NationalWatch

Despite President Donald Trump’s tight clamp on the border, cartels are continuing to attempt to smuggle humans and narcotics by going underground using a vast network of storm drain tunnels in El Paso.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) elite Confined Space Entry Team gave Fox News an exclusive look inside the narrow tunnels, which stretch for miles across the region.

There are 32 entry points into the tunnels from the Rio Grande and hundreds of exit points throughout the city. The team said this makes patrolling the tunnels a game of “whack-a-mole” because smugglers can pop out of storm drains at any point. According to CBP, it is much more difficult for Border Patrol agents to detect and intercept smugglers using these secret routes. Nevertheless, they use technology to detect movement underground, monitor entry points and strategically position teams to intercept groups.

The greatest challenge, a team member told Fox News, is the heat and the time spent in the tunnels’ thick, low-oxygen air. He said that often by the time they encounter a cartel smuggler, “you’re already exhausted, and now, you have to potentially fight with someone underground.”

EXCLUSIVE: GUATEMALAN NATIONALS PLEAD GUILTY TO HORRIFIC HUMAN SMUGGLING CRASH THAT KILLED 56, INJURED 100+

“You can’t call for backup; you can’t call for help. It’s just you and your team versus everybody else,” he said.

Team members said that the number of migrants being smuggled through the tunnels has dropped dramatically under Trump. Whereas there would regularly be groups of 40 to 60 people moving through the tunnels, agents now typically encounter two or three at a time.

Still, the smugglers have not stopped entirely. Reports indicate that cartels have significantly increased their fees for would-be illegal immigrants to take the tunnel routes, with migrants paying $20,000 to $30,000 per person to be guided through the underground routes.

MEXICAN NATIONAL SENTENCED IN BORDER CHILD SMUGGLING CASE INVOLVING THC-LACED CANDY

CBP also said that smugglers are increasingly using social media to recruit and train guides to navigate the hazardous passageways. The conditions underground are perilous, with poor air quality and intense heat, and El Paso daytime summer temperatures often exceed 100 degrees.

To prepare for this mission, the elite CBP team undergoes specialized training to operate underground, monitor oxygen levels and navigate the tunnels.

Fox News got this exclusive look as the Department of Homeland Security announced this week that June marked 14 consecutive months of zero releases at the border, continuing what it touted as an “unprecedented trend of historically low border crossings.”

TRUMP REVERSES DHS POLICY, ORDERS ICE TO RESUME VEHICLE STOPS AFTER ONE-DAY PAUSE

Daily apprehensions at the border are down 94 percent from what they were during the Biden administration, according to DHS.

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Meanwhile, CBP has broken staffing records this spring, the agency announced, reaching 21,471 agents — the most in the agency’s 102-year history.

Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno contributed to this report.

There are 86,410 seconds in a day. 

1,440 minutes. 

The most daylight in Washington, D.C. emerges in June, stretching 14 hours and 57 minutes. 

The shortest is near the winter solstice, clocking in at a scant nine hours and 29 minutes.

Congress can’t change any of that. But it can alter how we perceive it.

Lawmakers routinely fork over to public tax cuts, economic stimulus and the elimination of a cumbersome law or policy. 

Awarding something to the voters is part of the Congressional DNA.

So even though time is finite, lawmakers are again trying to give people something: more daylight.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Sunshine Protection Act this week, 308-117. 

HOUSE PASSES SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT TO MAKE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENT

No. Our sun wasn’t in jeopardy of going supernova — although it is about halfway through its 10 billion year lifespan. Lawmakers weren’t safeguarding it. But they wanted you to think they were.

The Sunshine Protection Act permanently shifts the U.S. onto Daylight Saving Time. That’s a congressionally contrived temporal statute.

In other words, with adoption of the bill, we will never shift back to Standard Time again. 

No more “springing forward” or “falling back.”

We’re on Daylight Saving Time now. And we are here to stay if this becomes law.

“Polling shows that two-thirds of Americans want to unlock the clock. My bill is simply a solution to make Daylight Saving Time permanent,” said Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), one of the chief sponsors of the legislation. “Allowing an extra hour of sunlight in the evening gives families more time for outside sports activities and school.”

