NationalWatch

President Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania Tuesday night touting his administration’s economic success, after Democrats swept a series of elections in 2025 while mainly campaigning on platforms focused on “affordability.”

“They caused the high prices, and we’re bringing them down,” Trump told the crowd in attendance at a casino resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. “Lower prices, bigger paychecks – you’re getting lower prices, bigger paychecks, we’re getting inflation – we’re crushing it – and you’re getting much higher wages. The only thing that is really going up big – it’s called the stock market and your 401ks.” 

Affordability has become a flashpoint heading into the midterms, with Republicans now fine-tuning their messaging on the economy after a slew of Democrats won elections in 2025 running on a platform focused on lowering costs. Prior to Tuesday night’s address in Pennsylvania, Trump told Politico in an interview that he would give his economy an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” grade, but a November Fox News national survey found that some 76% of voters reported they view the economy negatively, up from the 67% who reported the same in July, and up from the 70% who said the same at the end of former President Joe Biden’s term.

TRUMP INSISTS PRICES ARE ‘COMING DOWN,’ BLAMES BIDEN – BUT VOTERS SAY THEY’RE STILL GETTING SQUEEZED

Real-wages were among one of the several statistics that Trump shared with voters Tuesday to prove how much better the economy is under him than Biden. According to Trump, real wages “plummeted” by $3,000 under Biden, while under Trump’s second administration, the president said, the typical factory worker has seen their real wages increase by $1,300, construction workers by over $1,800, and miners by $3,300. Trump added that, under Biden, real-wages for construction workers dropped by $3,500. 

To put things into perspective for the audience, Trump also touched on the price of everyday goods, and shared charts with the audience showing how the prices differed under his predecessor’s term. Citing a report from Walmart, Trump said the cost of a full Thanksgiving meal, trimmings, turkey and all, is 25% cheaper under his administration than it was under Biden. He said the price of Thanksgiving turkeys specifically was also down 33%. 

Trump added that egg prices have “dropped like a rock” under his second term, noting their price point is down 80% since March.

TRUMP APPROVAL CLIMBS AS REPUBLICANS RALLY BEHIND PRESIDENT’S AFFORDABILITY AGENDA: POLL 

“One of the most important ways we’re defeating inflation is by unleashing American energy, including oil, gas and clean beautiful coal,” Trump also said, citing data he said shows 22 different states have lower gas prices today than they ever have in the last seven years. Three of them, Trump noted, have gas as low as $1.99 per gallon.

Trump also touted lower mortgage rates under his administration, $18 trillion in new private investments compared to Biden’s less than $1 trillion, and a hot stock market as examples of how his economy is doing well.

“I can’t say affordability hoax because I agree the prices were too high. I can’t call it a hoax because they’ll misconstrue that. But they use the word affordability and that’s their only word,” Trump said while bashing Democrats on the economy Tuesday night. “They say, ‘affordability’ and everyone says, ‘Oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.’ No. Our prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country.”

Trump added during his speech Tuesday night that Democrats talking about affordability, “is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety.”

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Meanwhile, amid his barbs at Democrats on their “affordability” messaging, Trump posited that he doesn’t have to “sell” his administration’s policies to anyone, because they are “the right policy.”  

“We don’t have to sell men in women’s sports. We don’t have to sell transgender to everybody. We don’t have to sell open borders where the whole world is allowed to come into our country from prisons and everywhere,” Trump told the crowd. “That’s our message. They gave you high prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history. And we’re giving you we’re bringing those prices down rapidly.”

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he believes Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, running for Senate in the Lone Star State is “a gift to Republicans,” saying he “can’t imagine she wins.”

Speaking to reporters after departing Air Force One at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport in Pennsylvania, Trump was asked to respond to Crockett’s recent announcement on entering the race for the seat held by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is running for re-election.

“She’s a low IQ person, I can’t imagine she wins,” Trump said.

“Maybe she gets the Democrat nomination, but I think it’s a gift to Republicans,” he continued.

FIERCE TRUMP CRITIC JASMINE CROCKETT SHAKES UP HIGH-STAKES SENATE RACE

The president added: “She’s a terrible representative. I’ve watched her for the last two years, I can’t believe she’s a politician, actually.”

Crockett, a progressive firebrand and fierce Trump critic, filed paperwork on Monday to run for Senate in 2026. She has served as a congresswoman for Texas’ 30th congressional district since 2023.

The congresswoman, a late addition to the field, told supporters after launching her campaign that she would stand up to Trump, which she said Cornyn had failed to do.

“I’m done watching the American dream on life support while Trump tries to pull the plug. The gloves have been off, and now I’m jumping into the ring,” she said. 

“Many people wonder why I jumped in this race so late, and I just want to be clear that this was never my intention, this was never about me, I never put myself into any of the polls,” Crockett added. “But the more I saw the poll results, I couldn’t ignore the trends, which were clear, both as it relates to the primary as well as the general election, I could have played it safe and continued serving in the United States House of Representatives for as long as my constituents would have me, but I don’t choose to do that, because, Texas, this moment we’re in now is life or death.”

Crockett appeared optimistic that she could flip the seat viewed as a Republican stronghold in a GOP-led state. A Democrat has not won a statewide office in Texas in more than 30 years.

“Many people asked, ‘Can we win this race in November?’ I’m here to say, ‘Yes, we can!'” Crockett said during her speech.

“Texas is a big boy state made up of brawlers with a moral code. Our representation should reflect that, sadly enough, it doesn’t,” she continued. “After evaluating the data, analyzing the trends, researching historic numbers, and combing over the crosstabs, it was clear, the numbers were strongest for my candidacy for United States Senate, that’s why I decided to enter this race.”

EX-NFL STAR ABANDONS SENATE BID AS JASMINE CROCKETT NEARS MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT

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Crockett’s campaign announcement, which included a video with soundbites of Trump attacking her, came shortly after former Rep. Colin Allred — one of the two Democrats already running for the Senate in 2026 — abandoned his bid to replace Cornyn, instead launching a campaign to return to the House rather than continue his second straight bid for the Senate.

State Rep. James Talarico remains in the race on the Democratic side, while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt are challenging Cornyn in the GOP primary.

FIRST ON FOX: Although the federal government’s spending on citizens has never been greater, Americans continue to feel the burden of an affordability crisis.

Conservative fiscal watchdog group Open The Books, which keeps track of various metrics on government growth and spending, identified in their latest report that, since 1916, per capita government spending, or how much money the government spends on average per person in the United States, is 9,800% bigger. 

In 1916, the government spent an average of $208.36 per person in today’s dollars, according to Open The Books. Since then, the fiscal watchdog group says the trend line has gone up “almost uninterrupted” and the current per capita spending by the federal government sits at $20,474.19.

Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan government agency that provides economic and budgetary analyses, found that in Fiscal Year 2025 the federal government spent a record $7.035 trillion. 

WHITE HOUSE TURNS UP HEAT ON BIDEN’S ECONOMIC RECORD AS VOTERS SOUR ON ‘AFFORDABILITY’ 

“While American families and businesses find a way to do more with less, government does less with more,” Open The Books CEO John Hart told Fox News Digital. “Today’s federal government is 98 times bigger per person than it was just over a century ago. The best affordability and stimulus program imaginable is to reduce the waste, fraud and central planning in government. Every dollar saved in Washington is a dream realized somewhere in America.”

