if they had proceeded originally in this more targeted, narrower way” then the Supreme Court may not have ruled against them originally.

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The White House did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

DETROIT — A Black Christian pastor who went viral online for clashing with the city council in the nearby majority-Arab city of Dearborn issued a stark warning about Michigan senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

“Can you imagine him being in the Senate, being able to recommend federal judges to presidents?” Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180 Church said during an interview with Fox News Digital. “That’s his goal. His goal is to be able to recommend federal judge to presidents for appointments, and then we’re going to find ourselves in Sharia law all over this land.”

The Democratic nominee for Senate in the Wolverine State said in a 2009 New York Times interview that he was following Sharia law when he took out a special type of loan for an Ann Arbor condo. Sharia Law typically prevents interest on loans, and in some cases, Sharia-compliant Muslims can obtain loans wherein the amount of interest that would be paid over time is instead added to the purchase price of the home.

VANCE UNLOADS ON EL-SAYED OVER SHARIA REMARKS: ‘THAT’S NOT MY GRANDPA’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY’

“Ultimately, the question is, when I die and I stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way,” El-Sayed told the Times. 

El-Sayed’s spokeswoman Roxie Richner told the Washington Free Beacon when the report resurfaced earlier this month that, “While he lives by the rules of his faith, as many Americans of various faiths do, Abdul opposes any effort by any religious community to write their faith laws into the laws of our country.”

In a response to Fox News Digital, Richner characterized Sewell’s comments as “cheap attacks and hateful rhetoric” from an ally of El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.

EL-SAYED’S AGENDA PUTS ‘PERMANENTLY’ CHANGED AMERICA ON THE LINE IN MICHIGAN SENATE RACE, GOP FIREBRAND WARNS

As referenced by Sewell, members of the Senate often recommend political appointees to presidents, and ultimately, in the case of federal courts, the Senate confirms them.

He called El-Sayed a ‘fake doctor,’ referencing criticism of how El-Sayed has described his medical credentials. El-Sayed earned an M.D. from Columbia University but did not complete a residency and has not held a medical license in Michigan or New York.

Sewell also accused prominent Muslim politicians including, El-Sayed, of resisting assimilation into American culture.

“This is the type of conquering religion whereby people like Abdul El-Sayed, people like [Rep.] Rashida Tlaib, you have [Rep. Ilhan] Omar over there in Minnesota — you look at these people that have a desire, not to assimilate to our culture, but to take over our culture,” said Sewell. “They will wave flags to say ‘free Palestine.’ They will say ‘to the river, to the sea,’ all on American soil. I mean, these are the type of people that are not looking to assimilate. They’re looking to conquer.”

He added that if Christian ministers and “patriots” didn’t step up to combat Sharia law, he would be, “preaching out the Quran” and his “church would become a mosque.”

The pastor, who was born and raised on the east side of Detroit and says he was a “student of the streets” and “mentored by murderers,” is no stranger to media attention.

TRUMP INAUGURATION PASTOR SAYS DEARBORN CHRISTIANS ‘AFRAID’ TO SPEAK OUT IN MUSLIM-MAJORITY CITY

Just last week, he was the subject of a viral video from a Dearborn, Michigan, city council meeting.

“We are not a nation of Muslims, we are nation of Christians!” he said in an impassioned speech directed towards the councilors. “America, we have lost this city. This is a city that is no longer up under American laws; we are up under Sharia law. We will not have it anymore.”

DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR HEADS TO MICHIGAN WHERE PROGRESSIVES FACE BIGGEST TEST YET IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE SHOWDOWN

He also hosted then-candidate Donald Trump at his church during Trump’s 2024 campaign, rallying Black voters. He spoke at the RNC that year, too.

Throughout the interview with Fox News Digital, Sewell expressed disdain for Democratic Party politicians, who he says have long oppressed African Americans.

Sewell isn’t a fan of the company El-Sayed keeps, either.

He slammed El-Sayed for campaigning with socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who said in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11.” Piker has also praised Mao Zedong and Communist China, and said capitalists should be murdered in the streets and spewed a litany of antisemitic comments.

“I believe that there’s treason for you to say those type of words, that America deserves 9/11,” said Sewell.