An extra hour of sunlight? Really?

In other words, it’s really the same amount of light – or lack thereof – at 7 p.m. under Daylight Saving Time that we could experience at 6 p.m. under Standard Time.

But Congress is in the giving business.

“Why are we forcing families, businesses, and communities to adjust their schedules every spring and fall? The twice-yearly clock change is a relic of the past that no longer reflects the way Americans live,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.)

Perhaps it’s an idea whose time has come.

The biannual time change is maddening.

My mother taught second grade at the same elementary school I attended in rural Ohio. 

One year, the school custodian got to work early on the Monday morning after the fall time change. He began to reset the clocks in each classroom. He maneuvered from south to north through the building, updating the clocks in the kindergarten. Then onto the first grade. Second grade after that. Third grade. Finally, fourth grade.

But as you traversed the school, each clock ran two to three minutes behind the one the custodian set previously.

We theorized that he looked at his watch, say around 7:10 a.m. – and proceeded to set each clock to 7:10 – regardless of the actual time. By the time you got to fourth grade, the clocks were nearly 20 minutes behind schedule.

As they say, timing is everything.

Only an episode involving my mother and grandmother tops the school’s time warp.

My mother once called my grandmother to remind her the time change would kick in at 2 a.m. on Sunday.

My grandmother was incredulous.

“You mean I have to sit up until two o’clock in the morning to change it?” she asked.

Establishing a year-around time isn’t something worth losing sleep over. Most just hate the exercise.

HOUSE PASSES DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME REFORM AS TRUMP SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR ENDING CLOCK CHANGE

“People in Tennessee wanted it gone. It’s ridiculous. In the fall it starts getting dark around 5:00. Kind of depresses me. Really kind of a doggy downer. So I’m kind of digging the fact that we’re going to fix it,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)

Only one member spoke out in opposition when the House debated the time-change bill: Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) 

Her grievances focused on why Congress was even considering the legislation when it wasn’t trained on bread-and-butter subjects which could be key in the midterms.

“We aren’t voting on bills right now that would reduce the sky-high costs of food, fuel, health care, or addressing the President’s war in Iran. Instead, we’re considering a bill that was deadly and dangerous in the past, in the ‘70s,” said Dean.

Dean is referring to an experiment in 1974. Congress voted in late 1973 to park the nation on Daylight Saving Time for two solid years. This would help combat the OPEC oil embargo and fuel shortages.

It was a disaster.

Kids in Washington, DC headed for school around 8:30 a.m. It’s unclear whether the custodian properly adjusted the clocks. But it was “jet black” in DC, according to one news account from the time. Some kids set off for school with flashlights illuminating their paths.

You might not give politics the time of day.

But the time of day infuriated Americans in the mid-1970s.

Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed embraced the year-round time switch in December 1973. 

But that number plunged to 42 percent by August 1974.

Future Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) offered a measure to torpedo the Daylight Saving Time project. It passed. And by fall, everyone was falling back.

A House panel examining the issue declared that changing the clocks “must be balanced against a majority of the public’s distaste for the observance of Daylight Saving Time.”

In 2022, the Senate unexpectedly approved a year-round Daylight Saving Time bill. But it languished as the House hit the snooze button.

Now the House approved an updated version of the legislation. President Trump called switching the clocks “ridiculous.” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) even discussed the issue with him this week.

“He seems to be very enthusiastic about it. I would put it that way. And I think we’re going to move the bill pretty quickly,” said Kennedy. “Some of my colleagues are opposed to it. They’re entitled with their opinion. But I think we’ll have a vote soon.”

If the Senate passes the bill, some people will say it’s about time.

But others, like Madeleine Dean, remember the 1970s.

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George Santayana declared that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

But if you’re running an hour ahead of Daylight Saving Time, perhaps you should switch your clock back and fix it to Standard Time.

A Washington state Democrat hoping to unseat a longtime member of Congress is facing a revolt from within her own party, after reportedly saying she left LGBTQ+ rights off her campaign website because she feared alienating Muslim voters.

