NationalWatch

New York Judge Juan Merchan has imposed a gag order on former President Trump in the hush-money payments case, granting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s request. 

Merchan issued the order against the 2024 GOP presumptive presidential nominee on Tuesday, pointing to his “prior extrajudicial statements,” saying they establish “a sufficient risk to the administration of justice.” 

TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL TO BEGIN APRIL 15, JUDGE RULES, DENYING MOTION TO DELAY

Merchan ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses concerning their potential participation, or about counsel in the case — other than Bragg — or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

Merchan also ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about any prospective juror or chosen juror. 

Merchan said in his decision that Trump has made statements in the past during other trials — likely referring to the months-long non-jury civil fraud trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case. 

“lndeed, his statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating, and the targets of his statements ranged from local and federal officials, court and court sta( prosecutors and staff assigned to the cases, and private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty,” Merchan writes. “The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof.” 

The order comes after Bragg, last month, requested an order preventing Trump from making statements attacking others involved in his legal cases, sought a protective order to prohibit the names and addresses of jurors from being disclosed to anyone other than attorneys and requested evidence and testimony regarding campaign finance be limited.

Trump had a gag order imposed on him in the James non-jury civil trial as well. 

MANHATTAN DA BRAGG REQUESTS JUDGE IMPOSE GAG ORDER ON TRUMP DURING HUSH MONEY CASE

Merchan announced on Monday that the trial will begin on April 15. 

Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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 SLAMS BRAGG AFTER PLEADING NOT GUILTY: ‘I NEVER THOUGHT ANYTHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN IN AMERICA’

The charges are related to alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted not to charge Trump related to the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

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The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Former President Donald Trump leads President Biden in the race for Texas’ 40 electoral votes by double his margin of victory in the Lone Star State four years ago, according to a new poll.

And the survey released Tuesday by Marist College also indicates Republican Sen. Ted Cruz with a six-point advantage over his Democratic challenger, Rep. Colin Allred, in a key Senate showdown as the GOP aims to regain the chamber’s majority in November’s elections.

Trump carried Texas over Biden by roughly 5.5 points in 2020, which was the smallest margin of victory for a GOP presidential nominee in the deep-red state in nearly a quarter-century.

TRUMP HOLDS EDGE OVER BIDEN IN CRUCIAL BATTLEGROUND STATE POLL

But according to the Marist poll, which was conducted March 18-21, the former president leads his successor in the White House by 11 points (55%-44%) among registered voters. But Trump’s lead narrows to 7 points (53%-46%) among those who say they’ll definitely cast a ballot in the November election.

“Independents, who Biden carried by 6-percentage points in 2020, now break for Trump. Trump receives 56% of Texas independents to 41% for Biden,” the release from Marist highlights.

BIDEN-TRUMP SEQUEL UNDERWAY IN HISTORY MAKING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION REMATCH

The poll also suggests Biden has lost his advantage among younger voters, and that Trump has made major inroads among Black and Latino voters.

In a possible three-candidate race, which includes Democrat-turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the poll indicates Trump at 48%, Biden with 36% and Kennedy at 15%. Kennedy, the environmental activist, high-profile vaccine skeptic and scion of the nation’s most famous political dynasty, has yet to obtain ballot access in Texas.

CRUZ HAULS IN BIG BUCKS AS HE PREPARES FOR ROUGH RE-ELECTION

Cruz, the conservative firebrand who’s running for a third six-year term representing Texas in the Senate, tops Allred 51%-45% among registered voters, according to the poll. Cruz’s margin over Allred, a former professional football player in the NFL and a three-term congressman representing a suburban Dallas district, is roughly the same among likely voters.

“Among independents, Cruz (50%) is up by eight percentage points against Allred (42%),” a release from Marist spotlights. “There is a wide gender gap. Cruz (59%) carries men by 21 percentage points over Allred (38%). Allred (52%) tops Cruz (44%) among women.”

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While the controversial Cruz holds a 45%-43% favorable/unfavorable rating in the new survey, Allred is not well known. Fifty-three percent of those questioned said they had never heard of Allred, or didn’t know enough about him to answer the question. 

Immigration, at 27%, was the top issue on the minds of voters in Texas, which shares a 1,254 border with Mexico. According to the survey, inflation (at 26%) was the second most important issue, followed by preserving democracy (at 24%).

The poll had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

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

EXCLUSIVE: A Tennessee lawmaker is hitting back at the Biden administration, saying the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to be transparent about the release of migrants into the U.S. after the emergence of notices going to cities in his states alerting them to migrants who have said they are heading there. 

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is releasing DHS notices received by local officials in the state that show how many migrants are believed to be heading to them on a weekly basis.

Called “Intended Destination of Noncitizens Processed at the Southwest Border,” the notices explain how Customs and Border Protection first vet migrants’ biographic and biometric information against a number of databases before they are released into the interior.

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HIT NEW FEBRUARY RECORD HIGH

The notices say that arrivals could include migrants who have entered legally via ports of entry using the CBP One app, or entered illegally between ports of entry and who have either passed a “credible fear” screening or who are enrolled in removal proceedings and are released pending their removal hearings. 

While DHS does not transport adult migrants directly within the interior, the notice says that migrants will provide their intended destination to officials before they are released. Once migrants are released, they may be enrolled into Alternatives to Detention but are free to travel as they see fit, and federal authorities have no say over where they go.

In the notice given to officials in Tennessee, and provided to Fox News Digital, it told officials in Nashville, Davidson, Murfreesboro and Franklin that 573 noncitizens had provided their areas as destinations for the week ending Sept. 16, 2023.

Of those, 200 were from Guatemala, 200 from Venezuela and 100 were from Honduras and Mexico.

Hagerty accused the administration of a lack of transparency toward broader requests for information from members of Congress on how many migrants are going to which areas.

“Americans are well aware that, under President Biden, every town is a border town. Along with many other members of Congress and concerned citizens, I’ve sought transparency for three years from the Biden Administration regarding its resettlement efforts through legislation and oversight inquiries—to no avail,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “With the revelation of letters stating exactly how many migrants are resettling in a particular area for a particular week, it’s now clear that the Biden Administration has this information and has simply been hiding it.” 

BIDEN, TEXAS FEUD OVER ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAW AS MIGRANTS RUSH BORDER: WHAT TO KNOW

“This begs questions that demand answers: How many migrants has Biden’s Department of Homeland Security knowingly resettled in American towns? How have these migrants been vetted? Do they pose a threat to American citizens? Americans and local governments forced to deal with the impacts of this President’s border crisis and the resettlement in their communities deserve to know what the Biden Administration knows.”

In response, Hagerty is setting up a website via which officials can submit the letter they have received. 

DHS stressed that it does not coordinate the travel of migrants, but that it does coordinate and share information with local officials and NGOs and where they intend to travel. Consequently, the purpose of the notification was to let officials know that noncitizens intended to travel to the area.

“DHS does not transport noncitizens to Tennessee. DHS works in close coordination with local officials, law enforcement, and NGOs to share timely information regarding noncitizens who have been screened, vetted, and conditionally released from custody pending the outcome of their immigration court proceedings,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

“We will continue to partner with communities hosting recently arrived noncitizens to identify ways we can continue to maximize our support, while enforcing the law and returning or removing those without a legal basis to remain in the country,” they said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION NEWS COVERAGE 

The agency said that communication can ensure that migrants can connect with humanitarian aid and receive help with transportation while they go through the removal process.

The notices highlight the ongoing issues and tensions connected to the release of migrants into the interior. The Biden administration has said it needs more funding, including for removals and detention space as well as money for cities and NGOs receiving migrants. It has called on Congress to pass immigration reform and approve additional funding — including in a bipartisan Senate border bill and DHS’ most recent budget request.