The government’s per capita spending level equals about $82,000 for a family of four. In their report outlining their findings, the group pointed out that this is virtually just as much as the median household income in 2024, which was $83,730.

Open The Books also notes that, according to national averages for how much people spend annually on their mortgages and groceries, the government’s per capita spending eclipses the average spending on these two basic needs. According to Open The Books, the Department of Agriculture recommends spending between $12,000 and $20,000 annually on groceries for a family of four, while the average mortgage payment in 2025 is just under $28,000, according to Rocket Mortgage.

AMERICANS HAVE NEVER HAD ACCESS TO MORE LUXURIES, BUT WHY DO WE FEEL SO POOR? 

During the early part of Donald Trump’s first term, as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began to take shape, Open The Books also worked to keep track of all the savings that the Musk-led group created. Ultimately, DOGE’s cuts were but a drop in the bucket compared to how much the government forks over each year in mandatory spending for programs like Medicare and Social Security, Open The Books found. 

While DOGE helped scoop up discretionary spending savings totaling approximately $150 billion, and congressional Republicans’ passed a July rescission package saving around $9 billion, spending for Medicare in 2024 totaled around $912 billion, while Social Security got $1.5 trillion.  

Meanwhile, another recent report from Open The Books illustrated how government spending has increased at a much faster rate than it has grown. For example, staffing levels at the Department of Education have decreased since 2000, but the agency’s spending has grown by 749%, according to Open The Books.

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“Much of the spending growth is now predestined as Americans are forced to service an extraordinary national debt. But taxpayers should also scrutinize all aspects of federal spending,” Open The Books wrote in their per-capita spending report. 

“Has quality of life, affordability, or innovation improved along with per capita spending? Aside from interest, what else is the government buying that it wasn’t before, back when we were building ourselves into a global superpower? Open the Books will spend 2026 continuing to expose waste, fraud and abuse wherever it exists and pushing for real-time transparency for taxpayers. Put simply, they deserve more bang for their buck.”

A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Pentagon to temporarily enforce its revived ban on transgender military service, ruling that a lower court improperly blocked the Trump administration’s 2025 policy.

The decision marks a major development in one of the most closely watched military policy cases in the country.

The 2–1 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stays a district court’s preliminary injunction and permits the Trump administration to continue enforcing the restrictions while litigation continues.

“Today’s victory is a great win for the security of the American people,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. “As commander in chief, President Trump has the executive authority to ensure that our Department of War prioritizes military readiness over woke gender ideology.”

FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST TRUMP ORDER HALTING SEX CHANGE PROCEDURES IN PRISONS

Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, writing for the majority, said the district court wrongly substituted its own judgment for that of Pentagon leadership.

“The United States military enforces strict medical standards to ensure that only physically and mentally fit individuals join its ranks. For decades, these requirements barred service by individuals with gender dysphoria, a medical condition associated with clinically significant distress,” the majority wrote.

“The district court nonetheless preliminarily enjoined the 2025 policy based on its own contrary assessment of the evidence. In our view, the court afforded insufficient deference to the Secretary’s [Hegseth] considered judgment. Accordingly, we stay the preliminary injunction pending the government’s appeal.”

FEDERAL JUDGE UNDERCUTS TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON ‘RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY’

The 2025 policy, enacted under President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, “generally bars individuals with gender dysphoria from serving in the Armed Forces,” the court noted. 

According to the majority opinion, the Pentagon concluded the policy would advance “important military interests of combat readiness, unit cohesion, and cost control.”

Judge Patricia Millett Pillard issued a sharp dissent, accusing the Trump administration of failing to justify the renewed ban and arguing that the motives behind it were impermissible.

SUPREME COURT HANDS TRUMP VICTORY ON TRANSGENDER PASSPORT POLICY CHANGE

“There may well be valid reasons to reexamine and alter military service policies set by previous administrations. But on this record, one cannot tell,” Pillard wrote. 

“Defendants provide no evidence that they based their new policy on any assessment of costs, benefits, or any other factor legitimately bearing on military necessity. Indeed, there is ‘no evidence that [President Trump or Secretary Hegseth] consulted with uniformed military leaders’ before imposing their unprecedented ban on transgender servicemembers.”

Pillard said the administration’s approach reflected “animus from the start,” pointing to President Trump’s Jan. 27 Executive Order 14183, or Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness, issued in February.

In that order, Trump declared it “the policy of the United States” that “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” The order also claimed that openly identifying as transgender is “not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member” and directed Hegseth to develop policies within 60 days.

The policy on transgender service has shifted repeatedly over the past decade. Restrictions were relaxed in 2016, tightened in 2018, relaxed again in 2021 and reinstated in 2025, the court noted. The district court halted the latest version earlier this year, prompting the Pentagon’s successful appeal for a stay.

The case now returns to the district court for full consideration and is expected to continue moving toward what could ultimately be a Supreme Court review.

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The Department of War did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: A top parental rights group is urging President Donald Trump to take more steps to improve healthcare pricing transparency, an issue the Trump administration says Joe Biden’s administration failed to adequately address. 

The American Parents Coalition, which previously made headlines for its advocacy on behalf of parents regarding gender identity issues, sent a letter to President Trump, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Labor on Tuesday thanking them for the work they have done so far on improving healthcare pricing transparency, but also urging them to do more. 

“There is still much work to be done on this front,” the letter to Trump insisted. “Healthcare shouldn’t be a gamble for parents, and we shouldn’t have to fight for transparency when our full focus should be on our children’s health. With clear, detailed, and accurate price breakdowns before care, informed parents can do what they have always wanted: make the best decisions for their children’s wellbeing, without sacrificing financial stability.”

HOUSE GOP SEEKS OFF-RAMP TO SKY-HIGH HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS

One of the president’s first moves on this issue during his second term was a February Executive Order aimed at ramping up implementation and enforcement of existing transparency regulations for hospitals and health plans ushered in during his first term. According to the order, progress on price transparency “stalled” during the previous Biden administration, pointing out that price transparency data that was supposed to be posted was often incomplete or not even posted at all. 

“After President Trump’s landmark price transparency regulations from his first term were left to languish by the inept Joe Biden, the second Trump Administration is in full gear developing the most aggressive price transparency enforcement possible,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital.

Following the February executive directive, HHS, the Labor and Treasury departments jointly announced a package of actions to “strengthen healthcare price transparency.” Among those actions was a request for public input on how to better increase price transparency and updated federal guidance aimed at eliminating meaningless or duplicative data while making cost information easier for people to understand and utilize.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CSM) also released independent agency guidance directing hospitals and health plans to post “the actual prices of items and services, not estimates.”

REPUBLICANS DIVIDED OVER WHETHER TO SALVAGE OBAMACARE — OR REPLACE IT — AHEAD OF SUBSIDY DEADLINE

Since these actions early in Trump’s first term, the entire administration has continued to take steps to carry out the orders from Trump’s February executive order on price transparency, which built on similar initiatives from his first administration. One example is updating its federally operated repository with new resources to help hospitals comply with changes to hospital price transparency requirements.

“President Trump already signed another price transparency executive order just over a month into his second term to fine noncompliant hospitals, and additional actions to advance this presidential priority are actively under review,” the White House noted. 

