NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX — The Republican National Committee (RNC) hauled in nearly $15 million in fundraising last month and continues to build a massive war chest for next year’s midterm elections, when the party will defend its House and Senate majorities.

According to figures shared first with Fox News Digital on Thursday, the RNC brought in $14.7 million in October, bringing its fundraising total so far this cycle to $146 million.

And the RNC reported $91 million cash on hand as of the end of October.

That’s a massive advantage over the $18.2 million the rival Democratic National Committee (DNC) held in its coffers at the end of last month, according to public filings. And the DNC’s $7.5 million in fundraising last month was roughly half of the RNC’s haul.

THE TRUE COST OF THE 2025 ELECTIONS

“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Vice President Vance as our finance chair, the RNC is building a powerful war chest for the 2026 midterms,” RNC chair Joe Gruters said in a statement.

And Gruters emphasized that “Vice President Vance has been a driving force for our fundraising efforts, and we’re entering 2026 with serious momentum and the funding we need to defend our Republican majorities in Congress.”

WHAT THE NEWLY ELECTED RNC CHAIR TOLD FOX NEWS 

With Republicans in control of the White House and both houses of Congress, the party has enjoyed a financial advantage over the Democrats this year as the minority party has faced sluggish fundraising among top-dollar donors and grassroots constituents still frustrated with last year’s election setbacks.

The party is still crawling out of debt. It still owes roughly $15 million after former Vice President Kamala Harris‘ expensive 2024 White House campaign.

And $15 million of the DNC’s cash on hand came from a loan the party committee took out, which was first reported by The New York Times.

The DNC confirmed to Fox News Digital that it opened a $20 million line of credit, tapping $15 million in recent months for investments in the 2025 elections earlier this month, long-term party infrastructure and other priorities.

SURVEY SAYS: ISSUE THAT HELPED TRUMP AND GOP IN 2024 HURTS THEM IN 2025

The loan helped boost DNC get-out-the-vote efforts in the two races for governor this year in New Jersey and Virginia.

The loan appeared to pay off because Democrats won both of those elections by double digits and also scored big wins in ballot box showdowns in battlegrounds Georgia and Pennsylvania and left-leaning New York City and California.

“We can’t win elections or fight back against Trump if the DNC downsizes operations like it often does after a presidential cycle. I made a bet that investing early would build power, rack up wins and rally supporters back to the table. That bet is paying off,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

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The DNC also highlights that it’s raised more money under Martin, who was elected in February, than any chair in party history nine months into a tenure. And the party also highlighted that its grassroots fundraising pace is far ahead of the 2017 and 2019 cycles, the previous election periods when Democrats didn’t control the White House.

Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson, 43, said now that she has been elected mayor and is earning more money as a result, she no longer needs to ask her parents for help to pay the bills.

Wilson, who recently told CNN she thought embracing the help she got from her parents made her more “relatable” to Seattle voters, quipped on social media that, “after much deliberation and a grueling interview process,” she was “pleased” to announce that her higher salary as mayor will mean she no longer needs financial support from her parents. 

During Wilson’s campaign, she credited her parents’ financial support for allowing her to run. 

“My opponent’s campaign and the corporate PAC that tried to stop my election certainly cast it as a negative thing,” Wilson responded when asked whether she thought people in Seattle saw her parents’ financial support as a negative or a positive.  

MEET THE SOCIALIST MAMDANI-STYLE MAYOR JUST ELECTED TO RUN WEST COAST’S FIFTH-LARGEST CITY

“Campaigning for office is stressful,” Wilson continued. “Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the country, our childcare is off-the-charts expensive and, honestly, I think that a lot of people of my generation, and younger and older, found it very relatable that during this stressful campaign my parents chipped in to help pay for the cost of their granddaughter’s daycare.”

Wilson added that it isn’t unusual for parents to help their children with money but also noted she recognized her “privilege.” 

“You know, families help each other out, and I certainly acknowledge that I’m lucky to be in a position where my parents were able to do that. Not all families have that privilege,” Wilson said. “And that’s why I’m going to fight for affordable childcare and affordable housing for every family in this city.”

Wilson said during her campaign that the cost of childcare was about $2,200 per month for her and her reportedly unemployed husband. Wilson did not share precisely how much her parents contributed during the campaign, pointing out that she does not keep track. However, when pressed for more details, Wilson reportedly said the money comes in every few months.

SEATTLE’S SOCIALIST MAYOR MAY BE ‘LESS CONSTRAINED’ THAN MAMDANI, WASHINGTON POST WARNS

Prior to moving to Seattle in 2004, Wilson lived in upstate New York. After graduating from high school in Binghamton, Wilson studied physics and philosophy at Oxford University, thanks to financial assistance from her parents living in New York. Wilson left Oxford debt-free, which she credits to her parents. However, she also left without a degree, dropping out just six weeks before her graduation.

Prior to earning her new mayoral salary, Wilson was getting paid by the nonprofit she founded in 2011, the Transit Riders Union. She began collecting paychecks from the group in 2019. Before that, Wilson worked a series of odd jobs, including barista, boatyard worker, apartment manager, lab technician, baker, construction worker and legal assistant.

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Tax records show that Wilson brought in $72,669 in 2022 as the president of the Transit Riders Union. There are no records of Wilson’s salary for 2023 or 2024, reportedly due to the fact the nonprofit changed tax preparers recently, according to PubliCola. 

The IRS does not require nonprofits to disclose salaries of employees making under $100,000 per year.

Wilson reported earning between $60,000 and $99,000 in a financial statement to the city upon declaring her candidacy for mayor. Wilson also reported income “less than $30,000” from PubliCola, The Urbanist and The Stranger, respectively, for work as a “columnist” for the left-wing online news outlets.

A lawsuit was filed Thursday against the federal government on behalf of immigrants facing fines reaching up to $1.8 million each for staying in the U.S. illegally.

Daily penalties of $998 have been levied against more than 21,500 immigrants, whose lawyers say they were attempting to comply with federal immigration laws. The fines were implemented to encourage immigrants to leave the country.

The lawyers said their clients were slapped with “ruinous civil fines” that are “grossly disproportionate to the gravity” of any immigration violations, arguing that the fines are unconstitutional.

The lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts on behalf of two immigrant women, seeks class-action status to represent people facing fines that lawyers say have totaled more than $6 billion under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies.

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“The people we serve are doing exactly what the law requires — pursuing legal relief through immigration courts and immigration agencies,” Hasan Shafiqullah, a supervising attorney with The Legal Aid Society, one of the groups representing the immigrants, said in a news release. “In return, the government is threatening to seize their wages, cars, even their homes.”

One of the two plaintiffs, a woman residing in Florida who was identified in the complaint only as Nancy M. to protect her from retribution, was instructed to leave the U.S., but also had an “order of supervision” and was meeting annually with immigration officials as she attempted to become a legal permanent resident.

