NationalWatch

Georgia secured a major victory Tuesday in its long-running redistricting battle after a federal appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that the state’s 2021 maps violated the Voting Rights Act, sending the case back for a complete re-evaluation.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the lower court must determine whether there was a “strong inference” that the maps were intentionally drawn to dilute Black voting power, rather than simply finding that the maps had a discriminatory effect under permissible partisan gerrymandering.

The decision follows a major Supreme Court ruling in a similar Louisiana case that significantly modified the legal framework for determining racial discrimination in redistricting. The high court said plaintiffs must provide evidence of “present-day intentional racial discrimination.”

“Plaintiffs must be able to show that voters are engaged in racial-bloc voting because of race, not partisan affiliation,” the ruling stated.

BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES

In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Georgia’s congressional and state legislative maps drawn after the 2020 census violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and issued a permanent injunction barring Georgia from using the maps in future elections.

The lower court specifically ordered the state to create additional majority-Black districts across the state Senate, state House of Representatives and U.S. congressional districts.

Meanwhile, a similar redistricting battle was unfolding in Louisiana, where Robinson v. Ardoin challenged the state’s congressional map, which initially included just one majority-Black district out of six.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ALABAMA REDISTRICTING PLAN IN BLOW TO TRUMP

A federal court later ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, ordering Louisiana to create a second majority-Black district after finding that the original map violated the Voting Rights Act.

However, a group of non-minority voters later challenged the new map, arguing that the newly created district amounted to racial gerrymandering and violated the 14th and 15th Amendments.

In the second lawsuit, Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act while clarifying how courts should evaluate claims of racial discrimination in redistricting. The ruling emphasized the need for evidence supporting a “strong inference” of intentional discrimination, rather than relying solely on the effects of a map.

WHY THE SUPREME COURT GUTTED THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AFTER SIX DECADES IN A BLOW TO BLACK POLITICIANS

The decision also altered the legal framework federal courts have used for decades to evaluate racial vote-dilution claims. Established in the Supreme Court’s 1986 ruling in Thornburg v. Gingles, the Gingles framework generally did not require plaintiffs to prove that lawmakers acted with racial intent and instead focused on whether a voting system had discriminatory effects.

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The Georgia case will now return to the district court for reconsideration under the Supreme Court’s framework established in Louisiana v. Callais.

A Clinton-appointed judge in Ohio is blocking the implementation of an Ohio law that requires voting registrants to provide photo ID proof of their citizenship before enrollment.

In a decision delivered on Tuesday, Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. stayed the law, citing what he saw as a conflict with federal requirements.

“The court grants plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction … from relying on House Bill 54’s amendment to require any driver’s license or renewal to produce documentary proof of citizenship before offering the opportunity to register to vote,” Oliver wrote.

The decision is just the latest development in the national debate over state-level voting requirements designed to prevent non-citizens from participating in U.S. elections — and how far those requirements can go without overarching federal reforms. 

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RESTORES TEXAS MAIL BALLOT ID REQUIREMENTS IN MAJOR ELECTION INTEGRITY RULING

Most immediately, the decision means that voter registrants in Ohio can once again enroll without a passport, a current driver’s license, a certification of naturalization, or a birth certificate.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced on Tuesday that his office plans to appeal the decision.

“We strongly disagree with that decision, and I’ve asked our legal team to file an immediate appeal. I will vigorously defend our legal authority to safeguard our voter rolls and protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections,” LaRose said in a statement.

In the case of Red Wine & Blue v. the Ohio Secretary of State, the court was asked to weigh whether requirements under the new Ohio law conflict with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), also known as the “Motor Voter Act.”

That law, passed in 1993 under the Clinton administration, instructs states to give voters the opportunity to register to vote using the same information they use when applying for a driver’s license. The bill was originally intended to increase voter participation.

NEW JERSEY REMOVES 6,600 PEOPLE FROM VOTER ROLLS WHO WERE ELIGIBLE TO CAST A BALLOT FOR 2024 ELECTION

It states that “the voter registration application portion … for a driver’s license may not require any information that duplicates information required in the driver’s license portion of the form.”

Notably, the NVRA doesn’t explicitly prohibit states from requiring proof of citizenship. But because virtually all driver’s license forms ask about citizenship status, Oliver believes further proof amounts to redundancy.

He laid out his view in Tuesday’s decision.

“As the rest of Ohio’s voter registration scheme demonstrates, election officials do not need documentary proof of citizenship to assess a voter registration applicant’s citizenship because signed attestation of citizenship is enough,” Oliver wrote.

LaRose, the secretary of state, disagreed. He cited instances of known voter fraud that have escaped detection because of the current enforcement mechanisms.

MEXICAN NATIONAL CONVICTED OF ILLEGALLY VOTING IN US AFTER FALSE CITIZENSHIP CLAIMS FACES REMOVAL: DHS

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“Earlier this year, an Ohio woman admitted to voting illegally as a lawful permanent resident in 2018 because, according to the judge in the case, ‘a [Bureau of Motor Vehicles] clerk, a government official, told her to register.’ The court found her not guilty by reason of entrapment. The judge specifically noted that the voter admitted she knew she was not a citizen when she voted, but he found that the BMV employee misled her into violating the law by implying she was eligible to vote.”

“The Franklin County case proves it’s not enough to just have a person’s attestation,” LaRose added. “Ohio has a constitutional requirement to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to sue the Trump administration over its push to restrict mail-in voting after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to enforce challenged provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive order for “election integrity” while litigation continues.

The announcement sets up the next phase of the legal fight after the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled 6-3 in favor of the Trump administration Monday, lifting an injunction that had blocked the order in 23 states ahead of November’s midterm elections.

SCOTUS stressed that its decision addressed the injunction rather than the ultimate legality of the order, leaving the door open to additional challenges.

Newsom criticized the decision in a statement released by his office.

JACKSON RIPS INTO SUPREME COURT COLLEAGUES’ ‘SERIOUS LEGAL ERROR’ ON TRUMP MAIL-IN VOTING ORDER

“The Supreme Court just let the Trump administration move ahead (for now) with its plan to disenfranchise voters across the country,” Newsom said. “California will be suing AGAIN to block these Orwellian rules from being implemented.”

Newsom’s office also highlighted two election-related bills moving through the California Legislature that the governor says would protect the state’s elections from interference.

According to the governor’s office, AB 282 would establish new felonies involving the seizure of ballots, election records or certified voting technology before election results are certified. SB 259 would establish criminal penalties for interfering with the delivery or return of mail-in ballots, including a felony carrying up to four years in prison in certain cases.

CALIFORNIA ACCUSED OF BLOCKING FEDERAL VOTER ROLL AUDIT AS DOJ ESCALATES PROBE OF ELECTION FRAUD CLAIMS

The governor’s office described the measures as an “Election Protection” package and said they build on election-related legislation Newsom signed earlier this summer.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and Department of Justice said they would move to implement the revised mail-ballot restrictions following Monday’s ruling.

Trump’s executive order directs federal agencies to compile citizenship-based lists of eligible voters and directs the USPS to deliver mail-in ballots only to people appearing on approved lists.

USPS WOULDN’T DELIVER BALLOTS IN STATES THAT REFUSE TO FORK OVER MAIL-IN VOTER INFO UNDER PROPOSED RULE

In explaining its decision, the Supreme Court concluded that the challenged provision directing the Department of Homeland Security to create and distribute state citizenship lists imposed obligations on federal agencies rather than the states themselves.

The court wrote:

“[It] directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate action to create and distribute State Citizenship Lists. This provision is an internal directive from the President to a subordinate. It imposes no obligations on the States, so they ‘suffer no concrete harm from’ it, and without concrete harm, there is no standing.”

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Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

A representative for Newsom did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The U.S. Secret Service said it was aware of a video aired on Iranian state media threatening President Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump.