According to the American Parents Coalition, which argued in their letter to President Trump that the financial uncertainty around healthcare costs “is crippling American families,” there is one policy prescription that could be a quick, yet monumental, win for families and parents.

In their letter to Trump, the American Parents Coalition said that new policy directed at insurance providers, requiring them to tell patients “exactly” what they will cover, what they will not, and transparently sharing how much patients will have to pay out-of-pocket, “could be quickly implemented to deliver another win for American families.”

“Parents deserve to know the price of healthcare, just like when we shop for groceries or plan activities for our kids. Hidden healthcare costs make financial planning impossible and decisions difficult,” said American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marre. 

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“Given the uncertainty of pricing when going to the doctor, parents may forgo medical care or opt out of appointments for themselves or their children, putting their health at risk. Thanks to President Trump and his Make America Healthy Again agenda, he is paving the way for families to have access to prices through healthcare price transparency, but there is more work to be done and we are urging the Trump Administration to continue implementing these transparency policies that will have huge impacts on parents.”

As part of the coalition’s effort to continue pushing for greater price transparency within the healthcare system, it launched a new television advertisement that began airing Tuesday, as well as a new website titled ParentsNeedPrices.com.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

-Minnesota anti-fraud spending has ballooned, leaving taxpayers to pay for failure twice

-Mamdani will introduce British antisemitism, taxes to US: Former UK Prime Minister

-New lawsuit presses Pentagon, State Dept to disclose legal justification for Venezuelan boat strikes

Dem-appointed education officials face new scrutiny as Feeding Our Future scandal widens, Trump targets fraud

New scrutiny has fallen on former Minnesota Department of Education leaders as the Feeding Our Future scandal tied to Gov. Tim Walz widens and President Donald Trump announces new measures targeting fraud in the state.

Feeding Our Future (FOF) was a Minnesota nonprofit that aimed to feed low-income children, though federal prosecutors claimed it illegally funneled more than $250 million in taxpayer funds to shell companies and people who used the money to purchase luxury cars, residential and commercial real estate, international travel and expensive jewelry. MDE was the government’s financial interlocutor responsible for approving and monitoring it.

In 2018, MDE conducted its only administrative review of the child and adult care food program operations (CACFP) at FOF…READ MORE.
 

White House

BACK IN THE SADDLE: As GOP political power hangs in the balance, Wiles says Trump will ‘campaign like it’s 2024’ ahead of midterms

TECH FIGHT SPREADS: Bessent warned EU-style ‘regulatory nightmare’ creeping into Latin America — and aimed squarely at the US

‘HISTORIC FIGURE’: Kamala Harris declares herself a ‘historic’ figure: ‘There will be a marble bust of me’

MESSAGE GAP: ‘Prices are coming down’: Trump hails his economy as voters say they’re still spooked by costs

PRICED OUT: HUD chief blames ‘unchecked illegal immigration’ pricing-out families amid new housing report

World Stage

ONE WEEK WARNING: US could run out of key munition in ‘about a week’ if war with China erupts, top security expert warns

DEAL OR NO DEAL: Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready to present new peace deal proposals to US

Capitol Hill

COSTLY CARE CRISIS: Key voting bloc boosts Obamacare to highest approval ever as Congress battles over soaring costs: Poll

PREMIUMS AT STAKE: GOP senator pitches ‘Black Friday’ Obamacare fix that bridges Democrat, Republican demands

DEADLINE LOOMING: Bipartisan lawmakers unveil Obamacare extension as pressure grows on Johnson for play call

DRAWN OUT: House Democrat drops re-election bid after Texas redraws congressional map

Across America 

TERROR TWINS BUSTED: New Jersey twins charged in threats to kill DHS official, ‘shoot ICE on sight’

CITY FOR ALL: Mamdani reveals why he appointed convicted armed robber to public safety transition team

A MATTER OF FAITH: DOJ sues Virginia school board over Christian students’ rights

TAXPAYER STRAIN: DHS blasts Newsom over taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegals as California ambulance costs may soar 382%

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Hours before President Donald Trump was set to deliver a highly anticipated speech on the economy and affordability, a new national poll indicated the president’s approval is on the rise, thanks in part to soaring support by Republicans.

Trump’s approval rating in a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted Dec. 3–8 and released on Tuesday stood at 41%, with 57% disapproving.

That’s an improvement from mid-November, when the president stood at 38%-60% approval/disapproval in the previous Reuters/Ipsos national poll.

Trump’s focus on lowering prices helped boost him and Republicans to sweeping victories last year, when the GOP won back the White House and Senate and successfully defended their House majority.

TRUMP BLAMES BIDEN FOR HIGH PRICES HOURS BEFORE MAJOR AFFORDABILITY SPEECH

But Democrats are energized following decisive victories last month in the 2025 elections and in their over-performance last week in a special congressional election in Tennessee, as they hammered Republicans over affordability as prices have remained elevated this year.

The most recent Labor Department report, from September, indicated inflation increased 3% from a year earlier, up slightly from 2.9% in August.

Although combating high prices remains one of Trump’s weakest polling issues, the new survey indicates the president’s approval on dealing with the cost of living jumped from 26% last month to 31% now. The rise was fueled by a 10-point jump among Republicans.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

While Trump has described the Democrats’ focus on affordability as a “hoax,” he has also become more engaged in combating high prices in recent weeks, as the president has scaled back some of his tariffs and pledged to lower high food prices.

On Tuesday evening, Trump is scheduled to deliver his first major address on affordability, with a speech in battleground Pennsylvania.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey, which was conducted online, questioned 4,434 respondents nationwide. It had an overall sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Trump’s approval rating stood at 41% in the most recent Fox News national poll, which was conducted in mid-November. That’s the lowest approval for the president during his second term in the White House.

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Three-quarters of those questioned viewed the economy negatively. And by a nearly two-to-one margin, voters say Trump was more responsible for the current economy than former President Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump will be deployed on the campaign trail next year ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles indicated during an appearance on “The Mom VIEW.”

Wiles said that “so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters,” and that she had not “quite broken it to him yet, but he’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again,” for the individuals he assists.

While Trump does not help everyone, “for those he does, he’s a difference maker,” she said, adding that the president is “a turnout machine.”

DESANTIS WARNS GOP FACES ‘ISSUE’ KEEPING TRUMP VOTERS ENGAGED IN FUTURE ELECTIONS

“The president started raising money for the midterms the day after the election. And he’s sitting on a huge war chest to help these people,” she said, noting that “he’ll use it.”

Trump took office earlier this year after Republicans in 2024 clinched a trifecta, winning the White House back, maintaining their House majority and taking back control of the Senate.

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOHN THUNE PREVIEWS REPUBLICAN MIDTERM MESSAGE HEADING INTO 2026

But the GOP’s political power will be on the line in 2026 since Republicans could potentially lose their majority in one or both chambers.

TOP GOP SENATOR SAYS CROCKETT ANNOUNCEMENT EXPOSES HOW ‘RADICAL’ DEMS ARE NATIONWIDE

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In the 2018 midterm elections during Trump’s first term, Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate but lost their House majority.

Liz Truss, the former British prime minister who staked her brief tenure on tax cuts and deregulation, is warning Americans about New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda will mirror the high-tax, high-regulation model she fought in the U.K.

