NationalWatch

Former President Trump’s commanding lead in polls can make him seem like the inevitable Republican nominee. Voters could also be forgiven for thinking a general election race with the same candidates will lead to the same outcome.

Still, there are a few real pathways for another Republican to take advantage of the primary calendar and give Trump a run for his money.

And while it’s possible Joe Biden will win another close general election, Democrats have good reason to be nervous about 2024, even if Trump is the nominee. 

Our advice for a shrewd bettor: Take the odds and bet on the horse named “Iowa Silver,” and don’t believe the conventional wisdom that makes Trump a “sure loser.” 

NEW POLL: TIGHT RACE BETWEEN TRUMP, BIDEN WITH RFK, CORNEL WEST INDEPENDENT BIDS THREATENING BOTH CANDIDATES

Primaries: a Trump nomination is very likely but not a sure thing

Iowa Republicans are about 12 weeks away from their caucus, which is still the first stop on the road to the nomination. 

The most recent Fox poll in that state has Trump at 46%, with a 31-point buffer between him and any of his rivals. If the caucus were held today, Trump would almost certainly win the most delegates.

But let’s state the obvious: Someone will finish second in Iowa. Yes, they say in the Olympics “silver may be silver, but it is still second.” But it could easily give that individual momentum to attract Republicans who are not sold on a third Trump nomination and are looking for a candidate to consolidate the field. 

That person — “Iowa Silver” — then heads into an early primary calendar that might give the candidate an opportunity to turn the race into a challenge for the frontrunner.

• How the calendar could help “Iowa Silver”: Well, the New Hampshire primary is shortly thereafter. Republicans in the state are less supportive of Trump than Republicans nationally and, moreover, independents can vote in the New Hampshire primary. And the state is led by Gov. Chris Sununu, who has made his opposition to Trump known and is the scion of a state political dynasty known for its ability to bring voters to the polls. Sununu has made clear his interest in endorsing someone other than Trump. It might be hard to win a bet on who Iowa Silver will be, but you can be certain that Sununu will take a hard look at endorsing him or her.
• Additionally, the field will narrow: Expect candidates to start dropping out. As candidates exit the race, those remaining see higher levels of support.
• “Iowa Silver” will get increased media attention: The second-place candidate is, by default, the biggest threat to Trump, generating significant media attention, just as the greater public begins to focus on the race.
• …and more donor support: Many big donors are focused on trying to find the “Trump alternative.” Some have even tried to recruit other candidates into the field. Expect them to quickly start taking calls from Iowa Silver.

Yes, “Iowa Silver” is likely to be a distant second. That might matter, but on the other hand, New Hampshire voters have a history of giving the second-place Iowa finisher a solid look. In 1984, Senator Gary Hart came in second in Iowa with only 16.5% of Iowa caucus support, a distant second to former Vice President Walter Mondale, who got 49% of caucus attenders. Eight days later, Hart humiliated Mondale in the New Hampshire primary by almost 10 points. 

If these factors play out, the leading alternative candidate will get more delegates than current polling suggests, and the overall race will be more competitive than the polling suggests.

CHRISTIE PLEDGES TO CONFRONT TRUMP ‘FACE-TO-FACE’ AS GOP PRESIDENTIAL LONG SHOT TARGETS FRONTRUNNER

Still, once we reach Super Tuesday, the shape of the race will morph again, likely benefiting Trump. Many states that night award all delegates to the majority vote winner and/or require candidates to reach a high threshold to win any delegates. That makes it harder for a challenger to take down the frontrunner.

So, for the overall race to become competitive, a leading alternative would need to emerge after Iowa (Jan. 15) and by Super Tuesday (March 4).

Today, polling points to Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley as the second-place candidate. Support for DeSantis has fallen, but he remains in second place in national — and Iowa — polls.

Haley is making gains, especially in New Hampshire, but also in Iowa.

Haley benefits more from the primary calendar since South Carolina is also an early state. She gets 18% there in the latest Fox survey, which is the most support of any non-Trump candidate in any recent national or state poll. It’s still an uphill climb because South Carolina is also a winner-take-all state, but she does have a hometown advantage.

Scott is also “all in” on the state. 

This is just one scenario. Trump has a commanding polling lead. The most likely outcome is that he will win the nomination. 

But keep your eye on the calendar and on whether “Iowa Silver” can take advantage of second place.

General election: A Biden vs. Trump rematch could be highly competitive, and Trump could win

If there is a rematch between Biden and Trump, it won’t necessarily lead to the same outcome as the 2020 election. 

Biden eked out a victory in that race. The average margin in the three closest states — Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin — was about 14,000 votes. Had he lost all three, there would have been a tie in the electoral college, and a loss in those same states today would have meant losing the election outright (thanks to electoral college reapportionment).

This gives the incumbent very little wiggle room in 2024. 

Head-to-head polling averages put support for Trump and Biden at about 45 points each. That is mostly a base party vote. In other words, voters who will always support the Democratic or Republican candidate.

JOE BIDEN BLUNTLY ASKED ‘ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO RUN AGAIN’ IN ‘60 MINUTES’ INTERVIEW

That leaves roughly 10 points of undecided vote. Where those voters go will depend on the issues, many of which are unique to 2024. Some examples:

Dem fears:

• Biden is four years older, and voters have noticed. This also puts a spotlight on the relatively unpopular Harris.
• Voters are giving low marks to Biden on the economy and immigration.
• Support for aid to Ukraine is falling, and, especially in light of the current war between Israel and Hamas, there is likely to be a debate on U.S. involvement in both wars, especially Ukraine
• Donald Trump has proven he can turn out rural and exurban voters, who can be decisive in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin

GOP fears:

• Trump has not appeared on a ballot since 2020; he is now under multiple indictments for his post-election actions and may have to appear in a televised criminal trial in Georgia before the next election.
• Abortion is a liability, especially in Arizona, where a constitutional measure is likely to appear on the ballot.

A non-Trump nomination would be a game changer. It would likely reduce turnout for both parties. It could also put more moderate voters in play for the GOP.

There are many other unknowns. The threat of war, impact of the Trump trials or a Biden health scare are top of mind. 

All of this could add up to a vastly different outcome in 2024, ranging from a comfortable Biden victory to a highly competitive race that Trump wins.

Role of third parties

There are three nascent third-party efforts. Based on polling and their messaging, we have some idea of who these candidates appeal to:

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• Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine and generally anti-elite message is most likely to resonate with right-leaning libertarians and independents who would prefer not to vote for Trump. That’s why, in a recent Suffolk/USA Today poll, his 13% of support comes from voters who by 2-1 say they would otherwise support the probable GOP nominee.
• Cornel West, a progressive philosopher and political activist, is fighting for a sliver of far-left vote. He would pull some votes from Biden, but at 4% total support in the same Suffolk poll, he appears to be less of a liability to Biden than RFK is to Trump.
• No Labels is targeting moderates and could pick off some of the suburban voters who got Biden over the line in 2020. Much of it depends on the candidate.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Former Vice President Mike Pence is out of the running. 

“I came here to say it’s become clear to me this is not my time,” the former vice president said in his surprise announcement at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting, which this year attracted all the major GOP White House contenders. 

“So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today,” Pence said.

The big question going forward is which contenders will follow Pence’s lead in suspending their campaigns for the 2024 Republican nomination in a race dominated by former President Donald Trump.

WHY MIKE PENCE DECIDED TO END HIS 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

While four lesser-known candidates had already called it quits, Pence became the first of the major contenders to suspend his 2024 campaign. 

One thing’s for sure: More will follow

“There’s no question others will follow suit. The question is one of timing,” RJC chief executive officer Matt Brooks told Fox News.

Veteran Republican consultant and media strategist Ari Fleischer, a Fox News contributor, highlighted that “consolidation is inevitable. It happens in every cycle… this field will shrink.”

TRUMP AND HIS 2024 RIVALS TO SHOW ‘SOLIDARITY’ WITH ISRAEL AT MAJOR GOP CONFERENCE IN KEY EARLY VOTING STATE

Longtime Republican strategist David Kochel, a veteran of numerous presidential and Iowa based campaigns, said that “this is the beginning of the winnowing of the field.”

The former vice president launched his 2024 campaign in early June. While he spent plenty of time over the summer and into the autumn on the campaign trail in the crucial early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, his White House bid never took off. 

Pence stood in the mid to low single digits in the latest surveys and his fundraising was meager. The former vice president struggled — but ultimately succeeded to reach the polling and donor thresholds to qualify for the first two Republican presidential nomination debates. But as of Saturday, he still remained short of hitting the criteria to make the stage at next month’s third debate.

Sources in Pence’s political orbit tell Fox News the final decision to drop out of the race came just in the past day or two, after recent fundraising didn’t alleviate concerns about reaching the donor threshold to qualify for the Nov. 8 debate in Miami.

PENCE TAKES AIM AT TRUMP AND OTHER GOP ‘IMMITATORS’ FOR WALKING AWAY FROM CONSERVATISM

Failure to make the stage at the next debate could lead others to drop out. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have spotlighted that they’ve reached the polling and donor thresholds required by the Republican National Committee to qualify for the debate. And on Saturday, as first reported by Fox News, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina also said he’d hit the criteria.