“The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” Nate Herring, a Secret Service spokesperson, told Fox News Digital.

“Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence,” Herring added.

TRUMP HAS BECOME AMERICA’S MOST TARGETED LEADER, FACING THREATS EVERY FEW MONTHS

The video depicts locations associated with the younger Trump’s whereabouts. It ends with a suggested $10 million reward for his location.

Iranian state media has aired content on multiple occasions threatening Trump and his family following the assassination of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which came at the start of the war between the United States and Iran, as well as the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

ISRAEL SHARES INTELLIGENCE WARNING IRAN PLOTTED NEW ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST TRUMP: REPORT

“I don’t think it’s any secret, it’s been in the media, that Iran has publicly said they want to kill President Trump,” Deputy Director of the U.S. Secret Service Matt Quinn told reporters at an event last month.

The video came amid threats from the Trump administration to nations that fail to sever their economic ties with Tehran and an ongoing naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

In July, Trump secretly switched planes from Air Force One to another aircraft in Turkey via a catering truck due to a credible Iranian surface-to-air missile threat.

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The White House referred any questions about the matter to the Secret Service.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker showed off his swagger in a tongue-in-cheek social media video Monday, prompting a wave of mockery from critics online.

The video, recorded in black and white and notching more than 1 million views, features Pritzker making a variety of model-like expressions at the camera behind a caption that reads “when you’re in an aura-farming contest and your opponent in JB.” Aura-farming is a common piece of slang used to describe the taking of certain actions with the explicit goal of acquiring swag.

Many social media users did not agree with Pritzker’s assessment of himself.

PROGRESSIVE MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR’S VIRAL HIP-HOP MOVES SPARK ‘HUMILIATION RITUAL’ MOCKERY ONLINE

“Only thing bigger than the ratio this tweet is getting is…well,” White House deputy assistant to the president Kaelan Dorr posted in response to the video.

“Pritzker is kind of a medical marvel,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh wrote. “He looks gaunt and frail from Ozempic and also still morbidly obese at the exact same time. He’s taking the concept of ‘skinny fat’ to places never thought possible.”

WHITE HOUSE FIRES BACK AFTER ‘SLOB’ JB PRITZKER SAYS TRUMP IS SUFFERING FROM ‘DEMENTIA’

Pritzker wrote the phrase “governor-maxxing” alongside his video on X. “Maxxing” as a suffix denotes that someone is doing something in a highly optimized way. “Looks-maxxing,” for instance, refers to the act of taking one’s appearance, physical fitness, and demeanor seriously as to maximize attractiveness.

Some on social media used the governor’s phrasing to poke fun at him.

Brian Costin, who is a high-level staffer at a right-of-center advocacy group in Illinois, accused Pritzker of “property-tax-maxxing,” “state-and-local-tax-burden-maxxing,” “cell-phone-tax-maxxing,” “gas-tax-hike-maxxing,” and “blaming-everyone-else-maxxing,” among other things.

Others focused on his weight, claiming that Pritzker was “buffet-maxxing” or “waistline-maxxing.”

REPUBLICANS RIP 4 BLUE STATES FOR KEEPING TAXES ON TIPS, OVERTIME AFTER TRUMP REPRIEVE

“When you’re a grown nepo-kid and believe you’re as impressive as the people you’re paying say you are,” Fox Business anchor David Asman said of Pritzker, whose father, Donald Pritzker, helped build the Hyatt hotel chain with his brother Jay.

Pritzker has a history of making widely mocked social media posts, including his frequent attempts to spar with the president.

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“Might be the cringiest thing he’s ever posted, and that is saying a lot,” RealClearPolitics president Tom Bevan wrote.

Pritzker’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., a self-described moderate, is facing political headwinds in the race for the newly-redrawn 25th Congressional District in South Florida, as Republican nominee Scott Singer sees a path to pick up a House seat in a narrowly divided Congress.

“We’re going to be very prepared to go flip this seat – it is a key targeted seat,” Singer told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday.

“This is a key district that may determine the balance of power in the House.”

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: DEMOCRATS LEAD IN THE HOUSE, BUT REDISTRICTING KEEPS THE GOP IN THE GAME

The race is drawing national attention and, potentially, big Democratic dollars to defend the seat in Democrats’ pursuit of the majority to attack what House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries just called the “cartel” of President Donald Trump.

“A lot of people in this district and beyond understand what’s at stake here,” Singer, former Boca Raton mayor, said.

Moskowitz, currently seated in the more Democratic-friendly 23rd District, is – like Singer – Jewish and pro-Israel, but he will have to navigate a tougher Republican-friendly map and fend off the “anti-Israel wing” of the Democratic Party, according to to Singer.

FLORIDA DEMOCRAT SENDS ‘CONDOLENCES’ TO HASAN PIKER AFTER DEFEATING DSA CHALLENGER IN FLORIDA PRIMARY

“His voting record speaks volumes,” Singer said. “Since he’s gotten to Congress, he’s been locked up with the Democrats on almost every issue.”

“This is not the sort of record of bipartisanship he once had. He’s been much more partisan because he has to be,” Singer claimed. “He has to appeal to a more far-left socialist led Democratic Party if he’s going to have any influence. And that’s going home to roost in November.”

When reached for comment, the two-term Moskowitz stressed he fought off the Democratic Socialists of America’s maximum pressure campaign in his primary, while keeping $2 million cash on hand for the general election and expecting “we’ll have the national resources” in the fight to keep the seat blue.

“I go after my party all the time and fight within,” Moskowitz, who was twice appointed to positions by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a show of bipartisanship, told Fox News Digital, noting Singer has been “awfully silent” on social media amid his own vocal defense against the “anti-Israel” political factions.

FROM WASSERMAN SCHULTZ TO GOLDMAN, DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS ARE FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

“Scott just has talking points, which is why he’s the masked singer. You hear a voice behind a mask. He says things to all sorts of people, tells people what they want to hear, but nobody really knows where he stands because he never really takes positions.”

The heated rhetoric belies a previously tighter relationship.

“Scott Singer endorsed me when I ran the first time,” Moskowitz claimed.

Singer’s campaign has denied it was anything more than a personal call to generally express support for a fellow Jewish, pro-Israel politician.

Singer, though, says he is well-positioned in the newly redrawn South Florida district, with a growing GOP voter-registration advantage and Democratic division working against the “quasi-incumbent.”

“People are abandoning the Democratic Party because the mainstream Democratic Party of even a few years ago has abandoned them,” Singer said. “It’s now a socialist-led party and it’s sad for America.”

“That’s why we need to band together and make sure independent voters understand what’s at stake,” he added. “We can’t have people talking about communism or new Democrat-incoming members of the House saying horrific things like that they would wipe their hand on the American flag if they didn’t have a napkin. That’s today’s Democratic Party, unfortunately, and it’s not something I want to see.”

MOSKOWITZ REJECTS RICK SCOTT’S CLAIMS HE’S ‘SCARED TO DEATH’ OF SOCIALISTS, BEHOLDEN TO HASAN PIKER

The race is considered to be one of 19 toss-ups in the nation (seats held by four Democrats and 15 Republicans), according to the Cook Political Report.

“It’s now about five points more Republican than Democrat, but even since redistricting, there are Republicans who are registering at a higher rate: People in Florida have seen the success of our state and seen the craziness other places, and they’re voting more conservative,” Singer said.

“And we have a great opportunity to pick off disaffected Democrats who are sick with the socialist lean, especially in our community that has a large number of residents who fled communism, like my family, like wife’s family did,” he continued. “They understand that bringing socialism and communism into the United States is a terrible idea. That’s another reason why we’re optimistic about our chances to flip this must-win seat in November.”