“I’ve seen what’s happened with Mamdani being elected,” former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “We have characters like that in Britain. They are never satisfied. They keep putting up taxes. They keep putting up more regulations. We have seen in Britain appalling development of antisemitism. That’s what I fear for New York.”

Mamdani plans to pay for his ambitious campaign promises, including fast and free buses, universal childcare and city-run grocery stores, by raising taxes on corporations and the top 1% of New Yorkers. As the 34-year-old mayor-elect prepares to move into Gracie Mansion, critics have compared his agenda to European-style social welfare programs.

The British conservative served just 49 days as prime minister of the U.K. in 2022 before resigning amid market turmoil over her administration’s dramatic attempt to implement a pro-growth economic agenda. Now that the dust has settled, Truss has launched a private club for “pro-growth leaders,” the Leconfield, and a YouTube show, “The Liz Truss Show.”

TRUMP, MAMDANI SET TO FACE-OFF IN FIRST OVAL OFFICE MEETING — WHAT’S ON THE TABLE

“The Leconfield is about economic growth,” Truss said. “It’s about prosperity. It’s about building that network of senior business executives, entrepreneurs, political leaders to create new opportunities in Britain and around the world. We need to see economic growth. That is the most important thing.”

Truss said her new members-only club will unite business leaders in Mayfair in co-working spaces and executive suites. The Times reported that Truss has requested £500,000 from each of the 700 Leconfield founding members for the lifetime membership.

JD VANCE ‘DIRECTLY’ CONVINCED UK TO DROP APPLE BACKDOOR DATA DEMAND, PROTECTING AMERICANS’ RIGHTS: US OFFICIAL

“This will bring together people in real-life to exchange those ideas, but it will also provide a space in London where people can do business. Currently, people end up in hotel lobbies. They are trying to work in clubs that maybe ban laptops or mobile phones. This will have boardrooms, executive space where people can get business done,” Truss said.

According to a 2025 analysis by Henley & Partners, a global investment-migration consultancy, the United Kingdom is losing millionaires and billionaires faster than any country in the world.

“Our taxes are too high,” Truss explained. “Our regulation is too high, and our energy prices are also sky-high. This has meant people leaving, businesses leaving. It’s difficult to build new buildings because of all the regulations, and even though we’re sitting on masses of oil and gas, fracking is banned, so our energy prices are high, and it’s not surprising that that makes us uncompetitive.”

While Truss briefly lifted a ban on fracking in the U.K. in 2022 in an attempt to unleash energy production, her successor, Rishi Sunak, reinstated the moratorium that ended support for new fracking projects.

Like Truss, President Donald Trump has moved to reverse key Biden-era climate regulations as part of his key campaign promise to “unleash American energy,” signing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, which includes rollbacks on clean-energy incentives and repeals green energy mandates.

As Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda reshapes U.S. and global markets, his reciprocal and retaliatory tariffs have pushed some countries to reopen trade talks amid heightened market tensions.

Asked about Trump using tariffs to pressure the U.K. and the rest of Europe to pay more for certain goods, including U.S. medicine, Truss offered a surprisingly complimentary view of his strategy.

“I was trade secretary in Britain, and I signed 60 trade deals as trade secretary, and I know that in order to get deals done you have to negotiate and you have to use leverage, and it’s exactly what I did as trade secretary, so I know that is how you get the deals done,” Truss told Fox News Digital.

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Her stance is a sharp departure from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has urged Trump to scale back tariff measures that could hurt the British economy.

Truss told Fox News Digital that her new YouTube channel, “The Liz Truss Show,” will be a “free speech” platform for exploring British and Western politics outside the mainstream media bubble.

Mamdani’s transition team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Former Vice President Kamala Harris declared herself to be a “historic figure” on Tuesday and touted that there will be a marble bust of her constructed in Congress.

Harris made the statement during an interview with The New York Times regarding her upcoming book, “107 Days,” telling the newspaper that she no longer feels “burdened” by the need to achieve a place in history.

“I understand the focus on ’28 and all that,” she told the Times. “But there will be a marble bust of me in Congress. I am a historic figure like any Vice President of the United States ever was.”

“Thousands of people are coming to hear my voice. Thousands and thousands,” she added about her book tour. “Every place we’ve gone has been sold out.”

WASHINGTON POST SLAMS KAMALA HARRIS BOOK TOUR, SAYS DEMS DON’T ‘HAVE TIME TO WASTE’ ON FORMER VP

Harris’ comments reference a tradition in the Senate of commissioning a bust of vice presidents after they leave office. The tradition has held strong since the late 1800s.

The former vice president has used the release of her upcoming book as a chance to settle scores with figures throughout the Democratic Party, from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to former President Joe Biden himself.

Harris writes in her book that Shapiro had asked her staff lots of questions, including “how he might arrange to get Pennsylvania artists’ work on loan from the Smithsonian.” She also accused him of wanting to be involved in every decision and said she reminded him, “a vice president is not a co-president.”

HARRIS REVEALS CRUDE HYPOTHETICALS ON ABORTION, VIAGRA REHEARSED BEFORE TRUMP DEBATE

Many political observers had scratched their heads when Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Shapiro to be her running mate.

“She wrote that in her book? That’s complete and utter bull—-,” Shapiro said in an interview with the Atlantic. “I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies.”

“I did ask a bunch of questions,” he continued. “Wouldn’t you ask questions if someone was talking to you about forming a partnership and working together?”

JON STEWART SLAMS KAMALA HARRIS OVER HER EXPLANATION OF WHY SHE SNUBBED PETE BUTTIGIEG FOR VP

“I mean, she’s trying to sell books and cover her a–,” he said, before backtracking. “I shouldn’t say ‘cover her a–.’ I think that’s not appropriate.”

“She’s trying to sell books. Period,” he concluded.

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The book also blames Biden’s White House for sidelining her and failing to support her throughout their term in office and during her contest against Trump.

“Getting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible,” her book reads.

She also argued the White House was happy to let her “shoulder the blame” for the border crisis.

Fox News’ Hannah Panreck contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner slammed the Biden administration for what he called an illegal immigration and refugee crisis that rattled the housing market – particularly for low-income renters – though some analysts dispute the findings.

Every two years, HUD releases its “Worst Case Housing Needs Report” – considered the agency’s flagship assessment of the state of the housing market for low-income Americans – and how many lack affordable and adequate housing. The report serves as a nationwide barometer of housing stress and shows whether the availability of affordable housing is improving or worsening, and who may be being hurt by the current conditions, which Congress can then use to craft policy.

Policymakers use it to gauge gaps in the supply of low-cost rentals, target federal housing programs, and understand trends in who is being left behind. In short, it’s HUD’s way of tracking the renters in the greatest need — and how the U.S. housing system is failing to meet them.

TRUMP’S HOUSING CHIEF RIPS POWELL FOR BLOWING MILLIONS ON FED FACELIFT DURING HOUSING CRISIS HE PERPETUATES

Turner told Fox News Digital there are damning findings in this year’s assessment that he places right on the policies of former President Joe Biden’s immigration crisis.

“The unchecked illegal immigration and open borders policies allowed by the Biden administration continue to put significant strain on housing, pricing out American families,” Turner said.

“These policies have plagued America’s housing market, but in President Trump, Americans finally have a leader fighting to restore sanity to American immigration policy.”