But North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — who failed to make the stage at the second debate — have yet to qualify.

“There will be more candidates who don’t get on the debate stage who fall off — whether formally or literally,” longtime New Hampshire based national Republican consultant Dave Carney told Fox News. “I think you’ll see more consolidation.”

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But Carney, who’s worked on presidential campaigns for more than three decades, said that “the money and the ego” will keep some of the other candidates in the race.

Carney predicts four or five candidates will still in the race at the beginning of next year, ahead of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the 2024 GOP nominating calendar.

“Iowa and New Hampshire will do the real weed whacking,” he said.

Kochel concurred, saying most of “the attrition is going to take place between Iowa and New Hampshire.”

Pence has long been a champion to social conservative voters, and was trying to make inroads with Iowa’s evangelicals, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State GOP politics.

“When someone exits the race, that’s the natural question. Where do those supporters go?” said Nicole Schlinger, a long time Iowa based conservative strategist who’s well-connected with evangelical groups.

“If you are Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis or Tim Scott, your team is trying to figure out how to appeal to Iowa voters who were leaning in Mike Pence’s direction,” she told Fox News.

Schlinger, pointing to Scott’s push for social conservatives, said “Tim Scott has the most natural appeal with voters who were leaning towards Pence.” But said that DeSantis also has “a solid record on life.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

In the wake of the Hamas terror attack against Israel, and anti-Israel protests erupting across the country, some Republicans are shifting their attention on immigration away from the border and onto stopping foreign nationals who express anti-Israel or pro-Hamas views from getting into the U.S. legally as well.

The Hamas terror attacks immediately drew attention from conservatives and Republicans to the southern border, and the risk of terrorists getting in through past Border Patrol. 

However, both the attacks and protests that emerged in college campuses and cities throughout the U.S. also raised new questions about potential restrictions on legal immigration — including in the refugee process. 

2024 presidential candidates and GOP lawmakers have called for the U.S. to no longer accept refugees from Gaza. Reps. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced legislation that would block anyone from Gaza being admitted as a refugee, while multiple 2024 candidates have promised to do the same.

GOP LAWMAKERS CALL FOR PRO-HAMAS STUDENT VISA HOLDERS TO BE DEPORTED: ‘NOT WELCOME HERE’ 

“I don’t know what Biden’s going to do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said during an event. “If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist.”

“We aren’t bringing in anyone from Gaza,” former President Donald Trump said recently.

Separately, multiple lawmakers and 2024 candidates have come out in favor of revoking visas of foreign nationals who are seen to have celebrated Hamas at student protests and elsewhere. That echoes similar moves in Europe, where there have also been calls to yank visas from foreigners spouting pro-Hamas rhetoric.

In the U.S., Reps. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., have written to the administration calling for Hamas supporters to be deported. In the Senate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has introduced legislation to cancel visas for foreign nationals who “endorse or espouse terrorist activity.”

HOUSE GOP MEMBERS INTRODUCE BILL TO BLOCK PALESTINIAN REFUGEES FROM ENTERING US

“America is the most generous nation on earth, but we cannot allow foreign nationals who support terrorist groups like Hamas and march in our streets calling for ‘intifada’ to enter or stay in our country,” Rubio said in a press release. 

It marks an emphasis shift of immigration priorities that have, for most Republicans, focused predominantly on illegal immigration and the southern border since the eruption of the migrant crisis in 2021. But legal immigration restrictions were a key part of the Trump administration — including the travel ban against predominantly Muslim countries, a slashing of refugee caps down to 18,000 a year, and efforts to implement additional screening of immigrants. Many of those efforts have been reversed by the Biden administration, with the refugee cap now at 125,000 a year.

Trump has promised a number of overhauls to legal immigration if re-elected, including the expansion of the travel bans for mainly majority-Muslim countries and a ramping up of ideological screening for all those coming into the U.S.

Stephen Miller, the former Trump White House advisor who played a central role in those restrictions during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital that he welcomed the increased attention on legal immigration from fellow Republicans, but wants to see more.

DOZENS OF PRO-PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT CHAPTERS CELEBRATE ATTACK ON ISRAEL: ‘NOT UNPROVOKED’

“I think there is now a tragically long overdue realization that we have made it far too easy in this country for people to get student visas, green cards, work visas, tourist visas, etc., who not only don’t support the value system of our country, but actively reject it — so hazardous is that is passed on to second and third generation immigrants and so it becomes a multi-generational problem.“

Miller, who is supporting President Trump for re-election in 2024, said he doesn’t believe the calls from Republicans for limits on refugees from Gaza go far enough.

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“We got to where we are already in our current state over a period of many decades by accepting refugees from all over the world,” he said. “So this is not just a one country or a two country or a three country problem. This is a global problem.” 

Miller wants to see a complete suspension of the refugee program and “the aggressive denial of visas to people in every country who fail to support our way of thinking in America.”

“The correct number of immigrants to bring into our country who hate America, hate Jews or hate the West is zero,” he said.

A Chinese official recently made the rounds in a Pennsylvania meeting with a local economic development council, scholars at the University of Pennsylvania, and two Democratic state senators despite growing concerns about China’s economic presence in the U.S. and controversial comments the official made praising the Chinese Communist Party.

Huang Ping, who’s been the consul general of China’s New York Consulate since 2018 and previously touted the CCP as a “great party,” was in Philadelphia on Oct. 19 meeting with a pair of Pennsylvania Democratic State Senators, according to a post from the Chinese Consulate in New York. Sharif Street is the chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee while Nikil Saval serves on the appropriations committee and is the minority chair of the urban affairs and housing committee.

“Huang Ping spoke highly of their contribution to the development of China-US relations and mutually beneficial cooperation of Pennsylvania with China,” the consulate posted online. “They agreed that a stable and healthy China-US relationship benefits both countries and peoples.”

The pair of state Pennsylvania state senators had been invited by a constituent to meet with Ping as he was traveling through Philadelphia, a spokesperson for Street’s office told Fox News Digital, adding that the meeting did not imply agreement with the CCP.

CHINA ADOPTED ‘MORE DANGEROUS’ TACTICS IN 2022 AS ‘ONLY COMPETITOR’ TO US, PENTAGON WARNS IN NEW REPORT

“This meeting does not represent their support for the policies of the Chinese government,” the spokesperson said.

A day after the Philadelphia meeting, Ping was in Chester County, Pennsylvania along with Deputy Consul General Qian Jin meeting with the local the Economic Development Council in conversation where the Chinese government said members “all expressed their willingness to continue playing a positive role in promoting China-US relations, and contribute to bilateral economic and trade cooperation.”

Xinhua News Agency, the official state-run press agency of Beijing, published a report after Ping met with Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) showing Ping present gifts to CCEDC’s president Michael Grigalonis and Pennsylvania Global Business Advisors president F. William Bogle. The article also quoted Grigalonis saying the council and Pennsylvania were “very committed” to China.

“We were very committed. Prior to the (COVID-19) pandemic, one of our real priorities was our relationship with China, (especially) developing economic ties,” Grigalonis said. “And of course, as you say, that pandemic hit, and we got on to other priorities, but there’re still some successes that are in place, and things that we can build on in the future.”

And of course, as you say, that pandemic hit, and we got on to other priorities, but there’re still some successes that are in place, and things that we can build on in the future.”

That same day, Ping stopped by the Center for the Study of Contemporary China of University of Pennsylvania for “talks with Jacques deLisle and scholars.”

In addition to the Pennsylvania stops, Ping made appearances earlier this year at Barclays Center, the Nasdaq MarketSite, and the Empire State Building, rubbing elbows with prominent American business leaders at each stop. 

Ping made those appearances despite previously denying that China was committing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs.

“There are lots of lies here, fabricated by some people with their own political agenda,” Huang said in an August 2021 interview, denying the existence of genocide and internment camps targeting Uyghurs. “As I said, there’s no genocide, not a single evidence to prove that there’s a genocide or something there. It’s just a slandering.”

“It’s a party of mission and responsibility. It represents the overall interest of the Chinese people. The mission of this party is quite clear,” Huang continued, referring to the CCP. “Three things: Number one was to deliver a better life for the Chinese people, number two is striving for the rejuvenation of China as a nation, and number three is striving for the common good of the world.”

CHINA ESCAPES UNSCATHED FOLLOWING WORLD LEADERS UN SUMMIT: ‘EXHAUSTION HAS SET IN’

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the State Department under both the Trump and Biden administrations have assessed China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs. Since 2017, the Chinese government has reportedly imprisoned more than a million Uyghurs in concentration camps, where according to leaked documents from inside China detainees are subjected to rape, torture, forced labor, brainwashing, and forced sterilization.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department to inquire about their position on a Chinese official with a history of controversial remarks meeting with lawmakers and speaking at events on the East Coast. While a spokesperson was “deeply concerned” about the Uyghur remarks, the spokesperson would not weigh in on his “Visa records,” saying they were “confidential under U.S. law.”

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“Despite increased global attention and strong calls for accountability, the PRC government continues to deny ongoing atrocities against Uyghur people,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We are deeply concerned by the PRC’s failure to stop its senseless campaign, release those unjustly detained, and transparently address the chorus of concerns raised by the international community.” 