He described Piker, who last week mocked the death of Charlie Kirk by singing a viral internet song in front of a crowd of socialists, as the “demonic” version of Kirk.

HASAN PIKER CALLS HAMAS ‘FAR MORE MODERATE,’ DISMISSES TERROR GROUP’S BRUTAL RULE IN GAZA

El-Sayed further distanced himself from Piker Monday after Piker argued on his Twitch show that rhetoric linking American Jews closely to Israel could ultimately provoke attacks against American Jews — comments critics condemned as antisemitic victim-blaming.

EL-SAYED DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM HASAN PIKER AFTER DISTURBING REMARKS ABOUT JEWISH AMERICANS

“If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,” Piker said on the stream.

El-Sayed said all Americans should be able to advocate for their beliefs without fear of violence, affirmed his commitment to Jewish safety and called antisemitism a “scourge” that must be addressed “in all its forms.” He added that nobody speaks for his campaign except him and his campaign spokespeople.

Sewell concluded that Biblical values are American values.

“This is one nation under the God of the Bible. The reason why America is great — it’s because God is great,” he said. “God gave us victory, [in the] Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, [the] Civil Rights Movement. That happened essentially with Black and White Christians.”

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“And now people come from all over. We’re not saying you’re not welcome here. What we’re saying is assimilate to our culture.”

Omar and Tlaib did not return requests for comment.

The next phase of President Donald Trump’s effort to change America’s mail-in-voting system is taking shape after the Supreme Court issued a largely favorable ruling for the White House in a challenge to Trump’s mail-in ballot restrictions.

Former White House deputy counsel Gene Hamilton said federal agencies such as the Postal Service can now move forward with parts of Trump’s election-integrity order, including new ballot-mail standards and efforts involving state citizenship lists, as opposing states wait to see which concrete federal actions could form the basis of new lawsuits.

“It’s really interesting what the court did [and] it’s actually exactly what you would expect the court to do,” Hamilton told Fox News Digital.

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

Hamilton said that when Trump directed USPS, DHS and DOJ to prepare for the new protocols, several states immediately claimed harm, but the court’s majority rejected their challenge.

Originally, a Boston federal judge agreed with them, but the Supreme Court effectively said “you can’t enjoin [the feds] from thinking” — in Hamilton’s words — because no action had taken place yet.

JACKSON RIPS INTO SUPREME COURT COLLEAGUES’ ‘SERIOUS LEGAL ERROR’ ON TRUMP MAIL-IN VOTING ORDER

“It reminds the American people … just because something might happen in the future [it] doesn’t mean that you’re actually harmed today, and that’s really the crux of what the court did.”

Hamilton quipped that if the states challenging the order were proven right — and the possibility of future harm were enough to obtain a legal stay — his organization would “have a field day across the country” trying to head off new policies he and his clients oppose.

In that regard, he added that the district judge ultimately overruled by the Supreme Court made an “egregious” misread of Article III powers and essentially said states can dictate which cases the attorney general and DOJ try to prosecute.

He emphasized that the legal landscape could change quickly once Trump’s actions get underway, but said states challenging executive action must show a concrete or sufficiently imminent injury rather than rely on predictions about what agencies might eventually do.

DHS APPROVES PLAN TO VERIFY VOTER CITIZENSHIP, MONITOR MAIL BALLOTS AS TRUMP PUSH INTENSIFIES

Besides USPS, Trump’s order directs DHS to compile and provide states with lists of adult U.S. citizens, while DOJ was told to prioritize investigations and potential prosecutions involving ballots issued to ineligible voters.

“Let’s see what the departments and agencies actually do. Well, let’s see what they say they’re going to do,” Hamilton told Fox News Digital, as new concrete federal rules will come next.

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

The clock is ticking to implement the plan and respond to further legal challenges as states distribute mail ballots progressively earlier than in past decades.

USPS first proposed its ballot-mail rule in June and has since finalized it, requiring standardized ballot envelopes and unique tracking barcodes while directing states to use a federal portal to identify voters receiving mailed federal ballots. States that fail to comply could see outbound federal ballot mail refused or returned.

