NationalWatch

The Texas law dubbed the “Drag Ban” that restricted “sexually oriented performances” in the presence of a child or on public property was ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday by a federal judge, who issued a permanent injunction barring state officials from enforcing it.

Senate Bill 12 was signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in June and was set to go into effect Sep. 1 but was blocked after being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed a lawsuit against the law last month.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Hittner said the law was “an unconstitutional restriction on speech,” and that it “violates the First Amendment as incorporated to Texas by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

TRUMP CAMPAIGN WALKS BACK CLAIM FORMER PRESIDENT PURCHASED GLOCK AMID QUESTIONS ABOUT LEGALITY

The ruling further ordered Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other state officials to not enforce the law.

According to one of the definitions in the law, a “sexually oriented performance” means a visual performance that features “a male performer exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience” and “appeals to the prurient interest in sex.”

Critics have referred to the law as a “drag ban,” though its author and supporters claim it was proposed and signed into law to protect children.

WATCH: REPORTERS PILE ON FRUSTRATED KARINE JEAN-PIERRE OVER BIDEN PLAN TO JOIN UAW PICKET

The ACLU filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas in Houston, and claimed the law “unconstitutionally singles out drag performances as a disfavored form of expression.” It also asserted that several terms are not defined or are written in a way that targets protected expression.

Drag was described in the lawsuit as an “art form” that is “inherently expressive,” and has no set standard. “As with any art form, there is nothing inherently sexual or obscene about drag,” the lawsuit read. “Drag can be performed for any age level and in any venue, since drag artists tailor their performances to their audience.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Paxton’s office for comment.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

President Biden nearly took a tumble down the stairs while exiting Air Force Once on Tuesday, hours after it was exposed that his campaign team was making efforts to prevent the president from taking a spill in public during the election season.

The 80-year-old president had just landed in Detroit, Michigan, when he disembarked from the jumbo jet at Detroit Metro Airport.

Around the eighth step, Biden was seen slipping before quickly correcting his balance and continuing down the steps.

BIDEN’S 2024 TEAM IS ON A MISSION TO STOP HIM FROM TRIPPING AMID STRUGGLE WITH ‘SIGNIFICANT SPINAL ARTHRITIS’

Earlier this year, the White House physician diagnosed Biden with “significant spinal arthritis,” and since then he has had multiple tripping incidents that get many people questioning his age and whether he is fit to serve as president.

To prevent another embarrassing fall, Axios reported Tuesday, Biden’s team is making a conscious effort to have him wear tennis shoes and limit stair climbs.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE FIRST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING TO BE HELD THIS WEEK

He is also undergoing physical therapy with specialist Drew Contreras, who worked with President Barack Obama. Contreras has recommended several exercises to improve the president’s balance, the outlet reported.

Observers noted when Biden began wearing sneakers in public this summer after his nasty fall at the Air Force Academy in June. He also began boarding Air Force One via shorter stairs to a lower level, another move aimed at preventing falls.

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN’S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

A fall in public during the election season could have crippling effects on Biden’s campaign, as he is already scrutinized heavily for his age.

In an Associated Press poll this summer, 77% said Biden is too old to be effective for four more years with 89% of Republicans taking that position along with 69% of Democrats.

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Another poll from the Washington Post and ABC News this week found that 3 out of 5 Democrats would prefer someone else be the party’s 2024 nominee.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

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

Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

SECOND DEBATE: Before you dive into today’s newsletter, be sure to first sign up to watch the next Republican presidential primary debate here.

What’s happening:

• President Biden briefly joined the UAW strike picket line before in Michigan before departing to attend a California fundraiser… 
• The House aims to hold a procedural vote Tuesday evening to move forward on an interim spending bill… 
• The federal government will enter a partial shutdown around midnight Saturday unless Congress passes a budget… 
• The stage for the second GOP presidential debate is set. Opening statements begin 9 p.m. ET Wednesday…

LOSING HIS LUSTER: Calls for Sen. Bob Menendez’s resignation are growing at a rapid pace following his latest corruption charges. Democrats in the House and Senate — including many from Menendez’s home state of New Jersey — believe it’s time for the twice-indicted politician to step down.

But Menendez has resisted the pressure so far, claiming the latest bribery allegations are part of a “smear campaign” against him. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not called for Menendez’s resignation — but over a dozen other Democrats in the Senate say he needs to step down …Read more

The Justice Department’s indictment accuses Menendez of accepting bribes in the form of gold bars, wads of cash, mortgage payments and luxury car loans in exchange for aiding the Egyptian government and attempting to influence criminal prosecutions …Read more

White House

‘SERIOUS MATTER’: White House so far has declined to ask Menendez to resign …Read more

BEFORE THE FALL: The White House takes steps to prevent the president from tripping again …Read more

ELECTRIC CHARGE: Republicans scrutinize Biden’s energy secretary for an incident during her tour of EV charging stations that prompted a call to police …Read more

BECOMING THE HUNTER: Hunter Biden sues former Trump fixer Rudy Giuliani, and his attorneys make a stunning claim about his ‘laptop’ …Read more

Capitol Hill

SON’S RUN: Sen. Menendez’s son announced his House re-election bid soon after his father’s corruption indictment …Read more 

OUT TO LUNCH: Republicans push back at Biden admin’s attempts to tie school meal funding to LGBTQ+ programming …Read more

‘HOSTAGE’ NEGOTIATOR: House Republicans say the GOP holdouts against McCarthy have no alternative speaker in mind …Read more

Campaign Trail

‘WRONG LEADERS’: Air Force veteran challenging vulnerable Senate Democrat lays out why he’s running …Read more

OFF TO THE RACES: The Pennsylvania Senate race is heating up with a big name Republican entering the field …Read more

ALT-LEFT: House Democrat still concerned about Biden leading the 2024 ticket, won’t rule out himself as an alternative …Read more

3RD-PARTY MELTDOWN: White House finds the potential for third party spoilers ‘pretty f—ing concerning,’ according to some Biden allies …Read more

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

FIRST ON FOX: An Indiana Republican congressman running for Senate secured a major endorsement from a former Cabinet secretary.

Fox News Digital has learned that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is endorsing Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks for Senate.

Banks is running to replace outgoing Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., who is running for the Hoosier State governorship.