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However, Republicans claim the border crisis has been caused by the policies of the Biden administration, including its reversal of Trump administration policies. They have called for an end to “catch-and-release,” additional wall construction and stricter interior enforcement.

Last week, Customs and Border Protection announced that the number of migrant encounters had hit a new record for February, with over 189,000 encounters for the month. 

Republicans in New Jersey are welcoming embattled Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s potential independent re-election bid in 2024 as they look to break the party’s decadeslong hold over the state’s U.S. Senate delegation. 

After much speculation over whether Menendez would run for re-election — given the various criminal charges he faces of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, bribery, acting as a foreign agent, extortion, and honest services fraud — he revealed that he would not be filing for the Democratic Senate primary. 

LATEST CENSUS DATA REVEALS TROUBLE FOR BIDEN IN CRITICAL SWING STATE

Instead, Menendez proclaimed his desire to run as an independent if he is exonerated by his summer trial. 

“Because of Senator Menendez’s never-ending corruption scandal, enabled by New Jersey Democrats, Republicans have the best chance in 50 years to take back this US Senate seat,” hotel entrepreneur Curtis Bashaw, who is running for the Republican nomination for Senate in New Jersey, told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

The other frontrunner for the GOP’s nod, Christine Serrano Glassner, the mayor of the Mendham borough, said in a press release after Menendez’s news, “I welcome ‘Gold Bar Bob’s’ announcement about the Senate race in New Jersey.”

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“As I’ve said from the beginning, Menendez should have to face the voters and the people of New Jersey should have the opportunity to repudiate him — and the corruption and cronyism of the Democratic Party as a whole – at the ballot box,” she said. Serrano Glassner has billed herself as the only “America-first” candidate in the GOP primary race. 

According to her statement, she is “the best person to take advantage of this opportunity.” 

New Jersey Republican Party Chairman Bob Hugin added in an interview with Fox News Digital that “conventional normal analysis” would suggest “this is a good time for Republicans.”

However, he warned that Republicans still need to select the best candidate and that candidate has to avoid any missteps. 

Further, Hugin explained that “history will not be the indicator necessarily what the future results are going to be,” pointing to a “realignment of the parties.”

Hugin was the last Republican Senate challenger to Menendez in 2018, when the senator had recently seen a different set of corruption charges against him dropped. The senator staved off Hugin’s challenge, defeating him by roughly 350,000 votes, 54% to 42.8%. 

Menendez’s alleged criminal behavior, partnered with the Democrats no longer retaining the advantage of running an incumbent candidate, has cast a spotlight on New Jersey as a potentially competitive race in 2024. The Cook Political Report lists the contest as “Likely Democrat,” which means it has the ability to become an “engaged” race. 

The Democratic nomination appears poised to go to Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J. The other high-profile candidate for the Democratic nomination, Tammy Murphy — wife of Gov. Phil Murphy — ended her campaign on Sunday. 

WHITE HOUSE BLASTS HOUSE GOP BUDGET, SAYS BIDEN WON’T LET THEM ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’

Reacting to Menendez’s announcement, Kim wrote on X, “I will win in November even if I have to beat Menendez and a Republican simultaneously.”

“The balance of the Senate is on the line, and we need the strongest candidate possible to keep this seat blue and the Senate in Democratic control,” he continued. 

“It’s an opportunity for Republicans on the assumption that a Bob Menendez presence as an independent will peel off some ostensibly Democratic voters who are loyal to Menendez,” New Jersey Republican pollster Adam Geller told Fox News Digital. Geller is currently working as a pollster for Bashaw’s campaign. 

He explained that Menendez might choose to run and he “would do that to punish the Democrats who insisted that he step down. And who he feels, perhaps turned on him or betrayed him.” 

Geller said it represents “an incredible opportunity for Republicans because suddenly you don’t need 50% plus one. You can win with a plurality. You can win with less than 50% when three candidates are on the list.”

While some Republicans have welcomed Menendez’s participation, Hugin is not confident the incumbent will actually mount a third-party bid. He suggested that the Democratic senator was not serious about running, but was rather challenging the party to promise a pardon if he is convicted.

“It’s simply that this is his attempt to tell them, ‘If you don’t want to screw this up, if I get convicted, you’re going to give me a pardon,'” he explained. 

FLORIDA GOV RON DESANTIS SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL BILL TO BAN SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CHILDREN UNDER 14

The Republican chairman suggested GOP candidates for the nomination “should be challenging President Biden to say you promise that you will not give a pardon at any time to Senator Menendez,” adding that it’s a “negotiating game.”

The White House did not provide comment when contacted by Fox News Digital regarding the potential of a pardon for Menendez. 

“I really doubt Menendez would get much support as an independent,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Menendez was previously successful when facing legal challenges because of the Democratic Party’s support. “But without the party label, I just don’t think he’d get enough support to make the math work for a Republican statewide,” said Kondik.

However, Bashaw telegraphed confidence to Fox News Digital even in the case that Menendez sits out of the race. “It’s Senator Menendez’s prerogative to run for re-election as an independent,” he explained, adding he believes New Jersey voters “are ready to make a change from the corruption and machine politics that have defined New Jersey Democrat politics for far too long.”

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Menendez’s campaign did not provide comment when contacted by Fox News Digital.

The Republican and Democratic Senate primaries will take place on June 4. 

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is expected to announce his presidential running mate on Tuesday.

According to several reports, Kennedy intends to name attorney and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential candidate in an announcement scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET in Oakland, California. The New York Times and NBC News reported that Kennedy selected Shanahan after considering several possible candidates, citing sources close to Kennedy’s campaign.

Kennedy, a longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic who is a scion of one of the nation’s most storied political dynasties, is trying to convince voters across the nation to forgo support for either of the two major political parties, and elect the first independent presidential candidate since George Washington.

DEMOCRATS RIPPED FOR TRYING TO ‘KILL DEMOCRACY’ WITH EFFORT TO PROTECT BIDEN, SILENCE THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATES

It was rumored prior to the announcement that Kennedy was also considering New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura — who was elected as a third-party candidate — and “Dirty Jobs” star Mike Rowe.

Choosing a vice president candidate could add a boost in support for Kennedy, though many within the Democratic establishment anticipated his campaign to wane early on. 

Kennedy initially launched his presidential bid as a Democrat last April, but he later announced an independent run in October after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said it would not hold primary debates and was standing behind incumbent President Biden.

WATCH: DEMOCRAT FRONTRUNNER IN TIGHT SENATE RACE DROPS RACIAL SLUR DURING HOUSE HEARING

Democrats are worried Kennedy’s candidacy hurts Biden’s chances at being re-elected, leading the DNC to launch a team earlier this month solely dedicated to combating his presidential bid, as well as those of independent presidential candidate Dr. Cornel West, and Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein.

The naming of a running mate will likely boost Kennedy in his goal to get on the presidential ballot in all 50 states, as he needs a running mate to qualify in numerous states.

With a little over seven months to go until the presidential election, Utah is the only state where Kennedy’s name is confirmed. His campaign says he has secured enough signatures to land on the ballot in New Hampshire and Hawaii.

But on the eve of the running mate announcement, Kennedy ran into a major snag in Nevada, after state election officials said that the signatures his campaign gathered may be invalid due to a lack of a running mate. The campaign fired back, claiming that Democrats were trying to keep him off the ballot in the key western battleground state.

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The latest RealClearPolitics average of polls has Kennedy reaching 15% in a three-way race against Biden and former President Donald Trump. The average shows Trump ahead of Biden by 4 points. 

A five-way race including West and Stein has Kennedy’s support at 11%, with Trump having a 2-point advantage over Biden. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace, Timothy H. J. Nerozzi, Joseph A. Wulfsohn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer appears to be pouring cold water on the prospects of impeaching President Biden in a new fundraising email sent to voters on Monday evening.