But the agency signaled at the time that it won’t implement the rule for the midterms unless the litigation is resolved. A separate injunction obtained in litigation by the League of Women Voters currently blocks USPS from implementing the rule.

“Why wouldn’t you take steps like getting a list of eligible voters, like asking the USPS to use standard mail security measures that they use for other things,” Hamilton commented.

Asked which provisions of Trump’s order the administration plans to implement following the ruling, when those actions would begin and how states would be directed to comply, the White House did not provide specifics.

“These are commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders. This administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on — which includes the safety and security of our elections,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta — who led the plaintiffs from 23 states along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — criticized the Supreme Court for letting Trump “try to make it harder for Americans to vote.”

Shapiro was listed separately because Pennsylvania Republican Attorney General David Sunday had not signed the state onto the suit.

“Not so fast,” the potential 2028 presidential candidate said in a statement. “Donald Trump does not run elections here in Pennsylvania — or in any state.”

“[The] SCOTUS decision does not deal with the substance of Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order and does not mean his illegal attempt to restrict mail-in voting will go forward.”

On Wednesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes responded to the ruling, declaring, “Over my dead body is that rule going to go into effect. We are going to fight this tooth and nail in the courts.”

Bonta pledged to continue the fight and noted that Obama-appointed Judge Indira Talwani of Boston had originally sided with the plaintiffs.

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Hamilton predicted such disputes would produce another round of litigation as agencies make their next moves.

“We have to get through the arbitrage of lower court proceedings, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot more fighting to come,” he said.

Shapiro echoed the plaintiffs’ opposition to the ruling, tweeting:

“We’ll see the Trump Administration in court.”

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan and Melissa Chrise contributed to this report.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. declared that she will introduce legislation targeting President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America.

“The Great Lakes are a shared treasure that generations of Americans and Canadians have worked together to protect. That’s why I’m introducing legislation to keep Lake Ontario as Lake Ontario and block President Trump’s idiotic order,” Dingell declared in a Thursday post on X.

The president’s executive order called for updating “the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to reflect the renaming of the Lake and remove all references to Lake Ontario from the GNIS, consistent with applicable law.”

The order also stated that, “The Board on Geographic Names shall provide guidance to ensure all Federal Government references to Lake Ontario, including on executive department and agency maps, contracts, and other documents and communications, shall reflect its renaming.”

TRUMP RENAMES LAKE ONTARIO ‘LAKE AMERICA’ AMID INTENSIFYING US-CANADA TRADE DISPUTE

Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday what appeared to be the content of a message from U.S. Geological Survey Director Dr. Ned Mamula.

“As of 4:30 pm today the U.S. Geological Survey has officially designated the former Lake Ontario to be renamed as Lake America in all official USGS electronic documents,” Mamula noted. “The change will begin occurring in printed documents over the next several days. This change has also been made official in the Geographic Names Information System.”

Dingell’s post on X linked to a Politico report, which stated that Dingell noted in an interview that she plans to introduce a measure on Monday to nullify Trump’s move to change the lake’s name.

NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL REJECTS TRUMP’S ‘LAKE AMERICA’ RENAMING WITH BLUNT MESSAGE

The report linked to a copy of Dingell’s proposed “Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act,” which would declare that Trump’s Aug. 27 order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” along with actions taken under it, has “no force or effect.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and to Dingell’s office early on Friday morning.

TRUMP FLOATS RENAMING THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS AFTER REBRANDING HISTORIC LAKE

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared in a Thursday post on X, “The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big’. The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.

“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always,” Carney said in the post.

FIRST ON FOX: Four years ago, Taif Sami Mohammed was being celebrated by the United States as one of the world’s most courageous women. Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the senior Iraqi official as the country’s “Iron Woman,” crediting her with stopping bribes, uncovering schemes that enriched corrupt officials and fighting corruption despite threats against her.

Today, Mohammed is believed to be outside Iraq on the U.S. terrorist watchlist and can no longer enter the United States.

A State Department official told Fox News Digital the department revoked Mohammed’s visa this week, marking a dramatic reversal for an official who received one of the Biden administration’s highest-profile awards for women in 2022.