Concerns have also been growing in the United States over China buying up U.S. farmland which has prompted both Republicans and Democrats to work together to curtail those efforts.

Ping’s office told Fox News Digital that the “recent visit to Pennsylvania is just a regular consular job. We visited high schools, universities and companies, had talks with state senators, entrepreneurs and scholars, to enhance sub-national cooperation and friendly communication between China and the US.”

The CCEDC did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Aaron Kliegman contributed to this report

LAS VEGAS, NV. – Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday announced that he is suspending his 2024 Republican presidential campaign.

“I came here to say it’s become clear to me this is not my time,” Pence said at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition convention.

“So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today.”

Pence did not endorse any of the other candidates for the 2024 GOP nomination. 

TRUMP AND HIS 2024 RIVALS TO SHOW ‘SOLIDARITY’ WITH ISRAEL AT MAJOR GOP CONFERENCE IN KEY EARLY VOTING STATE

The former vice president launched his 2024 campaign in early June. While he spent plenty of time over the summer and into the autumn on the campaign trail in the crucial early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, his White House bid never took off. 

Pence stood in the mid to low single digits in the latest surveys and his fundraising was meager. The former vice president struggled — but ultimately succeeded to reach the polling and donor thresholds to qualify for the first two Republican presidential nomination debates. But as of Saturday, he still remained short of hitting the criteria to make the stage at next month’s third debate.

“You know, we always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets. The only thing that would have been harder than coming up short would have been if we’d never tried at all,” Pence told the crowd at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he announced he was suspending his campaign.

MIKE PENCE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT ‘OTHER CAMPAIGN HAVE MORE MONEY THAN OURS’ IN THE 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Pence told the crowd, to applause and cheers, that “I say this is not my time, but it’s still your time. I urge you to hold fast to what matters faith, family, and the Constitution of the United States of America. I’m proud that our campaign stood firm on America’s role as leader of the free world.”

Former President Donald Trump – the commanding front-runner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, and all of his top 2024 rivals addressed RJC leadership meeting.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking after the former vice president, make no reference to Pence’s breaking news. 

But the next speaker, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, started her address by praising Pence.

“I want to first say just a special point to Vice President Mike Pence. He’s been a good man of faith. He’s been a good man of service. He has fought for America, and he has fought for Israel. And we all owe him a debt of gratitude,” Haley said to applause from the crowd.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina spoke earlier in the day at the RJC confab. But after Pence suspended his campaign, Scott said in a statement that “the Vice President has been a prayer partner, a friend, and a man of integrity and deep conviction. The Republican Party is stronger today because of Mike’s leadership.” 

Pence, a former conservative congressman, was Indiana governor when Trump named him his running mate in 2016. For four years, Pence served as the loyal vice president to Trump.

However, everything changed on Jan. 6, 2021, as rioters — including some chanting “hang Mike Pence” — stormed the U.S. Capitol aiming to upend congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory that was overseen by Pence.

In the more than two years since the end of the Trump administration, the former president and vice president have further drifted apart. Pence has rebuked his former boss, calling him out by name while discussing Trump’s claim that Pence could have overturned the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Pence has described the deadly attack on the Capitol as “tragic” and that “it dishonored the millions of people who had supported our cause around the country.” He has emphasized that he did “the right thing” and performed his “duty under the Constitution.” He has also noted a number of times that he and Trump may never “see eye to eye on that day.”

But hardcore Trump loyalists never forgave Pence, whom they view as a traitor for refusing to reject the 2020 election results.

Pence became the first running mate in eight decades to run against his former boss. Then-Vice President John Nance Garner was the last to attempt it, but he unsuccessfully challenged President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 election.

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Pence, in his stump speeches, touted the Trump-Pence administration’s policy successes but contrasted himself with the controversial former president in terms of tone and tenor.

“People around the country want us to see us restore a threshold of civility in our political debate,” Pence said. “You can disagree without being disagreeable. People that know me know I take very strong stands. I’m conservative, but I’m not in a bad mood about it.”

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

LAS VEGAS — Three weeks to the day after the Hamas assault on Israel, former President Donald Trump and his top rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination will showcase their solidarity with Israel as they all speak at the same event.

Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy all speak Saturday at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) annual leadership conference in Las Vegas.

The gathering is only the second time Trump, the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, is taking part in an event with his 2024 rivals.

“This is a Halley’s Comet-type rare event where we have all of the Republican presidential candidates together at the same event on the same day on the same stage,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks told Fox News. 

HALEY, DESANTIS TAKE AIM AT BIDEN FOR HUMANITARIAN AID TO PALESTINIANS

Brooks said the appearance of the major Republican presidential contenders and other major GOP leaders speaking at the three-day confab that got underway Thursday “underscores how much they value the Jewish community.”

More than 1,400 Israelis were killed during the sneak attack. Israel responded with relentless airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which, according to authorities in the Hamas-controlled territory, have left roughly 7,000 Palestinians dead.

2024 DIVIDE: GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SPAR OVER MIDEAST CONFLICT

“The eyes of the world will be looking at this event this weekend,” Brooks said. 

And he emphasized that the conference “takes on even more significance because of the extraordinary show of solidarity and unity that we will see in the Republican leaders who are coming out in terms of their support for Israel at this critical time.”

The RJC is dedicated to enhancing ties between the Jewish community and the Republican Party. The group’s 2021 and 2022 RCJ leadership meetings, which always draw top GOP leaders, politicians, donors and activists, served as early cattle calls for potential Republican 2024 White House hopefuls. 

And this weekend’s conference was already set to serve as a major draw for the presidential candidates, even before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

“It’s important to point out that literally every single one of the speakers that we have announced are coming were all confirmed and committed before Oct. 7,” Brooks stressed. “So, this isn’t just because of what happened on Oct. 7 that we’re drawing all these people. They had wanted to come and were planning to attend even before that.”

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Trump, pointing to his dominating polling and fundraising advantage over his rivals, skipped the first Republican presidential primary debates and plans on snubbing next month’s third debate. And he’s only appeared at one of the numerous 2024 cattle calls, a major state GOP fundraising dinner in July in Iowa, whose caucuses kick off the Republican nominating calendar.

But Brooks said the Trump campaign “was very agreeable and decided early on that this was something they wanted to do.”

The conference is taking place in Nevada, a crucial early voting state in the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominating calendar. The Silver State to date has seen very little candidate traffic, especially compared to Iowa and the two other early states, New Hampshire and South Carolina. But Trump and a couple of his rivals are holding campaign events separate from the RJC event while they’re in Las Vegas.  

“I think, from the candidates’ perspective, one of the selling points is it’s a two-fer,” Brooks said. “Some of them are doing local events around the caucus or primary.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

CONCORD, N.H. – Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota acknowledged the obvious as he launched a steep uphill Democratic primary challenge against President Biden.

“I’m the underdog. I’m the long-shot. I’m at a massive disadvantage,” the moderate three-term Democrat lawmaker from a suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota district noted as he spoke with reporters after formally announcing his White House campaign in New Hampshire, the state that for a century’s held the first presidential primary.

But Phillips, a multi-millionaire businessman and co-founder of a successful gelato company who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, said that “this is a country of long shots.”

“I am the Democratic candidate who can win the 2024 election,” Phillips argued Friday, as he formally declared his candidacy at a campaign event outside the New Hampshire Statehouse, referring to polls that suggest former President Donald Trump edging Biden in a 2024 hypothetical general election matchups.

PHILLIPS TARGETS BIDEN, FELLOW DEMOCRATS, OVER BORDER POLICIES AS HE LAUNCHES PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST PRESIDENT

Phillip’s bid comes as the 80-year-old Biden continues to suffer from underwater approval ratings among many Americans. 

While the president is the commanding front-runner for his party’s 2024 nomination, polls indicate Biden faces mounting concerns from Democrats over his age and stamina. Those same surveys suggest that plenty of Democrats are anything but excited about the president seeking a second four-year term in the White House.

THIS DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN IS CHALLENGING PRESIDENT BIDEN FOR THE 2024 DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

“People are struggling immensely,” he stressed. “We have passed very important policies, but it is not nearly enough.”

Phillips said Biden’s “a good man. That’s not why I’m doing this. I’m doing this because I’m listening to people all around the country who say they want a change. They want a new generation. That it’s time to go to the future. . . . I’m part of a different generation that’s looking ahead.”

WHO IS DEAN PHILLIPS? FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BIDEN’S DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CHALLENGER

Phillips promised to support the eventual Democratic nominee, and not back any other contender.

“I will not support any third-party entry this year – Cornell West, Robert Kennedy, a No Labels effort – anything that will undermine whoever the Democratic nominee might be I do not favor,” he added.

With New Hampshire expected to hold a primary out of compliance with the Democratic National Committee’s revamped 2024 nominating calendar — a schedule proposed by the president that upended the state’s traditional role as the first-in-the-nation primary — Biden will not be appearing on the ballot of what will be an unsanctioned contest.

On Tuesday, the president’s 2024 re-election campaign announced that Biden would not file to place his name on New Hampshire’s ballot. Top Democrats in the state now plan to mount a write-in effort on behalf of the president.