Comer said “criminal referrals” would be the “culmination” of his ongoing impeachment inquiry.

In the message sent to supporters, the Kentucky Republican blamed Democrats and cited the left’s uniform opposition to impeaching Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

“I’ve presented mountains of evidence confirming Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s influence peddling scheme, and I just had a group of the Biden family’s business confidants publicly testify about the first family’s criminal activity,” Comer’s email read. “At any other time in history, that would have been the final nail in the coffin of the Biden Crime Family’s reign of corruption.”

AOC TAKES HEAT OVER ‘RICO IS NOT A CRIME’ COMMENT IN BIDEN IMPEACHMENT PROBE HEARING

“But we are not in a normal time in history… As it stands right now, the deranged Democrats are refusing to take up the Impeachment Trial of Alejandro Mayorkas and threatening to dismiss it within minutes when it finally is brought up. Even ‘centrist’ Democrats called the Mayorkas Impeachment Trial ‘ridiculous’ just days after a criminal illegal brutally murdered Laken Riley in cold blood.”

House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas over the border crisis last month, but the impeachment articles have not yet been sent over to the Senate. Once they are, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., must act on them swiftly – though the Democratic majority is likely to scuttle them as soon as possible.

Comer’s email then asked, “What do you think they would do if we Impeached Biden?”

HOUSE HOLDS PUBLIC HEARING ON BIDEN FAMILY ‘INFLUENCE PEDDLING’ WITH EX-HUNTER BIDEN ASSOCIATES

“It’s clear that Democrats will choose their party over their country and the truth at every turn. They should be ashamed of themselves. That’s why I am preparing criminal referrals as the culmination of my investigation,” he wrote.

“When President Trump returns to the White House, it’s critical the new leadership at the DOJ have everything they need to prosecute the Biden Crime Family and deliver swift justice.”

Comer said criminal referrals are “the best way” to hold the Bidens accountable, “as it’s now clear the Democrats will do anything to hold onto power.”

He made similar comments during a Newsmax interview last week after the House held its second impeachment inquiry hearing. Hunter Biden, whose foreign business dealings are a central focus of investigators looking into whether then-Vice President Biden used his position to enrich his family, turned down an invitation to appear at that event.

FBI INFORMANT CHARGED WITH GIVING FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN IN 2020

Earlier this month, Fox News Digital heard from several GOP lawmakers who, while maintaining they believe the president is guilty of at least acting improperly, admitted current conditions in the House make it unlikely the chamber will actually impeach him. 

Those prospects will get trickier after April 19 when Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., leaves early, leaving House Republicans with just a one-vote majority. 

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a member of the Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital last week that it’s “very possible” there will be a full House vote, but said impeaching Biden “has never been the purpose” of the inquiry.

“The purpose is doing these investigations. We have a formalized impeachment inquiry because some of the initial information we’ve uncovered has led us to the current information now,” Donalds said.

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When asked whether he meant the impeachment inquiry’s goal was not an impeachment vote, Donalds challenged, “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“It was about doing our investigation into the allegations of public corruption by the Biden family. We have now proven that yes, there was public corruption going on… The question now becomes, does all the evidence we have take us to high crimes and misdemeanors? But you have to have an impeachment inquiry in order to assess and gain all that information,” he said. “Unlike the Democrats, we didn’t walk in just promising impeachment on day one.”

For years, pinning down the source of a bill in the Kansas Legislature could be a chore for lawmakers’ constituents. Committees sponsor almost 85% of the proposals, so finding the group or lobbyist responsible could require questioning multiple lawmakers or, in recent years, reviewing YouTube videos of meetings.

But this year, the Kansas House is making it a little easier for the state’s residents to find out who wants what from its members. Besides a number and official sponsor, each bill now lists who asked for it, be it a lawmaker at someone else’s request or an individual lobbyist for a specific client. The change started in January.

It’s an unusual move for any state legislature. While at least a handful of states require lobbyists to list specific bills of interest to them in reports open for public inspection, the Council of State Governments knows of no other state legislative chamber that’s actually listing lobbyists and groups on its bills — not even the Kansas Senate.

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“I’m thrilled to see it,” said Heather Ferguson, a Kansan who is director of operations for the government transparency group Common Cause. “It helps to rebuild some of the trust with the public in their elected officials and in their institutions and in the legislative process in general.”

In Kansas, House Bill 2527, which would rewrite laws on how the state sets electric rates, was requested by a lobbyist for Evergy, the state’s largest electricity company. A Kansas Farm Bureau lobbyist proposed HB 2691, which would require utilities seeking to use eminent domain to obtain an entire tract of private land for transmission lines and other projects to pay the owners 50% more than fair market value.

In some offices and hallways under the Kansas Statehouse’s copper dome, the response to the new practice has been less enthusiastic than Ferguson’s reaction, though lobbyists won’t publicly criticize it. Eric Stafford, who lobbies for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said he doesn’t care, “as long as it’s consistent.”

Because the extra disclosure is spelled out in the House Rules — it’s No. 7.01 — the Kansas Senate isn’t required to follow it.

In fact, Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said he hadn’t really thought about the idea, “but it doesn’t scare me.” However, he also asserted that when it comes to who is behind a bill, “People tend to know that anyway.”

At least seven states — Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Utah — have disclosure rules requiring lobbyists to provide information about specific measures their clients are watching, according to Common Cause. Kansas requires lobbyists to file reports on their spending six times a year, but they don’t have to list individual measures.

In 2015, a California businessman who was later was a Republican nominee for governor, John Cox, proposed a ballot initiative to require the state’s elected officials to wear stickers or badges “displaying the names of their 10 highest campaign contributors” during public legislative meetings. The drive to get it on the ballot failed.

Some members like the House’s greater transparency and appear willing to go even further with it.

For example, Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, a Kansas City-area Democrat, responded with “bring it on” when she learned of the 2015 initiative in California, though, she said, lawmakers might end up looking like servers at TGI Fridays restaurants.

“I will wear those pieces of flair all day because most of my top donors are awesome groups and even awesomer people,” she said. “I’d gladly do that.”

The Kansas House actually changed its rules to require more information on its bills in 2021, but House leaders and staff said it took the Legislature’s technology staff three years to work out the details. The House Rules Committee member who pushed for the change, Democratic state Rep. Boog Highberger, considers it a meaningful — but small — step toward improving government transparency.

Rep. Adam Thomas, a Kansas City-area Republican, said that increased transparency is good, and lawmakers can expect plenty of questions if their name is attached to a bill, whether or not an interest group also is listed.

“Now we’ve got to really know what a bill does and what it means and the implications of it,” Thomas said. The change was adopted without discussion, and the rules had broad, bipartisan support.

In many states, most measures are sponsored by individual lawmakers, and that was the traditional practice for the Kansas Legislature. Fifty years ago, nearly 70% of bills and resolutions in Kansas were sponsored by individual lawmakers. This year, the figure was a little more than 15%, after decades of committees sponsoring an increasing percentage of bills.

Allowing such so-called “anonymous” bills was among the practices that led The Kansas City Star to declare in a 2017 series on Kansas state government that the process of passing laws in its Republican-controlled Legislature was “among the least transparent in the country.” Critics still say the public often has trouble finding out the status of bills on major issues until it is too late to stop them from passing.

But David Adkins, a former Kansas legislator who is now executive director and CEO of the Council on State Governments, said lawmakers may have moved to having committees sponsoring bills because it seemed to give them the same kind of credibility as a large, bipartisan group of individual sponsors. It might have been a way to help them cull bills more easily during their annual 90-day session.

And, he said, listing the group or lobbyist who requested a bill might serve the same purpose, allowing lawmakers to decide how to vote without reading the text.