“While the Biden State Department shamefully celebrated and awarded foreigners who threaten our nation, the Trump State Department revokes their visas and ensures these individuals are removed from our country,” Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP ADMIN EYES HISTORIC MASS VISA REVOCATION TARGETING UP TO 200K ASYLUM SEEKERS: REPORT

“Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio, suspected terrorists will never be allowed to remain in the United States.”

The State Department did not immediately provide details about when Mohammed was placed on the terrorist watchlist or the intelligence that led to that determination.

Mohammed’s fall from Washington’s favor had been building publicly for more than a year.

Republican lawmakers previously accused her of helping facilitate terrorist financing through Iraq’s financial system and urged the Trump administration to take action against her. Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Greg Steube, R-Fla., called Mohammed a “key enabler of terrorist funding in Iraq” and pushed the administration to impose sanctions.

Those allegations stand in stark contrast to how the Biden administration described Mohammed when it selected her for the State Department’s International Women of Courage Award in 2022.

At the time, Mohammed was Iraq’s deputy finance minister and director general of its budget department. The State Department described her as a “frontline leader against corrupt practices” who had been integral to preventing corruption in Iraq’s budget.

Blinken went further during the March 2022 awards ceremony, saying Mohammed had “stopped bribes” and uncovered efforts to inflate government payrolls and enrich corrupt officials.

The ceremony, hosted by Blinken and featuring remarks from then-first lady Jill Biden, honored 12 women the State Department said had shown extraordinary courage and leadership.

Mohammed later rose to become Iraq’s finance minister, overseeing the federal budget, government spending and Baghdad’s financial relationship with Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Her troubles have since spread beyond Washington.

An Iraqi court summoned Mohammed and placed her on a judicial wanted list as authorities widened a corruption investigation into former senior government officials, IraqiNews reported Aug. 9, 2025, citing sources familiar with the proceedings.

FBI BRINGS IRAQI MAN ACCUSED OF COORDINATING NEARLY 20 TERROR ATTACKS IN EUROPE TO FACE TRIAL IN NEW YORK

According to the report, Mohammed is believed to be outside Iraq and has not been detained. The court action is part of an investigation and does not establish that she committed wrongdoing.

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The investigation grew out of a broader corruption probe involving government contracts and large sums of public money and has reached other former Iraqi officials, according to the report.

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Mohammed’s placement on the U.S. terrorist watchlist represents a separate and potentially more serious development. The State Department has not said whether it is connected to the terrorist financing allegations raised by members of Congress, the Iraqi corruption investigation or other intelligence gathered by the U.S. government.

FIRST ON FOX: Federal officials and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud have blocked or clawed back more than $1.6 billion in potentially improper Medicare laboratory payments since President Donald Trump returned to office, including $732 million tied to 157 lab providers booted from the program for alleged fraud.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said the labs were suspected of billing Medicare for tests that were never performed, tests patients did not need and services billed at higher rates than they should have been.

“When laboratories bill Medicare for tests they never performed, it drains the Medicare Trust Fund and diverts resources away from beneficiaries who need them,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said.

DOJ CHARGES 19 DEFENDANTS IN ALLEGED $4M PHILADELPHIA MEDICARE AND MEDICAID FRAUD

In one case, the owner of a consulting company enrolled 14 labs in Medicare and billed the program more than $24 million, even though CMS said none of the labs appeared to be operating.

CMS has since held back $12 million in payments to the labs and recovered another $7 million. Eleven of the 14 labs have been removed from Medicare, while the remaining three are still under investigation.

CMS said it is using artificial intelligence and other technology to sift through Medicare claims and spot unusual billing that could be a sign of fraud.

The technology looks for billing that falls outside normal patterns and can flag suspicious claims for closer scrutiny. CMS can then hold, reject or deny a claim before Medicare pays it.

Of the $1.6 billion cited by the agency, more than $500 million in suspected fraudulent payments were stopped through 185 payment suspensions after CMS investigated 600 labs.

“The previous administration treated our taxpayer-funded programs as piggy banks for fraudsters,” the White House told Fox News Digital. “That is no longer the case, thanks to President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Dr. Oz, who is an anti-fraud superstar.”