TRUMP’S DHS TOUTS MASSIVE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DEPORTED AS DEMS LASH OUT AT ICE

But Jenna Stauffer, Global Real Estate Advisor at Sotheby’s International Realty of Key West, told Fox News Digital she didn’t think immigration was the primary driver of the “housing mess we are in.”

“Housing affordability has been unraveling for years, and the problems we’re dealing with go way beyond any one factor,” she said.

“We’ve really been under building for almost two decades. After the Great Recession, construction basically stalled, and it took years to recover. By some estimates, the U.S. is short four to seven million homes, and that long-term shortage is the core issue behind today’s affordability challenges.”

HUD’s 2025 report found that increased immigration has driven up housing prices, and that the “unrestricted” nature of the influx has both strained the housing market and priced-out many American families. The report found that an estimated 15 million illegal immigrants constitute 30% of all foreign-born residents.

Turner added in separate comments to Fox Business that HUD took away Federal Housing Authority-backed mortgages from illegal immigrants offered during the Biden administration, saying the former president “turned a blind eye” to the issue.

In California and New York, immigrants have accounted for 100% of all rental growth and over one-half of all growth in owner-occupied housing in recent years, the report found – while nationally, the foreign-born population accounted for more than 60% of the growth in rental demand.

KRISTI NOEM SAYS BIDEN USED DHS ‘TO INVADE THE COUNTRY WITH TERRORISTS’

Nationwide, the foreign-born population accounted for two-thirds of rental demand growth.

HUD’s report contrasted that figure with the 13% growth attributed to noncitizens in 2019 and 2023’s lookbacks.

“This further demonstrates that non-citizen households are playing an increasing role in the household growth that is straining the affordable housing supply,” the 109-page report said.

NEW GOP BILL WOULD CUT OFF HOUSING FUNDS TO SANCTUARY CITIES DEFYING TRUMP DHS

The agency found that without the migrant surge, housing inventory pressures would have been far lower and prices would not have climbed as sharply, noting roughly 784,000 fewer households would have formed over that period.

Net additions to the housing market from 2015 onward have not kept up with “household formation among citizens” and non-citizen population growth has also inordinately affected rental markets.

Worst-case housing reports have been released regularly since 1991, but the 2025 findings mark a sharper warning about the illegal immigration crisis’ impact on the numbers.

BIPARTISAN PLAN AIMS TO MAKE THE AMERICAN DREAM AFFORDABLE AGAIN FOR MILLIONS OF FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS

In August, Turner ordered an audit of every public housing authority, seeking data on verifiable citizenship of those living in subsidized housing.

“No longer will illegal aliens be able to leave citizenship boxes blank or take advantage of HUD-funded housing, riding the coattails of hardworking American citizens,” Turner said.

“Currently, HUD only serves one out of four eligible families due, in part, to the lack of enforcement of prohibition against federally funded assistance to illegal aliens,” he continued.

TRUMP’S BORDER MIRACLE: FROM BIDEN’S CHAOTIC IMMIGRATION CRISIS TO ‘ALL QUIET’ IN RECORD TIME

Vice President JD Vance highlighted a recent comment from Turner – who had been responding to a CNBC report that rents have dropped for four straight months.

“Six months of zero illegals released into our country. Two million illegals removed. Rents dropped for the fourth straight month. Coincidence? I think not,” Turner said.

Vance echoed what the agency ultimately would find in its report, remarking that the “connection between illegal immigration and skyrocketing housing costs is as clear as day.”

SEC SCOTT TURNER: BLAME DRUGS AND MENTAL ILLNESS, NOT PRESIDENT TRUMP, FOR THE CHAOS GRIPPING OUR STREETS

HUD’s findings, as expressed by Turner and others prior to the official report, also had other critics.

Harvard Joint Center For Housing Studies senior research analyst Riordan Frost previously wrote that while the “surge in immigration” has affected the market, other factors like the coronavirus pandemic contributed to increases in housing costs during that time in history.

“Immigrants play a role in household growth, sometimes to a substantial degree, but housing demand during the pandemic has been primarily shaped by native-born household growth in a time of constrained housing supply,” Frost said.

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Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman, D-N.J., also lit into Turner at a recent hearing, saying “you (Turner) are worsening the housing crisis with your budget proposal.”

“If you really believe that you would not slash your agency’s budget by over 50%,” she said.

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Additionally, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., claimed earlier this year that Turner was “abandoning HUD’s legal obligation to eliminate housing discrimination in the United States [a]t a time when America is experiencing a full-blown housing crisis and record levels of housing discrimination complaints.”

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Biden for purposes of this story but did not hear back by press time.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced legislation aimed at keeping COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies alive for another two years.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., co-chairs of the Problem Solvers Caucus, have told reporters for weeks that they are working on such a measure as Capitol Hill scrambles to avert skyrocketing health insurance costs for millions of Americans beginning next year.

Democrats in Congress voted twice during the pandemic to expand the availability of premium tax credits for Obamacare, also called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to make sure more Americans had access to healthcare coverage.

Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at the end of this year.

BIPARTISAN DEAL ON OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES FADES AS REPUBLICANS PUSH HSA PLAN

A majority of House Republicans have signaled they are not open to extending them, at least not without significant reforms. Conservatives in particular have panned the enhanced subsidies as a COVID-era relic that benefited insurance companies rather than Americans themselves.

But some GOP lawmakers have joined Democrats in warning that failing to extend them at least temporarily at this point will result in millions of Americans seeing their healthcare premiums skyrocket while Congress does nothing to help.

House Republicans are now largely looking to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and their leaders for the next move.

Johnson has said he intends to hold a vote on some kind of healthcare package before the end of this year, while panning Obamacare as a long-broken system badly in need of reforms.

HOUSE GOP SPLITS OVER OBAMACARE FIX AS COSTS POISED TO SPIKE FOR MILLIONS

One House GOP source told Fox News Digital that they expect Johnson to lay out a roadmap on healthcare at Republican lawmakers’ weekly conference meeting on Wednesday morning.

The bipartisan bill released Tuesday is being pushed by a group of four Democrats and three Republicans — Fitzpatrick, Suozzi, along with Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., Jared Golden, D-Maine, Don Davis, D-N.C., and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.

Fitzpatrick called the legislation “a practical, people-first fix that protects families now, while preserving the space to keep working toward a stronger, smarter, more affordable healthcare system.”

“When the stakes are this high, responsible governance means securing 80 percent of what families need today rather than risking 100 percent of nothing tomorrow,” he said in a statement.

In addition to extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies for two years, the bill also “stops unauthorized plan and subsidy changes by requiring consent and prompt notification before any modifications take effect,” according to a press release.

It would also rein in pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) profits and expand access to health savings accounts (HSAs) — two reforms that other rank-and-file House Republicans have been advocating for.

But it’s not clear yet if House GOP leaders would put the bill on the floor for a chamber-wide vote, nor if it has the backing of their Democratic counterparts.

Still, there are ways to force a vote on legislation without leadership’s approval. One of those methods is called a discharge petition, which requires signatures from a majority of House lawmakers to override leaders’ wishes to vote on a given bill.

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Fox News Digital asked Fitzpatrick last week if a discharge petition could be filed, but he did not give a direct answer, instead saying that the bill would be released imminently.

Bacon told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that a discharge petition is a realistic possibility but cautioned, “It would be wiser to see if we have 60 votes in the Senate first.”