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“At the top of the funnel, time is your worst enemy,” said Adkins, who served in the Legislature from 1993 through 2004.

But Adkins also worried that the House’s practice, meant to restore trust, could lead the public to view legislating as “transactional.”

“In some ways, one might argue it makes legislation resemble a NASCAR vehicle, with prominent sponsorship stickers placed on a car,” he said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be under the bright lights of the national campaign spotlight on Tuesday, as the Democrat turned independent presidential candidate is scheduled to announce his running mate.

The highly touted move will grab tons of media attention for Kennedy, the longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic who is the scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty.

However, it will also likely boost Kennedy in his goal to get on the presidential ballot in all 50 states, as he needs a running mate to qualify in numerous states.

HOW ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.’S RUNNING MATE PICK CAN BOOST HIS CAMPAIGN

With a little over seven months to go until the presidential election, Utah is the only state where Kennedy’s name is confirmed. His campaign says he has secured enough signatures to land on the ballot in New Hampshire and Hawaii.

The campaign tells Fox News they plan announcements each week going forward regarding their ballot access efforts.

While Kennedy is confident he will reach his ballot access goal, attaining it is a costly and time-consuming venture for any candidate not tied to a major political party.

WHO IS ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. AND WHY IS HE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?

However, another move could quickly land Kennedy on the ballot from coast to coast. 

Kennedy, who is polling in the low double-digits in potential 2024 showdowns with President Biden, former President Trump and other third-party or independent contenders, has held occasional talks since last summer with leaders of the Libertarian Party, to possibly run on their ticket in November.

“The Kennedy campaign is keeping all its options open,” campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear reiterated to Fox News in a statement.

That is the same line that Kennedy told reporters when he raised eyebrows by speaking at the Libertarian Party of California’s annual convention in late February. His appearance helped the state party draw a record-breaking crowd.

The Libertarian Party, which in the last couple of presidential elections has secured ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, will choose its presidential ticket when its unbound delegates gather for their annual convention this year in late May in Washington, D.C.

Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle has held a handful of conversations with Kennedy about obtaining the party’s nomination. Their most recent discussion came at the California convention in late February.

McArdle emphasized to Fox News that for candidates seeking the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, “it’s important to show up to state conventions” to seek delegate support. 

While Kennedy has not appeared in person at any other Libertarian gatherings, his campaign did have a table earlier this month at the New York convention.

Kennedy appeals to many Libertarians, in part due to his repeated criticism of vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Kennedy’s policy differences with the Libertarians, including his strong support for Israel in its war in Gaza with Hamas, could be major sticking points for delegates attending the national convention later this spring. 

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There are plenty of Libertarians opposed to allowing on their ballot a candidate who is not 100% in-line with their anti-war and non-interventionist positions.

While Kennedy is grabbing plenty of media attention, there are more than a dozen announced candidates already vying for the Libertarian Party nomination.

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

Former President Donald Trump is urging Israeli authorities to “finish up” their offensive into the Gaza region, saying that the world is turning against their campaign.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president in 2024, sat down for an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom about the ongoing military invasion — and warned that the world was growing tired of the conflict.

“You have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up. You’ve got to get it done,” he told the newspaper. 

HOUSE DEMS URGE BIDEN TO TARGET ISRAEL MILITARY AID OVER GAZA HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS

He continued, “We’ve got to get to peace. You can’t have this going on, and I will say Israel has to be very careful because you are losing a lot of the world. You are losing a lot of support.”

Israel has been waging an offensive in the Gaza region since the days following the Oct. 7 massacre — the massive terrorist attack launched by Hamas that killed over 1,200 Israelis citizens.

Meanwhile, relations between President Biden’s administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continue to fray.

ISRAEL LAUDS CONGRESS’ BLOW TO UN AGENCY WITH ALLEGED HAMAS TIES AS INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE

Netanyahu has vowed that an invasion into the city of Rafah is imminent, with or without U.S. approval.

“That’s a terrible portrait. It’s a very bad picture for the world,” Trump told the newspaper about Israel’s ground offensive. “I think Israel wanted to show that it’s tough, but sometimes you shouldn’t be doing that.”

Palestinian casualties in the conflict following Oct. 7 have passed 30,000, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health.

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Trump was also sharply critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict during the interview, claiming Hamas would not have committed the Oct. 7 massacre if he had been in office.

“He can’t talk. He’s a very dumb person. He’s a dumb person. His foreign policy throughout 50 years has been horrible,” he told Israel Hayom. “If you look at people that were in other administrations with him, they saw him as a weak, ineffective president, they [Hamas] would have never done that attack if I were there.”

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

To say that Ronna McDaniel has gotten a frosty reception as a new NBC contributor would be a grand understatement.

The former chairwoman of the RNC has had the door slammed in her face, with planks nailed to keep it tightly sealed, then slathered in cement.

It is a staff revolt of the kind that once played out in whispers and leaks, but now takes the form of on-air denunciations.

McDaniel, of course, has been a close Donald Trump ally, and that makes her radioactive for the liberal nation-state of MSNBC.

DECODING TRUMP: HOW HE ENGAGED, DEFLECTED OR DUCKED MY QUESTIONS AT MAR-A-LAGO

That became acutely clear when the Wall Street Journal reported that Rashida Jones, the MSNBC president, told her staff that McDaniel would not be appearing on the cable network. It was simply unacceptable.

Just yesterday, Joe Scarborough said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”:

“We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons including, but not limited to, as lawyers might say, Miss McDaniel’s role in Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme and her pressuring election officials to not certify election results while Donald Trump was on the phone.”

His wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski, added: “To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage. But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier. And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.”

The moment that went viral was on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” where McDaniel had been booked before she was hired as a contributor. NBC is reported to be paying her about $300,000.

McDaniel, who was finally pushed out of the RNC when Trump soured on her, said there had been problems with the 2020 elections but did not deny that Joe Biden was legitimately elected. In the past she referred to MSNBC journalists as “primetime propagandists.”

Chuck Todd, the program’s former moderator and now chief political analyst, was brought on as a guest, and told his successor, Kristen Welker, that “our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation…

“Look, there’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination…She has credibility issues that she still has to deal with.”

AOC MOCKED FOR WARNING ABOUT ‘RISK’ OF NOT SEIZING TRUMP’S ASSETS: ‘JUST PLAIN IGNORANT’

Now you might reasonably ask: Why can’t NBC executives just tell their cable unit to stop airing its dirty laundry in public?

MSNBC has always enjoyed plenty of autonomy, and, like most news outlets, it plays to its audience. And its left-leaning viewers basically don’t want to hear from pro-Trump voices.

Now it’s true that MSNBC employs a number of Republicans and former Republicans: Scarborough, Nicolle Wallace and Michael Steele among them. But with perhaps a couple of exceptions, they’re anti-Trump Republicans. NBC may have blindsided its cable outlet by hiring McDaniel, but the audience is on the side of MSNBC.

The flip side of the argument is this: What exactly is MSNBC accomplishing by shielding those who tune in from a dissenting opinion or two? Given the stance of nearly everyone on the channel that Trump is a danger to democracy who must be stopped, wouldn’t someone like McDaniel be all but drowned out?

Certainly no one bats an eyelash when such former top Biden aides as Jen Psaki and Symone Sanders-Townsend are given MSNBC shows and largely defend the president for whom they had just worked. (I’m not comparing their records to what McDaniel did in 2020, but the revolving door is well established at all the networks, including CNN and FOX)

MSNBC’s approach to the former president was on display on the night of the Iowa caucuses, when uber-liberal host Rachel Maddow refused to air Trump’s victory speech, proclaiming that “there is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things.”