TREASURY HAILS SUCCESS OF ANTI-FRAUD PROCESS THAT FLAGGED AND PREVENTED $99 MILLION IN PAYMENTS TO DEAD PEOPLE

The agency also recovered more than $276 million in overpayments made to 442 suspect labs and said another $127 million in potentially fraudulent payments was prevented after 85 cases were referred to law enforcement.

CMS pointed to two recent cases in Texas as examples of labs suspected of billing Medicare for services they did not provide.

One lab began billing Medicare in late February. CMS said it caught the suspicious activity early and denied $1.2 million in claims.

The lab then changed the way it billed Medicare in early April in an apparent attempt to get around the agency’s safeguards, according to CMS. Officials continued watching its claims and stopped more than $150,000 in additional payments before removing the provider from Medicare later that month.

DR OZ SAYS 800 HOSPICE PROVIDERS SUSPENDED IN CALIFORNIA OVER ALLEGED $1B MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

Another Texas lab began billing heavily in May after submitting test claims two days earlier in the year. CMS denied $1.9 million in claims and captured another $1.7 million in payments. The lab remains under review and could be removed from Medicare.

The lab cases are part of a wider Trump administration push to combat improper Medicare billing involving medical equipment, hospice care, skin treatments and other services.

CMS said its Medicare fraud prevention efforts saved $42 billion in fiscal year 2025. So far in 2026, the agency says it has identified $1.8 billion in Medicare overpayments and recovered $378 million in overpayments from post-payment reviews.

Since Jan. 1, CMS has also frozen more than $371 million in Medicare payments involving 267 providers and suppliers. That includes more than $226 million in suspected improper billing for medical equipment, more than $53 million involving skin treatments and more than $23 million involving hospice providers.

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“We won’t stop until we’ve restored program integrity and ensured that fraudsters have nowhere left to hide,” Oz said.

Critics mocked former Vice President Kamala Harris after she warned Republicans are “trying to cheat” in the midterms while echoing President Donald Trump’s signature “too big to rig” rallying cry in a new video urging Democrats to turn out in force.

“We are two months away from the midterms. Get out and vote. Let’s get everyone out to vote. They are cheating,” said Harris in a recorded video Thursday posted on X.

“They are trying to cheat, and we have got to turn out in big numbers and be too big to rig. I’ll see you out there,” Harris added.

Trump repeatedly used “too big to rig” during the 2024 campaign, after years of casting doubt on U.S. election integrity following his loss in the 2020 election. Harris is using the same phrase while accusing Republicans of trying to cheat in the 2026 midterms.

2026 MIDTERMS STATE OF PLAY: KEY RACES UNFOLD AS STEVENS, EL-SAYED BATTLE IN MICHIGAN

“Kamala Harris has never had an original thought in her life,” wrote TPUSA Spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

“47 seconds. 15 jump cuts. She must be high as a kite,” wrote popular account End Wokeness.

“Nice to know she’s still stealing Trump’s ideas,” said conservative commentator Shawn Farash.

“Sounds familiar,” said Turning Point show host Jobob Taeleifi.

FEDERAL JUDGE AGAIN BLOCKS TRUMP’S MAIL BALLOT ORDER JUST BEFORE MIDTERMS

In her video, Harris pointed to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling allowing parts of Trump’s mail-voting order to move forward while the legal fight continues. The court did not rule on whether the restrictions themselves are legal.

A federal judge on Thursday again temporarily blocked the Postal Service from enforcing the new mail-ballot requirements, setting up another round of litigation over the policy ahead of November’s midterms.

FOX NEWS POLL: AS ECONOMIC PAIN DEEPENS, DISAPPROVAL OF TRUMP HITS NEW HIGH

Harris urged Democrats to turn out in large numbers while arguing that Trump’s mail-voting policies could make it more difficult for some voters to cast ballots.

“By the way, he votes by mail from Mar-A-Lago, but he doesn’t want you to vote by mail. Just this week the U.S. Supreme Court backed up the president’s agenda. He’s trying to make it more difficult for you to vote by mail,” Harris said in the video.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Harris for comment.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul faces new legal and political challenges over a law restricting local law enforcement cooperation with ICE after her Republican gubernatorial opponent warned it was “written in the blood” of crime victims.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, whose county borders sanctuary New York City, warned more New Yorkers will be hurt by Hochul’s move, pointing to recent cases of people maimed by illegal immigrants.