But even without Biden on the ballot in New Hampshire, Phillips is an extreme long-shot to unseat the incumbent president for the party’s nomination.

Here are five hurdles facing Phillips.

1) Name recognition

Environmental lawyer and high-profile vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who in April launched a primary challenge against Biden before switching to an independent run earlier this month – is the scion of one of the best known political dynasty’s in the nation’s history.

That’s not the case for Phillips. The federal lawmaker may be a brand name in his congressional district, but he’s virtually unknown to most Americans.

Pedestrians walking nearby the Phillips campaign event on Main Street in Concord, New Hampshire drew a blank when asked if they were familiar with Biden’s last minute primary challenger.

2) Support for (most of) Biden’s agenda

The White House, when asked earlier this week about Phillips’ expected candidacy, pointed to the lawmaker’s “almost 100% support of this president.”

Phillips on Friday responded that “yes, I voted for his polices. I’m a Democrat. I’m a proud Democrat.”

Former ambassador Terry Shumaker, a longtime Biden supporter who served as a DNC committee member from the Granite State, emphasized that to “to do well in the New Hampshire primary, you have to have a message.”

Phillips pushed back on suggestions that Biden’s age was the only differentiator between himself and the president, and on Friday he started to paint contrasts with the White House incumbent.

He argued that the foreign aid for Ukraine and Israel heavily supported by Biden should be rerouted to tackling domestic problems. And he spotlighted his differences with the president and his party when it comes to the crisis at the nation’s border with Mexico.

3) DNC backing Biden

The DNC is fully backing Biden, as the president campaigns for re-election. At its winter meeting in February, the national party committee unanimously passed a resolution committing its “full and complete support” for the re-election of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Additionally, it has said there will be no primary debates between Biden and any of his challengers.

While Biden primary challenger Marianne Williamson — the best-selling author and spiritual adviser who is making her second straight White House run, Kennedy, and others in the party criticized the DNC and Biden, there is political precedent for the move. No incumbent president has participated in primary debates in modern times. 

4) Ballot setbacks

While he filed to place his name on New Hampshire’s primary ballot — on the last day of the filing period — Phillips last week he missed a deadline to place his name on the ballot in Nevada, another crucial early voting state which is holding its presidential primary on Feb. 6 in the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.

Phillips faces a Nov. 10 deadline to place his name on the ballot in South Carolina, which is scheduled to hold its primary on Feb. 3. 

“I’m going to file in South Carolina. I’m going file all around the country,” Phillips told Fox News.

But he’s already coming under attack for placing his name on the ballot in New Hampshire. 

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Longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina — a co-chair of the president’s 2024 campaign who is credited with helping Biden score a crucial landslide victory in the 2020 Palmetto State primary — chided Phillips on Friday for focusing on New Hampshire.

“South Carolinians have demonstrated for decades that we are good predictors of great presidential candidates,” Clyburn said in a statement. “Apparently, Dean Phillips disagrees. He’s not respecting the wishes of the titular head of our Party and the loyalties of some of our Party’s most reliable constituents.”

5) Problems back home

Biden heads to Minnesota next week, where among other things he’ll hold a fundraiser.

Hours ahead of Phillips’ campaign launch in New Hampshire, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota sent out a fundraising email on behalf of the president.

“Minnesotans love Joe Biden,” read the email’s subject line, in a subtle but crystal clear dig at Phillips.

Fox News’ Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

CONCORD, N.H. – As he formally launched a long-shot Democratic primary challenge against President Biden on Friday, Rep. Dean Phillips criticized the president’s border policies.

The moderate three-term Democrat lawmaker from a suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, district praised much of Biden’s work as president but had harsh words for his party regarding the crisis at the southern border.

“Right now, having been to the southern border twice, it is not secure. It is inhumane. It is not fair to those who are seeking refuge,” Philips told reporters after filing to place his name on the primary ballot in New Hampshire. 

THIS DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN IS CHALLENGING PRESIDENT BIDEN FOR THE 2024 DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

Illegal immigration and border security have long been top of mind for Republican voters, and GOP leaders and politicians for two and a half years have heavily criticized President Biden’s administration over the surge in border crossings by migrants.

But increasingly, Democrats are also speaking out.

“It is not fair to our border patrol agents who have shown extraordinary mercy and humanity in ways that I wish more Americans saw. And they’ve been demeaned by Democrats,” Phillips argued. “For someone to accuse those who care about border security as being racist, I think those people are being inhumane, and I think we can do better.”

Pointing to his service on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Phillips argued that America is not using aid money effectively. 

“It’s wasted. It fuels corruption in a lot of places. Why do we not invest in the very countries from which migrants are coming because they’re persecuted, feel unsafe, or have no opportunity,” he said.

“Why don’t we use American resources upstream to invest in those countries, so people have a safe place, they have opportunity, they have shelter and do not need to pour across our border,” he added.

WHO IS DEAN PHILLIPS? FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BIDEN’S DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CHALLENGER

Phillips, a millionaire businessman and co-founder of a gelato company who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, technically launched his campaign on Thursday, as he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to set up his presidential campaign, and launched his website.

On Friday, after filing at the Statehouse in Concord, New Hampshire, he gave a speech at a small rally as he stood in front of his campaign bus.

“I am the Democratic candidate who can win the 2024 election,” Phillips said, referring to polls that suggest former President Donald Trump edging Biden in a 2024 hypothetical general election matchup.

Phillip’s bid comes as the 80-year-old Biden continues to suffer from underwater approval ratings among many Americans. 

While the president is the commanding front-runner for his party’s 2024 nomination, polls indicate Biden faces mounting concerns from Democrats over his age.

Phillips, citing the president’s age, in recent months has criticized Biden for “not passing the torch” to the next generation of Democratic leaders.

“I’m here to celebrate the president. This might surprise many of you – I admire President Biden. I think he saved our country four years ago. At that time, he was the only one who could have done so,” he told reporters on Friday. 

The White House, when asked earlier this week about Phillips’ expected candidacy, pointed to the lawmaker’s “almost 100% support of this president.”

Phillips on Friday responded that “yes, I voted for his polices. I’m a Democrat. I’m a proud Democrat.”

But he emphasized that “President Biden has served for fifty years in Washington. I think I was three years old when he became a United States senator.”

“People are struggling immensely,” he stressed. “We have passed very important policies, but it is not nearly enough.”

Phillips said Biden’s “a good man. That’s not why I’m doing this. I’m doing this because I’m listening to people all around the country who say they want a change. They want a new generation. That it’s time to go to the future. . . . I’m part of a different generation that’s looking ahead.”

Asked by Fox News whether he’ll support the party’s eventual nominee, regardless of who it is, Phillips said: “I think it’s terribly important that a Democrat win this election, and I will do anything – I will give everything I have, every moment of my time, every ounce of my energy, to ensure that that nominee, whether it be me of course, President Biden or somebody else, becomes president. I think it is that existential.”

He also emphasized that he would not support any third-party candidate for president.

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The Biden campaign, in a statement, said that “President Biden is proud of the historic, unified support he has from across the Democratic Party for his re-election. The stakes of next year’s election could not be higher for the American people, and the campaign is hard at work mobilizing the winning coalition that President Biden can uniquely bring together to once again beat the MAGA Republicans next November.”

With New Hampshire expected to hold a primary out of compliance with the Democratic National Committee’s revamped 2024 nominating calendar, Biden will not be appearing on the ballot.

On Tuesday, the president’s 2024 re-election campaign announced that Biden would not file to place his name on New Hampshire’s ballot. Top Democrats in the state now plan to mount a write-in effort on behalf of the president.

But even without Biden on the ballot in New Hampshire, Phillips faces an uphill climb to unseat the incumbent president for the party’s nomination.

“I’m the underdog. I’m the longshot. I’m at a massive disadvantage,” he acknowledged.

But he called Biden’s skipping of the primary “disappointing” and pledged, if elected president, to restore New Hampshire’s lead-off primary position in the Democratic nominating calendar.

“I believe in tradition. I think that our entire country can and must learn from New Hampshire. I think it’s the most civically engaged state in the country,” he highlighted.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

I asked a former colleague what William Shakespeare might say about the meandering journey to elect a new House speaker.

“A true ‘Comedy of Errors,’” came the response.

If this was “Twelfth Night,” the House would have wrapped this up a long time ago.

It certainly wasn’t “Much Ado About Nothing.”

HOW THE GOP CONFERENCE CAME TOGETHER TO ELECT MIKE JOHNSON AS SPEAKER, DESPITE MCCARTHY MEDDLING

Perhaps the marathon quest to choose a speaker was like “As You Like It?”

However, it was thought that after the hurly-burly, the House might actually re-elect its deposed leader, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after it dethroned him. There were even charges that McCarthy and his allies were trying to execute a return to power behind the scenes.

Now that would be Shakespearean.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., seized the GOP’s nomination for speaker for four hours and ten minutes on Tuesday, before withdrawing.

Former President Trump made sure of that.

“Tom Emmer, it looks like he’s finished. He was not a supporter. He was a RINO,” thundered Mr. Trump.

One might say there was some semblance of “Richard III” once the former president got involved. 