When Trump won New Hampshire a week later, it seemed clear that Maddow had been overruled by NBC in the wake of fierce criticism. She did air Trump’s victory speech – saying “this is a decision that is one that we consider to be an open-ended, live decision” – but later cut away (as did CNN) to start fact-checking him.

The two important legal decisions involving Trump yesterday underscore the point.

WHY THE TRUMP BOND CRISIS LOOKS LIKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO RUIN HIM

On the deadline day when the ex-president was in danger of having his assets seized by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a federal appeals court unexpectedly reduced the draconian bond demand of nearly half a billion dollars to $175 million, giving him 10 days to pay it.

And on the hush money charges brought by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, which Trump was trying to delay or get tossed, the judge set a trial date of April 15.

MSNBC, which like the other networks had camped out at the Manhattan hearing that Trump was attending, was covering it virtually nonstop. Anything that Trump said would be news.

But when Trump began to speak for about two minutes, talking about election interference, Andrea Mitchell (or whoever made the decision) immediately cut away, with the host saying his claim of election meddling was not true. That rebuttal couldn’t have waited a couple of minutes?

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Later, when Trump held a news conference at 40 Wall Street – one of his iconic properties that James could have seized without the appeals court ruling – MSNBC did air it, but soon broke away again and went back to its legal commentators.

I always argue that if you’re going to cover Trump around the clock, let him have his say and you can resume ripping him for the next 23-½ hours. In this environment, it’s little wonder that MSNBC is refusing to put Ronna McDaniel on the air and jeopardizing her newly minted contract.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Imprisoned ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was indicted Monday on 10 new felony counts, including one that would ban him from ever holding public office in the state again.

The fresh indictments brought by the state extend action in what was already the largest corruption case in state history.

OHIO DAD COULD STILL FACE DEATH PENALTY IN MASSACRE OF 3 SONS AFTER JUDGE TOSSES CONFESSION

The 64-year-old Householder was convicted of racketeering in June for his role orchestrating a $60 million bribery scheme funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for passage of a $1 billion bailout of two nuclear plants owned by one of its subsidiaries. He was sentenced to 20 years, which he’s serving at Elkton Federal Correctional Institution near Youngstown, and has appealed.

On Monday, a Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Householder on the additional charges, which include alleged misuse of campaign funds, ethics violations and a theft in office charge that would block him from working for the government.

“This case seeks to hold Mr. Householder accountable for his actions under state law, and I expect that the results will permanently bar him from public service in Ohio,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in announcing the indictments. “State crimes have state penalties, and a conviction will ensure that there will be no more comebacks from the ‘Comeback Kid.’”

Householder served two separate terms as speaker, in addition to holding county office. A message was left with his attorney seeking comment.

The state indictment alleges that Householder misused campaign funds to pay for his criminal defense in his federal case and failed to disclose fiduciary relationships, creditors and gifts on required ethics filings, including in relation to the bailout bill, known as House Bill 6. Specifically, Householder faces one count of theft in office, two counts of aggravated theft, one count of telecommunications fraud, one count of money laundering, and five counts of tampering with records.

Two fired FirstEnergy executives — ex-CEO Chuck Jones and Senior Vice President Michael Dowling — and Ohio’s former top utility regulator Sam Randazzo were indicted last month on a combined 27 counts as part of the state’s investigation, led by the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission. All three pleaded not guilty.

Householder, lobbyist and former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges, and three others were indicted on racketeering charges in July 2020. Borges was convicted alongside Householder last summer and sentenced to five years. He has also appealed.

Lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Jeffrey Longstreth, a top Householder political strategist, pleaded guilty in October 2020 and cooperated with the the government in its prosecution. The third person arrested, longtime Ohio Statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark, pleaded not guilty before dying by suicide in March 2021.

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The dark money group used to funnel FirstEnergy money, Generation Now, also pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in February 2021.

All were accused of using the $60 million in secretly funded FirstEnergy cash to get Householder’s chosen Republican candidates elected to the House in 2018 and then to help him get elected speaker in January 2019. The money was then used to win passage of the tainted energy bill and to conduct a dirty-tricks campaign to prevent a repeal referendum from reaching the ballot.

EXCLUSIVE: The White House is blasting House Republicans and accusing them of taking steps to defund the police, while claiming President Biden will protect law enforcement and support crime-reducing programs. 

The comments come after the House Republican Study Committee released its Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal, titled “Fiscal Sanity to Save America.”

The White House is blasting the RSC for its proposal to reduce funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a program created in the 1990s as a means to support state and local law enforcement agencies with expenses like salaries, court programs and juvenile justice programs. 

HOUSE GOP LEADERS TEAR UP BIDEN’S NEW $7.3T BUDGET PROPOSAL

“Conservatives support our men and women in blue but should question whether the government should involve itself in state and local law enforcement, even if it is only a matter of funding,” the budget proposal states. 

The White House is also hitting Republicans on the proposal to defend what the GOP calls the “constitutionally dubious red flag provisions in the so-called Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.” 

The White House is also accusing House Republicans of taking steps to support “abolishing the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).” 

“Violent crime surged under President Biden’s predecessor, but this president immediately fought back and has now reversed that trend with a historic reduction in crime,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital. 

Bates said Biden took “unprecedented action to hire waves of police officers, invest in crime effective crime reduction strategies, and mental health services.” 

“Joe Biden won’t let Congressional Republicans defund the police, abolish law enforcement agencies like the FBI, gut crime prevention, or rollback landmark legislation critical to the fight against gun crime,” Bates told Fox News Digital. 

The White House touted Biden’s American Rescue Plan, saying communities across the country have been able to invest more than $15 billion “to keep their communities safe and prevent crime.” 

SOARING DEFICITS TO PUSH PUBLICLY HELD DEBT TO RECORD LEVEL IN 4 YEARS

“These include investments to avoid cuts to police budgets, hire more police officers for safe, effective, and accountable community policing, ensure first responders have the equipment they need to do their jobs, and expand community violence intervention and prevention programs,” the White House said. 

The White House said Biden’s budget also includes $1.2 billion over five years to launch a new “Violent Crime Reduction and Prevention Fund.” 

“The President’s budget also funds his Safer American Plan, including providing for hiring 100,000 additional police officers for effective, accountable community policing,” the White House said, adding that Biden “wants to deploy $17.7 billion for DOJ law enforcement, including $2.0 billion, an increase of over 30 percent since 2021, for the ATF.” 

But the RSC is now calling out the White House, saying their budget proposal points out that COPS funding has drastically increased since the Trump administration as a result of Democrat-led cities “needing bailouts” after “defunding their own police departments.” 

The RSC told Fox News Digital that the White House is now latching onto an argument that actually “highlights how Democrats really are defunding the police around the country.” 

“Conservatives versus Biden on crime – the record couldn’t be more different,” RSC Executive Director Joe Barry told Fox News Digital. “RSC’s budget doesn’t subsidize sanctuary cities or local entities who have embraced the defund the police movement.” 

Barry added: “We are committed to upholding the rule of law.” 

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And a spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital that House Republicans “oppose President Biden’s disastrous budget, which would raise taxes by $5 trillion and create the largest debt-to-GDP ratio in history.”

“In contrast, the House GOP budget would reduce deficits by trillions and balance the budget over the next decade, while protecting Social Security and Medicare,” the Johnson spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

Recent migration out of Pennsylvania and between its counties could present an even closer 2024 matchup between President Biden and former President Trump in the critical battleground state than in 2020, an analysis of new census data shows. 

“Uneven patterns of in-and out-migration could work to make what was a closely contested 2020 presidential campaign even closer in 2024,” penned Berwood Yost, director of Floyd Institute’s Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.

FETTERMAN REJECTS HARRIS SUGGESTION THAT ISRAEL COULD FACE CONSEQUENCES FOR RAFAH INVASION

In the 2020 presidential election, Biden defeated Trump by under 100,000 votes, winning the state 50% to 48.8%. 