Despite this, she received a bill earlier this year for about $1.8 million, which appeared to be reached through daily $998 fines for the past five years.

The Department of Homeland Security purported that the lawsuit was “just another attempt to nullify federal immigration law through activist litigation.”

“The plaintiffs in this case are here illegally and are suing so they can remain in the country illegally without any consequence or penalty – contrary to decades-old federal law,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Shortly after Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration revealed a series of moves to encourage immigrants to leave the country, including DHS’ announcement in February that illegal immigrants could face “significant financial penalty” if they choose not to self-deport.

DHS TO IMPOSE $1K FEE FOR MIGRANTS GRANTED HUMANITARIAN PAROLE

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Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “have a clear message for those in our country illegally: leave now,” McLaughlin said in February.

“The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws — we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce,” she added at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., announced on Thursday he is launching a campaign for California governor in 2026.

The congressman and longtime foe of President Donald Trump made the announcement during an appearance on the late-night show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

“He’s going to hate tonight’s episode,” Swalwell wrote on X in response to a social media post from the president criticizing Kimmel for being “biased” and having “no talent.”

TRUMP DOJ OPENS MORTGAGE FRAUD PROBE INTO ERIC SWALWELL AS CONGRESSMAN VOWS TO KEEP FIGHTING BACK

The Democrat lawmaker vowed to be a “protector and fighter” if elected governor.

Swalwell told the San Francisco Chronicle ahead of his announcement that the next governor of the Golden State should have two objectives.

“One, keep Trump out of our homes, streets and lives,” he said, adding that the second is to “write the story of a new California on lower prices, on business growth and modernizing the state.”

“I’m running to be a governor for all Californians,” he later told MediasTouch. “I’m the son of two Republicans, the son of a cop, and I grew up in a law-enforcement family. I worked as a prosecutor myself. I know that whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat in this state, public safety for yourself, your kids, and your community is a top priority.”

Swalwell is seeking to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, after the 2026 gubernatorial election.

SWALWELL MOCKED FOR DEMANDING 2028 DEMOCRATS PLEDGE TO DEMOLISH TRUMP’S BALLROOM

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Other candidates include former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire activist and 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer for the Democrats and former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for the Republicans.

Newsom, who is term limited as governor, has been floated as a potential top candidate for the Democratic presidential primary in 2028.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford announced Thursday that hundreds of air traffic controllers and technicians who worked during the government shutdown will receive bonus checks.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) said in a statement that 776 air traffic controllers and technicians will be awarded $10,000 for their “patriotic work to ensure the safety of the skies during the Democrats’ 44-day government shutdown.”

“These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown,” Duffy said in a statement. “Democrats may not care about their financial well-being, but President Trump does.”

The secretary added, “This award is an acknowledgment of their dedication and a heartfelt appreciation for going above and beyond in service to the nation.”

SEAN DUFFY WARNS OF RECORD STRAIN ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS AHEAD OF FIRST MISSED PAYCHECK

DOT said checks would only be sent to workers who maintained perfect attendance during the recent shutdown and that the payments should arrive by Dec. 9, in time for the holidays.

“I am profoundly proud and grateful for the air traffic personnel who worked during extraordinary operational challenges to keep the National Airspace System (NAS) running safely during the longest government shutdown,” Bedford said in a statement. “Their dedication represents the highest levels of public service.”

The announcement came after President Donald Trump previously floated the idea of rewarding controllers who remained on the job, writing in a post on Truth Social last week, “For those Air Traffic Controllers who were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn’t take ANY TIME OFF for the ‘Democrat Shutdown Hoax,’ I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country.”

DUFFY VOWS ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS LYING DOWN’ AFTER COURT BLOCKS CDL RESTRICTIONS FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

“For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU,” Trump added.

On Nov. 13, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem handed out $10,000 bonus checks to Transportation Security Administration TSA agents at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport who continued working during the shutdown.

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

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Justice subpoenaed the personal phone records of House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan in 2022, seeking the Ohio Republican’s phone data covering a more than two-year period.

The subpoena, obtained by Fox News Digital, shows a federal prosecutor who later worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation ordered Verizon to hand over the phone data, also known as toll records, reaching back to Jan. 1, 2020. 

The request appears to be the most expansive yet of the publicly known subpoenas targeting senators and current and former House members during Arctic Frost, the investigation that led to Smith bringing election-related charges against President Donald Trump.

JACK SMITH TARGETED THEN-HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY’S PRIVATE PHONE RECORDS IN J6 PROBE, FBI DOCS REVEAL

Smith did not begin working as special counsel until seven months after the subpoena was issued, meaning the request pre-dated his time at the DOJ. 

The subpoena for Jordan’s records appears to be one of the first known ones in the Arctic Frost probe and was issued during a time when Jordan was serving as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, which conducts oversight of the DOJ. His role at the time is illustrative of Republicans’ sharp criticisms of the Arctic Frost subpoenas, as they claim the requests for Congress members’ phone records breached the separation of powers, including under the speech or debate clause.

The toll records did not include the contents of Jordan’s phone calls or messages but did include details about when calls and messages were sent and received and with whom Jordan was communicating. The subpoena sought records for three other phone numbers, which were redacted. It included a one-year gag order signed by a D.C. magistrate judge.

Read a copy of the subpoena below. App users click here.

Jordan, a close Trump ally, is the latest in a string of lawmakers to have recently learned that the DOJ sought their toll records as part of Arctic Frost. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s were sought in 2023, as were the records of what Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said were at least 10 Republican senators, including Sens. Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson.

Smith has said that his investigation into the Jan. 6 riot and 2020 election was consistent with DOJ policies and that the subpoenas he was involved with sending were “entirely proper” and narrowly tailored.

Verizon produced documents for the DOJ in response to the subpoena pertaining to Jordan, a source told Fox News Digital.

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Verizon said in a statement it has been coordinating with the House and Senate Judiciary committees and “working tirelessly” to gather information on the subpoenas related to lawmakers.

“As part of our investigation, we uncovered new information regarding Chairman Jordan and shared it with him as soon as possible,” Verizon spokesman Rich Young said. “We are committed to restoring trust through transparency and will continue to work with Congress and the administration as they examine these issues and consider reforms to expand notification protections.”

A nonprofit news organization that is funded entirely by the U.S. government began selling off a large amount of its equipment on a public auction site – with many items being sold for pennies on the dollar.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) receives about $60 million a year from American taxpayers to produce news in Asia. The organization said it was suspending operations due to a lapse in funding during the government shutdown.

But while its website went dark, Fox News discovered that RFA had quietly begun selling off major portions of its expensive broadcast gear, including HD cameras, teleprompters, lenses and even office refrigerators.

Listings on a public auction site, Rasmus Auctions, show RFA-branded broadcast gear is being offered at fire sale prices.