DESANTIS UNDER PRESSURE AS FLORIDA REDRAW COULD TIP HOUSE BALANCE IN GOP MAP FIGHT

The race also presents an unusual political dynamic: Singer and Moskowitz are both Jewish candidates competing in a district where roughly a quarter of the electorate is Jewish, one of the highest concentrations in the country.

“The anti-Israel wing, which has taken root in the Democratic Party, is doing the convincing for us,” Singer said. “Because we’ve seen a majority of House members would deny arms sales to Israel, our ally during a time of conflict.

“And that’s the party, where it is. We’ve seen three incumbents in the Democratic Party ousted in recent months solely because Israel was the key issue.

“Anti-Israel is winning. It’s become the mainstream of the Democratic Party. And longtime Democrats are leaving in droves. Another reason why it’s going to be very hard for Democrats in this district to win with 25% Jewish population and people who understand Israel’s close and long-standing alliance with the United States. We’re going to pick off more of those voters.”

5 TAKEAWAYS FROM FLORIDA SENATE PRIMARY: GOP SEN. ASHLEY MOODY WILL FACE DSA’S NIXON

Also, while GOP-leaning, the district is still largely independent. It snakes along South Florida’s Atlantic coast through portions of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, encompassing communities around Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami Beach.

“I was already running under the prior boundaries when it leaned Democratic, but I’m thrilled with the new boundaries because it runs from Miami Beach, where I was born, through Fort Lauderdale where I grew up, through Boca Raton where I served as mayor for eight years,” Singer said.

“I have deep ties in this district. It’s my whole life. I’ve lived 40-plus years in this District in all three counties. My opponent doesn’t live in the district. I’m not sure he’s ever lived in the district. And I think those community ties help when you’re trying to represent 750,000-plus people.”

Moskowitz lives in nearby Parkland and was born and raised in Coral Springs, which is just west of the newly drawn district, which carved those towns out.

FLA DEM SEN-NOMINEE ANGIE NIXON BACKED ABOLISHING ELECTORAL COLLEGE, RANKED-CHOICE VOTING IN RESURFACED CLIPS

Trump would have carried the territory by roughly nine points in 2024 after Joe Biden would have won it by about five points in 2020, showing just how the district is turning conservative and more favorable to flip.

“Jewish voters don’t just have to vote for a Jewish candidate who may be not terrible on Israel … now you have a pro-Israel, Zionist candidate who’s a strong Republican who will vote for the common sense solutions: We need like less regulation, lower taxes, insurance reform and more.”

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“Independent voters have a choice,” he added. “Are we going to continue on tax reform, secure borders, economic improvement… or are we going to go back to what the Democrats would propose, which frankly for the next two years is just impeachment?

“Nothing will get done in Washington,” he concluded.

The Justice Department sued an Ohio court Tuesday over a new rule blocking federal immigration arrests at or near the courthouse, accusing local officials of unlawfully interfering with federal enforcement and forcing ICE agents to make arrests in potentially riskier settings.

At issue is a Franklin County Municipal Court rule, which bars civil arrests at the courthouse unless officers have a judicial warrant. The DOJ argues the rule conflicts with federal immigration law, which allows ICE agents in certain circumstances to make arrests with administrative warrants or no warrant at all.

“This type of rule obstructs federal law enforcement and facilitates evasion of federal law by dangerous criminal aliens, despite Congress’s direction that federal agents detain and remove them,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Throughout the country, and including in this courthouse specifically, federal agents have routinely and safely conducted arrests. The Department of Justice is committed to protecting that important federal prerogative.”

This is a developing news story; check back for updates.

In a 2016 interview, Latin Grammy Award-winning artist and Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido defended a fellow singer against criticism for a graphic music video that depicted acts of sexual violence and murder.

In the video production of “Fuiste Mía” or “You were mine” by Gerardo Ortiz, a singer walks in on his girlfriend cheating on him. After shooting her lover, he then handcuffs her to a pole, blindfolds her, and gropes her before putting her in the trunk of his car and setting it on fire.

In response to backlash, Pulido defended Ortiz, calling the video a matter of artistic direction.

“I’ve made videos with suggestive images; some have stayed, others have been edited, and still others were never used. That’s the decision of the artist and their team,” Pulido said in response to public backlash against the production.

Pulido’s resurfaced response to the music video is the latest in a series of controversies he has tried to downplay as he pursues a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas’ 15th Congressional District — one of the country’s most competitive seats.

FORMER DISNEY TEEN STAR EXPOSES CHILLING WARNING SIGNS OF PREDATORY BEHAVIOR IN HOLLYWOOD

Pulido is best known for Tejano, or Mexican–Spanish folk-style, songs like “Desvelado” and “Se Murió de Amor,” and received five nominations for a Latin Grammy Awards, winning Best Tejano Album in 2025 and 2022.

He filed to run for Congress in Texas’ 15th District, challenging Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas. A two-term incumbent, she last won election to the district in 2024 in a 57.1% to 42.9% victory over Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo. 

Along the way, Pulido has drawn scrutiny for a resurfaced history of posting links to explicit websites on his personal X account — as well as for a social media post of what appeared to be him urinating on President Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Pulido has shrugged off criticism for both, stating in 2024 that it’s “it’s impossible to have Twitter and not watch porn,” and that he had only poured water on Trump’s star as a joke.

More notably, Pulido has also had to fend off criticisms of bringing a registered sex offender to a Texas middle school benefit concert in 2018.

DEM TIED TO CARTEL OPERATIVE SAYS ‘WHITE NATIONALISTS’ JOINING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT TO ‘HUNT DOWN PEOPLE’

In that case, Pulido denied knowledge of his associate’s status at the time and has dismissed coverage of it as a “nothing story,” according to Axios.

Similarly, in his defense of Ortiz, Pulido downplayed the music video, arguing that viewers had become accustomed to increasingly graphic images.

“What happens when there’s a [car] accident?” Pulido asked, comparing the music video to real-life instances of tragedy.

“Traffic doesn’t flow because people slow down or even stop to see what happened; something similar happens with the regional Mexican genre when these kinds of incidents occur.”

At least one Republican onlooker is left unconvinced by the defense of the music video — and defenses of other past behaviors.

“Bobby Pulido has spent his entire adult life defending perverts and predators while lashing out at members of law enforcement who keep Texans safe. He is a truly sick individual who is morally rotten,” Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

DEM RIPPED FOR ‘DISGUSTING’ ABSENCE ON BILL TO PUNISH VIOLENT CRIMINALS AFTER GIRL STRANGLED IN GRISLY KILLING

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The Pulido campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his defense of the video and whether he had a track record of downplaying potentially problematic conduct.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the Democratic Party’s current “experiment” amid the rise of democratic socialist candidates “healthy,” drawing swift conservative backlash from critics who accused her of embracing the party’s socialist wing.

“The Democratic Party right now is, I think, going through a kind of experiment, like who can actually respond particularly to young people’s very real concerns about where they are at this point in their lives and what kind of future do they have for themselves? I think that is healthy,” said Clinton.

Clinton, a matriarch of the Democratic Party, defeated democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary. Her remarks come as socialist candidates increasingly challenge establishment-backed Democrats in races across the country.

Clinton spoke Monday in conversation with the Hamptons Institute, weighing in on the Democratic Party’s ideological direction as it searches for ways to connect with younger voters while democratic socialist candidates have increasingly notched wins during the primary season.

SHOCKING PERCENTAGE OF DEMOCRATS IDENTIFY AS ‘DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS’ ACCORDING TO NEW POLL: ‘TOXIC POLICIES’

The moderator asked Clinton where she sees the future of the Democratic Party as it undergoes a “major upheaval between center-left and democratic socialists” during their conversation on diplomacy, national security and global leadership.

Conservative critics seized on Clintons’ remarks, accusing her of embracing the Democratic Party’s socialist wing and invoking her failed 2016 presidential campaign.