JIM BANKS ACCUSES EGG TYCOON RIVAL IN INDIANA GOP SENATE PRIMARY OF TRYING TO ‘SCREW’ FAMILIES

“Jim Banks is the America-first leader we need in the United States Senate,” Pompeo said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “Jim served our nation in Afghanistan, served Indiana in the State Senate, and fought unabashedly for a strong America in Congress.”

Pompeo said Banks’ “conservative record is clear, and now more than ever, we need fighters like him who won’t back down on securing our border, strengthening our military, and pushing back against Biden’s woke agenda.”

“It is an honor to have Secretary Pompeo’s support in our campaign to bring our Hoosier conservative values to the United States Senate,” Banks said.

“I am grateful for his hard and important work to champion our conservative, America-first values on the world stage during the Trump Administration and beyond,” he continued.

“I hope to fight for these same principles in the Senate and am grateful for his support,” Banks added.

Banks has been the favorite in the race for months, having snagged endorsements from a litany of local, state and federal Republicans.

Earlier this month, Banks told Fox News Digital that he would “welcome competition” in the race, but did not hesitate to cut deep into his new opponent’s perceived flaws — including an ongoing lawsuit over accusations of price gouging and coordinating to maximize profits. 

John Rust, chairman of Rose Acre Farms and a sixth-generation Indiana egg farmer, recently announced a long-shot bid for the spot being vacated by current Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., who is running for governor. 

Banks accused his primary challenger for Indiana’s open Senate seat of trying “to screw” Indiana families during the height of inflation.

“This fella has a lot of obstacles overcome to actually get on the ballot. But if he does, we’ll have a spirited race and talk about the differences between my proven conservative track record and his lifetime of voting for Democrats,” Banks said in an interview at the National Republican Senatorial Committee. 

“I find that to be just disgusting that this guy, and his family, would be a part of a scheme to screw people in Indiana who are trying to put food on the table, and they made it even harder on them during COVID to do that,” Banks said. “His business is being sued for it. I’m going to make sure that a guy like that never goes anywhere near the United States Senate.”

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Rust, who spoke with Fox News Digital last month, said at the time he was a lifelong conservative who only voted for Democrats when he “knew people personally” who were running in left-wing primaries.

But Banks is still considered the favorite for the deep-red state’s Senate seat. He told Fox News Digital that Indianans want a senator who’s committed to restoring Trump administration policies on China, the border and the economy, among other issues. 

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

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said on Tuesday he will visit the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, in the coming days as the ongoing migrant crisis is escalating and seeing new record numbers.

Musk, who owns Tesla, SpaceX and X, has shown significant interest in the ongoing crisis and has been posting about it frequently on X — formerly known as Twitter.

In a post early Tuesday morning, he said that he had spoken to Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, about the crisis and how it was a “serious issue.”

ELON MUSK ACCUSES MEDIA OF IGNORING BORDER CRISIS BECAUSE THEY WERE ‘INSTRUCTED NOT TO COVER IT’

“They are being overwhelmed by unprecedented numbers – just hit an all-time high and still growing!” he said.

“Am going to visit Eagle Pass later this week to see what’s going on for myself.”

It comes as migrant numbers have surged after a brief lull in the early summer. Numbers rocketed in July and August, with the more than 230,000 encounters at the border, marking the highest August on record.

Those numbers look set to be even higher in September, with scenes this month of thousands of mostly single adult Venezuelan male migrants flooding into Eagle Pass. The crisis caused border authorities to shut down bridges and surge resources to the area in an effort to cope.

Customs and Border Protection sources told Fox News on Monday that there were approximately 11,000 migrant encounters at the southern border, exceeding the record highs seen in the days before the Title 42 public health order ended in May and making it the single highest day in recent memory.

In Eagles Pass alone, there were more than 4,000 encounters over the weekend.

Musk has been sounding the alarm over the crisis, and recently scolded “media NPCs” who are “instructed not to cover it.”

MIGRANT NUMBERS SURGED IN AUGUST AS SOUTHERN BORDER CRISIS RAGES, SETTING NEW RECORD 

In response to a report on how New York City is being overwhelmed by migrants who have surged into the sanctuary city, Musk described it as a “severe crisis.” He has also taken aim at the Biden administration over its handling of the crisis.

“Strange that there is almost no legacy media coverage of this. About 2 million people – from every country on Earth – are entering through the US southern border every year,” he said on X last week. “The number is rising rapidly, yet no preventive action is taken by the current administration.”

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His criticism ties into those being made by Republicans, who have put the blame for the crisis on the Biden administration — specifically for rolling back Trump-era policies, reducing interior enforcement and increasing releases of migrants into the U.S.

The Biden administration has said it is dealing with a Hemisphere-wide challenge, and that its strategy of increasing “consequences” for illegal entry while expanding what it says are “lawful migration pathways” are working — but that it needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress to fix a “broken” system.

Fox News’ Griff Jenkins and Bill Melugin contributed to this report. 

Hunter Biden on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani alleging the former President Trump lawyer violated his privacy rights by illegally disseminating content from Biden’s infamous laptop.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California states Giuliani is “primarily responsible” for the “total annihilation” of Biden’s digital privacy. It also names Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor who previously represented Giuliani, as a defendant, Fox News has confirmed. 

“For the past many months and even years, Defendants have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy toward looking for, hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff’s devices or storage platforms, including what Defendants claim to have obtained from Plaintiff’s alleged ‘laptop’ computer,” Biden’s attorneys wrote in the complaint, claiming that the data was not even from a “laptop,” but from an “external drive.”

The contents of this “external drive” include pictures, videos, emails and other data that since their initial publication by the New York Post in 2020, have paced Biden in legal jeopardy and caused political problems for this father, President Biden.

NEWSOM’S LONGTIME TIES TO HUNTER BIDEN EMERGE AFTER HE JUSTIFIES HIS BUISNESS DEALS: ‘HERE’S MY DIRECT EMAIL’

Giuliani and Costello have openly acknowledged that they obtained copies of files from a hard drive device that Biden allegedly left at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019. Giuliani provided that information to the Post in October 2020, which published a story based on Hunter Biden’s emails that implicated President Biden in a business deal with a Ukrainian company that had hired Hunter on its board. 

House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden based on claims that he used his position, then as vice president, to deter Ukrainian prosecutors from investigating the company that his son worked for. GOP lawmakers further allege, based on their follow-up investigations, that the president was involved in several business deals arranged by his son Hunter. 

READ THE COMPLAINT BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

The president has repeatedly denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings.