CPB IRKED WITH NPR AFTER OUTLET TRIES TO BLOCK $58 MILLION IN DISPERSEMENTS TO NEW NONPROFIT

Some high-definition cameras are for sale for less than a dollar, teleprompters for ninety cents, professional lenses for under a dollar and a refrigerator listed for just twenty cents.

In total, more than a thousand pieces of equipment were offered for sale, which has sparked outrage.

California Congressman Darrell Issa, who had been working to restore RFA’s funding, called the online auction a betrayal to American taxpayers.

WHITE HOUSE MOVE TO CANCEL $4.9B FOREIGN AID WITH ‘POCKET RESCISSION’ BLASTED AS ILLEGAL

“I’ve never seen such belligerence by an organization that gets a hundred percent of its money from the U.S. government,” Issa said. “Lenses you’d pay thousands of dollars for are being sold for pennies. It’s clear they’re liquidating assets out of spite.”

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Radio Free Asia blamed the Trump administration’s earlier budget cuts.

EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES $20B GREEN GRANTS ENRICHED BIDEN ALLIES

They also pointed at the shutdown for forcing the organization to make difficult financial choices.

“The Administration’s unlawful termination and disruption of RFA’s timely funding, followed by an extended government shutdown, has forced the company to drastically reduce operational costs to set up for long-term success,” the statement read.

“Shedding equipment we can no longer use, while retaining key personnel and assets, responsibly positions RFA to continue editorial operations that hold the Chinese Communist Party and other authoritarian governments to account,” RFA said.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS VOICE OF AMERICA MASS TERMINATIONS IN SCATHING RULING AGAINST LAKE

“Our plan going forward is to build back once Congress and the Administration resolve our funding issues,” the statement concluded.

However, Kari Lake, Deputy Executive at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees RFA, quickly disputed those claims.

“Everything they said was not true,” Lake shot back.

CPB IRKED WITH NPR AFTER OUTLET TRIES TO BLOCK $58 MILLION IN DISPERSEMENTS TO NEW NONPROFIT

“We are funding them. We’ve given them every single penny appropriated to them. Eighty cents for an HD camera? That’s a slap in the face to taxpayers,” Lake said.

In a letter to RFA sent Thursday, Lake wrote: “The insanity ends now. Be prepared to open your doors next week for our team of auditors to find out what on earth is going on at RFA, as permitted under the grant agreement and applicable regulations.”

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In further comments to Fox News, RFA said it hopes to restart its news operations if Congress restores its funding, and they have enough equipment to continue to operate if Congress decides to fund them moving forward.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is prepared to meet with anybody ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump.

Asked by a reporter on Thursday what her expectations were for the meeting, the congresswoman said, “We’ll see.”

“Obviously, the mayor-elect is going to be preparing for his inauguration,” she said. “Of course, he’s indicated that he’s willing to sit down with anybody and everybody. So we’ll see.”

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL MEET NYC MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI THIS WEEK

Ocasio-Cortez was also asked if there were any policy issues the mayor-elect should address in his meeting with Trump.

“I think we let Zohran lead. He’s been elected to lead New York City. I trust him as the mayor-elect, he’ll do what he thinks is best for the city of New York,” she said.

“We’ll see how it goes,” she added.

MAMDANI SAYS HE WILL MEET JAMIE DIMON, OTHER FINANCIAL TITANS IN NYC

Trump announced on Wednesday that he will meet with Mamdani at the White House this week.

“Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Further details to follow,” the president said.

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The meeting would mark the first encounter between Trump and Mamdani since the Democratic socialist’s victory in New York’s mayoral race earlier this month. 

Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, is set to take office in January.

Guardian Angels founder and former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa is facing new accusations of failing to pay campaign workers after his third-place finish in the city’s chaotic 2025 mayoral race, according to a report from the New York Post.

Several canvassers told the outlet they were promised wages that never materialized, leaving them owed thousands of dollars after weeks of door-knocking and phone banking during the final stretch of Sliwa’s campaign against Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

One former worker interviewed by The Post said he is owed about $2,000, calling the situation “disappointing for someone who claimed to run on honesty and reform.” Another canvasser, Alonzo Henderson, said he felt misled. “When someone is promised something, you need to live up to that end of the promise — especially when you’re running on reform,” Henderson told the outlet.

Republican operatives in the city told the paper the issue has become a major point of frustration among lower-level staffers. “The biggest source of complaints is from the hourly paid canvassers. They need the money,” one GOP insider said.

SPARKS FLY AS CUOMO, MAMDANI TEAR INTO EACH OTHER DURING FIERY DEBATE: ‘TOXIC ENERGY’

Sliwa’s campaign is rejecting the allegation that workers won’t be paid. Spokesman Rob Cole told The Post that “everyone is going to get paid,” insisting the process takes time because wages must be verified by the New York City Campaign Finance Board.

Sliwa echoed that explanation when pressed by the outlet, saying any worker who can produce timesheets will be paid by Dec. 1. He described the verification process as “standard protocol” and denied that his campaign stiffed anyone.

The controversy comes despite the campaign’s sizable budget. According to the Campaign Finance Board, Sliwa raised nearly $7 million, including more than $5 million in public matching funds — leaving roughly $1.7 million in cash remaining at the end of the race, The Post reported.

NYC MAYORAL RIVALS UNITE AGAINST BILLIONAIRE ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’ AS CAMPAIGN ENTERS FINAL STRETCH

Sliwa ultimately received just 7% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election, trailing Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent.

The pay dispute has renewed attention to a series of financial controversies that have followed Sliwa in recent years.

In 2023, The Daily Beast reported that Sliwa’s ex-wife, Mary Paterson, sued him for more than $530,000 in unpaid child support, alleging he unilaterally cut his court-ordered payments. Her attorney accused Sliwa at the time of “disregard for legal process.”

CURTIS SLIWA VOWS TO BE ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S ‘WORST NIGHTMARE’ IF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST WINS NYC MAYORAL RACE

Politico’s Playbook noted in October that a corporation registered under Sliwa’s name owes nearly $4,000 in unpaid state taxes, according to New York State tax warrants. Sliwa’s campaign blamed the issue on an old clerical error involving a dissolved company and said he has paid all personal taxes.

The allegations have sparked anger among Republican activists still reeling from Mamdani’s upset victory. Some party officials told The Post the situation has “further eroded trust” in Sliwa’s populist messaging, arguing that stiffed canvassers undercut the image of a candidate who billed himself as a champion of ordinary New Yorkers.

His former employer, billionaire WABC owner John Catsimatidis, has also blasted Sliwa for refusing to drop out of the race earlier this year — a move Catsimatidis believes split the conservative vote.

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Sliwa, who rose to fame in the 1970s as the founder of the red-beret-wearing Guardian Angels, ran on a law-and-order platform promising to “take back New York.” Instead, he now faces allegations from some of his own workers that his campaign broke its word.