Going into 2024, the Keystone State is expected to play a similarly pivotal role, especially given its high percentage of manufacturing workers – a demographic that both campaigns have made a point of lobbying in the early months of the election year. 

Since 2020, when the last census was taken, Yost noted that census data released earlier this month showed counties won by Trump had a net gain in populace of about 4,500 people. As for Biden-won counties, they posted a combined loss of more than 45,000 people.

BIDEN VOWS TO FORGE AHEAD WITH STUDENT LOAN HANDOUTS, HAS 4 WORDS FOR ALL HIS CRITICS

Overall, Pennsylvania saw its population decline since 2020, with a Census Bureau press release even highlighting Philadelphia County as one of the largest declining counties in the U.S. 

“The biggest losses at the county level were in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County and Philadelphia. And those are two of the big centers of Biden’s support,” Yost told Fox News Digital in an interview.  

“And so does that affect his ability to win by large margins in those counties? That’s a real issue,” he said. 

COURT SLASHES TRUMP’S MASSIVE BOND — BUT ALSO MAKES NEW STIPULATION FOR FAMILY’S BUSINESS MOVES

In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “With just 35 percent job approval, Joe Biden is floundering in his home state of Pennsylvania. Between higher gas prices, surging crime, and failed Democrat policies crushing families at every corner, it’s no wonder that Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth are increasingly rejecting the failed Biden agenda and supporting President Trump.”

Yost stressed he can’t say for sure whether the migration patterns both in and out of state will be detrimental for Biden, but he explained that there’s certainly the potential that it could be, especially with the competition expected to be close. 

JUDGE SETS TRIAL TIMELINE AFTER REFUSING TO DELAY TRUMP ‘HUSH MONEY’ CASE

The director pointed out that those leaving the Philadelphia area are “most likely to end up in the suburbs around Philly,” which are similarly Democratic-leaning. However, those leaving Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County are “moving out into places that voted heavily for Trump.”

“Do they take their voting habits with them?” he posed. 

“Was it for jobs? Was it for cheaper housing? Who knows?” Yost continued. 

He further referenced Biden’s near-record low approval rating, which “alone” could present an obstacle to re-election, per Yost. “The population changes that have happened in the state since 2020 do nothing to make this challenge less difficult,” he wrote. 

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In new polling this month, Biden’s approval rating fell to 36%, while 61% disapproved of his job as president. 

According to the latest Fox News poll, Trump and Biden are in a practical dead heat in Pennsylvania. Among all votes, 49% opted for Trump and 47% for Biden, which is notably within the survey’s margin of error. 

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

The crack of Louisville Slugger ash bats connecting with rawhide baseballs laced in Costa Rica will soon echo throughout ballparks all over North America. 

A dulcet-toned announcer will lunge forward from his seat in the press box, perched three tiers above home plate. The announcer will squint, looking to see if the ball hooks just inside the foul pole several hundred feet away down the right field line. 

“Going! Going! Gone!” he’ll chirp as the ball hugs the pole, staying just fair. The ball then caroms wildly, around an array of seats, concrete and fumbling fans, bouncing like it’s been triggered by a paddle in an arcade pinball machine. 

Perhaps the House of Representatives could hire some of those baseball announcers here on Capitol Hill.

WHITE HOUSE BLASTS HOUSE GOP BUDGET, SAYS BIDEN WON’T LET THEM ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’

It’s quite possible the Republican House majority is “going, going.” Gone is another question. But the scenario of Democrats seizing control of the House is emerging as a distinct possibility. 

Control of the House of Representatives has never flipped in the middle of a Congress. 

But if it’s going to happen, the 118th Congress is as ripe for that possibility.

House Republicans face chaos in their conference. Members who planned to retire next January are now ditching Capitol Hill early. The House is an acrimonious place with yet another move afoot to dethrone the Speaker. FOX is told that other Republicans are angling to get out as soon as they can. A big payday in the private sector could lure some members to cash in their voting cards early.

First, let’s talk about the length of a given “Congress.” 

Congress is called “Congress” because that’s when House members and senators convene in Washington. The word “Congress” means “coming together.” So lawmakers are here at the Capitol for the 118th time since starting the 1st Congress in 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City. Voters elected House members and about a third of all senators to the present 118th Congress in November 2022. Each “Congress” begins at noon ET on January 3 and runs until 11:59 am et on January 3 two years later. So the 118th Congress launched on January 3 of 2023. It expires in the late morning of January 3 next year. Thus, the term of all House members which began last year runs out at the same time next January. Those elected this November will serve in the 119th Congress beginning next January 3.

House Republicans thought they might have a 50-seat majority in January 2023. They gained control of the House – but only by a handful of seats. The meager majority then dithered for five days before finally electing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as their leader.

The rancorous Speaker’s race foreshadowed what was to come. 

CONGRESSIONAL DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION OFFICE SHUT DOWN BY $1.2T GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEAL

McCarthy was done by October. The House burned more than three weeks electing House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as McCarthy’s successor. Now Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has had enough of Johnson. She’s authored a resolution to remove the Louisiana Republican for his “betrayal” of House Republicans on the latest spending bill. The House wound up passing the bill with 185 Democratic yeas – but only 101 Republican ayes. Plus Johnson violated the GOP’s internal rule which gives members a full three days to read legislation before voting. 

Text of the bill appeared just before 3 am ET last Thursday. The House closed the vote on the bill at 11:45 am et last Friday.

Johnson signaled before the vote that he might not grant lawmakers the requisite three days to process their legislation.

“There’s nothing sacred about 72 hours. The idea is you want the legislation to be reviewed adequately by the members before they vote on it. We’re the party that believes in that principle. We’re trying to maintain it even in a time crunch,” said Johnson as he darted across Statuary Hall of the Capitol.

And yet Johnson gave up on the rule so the House could approve the bill before a looming government shutdown deadline.

Johnson’s gambit infuriated the right. But other Republicans weren’t upset. Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., wanted to waive the rule, adding that the House shouldn’t assign a vote “to a time.” Murphy was ready to vote right away.

“What is this? A test?” asked Murphy. “Read faster.” 

But Greene was through with Johnson. She prepared to show the Speaker the door after the House approved the spending measure. 

UKRAINE AID COULD BE SAVED BY OBSCURE CONGRESSIONAL RULES, REAGAN-ERA POLITICS, BOLL WEEVILS AND GYPSY MOTHS

“I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and throw the House into chaos,” said Greene. “But I am saying the clock has started. It’s time for our conference to choose a new Speaker.”

But Greene might not even get the chance to boot Johnson. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the House could flip control to the Democrats before 11:59 am et next January 3rd. In other words, during this Congress.

It’s about the math.

Former Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., resigned last Friday. Buck hit the door after refusing to vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., also refused to impeach Mayorkas. Gallagher initially planned to stay until January. But now the Wisconsin Republican departs on April 19. That’s immediately after the date which mandates a special election in Wisconsin. But since Gallagher checks out in mid-April, the seat remains empty until after the election. 

So after Bucks’s resignation, the House breakdown looks like this: 431 members. 218 Republicans. 213 Democrats. A margin of five seats. But the GOP can only lose two votes on any given issue without assistance from the other side. After Gallagher leaves, the breakdown slips to 430 members with 217 Republicans and 213 Democrats. That’s a four-seat margin. But the GOP can only lose one vote then. By rule, tie votes lose in the House. 

And things grow even darker for Republicans.

There’s a special election in western New York in late April to replace former Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., who also retired early. Democrats are expected to hold that seat. So, for our purposes, score that as a net pickup of one for the Democrats. That means the House would have 431 members. But 216 Republicans and 214 Democrats.  