BOB MENENDEZ ENLISTS HUNTER BIDEN’S DEFENSE ATTORNEY IN BRIBERY CASE

Hunter Biden’s attorneys previously issued cease-and-desist letters to Giuliani and others who obtained and disseminated the laptop’s contents.

The lawsuit seeks a court order to prevent Giuliani and others from accessing, tampering with, manipulating or copying Biden’s data and have them return the “device/hard drive” to Biden, along with any backup files, cloud files or copies of the same data.

Neither attorneys for Hunter Biden nor a representative for Giuliani immediately responded to a request for comment. 

The lawsuit filed Tuesday is the latest effort from Biden and his lawyers to hit back after leaks of the information catapulted his sordid private life onto the front page of many conservative media outlets.

HUNTER BIDEN SUES FORMER WH AIDE FOR ALTERING, PUBLISHING ‘PORNOGRAPHIC’ PHOTOS FROM THE LAPTOP HE DENIES IS HIS

Earlier this month, the president’s son sued former President Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, alleging that Ziegler and his company spread “tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings” that were considered “pornographic” from the device.

In March, Biden initiated a countersuit asserting that the Wilmington, Delaware, computer repair shop owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, had unlawfully disseminated Biden’s personal information, and leveled six invasion of privacy charges against him. Mac Isaac first filed a lawsuit against the president’s son — as well as CNN, Politico, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.— in October 2022 for defamation.

According to Mac Isaac, Biden did not return for the laptop within three months after dropping it off, and he could not be reached. He then alerted the FBI after seeing emails illustrating information about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s purported foreign business dealings and videos of Biden taking drugs and performing sex acts with prostitutes.

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Before federal agents picked up the device, Mac Isaac made a copy of its hard drive and gave it to Giuliani the following year.

Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. Instead, he pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge last month.

Fox News’ Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump pushed back on a Department of Justice request for a gag order regarding his prosecution. 

The Trump legal team published a 25-page brief condemning the DOJ’s request, citing freedom of speech and the necessity of transparency.

“The prosecution would silence President Trump, amid a political campaign where his right to criticize the government is at its zenith, all to avoid a public rebuke of this prosecution. However, ‘above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content,’” the brief states.

TRUMP RESPONDS TO DEM EFFORTS TO BAN HIM FROM 2024 BALLOTS, SAYS FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTS HIM

The document adds, “The prosecution may not like President’s Trump’s entirely valid criticisms, but neither it nor this Court are the filter for what the public may hear.”

The brief was filed Monday and disputes claims by prosecutors that Trump’s history of inflammatory comments about political opponents threaten legal proceedings.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team is aiming to restrict the former president’s ability to comment on the case, claiming his famously fiery and antagonistic rhetoric could affect jurors’ perceptions.

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President Biden’s campaign team is on a mission to prevent him from tripping in public as the 80-year-old continues to struggle with a diagnosis of “significant spinal arthritis.”

The White House physician made the diagnosis earlier this year, and Biden has since had multiple public tripping incidents that have only compounded questions about his age. Now, his team has made a conscious effort to make him wear tennis shoes and limit stair climbs to prevent another embarrassing fall, Axios reported Tuesday.

Biden is also undergoing physical therapy with specialist Drew Contreras, who also worked with President Obama. Contreras has recommended several exercises to improve the president’s balance, the outlet reported.

Observers noted when Biden began wearing sneakers in public this summer after his nasty fall at the Air force Academy in June. He also began boarding Air Force One via shorter stairs to a lower level, another move aimed at preventing falls.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE FIRST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING TO BE HELD THIS WEEK

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN’S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

The goal for Biden’s team is to prevent the president from taking a spill in public during election season, something that could potentially damage his campaign.

Health scares have had major impacts on several presidential campaigns, from Hillary Clinton’s fainting incident in 2016 to Bob Dole falling off a campaign stage in 1996.

A fall would be even more devastating in Biden’s case as he already faces heavy criticism over his age. In an Associated Press poll this summer, 77% said Biden is too old to be effective for four more years with 89% of Republicans taking that position along with 69% of Democrats.

VETERAN AIR FORCE PILOT SEEKING TO OUST VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR SAYS NATION MUST ABANDON ‘WRONG LEADERS’

Another poll from the Washington Post and ABC News this week found that 3 out of 5 Democrats would prefer someone else be the party’s 2024 nominee.

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White House spokesman Andrew Bates pushed back on the story in a statement to Axios.

“This article fits an unfortunate pattern of media attempting to sensationalize something that has long been public, rather than covering the president’s very real achievements for hardworking Americans,” Bates told the outlet.

Former President Donald Trump responded to efforts by Democrats to ban him from presidential primary ballots in 2024 on Monday, saying the U.S. Constitution protects him.

Trump is facing efforts in several states to remove his name from ballots over his involvement in the January 6, 2021 Capitol protests, which his critics argue amounted to an insurrection against the United States. Attorneys for Trump argue that his statements regarding the 2020 election are protected by the First Amendment.

“At no time do Petitioners argue that President Trump did anything other than engage in either speaking or refusing to speak for their argument that he engaged in the purported insurrection,” attorney Geoffrey Blue wrote in a Colorado court filing on Monday.

“The Fourteenth Amendment applies to one who ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion,’ not one who only ‘instigated’ any action,” he added.

ATTEMPT TO BAR TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT GAINS STEAM DESPITE ‘DUBIOUS’ AND ‘DANGEROUS’ LEGAL ARGUMENTS: EXPERTS

Efforts to boot Trump from the ballot have sprung up in Colorado, California, Georgia, Florida and elsewhere, though legal experts say they are likely to fail.

Trump’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the effort in Colorado on Friday. It cites the state’s anti-SLAPP law, which shields people from lawsuits that harass them for behavior protected by the First Amendment.

PUSH TO BLOCK TRUMP FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE BALLOT RECEIVED BY STATE GOP LEADERS

Denver District Judge Sarah B. Wallace has scheduled a hearing on the motion for Oct. 13. A hearing on the constitutional issues will come on Oct. 30. It will be the first time an effort to remove Trump’s name from the ballot will be argued in open court.

Trump’s opponents argue that his candidacy violates the 14th Amendment clause prohibiting candidates who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” Civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman, an ex-con attorney who brought the case in California, points to Trump’s statements surrounding January 6 and the 2020 election as evidence of supporting such an insurrection.