Seattle Red first reported that Democrat organizations were reconsidering their endorsements of Melissa Chaudhry, a progressive Democrat challenging longtime Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., in Washington’s 9th Congressional District, after comments she made during an endorsement interview with The Stranger.

When asked why her website did not mention LGBTQ+ issues, Chaudhry replied, “because a lot of Muslims do not feel that way, unfortunately,” according to The Stranger.

The comments quickly sparked backlash from Democrat LGBTQ+ activists, with the Washington State Stonewall Democrats urging organizations to reconsider and rescind their endorsements of Chaudhry.

DEMOCRATS CAUGHT ON CAMERA COACHING CANDIDATE ON HOW TO BE ‘AUTHENTIC’ IN 2026 MESSAGING

“Her comments are disqualifying because they reveal a deliberate choice to hide her positions on LGBTQ+ rights while actively seeking Democratic endorsements,” Washington State Stonewall Democrats chair Andrew Ashiofu told Fox News Digital.

“Anyone running as a Democrat should be bold enough to stand with our community. When a candidate chooses concealment instead of clarity, it raises serious concerns about honesty, integrity, and alignment with core Democratic values,” he added.

Ashiofu said the organization is urging groups to revisit their endorsements because “transparency and trust are foundational to the Democratic endorsement process.”

“When a candidate admits to hiding key civil-rights positions or tailoring their message to avoid acknowledging LGBTQ+ people, that undermines the integrity of every organization that endorsed her in good faith,” he said. “Democratic groups deserve full honesty from candidates, and we believe her comments warrant a reevaluation of any support she has received.”

TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE CLAIMS SHE NEVER CALLED FOR ‘INTERNMENT CAMPS’ AFTER PARTY LEADERS CONDEMN HER

The Washington State Stonewall Democrats specifically called on organizations that have endorsed Chaudhry, including the 11th, 33rd, 37th and 43rd District Democrats, to reconsider their support.

Ashiofu also told Fox News Digital that neither Chaudhry nor her campaign has contacted the organization since the controversy became public.

“Our position is straightforward: LGBTQ+ rights are not optional within the Democratic Party. They are foundational,” he said.

“Candidates seeking Democratic support must be willing to champion our community openly, consistently, and without hesitation,” Ashiofu continued. “When a candidate admits to hiding their stance or misleading voters and endorsing bodies, that is a breach of trust. Democratic organizations should hold candidates to the highest standards of transparency and integrity because our community deserves nothing less.”

DEM CIVIL WAR HITS PRIMARY DEBATE STAGE IN FIERY BATTLEGROUND SHOWDOWN: ‘WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?’

The controversy expanded beyond LGBTQ+ issues after The Stranger also reported that Chaudhry said she intended to run as a Democrat before switching to the Green Party if elected to Congress.

The outlet also reported that she asked the information not be made public during the endorsement process.

That revelation prompted additional concern among local Democrat leaders.

According to The Stranger, members of the 33rd District Democrats have discussed changing their bylaws because current rules do not allow an endorsement to be rescinded once it has been awarded.

Conservative radio host and Seattle commentator Jason Rantz, who first reported the controversy for Seattle Red, said the dispute underscores competing priorities within the Democratic coalition.

“Democrats built their coalition on the promise that every marginalized identity group wins simultaneously, and Melissa Chaudhry just proved the pandering doesn’t always work,” Rantz told Fox News Digital.

“When intersectionality forces progressives to rank Muslim voters against LGBTQ activists, somebody gets thrown overboard. Now the same party that preaches inclusion is rewriting its own bylaws to purge one of its own, because in the so-called oppression Olympics, there’s always a loser on the podium.”

Chaudhry pushed back on the criticism in a post on X, insisting she has supported LGBTQ+ rights throughout her life.

“For the record: I’ve supported full equality for LGBTQ+ people my entire life — not since this campaign started. My entire life,” she wrote.

Chaudhry said her only sibling is LGBTQIA+, that she helped found her high school’s Gay Straight Alliance “back when we had to keep the meeting location secret for our own safety,” and that one of her closest friends is “a disabled lesbian woman raising her family against immense stigma.”