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The plan is one of several put forward by House Republicans to deal with the looming healthcare cliff.

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, introduced legislation last week to allow states to opt out of Obamacare altogether while radically expanding the availability of HSAs.

And late last week, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a plan to extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies — with income caps and extra guardrails against fraud — for a year.

The Senate, meanwhile, is expected to vote this week on Democrat-led legislation to extend the enhanced subsidies, though it’s likely to fail. It’s not yet clear if Senate Republicans will put up their own counter-proposal.

White House science and technology advisor Michael Kratsios opened a meeting of G7 tech ministers by urging governments to clear regulatory obstacles to artificial intelligence adoption, warning that sweeping new rule books or outdated oversight frameworks risk slowing the innovation needed to unlock AI-driven productivity.

Kratsios, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director, spoke Tuesday at the G7 Industry, Digital and Technology Ministers’ Meeting in Montréal, Quebec.

“The United States is committed to promoting private-sector-led development of AI systems, applications, and infrastructure, to protect and foster innovation. This primarily requires us to throw off regulatory burdens that weigh down innovators, especially in the construction of the infrastructure that undergirds the AI revolution,” said Kratsios in a draft of his remarks obtained by Fox News Digital.

“However, we also recognize the benefits of AI will not be fully realized by complete de-regulation. Regulatory and non-regulatory policy frameworks that safeguard the public interest while enabling innovation are necessary to earn the public trust in AI technologies that will allow broad deployment and fast adoption.”

TRUMP LAUNCHES ‘GENESIS MISSION’ TO SUPERCHARGE US SCIENTIFIC AI INNOVATION

The U.S. official told Fox News Digital that the White House wants its allies to build a “trusted AI ecosystem defined by smart, sector-specific regulations tailored to each nation’s priorities and designed to accelerate innovation.” 

“Together, we can deliver transformative growth, keep critical data secure, and ensure the future of AI is built on freedom and human ingenuity,” Kratsios added.

President Donald Trump has put artificial intelligence at the forefront of his administration, appointing David Sacks as his “AI czar” and issuing an executive order in January that rolled back many of the federal government’s previous AI safety and oversight policies in an effort to speed deployment — a move critics say could weaken safeguards and increase risks as the technology spreads.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Monday that he will issue a “One Rule” executive order later this week to establish a single national framework for artificial intelligence regulation, arguing that U.S. dominance in the technology will be “destroyed in its infancy” if he doesn’t.

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“We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won’t last long if we are going to have 50 States, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS. THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS!” he said in part. “You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something. THAT WILL NEVER WORK!”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the notion of stripping states of jurisdiction to regulate AI, arguing on X in November that it amounts to a “subsidy” to Big Tech and would prevent states from “protecting against online censorship of political speech, predatory applications that target children, violations of intellectual property rights and data center intrusions on power/water resources.”

“The rise of AI is the most significant economic and cultural shift occurring at the moment; denying the people the ability to channel these technologies in a productive way via self-government constitutes federal government overreach and lets technology companies run wild,” DeSantis added. “Not acceptable.”

President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have launched new investigations into Minnesota’s massive “Feeding Our Future” fraud case, pressing federal agencies to recover stolen taxpayer dollars and pursue additional enforcement actions, including a new Treasury Department probe. 

Republicans say the renewed investigations are necessary because, despite dozens of convictions, federal officials are still working to recover only a fraction of the stolen money — a process that has uncovered high-end vehicles, luxury homes, designer goods and large amounts of cash tied to the scheme. Meanwhile, city officials in Minneapolis are bracing for an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after the agency announced plans for a new operation in the state.

At issue is a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a children’s nutrition program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and overseen by the state of Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the stated goal of providing food to school-aged children. 

The scheme exploited the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to waive many of its standard requirements for the Federal Child Nutrition Program during the pandemic, including relaxing its requirement for non-school-based distributors to participate in the program.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MINNESOTA’S ‘FEEDING OUR FUTURE’ FRAUD AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S LATEST CRACKDOWN

Conspirators charged in the scheme falsely claimed to have served millions of meals to children during the pandemic, but instead used the money for personal gain, according to federal authorities. They are also accused of fabricating invoices, submitting fake attendance records and falsely distributing thousands of meals from hundreds of so-called food distribution “sites” across the state.

At least 77 individuals in Minnesota have been indicted as part of the fraud scheme, as Fox News Digital previously reported, and it is believed to be the largest pandemic-era scheme in U.S. history.

Trial testimony and photos previously introduced as evidence in the case showed wads of more than $64,000 in cash, gold jewelry purchased in Dubai and four vehicles, including a brand-new Tesla and a Porsche, seized from one defendant’s home and cars, along with financial records for a $1.1 million Prior Lake property that he bought to build a custom 8,000-square-foot lake house, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported at the time of the trial. 

But the effort to recover at least a portion of the stolen funds has proved to be a bit slower-going. To date, federal officials have recovered an estimated $60 million in funding that was stolen as part of the “Feeding Our Futures” scheme, according to estimates provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the state — less than half of the $250 million in stolen funds.

The slow recovery effort is not for lack of trying. Last month, a federal judge in the state ordered one defendant to pay $48 million in restitution funds, in addition to a 10-year prison sentence he received as part of his role in the sprawling fraud effort.

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Other individuals convicted have also been ordered to refund the government millions of dollars to recoup the stolen taxpayer funds.

Still, the process can be complex and difficult. That’s because recovering the stolen funds often involves tracing them to how they were spent — including U.S. properties and vehicles, and then seizing those items for forfeiture — which can contribute to the delay.

In some cases, individuals who were convicted of the crimes actually have family members still living in the homes they are accused of purchasing with the stolen funds.

Others have funneled money abroad into shell corporations, while at least some others appear to have spent the money to pay down their own credit card bills, or otherwise fund their “lavish lifestyles,” according to information provided by the Justice Department.

In the case of Abdimajid Mohamed Nur — the defendant who was ordered to pay $48 million in restitution — the stolen funds were sent to a shell company. Nur is estimated to have spent the bulk of the $900,000 in fraud proceeds through his shell company, using that money to buy new vehicles, take a honeymoon to the Maldives and purchase jewelry.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the scheme in July as “one of the worst” in Minnesota history. 

“These individuals misappropriated hundreds of millions in federal funds intended to nourish vulnerable children during a time of crisis, redirecting those resources into luxury homes, high-end vehicles and extravagant lifestyles while families faced hardship,” he said. 

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Charging documents show that roughly 300 “food sites” in the state served little or no food, with the so-called food vendors and organizations fabricated to launder money intended to reimburse the cost of feeding children.

Senior FBI officials told Fox News that the investigation and resulting trials and indictments continue to impact the state and have already touched off legislative reform in Minnesota.

They added that the investigation into the fraud remains ongoing, and that additional charges were expected. 

“Stealing from the federal government equates to stealing from the American people — there is no simpler truth,” FBI’s special agent in charge, Alvin Winston, told Fox News Digital in a statement at the time.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced on “Fox & Friends” that he would run for the Republican nomination for New York governor. 

Blakeman has garnered praise from President Donald Trump, who also commended Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., when she announced her intention to run for governor.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced Tuesday that she intends to vote against the proposed fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, saying the legislation spends too much taxpayer money on foreign priorities. 

Greene said in a post on X that the NDAA is “filled with American’s hard earned tax dollars used to fund foreign aid and foreign country’s wars.”