TRUMP’S POST-MUG SHOT FUNDRAISING HAUL

“There is only one issue that would need to be litigated potentially and that issue is did Trump engage in insurrection or rebellion,” Yagman told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. “I think the answer to that question for anyone who has eyesight is that he did.”

Some legal experts have argued that the 14th Amendment can’t be used against Trump. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said there “are good faith arguments in favor of this claim,” but he views the theory as “not simply dubious but dangerous.”

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“The amendment was written to deal with those who engage in an actual rebellion causing hundreds of thousands of deaths,” Turley said. “Advocates would extend the reference to ‘insurrection or rebellion’ to include unsupported claims and challenges involving election fraud.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Republicans are looking to force President Biden to approve their border security legislation by tying it to one of 12 government spending bills lawmakers have pledged to pass for the next fiscal year. 

In a last-minute weekend meeting, the GOP-run House Rules Committee added a provision to the appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that if passed would prevent it from being considered by the Senate until Republicans’ border security bill, H.R. 2, was signed into law.

It’s a long-shot bid to use the government funding fight to score a key conservative policy victory. But to get to Biden’s desk, it would need to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate – where it’s almost certain to be blocked by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

But conservative Rules Committee members told Fox News Digital on Monday that Republicans would not fund Biden’s DHS if the Democrats in power did not use their plan to crack down on the border crisis.

HOUSE DESCENDS INTO CHAOS AS GOP REBELS AGAIN SINK KEY DEFENSE VOTE A SECOND TIME THIS WEEK

“From the beginning of this process, I’ve vowed to defend the 750,000 Texans I represent by refusing to fund a DHS that is not doing its job to secure the border. Why would we sign another check to DHS to continue to not do its job?” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.

“If the Senate and the president continue open border policies, then the House will not move a DHS appropriations bill. Texans are done. We are over it. No matter what happens before this is all over, border security needs to get done, period, full stop – no security, no funding.”

THE SPEAKER’S LOBBY: THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO A POSSIBLE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., said, “If the measures in H.R. 2 were to pass during the appropriations process, they would immediately reverse the Biden administration’s worst immigration policy decisions and begin to lighten the burden crushing upstate New Yorkers.”

“The inclusion of H.R. 2 is absolutely necessary. What’s happening at our southern border right now is worse than a crisis – it’s a complete catastrophe being ignored by the entire Biden administration,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. “All that I can do is support and pass the most conservative border legislation possible. Now, the ball is in Joe Biden’s court.”

Congress must pass some form of spending bill by the Sept. 30 funding deadline or risk a partial government shutdown.

During the Saturday Rules Committee meeting, Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., accused Republicans of “extortion” over the move.

“It’s extorting the Senate into agreeing with you, [as] well as the president, every line of a bill that you have adopted on a party-line basis. I don’t understand how that’s regular order,” Neguse said.

HOUSE ABRUPTLY CANCELS VOTES FOR THE WEEK WITHOUT SPENDING DEAL AFTER SERIES OF DEFEATS FOR GOP LEADERS

But Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., argued that Democrats had used the same tactic when they held the majority in the last Congress.

“I would remind my friend that’s precisely what the Democrats did when they passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill; they said they would not send it over from the Senate in this body until the reconciliation bill was passed,” Cole said.

The border security package would resume construction of the border wall and reinstate the Trump administration’s “Remain In Mexico” policy, among other measures.

Republicans had been trying to wedge H.R. 2 into a possible short-term funding bill known as a continuing resolution (CR), which lawmakers on both sides have acknowledged would be needed to give them more time to pass all 12 individual appropriations bills.

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But party infighting has seemingly derailed attempts at a stopgap, even proposals that floated deep spending cuts for a 30-day duration and commitments to slash future spending.

Lawmakers are back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters on Monday that the House will have a procedural vote to advance four spending bills, including DHS, for full chamber votes in the coming days.

When reached for comment on Republicans’ DHS appropriations bill, the White House did not directly comment on the legislation but accused the House GOP of using the border crisis for political rhetoric.

“President Biden has called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform since his first day in office and House Republicans continue to block it,” a White House spokesperson said. “Now, House Republicans who claim to care about border security are threatening it by proposing a continuing resolution that would eliminate 800 CBP agents and officers, and by marching toward a shutdown that would halt pay to tens of thousands of DHS law enforcement personnel.”

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign was forced to walk back a claim that he purchased a Glock pistol at a South Carolina gun shop on Monday amid questions about the legality of such a purchase considering he has been charged with numerous felonies in multiple cases.

“President Trump buys a [Glock] in South Carolina!” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung posted on X Monday afternoon, including video of the former president at the Palmetto State Armory in Summerville holding a Glock and saying, “Wow.”

“I’ve got to buy one. I want to buy one,” Trump said in the video.

WATCH: REPORTERS PILE IN FRUSTRATED KARINE JEAN-PIERRE OVER BIDEN PLAN TO JOIN UAW PICKET

Cheung, who later deleted the X post, told Fox News Digital, “President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm. He simply indicated that he wanted one.”

Stephen Gutowski, a firearms expert and founder of The Reload, took to X, arguing it would be a crime for Trump to buy a Glock “because he’s under felony indictment.”

Gutowski noted that individuals “under felony indictments can’t ‘receive’ new firearms,” explaining that also meant they couldn’t buy them.

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN’S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

“He can keep the ones he has, but he can’t get new ones. I do wonder how that’s going to work out as he campaigns at places like gun stores,” Gutowski wrote.

He went on to note a number of court cases that had fallen on different sides of the issue on whether such laws prohibiting gun purchases were constitutional, but also that there was still an outstanding decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for one case.

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Gutowski added that the Fifth Circuit Court had “been extremely skeptical of many federal firearms restrictions” since the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last year that New York’s regulations making it difficult to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun were unconstitutionally restrictive, and that it should be easier to obtain such a license.

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans announced Monday that the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden will be held on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET.

According to the office of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., the hearing “will examine the value of an impeachment inquiry,” and will present all evidence to date uncovered by the committee in its investigation into the Biden family finances.

“Since January, House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means have uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence showing President Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain,” Comer said in a statement.

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN’S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

“Thousands of pages of financial records, emails, texts, testimony from credible IRS whistleblowers, and a transcribed interview with Biden family business associate Devon Archer all reveal that Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Biden family,” he said. 

Comer’s statement said that Congress had a duty to open the impeachment inquiry into Biden’s alleged corruption, and that Americans “demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this abuse of public office.”

“This week, the House Oversight Committee will present evidence uncovered to date and hear from legal and financial experts about crimes the Bidens may have committed as they brought in millions at the expense of U.S. interests,” he added.

WATCH: BIDEN FORGETS TO SHAKE HANDS WITH PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL IN LATEST AWKWARD GAFFE

The witnesses who will testify at the hearing include Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant with decades of experience in financial investigations and consulting, and who the committee says has testified in over 80 trials, including trials that involved financial fraud.

Former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O’Connor, who served in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, and law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified in the Clinton and Trump impeachments, will also testify.

Last week, the Biden administration blasted House Republicans for planning to hold the hearing just days before the government runs out of funding, while dismissing the “evidence-free” probe as a “political stunt.” Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

VETERAN AIR FORCE PILOT SEEKING TO OUST VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR SAYS NATION MUST ABANDON ‘WRONG LEADERS’

“Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impact of it on the country,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital.

“Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families,” Sams said.

The hearing will be the first since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formalized an impeachment inquiry last week. McCarthy directed Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., to lead the investigation. 

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However, the hearing won’t necessarily tread any new ground. It is expected to be a review of the existing evidence and explain the status of the inquiry, sources familiar said.

Social media users, particularly conservatives, widely mocked New Jersey’s Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez after he claimed in the face of federal corruption charges that the hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash in his home was from his personal back account. 

“For 30 years I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Menendez said during a press conference on Monday.

Social media users reacted with skepticism that the $480,000 in cash at the senator’s home found during a search warrant earlier this year — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets and a safe — was simply from his personal savings account. 

Additionally, bars of gold were found in his home and over $70,000 in cash was found in his wife’s safe deposit box. Some of the envelopes of money in the home contained the fingerprints and/or DNA of a business associate or his driver, according to the indictment. 

LEGAL EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON MENENDEZ INDICTMENT, SUGGEST ‘MONSTER’ CHARGES POINT TO LIKELY CONVICTION

“I knew there was an explanation that made total sense,” former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Bob Menendez, the Senator from New Jersey, would have you believe he has so little faith in the United States government he just needs to keep more than $400,000 in cash and a few gold bars around the house in case of sudden government confiscation,” Washington Post contributor Helaine Olen posted on X.

MENENDEZ DEFIANT AS GROWING CHORUS OF DEMOCRATS CALL FOR HIS RESIGNATION

“Bob Menendez was born in New York City in 1954, five years *BEFORE* the revolution,” historian Davis Austin Walsh posted on X. “His dad was a carpenter and his mom a seamstress, so I doubt they were sitting on many assets in Cuba when Castro came to power. Basically he’s so corrupt he’s stolen-valoring Batista loyalists.”

“I aspire to this level of shamelessness,” political commentator Saagar Enjeti posted on X.

Menendez’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.  

Menendez has remained defiant amid calls from prominent Democrats to resign.

“I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator,” Menendez said during Monday’s press conference, falling short of formally announcing a re-election bid. 

“The court of public opinion is no substitute for our revered justice system. We cannot set aside the presumption of innocence for political expediency when the harm is irrevocable.”

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The press conference at Hudson County Community College in Union City, New Jersey, marks the senator’s first public appearance since his federal indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York on Friday, charging Menendez, his wife, Nadine, and New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes in participating in a yearslong bribery scheme. 

Since 2018, as alleged by federal prosecutors, the three businessmen collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes — including cash, gold, a Mercedes-Benz and other things of value — in exchange for Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich them and to benefit the government of Egypt. 

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

New Jersey Democrats are reportedly viewing the Biden administration’s migrant housing proposal as an election issue possibly impacting their own 2024 prospects in the deep blue state. 

As New York City grapples with the arrival of more than 116,000 asylum seekers, South Jersey leaders from both political parties came together earlier this month at a press conference held in opposition to the Biden administration floating Atlantic City International Airport as one of 11 potential sites to house migrants who’ve arrived in New York City from the southern border. 

Though it remains to be seen when the staunchly opposed plan will actualize, the migrant crisis is largely becoming an election issue for Democrats in the Garden State, especially in the long competitive area by Atlantic City that’s been trending Republican in recent cycles, according to Politico. 

“I don’t see any scenario where we’re going to be able to take in a program in Atlantic City or frankly elsewhere in the state,” Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy said in an interview with News 12 last week. “We are already seeing folks in New Jersey that have probably swelled into Jersey from New York City or from other locations, but you need scale, enormous amount of federal support – resources that go beyond anything that we can afford – putting everything else aside.”

But even as Democrats and Republicans both oppose the relocation of migrants at the airport, which houses F-16s from the New Jersey Air National Guard and an FAA research and test base, GOP officials have done so in more strident language and have banked on Democrat Murphy’s past touting of New Jersey as a sanctuary state. 

BOB MENENDEZ TO ANNOUNCE RE-ELECTION BID IN NEW JERSEY DURING 1ST PUBLIC APPEARANCE POST-INDICTMENT: REPORT

“Atlantic City has been a perennial dumping ground,” Democratic Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. said at the Sept. 1 press conference. 

“And those 60,000 people that they talk about, I guarantee you, I would put my name upon it, that there will be individuals who are criminals,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., added at the same event, referring to the number of migrants in New York City’s care. “We don’t want it here in South Jersey.” 

“First it started with the wind turbines, and we have to fight that, and we will fight it, and now we have this,” Drew added of Murphy’s unpopular energy initiative. “We have a governor, let’s not forget it, that declared the state of New Jersey a sanctuary state… How about taking care of our people?” 

In late August, New Jersey state Sen. Vince Polistina, a Republican, issued a statement saying, “Atlantic County residents shouldn’t be forced to pay the price for the Biden administration’s disastrous handling of our border and the outrageous ‘Sanctuary’ state and city policies of Democrats in Washington, New York, Trenton and across the country.” 

“My message to President Biden and NYC Mayor Adams is ‘hell no!’” Polistina said. 

His election opponent, Atlantic County Commissioner Caren Fitzpatrick, a Democrat who in 2019 rejected an anti-sanctuary status resolution that aimed to bolster law enforcement but has since reversed course, also issued a statement against the housing of migrants at the airport, saying more softly, her opposition came based on “the delicate balance we are currently striking in Atlantic County as we work to reinvent our economic path forward after years of lost jobs and shuttered businesses,” Politico reported. 

Hit with criticism from Polistano’s campaign, Fitzpatrick later struck back in remarks to the New Jersey Globe, saying, “We are at a crisis point, and it’s not surprising that career politician Vince Polistina can’t accept that Democrats and Republicans are overwhelmingly united in opposing Atlantic City International Airport being the home for New York City migrants.”

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL HAS MESSAGE FOR MIGRANTS LOOKING TO COME TO NEW YORK: ‘GO SOMEWHERE ELSE’

Speaking with Politico, Atlantic County Democratic Chair Michael Suleiman also highlighted that supposed united opposition, arguing that Republicans were caught “flat-footed” when Democrats also rejected the migrant housing proposal and condemned the federal response to immigration. 

Suleiman also claimed that, unlike the GOP, Democrats’ stance is free of the “xenophobia” he said is demonstrated by some Republicans, including Drew, a former Democrat who flipped to support former President Donald Trump. 

Meanwhile, Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, a Republican, countered that Democrats should answer for the migrant crisis in next year’s election, even as the Atlantic City airport proposal likely won’t happen because “it was so preposterous from the get-go.”

“Those smug, pompous individuals that wanted to show they were so much better, so much more compassionate than [Trump] when they wanted to make their states a sanctuary state and their cities sanctuary cities – be careful what you wish for,” Levinson told Politico. 

On immigration, Murphy has highlighted his office’s work with the Biden administration in resettling Afghanistan refugees at a military base in his state. 

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Biden’s approval rating plummeted in New Jersey last month, and the Garden State now faces one of its U.S. senators, Democrat Bob Menendez, under a federal corruption indictment. 

Republicans picked up seven seats in the New Jersey legislature in 2021, including two in Atlantic County’s 2nd District. Yet, Democrats still hold a sizable majority in both chambers, 25-15 in the Senate and 46-34 in the Assembly. Murphy and other Democrats have voiced concern over lower election turnout benefiting Republicans as they say it did during the last election.

Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called the GOP House-led impeachment inquiry into President Biden a “continuation of the [Jan. 6] insurrection” during an interview Sunday.

“Many of [Kevin] McCarthy’s folks go to the January 6 prisoners and visit them to give them comfort and aid, and so they’ve never accepted President Biden as a legitimate president,” Swalwell said to MSNBC host Jen Psaki. “And this week, even as we are hurtling toward a shutdown, they’ll hold impeachment proceedings, which is just a continuation of the insurrection — and so this is all about just putting Donald Trump in charge.”

Psaki asked Swalwell — who sat on the Jan. 6 House committee — what he thinks of former PresidentTrump’s purported role in the House’s decisions. The Democrat congressman said, “Donald Trump and McCarthy and the other pro-insurrection Republicans have never accepted Joe Biden as the president.”

“The House, unfortunately, has become a law firm with just one client, Donald Trump,” he said.

SWALWELL, NEHLS CLASH AT CHILD MIGRANT HEARING OVER ALLEGED CHINESE SPY TIES: ‘YOU DON’T GET TO SAY THAT S—‘

The House is probing Biden’s foreign business ties with his son, Hunter, in Ukraine and China. Republicans hope to unearth bribery negotiations that suggest Biden leveraged his position as then-vice president under former President Obama for personal gain.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will lead the inquiry alongside House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

ERIC SWALWELL DENIES WRONGDOING IN CHINESE SPY SCANDAL

House Republicans, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will hold their first impeachment inquiry hearing to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power against President Biden on Thursday.

“Kevin McCarthy is a spectator speaker. He may have the title, but Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, they all share the job,” Swalwell said.

Swalwell’s comments come as time is ticking in the House to reach a spending deal before funds run out from the previous fiscal year and the government shuts down on Saturday.

COMER TO PURSUE HUNTER, JAMES BIDEN PERSONAL BANK RECORDS AS NEXT STEP IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

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Meanwhile, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said on CNN’s “State of the Union” he would “look strongly at” ousting McCarthy from speakership if he doesn’t pass the 12 appropriation bills needed to fund the government.

“They’re all talking about this promise that he made with Biden a year ago — what about the promise we made to the American public that we were going to be responsible Americans?” Burchett asked CNN host Dana Bash.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the U.S. economy was in a “crisis” on Sunday, seemingly contradicting President Biden on a core pillar of his re-election campaign. 

“Our economy is in a special kind of crisis. Our whole economy is in a special kind of crisis,” the progressive lawmaker said at a union rally in Wentzville, Missouri, on Sunday. 

“Now if you ask a Washington insider or a Wall Street analyst, they will tell you, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,'” she said. “They’ll say, ‘Look at GDP. Look at the growth rate.’ They’ll say, ‘Look at job numbers. How are we in a crisis?’”

UAW STRIKE AGAINST DETROIT BIG THREE AUTOMAKERS COULD EXPAND

Without naming names, Ocasio-Cortez accused Washington elites and others like them of not having to make tough economic decisions before aligning herself with workers who feel the financial effects “in the callouses of our hands.”

“And that’s an easy thing to say for someone who primarily experiences this economy on paper – who aren’t choosing between childcare and work, or medicine and rent. It’s easy to say that when you’re not making those decisions,” Ocasio-Cortez said as workers cheered.

“Because those of us who do have to make those decisions, feel the economy in the callouses of our hands and the aches of our joints at the end of a long day, so we don’t have any time left, proper time, to spend with our children or loved ones.”

UAW MEMBERS HOLDING OUT ‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES’ AS HIGH-STAKES NEGOTIATIONS REACH DAY 3: WE ARE ALL ‘SUFFERING’ 

Despite not mentioning either political party, her comments still appear to land as a stinging rebuke of the Biden administration’s insistence that the economy is doing well under its tenure. 

Biden allies have been so confident in the issue that “Bidenomics” has already become a well-worn term on the campaign trail as the president seeks another term in 2024. 

BIDEN’S ADVISERS FEAR TRUMP IS WINNING THE POLITICAL BATTLE AS AUTOWORKERS STRIKE 

“Since I’ve come to office, all they’ve really done is attack me and my economic plan — there hadn’t been much else — even though we’ve created, as has been pointed out, over 13 million jobs — more jobs in two years than any president has created in a four-year term,” the president said of Republicans during a speech in Maryland last week. 

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“Even though we’ve had 19 straight months of unemployment under 4% for the first time in American history. Even though we have the lowest inflation rate of any major economy in the world, with core inflation rate the last three months at 2.4%. We got more to do, even though we’ve created 800,000 manufacturing jobs and a manufacturing boom we haven’t seen in decades.”

Meanwhile, a new Washington Post-ABC News Poll found that nearly three quarters of Americans have negative attitudes toward the state of the economy. With regard to food prices specifically, 91% of respondents said they were “not so good or poor.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

**Activating later tonight**

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto offered his support to U.S. conservatives pushing for more border security – including a wall at the southern border – saying that his own country has shown the importance of physical infrastructure.

Szijjarto visited Texas last week before heading to New York for the U.N. General Assembly and told Fox News Digital in an interview that there are “many similarities” between the migration challenges facing the two countries. 

He said that while the U.S.-Mexico border is much longer than the Hungarian border, they have both faced significant pressure from migration and efforts to prevent border security measures from being implemented.

Hungary was at the forefront of the 2015 European migration crisis and responded by ramping up its border security even as it took significant criticism from human rights groups and the European Union in doing so. He told Fox News Digital that physical infrastructure, whether it be the buoys set up by Texas in the Rio Grande or the wall built during the Trump-era, is vital.

HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SLAMS ‘LECTURING’ BIDEN ADMIN, HOPES FOR RETURN TO TRUMP-ERA

“You have built some infrastructure to protect [the border], and this is the only way,” he said. “So, if you do not build a physical infrastructure with simple manpower, it is absolutely impossible to protect your border. So, physical infrastructure – be the fence, be the wall or be the buoys on the water – you have to do it, otherwise you are defenseless.”

He noted the opposition that efforts to build physical barriers – by Hungary, by the U.S. under the Trump administration or at the state level under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott – have faced from left-wing politicians and media outlets, which he tied to deeper divisions between left and right over the importance of migration, national identity and sovereignty. Hungary has faced reprimands from the European Union over its policies, which courts have ruled clash with EU law.

“What we also see is that the liberals are pushing for migration to take place, migration to increase because, for them, it’s not a problem to lose the identity and the character of a nation,” he said.

He said Hungary is sticking to a right to decide who enters the country, calling it a “sovereign decision” to maintain the “character and the identity” of the country.

“We simply do not want to change the nature of the country. Hungary must remain the country of the Hungarians, and I understand that the conservatives, the Republicans here and in Texas, are standing up for this as well, and we understand that the liberals are going against [them], so it’s very similar in Hungary and in the U.S.,” he said.

MIGRANT NUMBERS SURGED IN AUGUST AS SOUTHERN BORDER CRISIS RAGES

Szijjarto said Hungary is facing “enormously increasing” pressure from migration at its border with Serbia, and last year it stopped 275,000 migrants. He warned that migrants are becoming violent, including with weapons against both each other and against officials at the border. He also said that pressure is exacerbated when combined with the ongoing conflict in nearby Ukraine.

“This is alarming because we Hungarians are being faced with a tremendous security-related challenge from the East, given the war, and now from the South as well with the migration,” he said. “And instead of the European Union being helpful to resolve these issues, they are making basically both much more serious.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. remains in the grip of a nearly three-year crisis at its southern border.

DHS TO OFFER WORK PERMITS, DEPORTATION PROTECTION TO OVER 470,000 VENEZUELANS AMID NEW BORDER SURGE

On Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that there were 232,972 migrant encounters at the southern border in August. That is an increase from the 204,087 encounters in August 2022 and an increase from the 183,494 encountered in July and the 144,570 encountered in June.

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It is the highest number of monthly encounters seen this year, although it is not the highest number seen this fiscal year – with both November and December 2022 seeing higher numbers. Of those encounters in August, which is the highest August on record, 181,059 were encountered by Border Patrol illegally between ports of entry.

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

GOP presidential hopefuls have a lot riding on the second debate of the 2024 nominating cycle — but some have more to prove than others.

Thanks to her well-regarded performance at the first Republican presidential nomination debate, expect plenty of attention on Nikki Haley at this week’s second GOP primary showdown.

“I’ll continue to be myself. I’ll continue to say what I think,” the former South Carolina governor, who later served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a recent Fox News Digital interview.

For Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who was far from the loudest voice at last month’s debate, Wednesday’s showdown at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, could be an opportunity to paint contrasts with his rivals for the nomination.

“Having an opportunity to talk about where we’re different, I think it’s important for the audience, frankly, at home to understand that there are real differences between the candidates on the stage, and we should have an opportunity to discuss those differences,” Scott told Fox News Digital last week.

FIRST ON FOX: RNC RAISES BAR FOR CANDIDATES TO MAKE STAGE AT THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

The debate will be televised on the FOX Business Network (FBN) and Univision from 9 to 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

FIRST ON FOX: RNC THREATENS TO PULL NEW HAMPSHIRE DEBATE IF STATE LEAPFROGS IOWA IN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING CALENDAR

Longtime Republican consultant David Kochel said the debate gives the candidates a second chance.

“You’ve got to fix what was wrong in the first debate, or you’ve got to maintain the momentum that built from it,” noted Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns.

So far, according to a Fox News count, seven of the eight candidates who took part in last month’s first GOP presidential nomination debate have already reached the Republican National Committee’s polling and donor criteria to make the stage.

They are, in alphabetical order, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, biotech entrepreneur and political commentator Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott

GOP PRESIDENTIAL BATTLE IN LEAD-OFF NOMINATING STATE HEATS UP

Former President Donald Trump, who has reached the donor and polling thresholds, did not sign the RNC’s pledge in which they agree to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee. Pointing to his commanding lead over his rivals for the nomination, Trump did not attend the first debate and is not showing up for the second showdown.

Dave Carney, a longtime Republican strategist with decades of presidential campaign experience, said that candidates who “have a breakout night” at the second debate “can put some of their rivals to sleep and can start formulating themselves as the alternative to Trump.”

But he warned that “If it doesn’t go well, you can pack up your bags and go home and spend more time with your family.”

Here’s a look at what’s on the line for the candidates on the stage Wednesday night.

Ron DeSantis

Carney, pointing to the Florida governor’s slide in the recent polls in the early voting states, said that “this is his opportunity to save his campaign or end his campaign.”

“He has the most riding on this,” Carney said.

Kochel suggested that DeSantis “needs to broaden the appeal.” And he argued that “you’ve already got a Trump imitator on the stage – Vivek Ramaswamy.”

Pointing to the governor’s landslide gubernatorial reelection victory last November, Kochel said, “DeSantis needs to draw a distinction between himself and Trump.”

Nikki Haley

Pointing to Haley’s upward movement in the polls since the first debate, Carney said that “she has a lot riding on this.”

Kochel said “the question now is what do you do with that momentum? Is it a flash in the pan or can you repeat that performance and have an upward trajectory in the race?”

“People got to see that she’s a pretty talented and effective communicator, and I would just double down,” he said. “My guess is she’s going to get a little more attention [on] this one. Some of the candidates may want to go at her in this debate.”

Tim Scott

Carney said “this debate’s important for him. He was sort of quiet and disappeared during the first debate. … He needs to be a little bit more aggressive.”

Kochel suggested that “there’s going to be a lot of pressure on someone like Tim Scott, who disappeared a bit in the first debate, to step up and do better.”

Mike Pence

Carney pointed out that the former vice president “was very aggressive — probably the most out-of-character aggressive — at the first debate. I think you’ll see more of that at the Reagan Library.”

Pence, who gave a high-profile speech this month in which he criticized Trump and some of his other rivals for the nomination for walking away from core conservative values as he took aim at the wave of populism in the GOP, may reiterate his theme at Wednesday’s debate.

“Being at the Reagan Library really gives him an opportunity to pivot off ‘Lets get back to Reagan-like ideas,'” Carney said.

And Kochel noted that “if I were him, I would be touting myself as the Reagan conservative in the traditional sense and take off after populism.”

“He’s making a bet here. It doesn’t appear to be paying off, but at this point, you’ve got to be who you are. That speech he gave will find a way into a lot of his responses,” Kochel said.

Vivek Ramaswamy

The multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur, political commentator and culture wars crusader is probably the biggest surprise to date in the GOP nomination race as his poll numbers continue to rise.

Ramaswamy faced plenty of incoming fire at the first debate, and since his support continues to grow, expect more attacks coming his way at the second showdown.

Carney said the first-time candidate has “got to prove that he can be presidential and serve as president of the United States.”

“His biggest role right now is to make sure that no one becomes the massive heir apparent to Trump. It’s an interesting role he’s playing,” Carney added.

Chris Christie

The former two-term New Jersey governor and vocal GOP Trump critic is making is second run for the Republican nomination.

Carney predicted that Christie will “once again use Trump as his foil … you can tell, he loves the fight. He loves the engagement with voters. He relishes the interactions with the media. He has a lot of compelling parts for being a president, but his limited focus I think hurts him.”

Kochel said Christie’s “an effective communicator, but I don’t think there’s a market for what he’s selling right now.”

Pointing to Trump’s absence from the debate stage, Kochel said Christie “wanted to be in these debates so [that] he could get a shot at Trump, and he’s not going to get it.”

“My guess is he’ll probably throw more haymakers at Ramaswamy because he’s [the] most Trump-like person on the stage,” Kochel added. “He wants to throw these punches, and there’s nobody to hit.”

DOUG BURGUM

Burgum, the least well-known of the contenders on the stage, will likely once again be standing on the wings of the debate stage.

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“It’s hard when you’re going to get the least amount of questions and the least amount of time,” Carney said.

He emphasized that the North Dakota governor needs to find a way to stand out: “That’s his mission. He needs to get people to get interested in him.”

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

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., plans to send a letter Monday to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra demanding answers from the Biden administration on its handling of unaccompanied minors at the border.

Blackburn’s letter, first obtained by Fox News Digital, is a follow-up to a previous one she sent in April with the same inquiry. 

“As I expressed when you appeared before the Senate Finance Committee in March and again in my letter to you in April, I am appalled by reports that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has mishandled unaccompanied minors by placing them with unvetted sponsors, leading to their exploitation and forced labor,” Blackburn wrote. 

Blackburn said HHS’s response to her inquiry was “completely inadequate” and an “insult” to the Senate’s job to oversee government operations. 

LA MAYOR ‘FEARFUL’ THAT PLANES OF ILLEGAL ALIENS MIGHT ARRIVE IN CITY THAT ‘WELCOMES IMMIGRANTS’

“I asked you specifically about your knowledge of this crisis and your involvement in the alleged whistleblower retaliation that has taken place under your watch, yet your Assistant Secretary declined to answer a single question,” Blackburn wrote. “Additionally, I asked you to provide the documents you received regarding the potential exploitation of these migrant children, but Assistant Secretary Hild failed to produce a single document. 

“Instead, over five months later, my inquiry was met with general information about your failed policies,” she continued. “Your department’s lack of urgency on this matter, and your continued refusal to provide information about the amount of time you spent in California instead of fulfilling your duties in-person, speaks volumes regarding your mishandling of this crisis.”

ERIC ADAMS SLAMS BIDEN FOR NOT MEETING, IGNORING MIGRANT CRISIS ON NYC VISIT: ‘EVERYBODY KNOWS WHERE I AM’

By next week, Blackburn expects Becerra to respond to several requests pertaining to concerns over the administration’s purported mishandling and exploitation of migrant children released to unvetted sponsors by HHS. 

She is also requesting documentation related to potential exploitation of these children and Becerra’s involvement in demotions and dismissals of individuals who raised safety concerns and relevant documents, such as schedules and travel expenses, committed to sharing with the Senate Finance Committee since the start of his tenure as secretary.

Blackburn joins a choir of GOP lawmakers who have been sounding the alarm on unaccompanied migrant children at the border. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News Digital in an interview last week that thousands “of children were brutalized by human traffickers” last year. 

“Right now this week, we are seeing roughly 9,000 people a day crossing illegally, and the numbers continue to get worse month after month after month,” he said.

DHS TO OFFER WORK PERMITS, DEPORTATION PROTECTION TO OVER 470,000 VENEZUELANS AMID NEW BORDER SURGE

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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also sent a demand letter last week to Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King over allegations that Tyson outsourced companies who hired migrant children to work in chicken processing plants. 

Democrats, once vocal critics of the Trump administration’s handling of migrant children separated from their parents at the border, have been less inclined to voice concerns over the Biden administration’s handling of migrant children entering the U.S. since Title 42 – an emergency order that allowed the government to expel migrants faster – expired in May. 

In a 48-hour period in July, Texas authorities recovered four bodies, including an infant, from the Rio Grande near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to border patrol officials.