“I want to be very clear about this law: This law is written in the blood of the victims, past, present and future,” Blakeman said.

“This law is completely misguided and will make our communities less safe,” Blakeman said. “We have a governor and a legislature [wherein] every major criminal justice initiative makes it easier for criminals to prey on our communities.”

DEM GOVERNOR IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER TESTING LIMITS OF AUTHORITY WITH MAJOR MOVE AGAINST ICE

Blakeman’s warning came as a coalition of 15 sheriffs representing counties from the shore of Lake Champlain to the Massachusetts line filed a lawsuit challenging the ban on 287(g) ICE agreements.

His campaign referred Fox News Digital to his remarks when asked for additional comment.

In a memo outlining the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” Hochul argued that “current federal immigration efforts have made communities less safe” and that using local officers and assets for federal civil immigration enforcement draws resources away from local public-safety functions.

A Hochul spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Blakeman’s “understanding of New York’s bail and immigration laws is incorrect,” and said the governor’s top priority remains public safety.

BLAKEMAN CUTS INTO HOCHUL’S NEW YORK GOVERNOR’S RACE LEAD IN NEW POLL, AS LIKELY VOTERS GIVE DSA JUDGMENT

“The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act does not tie the hands of our police or stop them from apprehending dangerous criminals, and local law enforcement can and will continue to work with federal authorities on criminal investigations and violent crime just as they always have,” the spokesperson said, adding that the law doesn’t prevent cooperation on “ordinary criminal investigations.”

EXCLUSIVE: LEGAL GROUP TELLS NYPD COPS THEY CAN CONTACT ICE DIRECTLY DESPITE BLUE CITY’S SANCTUARY RULES

Hochul recently signaled she’d enlist Attorney General Letitia James to take action against counties that do not comply with the law, while quipping that police should not be converging on churches and schools to help “Stephen Miller reach his quotas.” Miller is a White House aide credited with crafting much of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

“We have reviewed this law with the county attorneys and we looked for every possible way not to comply with this law,” Blakeman said in his recent remarks. “However, it was concluded that we would have to abide by the law. I am a law-and-order county executive. I believe in the rule of law, even when it’s a bad law,” he said.

ICE EYES $20M PURCHASE OF ELECTRIC SHOCK GLOVES AS HOCHUL WARNS OF LEGAL CONSEQUENCES

Blakeman said the law makes it harder for police to keep communities safe, pointing to the recent killing of Westchester County resident Sheridan Gorman, which authorities have attributed to an illegal immigrant, while she was attending college in sanctuary Chicago.

Blakeman cited Illinois’ restrictions on state and local participation in federal immigration enforcement as he argued that New York was moving in a similar direction.

Closer to home, Blakeman said an illegal immigrant from Honduras was charged days ago in his county with second-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a 14-year-old.

Rep. Michael Lawler, the Rockland County Republican who has often warred with Hochul, tweeted this latest law shows she is “the worst governor in America” and “doesn’t give a s— about public safety or the rule of law.”

Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin opposed the 287(g) ban before it took effect, calling the agreements “common sense.”

McLaughlin, whose Capital Region county is one of the 15 challenging the law, invited Hochul to follow through:

“We don’t really care what this legislature did, we are not going to let them endanger our citizens,” he told ABC’s Troy affiliate in June. “I dare you to confront me on this, governor. We’re not stopping.”

Late Thursday, Hochul announced a countersuit against Rensselaer County’s sheriff for noncompliance.

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Blakeman said he similarly sought a route to noncompliance, pointing to the recent seizure of dozens of illegal handguns and several kilograms of drugs, as well as one of the “largest gang takedowns” in the U.S., which netted 42 gang members in 2025.

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Blakeman argued Wednesday that ICE involvement allowed authorities to keep some suspects in custody who otherwise might have been released under New York’s cashless bail and other laws. The law-and-order debate is also playing out elsewhere on the statewide GOP ticket, where former Brooklyn federal prosecutor Saritha Komatireddy, who is vying against James, is in a faceoff over criminal justice policies.

Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.