Curtis Sliwa did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

GREENBELT, MD — Lawyers for Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia urged a federal judge in Maryland on Thursday to prohibit the Trump administration from deporting their client to the third country of Liberia, the latest twist in a nine-month legal fight that has garnered international attention and dominated headlines and court dockets for months. 

That effort appeared stunted Thursday, after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis tried and failed to answer a more fundamental question of whether the government had obtained a final order of removal to deport Abrego Garcia from the U.S. 

Without that document, she said, Abrego Garcia is “at a minimum” entitled to certain immediate relief under Supreme Court precedent, just as the Justice Department is free to seek relief from higher courts. 

“You’ve raised all these arguments, and they all depend on me having a withholding of removal order,” Xinis said Thursday. 

US JUDGE VOWS TO RULE ‘SOON’ ON ABREGO GARCIA’S FATE AFTER MARATHON HEARING

Though she vowed to issue a ruling “soon,” Thursday’s hearing ended with little in the way of satisfactory answers — much to the chagrin of Xinis, the federal judge who has presided over Abrego Garcia’s civil case and habeas cases since March. 

“Today was a zero in my view,” she noted at one point in apparent exasperation.

Lawyers for the Trump administration had asked Xinis to dissolve an emergency order she handed down in August ordering Abrego Garcia remain in U.S. immigration custody.

They told her earlier this month that they planned to immediately deport him to the third country of Liberia pending the dissolution of her emergency order. 

They previously tried and failed to remove Abrego Garcia to the African countries of Eswatini, Uganda, and briefly Ghana.

During Thursday’s hearing, Xinis again upbraided the Justice Department for failing to tell the court why Costa Rica, a country that previously granted assurances to grant Abrego Garcia legal status in the country and not to refoul him to his home country of El Salvador, is now apparently off the table.

“You’re saying Costa Rica has now rescinded” she said about their offer to Abrego Garcia. “But that’s in the offer, it’s [on] the record, it wasn’t conditional,” she said. “That’s what I don’t understand.”

“And if you are saying that … I’d love to see the evidence, so that I can rest assured this is not just an empty ‘word salad’ of an affidavit,” she added.

ABREGO GARCIA REMAINS IN US FOR NOW AS JUDGE TAKES CASE UNDER ADVISEMENT

Xinis used the rest of the hearing to bear down on the foundational question of whether the government had issued a notice of removal.

“I want us to be clear,” Xinis said. “I am just interested in finding the notice of removal.”

Without it, she is expected to order Abrego Garcia’s release, citing precedent set in Zadvydas v. Davis, a Supreme Court case that bars the government from indefinitely detaining migrants after removal issues have been ordered. 

This would ostensibly allow Abrego Garcia to remain in the U.S. with his brother pending trial in his criminal case in Nashville, though the Justice Department would almost certainly seek relief from a higher court. 

The order would also allow him to participate in a two-day evidentiary hearing next month in Tennessee, centered on his motion to dismiss the case against him for “vindictive” and selective prosecution — despite the stated objections of Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign, who suggested that the order of removal was, in fact, on the record. 

He also suggested an immigration judge in the case had “meant” to issue the order of removal. 

“This doesn’t look anything like” a final order of removal, she shot back. “It’s not even close.”

Before adjourning court, Xinis made clear that this would be the final hearing in Abrego Garcia’s habeas case — noting to both sides that she considers the record “closed,” and will issue a ruling in the coming days. 

Xinis also took umbrage at the Justice Department’s failure to produce for the court a witness to testify “with knowledge of the case,” and who could speak to the government’s plans to deport Abrego Garcia to the third country of Liberia, and why it had only provided temporary assurances to accept Abrego Garcia into the country. 

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Still, she told the Justice Department, “I don’t even know if it matters here, frankly, because if I make a finding that a final order doesn’t exist, then we are done.”

With Thanksgiving a week away, slightly more voters say they have a greater sense of gratitude this year, although the biggest share says they have just as much to be thankful for as last year.  Moreover, partisan barriers are unlikely to keep people apart as most say they are open to spending time with friends and family who hold different political views.

A new Fox News poll finds only one in five intend to steer clear of folks with opposing political views, while three-quarters are comfortable hanging out with the opposing team this season – the same proportion as in 2022, when the question was last asked.

While there is partisan consensus on spending time with relatives from across the aisle, Republicans (86%) are more likely than independents (71%) and Democrats (68%) to say they won’t avoid anyone.

FOX NEWS POLL: HOW DO VOTERS FEEL ABOUT AI? IT’S COMPLICATED

Hispanics (31%), Democrats (30%), and voters under age 35 (30%) are among those most likely to say they will dodge the partisan dinner table.

The survey, released Thursday, also finds that 33% of voters feel they have more to be thankful for this year, while 25% say they have less. The largest group, 42%, says they feel equally thankful in 2025.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS SAY WHITE HOUSE IS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD ON ECONOMY

White evangelical Christians (46%), voters under age 30 (45%), Republicans (45%), 2024 Trump voters (44%), and Hispanic voters (43%) all say they have more to be grateful for now.

Overall, majorities say their costs have increased since last year on everything from groceries to housing, which explains why four times as many are planning to cut back on seasonal gifts (44%) compared to those who expect to spend more (11%). Another 44% plan to maintain their spending level.

FOX NEWS VOTER POLL: CALIFORNIA VOTERS OK CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING PLAN

Liberal voters (57%), Democrats (54%), and women under age 45 (53%) are among those most likely to say they will spend less.

When it comes to how their friends and neighbors are approaching gift-giving this year, expectations are roughly the same: 47% think others will spend less, 16% think they’ll spend more, and 35% expect no change.

CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE

Conducted November 14-17, 2025, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,005 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (646) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (255). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.

John F. Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg picked up plenty of national attention when he launched a congressional campaign to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., but the content creator is far from the only young, progressive candidate vying to represent the Big Apple in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democratic activist Cameron Kasky, 25, launched a campaign on Tuesday for New York’s 12th Congressional District, joining an already crowded field of Democratic primary contenders.

Kasky is jumping into the race as progressives across the U.S., especially in New York City, seek to seize Democrats’ success in the 2025 races, including gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia and 34-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani taking the helm of the largest city in America.

“New Yorkers are always on the move, reaching new heights, and rushing towards the future, but today’s leaders just can’t keep up,” Kasky said in his announcement video, while walking through a busy New York City between jump cuts of the Gen-Z activist riding public transportation. 

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The video is reminiscent in tone and style to Mamdani’s own jumpy and cinematic-forward videos, with Kasky’s political campaign debut scripted over a jazzy musical ensemble.

SOCIALIST WAVE SPREADS COAST TO COAST AS PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS RALLY AROUND ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S NYC WIN

“I’m Cameron Kasky, and I’m running for Congress because it feels like our party has no future, so we need to invest in a new generation of leaders to take on the fight.