“This is not a talking point for me. It is the fabric of my life,” she wrote.

Chaudhry also accused the media of misrepresenting her remarks, writing, “The media that ignored three years of rape and death threats against a federal candidate is now running with a lie. I’m setting the record straight — in my own voice.”

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She also has said the atmosphere during the endorsement interview contributed to her remarks, describing the meeting as hostile, according to The Stranger.

Smith, who has represented Washington’s 9th Congressional District since 1997, faces multiple challengers in the Democratic primary, including Chaudhry.

Chaudhry’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

President Donald Trump is throwing his political weight behind the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, urging his sister, the newly appointed South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, to run in next month’s special Republican primary and vowing to give her his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”

The endorsement, which came in a Truth Social post Friday just days after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham Nordone to temporarily fill the seat left vacant by her brother’s sudden death last week.

Graham Nordone will serve until the new Congress convenes in January, while Republicans who want the full term are set to compete in an Aug. 11 special primary.

“She is a spectacular person, and a true American Patriot. Lindsey was one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, and his sister shares his deep love of our Country, and the State of South Carolina,” Trump said in his Truth post. “I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey.”

DARLINE GRAHAM CONSIDERING RUNNING FOR FULL A SENATE TERM AS MEMORIAL SERVICES SET FOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: REPORT

Trump added that Graham Nordone “comes from an absolutely incredible family,” arguing she “has been a WINNER all of her life and, should she accept, has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”

The newly minted U.S. Senator represents a series of firsts for the Senate and for her home state as the first female senator from the Palmetto State and the first sister ever appointed to the upper chamber.

Privately, Graham Nordone has reportedly expressed interest in running for a full term.

GRAHAM’S DEATH IGNITES GOP SCRAMBLE FOR SENATE SEAT AS TRUMP HINTS HE ALREADY HAS A FAVORITE

Three people familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press that Graham Nordone has started having conversations about a potential campaign.

She was appointed to fulfill the remainder of her brother’s term on Monday by McMaster, and was sworn in on Tuesday.

The filing period for a special primary runs from July 21 to July 28, and the primary is scheduled for Aug. 11. 

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Several other noteworthy politicians — including Reps. Russell Fry, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, as well as Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette — have been eyeing a run, the AP also reported.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller and Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Friday blamed Canada for smoke from ongoing wildfires that has drifted into the United States, accusing the country of “willful negligence” in forest management and suggesting the economic costs of the pollution should be added to tariffs on Canadian imports.

“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Trump said he planned to call Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney later Friday to discuss the issue.

TRUMP SHOULD EXPAND HIS BORDER CRACKDOWN. TIMING IS PERFECT TO REIN IN CANADA AND MEXICO

“I will call the Prime Minister during the day to find out what they are going to do about it,” Trump wrote.

The president argued Canada had refused to engage in “basic Forest Management and Debris Removal,” despite knowing such practices could help reduce the risk of devastating wildfires.

“Canada has refused to engage in basic Forest Management and Debris Removal, knowing that such refusal will lead to exactly this result,” Trump wrote. “This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”

CALIFORNIA SUES TRUMP EPA OVER MOVE TO SUBJECT STATE VEHICLE EMISSIONS WAIVERS TO CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW

Trump did not say how such costs would be incorporated into existing tariffs or whether he intended to pursue formal trade action tied to the wildfire smoke.

The comments come as smoke from nearly 850 active wildfires across Canada — including more than 180 in Ontario — has drifted into the United States, prompting air quality alerts in more than 20 states from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast, according to NASA.

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Health officials have warned that wildfire smoke can pose health risks, particularly for people with underlying heart or lung conditions, and have advised residents in affected areas to monitor local air quality and limit outdoor activity when conditions worsen.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office and Natural Resources Canada for comment.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday that states refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s election-security requirements could lose federal funding, while warning that election officials who disregard information provided by DHS could face fines, penalties or even prison time.