“INSANE Hillary Clinton says the Democrat Party is ‘going through an experiment’ to see if far-Left, socialist candidates — who want to abolish prisons and borders — can win over young voters,” the Republican National Committee posted on X.

“Run again in 2028. Do it,” social media influencer Jack Posobiec posted.

“Easy for her to say when she has her own security team,” said Heritage Foundation media fellow Tim Young.

“Hillary Clinton believes Democrats are “going through an experiment” to see if a new crop of further-left candidates can actually win young voters. The problem? Dems who want to abolish prisons and borders. She’s watching her own party test how far left it can push before the rest of the country walks away. It’s basically a live experiment with the electorate at this point,” X user Mario Nawfal posted. 

DEMOCRATS LURE ‘POLITICALLY HOMELESS’ GEN Z TOWARD SOCIALISM — A COUNTERATTACK IS TAKING SHAPE

“The Democrats only want to win, no matter the cost! If their actions of going far, far left send the country into ruins, they don’t care! They know that socialism has never worked, nor ever will work. Hillary may be a lot of things (a lot of which I can’t say on here), but she will pull out all stops to try and win. It doesn’t always work, like in 2016, but she will try anything to win…..no matter the consequences,” said one user.

“Say WHAT?! Hillary Clinton says the Democrat Party is ‘going through a kind of experiment’ by embracing socialist candidates to see if it will bring in younger voters – say it’s ‘healthy’ This is the definition of insanity,” the Conservative Brief posted.

During her remarks, Clinton also turned the socialism charge back on President Donald Trump, accusing his administration of practicing what she called “socialism for the rich.”

“I get very amused when I hear Trump and his people talking about socialism and communism. The way he’s behaving is socialism for the rich. It is the most ridiculous administration when it comes to doing everything possible to avoid risks and loss for people who are already doing them and to use the power of the government to benefit himself and his cronies and his allies,” said Clinton.

SOCIALIST SURGE: MAMDANI FLEXES GROWING POLITICAL MUSCLE AS HE TAKES ON DEM ESTABLISHMENT

Trump has increasingly used the rise of democratic socialists as a midterm attack line, labeling recent left-wing Democratic winners “hardcore, godless communists.”He separately warned in June that New York City Mayor and democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani‘s rent-freeze policy would cause New York apartment buildings to deteriorate into “ghettos and slums.”

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“President Trump is creating good-paying jobs, securing trillions of dollars in investments, and positioning our country to dominate the remainder of the 21st century,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital.

“Meanwhile, Crooked Hillary Clinton is still whining about her spectacular 2016 election defeat. It’s time for Hillary to move on,” Ingle added.

An Ohio man was arrested by the FBI after allegedly making graphic threats against a Jewish Republican congressman and calling for the death of President Donald Trump.

Alex Justin Miller, 26, is accused of sending a “true threat” to Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., and his family, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

A copy of the message separately obtained by Fox News Digital shows Miller allegedly called Fine and his family “Nazi f—-s” and said he would burn their house down, pledging he would “never stop until your head is hanging from the rooftops of the White House.” His message ended with “DEATH TO RANDY FINE AND DEATH TO DONALD TRUMP.”

Miller was charged with interstate transmission of a threat to injure by the U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Florida and faces up to five years in prison if convicted, the DOJ said.

FAA EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH ALLEGEDLY THREATENING TO KILL PRESIDENT TRUMP IN EMAIL TO WHITE HOUSE

The incident was investigated by the FBI and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Secret Service and Capitol Police, the DOJ said.

“It was so graphic. It says, ‘I’m gonna murder you. I’m going to cut your head off. I won’t stop,'” Fine told Fox News Digital. “I reported it immediately. I unfortunately have learned what the difference is between a nasty message and a death threat, and this clearly was a death threat.”

The full message read: “Dear fat— piece of s—stain, I cannot wait to take a trip to you lovely home and light the whole place on fire and murder you and your entire family in the middle of the night while you sleep. I hope you disgusting Nazi f—s sleep with one eye open for the rest of your life because I will NEVER stop until your head is hanging from the rooftops of the White House. You deserve 10000% to be beheaded and have your body paraded through the streets. DEATH TO RANDY FINE AND DEATH TO DONALD TRUMP!!” 

Fine said he received the threat via email on the morning of primary Election Day in the Sunshine State. He also said it reinforced his belief that federal officials need more protection.

“I don’t know what this person’s motives were for writing this, but it’s someone not from Florida. So, you know, this was not a local constituent that was upset,” he said. “I do think members of Congress need more security than we oftentimes get.”

FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY THREATENING TO KILL TRUMP, RUBIO AND BONDI

He added that law enforcement found and arrested the man within 36 hours.

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“I’m incredibly grateful to the U.S. attorney, the FBI, the Capitol Police, and all the law enforcement in Florida who took this seriously. The bottom line is, don’t do this. Don’t write messages like this to elected officials, Republican or Democrat. You want to call us bad people? Be my guest, but do not do this sort of thing,” Fine said.

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who has repeatedly targeted President Donald Trump for impeachment, renewed his effort by filing a new impeachment resolution on Monday.

“Our country and the lives of people within it are at risk as President Donald John Trump is a great threat to the United States democratic republic, its Constitution, and democracy, violating Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution and its mandate to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” the document declares.

The resolution accuses Trump of “abusing the powers of the presidency by operating United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as his vicious, quota-driven, unaccountable paramilitary police forces, transgressing with anonymity and secrecy, assaulting people, committing and covering up unjustified killings of civilians (including Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero) with impunity (acting as judge, jury, prosecutor, and executioner), terrorizing communities, and brazenly and wantonly devolving the United States democratic republic into an authoritarian regime, where unjustified killings and coverups by ICE and CBP are normalized.”

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In a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, “This type of garbage is contributing to our law enforcement officers facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them. The brave men and women of ICE and CBP put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists. Al Green should be thanking President Trump and our law enforcement for delivering the largest decrease in violent crime in American history.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and CBP on Tuesday.

Given that Republicans currently hold the majority in both chambers of Congress, his latest impeachment push likely won’t succeed.

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But in a letter to the president, Green said, “Mr. President, I am well aware of the fact that you will be defended by persons who will say, ‘The House won’t impeach, and if it did, the Senate won’t convict.’ Sir, my response is that articles of impeachment that are not approved by Congress can express on-the-record disapproval of presidential actions and demonstrate that there are some of us watching and willing to act.”

Green has fielded impeachment resolutions multiple times across both of Trump’s White House terms.

The congressman, who has served in the House since 2005, lost a Democratic primary runoff to Rep. Christian Menefee in May.

TRUMP COULD FACE IMPEACHMENT IF DEMOCRATS SEIZE HOUSE MAJORITY, GOP LEADER WARNS

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The House impeached Trump twice during his first term, but in both cases, the Senate vote did not meet the threshold necessary for conviction. The Senate’s vote on the second impeachment took place after Trump had already departed from office.

California’s aging infrastructure is helping fuel a clean water crisis that could have ramifications across the country, a key House Republican warned.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of playing politics with the management of the Colorado River, a major body of water that millions of people in the Western United States depend on. She’s arguing that the Golden State’s bloated bureaucracy and environmental regulations are making it more reliant on the Colorado River, thus stressing its supply and affecting the other six states through which it runs.

“The system is now becoming very, very stressed because California has not kept up with the infrastructure demands and needs of its citizens,” Hageman told Fox News Digital. “Pinedale, Wyoming, may be a long way removed from Southern California, but when there are calls on the river and when there are demands that we reduce the amount of water that we are able to use in order to meet a demand downstream, that isn’t fair.”

California’s water infrastructure has largely remained unchanged since the late 20th century, despite a ballooning population.

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Hageman argued that California’s growing need paired with a lack of new infrastructure is hurting the agricultural sector in areas that rely on the Colorado River — which could have ripple effects beyond the West.