Kasky said “he never dreamed” of getting into politics, but after surviving a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, and later leading the March For Our Lives, a student-led organization supporting gun control legislation, he said he learned “the hard way” that it happened because of the “American system,” he now seeks to dismantle.

His key campaign promises are Medicare for All, calling for an end to “funding genocide” and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Both Schlossberg and Kasky are seeking to unseat Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the 78-year-old who is retiring at the end of next year after decades in Congress. Nadler currently represents Manhattan’s West Side, from Chelsea and Greenwich Village, through Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen, all the way up to the Upper West Side.

Kasky’s announcement came on the heels of New York City Council member Chi Ossé launching a primary challenge against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a neighboring congressional district amid an ongoing discussion about the party’s future.

But even Mayor-elect Mamdani has rejected Ossé’s primary launch against Jeffries, arguing it’s not “the right time” to challenge the highest ranking House Democrat.

As for Schlossberg, he is practically political royalty. But to New York City’s chronically online electorate, he is better known as the star of hundreds of satirical, and often absurd, viral videos, amassing close to 850,000 TikTok followers and nearly 770,000 on Instagram.

Despite the followers and the Kennedy connections, Schlossberg has a thin résumé. He most recently served as a political correspondent for Vogue during the 2024 presidential election.

Kasky and Schlossberg are far from the only candidates in an already jam-packed Democratic primary.

Nonprofit leader and activist Liam Elkind is also in the running, and Elkind’s own launch video follows a similar walk-and-talk style as his fellow young, progressive opponents.

Chief among the 26-year-old’s campaign promises is to “actually fight Trump,” in addition to improving the Democratic Party, ending corruption, affordability and civil rights.

Also campaigning in the crowded field are Assembly members Micah Lasher and Alex Bores as well as Council member Erik Bottcher.

According to 43-year-old Lasher, he is running to “revitalize the Democratic Party, fight Trump’s agenda, and deliver results that improve the lives of New Yorkers.”

Meanwhile, Bores, who is in his mid-30s, said he is “running for Congress because big systems have stopped working for the little guys — but together, we can fix them.”

And 46-year-old Bottcher is running to “keep the New York City dream alive and take back our country.”

Civil rights lawyer Laura Dunn, former journalist and political commentator Jami Floyd, Merrill Lynch and Mercury Capital Advisors alum Alan Pardee, and LGBTQ rights activist Matthew Shurka are all vying for the coveted Democratic nomination.

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Forty-year-old Dunn said she is “running fearlessly for the people,” while 61-year-old Floyd notably did not vote for Mamdani this November and has been carving out a moderate position in the primary.

Pardee, 58, said he is running to create “policies that make our city livable for all families,” and Shurka, 37, said he is campaigning to “take on corruption, confront Donald Trump’s attacks on this city, and fight for the people who make New York home.”

Senate Republicans and Democrats squared off on the Senate floor on Thursday, blocking attempt after attempt to repeal, or change, a controversial law that would allow senators to sue for hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.

The partisan back-and-forth came as lawmakers in the upper chamber were jetting from Washington, D.C., for the upcoming Thanksgiving recess. 

Two different attempts to try and fast-track a repeal or tweak of the law that would allow senators targeted in the Biden-led Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Arctic Frost probe to sue the federal government for $500,000 were shut down. 

HOUSE VOTES TO REPEAL CONTROVERSIAL ARCTIC FROST PROVISION FROM GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BILL

The provision, dubbed “Requiring Senate Notification for Senate Data,” was tucked away in the government funding package designed to reopen the government and signed into law by President Donald Trump last week.

There has been growing bipartisan fury over the law — varying from anger that it would allow lawmakers to possibly enrich themselves with taxpayer money, that it was included at the last minute into the package to reopen the government, and the retroactive nature of the provision — and numerous calls to have it repealed. The House unanimously passed legislation Wednesday night to do just that. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., offered a resolution that would clarify that any monetary damages won in a lawsuit against the government would not go toward personal enrichment for a senator, but would instead be forfeited to the U.S. Treasury, still maintaining the core idea of the law to act as a deterrent from the DOJ subpoenaing records from senators without notifying them. 

“Just to be clear, no personal enrichment, accountability,” Thune said on the Senate floor. “And I think protection for the Article One branch of our government, which, in my view, based on what we saw and what we’re seeing as the facts continue to come into the Arctic Frost investigation, there was clearly a violation of the law and a law that needs to be strengthened and clarified, so those protections are in place for future members of the United States Senate.”

But his attempt was swiftly blocked by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.

SENATORS RAIL AGAINST ‘CASH GRAB’ SPENDING BILL PROVISION AS HOUSE PREPS REPEAL VOTE

“I’m not saying there was anything nefarious, but it got in there, it clearly is wrong,” he said. “Anybody who looks at the face of it knows it’s wrong. That’s why the House voted unanimously, and that’s why I hope at some point we can do the right thing and fix this.”

Thune, after requests from some in the Senate GOP, included the provision in the Legislative Branch appropriations bill as lawmakers were hammering out the final details of the bipartisan package to reopen the government.

REPUBLICANS FEUD OVER ‘ARCTIC FROST’ ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURE, BUT CRITICS OFFER NO CLEAR ALTERNATIVE

He was given the green-light by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who argued that he wanted to give Democratic senators protections from the DOJ under the Trump administration. Still, he wanted to see the provision repealed after the fact. 

Thune’s move to tweak the bill followed a similar fast-track request from Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., who wanted to force a vote on the House’s bill to completely repeal the law. 

Heinrich, who is the top Democrat on the Legislative Branch appropriations subcommittee, charged that the provision was airdropped into the bill “at the last minute” by Senate Republicans and would allow Senate Republicans targeted in former Special Counsel Jack Smith in his Arctic Frost probe to sue for “millions of dollars from the U.S. government.”

“That means that each senator could actually pocket millions of dollars and that money would be paid from your hard-earned tax dollars,” he said. “And that’s even though the law was followed by the government at the time. And it’s frankly, this is just outrageous to me.”

But some in the Senate GOP, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., don’t want to see the law repealed.

And Graham was on the Senate floor to block Heinrich’s move. 

He argued that his phone records were not lawfully obtained, and that he wouldn’t let, “The Democratic Party decide my fate. We’re going to let a judge decide my fate.”

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“This is really outrageous,” Graham said. “You want to use that word? I am really outraged that my private cell phone and my official phone were subpoenaed without cause. That a judge would suggest that I would destroy evidence or tamper with witnesses if I were told about what was going on.”

“I’m going to sue,” he continued. “I want to let you know I’m going to sue Biden’s DOJ and Jack Smith. I’m going to sue Verizon, and it’s going to be a hell of a lot more than $500,000.”

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a peer-reviewed report that found medical procedures to alter a child’s biological sex pose serious long-term dangers to children as Democrats continue promoting transgender issues before the nation’s highest court. 