Republicans may secure a little breathing room after a May 21 special election runoff in California to succeed McCarthy. That seat likely goes to the GOP.

But FOX is told other Republicans are fed up and could leave before the end of the Congress. Some are just exasperated. Others don’t want to be here for the presidential election and face reporters peppering them in the halls with questions about the latest comments from former President Trump. Others have had it with their colleagues. 

The Senate flipped control from Republicans to Democrats midway through the 107th Congress in 2001. In fact, there was one weird anomaly in the Senate in the 1950s. Democrats had more seats than Republicans at one point – but remained in the “minority.” But the House has never changed control mid-Congress.

“House Republicans do have to be worried about holding their majority,” said Darrell West of the Brookings Institution. “It would be extraordinarily unusual. I mean, stuff like that just does not happen. But it shows the extent of the dysfunction –  the divisions within the Republican House caucus.” 

This is why House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., characterized House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as the “leader of the Congress” last week.

“His title may not be Speaker of the House,” said Aguilar. “But he has the votes. He has the confidence of a significant portion of members.”

But, if a few more Republicans step down? At this rate, Jeffries could be Speaker of the House before it’s all over. 

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Somewhere, you can hear the crack of the bat. Is the Republican majority going, going, gone? 

Unpack your binoculars. Follow the flight of the ball. And watch what unfolds over the next couple of months.

A House Republican is openly criticizing former President Trump for urging a primary challenger to step up against another GOP lawmaker.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., accused Trump of “bullying” his colleague, Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.

“This is unhelpful and unwarranted,” the libertarian firebrand wrote.

Massie praised Lee, a first-term House member, as “a conservative thoughtful member” of the House Judiciary Committee.

SHARPTON WARNS BIDEN TEAM IT’S TOO COCKY ABOUT BEATING TRUMP: ‘I TELL THEM THEIR CONFIDENCE IS MISPLACED’

“She endorsed [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis] for President but then endorsed Trump when DeSantis got out of the race. More of my colleagues should call out these ridiculous bullying tactics,” Massie finished.

What followed was a post by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who has been critical of Trump in the past. He added his support by commenting: “Co-sponsor.”

Trump called for a primary challenger to Lee in a post on his Truth Social app on Sunday night, writing, “Any great MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Florida’s 15th Congressional District? IF SO, PLEASE STEP FORWARD!”

NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL TAUNTS TRUMP ABOUT INTEREST HE OWES ON CIVIL FRAUD JUDGMENT

Fox News Digital reached out to spokespeople for the former president and for Lee’s re-election campaign for a response.

Prior to running for the House of Representatives, Lee had served in the DeSantis administration as Florida Secretary of State from 2019 through part of 2022.

She was the Sunshine State’s top election official in 2021 when DeSantis announced Florida would not audit the 2020 presidential election, despite urging from Trump allies. Trump won Florida over now-President Biden by roughly 3%.

TRUMP BARRED FROM OPERATING BUSINESS, ORDERED TO PAY OVER $350 MILLION IN NY CIVIL FRAUD CASE

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Lee was the only member of Florida’s House delegation to back the state’s governor against Trump. Massie and Roy also endorsed DeSantis when he was running in the Republican primary, but only Lee switched her endorsement to Trump in late January when DeSantis dropped out of the race.

Trump called for a primary challenger against Roy late last year.

Sen. JD Vance’s Silicon Valley network could play a pivotal role in the upcoming general election as GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno looks to oust vulnerable three-term Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Moreno, a Cleveland-based business leader and luxury auto dealership giant, was endorsed by Vance last year, and the first-term senator’s support was seen as a prelude to former President Donald Trump’s backing of Moreno earlier this year.

“We’re going to win. We’re going to unite this party. And Bernie’s going to make a great U.S. senator,” Vance predicted to Fox News Digital on the eve of last week’s primary in Ohio, as he accompanied Moreno at a campaign stop in suburban Cleveland.

HERE’S MORE PROOF OF DONALD TRUMP’S IMMENSE GRIP OVER THE GOP

Thanks in part to Trump’s endorsement, combined with the support from Vance and other top allies of the former president, Moreno ended up winning the primary over two rivals by nearly 20 points. Moreno now faces off in November against Brown in a titanic showdown that may decide whether the GOP wins back the Senate majority.

WHAT BERNIE MORENO TOLD FOX NEWS AFTER WINNING OHIO’S GOP SENATE PRIMARY

But Vance did much more than just stump for Moreno on the Ohio campaign trail.

Republicans involved in the race confirm to Fox News that the senator was responsible for bringing in more than $1 million in fundraising contributions to the pro-Moreno super PAC Buckeye Values. That includes hauling in half a million dollars in just 24 hours to help pay for a rally headlined by Trump just three days before the primary.

Vance, after serving as a Marine in the Iraq War, moved for a handful of years to San Francisco to work as a venture capitalist in the tech industry.

And Vance – the author of the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was made into a Netflix film – two years ago won his own crowded and combustible GOP Senate primary thanks in part to Trump’s late-in-the-game endorsement. 

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“JD has a Rolodex of Silicon Valley contacts that very few Republican figures can get to. And he put some of those to use on behalf of Moreno,” a source in Vance’s political orbit told Fox News. 

Vance was instrumental in landing a $375,000 contribution to the Moreno-aligned super PAC from Steve Schwarzman, the billionaire founder and CEO of Blackstone Group, who’s a top GOP donor.

And sources familiar with a meeting between Trump and Vance at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, say the senator made the case for Trump to endorse Moreno rather than Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who was angling for the former president’s backing.

Moving forward, Vance is expected to continue his fundraising efforts in support of Moreno. And Vance, who campaigned on behalf of Trump in New Hampshire in January ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary, will continue to help to raise money for the former president’s bid to return to the White House.

As Moreno’s campaign shifts its focus to the general election, the Republican businessman will be up against an onslaught of attack ads and millions of dollars raised by Brown. The longtime senator’s campaign had $14.6 million cash on hand at the beginning of this year and raised over $12 million combined during the last two quarters of 2023.

Fox News Digital reached out to Brown’s campaign about Vance’s fundraising prowess.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris‘ Monday meeting with Guatemala’s president to discuss “legal pathways” to migration comes on the heels of a Biden administration announcement that last month set a February record for illegal immigrant encounters at the U.S. southern border.

White House officials said Harris and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo will discuss efforts by both nations to reduce illegal immigration to the U.S.

The pair is expected to focus on expanding “legal pathways” to migration, including the use of “safe mobility offices.” The offices were rolled out across Central America last year to provide migrants with a place to access legal avenues such as refugee resettlement options and work visas. They have been cast as a key part of the administration’s border strategy, which officials describe as increasing “consequences” for illegal entry while expanding legal pathways and tackling “root causes” of the migration crisis.

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HIT NEW FEBRUARY RECORD HIGH

As part of the much-balleyhooed campaign to tackle root causes of illegal immigration, Harris, who was tasked in 2021 with leading the government’s diplomatic outreach on the issue, is set to announce $1 billion in private sector commitments to invest in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. It brings the total amount committed to Harris’ “Call to Action” to more than $5 billion. Her efforts have led Harris to be dubbed the “border czar” by Republicans, but it is a label the administration has rejected.

The White House says that those investments have created more than 70,000 new jobs, provided training for more than a million people and connected more than 4.5 million people to the internet.

During their meeting on Monday, Harris is also set to discuss the implementation of Arevalo’s agenda and ways the U.S. can support Guatemala’s efforts to tackle corruption, promote economic development and include indigenous people in the democratic process. Arevalo won the presidency in August after beating the establishment candidate in a landslide. He has promised to fight the country’s established power structure and tackle corruption.

His meeting with Harris about immigration comes at an awkward time – on the heels of an announcement from Customs and Border Protection that migrant encounters in February reached a new high for the month.