Others piled on.

“I can’t go along with putting one of the most moderate members of the entire Republican Conference in the speaker’s chair,” argued Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind. “That betrays the conservative values that I came here to fight for.”

“There are some people criticizing him for that, which I think is wrong,” said Fitzpatrick. 

“He didn’t object to Joe Biden’s Electoral College votes. He voted with the Democrats to overturn President Trump’s ban on transgenders in the military,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. 

“The voter base, I think they’re making it pretty clear they don’t want Tom Emmer to be speaker,” said Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., of Emmer. 

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., said that Republicans tore Emmer up because he had voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. 

“All’s Well, that Ends Well?” Hardly. 

The former colleague wrote that Congress had officially entered “‘Othello’ status” once Emmer bowed out. 

McCarthy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Jordan and Emmer.

To be, or not to be was certainly the question for this quartet.

GOP LEADERS CELEBRATE CLEARING MAJOR GOVERNMENT FUNDING HURDLE JUST A DAY AFTER JOHNSON WAS ELECTED SPEAKER

But as Cassius said to Brutus in “Julius Caesar,” “It’s not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” 

Shakespeare and politics are among my favorite subjects, but I truly didn’t think any of the aforementioned plays or quotations from the Bard quite did the mayhem over the speakership justice.

So, I brushed up my Shakespeare.

I finally landed on what is perhaps Shakespeare’s most obscure work: “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.”

“Pericles” isn’t a household name like “Hamlet” or “King Lear.” It’s rarely performed. In fact, academics question whether Shakespeare even wrote the whole thing.

The reason “Pericles” is held in such low regard: the play is messy. The text is jangly. The plot is uneven. The production is difficult to stage. The show drifts aimlessly into an odyssey with action unfolding in six distinct locales. It’s challenging for the audience to grasp the importance of each setting.

Like Pericles, the speaker drama was episodic. For Act I, the scene was set in McCarthy-land. Then set sail for Scalise-land. Then Jordan-land (or should it just be “Jordan”?). Then, Emmer-ville. Finally, the House arrived in “Johnson Parish” with the election of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Who?

Johnson is to the speakership as to what “Pericles” is to the Shakespeare canon.

We’re not talking about Sam Rayburn or Tip O’Neill here.

“Pericles” is one of Shakespeare’s shorter plays at a mere 2,462 lines. By contrast, “Hamlet“ is Shakespeare’s longest work. It clocks in at more than 4,000 lines — but a meager 18 characters.

There are 24 characters in “Pericles.” In all of the iterations of the October speaker sweepstakes, an astonishing 14 Republicans were declared candidates for the job at one time or another. A total of 15 different people received votes for speaker on the floor. 

Shakespearean scholars have even struggled to classify the obscure play. Is it a comedy? Is it a tragedy? Many theatrical experts identify “Periclese” as a “tragicomedy.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON SUPPORTS $14B FOR ISRAEL, BUT SAYS AMERICA ‘CANNOT BE DROPPING MONEY OUT OF HELICOPTERS’

The same could be said about the election of speaker. 

The show begins with Pericles hearing a riddle. A king offers his beautiful daughter to marry anyone who answers the riddle correctly. But they will be killed if they are wrong.

Pericles knows that he will die if he botches the answer to the riddle, but he knows the answer. The king is having an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Thus, Pericles concludes that if he tells the truth, he will be killed, too.

That kind of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” paradox is the quintessence of the modern speakership. McCarthy faced one fate if he were to fail to lift the debt ceiling or avoid a government shutdown. And if he faced another doomed fate if he . . . .

Well, the rest is history.

Mike Johnson faces the same conundrum as McCarthy.

If he moves to avoid a government shutdown . . . .

But if he doesn’t meet certain conservative demands on government funding . . . .

Republicans spent weeks jogging from one candidate to another, holding forth a vision to elect one Speaker but then dashing those chances just hours later. For instance, Republicans bounced Jordan because of his behind-the-scenes threats and bullying.

“Who makes the fairest show means most deceit,” wrote Shakespeare in “Pericles.”

Republicans swapped out Jordan for Emmer. Emmer’s nomination for speaker lasted four hours. That didn’t even qualify as a one-act. Perhaps a sonnet for Emmer.

Some experts believe that George Wilkins wrote the first two acts of “Pericles.” He then might have brought in the Bard to clean things up and write the final acts.

There are parallels with that on Capitol Hill.

McCarthy started the show. Then, after lots of drama, the House recruited Johnson to finish.

On Johnson’s first full day on the job, the speaker found himself rushing to a meeting at the Capitol with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“Did you think that would be your first task as speaker,” I asked Johnson

“I did not,” he replied with a smile.

Thursday was emblematic of the frenzied nature of the speakership. At one moment, Johnson was huddling with Albanese. A few minutes later, he spoke off the cuff to the press corps about the shootings in Maine. By afternoon, Johnson was at the White House with other Congressional leaders discussing the Middle East and Ukraine.

The day was as discordant as the scenes in “Pericles.” 

Perhaps the best quotation to sum up Johnson’s challenge appears not in “Pericles,” but “The Tempest.”

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“What’s past is prologue,” wrote the Bard in Act II, Scene 1 of “The Tempest.”

For the House, a new guy. But the same members. And the same problems.

Stick around for the next act.

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

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What’s happening:

– Manhunt for Maine mass shooting suspect continues. Get the latest updates on the search and the tragedy.

– Jews in New York City warned to avoid ‘Flood Brooklyn for Gaza’ protest. Follow Fox News for the latest updates on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Biden’s Challenger

Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips officially launched his challenge President Biden Friday. Phillips has prophesied that Democrats will face an ‘emergency’ next year if Biden is at the top of the ticket, given the president’s age, accusations of mental and physical decline, and underwater approval ratings. 

But Phillips’ long-shot bid has hardly any support among his Democratic colleagues. It’s unclear whether Democratic voters will be more supportive of his candidacy.

Phillips isn’t the first Democrat to launch a presidential campaign against Biden. Self-help author Marrianne Williamson is still running, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initially launched as a Democrat, but recently switched to run as an independent.

Five things to know about Rep. Dean Phillips …Read more

CAUGHT AGAIN: Biden holds another reporter cheat sheet …Read more

PRIORITIES: Biden State Dept faces backlash for ‘Intersex Awareness Day’ statement …Read more

GUN GRAB? Harris praises country’s near-ban on firearms …Read more

Israel at War

NO CITING TERRORISTS: White House battles reporters as it rejects Hamas’ Gaza death count …Read more

MAJOR REVISIONS: Top Biden official’s on Middle East significantly revised after Hamas attack …Read more

‘GENOCIDE IS HAPPENING’: Hollywood agent who posted anti-Israel message donated heavily to Kamala Harris, Dems …Read more

UN-ITY?: British minister sees progress in rallying for Israel at UN …Read more

‘HOTBEDS OF ANTISEMITISM’: Dems and GOP lawmakers join forces to crack down on anti-Israel protests at colleges …Read more

Across America

‘IT’S DANGEROUS’: Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Dems are quietly ramming through a Green New Deal …Read more

DRAWING BOARD: Judge says Georgia’s congressional and legislative districts are discriminatory and must be redrawn …Read more

ANOTHER OUT: Presidential candidate leaves the race, offers endorsement …Read more

STAYING OUT OF IT: US attorney for California said he declined to co-counsel with Weiss on Hunter Biden probe …Read more

BACK IN BUSINESS?: House goes in for mutual punishments after speaker elected …Read more

SURPRISE VISITS: House Republicans take credit for stopping surprise IRS visits on taxpayers …Read more

Capitol Hill

A QUESTION OF FAITH: New Speaker Mike Johnson’s appeal to ‘God,’ ‘the Bible’ on House floor sparks debate …Read more

TIME IS MONEY: Speaker Johnson celebrates big government funding victory …Read more

‘NOT GUILTY’: GOP lawmaker arraigned in NY court on new fraud indictment …Read more

MORE QUESTIONS: Security footage of ‘Squad’ Democrat pulling fire alarm released …Read more

PLEA FOR PROTECTION: Trespasser arrested twice at RFK Jr’s home in same day …Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee’s select subcommittee on government weaponization says the IRS rolled back unannounced visits to U.S. taxpayers after pressure from the panel.

“The Committee’s and Select Subcommittee’s oversight revealed, and led to the swift end of, the IRS’s weaponization of unannounced field visits to harass, intimidate, and target taxpayers,” the Republican-led report said.

“Taxpayers can now rest assured the IRS will not come knocking without providing prior notice—something that should have been the IRS’s practice all along.”

The 22-page document focuses on two instances in which the IRS is accused of abusing its policy, including one in which a tax agent is accused of entering someone’s home under false pretenses. 

IRS CONSULTANT CHARGED WITH DISCLOSING TAX RETURNS OF TRUMP AND NATION’S ‘WEALTHIEST INDIVIDUALS’ TO MEDIA

An IRS agent purportedly introduced himself as “Bill Haus” to a woman only identified as a “Marion County, Ohio taxpayer” when coming to her home in April this year. After allowing him inside, he allegedly told her that she owed a substantial amount of money on an estate she owned.