“The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics peddled the lie that chemical and surgical sex-rejecting procedures could be good for children,” HHS chief Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a Wednesday press release. “They betrayed their oath to first do no harm, and their so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ has inflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people. That is not medicine — it’s malpractice.”

The report was released through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and found that operations working to reject a child’s biological sex — including the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical operations — “are significant, long term, and too often ignored or inadequately tracked.”

“What are we going to tell the young people who can’t have children because the medical profession stole that from them?” said Assistant Secretary for Health Brian Christine said. “Our report is an urgent wake-up call to doctors and parents about the clear dangers of trying to turn girls into boys and vice versa.”

BIDEN LEGACY INCLUDES RELENTLESS PUSH FOR TRANSGENDER AGENDA

The study was peer-reviewed and authored by nine medical doctors, PhD holders and others who previously have spoken out against the dangers surrounding children attempting to alter their biological sex. The authors included experts associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and other colleges and groups. 

The November report was an update to HHS’ May report that reviewed the evidence and best practices for children with gender dysphoria, which was criticized by a handful of medical groups for not identifying the study’s authors and allegedly misrepresenting a medical consensus on the matter. 

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told Fox News Digital Thursday that for the updated report the agency invited “a diverse group of individuals and organizations to participate in the peer-review process,” including organizations, such as the American Psychiatric Association, that support youth medical procedures related to gender dysphoria. 

He added that HHS also invited the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics to take part in the study’s review, but that the medical groups “declined HHS’ invitation to participate.”

CHILDREN’S NATIONAL HOSPITAL IN DC TO END GENDER TRANSITION MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS

Fox News Digital reached out to the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association Thursday morning but did not immediately receive replies. 

The Endocrine Society sent Fox News Digital a lengthy response when approached for comment, which included that children using puberty-delaying medication or hormone therapy is “rare and reflects a cautious approach.”

“The widely accepted view of the professional medical community is that medical treatment is appropriate for transgender and gender-diverse teenagers who experience persistent feelings of gender dysphoria. Medical studies show that access to this care improves the well-being of transgender and nonbinary people,” the statement continued.

Democrats have celebrated so-called “gender-affirming care” for children in recent years, with transgender issues becoming a political football under the first Trump administration and into the Biden administration.

Republican leaders at the state level in jurisdictions such as Florida and Arkansas worked to ban medical procedures for children under the age of 18, citing medical concern over such procedures and out of self-described effort to prevent children from making irreversible decisions before they exit high school. 

Democrats have galvanized around the platform of protecting such medical procedures, citing endorsements of major medical associations such as the American Psychological Association for adopting policies supporting “affirming evidence-based care” for children who identify as trans and nonbinary as having positive impacts on kids and adults alike with gender dysphoria. Supporters of medical procedures aimed at altering a child’s sex argue preventing such medical care can lead to depression and anxiety, and even suicide. 

The American Psychological Association reviewed the report and was included in its “Peer Reviews and Replies.” The medical group lamented that it “lacks sufficient transparency and clarity.” 

“Our conclusions are that while the HHS Report purports to be a thorough, evidence-based assessment of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, its underlying methodology lacks sufficient transparency and clarity for its findings to be taken at face value,” the American Psychological Association wrote. 

The Biden administration repeatedly elevated its support of the transgender community, including celebrating holidays championing the trans and LGBTQ+ communities at large, and pledging support to transgender individuals during each of then-President Biden’s State of the Union addresses. 

Democrats have continued pushing to support transgender policies, including 130 Members of Congress filing an amicus brief at the Supreme Court for a pair of cases focused on transgender students playing on a school sports team opposite their biological sex. 

One case the Supreme Court is weighing, West Virginia v. B.P.J., focuses on whether states can limit girls’ and women’s sports to biological females, and another case, Little v. Hecox, asks whether state laws restricting participation on girls and women’s sports to biological females violates the Equal Protection Clause. 

HHS YOUTH GENDER CARE REPORT AUTHORS DEFEND FINDINGS AMID BACKLASH FROM MEDICAL ORGANIZATIONS, CAUTION RISKS

“All students deserve equal access to opportunity in schools—whether in the classroom, on the playing field, or in other settings. No student should be discriminated against based on who they are,” Democratic Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono said in a press release of the amicus brief. “A categorical ban on transgender students participating in sports not only harms these students, but also subjects women and girls to harassment and discrimination, and leads to the policing of children’s bodies. This contradicts the very purpose of Title IX: ending discrimination in federally-funded education programs. These bans are blatant discrimination, and the Court should say so.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Hirono’s office for comment on HHS’ report but did not immediately receive a reply. 

President Donald Trump and the Make America Healthy Commission he established earlier in 2025 have doubled down that there are only two biological sexes, including Trump signing an executive order declaring the U.S. only recognizes male and female sexes while also ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion program within the government. 

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 ”This report marks a turning point for American medicine,” National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya said in the press release. ”The evidence in it meticulously documents the risks the profession has imposed on vulnerable children. At the NIH, we are committed to ensuring that science, not ideology, guides America’s medical research.” 

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday teased a “great” healthcare plan that the Trump administration has in the works to help bring costs down for American families, saying President Donald Trump cares about fixing a broken system, not playing political games with Democrats.

Vance made the remarks during a fireside chat with Breitbart’s Matt Boyle in Washington, D.C., when asked about Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies expiring at the end of the year and the high costs of healthcare prices and premiums.

“I don’t want to get ahead of the President … because we had a very, very good meeting in the Oval Office yesterday,” Vance said. “I think that we have a great healthcare plan coming together. I think that it’s going to get Republican and Democrat support. And I think the president, look, right now, American people, the American people get crap healthcare and they pay way too much for it.”

Americans could see sharp increases in healthcare premiums in 2026 as ACA subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025, with their extension uncertain. Those using the ACA marketplace are already projected to face a 26% premium hike. If subsidies lapse, monthly payments for subsidized patients could jump by 114%, according to an October analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

OBAMACARE STICKER SHOCK: THREE FACTORS PUSHING PREMIUMS TO RECORD HIGHS

Vance described the healthcare system as “broken,” claiming it was the Democrats who “broke it,” but said the Trump administration still wants to work together if Democrats are “willing to fix it.” He touted Trump’s leadership, saying that the president cares more about doing what is right for American families than playing politics.

“People come to the president and say, ‘No, no, no, don’t talk about healthcare. That’s a graveyard for Republicans. Republicans always lose on healthcare,’” Vance said. “And the president’s like, ‘I don’t care about the politics of it. This system is screwed up for the American people. We need to fix it. So let’s go and do it. Politics be damned.’”

He added: “I love that. That’s leadership. And that’s exactly what we should want coming from the White House.”

OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES AT CENTER OF DEM SHUTDOWN FIGHT ‘FUEL’ HEALTHCARE COST INFLATION, CONSERVATIVES SAY 

Republicans and Democrats clashed over whether to extend expiring ACA subsidies, triggering a shutdown that lasted more than 40 days — the longest in U.S. history.

Democrats initially refused to support a funding measure without a provision to make the subsidies permanent but eventually backed a short-term bill that did not include the extension. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to hold a vote in December on legislation to continue the credits.

Trump has signaled he would not back continuing the subsidies and said in a social media post Tuesday that Congress should not “waste” its time on negotiating an extension.

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“THE ONLY HEALTHCARE I WILL SUPPORT OR APPROVE IS SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE,” Trump said in the post.

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

Congressional Democratic leaders warned Thursday that President Donald Trump’s posts accusing several Democrat senators of sedition, “Punishable by DEATH,” would encourage political violence against lawmakers.

Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that six congressional Democrats featured in a viral video calling on members of the military and intelligence community to refuse to carry out “illegal” orders from higher-ups was “really bad, and Dangerous to our Country.”

“Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” Trump said. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP??? President DJT.”

TRUMP LABELS 6 DEMOCRATS WHO TOLD TROOPS TO REFUSE UNLAWFUL ORDERS ‘TRAITORS’ WHO SHOULD BE ARRESTED

He later posted, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” and reposted a user who wrote “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD.” 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor that Trump was explicitly calling “for the execution of elected officials. This is an outright threat, and it’s deadly serious.”

“Every time Donald Trump posts things like this, he makes political violence more likely,” Schumer said.

“When Donald Trump uses the language of execution and treason, some of his supporters may very well listen,” continued. “He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline.”

GRAHAM DEMANDS DEMOCRATS EXPLAIN ‘REFUSE ILLEGAL ORDERS’ MESSAGE TO TROOPS

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a joint statement with his House Democratic leadership team, condemned Trump’s “disgusting and dangerous death threats against Members of Congress” and urged House Republicans to follow suit.

“We have been in contact with the House Sergeant-at-Arms and the United States Capitol Police to ensure the safety of these Members and their families,” Jeffries said. “Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.”

Trump’s posts, and the response from Congress’ top Democrats, come after a video featuring Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Reps. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., went viral for calling on military service members to refuse to follow unlawful orders.

DEM VETERANS BREAK SILENCE AFTER VIRAL VIDEO CAUSES BACKLASH ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ‘FRUSTRATED’

Republicans and members of the Trump administration pounced on the video, with some demanding that the lawmakers provide specifics.

The video came on the heels of rising questions among lawmakers about the legality of President Donald Trump’s authorization of strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, and in the wake of the administration’s deployment of the National Guard to blue cities across the country.

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It also follows an uptick in political violence in the country over the last few years, notably two attempted assassinations against Trump, the assassination of Charlie Kirk and a dramatic increase in threats against members of Congress.

Fox News Digital reached out to each of the six congressional Democrats and the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.

It was the issue that boosted President Donald Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections, as they won back the White House and Senate majority and kept control of the House.

But a year later, the economy, and everyday expenses in particular, are working against the president and his party.

Democrats, with an across-the-board focus on affordability, outperformed at the polls as they enjoyed sweeping success at the ballot box in the 2025 elections earlier this month.

And a new Fox News national poll released on Wednesday evening is another warning sign for Trump and the GOP.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS SAY WHITE HOUSE IS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD ON ECONOMY

Three-quarters of voters questioned in the survey, which was conducted Friday through Monday, viewed the economy negatively, and large numbers of respondents, including Republicans, said their costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare, and housing have gone up this year.

The poll indicated that voters blame the president, with nearly twice as many pointing fingers at Trump than former President Joe Biden, when asked who is responsible for the current economy.

Only 38% of those questioned gave the president a thumbs up on how he’s handling the economy. And Trump’s overall approval rating, at 41%, is the lowest of his second term in office in Fox News polling.

SETTING THE STAGE: WHAT THE 2025 ELECTIONS SIGNAL FOR NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERM SHOWDOWNS

“The situation isn’t complicated,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “People are struggling to afford necessities and blaming those in charge. What’s interesting is watching Democrats gain politically from a problem they arguably caused — and that crushed them in 2024. But that’s politics.”

Trump enjoyed some positive economic news on Thursday, with the release of a stronger-than-expected jobs report after several months of weakness.

U.S. employers added 119,000 jobs in September, according to federal government data delayed for weeks due to the government shutdown. But the report also indicated the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 4.4%.

The Fox News survey is the latest national poll to point to political anxiety over the economy.

Jack Heath, the host of a popular statewide news-talk morning radio program in swing state New Hampshire, told Fox News Digital when he interviews congressional candidates and asks them what’s on the minds of voters they meet on the campaign trail, they tell him voters are “talking about how they can’t afford anything. It’s affordability. It’s cost of living.”

“I think there’s a very short window to the midterms where the president needs to…get back to the blue-collar people who are working. They feel optimistic but they’re growing more pessimistic that ‘I’m not keeping as much money as I want to and I’m working hard,'” Heath said, as he referred to next year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will defend its congressional majorities.

ELECTION REFLECTION: ‘DEMOCRATS FLIPPED THE SCRIPT’ ON AFFORDABILITY IN BALLOT BOX SHOWDOWNS

Pointing to the 2025 election’s double-digit gubernatorial wins for Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as ballot box showdowns in battlegrounds Georgia and Pennsylvania and left-tilting New York City and California, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said his party’s candidates “are meeting voters at the kitchen table… From New Jersey and Virginia and New York, to Georgia and beyond, Democrats ran campaigns relentlessly focused on costs and affordability.”

Trump, in his first post-2025 election interview, told Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this month that, on inflation, “We’ve done so much… Energy is way down … We’re going to have $2 gasoline. I did that. That brings everything else down. Groceries are way down, other than beef. Now, beef is going to come down … The fact is, we have prices way down.”

And the president argued in his “Special Report” interview that it’s more of a messaging problem for the GOP. “As Republicans, you have to talk about it.”

But Trump and his team have turned the spotlight since the elections this month on battling high prices.

“We’re making incredible strides to make America affordable again,” Trump said Wednesday.

But the polls suggest Americans aren’t buying the message from the White House.

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“Voters are remarkably consistent in their priorities: the economy, the economy, the economy,” noted Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and president of New England College.

“When you win an election, voters expect you are going to do something to address those concerns and the reality is that the questions of affordability remain unchanged in their importance to the everyday voter,” Lesperance emphasized.

A federal judge in Texas responded to the court’s decision to scrap the state’s redrawn map with a jaw-dropping dissent on Wednesday in which he lobbed dozens of insults at his colleague and repeatedly invoked Democratic mega-donor George Soros.

“This is the most blatant exercise of judicial activism that I have ever witnessed,” Judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan-appointee on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, wrote of the 2-1 decision to toss out the map.

In the turbulent 104-page tirade, he named the majority opinion’s author, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, hundreds of times, accusing him of “pernicious judicial misbehavior.”

The majority opinion would be a “prime candidate” for a “Nobel Prize for Fiction,” Smith said.

“The main winners from Judge Brown’s opinion are George Soros and Gavin Newsom,” Smith said. “The obvious losers are the People of Texas and the Rule of Law.”

REPUBLICANS PUSH BACK OVER ‘FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM’ IN BLOCKBUSTER REDISTRICTING FIGHT

Smith, a Yale Law School graduate, wrote that “if this were a law school exam, the opinion would deserve an ‘F.’”

Smith’s dissent came as part of a three-judge panel’s decision in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to temporarily block the state from using its map in the 2026 midterms. The map had created five new Republican-leaning districts, which the majority said was a product of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has already turned to the Supreme Court for relief.

Just as striking as the dissent itself, which Smith conceded was “disjointed,” was that the two judges in the majority did not wait for it, issuing their decision on Tuesday and leaving Smith’s dissent to land on the docket a day later.

“Any pretense of judicial restraint, good faith, or trust by these two judges is gone,” Smith wrote. “If these judges were so sure of their result, they would not have been so unfairly eager to issue the opinion sans my dissent, or they could have waited for the dissent in order to join issue with it. What indeed are they afraid of?”

Brown was joined in the 2-1 opinion by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee.

Smith’s broadside focused on Brown, saying that, “true to form,” he preferred to “live in a fantasyland” and had engaged in “judicial tinkering.”

The Supreme Court is now under pressure to act quickly on what has become a pivotal election issue that could shape the outcome of next year’s midterms. Texas requires candidates to declare their candidacy by Dec. 8.

The high court is already considering a similar Voting Rights Act case that originated in Louisiana. The justices heard oral arguments in the case last month and are expected to address the race provision of the law, which is relevant in the Texas case, on a normal timeline during this term.

Brown’s majority opinion in Texas had opened with a quote from Chief Justice John Roberts, who said in an unrelated case, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

FEDERAL JUDGES BLOCK TEXAS FROM USING REDRAWN CONGRESSIONAL MAP

“Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map,” Brown wrote.

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Brown said Department of Justice Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon’s warning to Texas this year to address four districts with non-White majorities because they were “coalition” districts was a race-based directive as evidenced by Dhillon ignoring all other Democrat-leaning districts that had White majorities. Abbott had responded to Dhillon by adding redistricting to the legislative agenda in a rush, leading to a stunning protest involving Democratic state lawmakers fleeing the state earlier this year.

“The Governor explicitly directed the Legislature to redistrict based on race,” Brown found.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is demanding specifics from a group of congressional Democrats who urged military service members to “refuse illegal orders.”

Graham sent letters to a cohort of congressional Democrats, all with backgrounds in the military or intelligence community, featured in a now-viral video where they urge service members to refuse illegal orders.

The six lawmakers featured in the video were Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., along with Reps. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Jason Crow, D-Colo.; Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.

SIX DEMOCRATS URGE MILITARY MEMBERS TO ‘REFUSE ILLEGAL ORDERS’ IN VIRAL VIDEO; HEGSETH RESPONDS

They reiterated the lines, “You can refuse illegal orders,” or “You must refuse illegal orders,” as they went on to charge that service members do not have to carry out orders from higher-ups that they believe violate the Constitution.

Notably, none of the lawmakers dove into which orders they believed were illegal in the video.

Graham, who served three decades in the Air Force and worked as an Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG), wrote in six letters to each of the lawmakers that he took “the issue of unlawful orders very seriously.”

“I cannot find a single example of an illegal order during this administration, but as a Member of Congress, I believe you owe it to the country to be specific as to which orders you believe are unlawful,” Graham said.

SEN BLACKBURN FIRES BACK AT DEMOCRATS OVER ‘DISTURBING’ VIDEO URGING TROOPS TO DEFY ‘ILLEGAL’ ORDERS

“However, to say that I am disturbed by your video encouraging service members and Intelligence Community professionals to refuse ‘unlawful orders’ is an understatement,” he continued. “In that regard, could you please provide clarity on what orders, issued by President Trump or those in his chain of command, you consider illegal?”

The video, and Graham’s letters, come on the heels of rising questions among lawmakers about the legality of President Donald Trump’s authorization of strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, and in the wake of the administration’s deployment of the National Guard to blue cities across the country.

DEPUTY AG BLASTS DEMOCRATS’ ‘ABHORRENT’ VIDEO URGING TROOPS TO ‘REFUSE ILLEGAL ORDERS’

Members of the military have an obligation to follow lawful orders from their superiors, but they can ignore orders deemed illegal, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice — the standardized military justice system enacted in 1951.

When asked to get into specifics, Slotkin’s office pointed Fox News Digital to an interview the senator had with TMZ, where she explained that the video was made in response to service members “reaching out to us saying, ‘I don’t know what to do if the commander-in-chief orders me to do something that is illegal.’”

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Slotkin, who was a CIA officer, said service members aren’t “trained in police techniques. They’re not trained in arresting, detaining American citizens, crowd control, raids on homes, and they were worried that they could be asked to do those things, that protests could get bad in a place like Chicago, and they could be asked to do these things.”

Fox News Digital reached out for comment from Kelly, Crow, Houlahan, Goodlander and Deluzio but did not immediately hear back.

President Donald Trump is not invited to the funeral for former Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a Thursday report from Axios, and a source familiar with the situation confirmed to Fox News that Vice President JD Vance was not invited either.

Cheney’s funeral is scheduled for mid-morning on Thursday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It is traditional for sitting U.S. presidents to attend funerals for past presidents and vice presidents, but Trump has had a uniquely poor relationship with Cheney’s family in recent years.

Cheney’s daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., helped lead the House investigation into Trump’s role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Both Liz and her father endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.

CHIP CARTER MARVELS AT BIPARTISANSHIP HE WITNESSED AT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, FATHER’S FUNERAL

The elder Cheney, who went from the plains of Casper, Wyoming, to a decades-long public career as a Republican congressman, Defense secretary, White House chief of staff and one of the most powerful American vice presidents ever died at age 84, earlier this month.

“Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, died last night, November 3, 2025. He was 84 years old. His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” his family said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “The former Vice President died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.”

“For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President of the United States,” the statement continued.

VANCE SAYS HE OWES ‘SO MUCH’ TO CHARLIE KIRK WHILE GUEST-HOSTING SHOW, PRAISES ‘VISIONARY’ CONSERVATIVE LEADER 

“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing,” his family said. “We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

Cheney had a long history of cardiac problems, including five heart attacks. He received a heart transplant on March 24, 2012, at a Virginia hospital after nearly 21 months on a waiting list.

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Cheney, who served as vice president for two terms under President George W. Bush, was one of the most powerful and controversial men ever to hold that position. He was a driving force behind America’s “war on terror,” including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.