Greene pointed to the rising national debt, which, according to fiscaldata.treasury.gov, is more than $38.39 trillion.

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“These American People are $38 Trillion in debt, suffering from an affordability crisis, on the verge of a healthcare crisis, and credit card debt is at an all time high. Funding foreign aid and foreign wars is America Last and is beyond excuse anymore. I would love to fund our military but refuse to support foreign aid and foreign militaries and foreign wars. I am here and will be voting NO,” Greene declared in her post.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson has praised the proposed NDAA.

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“This year’s National Defense Authorization Act helps advance President Trump and Republicans’ Peace Through Strength Agenda by codifying 15 of President Trump’s executive orders, ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos,” Johnson said in part of a lengthy statement.

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Greene plans to leave office early next month, in the middle of her two-year term.

A Senate Republican duo unveiled their vision for expiring Obamacare premium subsidies as the Senate hurtles toward a vote on the credits at the end of this week.

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, announced their plan to tackle the subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Their proposal, made public on Monday, would extend the subsidies for two years.

The upper chamber is set to vote on legislation dealing with the expiring subsidies on Thursday, but so far only Senate Democrats have united behind a proposal from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that would extend the credits for three years.

SENATE DEMOCRATS PUSH OBAMACARE SUBSIDY VOTE ‘DESIGNED TO FAIL’ AS REPUBLICANS CALL PLAN UNSERIOUS

Schumer’s plan is likely dead on arrival, given that it lacks any of the reforms to the subsidies demanded by the GOP. And Republicans are mulling several options, but have so far not picked legislation to form up behind and put on the floor in a possible side-by-side vote.

Moreno and Collins hope that their legislation, which would also put an income cap onto the subsidies for households making up to $200,000 and eliminate zero-cost premiums as a fraud preventive measure by requiring a $25 minimum monthly payment, gets a shot.

Moreno argued that former President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party “created this disaster, lining the pockets of massive insurance companies while healthcare costs for everyday Americans skyrocketed.”

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“But I refuse to let the American people pay the price for the Democrats’ incompetence,” he said in a statement. “I am willing to work with anyone to finally bring down costs for all Americans and hope my colleagues across the aisle will commit to doing the same.”

Collins said that lawmakers needed to “pursue practical solutions that increase affordability without creating sudden disruptions in coverage,” with the expiration deadline looming. Republicans are divided on whether they want to actually extend the subsidies or allow them to sunset and be dealt with early next year.

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“This bill would help prevent unaffordable increases in health insurance premium costs for many families by extending the [Obamacare] enhanced premium tax credits for two years and putting a reasonable income cap on these subsidies to ensure they are going to the individuals who need them,” Collins said in a statement.

Their proposal joins the ranks of public ideas and legislation floated by Republicans, but strays from the desire many in the GOP have to convert the money that flows into the subsidies directly to Americans through Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

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President Donald Trump has publicly backed converting the premiums to HSAs, but even with his support, Republicans have not nailed down a legislative move that could make it to the floor. 

It’s also unclear if Republicans will line up behind their plan, given that it extends the subsidies without additional action on taxpayer funding flowing to abortion — a key sticking point in bipartisan negotiations on the credits — and lacks the inclusion of HSAs.

New findings from a congressional watchdog claim that Obamacare’s COVID-19-era subsidies are riddled with errors and its administrators struggle to shut out fake or incomplete applications.

Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan agency that examines congressional spending, found that Obamacare is picking up the tab for tens of thousands of accounts, using enhanced premium tax credits (APTCs) to pay for more than one coverage plan, deceased account holders and applicants lacking identifying information. 

SENATE DEMOCRATS PUSH OBAMACARE SUBSIDY VOTE ‘DESIGNED TO FAIL’ AS REPUBLICANS CALL PLAN UNSERIOUS

“GAO’s preliminary analyses identified over 29,000 SSNs (Social Security numbers) in 2023 and nearly 68,000 SSNs in 2024 used to receive more than one year’s worth of insurance coverage with APTC in a single plan year,” the report read.

In addition to the evaluation of real-world fraud, the GAO also created several fake accounts to see if Obamacare would prevent them from receiving benefits.

“Of 20 fictitious applicants, 18 remain actively covered as of September 2025. APTC for these 18 enrollees totals over $10,000 per month. GAO continues to monitor the enrollments as part of its ongoing work,” the GAO said.

The GAO stressed that its findings “cannot be generalized to the enrollee population.” Notably, the fraud detected accounts for less than 1% of all of Obamacare’s users. 

GAO’s findings come as lawmakers wrestle with whether to extend the enhanced premium subsidies for Obamacare set to expire at the end of the year that were first passed to help policyholders pay for health insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without them, Democrats fear that the vast majority of Obamacare policyholders — over 90% of the program’s 24 million enrollees — could find themselves suddenly stuck with significantly higher premiums overnight.

Republicans remain split on whether lawmakers should extend the subsidies in some way. The fiscally conservative wing of the GOP believes letting them expire would mark a critical step in bringing the country back toward pre-COVID spending levels.

The GAO’s findings play into a key Republican concern: that government health programs may carry unnecessary bloat, and that continuing them in their current state would simply extend those inefficiencies.

Continuing the subsidies would cost the country upwards of $30 billion a year, according to research from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

HOUSE GOP SEEKS OFF-RAMP TO SKY-HIGH HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS

While the GAO’s evaluation found issue with a relatively small slice of Obamacare’s overall population, the watchdog also struggled to tie a significant amount of the APTC’s expenses to SSNs.

“GAO’s preliminary analysis of data from tax year 2023 could not identify evidence of reconciliation for over $21 billion in APTC for enrollees who provided SSNs to the federal Marketplace for plan year 2023,” the report said.

As a part of that picture, the GAO reported that in 2023, over $94 million in APTC funding had gone to SSN numbers associated with deceased recipients. But not all applicants who receive APTCs may have SSNs in the system to begin with.

According to GAO’s research, the federal marketplace requested applicants to use an SSN, proof of citizenship and reported income. The GAO found that it could get access to benefits without them. 

“GAO did not provide documentation yet received coverage,” the report said of its research through fake accounts. 

CONGRESS FACES HOLIDAY CRUNCH AS HEALTH CARE FIX COLLIDES WITH SHRINKING CALENDAR

Some of Obamacare’s struggle to maintain a clear picture of which SSNs are tied to which policies stem from built-in flexibility for when things go wrong. 

Government officials explained that the federal marketplace does allow enrollees to use one SSN to obtain more than one policy. That allows applicants to secure access to health insurance in the event of identity fraud or data entry errors.

“Officials explained that the federal Marketplace does not prohibit multiple enrollments per SSN to help ensure that the actual SSN-holder can enroll in insurance coverage in cases of identity theft or data entry errors,” the report read.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The Senate is set to vote on whether to extend the APTCs in their current form for three years by the end of this week. Amid fierce Republican opposition across both chambers of Congress, that vote is expected to fail.

There’s no easy solution in Congress to fix spiking healthcare premiums by the end of the year.

“Republicans are sleepwalking America straight into a healthcare crisis,” thundered Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The sides lack consensus so far on bills to avoid a partial government shutdown in late January.

“We still have a lot of work to do on them,” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.