“Prior to the visit, however, the taxpayer had not received any notice from the IRS of an outstanding balance on the estate,” the report said.

After the taxpayer showed documents disputing that she owed any money, the report said, “Agent ‘Haus’ conceded that the true purpose of his visit was not due to any issue with the decedent’s estate, rather Agent ‘Haus’ was at the taxpayer’s home because the decedent allegedly had several delinquent tax return filings.”

IRS LOOKS TO HIRE 3,700 NEW AGENTS TO CRACK DOWN ON WEALTHY TAX CHEATS

A footnote on the report stated that the agent’s supervisor confirmed the taxpayer had nothing due and just one delinquent filing from 2016.

The woman called her lawyer after being asked to fill out sensitive tax documents, upon which her attorney “immediately and repeatedly told Agent ‘Haus’ to leave the taxpayer’s home since the taxpayer had not received any prior notice from the IRS of any issue with the decedent’s estate or delinquent tax returns.”

“Agent ‘Haus’ responded aggressively, insisting, ‘I am an IRS agent, I can be at and go into anyone’s house at any time I want to be.’ At the end of his unannounced visit, Agent ‘Haus’ told the taxpayer he would mail her paperwork for her to execute and threatened that she would have exactly one week to satisfy the remaining balance or he would freeze all her assets and put a lien on her house,” the report said.

The woman contacted police after the visit, who later found that the agent did work for the IRS — but that “Bill Haus” was not his real name. His supervisor apologized to her the following May, the report said.

IRS WARNS TAXPAYERS OF NEW MAILING REFUND SCAM

The other incident mentioned is involves journalist Matt Taibbi, whose home received a surprise IRS visit while he was in Washington, D.C. testifying about social media censorship uncovered by the “Twitter Files.” 

“The IRS’s dossier on Mr. Taibbi included information such as Mr. Taibbi’s voter registration records, whether he possessed a hunting or fishing license, and whether he had a concealed weapons permit. The revenue officer also examined and saved Mr. Taibbi’s Wikipedia page, which contained extensive details about Mr. Taibbi’s work on the Twitter Files,” the report said.

“Instead of reinitiating contact with Mr. Taibbi by less intrusive means after several years had passed since he filed his 2018 return, the revenue officer scheduled its field visit for March 9, 2023-the day Mr. Taibbi was to testify before Congress.”

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The IRS announced in late July that it “will end most unannounced visits…to reduce public confusion and enhance overall safety measures for taxpayers and employees.”

But the GOP report heaped doubt on that explanation for reducing the practice. 

“The IRS’s attempt to justify its decision as being in the best interest of the safety of its revenue officers lacks concrete evidence. To the extent this data does exist, the IRS has not made it publicly available or supplied it to the Committee or Select Subcommittee,” it said.

A judge in New York has ruled Friday that Ivanka Trump must take the stand as a witness in the civil case brought against her father, brothers and the Trump Organization – their family business.

The ruling comes after Ivanka Trump was dismissed as a defendant in the case in June. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, brought a lawsuit against former President Trump last September alleging he and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets. 

Judge Arthur Engoron sided with state attorneys who had argued that Ivanka, the former Trump Organization executive vice president, has relevant information to provide in the case. He cited documents showing that Ivanka Trump continued to have ties to some businesses in New York and still owns Manhattan apartments, according to The Associated Press. 

“Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” Engoron said. He said her testimony would not be scheduled before Nov. 1, to give her lawyers time to appeal. 

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT NARROWS NYAG CASE, DISMISSES IVANKA TRUMP AS A DEFENDANT, CUTS STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Ivanka Trump’s lawyer, Bennet Moskowitz, told the judge Friday that state lawyers “just don’t have jurisdiction over her.” 

“The idea that somehow Ms. Trump is under the control of the Trump Organization or any of the defendants, her father — anyone who has raised a daughter past the age of 13 knows that they’re not under their control,” Christopher Kise, a lawyer for former President Trump, also told the AP. 

Kise maintained that state lawyers “just want another free-for-all on another of President Trump’s children.” 

However, Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for the New York State Attorney General’s Office, told the AP that, “She is 100% someone who can come in and testify.” 

ACLU BACKS TRUMP IN FIGHT AGAINST DC JUDGE’S GAG ORDER 

James claimed that Trump and his children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, as well as his associates and businesses, allegedly committed “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” on their financial statements.

James alleged Trump “inflated his net worth by billions of dollars” and said his children helped him to do so. 

When Trump was president, James sued his administration dozens of times, challenging policies on the environment, immigration, education, health care and other issues. 

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Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has said the investigation is politically motivated and a “witch hunt.” 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.  

House Republican leaders are touting a major victory in passing another of their 12 spending bills on Thursday, just a day after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was sworn in to lead the chamber.

“This is the first step in getting our appropriations done,” Johnson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Thursday evening. 

“I promised we were going to get back to work for the American people and today we proved it.”

The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Energy and other related matters, passed with almost no Republican opposition.

GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said the bill “eliminates billions in wasteful funding for unrelated Green New Deal policies” and “prioritizes funding to maintain strong national security.”

WHY JORDAN FAILED TO WIN SPEAKERSHIP IN FIRST ROUND, LOSING 20 REPUBLICANS

Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said on X, “House Republicans just passed our FY24 Energy and Water appropriations bill which prioritizes fiscal responsibility while unleashing American energy. Meanwhile, how many appropriations bills has the Schumer Senate passed? Hint: The answer is still zero.”

The bill cuts federal spending in that sector by roughly $857 billion from this year’s funding levels. It is the fifth appropriations bill House Republicans have passed and the first under Johnson’s tenure. 

THE CHAOTIC, CONVOLUTED PATH HOUSE REPUBLICANS TOOK TO ELECT A SPEAKER LEADS BACK TO SQUARE ONE

Republican lawmakers appear to be forging ahead with a new sense of unity and optimism after coming together to unanimously elect Johnson earlier this week. 

The House had been deadlocked for nearly a month following the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., by a majority vote of eight Republicans and all House Democrats.

Federal spending has been a major contention point for House Republicans thus far, with members on different sides of the ideological spectrum clashing at times over funding levels and various amendments.

Government funding was meant to run out on Oct. 1, but McCarthy shepherded a stopgap extension known as a continuing resolution through the House at the 11th hour, narrowly avoiding a shutdown. It gave lawmakers until Nov. 17 to cobble together 12 individual spending bills.

Johnson acknowledged the deadline was “coming quickly” in a Thursday evening interview on “Hannity.” 

“We’re speeding it up as quickly as possible. That was my commitment to my colleagues when they named me speaker of the House,” Johnson said. “We passed one of the appropriations bills just a couple of hours ago…that was a big box that we had to check and we did that.”

FLASHBACK: CALLS MOUNT FOR ‘HOUSE SPEAKER DONALD TRUMP’

The speaker acknowledged that another continuing resolution may be needed to buy more time to pass the remaining seven appropriations bills but signaled that it would need to have “certain conditions,” rather than a clean extension of the previous Democrat-held Congress’ funding priorities. 

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Just before the speaker vote on Wednesday, Johnson laid out a plan to colleagues with deadlines for getting the remaining funding bills to the floor.

Even if passed before the deadline, however, the House would still need to find middle ground with the Democrat-controlled Senate — which is marking up its appropriations bills to a top line that is roughly $120 billion higher than the House GOP’s.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was in China meeting with CCP President Xi Jinping earlier this week leading many to wonder, including a congressman from his own state, whether he is running a “shadow” campaign for president in case Democrats ultimately look for an alternative to President Biden as crises pile up on his watch at home and abroad.

The California Democrat met with Xi and other Chinese officials as part of a week-long trip he said was aimed at discussing the threat of climate change and “renewing our friendship and reengaging (on) foundational and fundamental issues that will determine our collective faith in the future.”

Newsom faced criticism as a result of his trip from people who said that homelessness, crime, and fentanyl are more pressing problems in the Golden State and one GOP congressman spoke both to Fox News Digital and through a social media post to suggest Newsom has the presidency on his mind via a “shadow campaign.”

“The track record is not good for him to be gallivanting around the world doing basically a shadow campaign for president, just waiting for the moment when they finally decide to throw Biden under the bus,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., said, referring to Newsom as the “backup quarterback” and Biden as the “starter.”

CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM, A TOP BIDEN 2024 SURROGATE, MAKES HIGH-PROFILE TRIPS TO ISRAEL, CHINA

LaMalfa told Fox News Digital that his constituents in California are more concerned with wildfires, water storage, businesses fleeing the state, high taxes, and deteriorating freeways than they are with climate change.

“I remind folks that carbon dioxide is only 0.04% of our atmosphere and that the contribution by the US is a tiny percentage of that,” LaMalfa said. “And the transportation sector and others is a tiny percentage of that. So chasing this carbon thing is just a means with which the government can further take over our economy and our choices.”

LaMalfa went on to say he recently spoke to a moderate California Democrat colleague who seemed “not very excited” about Newsom, pointing out that Newsom is “slick” with many “rehearsed talking points” that could easily “dupe” voters.

“This trip here, he’s trying to build a base,” LaMalfa said. “He’s running the back channels until Biden takes himself out and the party says man we’re going to get killed on this.”

“With Trump looking more and more like a likely nominee pulling ahead in most places from what I’ve seen then the Dems are, I think I saw in our notes here, that they would need to break the glass and reach in for the Newsom fire extinguisher.”

LaMalfa was one of several California Republicans who blasted Newsom showing off a $160K Chinese electric vehicle earlier this week. 

Newsom’s trip to China was the second trip in recent weeks that reignited theories that he is positioning himself for higher office. Last week, Newsom traveled to Israel and met with leaders and victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.

In addition to the statesmanlike trip to China and Israel, Newsom has kept a high profile over the last few months including a role as a Biden surrogate at the most recent GOP presidential debate in California and a much talked about challenge to debate Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Fox News at the end of November, which DeSantis accepted.

MARIO LOPEZ BLASTS GAVIN NEWSOM FOR BEING TOUGHER ON ‘SKITTLES’ IN CALIFORNIA THAN DRUGS AND HOMELESSNESS

Newsom has also been active when it comes to policy in recent months.

He recently called on the Supreme Court to review a ruling preventing states from removing homeless encampments. He vetoed a bill that would have decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms earlier this month and also vetoed a bill that would have forced employers to provide earlier notices of mass layoffs.

He has also recently signed legislation promoting LGBT inclusion, requiring companies to provide emission information, and a law to “overhaul” the state’s mental health system.

CALIFORNIA GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM SIGNS BILL ALLOWING SOME MEXICAN RESIDENTS NEAR BORDER TO GET IN-STATE TUITION

Newsom’s recent trips abroad and focus on policy over the last couple months comes as Biden continues to see crises piling up on his watch, including the border crisis, inflation, skyrocketing crime in major cities, and major foreign policy failures, including the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced this past weekend that migrant numbers at the southern border for the month of September had reached new levels with the highest monthly encounters on record as well as the highest fiscal year total on record, in a significant blow to the administration’s border strategy.

A recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers blame President Biden for the migrant crisis, raising national security, financial and other concerns in the Empire State. Other polls over the last few months have shown that voters are concerned about Biden’s age and his physical fitness. 

A Monmouth University poll released earlier this month showed that 76% of voters agreed Biden, 80, was “too old” to serve another term, compared to just 48% who said the same about Trump, 77. 

LaMalfa wasn’t alone in his speculation that Newsom is positioning himself for higher office evidenced by a flurry of social media speculation in recent days.

“Newsom is currently in China, running a shadow campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, just in case President Biden succumbs to the realities of his age and waning mental capacity,” columnist Derek Hunter wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill this week. 

“It is yet another GIANT indicator that Gavin Newsom will indeed run for president next year,” Fox News Contributor Tomi Lahren posted on X.

“Why is the Governor of California going to China to meet with their dictator?” Conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted on X. “Why is the Governor of California going to Israel during wartime? Democrats want to replace Joe Biden.”

Fox News’ “Outnumbered” co-host Kayleigh McEnany appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” earlier this week to weigh in on the Newsom China trip, telling Watters the trip is part of a “shadow presidential campaign.” The former White House press secretary went on to say Newsom “is not an idiot” and that Biden has had multiple foreign policy failures, adding, “Who trusts him to manage our way out of this crisis in the Middle East?”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who is running for president, speculated during a recent Ruthless Podcast episode that  the Democrats are “grooming someone” to be a “back-up plan” to Biden and suggested Newsom might be their choice based on recent interviews.

Vivek Ramaswamy, another Republican presidential candidate, said Newsom’s trip to China was political, telling Iowans that he believed Newsom was campaigning for president “in disguise.”

“Gavin Newsom wants to run for president in 2024, that much is clear,” Democrat pollster Doug Schoen wrote this summer. “The California governor would not be campaigning for President Joe Biden in red states with 16 months until the presidential election if he wasn’t trying to prove his own political bona fides and build a future base of national support for himself.”

Democratic strategist James Carville sounded the alarm during a recent interview with The Washington Post, saying it was “ludicrous” to avoid debating Biden’s viability next year.

“The idea that this should not be aired out and should be discussed in hushed tones is ludicrous,” Carville said of Biden. “This needs to be discussed.”

Newsom has denied he’s running for president when asked and told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo in September that he’s “not worthy of that conversation” and that Biden “deserves it.”

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Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, pushed back against speculation about Newsom by telling NBC News that “Republicans peddling blatantly false conspiracy theories is nothing new” and that these “lies don’t change the fact that Joe Biden will again beat MAGA Republicans and their twice-rejected agenda in 2024 as his party’s nominee for president.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, the Biden campaign, and a representative for Newsom, but they did not respond to requests for comment.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw, Danielle Wallace, and Brandon Gillespie contributed reporting.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

CONCORD, N.H. – Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota is jumping into the 2024 White House race with a long-shot Democratic primary challenge against President Biden.

The campaign launch by the millionaire businessman and co-founder of a gelato company turned three-term House Democrat comes as the 80-year-old president continues to suffer from underwater approval ratings among many Americans and faces serious concerns over his physical and mental stamina.

Phillips filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday to officially set up his presidential campaign, and his website www.dean24.com went live in the evening.

“I am excited to announce my candidacy for President in 2024. It’s time to put our country back together again – and use our differences to make us stronger. It’s time to repair America,” Phillips said in a launch video posted on social media on Thursday evening.

BIDEN BREAKS CENTURY OLD TRADITION AS HE FORGOES FILING FOR THE PRIMARY IN THIS STATE

And when asked in an interview with CBS News if he’s running for president, the 54-year-old Phillips answered “I am. I have to.” The recorded interview is scheduled to be broadcast Friday morning.

Friday morning is also when Phillips, who represents a congressional district in suburban Minneapolis, will formally declare his candidacy in New Hampshire, the state that for a century’s held the first primary in the presidential nominating calendar.

Phillips, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, is scheduled to hold a campaign launch event outside the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord. And Phillips will enter the Statehouse and file at the Secretary of State’s office to place his name on the New Hampshire’s presidential primary ballot.

A bus decorated with “Dean Phillips for President” was headed to New Hampshire earlier in the week, and is expected to take the candidate on a tour.

Phillips, citing the president’s age, has repeatedly criticized Biden for “not passing the torch” to the next generation of Democratic leaders and urged that a serious primary contender challenge the president for the party’s 2024 nomination.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION POLLING

When no other Democrats considered running against Biden, Phillips began to consider himself for the mission. Earlier this month, he told MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) News that “it’s healthy to have alternatives. I think voters are demanding it.”

And in his CBS News interview, Phillips pointed to recent polling suggesting that former President Donald Trump is edging Biden in hypothetical 2024 general election matchups.

“I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country,” Phillips said. “But it’s not about the past. This is an election about the future.”

While the president is the commanding front-runner for his party’s 2024 nomination, polls indicate Biden faces mounting concerns from Democrats over his age. Those surveys also suggest that many Americans – including plenty of Democrats – don’t want the president to seek a second term in the White House.

The White House, when asked earlier this week about Phillip’s expected candidacy, pointed to the lawmaker’s “almost 100% support of this president.”

Phillips — who recently stepped away from his leadership role as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee due to his potential White House bid — let lapse a September deadline he set for himself to decide whether he would launch a primary challenge against the president. And last week he missed a deadline to place his name on the ballot in Nevada, which is holding its presidential primary on Feb. 6 in the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.

According to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which earlier this year upended years of tradition by revamping their longstanding nominating calendar, Nevada’s supposed to vote second, along with New Hampshire, three days after South Carolina’s Feb. 3 kickoff primary. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE’S SUNUNU SAYS 2024 RACE IS ‘WIDE OPEN’ IN FIRST PRIMARY STATE

The revised scheduled was initially proposed by Biden, who came in a disappointing fifth in the 2020 New Hampshire primary before rebounding in Nevada and South Carolina enroute to winning the nomination and eventually the presidency.

But New Hampshire’s on course move up the date of its primary to late January, in accordance with a state law that mandates the Granite State’s presidential primary is held seven days ahead of a similar contest.

With New Hampshire to hold what is certain to be a primary that’s out of compliance with the DNC’s revamped 2024 nominating calendar, Biden is avoiding the unsanctioned contest.

And on Tuesday, the president’s 2024 re-election campaign announced that Biden would not file to place his name on New Hampshire’s ballot. Top Democrats in the state now plan to mount a write-in effort on behalf of the president.

But there are concerns that anger among Granite Staters to the move by Biden and the DNC to revamp the nominating calendar, and the president’s absence from the primary ballot, could serve as another distraction for Biden as he marches towards re-nomination.

Longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley, who recently took a call from Phillips, told Fox News that “both polling and grassroots interactions in New Hampshire reveal a high level of support for President Biden among the likely voters.”

“It would be a tough challenge for Phillips or anyone. But sure, c’mon on up!,” Buckley says he told Phillips.

The president is already facing a long-shot primary challenge from best-selling author spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson, who is making her second straight White House run.

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Biden was also facing an uphill primary challenge from environmental lawyer and high-profile vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a scion of arguably the nation’s most famous family political dynasty.