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“California could grow almost all the food we need in the United States, but they’ve really decimated their Ag industry because they’ve taken irrigation water away from their Ag industry to try to meet municipal demand and industrial demand elsewhere. So really it’s just, it’s a whole parade of bad decisions that are being made,” she said.

“Food independence is a national security issue. We do not want to become food dependent on Mexico or Central America or bringing all of our food in from other countries. We have the resources to grow healthy, high-quality food right here while also protecting our environment.”

Environmental groups like Tell the Dam Truth have opposed new dam builds in California, arguing they contribute to climate change while harming biodiversity.

“With its strong environmental laws, regulations, and policies, California has the opportunity to not only stop new dam construction, but also decommission dams to restore the biodiversity and carbon sequestration currently inundated in river valleys across the state,” the group’s website states.

Groups like the Sierra Club have also opposed desalination, an alternative water source that would require California to convert its abundant saltwater into a usable product.

But Hageman said that opposition was misguided.

“They’re very backwards people. I kind of look at them like flat-Earthers. They’re very backwards people in the way that they approach things. They ignore the fact that humans are also part of the natural environment, and they ignore the benefits of what we can create by building this much-needed infrastructure,” she said.

The Colorado River’s Upper Basin runs through Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah. The Lower Basin runs through California, Arizona and Nevada.

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It has faced growing problems, in part due to climate change and increased dependence, prompting discussions about whether the seven aforementioned states could update their existing water-sharing agreement.

A failure to do so thus far has prompted the Trump administration to step in and force steep cuts to the Lower Basin states for the next two years.

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Newsom praised the plan while pointing out California has reduced its use in recent years, but said it was only a “short-term” solution.

“This is a necessary step to protect a river that 40 million Americans depend on, at a time when climate change is driving a regional water crisis that makes every drop of water count. California continues to lead the way forward, growing our economy while cutting our Colorado River water use to the lowest level since 1949,” he said of the Trump administration order. “Any long-term solution must share responsibility fairly across all seven states in recognition of the new reality of the Colorado River.”

California also recently made plans for a new reservoir project, projected to cost $6.8 billion, which is expected to be completed in the mid-2030s. The state is also investing in new groundwater infrastructure and other initiatives to expand availability of the critical resource.

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A spokesperson for the California Natural Resources Agency re-emphasized the state’s reduced dependency on the Colorado River when reached by Fox News Digital.

“California’s Colorado River use is at its lowest since 1949 – and our urban water agencies have reduced their demand for imports by 50% since 2000. Even with that, we continue to invest billions of dollars to increase water supply as we face changing conditions driven by climate change,” the spokesperson said.

“Suggesting we move the world’s fourth largest economy entirely to desalinated water is a deeply unserious proposal that ignores the underlying issues facing all users of the Colorado River. All Basin states must share the responsibility of caring for the Colorado River for generations to come – and that means real conservation from all seven states.”

The battle for the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nomination is already spilling into public view, with a top aide to California Gov. Gavin Newsom taking a swipe at fellow White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg over his effort to build support with Black voters in the South.

Newsom communications director Izzy Gardon mocked Buttigieg’s recent visit to South Carolina, which his representative Aida Ross highlighted with a post on X over the weekend that included a photo of the former Transportation secretary with members of the Orangeburg branch of the NAACP. 

“Pete returned to Orangeburg, SC! Great night with the Orangeburg Branch of the NAACP,” Ross said alongside the photo.

Meanwhile, Gardon responded to the post: “First time in SC in 3 years? Nice!”

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The exchange garnered buzz online, as it placed two of the Democratic Party’s most closely watched potential presidential contenders at the center of a growing fight over Black voter outreach — an issue likely to be central in 2028 as South Carolina again prepares to hold the party’s first nominating contest.

It also comes amid wider Democratic tensions over whether the party is doing enough to engage Black voters and the South, with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens accusing the DNC of “abandoning the South” and “abandoning Black voters” after Atlanta was eliminated from 2028 convention contention last week. 

Meanwhile, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain declared last month, amid debate over the party’s presidential primary calendar, that “the South is not the past, it is the future,” while Democratic chairs from five other southern states also previously warned the DNC against sending Black voters the message that their loyalty is “taken for granted,” according to the Associated Press.

When reached for comment, Gardon told Fox News Digital that the post was made from his personal account and in his “personal capacity,” calling it “simply my own observation.” He stressed that he was “NOT speaking for the Governor or anyone else.”

Ross did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

JASMINE CROCKETT WARNS DEMOCRATS ARE TOO FOCUSED ON WHITE VOTERS, IGNORING BLACK VOTERS

“Love to watch Gavin Newsom staffers dunk on Pete Buttigieg staffers as they all jostle to catch up to AOC in the 2028 Dem primaries,” Republican strategist Matt Whitlock wrote on X.

“We’re just dropping all pretenses huh,” quipped political polling executive Adam Carlson.

Democrat strategists also weighed in on the in-fighting.

“Staffers of potential 2028ers who denigrate other potential 2028ers at this juncture should be embarrassed. They reflect extremely poorly on their principals,” Democrat strategist Jennifer Holdsworth said in response to Gardon’s jab.

“Weird tweet to send rn – bad look,” Democratic consultant Eric Koch said.

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“Potential 2028 staffers, huddle up: you do not want to start the fighting now or on this platform,” added the Head of Digital Engagement at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Stefan Smith. “It’s too early in the cycle. The longer we play nice (and encourage the principals to play nice) the better it is for everyone.”

DEARBORN, MI – Nearly 25 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, a Smithsonian affiliate in Michigan continues to use its 9/11 exhibits and anniversary programming to focus on discrimination and government actions in the attacks’ aftermath, while giving less attention to the nearly 3,000 people killed that day, Fox News Digital found.

The Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, features an exhibit arguing that Arab Americans “suffered two-fold as a result of the tragic events of September 11th,” both from the attacks themselves and from what the museum describes as unfair treatment by the U.S. government afterward. Since its founding, the museum has repeatedly hosted programs examining what it describes as discriminatory consequences of the U.S. response to 9/11.

Fox News Digital visited the museum earlier this month, reviewed its exhibits and gift shop, and examined years of anniversary programming and federal funding records.

The AANM has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian has been under intense scrutiny from conservative lawmakers in recent months for allegedly allowing political bias to influence its presentation of history.

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One placard criticizes the government’s post-9/11 detention of immigrants investigated for possible terrorist links, noting that “virtually none were charged” in connection with terrorism.

“The Arab American community suffered two-fold as a result of the tragic events of September 11th. As with all Americans, they suffered the horror and grief. However, Arab Americans were unfairly held responsible, yet not a single Arab American was found guilty of any connection to September 11th,” it reads.

On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes, crashing two into the World Trade Center, and one into the Pentagon. Passengers and crew fought back aboard United Flight 93, the fourth plane, prompting the hijackers to crash the plane in Pennsylvania. The attacks killed 2,977 people and triggered the largest investigation in FBI history.

The museum placard also argues that Arabs faced harsher immigration enforcement after the attacks, saying some were “deported for minor visa violations or petty offenses which previously would have been overlooked.”

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In the 11 months after the attacks, immigration authorities detained 762 noncitizens on immigration charges in connection with the FBI’s terrorism investigation, including for overstaying visas or entering the country illegally, according to a Justice Department inspector general report. The watchdog found that some detainees with no terrorism ties were treated harshly and held under unnecessarily restrictive conditions.

Public opinion also showed a more complicated picture of the post-9/11 backlash. President George W. Bush publicly urged Americans not to blame Muslims for the attacks, and polling later suggested attitudes toward Muslim Americans actually improved in the immediate aftermath. The share of Americans who viewed Muslim Americans favorably rose from 45% in March 2001 to 59% in November, two months after the attacks, according to the Pew Research Center.