CONGRESS RACES AGAINST 3-WEEK DEADLINE TO TACKLE MASSIVE YEAR-END LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

So many pressing subjects facing Congress over the next few weeks, so little time.

“I’m literally thinking and watching the clock in front of me tick,” said Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.

So it’s little surprise why House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had questions about why the House planned debate on a bill last week about money in big-time college sports. Jeffries had specific questions for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Minority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., both graduates of Louisiana State University, and superfans of the Tigers.

“Who exactly directed Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise to bring this bill to the floor this week? Was it the big donors connected to LSU?” questioned Jeffries. “Why would Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise think it was a good idea to bring the ‘Lane Kiffin Protection Act’ to the floor of the House of Representatives?”

Whoa. “Lane Kiffin Protection Act”?

Congress had a lot to do. And the major bill on the House floor last week was on — wait for it — regulating money in college sports. It came just as Lane Kiffin defected from Ole Miss to LSU for a $91 million contract. And it came while Ole Miss was in the middle of an 11-1 season, is ranked number six in the country and has a chance to compete for the national title.

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The House was set to debate a bill last week which would establish a national standard for NIL or name, image and likeness, in college sports. Major conferences like the Big 10 and SEC love the bill. Smaller schools, not so much. But multiple lawmakers told Fox News that they thought it was bad optics for the House to consider a bill about college sports — just as Kiffin headed to LSU.

“LSU is the best job in football,” declared Kiffin at a press conference.

I pressed Jeffries about his Kiffin charge regarding Johnson and Scalise after his press conference.

“We know that Johnson and Scalise are both partisans of LSU, but do you know something here? You’re suggesting that there’s something going on between LSU and them to put a piece of legislation on the floor?” I queried.

“No. It’s just a reasonable question that a lot of people are actually asking on the floor of the House of Representatives. Like, ‘Why now?’” answered Jeffries. “And what kind of judgment does it take to put that bill on the floor this week in the aftermath of the whole Lane Kiffin saga?”

SENATE DEMOCRATS PUSH OBAMACARE SUBSIDY VOTE ‘DESIGNED TO FAIL’ AS REPUBLICANS CALL PLAN UNSERIOUS

House Republicans struggled to hurdle a procedural barrier in order to put the bill on the floor. Then Republican leaders yanked the bill. Scalise said the bipartisan coalition which supported the bill “was fragile.” But Scalise denied the coincidence about Kiffin and abruptly dumping the legislation from the House schedule.

“To be 100% clear, Lane Kiffin, the situation at LSU, had nothing to do with this bill getting pulled?” yours truly asked Scalise.

“This had nothing to do with Lane Kiffin or, you know, any particular school,” replied Scalise.

Some lawmakers said Kiffin’s brazen departure from Ole Miss underscores what vexes college sports.

“I think the Kiffin issue is emblematic,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who had issues with the NIL bill. “It certainly demonstrates how broken this whole system is. It’s just ridiculous.”

Roy asked why Congress wasn’t throwing a handbrake on the dizzying coaching carousel which spins this time of year in college football.

“Why in the hell are we allowing coaches to walk out and be paid not to coach for years?” asked Roy. “What we just saw unfold with Lane Kiffin is just an absolute abomination.”

Roy argued that there are “massive issues” in college sports and broadcasting rights, making it an “interstate commerce” subject. Thus, Congress has the right to get involved.

“We’re going to have to respond,” said Roy. “What I don’t want to do is to continue to perpetuate the madness of the University of California, Berkeley, being in the Atlantic Coast Conference and forcing athletes of all sports to have to travel across the frigging continent so that rich people can have sports in different time zones, on contracts, on TV. It’s asinine.”

SCORE ACT RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM OVER 20 CONSERVATIVE GROUPS AS NIL REFORM FIGHT REVS UP

The bill regulates how much student-athletes can earn from NILs. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., conceded that the measure was far from perfect. But Griffith says it “affirms the student-athletes’ right to profit from their name, image, and likeness, or NIL.”

Griffith said the bill would set one standard for NILs and prevent universities and athletes navigating “30 state laws and athletes jumping from team to team.”

But critics say it tilts the playing field toward athletic powerhouses. They pinned the responsibility on the House GOP majority.

“Of course, they have a bill to help the NCAA take advantage of student-athletes. Because, you know, what this Congress desperately needed was another billionaire organization empowered to squeeze young people,” lamented Rep. Jim McGovern, of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.

Griffith countered by saying the legislation “was a first step. But not the last step in trying to solve problems that we have in our college athletics.”

Even though the bill is off the calendar now, Scalise believes the legislation will come back later this month.

“If Congress takes no action, then ultimately, college athletics and especially student-athletes will suffer the price for it,” said Scalise.

The legislation mandates that schools share revenue and bars institutions from using student fees to fork out NIL money.

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So we’ll see if the bill comes back before the end of the year. But for now, there’s no agreement to do so. And lawmakers haven’t worked out an agreement yet on healthcare or spending bills, either.

And they can’t blame Lane Kiffin for that.

Florida is designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday. 

The move mirrors a similar action taken by Texas in which Gov. Greg Abbott designated the CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.

“Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support,” DeSantis wrote on X. 

TRUMP MOVES AGAINST MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS ISLAMIST GROUP SPREADS IN WEST

The governor’s order said the Muslim Brotherhood has long engaged in and supported violence, political assassinations and terror attacks on civilians with the intent of establishing a worldwide Islamic caliphate. 

It also said the group, as well as Hamas have active fundraising arms in the United States. 

SCATHING REPORT CALLS ON US TO LABEL ISLAMIST GROUP INFILTRATING ALL ASPECTS OF AMERICAN LIFE AS TERRORIST ORG

The order said CAIR, which was created to challenge stereotypes against Islam and Muslims, has had individuals associated with it that have been convicted of providing and aspiring to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations. 

In a post on X, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said: “Great news! Thanks for this important Executive Order, Governor. We are ready to support!”

A joint statement by CAIR and its Florida chapter said the DeSantis administration has prioritized serving their interest of the Israeli government over the people of the state. 

“He diverted millions in Florida taxpayer dollars to the Israeli government’s bonds. He threatened to shut down every Florida college’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, only to back off when CAIR sued him in federal court,” the statement said. “Like Greg Abbott in Texas, Ron DeSantis is an Israel First politician who wants to smear and silence Americans, especially American Muslims, critical of U.S. support for Israel’s war crimes. Governor DeSantis knows full well that CAIR-Florida is an American civil rights organization that has spent decades advancing free speech, religious freedom, and justice for all, including for the Palestinian people. That’s precisely why Governor DeSantis is targeting our civil rights group with this unconstitutional and defamatory proclamation.

“We look forward to defeating Governor DeSantis’ latest Israel First stunt in a court of law, where facts matter and conspiracy theories have no weight,” the groups added. “In the meantime, we encourage all Floridians and all Americans to speak up against this latest attempt to shred the Constitution for the benefit of a foreign government.”

Florida’s designation is at the state level. It doesn’t carry the legal force of a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) listing, which only the U.S. State Department can issue. 

In Texas, Muslim and interfaith leaders have demanded that Abott reverse his proclamation regarding CAIR. In a lawsuit against Texas over the governor’s declaration, CAIR argued that it violates both the U.S. Constitution and state law.

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The order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections, CAIR said, arguing that the state overstepped its authority because terrorism designations fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction.