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What’s Happening? 

-Rep. Tlaib calls Israeli PM Netanyahu a ‘genocidal maniac’

-Chris Christie launches first major ad blitz against Trump

-Liberal mayors call for national emergency to combat migrant crisis

South Carolinian Roots

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley caught heat from both sides of the political aisle after she declined to mention slavery reason U.S. Civil War.

At a town hall Wednesday, the former U.N. ambassador was asked what about “the cause” of the Civil War, to which she joked: “Well, don’t come with an easy question or anything.”

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run — the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do,” she continued in part.

The questioner expressed shock that Haley didn’t mention slavery in her answer, and clips of the exchange began circulating widely. President Biden’s X account ridiculed Haley, and fellow presidential contender Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign picked up on it as well.

On Thursday, Haley suggested that the question came from an unfriendly “Democratic plant,” since the questioner declined to give his name. She also defended her comments, and said that everyone knows the cause of the Civil War was slavery.

“Everybody thinks that the Civil War was about slavery,” Haley told Fox News during a press gaggle after a campaign event Thursday. She added that as former governor of South Carolina who helped take the Confederate flag from the state capitol, she is well aware of history.

“But for us to move forward as a country, what’s the lesson? And the lesson is every person deserves freedom and we have to always fight for it every single day,” Haley said.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton jumped into the fray with a take of his own: “The Civil War started because the American people elected an anti-slavery Republican as president and Democrats revolted rather than accept minor restrictions on the expansion of slavery to the western territories,” he said on X.

White House

‘ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING’: Biden declared an all-out war on home appliances in 2023 …Read more

MORE AID: U.S. to send $250 million to aid Ukraine, warning that Congress would have to approve any additional funds …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘NOT DOING ENOUGH’: Dem lawmaker calls out Biden administration for listening to immigration activists more than border communities …Read more

SWATTED: MTG pledges crackdown on ‘swatting’ hoax as GOP senator becomes latest target …Read more

VANDALISM: Democrat Ritchie Torres speaks out after anti-Israel activists leave bloody baby Jesus doll outside his office …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

ON THE BALLOT: Colorado GOP includes Trump on 2024 ballot following Supreme Court appeal …Read more

PUSHING BACK: Chris Christie takes aim at Trump in first major ad blitz of 2024 campaign …Read more

GREENER PASTURES: Colorado congresswoman moves to run in district being vacated by Rep. Ken Buck …Read more

ANOTHER ONE: Georgia lawmaker appointed to judgeship, triggering special election for House seat …Read more

JUMPING SHIP: Democrats switch over to Republican Party in key swing state …Read more

Across America

‘IT BAFFLES ME’: NYC mayor getting silent treatment from Biden over migrant crisis …Read more

NEVER MET HIM: James Carville responds to Fetterman insults about his relevancy …Read more

‘FIGHTING TERRORISM’: Former MSNBC host decries ‘rural rage’ …Read more

HOLLYWOOD DIVIDED: The celebs who faced backlash for controversial takes on Israel-Hamas War …Read more

FRACTURED POINTS OF VIEW: How the Israel-Hamas war divided and inflamed newsrooms in 2023 …Read more

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

The Colorado secretary of state will include former President Donald Trump on the 2024 Colorado primary ballot after Republicans filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, the Colorado GOP filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court after the state Supreme Court’s decision to remove Trump from the primary ballot.

Following the appeal, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced that she will include Trump on the primary ballot on the January 5 certification deadline, unless the U.S. Supreme Court affirms the lower court’s ruling or declines to take up the case.

COLORADO GOP ASKING US SUPREME COURT TO OVERTURN RULING DISQUALIFYING TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT

“Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and was disqualified under the Constitution from the Colorado Ballot,” Griswold said in a press release.

“The Colorado Supreme Court got it right. This decision is now being appealed,” she continued. “I urge the U.S. Supreme Court to act quickly given the upcoming presidential primary election.”

Trump’s inclusion on the ballot creates an unprecedented situation for the U.S. Supreme Court amid two dueling rulings — the controversial Colorado ruling and the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling batting down an attempt to remove Trump from the primary ballot there.

The Colorado Supreme Court stayed its ruling until January 4 to allow time for an appeal to its decision.

The two states’ contradicting rulings will likely spur the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, which will set the legal precedent for the rest of the country.

The U.S. Supreme Court has a ticking political time bomb on its hands: the body will have to decide the case before Super Tuesday, March 5.

The deadline, however, comes with a few wrinkles.

According to Griswold’s press release, the deadline for 2024 primary ballots to be sent out to military voters is January 20.

Additionally, February 12 is the first day that ballots will be mailed out to voters, and at the end of the month, on February 26, the first day of primary voting takes place.

It is unclear what would happen to any released ballots if the U.S. Supreme Court declines the appeal or doesn’t take up the case after they are sent out.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Colorado GOP for comment.

Earlier this month, the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, overturned a lower court ruling that allowed Trump to appear on the ballot as a presidential candidate. The initial ruling said a president is not among the officials subject to disqualification on a ballot.

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On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump is ineligible to appear on the primary ballot due to the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court simultaneously stayed that ruling until January 4, with that stay remaining in place in the event of an appeal.

“By excluding President Trump from the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court engaged in an unprecedented disregard for the First Amendment right of political parties to select the candidates of their choice and a usurpation of the rights of the people to choose their elected officials,” attorneys for the state Republican party wrote in a petition after the December 19 ruling.

Fox News Digital’s Kerri Kupec and Louis Casiano contributed reporting.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is catching heat from both sides of the political aisle after she declined to mention slavery as the reason for sparking the U.S. Civil War.

A voter asked the former U.N. ambassador during a New Hampshire town hall on Wednesday what was “the cause” of the war, to which she joked, “Well, don’t come with an easy question or anything.”

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run – the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do,” she continued.

TRUMP JR SAYS HE’D GO TO ‘GREAT LENGTHS’ TO PREVENT THIS REPUBLICAN FROM JOINING DAD’S CAMPAIGN

“I mean, I think it all comes down to the role of government,” she added. “We need to have capitalism. We need to have economic freedom. We need to make sure that we do all things so that individuals have the liberties so that they can have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do or be anything they want to be without government getting in the way.”

The voter responded that he was shocked she didn’t mention the word “slavery.”

“What do you want me to say about slavery?” Haley asked. “Next question.”

Haley’s response sparked backlash from the White House to the campaign trail.

“It was about slavery,” President Biden posted on X with a clip of Haley’s comments.

Bryan Griffin, the press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign, wrote: “On today’s scoreboard, Donald Trump complained about his treatment in the movie Home Alone 2, Nikki Haley stepped in a giant mess of her own making, and @RonDeSantis dismantled the far-left Miami Dade school union. Take your pick!”

“Not stunning if you were a Black resident in SC when she was Governor,” wrote DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison. “Same person who said the confederate flag was about tradition & heritage and as a minority woman she was the right person to defend keeping it on state house grounds. Some may have forgotten but I haven’t. Time to take off the rose colored Nikki Haley glasses folks.”

Haley clarified her remarks in a New Hampshire radio interview Thursday morning.

“Yes, we know the Civil War was about slavery. But more than that, what’s the lesson in all this? That freedom matters. And individual rights and liberties matter for all people. That’s the blessing of America. That was a stain on America when we had slavery. But what we want is never relive it. Never let anyone take those freedoms away again.”

Haley’s campaign pointed to her most recent comments when reached by Fox News Digital.

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Democrats in Pennsylvania — President Biden’s birthplace — are flipping to the Republican Party in droves, according to the swing state’s recent voter registration data.

Pennsylvania holds crucial importance for Biden’s reelection bid. He notably hailed Philadelphia campaign donors as the “backbone” of his presidential campaign earlier this year.

As of Dec. 18, 35,589 Democrats reregistered as Republicans in the state so far this year; in contrast, 15,622 Republicans switched to the Democratic Party, data from the state department shows.

The state trend was first reported Tuesday by Newsweek.

RAMASWAMY VOWS TO WITHDRAW FROM COLORADO PRIMARY BALLOT UNLESS TRUMP IS ON IT, CALLS ON GOP OPPONENTS TO JOIN

Biden’s ties to his home state deepen with wife Jill’s roots in Montgomery County and granddaughter Maisy’s recent graduation from the University of Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, the White House announced that Biden would make his first visit to Philadelphia on Jan. 6.

Nathan Benefield, senior vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation — a Pennsylvania-based public policy think tank — said that while Pennsylvania is a swing state, “by all the polling, Joe Biden is unpopular here,” and much of it is attributed to the president’s “Bidenomics.”

“Voters are saying they’re not happy with Bidenomics and the economy, and I think that’s reflected in the registration and some of the voting patterns,” Benefield told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday.

“Whether Trump and Biden are at the top of the ticket or not, I do think it’s going to be pretty much one of the closest states next year,” he said.

Benefield suggested that a shift is occurring among blue-collar Democrats in the state, particularly those in the western region who have historically favored Republicans in presidential elections. This change seems to be permeating to lower-level elections, and it’s now becoming evident in their party registration.

TRUMP’S REPUBLICAN WHITE HOUSE RIVALS RALLY AROUND FORMER PRESIDENT IN BALLOT BATTLE

State voter registration data also indicates a significant trend for both parties, revealing that a substantial number of voters are disassociating themselves from party affiliation. Specifically, 20,908 Democrats and 18,927 Republicans chose to leave their respective party memberships.

In 2020, Biden defeated Trump by 1.2 percentage points to reclaim the state for the Democrats that Trump had flipped in 2016. 

Pennsylvania will have 19 electoral votes up for grabs in 2024 — down one from 2020 — and the latest surveys indicate that Biden is either even with Trump or trailing slightly.

In 2020, Trump lost to Biden in Pennsylvania by just under 80,000 votes.

VOTING EXTENDED IN CONGOLESE ELECTION AMID POLLING DELAYS

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Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Chris Christie is pushing back against calls from fellow Republicans for the former two-term New Jersey governor to drop out of the GOP presidential nomination race in the first major ad blitz of his 2024 bid.

“Some people say I should drop out of this race. Really? I’m the only one saying Donald Trump is a liar,” Christie said while speaking directly to the camera in a spot launching on TV and digital on Thursday.

Christie’s campaign said the commercial is the first spot in what they tout as a seven-figure ad buy in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest after Iowa’s caucuses in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

As Christie runs a second time for national office, he faces a steep uphill climb against former President Donald Trump, who is the commanding front-runner in the race as he makes his third straight White House bid. Similar to the 2016 cycle, Christie is once again concentrating his time and resources in New Hampshire, where independent voters and moderates have long played a crucial role in the state’s famed primary.

CHRISTIE SAYS SUNUNU ENDORSEMENT OF HALEY ‘DOESN’T CHANGE MY STRATEGY’

Christie’s been running a frugal campaign since declaring his candidacy in June – with ads in support of him coming from an aligned super PAC titled Tell It Like It Is – but he has switched into a higher gear in recent weeks, increasing the number of events he’s hosting with Granite State voters.

The former governor ran his first TV spot of his campaign earlier this month, which was backed by six-figures. Now, he’s upping the ante by shelling out at least $1 million for commercials.

SUNUNU ON HALEY’S 2024 RIVALS: ‘I THINK THEY SHOULD ALL GET OUT’

A Trump ally turned vocal GOP critic, Christie is now taking aim at the former president in his new commercial.

Christie charges in his new ad that Trump “pits Americans against each other,” adding that the former president’s Christmas message to anyone who disagrees with him was “rot in he**.”

When referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters that temporarily disrupted congressional certification of President Biden’s victory over the then-president in the 2020 election, Christie said: “he caused a riot on Capitol Hill. He’ll burn America to the ground to help himself. Every Republican leader says that in private. I’m the only one saying it in public.”

THESE TOP FIVE MOMENTS IN 2023 SHAPED THE 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RACE

“What kind of President do we want? A liar or someone who has the guts to tell the truth?” Christie asked in the ad. “New Hampshire. It’s up to you. I’m Chris Christie and you bet I approve this message.” 

Christie’s in third place in many of the most recent polls in New Hampshire, far behind Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration.

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Haley, who has been rising in the polls the past couple of months, enjoyed a surge in the surveys in recent weeks after she landed the endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire. That sparked calls from some Republican insiders and voters for Christie to end his White House bid in order for the anti-Trump vote to consolidate around Haley.

Christie has repeatedly pushed back against the calls by saying he’s the only Trump rival in the race who’s directly taking on the former president. He told Fox News Digital earlier this month that he’s “not going anywhere, so let’s be really clear about that.”

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

The Colorado Republican Party said it’s asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that barred former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s 2024 ballot. 

Earlier this month, the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, overturned a lower court ruling that allowed Trump to appear on the ballot as a presidential candidate. The initial ruling said a president is not among the officials subject to disqualification on a ballot. 

“By excluding President Trump from the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court engaged in an unprecedented disregard for the First Amendment right of political parties to select the candidates of their choice and a usurpation of the rights of the people to choose their elected officials,” attorneys for the state Republican party wrote in a petition of the Dec. 19 ruling. 

POLL SHOWS BIDEN HITTING RECORD LOW APPROVALS, FALLING BEHIND AGAINST TRUMP IN 2024 MATCHUP

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Colorado GOP. 

In their opinion, the justices on the state’s high court wrote that Trump “incited and encouraged” the use of violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, when many of his followers stormed the U.S. Capitol as congressional lawmakers were certifying President Biden’s election win. 

The case is being appealed based on three main arguments: whether the president is among those officials subject to disqualification by Section Three of the 14th Amendment, the so-called insurrection clause; whether Section Three is “self-executing,” meaning that it allows states to remove candidates from a ballot in absence of any congressional action. 

The last point rests on whether denying a political party the ability to choose a candidate of its choice in a presidential primary and general election violates the First Amendment Right of Association. The attorneys said by excluding Trump, Colorado’s highest court has concluded that individuals, courts and election officials can possess legal authority to enforce Section Three. 

“Rejecting a long history of precedent, a state Supreme Court has now concluded that individual litigants, state courts, and secretaries of state in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have authority to enforce Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the state party wrote.

The party also said that other states may follow Colorado’s lead and exclude Trump from their ballots as well. Disqualification lawsuits relating to Trump’s appearance on the ballot are pending in 13 states, including Texas, Nevada and Wisconsin.

“With the number of challenges to President Trump’s candidacy now pending in other states, ranging from lawsuits to administrative proceedings, there is a real risk the Colorado Supreme Court majority’s flawed and unprecedented analysis will be borrowed, and the resulting grave legal error repeated,” the petition states. 

In the lower court ruling, Colorado District Judge Sarah B. Wallace allowed Trump to stay on the ballot, but found that he “engaged in insurrection” for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Biden won Colorado by 13.5 points in 2020.

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On Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected an attempt to remove Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot.

“Significantly, Colorado’s election laws differ from Michigan’s laws in a material way that is directly relevant to why the appellants in this case are not entitled to the relief they seek concerning the presidential primary election in Michigan,” Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote Wednesday, explaining the court’s ruling.

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

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What’s Happening? 

– Blinken, Mayorkas meet with Mexican president over migrant crisis

– Senator Fetterman snaps at questions over Biden’s popularity

– Melania Trump celebrates Christmas with ailing mother

Gender-neutral toy sections

California stores with more than 500 employees will soon be fined for not having a “gender-neutral” toy section once a new state law kicks in Jan. 1.

The bill, signed in 2021 by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, will force stores that sell childcare items or toys to pay a $500 fine should the store fail to create a gender-neutral toy section for kids 12 years old and under. 

A childcare item, according to the legislation text, “means any product designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep, relaxation, or the feeding of children, or to help children with sucking or teething.”

Traditional boys and girls sections won’t be outlawed, but a gender-neutral section must also be created. 

Failure to comply after Jan. 1, 2024, may result in civil penalties, enforced through legal action by the state attorney general, district attorney, or city attorney, with penalties ranging from $250 to $500 for subsequent violations.

White House

RULES FOR THEE: VP Harris again ridiculed for gas stove pic …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘NOTHING’ JUSTIFIES A DELAY: Prosecutors reject Menendez’s plea to delay federal bribery trial …Read more

FUNDING DEADLINE APPROACHES: Senate will have to pass key spending bills after holiday recess …Read more

‘SHUT THE F— UP’: John Fetterman has choice words for Democratic strategist who warned of Biden’s waning popularity …Read more

UNLIKELY ALLIES: Democratic, Jewish member of Congress says his friendship with ‘Squad’ member Rashida Tlaib is ‘not easy’ …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

ESTABLISHMENT ‘PUPPET’: Trump Jr. says he’ll ‘make sure’ this GOP candidate doesn’t join dad’s campaign …Read more

REJECTED: State Supreme Court shoots down attempt to keep Trump off ballot …Read more

Across America

NORTH DAKOTA BLUES: North Dakota Republican lawmaker under scrutiny after slurs to police during DUI stop …Read more

CARING FOR MOM: Melania Trump celebrates Christmas with her ailing mother …Read more

RED LADY: New York Times faced intense scrutiny in 2023 over Israel-Hamas coverage …Read more

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

Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed another motion with the district court, which seeks to tamp down what former President Donald Trump‘s legal team can tell a jury in his federal trial currently scheduled for March.

The motion, filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is seeking to limit what statements Trump can make leading up to his scheduled March 4 federal trial on alleged 2020 election interference. 

That includes a request to prevent Trump from telling the jury he is being prosecuted by the DOJ in coordination with President Biden, as well as suggestions by Trump of undercover agents fomenting violence at the Capitol riots, and of “foreign influence” in the 2020 election.

“Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the Court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial,” Smith’s team told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

SPECIAL COUNSEL IN TRUMP CASE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, FORMER REAGAN AG SAYS

“Although the Court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury – if subjected to them – may not. The Court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding. To ensure that the jury remains focused on its fact-finding duty and applies the law as instructed by the Court, the defendant’s improper evidence and argument should be excluded.”

The filing claims that “through his groundless demand for discovery of evidence regarding ‘investigative misconduct,’” Trump “has suggested that he intends to impeach the integrity of the investigation by raising wholly false claims such as the Government’s non-existent ‘coordination with the Biden Administration’ and other empty allegations recycled from the selective and vindictive prosecution motion that he based on anonymous sources in newspaper articles.”

“Although the defendant is entitled to cross-examine the Government’s law enforcement witnesses about matters fairly within the scope of their direct testimony, he cannot raise wholly irrelevant topics in an effort to confuse and distract the jury. Much as the defendant would like it otherwise, this trial should be about the facts and the law, not politics.”

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH TO USE DATA FROM TRUMP’S PHONE IN ELECTION INTERFERENCE TRIAL: COURT FILING

The motion seeks to prevent Trump from telling jurors about the potential punishment he could face if convicted, as well as blaming law enforcement agencies for a lack of preparation in advance of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“Evidence about undercover actors holds no probative value here,” Smith’s team wrote in the filing regarding the riot, saying the “defendant also appears poised to blame undercover agents, government informants, or confidential human sources (collectively, ‘undercover actors’) for the violence at the Capitol on January 6.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The motion to preclude Trump from introducing broad categories of arguments is a way for prosecutors to try to set parameters on what information they believe the jury should, or should not, hear when the case reaches trial. It was filed as the case is effectively on hold during an appeal of the former president’s claims that he is immune from prosecution for acts taken while in the White House.

JACK SMITH WANTS ‘DOWN AND DIRTY’ TRUMP CONVICTIONS TO INFLUENCE 2024 ELECTION: ALAN DERSHOWITZ

“A bank robber cannot defend himself by blaming the bank’s security guard for failing to stop him,” prosecutors wrote. “A fraud defendant cannot claim to the jury that his victims should have known better than to fall for his scheme. And the defendant cannot argue that law enforcement should have prevented the violence he caused and obstruction he intended.”

The Supreme Court declined last week to get involved in the dispute for now, but a federal appeals panel is set to hear arguments on the matter on Jan. 9. The trial is scheduled for March 4 in federal court in Washington, but it could be postponed by appeals of the immunity issue.

Chutkan imposed a partial gag order against Trump in October blocking him from making statements targeting Smith, his staff, potential witnesses and court personnel.

Chutkan said the former president is able to criticize the Justice Department in general terms and has the right to post his view that the case against him is politically motivated. However, the judge said Trump cannot post attacks against prosecutors or court staff.

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A federal appeals court upheld key parts of that gag order in December.

“An Appeals Court has just largely upheld the Gag Order against me in the ridiculous J6 Case, where the Unselect January 6th Committee deleted and destroyed almost all Documents and Evidence, saying that I can be barred from talking and, in effect, telling the truth,” Trump posted on Truth Social after that ruling. 

“In other words, people can speak violently and viciously against me, or attack me in any form, but I am not allowed to respond, in kind. What is becoming of our First Amendment, what is becoming of our Country? We will appeal this decision!”

Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

The judge presiding over the New York Trump Organization trial also imposed a partial gag order to prevent all parties from engaging in any verbal attacks against court staff after Trump criticized a member of the judge’s office on social media.

An appeals court stay was temporarily issued on the New York gag order, but it was reinstated in November.

“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA,'” Trump posted on Truth Social on Christmas Day.

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

EXCLUSIVE: Former first lady Melania Trump celebrated Christmas with her ailing mother, Fox News Digital has learned. 

A source close to the former first lady told Fox News Digital that she did not attend the Trump family Christmas celebration at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week so that she could spend time with her ailing mother. 

MELANIA TRUMP TO SPEAK TO NEW AMERICAN CITIZENS ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY OF ‘GUARDING OUR FREEDOM’

“Melania has always been very devoted to her entire family,” a source close to Melania Trump told Fox News Digital. “It should be no surprise that she spent this Christmas with her ailing mother.” 

Former President Trump and Melania’s son, Barron, attended the Christmas dinner with his father and other family members at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. 

MELANIA FULLY BEHIND TRUMP’S 2024 CAMPAIGN, SAYS IT WOULD BE A ‘PRIVILEGE’ TO SERVE AS FIRST LADY AGAIN

The former first lady, in an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this year, said she fully supports her husband’s presidential campaign and looks forward to “restoring hope for the future and leading America with love and strength” during a possible second term in the White House. She told Fox News Digital it would be a “privilege” to serve as first lady again. 

Trump said that if she has “the privilege” to serve as first lady again in 2024, she would continue to prioritize initiatives focused on the well-being and development of children, to ensure they have the “support and resources they need to reach their full potential.”

Former President Trump currently holds a commanding lead over the GOP primary field. 

During her time as first lady, Melania Trump hosted virtual roundtables on foster care as part of her “Be Best” initiative, and focused on strengthening the child welfare system. She worked with members of Congress on legislation that secured funding for grants awarded to youth and young adults currently or formerly in foster care to help pay for college, career school or training. The bill ultimately was signed by then-President Trump in December 2020.

MELANIA TRUMP ROLLS OUT ‘AMERICAN CHRISTMAS’ ORNAMENTS, NFTS TO HELP FUND SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FOSTER CHILDREN

Since leaving the White House, the former first lady also created special edition Non-Fungible Tokens. A portion of those proceeds went toward her initiative “Fostering the Future” to secure education opportunities and scholarships for children in the foster care community.

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Meanwhile, earlier this month, Melania Trump spoke to new American citizens about the “responsibility” of citizenship and the importance of “guarding our freedom” during a naturalization ceremony in the historic National Archives Rotunda. 

The ceremony featured 25 people from 25 nations sworn in as new citizens of the U.S. before the Constitution and other founding documents.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday to discuss the “unprecedented” migration in the hemisphere just as migrant numbers are breaking records in the U.S. and a new caravan is moving north.

Blinken is traveling to Mexico City, where he will join Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, in a meeting with Lopez Obrador.

The State Department said that the officials will discuss “unprecedented irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere and identify ways Mexico and the United States will address border security challenges, including actions to enable the reopening of key ports of entry across our shared border.” 

MIGRANT CRISIS INCREASING STRAIN ON BORDER OFFICIALS, IMMIGRATION COURTS WITH MASSIVE NUMBERS 

“Secretary Blinken will reaffirm the United States’ commitment to the Los Angeles Declaration for Migration and Protection, and underscore the urgent need for lawful pathways and additional enforcement actions by partners throughout the region,” the State Department said.

The LA declaration was unveiled last year and involved commitments from multiple nations in the hemisphere to manage the massive migrant wave moving through the region.

The Biden administration has emphasized the importance of regional cooperation to what it sees as a region-wide challenge, as well as the importance of expanding “lawful pathways” for migrants. The U.S. has set up regional processing centers in the region, while significantly (and controversially) expanding the use of humanitarian parole to allow tens of thousands of migrants into the U.S. each month.

However, the crisis, which has dogged the administration since taking office, has continued and has ramped up in recent weeks and months, threatening to shatter additional records.

Fox News reported this week that during the four-day Christmas weekend, there were more than 35,000 migrant encounters, and since Dec. 1, there have been over 250,000 migrant encounters at the southern border — meaning December could break the monthly record for encounters set in September (269,735).

NOVEMBER SAW NEARLY QUARTER OF A MILLION MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AMID NEW BORDER SURGE

Meanwhile, another migrant caravan, estimated to include over 8,000 migrants, has been making its way through southern Mexico. Caravans regularly make the trip toward the border but often break up before reaching the U.S. with migrants making their own way, boarding trains or settling in Mexico.

Back home, the Biden administration has said it needs more funding from Congress and legislation to fix a “broken” system. It has also said that it is expanding additional lawful pathways while at the same time increasing consequences for illegal entry.

However, Republicans have blamed the crisis on the Biden administration’s policies, including its releases of migrants into the interior, narrowed ICE deportation priorities and the rollback of Trump-era policies like border wall construction and the “Remain-in-Mexico” policy.

While the White House has requested $14 billion in additional border security funding, that request is currently tied up in Washington amid Republican calls for more limits on asylum and the use of humanitarian parole. The White House has said it is open to compromise, but some Democrats have pushed back against any additional limits.

Lopez Obrador has been weighing in on U.S. politics and feuding with Republicans over the border. He recently attacked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for signing a law that allows law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants.

“The Texas governor acts that way because he wants to be the Republican vice presidential candidate and wants to win popularity with these measures,” Lopez Obrador said. “He’s not going to win anything. On the contrary, he is going to lose support because there are a lot of Mexicans in Texas, a lot of migrants.”

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In March, after Republicans called for additional actions against Mexican drug cartels, Lopez Obrador announced an “information campaign” against Republicans “for Mexicans who live and work in the United States and for all Hispanics to inform them of what we are doing in Mexico and how this initiative by the Republicans, in addition to being irresponsible, is an offense against the people of Mexico, a lack of respect for our independence, our sovereignty.”

Last week, the Mexican president said the U.S. wants Mexico to do more to stop migrants coming to the border, either by stopping them from getting into Mexico from Guatemala or limiting travel across Mexico by train and bus.

Lopez Obrador said he wants the reduction of sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela and more development aid to countries where migrants are originating in return.

Fox News’ Griff Jenkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Donald Trump Jr. said Monday he would go to “great lengths” to prevent GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley from joining his father’s campaign.

Trump Jr. said during a Christmas Day interview that he views Haley as the “preferred candidate” of the Washington establishment.

“I wouldn’t have her on, and I would go to great lengths to make sure that that doesn’t happen,” Trump Jr. said on Newsmax’s “The Balance.”

TRUMP SHARES CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FOR OPPONENTS ON TRUTH SOCIAL: ‘MAY THEY ROT IN HELL’

“Nikki Haley wants never-ending wars,” he continued. “She’s a puppet of the establishment in Washington D.C. She’s the new favorite candidate of the billionaire class, because they want control — no different than academia at Harvard and using, you know, their billions to exercising influence. They want someone they control. Ron DeSantis has proven that he doesn’t have what it takes to be on that stage. He’s embarrassed himself that way. She’s now the preferred candidate.”

Trump Jr. suggested Haley would try to sabotage Trump’s campaign “from within” if she was chosen as his running mate.

“No, I would not want Nikki Haley to be there,” he added. “By the way, all you’d get is her and team trying to destroy Donald Trump from within, forever. The second she ever got that, you know, anointment, it would be a disaster of epic proportions. So, I would hope that never is on the table, and I don’t think it is.”

Trump Jr.’s comments came after Haley said she didn’t want the former president in the White House again, arguing that he would only bring “chaos” to the country.

“Our world is on fire,” she said during a recent post-debate interview. “And you can’t defeat Democrat chaos with Republican chaos, and Donald Trump brings us chaos. So it’s not about being fit, it’s just I don’t think he’s the right person to be president.”

Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, previously told Newsmax that she wouldn’t rule out Trump choosing Haley as his running mate.

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“Crazier things have happened,” she said. “I don’t know. I would never say never with Donald J. Trump. Never say never.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Haley campaign for a response to Trump Jr.’s comments.

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

The Michigan Supreme Court has rejected an attempt to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot.

The decision comes after the Colorado Supreme Court last week disqualified Trump from appearing on that state’s ballots in 2024. The disqualification, which was made under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, is related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Significantly, Colorado’s election laws differ from Michigan’s laws in a material way that is directly relevant to why the appellants in this case are not entitled to the relief they seek concerning the presidential primary election in Michigan,” Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote Wednesday, explaining the court’s ruling.

Welch said, “appellants argue that the political parties are state actors for purposes of putting forward candidates for the presidential primary, and thus, the political parties are subject to the United States Constitution.”

TRUMP PROMISES TO REPLACE OBAMACARE WITH HIS OWN HEALTHCARE ‘ALTERNATIVE’

“The appellants have also notified this Court that on December 19, 2023, a majority of the Colorado Supreme Court held that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and that therefore, under the Colorado Election Code, it would be wrongful for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot in 2024,” she continued.

Welch noted that the Colorado ruling “was preceded by a lengthy evidentiary proceeding in a trial court that developed the factual record necessary to resolve the complicated legal questions at issue,” and that the “effect of the decision from Colorado has been stayed for a short period, and Trump has indicated his intent to seek leave to appeal in the United States Supreme Court,.”

FBI, DENVER POLICE INVESTIGATING THREATS AGAINST COLORADO JUDGES WHO BARRED TRUMP FROM STATE’S BALLOTS

She added, however, that “appellants have identified no analogous provision in the Michigan Election Law that requires someone seeking the office of President of the United States to attest to their legal qualification to hold the office.”

The 14th Amendment states: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

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Disqualification lawsuits relating to Trump’s appearance on the ballot are pending in other states, including Texas, Nevada and Wisconsin.

Fox News’ Adam Sabes. Bill Mears and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As the deadline for Congress to agree on funding most government programs and agencies in the upcoming fiscal year draws near, the Senate has passed only three of the 12 appropriations bills in a joint “minibus” package, leaving crucial decisions pending after the holiday recess.

In November, the Senate voted to extend funding through September 2024 for the Agriculture, military construction and Veterans Affairs, and Transportation bills. No funding bills have been considered since, even though the Appropriations Committee approved the 12 spending bills with mostly bipartisan support. 

The House also passed a temporary extension of last year’s government funding levels, but with two separate deadlines: Passing appropriations bills for military construction and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy and Water, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development by Jan. 19; the remaining eight appropriations bills must be worked out by Feb. 2.

The Senate adopted the same staggered deadlines for its spending bills.

Should lawmakers miss the initial Jan. 19 deadline, they’ll need a short-term continuing resolution (CR), essentially a temporary spending patch, to stretch funding until Sept. 30. Failure to do so would activate the Fiscal Responsibility Act, initiating a 1% across-the-board cut of more than $50 billion starting in April.

WHO ARE SOME OF THE BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGES THE SENATE JUST CONFIRMED?

After the minibus vote, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “The only way things get done in divided government is bipartisanship.”

“The American people won’t support the futile exercise of passing partisan, extremist legislation that has no chance of becoming law, which is what the House is doing right now,” he said at the time.

The House, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., approved an appropriations bill that significantly slashes the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget while pushing the Department of the Interior to ramp up energy and mineral production on public lands. However, Senate Democrats have signaled that the bill lacks sufficient support in the upper chamber to advance further.

COLORADO NIXING TRUMP ‘STRIKINGLY UNDEMOCRATICALLY’ UNITES EXPERTS AS EX-SCALIA CLERK DECLARES ‘LAWFARE’

“Their appropriations bills are loaded with poison pills that they know are not going to be accepted in this chamber or by Democrats in their chamber,” Schumer said on the floor last month.

Prior to the holiday recess, some GOP lawmakers expressed concern that no appropriation bills were being brought to the floor. So far, Schumer still has not scheduled any votes on appropriations-related bills when the upper chamber returns on Jan. 8.

SENATE LIKELY TO RECESS WITHOUT PASSING UKRAINE AND ISRAEL FUNDING, SOURCES SAY

Instead, the first vote will be whether lawmakers will confirm John A. Kazen of Texas to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Texas. The Senate spent the last few weeks before the holiday recess confirming several of Biden’s judicial nominees.

“The only thing you can come to conclusion is his goal is not to pass spending bills but to have an omnibus,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview before the holiday recess.

Other government agencies that still need funding in the queue include Homeland Security, Energy and Water, Labor and Education, and others. The Senate previously approved a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill for government programs throughout 2023.

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Senators will have their work cut out for them when they return Jan. 8 because they still have to hash out a border security measure that will be ingested into the multibillion-dollar national supplemental security package that would send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Former President Trump has promised to roll back the Obama-instituted Affordable Care Act (ACA) if elected president in 2024, despite numerous failed attempts to terminate it in the past.

“Obamacare is too expensive, and otherwise, not good healthcare,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. 

The Christmas post comes as Congress has long attempted to repeal the ACA, more commonly known as Obamacare, but could not succeed.  

Republicans have largely abandoned the crusade against former President Obama’s signature healthcare bill. Nonetheless, Trump vowed he would “come up with a much better, and less expensive, alternative!”

“People will be happy, not sad!” Trump wrote.

Last month, Trump wrote on Truth Social that getting better healthcare “than Obamacare for the American people will be a priority of the Trump Administration.” Obamacare was enacted in March 2010.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES EXPANDING ACCESS TO NO-COST BIRTH CONTROL UNDER OBAMACARE

“It is not a matter of cost, it is a matter of HEALTH,” he wrote. “America will have one of the best Healthcare Plans anywhere in the world. Right now it has one of the WORST!”

However, GOP lawmakers have signaled re-upping the fight against Obamacare is not a priority. At the time of Trump’s post last month, Sen. Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., reportedly said he was an advocate for lowering healthcare costs “and making our healthcare system more efficient.”

“But I’m not sure,” he said of Trump’s post. “I’d want to know what the proposal is.”

ALMOST 16 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE SIGNED UP FOR OBAMACARE PLANS IN 2023

Ranking Republican on the Senate Health Committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also said such a healthcare replacement is “unlikely to happen.” 

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Earlier this year, a Texas judge, known for previously ruling Obamacare unconstitutional, struck down a crucial aspect of the healthcare law concerning mandatory coverage for contraception and HIV prevention, siding with a conservative activist and a Christian dentist on religious grounds. 

The March decision challenged Obamacare’s requirement for insurers to cover certain preventative care, sparking concerns from the Biden administration and in over 20 mostly Democrat-controlled states. 

WHITE HOUSE EXPANDS OBAMACARE AGAIN, FIXING ‘FAMILY GLITCH’ AND BROADENING SUBSIDIZED PLAN ELIGIBILITY

This legal battle echoes previous challenges, notably the lawsuit by the Little Sisters of the Poor in 2020, when the Supreme Court upheld exemptions to Obamacare’s insurance requirements for religiously-affiliated groups and select for-profit companies.

In January 2023, nearly 16 million Americans enrolled in Obamacare plans for the year, marking a 13% increase from the previous year.

In a departure from the familiar lines of the renowned ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas poem, former President Donald Trump shared a new rendition of the “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night” line in a social media rant on his platform Truth Social. 

“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA,'” he wrote on Christmas Day.

Included in his Christmas greeting were also “World Leaders both good and bad,” and the “SICK thugs” in the U.S. who “with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA.” 

“MAY THEY ROT IN HELL,” the former president wrote. “AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

TRUMP CLAIMS IMMUNITY IN ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

It was one of several Christmas posts from Trump, who currently sits comfortably in the lead as front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential race. 

Another post included a scene from the 1992 movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York where Trump made a brief cameo. Additionally, another post by Trump took a dig at former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act legislation.

“Obamacare is too expensive, and otherwise, not good healthcare,” Trump wrote. “I will come up with a much better, and less expensive, alternative! People will be happy, not sad!”

Despite several legal battles, Trump keeps gaining ground in the Republican presidential nomination contest, as fewer than one-third of GOP primary voters now back all his rivals combined, according to the latest Fox News survey.

COLORADO NIXING TRUMP IS ‘STRIKING UNDEMOCRATIC’ UNITES EXPERTS

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Trump’s support stands at 69% in the primary race. That’s up 7 points since November and fully 26 points since February.

Ron DeSantis receives 12% support (down 1 point since November), Nikki Haley gets 9% (-1), Vivek Ramaswamy 5% (-2), Chris Christie 2% (-1), and Asa Hutchinson 1% (steady).  

Fox News’ Dana Blanton contributed to this report. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Denver Police Department are investigating threats made against Colorado Supreme Court justices who ruled that former President Trump is prohibited from appearing on the state’s ballots in next year’s presidential election.

A spokesperson for Denver police confirmed to Fox News Digital that it is “currently investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and will continue working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to thoroughly investigate any reports of threats or harassment.” 

The spokesperson would not provide details of these probes due to the “open investigations and safety and privacy considerations.”

Denver police are “providing extra patrols around justice’s residences in Denver and will provide additional safety support if/as requested” in response to the threats against the justices who ruled last week that the insurrection clause under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment applied to Trump for his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the spokesperson said.

CALLS GROW FOR BIDEN TO DENOUNCE COLORADO’S REMOVAL OF TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT: ‘SMARTEST MOVE’

This comes after an analysis by nonpartisan research nonprofit Advance Democracy showed “significant violent rhetoric” online from Trump supporters targeting the justices and Democrats in the aftermath of the court’s decision, according to NBC News. 

The names of the four justices who ruled to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot have appeared frequently in posts on pro-Trump online forums, which have included calls to disclose the judges’ personal information.

Some posts on these forums have featured calls for the justices and Trump’s opponents to be killed by guns, hangings or bombs, and some told their followers to stock up on weapons and proposed a civil war against Democrats.

One post urged Trump supporters to “behead judges” and “slam dunk a judge’s baby into the trash can” while another said, “this ends when we kill these f—ers.”

GAVIN NEWSOM BLASTS EFFORT TO BLOCK TRUMP FROM CALIFORNIA BALLOT: ‘WE DEFEAT CANDIDATES AT THE POLLS’

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Users have also been replying directly to Trump’s posts on his social media platform Truth Social with similar rhetoric.

The FBI said in a statement to Axios that the agency is aware of the situation and is working with local law enforcement.

“We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation,” the agency told the outlet.

The year that was 2023 is on its way out, and 2024 — along with its consequential and increasingly complicated presidential election — are quickly approaching.

Between a historic ousting of a House speaker to cocaine found at the White House, 2023 proved to be an eventful year in America.

Here are the top six political stories of 2023.

DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINED ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT

McCarthy’s ouster and the House speaker fight

Arguably the biggest political story of the year, the House of Representatives saw the ousting of its leader for the first time in American history this October.

Now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed from his post by eight Republicans, led by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz.

The House Republicans who voted McCarthy out were joined by every Democrat in the chamber in the vote.

McCarthy’s ouster led to a near-monthlong fight to determine the House Republican who would take the gavel.

Three top House Republicans — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota — made gambits for the gavel, but all were shot down by their conference.

The speaker fight culminated with the election of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to the position.

January 6 footage release

Just weeks after being elected to the speakership, Johnson made a massive move in congressional transparency. He released 40,000 hours of footage from the January 6 Capitol riots.

“When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make accessible to the American people the 44,000 hours of video from Capitol Hill security taken on January 6, 2021. Truth and transparency are critical,” Johnson said in a statement.

“Today, we will begin immediately posting video on a public website and move as quickly as possible to add to the website nearly all of the footage, more than 40,000 hours. In the meantime, a public viewing room will ensure that every citizen can view every minute of the videos uncensored.”

He continued, “This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials.”

Johnson said that roughly 5% of the footage would likely be held back due to “sensitive security information related to the building architecture,” and that some faces would be blurred “to avoid any persons from being targeted for retaliation of any kind.”

The White House’s July snowstorm

While drugs may not be far removed from politics, they typically do not make public appearances at the White House.

However, that is exactly what happened this July as Americans geared up to celebrate Independence Day.

While President Biden and his family were at Camp David, the Secret Service found a bag of cocaine in a White House locker.

EXPERTS BAFFLED BY WHITE HOUSE INVOKING HATCH ACT TO DODGE HUNTER COCAINE QUESTION: ‘RIDICULOUS’

The Secret Service launched an investigation into how the July snowstorm happened at the White House.

Speculation surged on how the nose candy ended up in the White House, and legal experts were baffled when the Biden administration invoked the Hatch Act to dodge a question about former President Trump’s claim that the cocaine belonged to either the president or Hunter Biden.

The Secret Service investigation was closed 11 days later with no conclusive cocaine culprit.

Hunter Biden’s tax charges

In general, Hunter Biden has been at the center and center-adjacent of several controversies throughout 2023. The president’s son is also facing several criminal tax charges as his father seeks re-election in 2024.

The younger Biden’s federal charges are in connection with an alleged “four-year scheme” in which he did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.

Special Counsel David Weiss alleged Hunter “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.”

Weiss said Hunter spent millions to fund an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.

Hunter will make his initial appearance in a California federal court on nine tax-related charges on Jan. 11, 2024.

Mr. Santos goes to Washington — and gets booted

In another first, now-disgraced GOP New York former Rep. George Santos became the first Republican to be expelled from the House of Representatives.

The lower chamber voted to remove Santos after a damning House Ethics Committee report alleged campaign finance abuses and that the congressman had “engaged in fraudulent conduct.”

Expelling a member of Congress takes a two-thirds majority vote. The last time a House lawmaker was expelled was more than two decades ago, when late former Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was voted out of Congress in 2002.

Prior to his ousting, Traficant had been convicted of 10 felony counts, including racketeering and taking bribes.

Santos has not been convicted of a crime, but he has been indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud and other charges. Santos has been accused of using campaign funds on a number of luxury goods and treatments such as Botox. He has pleaded not guilty.

The 311 to 114 vote was strongly bipartisan, although slightly more Republicans voted to keep Santos than to oust him.

EMBATTLED GOP REP GEORGE SANTOS EXPELLED FROM HOUSE

Trump’s criminal charges

Former President Trump is facing criminal charges of his own in Georgia after the former president was indicted on state charges out of Fulton County related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the crucial southeastern battleground state.

The current GOP presidential primary frontrunner is facing charges that include violating the Georgia RICO Act — the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act; Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.

However, Trump is also facing criminal charges elsewhere.

Trump was first charged in March through Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s yearslong investigation related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign.

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Bragg alleged that Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie, Cameron Cawthorne, Elizabeth Elkind, Brooke Singman, Joe Schoffstall, Paul Steinhauser, Louis Casiano, Chris Pandolfo, Anders Hagstrom and Andrew Mark Miller contributed reporting.

Democrats and Republicans clashed in a number of heated elections across the country this year as they looked to build momentum heading into 2024.

Both parties experienced big victories and disappointing defeats, including in a number of gubernatorial, mayoral and state legislative races.

Here is a look at the top takeaways from 2023’s elections:

Republicans flip Democrat-held Louisiana governor seat

In October, Republicans flipped Louisiana’s governor seat from Democratic control when state Attorney General Jeff Landry defeated Democrat Shawn Wilson.

Landry passed the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff in Louisiana’s jungle primary system and will take over from term-limited Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards in January.

AS DEMOCRATS LEAN ON JAN 6, CRITICS ARGUE BIDEN’S PARTY IS THE REAL THREAT TO DEMOCRACY

The race was the first major contest between Democrats and Republicans heading into the 2024 elections, and both hoped to use it as a springboard for success in the November elections just weeks later.

Landry was only the second Republican elected in the last two decades to lead Louisiana, a traditionally deep-red state, with the other being former Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Lori Lightfoot ousted as Chicago mayor

In March, Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot became the first incumbent leading the city in four decades to lose a re-election bid when she came in third in her party’s primary and failed to make the April runoff.

She was ultimately ousted by progressive Democrat Brandon Johnson, a county commissioner backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and the Chicago Teachers Union.

VETERANS SHAME DEMOCRAT IN TOP 2024 HOUSE RACE FOR WEARING ARMY UNIFORM DURING EVENT DESPITE NEVER SERVING

Chicago’s rampant crime problem played a major role in voters’ decision to give Lightfoot the boot as the city saw crime go through the roof during her tenure.

The number of homicides in Chicago in 2021 hit a 25-year-high, reaching 797, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Democrat Andy Beshear wins re-election in deep-red Kentucky

Incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear handily won re-election in deep-red Kentucky in November, a major blow to Republicans hoping to ride the momentum into the 2024 election year with another big flip after winning in Louisiana.

The rising-star status of Beshear’s opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, combined with the unpopularity of President Biden and his fellow Democrats in the commonwealth, ultimately didn’t boost Republicans’ chances at flipping the seat, and led to a large amount of finger pointing within the party in the aftermath.

Immediately following the election, a number of national and local Republicans lamented that former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft, who faced Cameron in the GOP primary earlier in the year, wasn’t the party’s nominee, arguing she would have been a more “formidable” challenge to Beshear.

Beshear will continue as one of the last remaining Democratic governors of a deep-red state where Republican voters outnumber Democrat voters and conservative roots run deep. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelley will be the only other Democratic governor of a Republican-leaning state once Landry replaces Bel Edwards in Louisiana in January.

FORMER TRUMP ADVISER KELLYANNE CONWAY LEADS CHARGE TO OVERHAUL GOP ABORTION STRATEGY, END DEMS’ 2024 ADVANTAGE

Virginia Democrats win total control of state legislature

In November, Democrats retained control of the Virginia state Senate and flipped the state House of Delegates from Republicans, despite GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s attempts to win total control of the state legislature for his party.

Virginia’s legislative elections grabbed outsized national attention, with both Democrats and Republicans spending millions on the races, which were viewed in political circles as a key barometer ahead of the 2024 elections for president and control of Congress.

Strategists from both parties looked closely at the results in Virginia’s northern suburbs of Washington, D.C., and around Richmond, for signs that Republicans were able to make any inroads with suburban voters — especially women — who fled the GOP in recent election cycles. But there was scant evidence.

The results mean Youngkin won’t have a free hand during his final two years in office to push through a conservative agenda, and are seen as a political setback for a governor with a reputation as a rising star in the GOP, whom some top Republican donors were urging to make a late-in-the-game entry into the 2024 White House race.

BIDEN TEAM’S CENTRAL 2024 MESSAGE PAINTS TRUMP AS ‘THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’: REPORT

Pennsylvania Democrats win, then lose historic state House majority twice

In February, Democrats in Pennsylvania won control of the state House for the first time in over a decade with a one-seat majority after months of uncertainty following the 2022 elections.

Democrats then lost the majority with the resignation of one of its members in July before regaining the majority with a special election victory in September.

The chamber was thrown back into a deadlock earlier this month with the resignation of another Democrat, who departed for a position as a judge, leaving the balance of power at 101-101.

A special election is expected to be held on Feb. 13 to fill the empty seat. 

Ohio voters approve amendment enshrining abortion access in state constitution

In November, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights in the state’s constitution. 

The vote was opposed by Republicans, who argued the measure went even further than Roe v. Wade.

BIDEN SCRAMBLES TO WIN OVER SWING STATE BLACK VOTERS AS SUPPORT FROM THE TRADITIONALLY BLUE BLOC FALTERS

The election signaled a major victory for pro-abortion advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, who had pumped tens of millions into the state that Trump carried by eight points in 2020. 

The group argued that a constitutional amendment was needed to protect abortion access after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Mississippi’s Tate Reeves defeats Elvis Presley’s second cousin to win second term

Incumbent Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves secured a second term at the helm of the Magnolia State in November by defeating his Democratic opponent Brandon Presley, the second cousin to famed rock and roll legend Elvis Presley.

National Democrats saw the race as a potential flip opportunity in a deep-red state and tried to capitalize on that by hammering Reeves for refusing Medicaid expansion. Reeves responded to the attacks by saying he believed in work, not welfare.

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Reeves touted his record as governor during the race, citing the state’s lowest unemployment rate in history, rising educational achievement levels and work with hospital leaders to prevent hospitals from closing.

The Mississippi economy and healthcare, in particular Medicare expansion, became major issues in the race, an unsurprising development considering the state is the poorest in the nation with a poverty rate of 18.1% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Fox News’ Houston Keene, Andrew Mark Miller and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

What a difference a year makes.

At the dawn of 2023, former President Donald Trump was the only declared candidate in the race for the Republican nomination.

But he was far from a sure thing. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fresh off an overwhelming gubernatorial re-election less than two months earlier, was neck and neck with Trump in some of the early 2024 polls. 

WHERE THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE STANDS AS 2023 COMES TO A CLOSE

The former president was still facing criticism for contributing to the GOP’s lackluster performance in the 2022 midterms.

And Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign launch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, a couple of weeks after the midterms was panned by many pundits.

RAISING THE STAKES: ARE TRUMP’S EXPECTATIONS IN IOWA TOO HIGH?

But as 2023 comes to a close, Trump is the commanding frontrunner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House bid.

Here are five moments that shaped the showdown for the Republican nomination, the Democratic primary battle and the overall White House race.

March: Trump makes legal history  

Trump was indicted by a grand jury in the New York City borough of Manhattan on charges related to an alleged illegal 2016 hush money payment. Trump made history as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime.

Trump was also indicted later in the year in three other cases, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss. But those cases have not deterred his support among Republican voters.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOWS

Trump’s legal controversies have had a rallying effect among Republicans, and his legal entanglements have sucked the oxygen out of the room for his nomination rivals.

“Every time he’s targeted by legal actions, it just improves his standing with the conservative base,” longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams said.

May: DeSantis campaign launch panned 

After months of testing the waters with trips to the crucial early voting states, DeSantis aimed to make waves with his campaign launch on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk.

But it didn’t go as planned.

X, then still called Twitter, couldn’t handle the surge in traffic, the app repeatedly crashed and the event eventually started 20 minutes late.

It was the first of many bad omens for DeSantis.

The Florida governor made headlines again for all the wrong reasons over the summer, with a series of campaign staff purges and resets and reports of the campaign burning through cash. 

There were more staff shakeups in autumn, this time at the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, which had taken over many of the traditional duties of a presidential campaign, including grassroots outreach.

DeSantis for months was the clear No. 2 rival to Trump in the Republican nomination race. But in many metrics, Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, had surpassed DeSantis for second place by the end of 2023.

August: Trump skips the debates 

As he ran an incumbent-style campaign, Trump decided against sharing the debate stage with his GOP rivals.

“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on his social media site ahead of the first debate in August. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

The former president ended up skipping all four candidate showdowns held this year while hosting competing events on the debate nights.

Trump’s absence didn’t seem to hurt him. He emerged relatively unscathed by his rivals, and his lead over the rest of the field has only grown since the first debate was held.

While the debates didn’t affect Trump, they did help winnow the field of contenders, as nearly all the candidates who failed to qualify for the showdowns dropped out of race. A field of more than a dozen candidates in August was down to just five major contenders by December.

November: Youngkin falls short

As summer turned into autumn, speculation and buzz about Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin potentially making a late entry into the 2024 GOP nomination race was the talk of the party’s donor class.

As a first-time candidate from the party’s business wing, Youngkin edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021 to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in the one-time swing state that had trended toward the Democrats the previous decade.

Youngkin became an instant Republican Party star, and pundits immediately viewed him as a potential GOP 2024 contender. 

But Youngkin dismissed the speculation, and he repeatedly said his only political mission was to win outright control of his state legislature in Virgnia’s 2023 off-year elections.

After investing plenty of political capital on behalf of Republican legislative candidates as he criss-crossed the state holding rallies, Youngkin became the face of his party’s push to win total control of the state government in Richmond. 

But he failed in his mission, and the buzz about Youngkin parachuting into the White House race instantly dissipated.

December: Haley surges

Haley enjoyed plenty of momentum in the polls this autumn, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three Republican presidential primary debates. 

She leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second after Iowa. And she’s in second place in her home state, another crucial early voting state that holds the first southern contest.

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But things accelerated for Haley soon after Thanksgiving.

That’s when she was endorsed by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to boost Haley and help push the Republican Party past Trump.

A couple of weeks later, Haley landed the much coveted endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, who spent three straight days teaming up with her on the campaign trail in the Granite State.

The governor’s endorsement of Haley appeared to give her campaign an extra boost as well as a high-profile and energetic surrogate who has been tireless in touting her during national and local media appearances.

It all seems to be clicking for Haley. She’s soared in the latest polls in New Hampshire and is now within striking distance of Trump. 

And in Iowa, whose Jan. 15 caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar, she’s pulled even with DeSantis.

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