Beyond its permanent exhibit, AANM has repeatedly used programming around the 9/11 anniversary to examine discrimination and law-enforcement policies affecting Arab and Muslim communities.

The museum holds a “solidarity” town hall each year, where criticism of the American reaction to 9/11 is often the focus. The online description of the event does not mention the deaths connected to the attacks themselves, but rather “offers a safe space for communities to reflect and engage in dialogue about the harmful prejudices that Arab and Muslim (and anyone perceived to be Arab or Muslim) individuals face on both an individual and systemic level.”

One such town hall in 2018 examined “how communities of color have been targeted through the frame of national security and profiled as violent threats.”

A year later, the AANM’s annual town, which received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, criticized how “institutions and communities of color have been infiltrated” by law enforcement as well as how leaders of those groups have been “targeted” following 9/11.

SMITHSONIAN AMERICA 250 EXHIBIT FEATURES 3X MORE LIBERAL ITEMS THAN CONSERVATIVE ONES

The AANM was founded in 2005, partially in response to the increased scrutiny directed at the Arab American community following the attack on the World Trade Center. In addition to receiving well over half a million dollars in funding from the NEH over its lifetime to support its exhibits and educational programming, the museum also benefited from a $385,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development which helped it expand its physical footprint in 2013. It received further HUD funding, over half a million dollars, between 2017 and 2019 as well as at least $50,000 from the State Department between 2016 and 2017, according to annual reports published by the museum.

Dearborn, where about 54.5% of residents are of Middle Eastern or North African descent, is a key political center in Michigan ahead of one of the country’s most competitive Senate races this year. Socialist-aligned Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for the Senate, drew strong support from the city earlier this month.

The museum’s focus extends beyond its criticism of the U.S. response to 9/11.

On Sept. 10 — the eve of the 25th anniversary of the attacks — the AANM is scheduled to host a screening of “Seeds for Liberation,” a film that portrays Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack as part of a decades-long Palestinian “struggle” and places it within a broader history of “anti-imperialist and decolonial movements.”

During Fox News Digital’s visit earlier this month, a section of the museum was dedicated to art criticizing Israel’s alleged “occupation” of Palestinian land. One piece of art, the word “wall” presented in a stylized print, accuses the Israeli government of perpetuating a system of “apartheid.”

The art installation broadly accuses Israel of targeting civilians in military operations, denying basic necessities to Palestinians and unjustly occupying land.

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One placard accompanying a sculpture states that Israel has killed more than 2,000 Palestinian children since Sept. 29, 2000, citing If Americans Knew (IAK).

The placard’s sourcing is itself controversial. Some pro-Palestinian organizations have distanced themselves from IAK over allegations of antisemitism and ties to white supremacists, allegations the group has disputed. IAK also operates a news site that has published articles rejecting the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Another placard attached to a sculpture pulls a quote from Defense of Children International Palestine, which the Israeli government designated as a terrorist organization in 2021. DCIP and human rights groups have disputed the designation.

The museum gift shop also sells Palestinian-themed merchandise, including map-shaped magnets and key chains, coloring books promising to help children “explore Palestinian heritage” and keffiyehs.

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The AANM, Smithsonian, NEA and NEH did not respond to requests for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.

Smithsonian affiliates, like the AANM, are independently operated museums that maintain formal partnerships with the Smithsonian, providing them with access to artifact loans, educational resources and consultations from institutional experts.

In recent months, the Smithsonian has faced mounting pressure from Republican lawmakers and the president over allegations that its museums advance left-of-center ideological causes through their exhibits. Officials have threatened funding cuts against the institution if it does not root out what the Trump administration characterizes as anti-American bias.

The Department of Homeland Security is calling out Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu’s “unhinged” effort to dissuade business owners from leasing to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the city, equating it to “hunting down” private property owners.

After Boston banned ICE vehicles from using city-owned parking lots to stage operations, ICE issued a notice seeking to rent hundreds of parking spaces in the city for five years. In response, Wu, an outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda, issued an open letter to parking garage and lot owners throughout Boston in which she revealed the city had submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request “for any local responses to ICE.”

DHS fired back in an X post, writing that “these actions by sanctuary Mayor Michelle Wu are unhinged.”

“She knows she has NO authority to block us from using private property. So, she’s hunting down private property owners and threatening them for working with ICE — because she’d rather intimidate law-abiding Bostonians than get criminal illegal aliens OFF the street,” wrote DHS.

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ICE issued a “sources sought” notice last month for “surge parking” in 14 cities across the country. The notice revealed ICE was seeking 249 contiguous parking spaces in Boston.

In response, Wu issued an official appeal from the city of Boston for garage and lot owners to “reject ICE staging facilities.” She wrote that “were ICE to procure such resources, it would constitute an unprovoked and unwarranted escalation, creating potentially significant risks to public safety and halting economic activity across our entire region.”

She boasted that she “joined together with six other cities across Greater Boston and signed Executive Orders prohibiting ICE from staging its operations on municipal property and parking lots,” adding, “Today, I ask you to join us: Reject any proposition by ICE to facilitate an attack on the people of Boston.”

Wu also noted that the same day, the city submitted a FOIA request for any local responses to ICE. She told the garage and lot owners, “We will keep you updated as we push for a response,” adding, “Thank you again for your partnership.”

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In its FOIA request, which was submitted to ICE and reviewed by Fox News Digital, the city of Boston states that it is seeking “all submissions and/or responses to ICE Sources Sought Notice with Notice ID ‘DHS-ICE-SurgeParking.’”

DHS responded to Wu’s FOIA request by calling her a “pro-criminal illegal alien politician” in another X post. The agency said the request also indicates that Wu “admits she has no authority to block ICE from utilizing private property.”

“If private citizens want to allow federal law enforcement onto their own property, they should be allowed to do so—free of threats, intimidation and coercion from their radical left-wing mayor who shamelessly compared ICE agents to a neo-Nazi group,” wrote DHS.

Fox News Digital reached out to Wu’s office and the city of Boston for comment.

Wu’s FOIA request came after the Boston City Council adopted an “emergency resolution” earlier this month urging the city to “explore all avenues to oppose” proposed parking leases for ICE in downtown Boston.

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The council said that by adopting the emergency resolution, it was calling on the city to “explore available options to prevent the proposed parking leases and expressed its opposition to an increased ICE presence in the city.”

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Besides Boston, ICE’s notice showed the agency seeking significant numbers of parking spaces in the metropolitan areas of Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and several other cities.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican seeking re-election in a blue-leaning state, is not joining Vice President JD Vance on Monday as he stops in her home state of Maine.

Collins, who at times has opposed President Donald Trump’s legislative priorities, is a top target for Democrats this year as she runs in a midterm race that’s among roughly a dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority.

Vance’s stop in Maine comes as Collins opposes Trump’s move this past weekend to impose 50% tariffs on a range of goods from Canada, which shares a long border with Maine. And the senator is also opposed to new U.S. Postal Service rules that, if implemented, could rein in mail-in voting.

The vice president on Monday delivered remarks in Brewer, Maine, at Compotech, a defense technology manufacturer. It’s the second stop this year by Vance in Maine and the second time that Collins has not teamed up with the vice president.

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“I am already scheduled on Monday, so I will not be able to join the vice president,” Collins told reporters on Saturday.

The Senate was in session when Vance held an event in Bangor, Maine, in May, and Collins stayed in Washington. The senator holds a historic attendance record of casting over 10,000 consecutive roll call votes in the Senate dating back three decades.

But Collins, speaking to reporters as she marched in the annual Madison-Anson Days parade, her seventh parade this summer, highlighted that she teamed up last week with Energy Secretary Chris Wright when he stopped in Maine to tour a federally funded battery storage project in Lincoln built on the site of a closed paper mill.

“I really appreciated Secretary Wright’s presence,” Collins said.

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Collins, who was one of a small group of Republicans who voted to convict Trump in a 2021 Senate trial after the House impeached him following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has at times voted against the Trump administration’s wishes.

“I still think imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake,” Collins said on Saturday.

Collins also referred to the proposed U.S. Post Office rule to implement a Trump executive order to rein in mail-in voting by refusing to deliver absentee ballots in states that have not turned over their raw voter rolls to the Justice Department or Department of Homeland Security.

“Mail-in ballots are very important to the people of Maine,” Collins said. “I do not support restrictions that make it more difficult for seniors to cast votes on Election Day via the mail.”

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Collins says she supports the House version of the federal SAVE America Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act), which mandates documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID for federal elections. But she joined three other Republicans and all Democrats to vote against advancing a Senate version of the bill, which is a top Trump priority.

Collins has also taken issue with the Trump administration over its crackdown on illegal immigration, and its aggressive deportation efforts. The administration received backlash following the fatal shootings by federal enforcement agents of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota who were protesting immigration operations. And the issue flared again this summer, after a fatal ICE shooting in Biddeford, Maine.

Democrats, including her Senate challenger, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, have repeatedly linked her to Trump, and heavily criticized her for her past funding for ICE.

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Collins is the only Republican senator running for re-election in a state then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in the 2024 election. And highlighting her differences with the president and his administration may be beneficial to Collins as she woos independent voters and even some Democrats.

Vance, during his May stop in Maine, said, “Sometimes I get frustrated with Susan Collins.”

“I almost wish that she was more partisan. But the thing I love about Susan is she is independent, because Maine is an independent state. And, frankly, if she was as partisan as I sometimes wish that she was, she would not be a good fit for the people of Maine,” Vance continued.

Vance added, “Let’s give a shoutout to Susan Collins, who’s doing a great job.”

Jackson’s campaign, in a social media post ahead of Vance’s visit, called the vice president “Susan’s pal.”

The vice president reiterated those sentiments in his Monday address in Brewer, Maine, calling Collins his “dear friend.”

“As you know, Susan is the most independent member of the United States Senate and, as the president of the United States Senate, she sometimes makes my job a little bit harder. But she makes it harder because she’s coming to work every single day and fighting not for a political party… she comes to work every single day and fights for the great people of Maine and I’ve seen it,” Vance said.

Jackson, in a social media post and video ahead of Vance’s visit, took aim at Vance and Collins.

“I’m sure JD Vance loves her because she’s doing everything that he wants for her, but she’s not doing it for Maine people,” Jackson argued in an accompanying video.

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Vance was joined in Brewer by former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who is the GOP nominee in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

The most rural district, the largest in the eastern U.S., is a top flip opportunity for the GOP, with moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden declining to seek re-election this year.

The college football season kicks off this Saturday with North Carolina playing Texas Christian University in Dublin, Ireland.

This marks the start of a sprint until early April when college football and basketball practically compete on a near-daily basis with MLB, the NFL, the NBA and NHL.

This college football season begins with lawmakers falling short of a goal to pass a bill to alter the flow of money in college sports. And despite recent momentum, lawmakers may be lucky to pass the bill when the clock shows zeroes on April 5 in Detroit and the NCAA crowns its next basketball Final Four champion.

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President Trump demanded that the Senate stay in session this month to pass a bipartisan college sports measure. That wasn’t going to happen simply because the bill’s not ready yet. The measure didn’t even secure a specific agreement for a test vote when the Senate returns in September. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said there was a deal for a vote at some point. However, an unrelated bill to regulate cryptocurrency marshaled a concrete time for a test vote on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 15. The college sports measure didn’t head into the August recess with that level of certainty.

But the one thing that is certain? Intercollegiate athletics face myriad problems.

“College sports right now is in crisis. It is chaos that is ripping college sports apart,” said Cruz.

“I think that the arms race that exists now where people are just paying any amount of money from a system is not the right way to get this done,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. She’s the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee and helped craft the bipartisan legislation with Cruz.

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The measure establishes a national standard for athlete compensation — including NIL — for the use of name, image and likeness of athletes. It also limits them to one transfer without losing eligibility within a five-year window.

But understanding the bill’s remedies is challenging.

“[The bill] seemed pretty dense when I read it,” yours truly observed to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., one afternoon in a hallway of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

“It’s dense as hell,” replied Kennedy. “And that’s a legal term.”

The measure raises the ceiling of money schools can use to compensate athletes. It essentially allows “third-party entities,” like athletic footwear or equipment manufacturers like Under Armour or Nike, to pipeline additional money to schools.

Naturally, football and men’s basketball score most of the money under the current system. But lawmakers worry that women’s athletics and smaller sports like volleyball, lacrosse and soccer could evaporate unless Congress intervenes.

“It’s the revenue from football and maybe basketball, but mostly football that funds everything else,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

The college sports bill seemed to gain traction in late July when the Big Ten and SEC — the most muscular of all college athletic conferences — announced their support of the legislation. Lawmakers could try to write a bill all they wanted, but with all due respect to the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West, the measure wouldn’t go anywhere unless the Big Ten and SEC were on board.

It was thought that the college sports package might get a test vote before the August recess, but a band of conservatives claimed the legislation fell short when it came to protecting women from competing against men.

“It looks like a bunch of trial lawyers drew this thing up,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a former Division I football coach who ran programs at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati.

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Tuberville teamed up with Sens. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to craft an amendment going further in the legislation. Banks believed that the bill could undercut Indiana state law, which extends prohibitions on biological males competing in K-12 sports to college athletics. Banks expressed concern that the Cruz/Cantwell bill “would preempt Indiana’s law.” The Indiana Republican asserted that he couldn’t support the legislation as written.

However, President Donald Trump torched those who said the bill failed to bar men from playing women’s sports at any level.

“Nobody has done more to protect Women Athletes than me — and this Bill CLEARLY protects the Laws in 27 States protecting Women’s Sports, and banning Men from Women’s Sports. Anyone who tells you differently is LYING!” thundered the president on Truth Social.

Trump worried that without adoption of this legislation, “Programs will be canceled, Women’s and Olympic Sports will go away, the fans will be robbed, and Universities will go broke.” He then asked the Senate to “stay in D.C. until it passes.”

Despite the president’s advocacy, that wasn’t going to happen. However, the legislation does have a new set of downs — thanks to the Big Ten and SEC.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) opposes the bill. In a statement, the CBC said the package fails to incorporate “perspectives of Black athletes.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is the only former Division I football player in the Senate, competing as a tight end for Stanford. He opposes the bill.

“There are a lot of people who have substantive objections with that bill that should give us all pause,” said Booker.

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So the Senate essentially took a timeout on the bill with the August recess. As any fan knows, timeouts are essential in sports. They allow teams to regroup. Rehydrate with water or Gatorade. Players to catch their breath. Coaches to draw up a special play to bring the team to victory.

It’s not known what the play call might be from Cruz, Cantwell or even Trump. Or if anything would work. Some skeptics believe the Senate’s decision to leave Washington without the locked-in test vote could cost the bill momentum — compared to the deal dictating the test vote on the cryptocurrency legislation.

The University of Oklahoma led the nation in red-zone efficiency last season. The Sooners scored touchdowns more than 97% of the time when moving the ball within 20 yards of the end zone.

Ninety-seven percent is a ridiculously efficient figure. The Philadelphia Eagles were the NFL’s best red zone team last season, scoring touchdowns around 70% of the time.

The U.S. Senate is not the gridiron. But it’s clear that the bill to regulate college sports has now entered the legislative red zone. A lot of legislation gets this close to the goal line, but senators rarely enjoy the success of the Sooners or Eagles when it comes to punching it in.

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That’s why it’s possible that this legislative drive could stall — despite a steady march down the field.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met in recent weeks and spoke about possible issues of common ground, according to reports, landing the top House Democrat in hot water with some on the political left who have taken issue with the reported get-together.

The men talked about housing, immigration and high living costs as possible categories of common ground, the New York Times reported. Kushner, the husband of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, suggested that the lawmaker should meet with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, two individuals with knowledge of the meet-up noted, according to the outlet.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ offices and the White House on Monday.

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“Throughout this Congress, Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing that has failed the American people. To stop the madness, we have repeatedly made clear that an extremist approach will not work and will be met with forceful opposition,” Jeffries said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

“The American people want bold change and that’s what House Democrats will deliver. In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable. We are fighting for an affordable America. The question is whether Republicans will join us,” he said in the statement.

Some on the left have objected to the reported meeting between the congressman and Kushner.

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Zeteo founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Mehdi Hasan declared in a post on X, “The only meeting Hakeem Jeffries should be having with Jared Kushner is to tell him he’ll be subpoenaed by the House for a corruption investigation on day one of Democratic control of the House. This is just pathetic stuff from the House Dem leader.”

Michelle Kinney, co-founder of The Mayday Network, wrote on X, “They should be f[—]ing hauling Jared Kushner in front of a committee, not MEETING with him. What in the absolute f— WE ARE ALL SO SICK OF THIS S— — ENOUGH!!!!”

Dean Obeidallah wrote on “The Dean’s Report”: “How could Jeffries not know the meeting would get leaked and it was the wrong thing to do?! This meeting doesn’t help Democrats win in November. In fact, now that we know about it, the result has been many Democrats slamming Jeffries online while some still defend him—causing a distraction to our real goal.”

MIKE JOHNSON TAUNTS HAKEEM JEFFRIES FOR LOSING DEMS’ CIVIL WAR ‘IN HIS OWN BACKYARD’

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While Republicans currently hold a slight majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats have the opportunity to win the majority in the upcoming midterm elections.

If Democrats manage to flip control of the House, Jeffries would be a prime candidate for speaker.

Senate Republicans racing to keep their grip on power have beef with President Donald Trump’s latest affordability push.

A handful of Republicans in the upper chamber aren’t happy with Trump’s directive to allow hundreds of thousands of tons of foreign beef into the U.S. in a bid to lower grocery bills. It comes as Americans’ struggles with everyday affordability have erupted as a key issue for voters across the country.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who is up for re-election this cycle and is one of Trump’s top allies in the Senate, argued that beef prices are high “for a simple reason: Our cattle herd is too small.”

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“Imported beef below market prices will only put more pressure on our cattlemen,” Cotton said on X. “I have advised the President against this ill-advised action in the past and I now urge him to reconsider. We need to support our cattlemen, grow the herd, and let the market work.”

Trump last week announced on Truth Social his intent to flood the market with 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef with a commitment that the product would be sold at 25% below current market prices over a 90-day span.

It comes as ground beef prices have soared to roughly $7 per pound, while the nation’s cattle herd earlier this year hit historic lows not seen since the 1950s, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

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Trump defended his import plan as he headed to South Carolina to stump for Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., arguing “that’s what the people want.”

“That’s what the voters want, and that’s what I want. The ranchers are great. They’re my people. I love the ranchers,” Trump said. “They’ve done a fantastic job, but they admit that we need a little help in order to get the prices down, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Neither Trump, nor the administration, has so far said which countries the ground beef would come from. But earlier this year, he signed an executive order similarly aimed at lowering beef prices by allowing an influx of 80,000 metric tons of beef trimmings from Argentina.

Republicans at the time privately fumed over the directive in a closed-door meeting in the Senate with Vice President JD Vance.

And now, Republicans running for office in America’s heartland again disagree.

“I want to lower prices, but this is a bad idea,” Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, said on X.

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Hinson is running in one of the tightest races in the country to replace retiring Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Cook Political Report rated the race a toss-up last week.

Other in-cycle incumbents aren’t thrilled with Trump’s push, either. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., charged, “This Hurts!,” while Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., contended that he appreciated the work to “lower grocery prices,” but warned that “short-term policy shifts do not equal long-term solutions.”

“Flooding the market with lower quality beef compromises Nebraska farmers and ranchers,” Ricketts said.

Trump’s other key Senate allies aren’t thrilled with the plan either.

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Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., said he’s advised Trump not to do this for the last year because it would harm American ranchers, “most of whom are MAGA Republicans.”

“The president’s heart is in the right place on wanting lower prices for the American people, and beef prices have been impacted by the Mexican screwworm,” Sheehy said.

The White House and the USDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Iran-linked hackers are suspected of forcing a small British power generator offline for four days last month, the latest sign that Tehran-linked cyber activity may be moving from probing vulnerable systems to causing disruptions U.S. officials have long warned about.

Iran-linked hackers were behind the outage, according to British security officials who spoke with multiple news outlets.

“To be clear: there was no threat to the wider grid and nobody lost power. We have one of the most resilient energy systems in the world,” UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks said in a statement.

He described the generator as “tiny” but said his department had briefed CEOs following the intrusion on “steps they should take to stay secure.”

WATER CYBERATTACK HITS AT LEAST 7 STATES

The British shutdown came weeks after hackers struck more than 30 community water systems in Minnesota, accessing technology used to remotely monitor and control pumps and other equipment. Minnesota officials have not publicly attributed the attacks. Several news outlets, citing U.S. officials and a leaked industry threat-sharing memo, reported that Iran was the likely culprit. President Donald Trump has publicly rejected that assessment, saying he did not believe Iran was to blame.

Together, the incidents are putting civilian infrastructure at the center of another front in the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. As the military confrontation stretches into its sixth month, relatively small and often lightly defended water and energy facilities offer hackers a way to cause physical disruption without penetrating a major power grid or striking a military target.

Those facilities can be especially vulnerable because many rely on internet-connected industrial control systems that allow operators to monitor and manage physical equipment remotely. Once inside, hackers can interrupt operations, lock out operators or manipulate controls for pumps and other machinery.

In a July alert, the FBI and Environmental Protection Agency said malicious actors had targeted water and wastewater utilities in at least seven states by accessing exposed programmable logic controllers and changing their internet addresses and passwords. Some incidents disrupted water operations, causing reported pressure loss and flooding.

Federal agencies have also warned that Iranian-affiliated actors have targeted similar industrial devices across water, energy and government sectors, seeking access to the software used to control them. That activity has already caused operational disruptions and financial losses.

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Iranian hackers have pursued U.S. infrastructure before.

The threat extends beyond industrial systems. On Aug. 18, the Justice Department charged 17 members of an Iran-based company with carrying out a sweeping cyber theft campaign targeting hundreds of universities, private companies and government agencies. Prosecutors said many of the intrusions were conducted on behalf of the IRGC and other Iranian entities and resulted in the theft of more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property.

In 2016, the Justice Department charged an Iranian hacker with gaining access to the control system for a dam in Rye, New York. The dam’s sluice gate had been disconnected for maintenance at the time, preventing him from manipulating water levels and flow rates.

More recently, U.S. agencies linked an IRGC-affiliated campaign known as CyberAv3ngers to compromises of Israeli-made industrial controllers at dozens of U.S. facilities in late 2023 and early 2024, including water and wastewater systems, energy companies, food manufacturers and healthcare organizations. The campaign exploited devices exposed to the public internet that were still using default passwords.

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The more recent attacks underscore how little access may be required to produce a physical effect. In Minnesota, compromised controllers affected systems used to track water levels, pressure, pump operations and equipment alarms; in some communities, equipment was temporarily taken offline while operators restored systems.

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Whether Tehran intends a wider campaign against Western infrastructure remains unclear. But the four-day shutdown in Britain illustrates what hackers can do once they gain access to a small industrial system: disrupt physical operations without breaching a major grid operator or triggering a blackout large enough to invite an immediate military response.