But Kennedy announced at a campaign event in Philadelphia earlier this month that he would seek the White House as an independent candidate.

The DNC is fully backing Biden, as the president campaigns for re-election. At its winter meeting in February, the DNC unanimously passed a resolution committing its “full and complete support” for the re-election of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Additionally, it has said there will be no primary debates between Biden and any of his challengers.

Williamson, Kennedy and others in the party criticized the DNC and Biden, but there is political precedent for the move. No incumbent president has participated in primary debates in modern times. 

Jim Demers, a longtime New Hampshire-based political consultant and lobbyist who is helping to lead the write-in effort for Biden, terms a primary challenge by Phillips “a ridiculous idea.”

“Democrats in New Hampshire support the president,” Demers told Fox News. “So if his mission is to divide Democrats and help [former President] Donald Trump, then that’s what he’s doing.”

Fox News’ Kellianne Jones contributed to this report

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Perhaps it was better without a Speaker.

With no Speaker, the House floor was closed.

TRUMP AS HOUSE SPEAKER WOULD BE THE ‘DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS’ OF POLITICS

Now that the House elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), there was an absolute PARADE on the House floor today of lawmakers demanding that the body either expel or sanction their fellow colleagues.

If you’re scoring at home.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) over her support of the massive anti-Israel rally on Capitol Hill last week which resulted in more than 300 arrests.

That measure comes up next week.

THE CHAOTIC, CONVOLUTED PATH HOUSE REPUBLICANS TOOK TO ELECT A SPEAKER LEADS BACK TO SQUARE ONE

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) still wants to expel Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) – especially after he pleaded guilty to pulling a false fire alarm on Capitol Hill in late September.

New York Republicans introduced a resolution to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). The House must tangle with that resolution. Some Republicans want Santos gone. Yet other Republicans may move to table or kill the resolution.

Expelling Santos would shave the GOP’s already narrow majority. This is going to be a challenge for Johnson to finesse this.

Finally, Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) has introduced a resolution to censure Greene. The House must also tackle that resolution next week.

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In short, the House is TRULY back in form now that it has a new Speaker and is “open for business.”

Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder announced Thursday evening that he had suspended his campaign and immediately endorsed former President Donald Trump.

In a statement, Elder expressed gratitude for his supporters and said he was honored by their enthusiasm and grassroots support. He further explained that after assessing his campaign and the state of the race, he had made the “difficult decision” to suspend his campaign.

“Throughout my campaign, I have been steadfast in my belief that the biggest issues facing our nation are the crisis of fatherlessness, the dangerous lie that America is systemically racist, the need for an amendment to the constitution to set federal spending to a fixed percentage of the GDP — otherwise government gets bigger whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge, and the need to remove the Soros-backed DAs across the country who refuse to enforce the law,” he said in a statement.

“The breakdown of the family structure and the absence of positive father figures in the lives of many children have far-reaching consequences for our society, including the crime wave we are currently seeing in America today,” he continued. “I hope that my campaign has helped shine a light on these critical issues and sparked important conversations about how we can solve them.”

GOP CANDIDATE FACES CALLS TO DROP OUT AFTER MISSING FIRST DEBATE

Elder — a conservative talk radio host who previously ran as a recall candidate to replace Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom — announced he would run for president in April during an interview with Fox News. He explained that he believed he had a “moral, religious and a patriotic duty” to enter the race.

GOP CANDIDATE’S CAMPAIGN ON DEATH WATCH AFTER MISSING SECOND DEBATE

In August, Elder made waves after he threatened to sue the Republican National Committee (RNC) for not including him in the first GOP debate. While the RNC determined Elder had failed to meet the required threshold for number of individual donors and polling, he accused them of purposely silencing him.

“I said from the beginning that it appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is. For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the debate stage,” he said in an X post at the time.

However, according to the latest polls, Elder’s support continues to hover at between 0-1%.

And in his statement Thursday, Elder called for Republicans to rally around Trump as their presidential candidate.

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“Now that I am exiting the race, I am proud to announce my endorsement of Donald Trump for President of the United States. His leadership has been instrumental in advancing conservative, America-first principles and policies that have benefited our great nation,” Elder said. “We must unite behind Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden and fight back against Biden’s unprecedented election interference and the left’s destruction of America.

“I want to thank my supporters, volunteers, and donors who invested their time, energy, and resources in this campaign. From Iowa to New Hampshire to Nevada and beyond, I am grateful for the opportunity to have met so many incredible Americans who share our values.”

EXCLUSIVE: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center reinstated a contract for Catholic priests to provide care at the hospital after a “cease and desist” order from the facility earlier this year ordered priests to halt pastoral care, Fox News Digital has learned.

In April, Walter Reed sent a “cease and desist” letter to Holy Name College Friary, a group of Catholic priests who have served at the hospital for nearly 20 years. The letter was sent during Holy Week, leading up to the Easter holiday.

Following the move, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., led a group of two dozen Republican lawmakers who voiced concerns and blasted the decision as a violation of the First Amendment. 

Fox News Digital obtained a letter from the Department of Defense directed to Miller and the original signatories that clarified the renewal of the contract.

WALTER REED ‘CEASE AND DESIST’ ORDER FOR CATHOLIC PRIESTS VIOLATES THE FIRST AMENDMENT, GOP LAWMAKERS SAY

Holy Name College was a contract vendor that provided supplemental pastoral care services to Walter Reed’s resident Catholic Ministry and Pastoral Care Service from 2007 to 2023. Its contract term expired on March 31, 2023. The Department of Defense clarified in the letter that the “cease and desist” came after the contract expired, stressing that it was “not terminated.”

Walter Reed replaced the contract with a secular defense contracting firm, Mack Global LLC, which the Catholic archdiocese argued would not be able to provide adequate care.

“Per the Federal Competition in Contracting Act, upon expiration of the Catholic Ministry and Pastoral Care Services contract at WRNMMC, a new contract could not be awarded without fair and open competition,” wrote Ashish S. Vazirani, acting undersecretary of Defense for personnel. “After reviewing all proposals, the contract selection committee and contracting officer chose another vendor, Mack Global LLC, commending April 1, 2023, as they were able to meet the requirements as listed in the performance work statement.”

CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE ACCUSES WALTER REED OF STIFLING RELIGIOUS RIGHTS WITH ‘CEASE AND DESIST’ ORDER

“In accordance with Federal contracting guidance and routine business practices, a cease-and-desist letter was sent to Holy Name College on April 5, 2023, because it continued providing supplemental pastoral care services after its contract had expired,” Vazirani continued. “If the Federal Government allowed Holy Name College to provide services without a contract, it could create an unauthorized commitment, in violation of Federal laws and the Federal Acquisition Regulation.” 

But amid an “oversight in the contractual language with the new vendor,” the contract was terminated, and instead, the Department of Defense awarded a new contract to Holy Name College for a one-year term from June 8, 2023, to June 7, 2024, with “four option years.”

“No Catholic services were canceled during Holy Week, or at any point between April 1, 2023, and June 7, 2023, when there was a lapse in the Pastoral Care contract requirements,” Vazirani wrote, adding that Walter Reed assigned an “active duty Army Catholic priest, who provided Catholic services, to include pastoral counseling and sacramental rights.”

Additionally, an Army Reserve Catholic priest was also assigned to Walter Reed, beginning on May 22.

“All beneficiaries receiving care at WRNMMC are afforded the opportunity to exercise religious freedom,” Vazirani wrote. “WRNMMC is proud of the pastoral care provided to people of all faiths and has ensured everyone has access to the ecclesiastical services needed.” 

The development comes after Rep. Miller led a group of two dozen Republican lawmakers in April in writing a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, reported exclusively by Fox News Digital, that blasted the Biden administration’s “attack on the Christian faith.” 

FBI SOUGHT TO DEVELOP SOURCES IN CATHOLIC CHURCHES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM, DOCS SHOW

Miller applauded the Department of Defense’s decision to reinstate the Holy College contract.

“As a result of our efforts to protect the religious liberty of our service members, the Biden administration reversed its decision to remove Catholic priests from Walter Reed, demonstrating how conservatives are holding the Biden administration accountable,” Miller told Fox News Digital. “I proudly led an amendment included in this year’s NDAA to force the Biden Department of Defense to reverse their decision to kick priests out of Walter Reed.”

Miller added: “Conservatives in the House are committed to supporting and defending our troops and ensuring that their rights are protected.”

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The initial letter to Austin was sent by Miller, R-Ill.; Jim Banks, R-Ind.; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Byron Donalds, R-Fla.; Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.; Scott Perry, R-Pa.; Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.; Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Ralph Norman, R-S.C.; Bob Good, R-Va.; Keith Self, R-Texas; Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.; Andrew Clyde, R-Ga.; Josh Brecheen, R-Okla.; Brian Babin, R-Texas; Ben Cline, R-Va.; Andy Harris, R-Md.; Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn.; Michael Cloud, R-Texas; Eli Crane, R-Ariz.; Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.; and Alex X. Mooney, R-W.Va.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) was created by St. Pope John Paul II to provide the Catholic Church’s services to veterans and service members in the U.S. and overseas. The archdiocese, which does not have geographical boundaries, is responsible for the care of 1.8 million Catholics across the globe. 

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.