REPUBLICAN SENATORS INTRODUCE BILL TO BLOCK MIGRANTS FROM USING BORDER PATROL APP AS ID AT TSA CHECKPOINTS

There were 189,922 migrant encounters along the border in February 2024, an increase of more than 30,000 from the 156,000 encounters in February 2023. The previous February record was 166,010 in 2022.

Despite the overall record-high, illegal immigrant encounters between ports of entry dropped from the February 2022 total, meaning the new high is explained in part by large numbers descending on ports of entry. 

Monthly encounters at the southern border dropped from a record 302,000 in December to 176,204 in January but did not continue to decline in February, raising the possibility that the border sees another significant surge in the spring and summer months.

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Illegal immigration has been a top issue for voters, according to multiple polls, and looks set to be a top issue going into the November elections. President Biden has called on Congress to pass reforms and provide more funding, including via a bipartisan Senate package proposed earlier this year. Republicans have said that Biden needs no such package, and instead should restore the Trump-era policies his administration has reversed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Former President Trump is expected to hold a press conference Monday afternoon in downtown Manhattan shortly after a New York Appeals Court slashed the bond due in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case by more than half, and after a trial date was set in the case brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Trump is set to hold a press conference at 40 Wall St. at 1:00 p.m. 

TRUMP’S $454M JUDGMENT BOND SLASHED BY MORE THAN HALF IN APPEALS COURT RULING

The former president and 2024 GOP presumptive presidential nominee said he would abide by the New York Appeals ruling, which requires him to pay $175 million bond in 10 days. 

The deadline for Trump to post the initial judgment set by Judge Arthur Engoron of $464 million was Monday at 11:59 p.m. Engoron made the ruling in February, after a months-long non-jury civil fraud trial. 

Trump’s press conference also comes after he sat in a Manhattan courtroom for hours Monday morning in a separate case brought by Bragg. 

The judge presiding over that case, Judge Juan Merchan, denied Trump’s motion to further delay the hush-money payments trial. Merchan announced the trial will begin on April 15. 

TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL TO BEGIN APRIL 15, JUDGE RULES, DENYING MOTION TO DELAY

The trial was initially set to begin Monday — March 25 — but Merchan pushed jury selection to mid-April after the Justice Department turned over more than 15,000 records of potential evidence from a previous federal investigation. Merchan wanted to give the defense time to go through those documents. 

Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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.”

The charges are related to alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted not to charge Trump related to the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

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The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

An appeals court slashed former President Trump’s bond payment on Monday, saying Trump must pay $175 million within the next 10 days.

Trump had previously faced a Monday deadline to pay a $464 million bond payment that came as a result of civil fraud allegations from New York Attorney General Letitia James.

TRUMP VOWS TO FIGHT NEW YORK AG CASE ‘ALL THE WAY UP TO THE US SUPREME COURT,’ AS DEADLINE TO POST $454M LOOMS

A New York Appeals Court, hours before the deadline to post the $464 million, lowered that bond considerably. The court ordered that Trump post $175 million within 10 days. 

Trump said he will “abide” by the appeals decision and post the $175 million bond. 

If Trump does post the $175 million by the new deadline, it would effectively block James from attempts to seize Trump’s assets as he continues to appeal the judgment by New York Judge Arthur Engoron.

“Judge Engoron has refused to obey the decision of the Appellate Division relative to the Statute of Limitations. This is a confrontation between a Judge and those that rule above him – A very bad situation in which to place New York State and the Rule of Law! Engoron has disrespected the Appellate Division and its very clear and precise ruling,” Trump posted on his Truth Social Monday. “He should be made to do so, and at the same time, release the GAG ORDER.” 

Trump said the appeals ruling Monday is “the 5th time in this case that he has been overturned, a record.” 

Trump blasted Judge Arthur Engoron, saying “his credibility, and that of Letitia James, has been shattered.” 

“We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash,” Trump said. “This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron’s original decision was at $450 Million.” 

Trump added, in all capital letters: “I DID NOTHING WRONG, AND NEW YORK SHOULD NEVER BE PUT IN A POSITION LIKE THIS AGAIN. BUSINESSES ARE FLEEING, VIOLENT CRIME IS FLOURISHING, AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE RESOLVED IN ITS TOTALITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU!” 

Trump said Judge Engoron and Letitia James “should be forced to explain why he ruled that Mar-a-Lago was worth $18,000,000 when, in fact, it is worth from 50 to 100 times that amount.” 

“How did the Attorney General of the State of New York force this Corrupt Judge to do that in order to help her narrative – AND WHY?” he posted. 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for James on Monday said Trump “is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud.” 

“The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization,” James’ spokesperson said. “The $464 million judgment – plus interest – against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.”

Trump, the 2024 presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and his legal team had appealed and requested a stay on his $454 million civil fraud judgment. Trump’s legal team said the initial requested bond was “unprecedented for a private company,” and said to post it in the judgment’s full amount was a “practical impossibility.” 

Trump has vowed to fight the case “all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.” 

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Friday, Trump said he can afford to post bond, but is pushing with his legal team to appeal the ruling altogether. 

Trump said he has nearly $500 million in cash. His company, Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, is set to become public after a merger Monday. The company will trade on the Nasdaq as “DJT.” 

Trump owns more than 78 million shares of the stock, valued at nearly $4 billion. 

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to give money to a rogue and incompetent judge – the puppet of a corrupt attorney general who’s failing with violent crime and migrant crime and whose only purpose in life is attempting to get Trump,” Trump told Fox News Digital, referring to Engoron and James. 

At this point, however, his shares are frozen. The board of the company can vote to un-freeze those assets if necessary. 

Engoron’s ruling came after a months-long non-jury trial stemming from James’ years-long investigation. James, when campaigning to become attorney general, vowed to “get Trump.” 

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT ALLOWS TRUMP, SONS TO CONTINUE RUNNING BUSINESS, DENIES REQUEST TO DELAY PAYMENT

“We’re definitely gonna sue him, we’re gonna be a real pain in the a–,” James once told a supporter on video.

Engoron ruled that Trump and other defendants were liable for “persistent and repeated fraud,” “falsifying business records,” “issuing false financial statements,” “conspiracy to falsify false financial statements,” “insurance fraud” and “conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.” 

An appeals court overturned Engoron’s ruling to allow Trump and his sons to continue running the family business as they appeal the decision.

James initially brought the lawsuit accusing Trump and the Trump Organization of fraudulent business practices. The court proceedings were contentious, with Engoron repeatedly placing Trump under a partial gag order to prevent him from criticizing court staff.

Trump dismissed the trial as a “witch hunt” throughout the process, accusing both Engoron and James of serving as political operatives for Democrats. Trump’s legal team also repeatedly blasted the lack of a jury in the trial.

TRUMP BARRED FROM OPERATING BUSINESS, ORDERED TO PAY OVER $350 MILLION IN NY CIVIL FRAUD CASE

“There was never an option to choose a jury trial,” a Trump spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.”

Trump and his family denied any wrongdoing, with the former president saying his assets had been undervalued. Trump’s legal team insisted that his financial statements had disclaimers, and made it clear to banks that they should conduct their own assessments.

Throughout the trial, Trump attorneys brought witnesses, including former Deutsche Bank top executives, who testified the banks sought additional business from Trump, whom they viewed as a “whale of a client.”

Trump’s defense also brought in expert witnesses, including New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov, who reviewed the Trump financial statements at issue in the case and said he found no evidence of accounting fraud.

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Bartov testified last month that Trump’s financial statements did not violate accounting principles, and he suggested that anything problematic – like a huge year-to-year leap in the estimated value of his Trump Tower penthouse – was simply an error.

“My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud,” Bartov testified. Trump’s financial statements, he said, “were not materially misstated.”