“If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections and they chose not to, then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even depending on how far it goes, prison time,” said Mullin.

Mullin held a press conference following President Donald Trump’s address to the nation Thursday evening on “free and fair” elections. Mullin did not identify what law election officials would violate or what charges could be brought if they declined to act on information provided by DHS.

Trump announced the declassification of intelligence that he alleged reveals “shocking vulnerabilities” related to “hacking, exploitation and foreign interference.”

‘SHADOW GOVERNMENT’: TRUMP CLAIMS INTEL COMMUNITY BRAGGED ABOUT HIDING CHINESE MEDDLING

Twenty-three states are participating in DHS’ expanded SAVE program, which allows election officials to compare voter records against federal immigration data. Mullin separately said CISA would release an updated election-infrastructure plan within 30 days. Several Republican-led states, including Mississippi, North Dakota and West Virginia, are not currently participating in the partnership.

“Every state that’s not participating with us should be asked the hard question why not? What are you afraid of? If they’re not willing to do it … it should raise serious questions. It’s not that hard. This isn’t a partisan issue,” said Mullin.

DHS has announced election-security conditions for recipients of FEMA’s Homeland Security Grant Program. Mullin also said he was working with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on security requirements.

DHS PLANS COSTLY CRACKDOWN ON STATES THAT DON’T COOPERATE ON ELECTION SECURITY

Mullin said DHS identified 250,000 voter-registration records in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania that the department believes belong to noncitizens.

Mullin urged all states to join DHS’ election security program so officials can compare voter rolls against federal immigration and other databases to identify potentially ineligible registrations.

WATCH: ELISSA SLOTKIN SAYS SAVE AMERICA ACT WOULD MAKE IT ‘HARD FOR ANY DEMOCRAT’ TO WIN AN ELECTION

“States must do their part to secure our election system, and we stand by to help,” said Mullin.

During the press conference, Mullin urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act,, which includes provisions requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo identification at the polls.

“I think the Save Act should be passed tomorrow. I think it should have already been passed,” said Mullin.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune has cast doubt on the bill’s path forward, saying Republicans do not have the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and DHS for comment.

Darline Graham has privately expressed interest in running for a full Senate term, a report said, as memorial services have been announced for her late brother Lindsey Graham.

Three people familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press that Darline Graham has started having conversations about a potential campaign. She was appointed to fulfill the remainder of her brother’s term on Monday by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and was sworn in on Tuesday.

The filing period for a special primary runs from July 21 to July 28, and the primary is scheduled for Aug. 11. Several other noteworthy politicians — including Reps. Russell Fry, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, as well as Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette — have been eyeing a run, the AP also reported.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S SISTER CARRIES ON LATE SENATOR’S WORK, BECOMING SOUTH CAROLINA’S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR

Meanwhile, the late Graham’s communications director said Friday that the late senator’s “life and legacy” will be celebrated on Tuesday, July 28, in Washington, D.C., and on Wednesday, July 29, in Columbia and Pickens County, South Carolina.

Darline Graham is the first female senator from the Palmetto State and the first sister ever appointed to the upper chamber.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S FINAL ACT REVERBERATES IN SENATE AS SISTER IS URGED TO ‘KEEP PEDALING’

“Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him,” Darline Graham said during her appointment ceremony this week. “My brother was the most amazing person, outstanding leader and just a genuinely good man.”

She is expected to act as a caretaker for the seat, finishing off the remainder of Lindsey Graham’s term through January.

Lindsey Graham died Saturday at age 71.

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A statement released by Graham’s office on Sunday cited preliminary findings from the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, identifying the cause of death as an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Fox News Digital’s Melissa Rudy, Alex Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Secretary Marco Rubio’s call for global cooperation to combat far-left political terrorism could implicate Neville Roy Singham, a Marxist nonprofit financier who is currently facing a federal grand jury probe in New York.

Singham, a 72-year-old American who sold his tech company for $785 million in 2017 and now lives in Shanghai, is known to fund pro-Chinese Communist Party groups that operate in the U.S. He has funneled $278 million into the broad network of nonprofits since 2017, according to a Fox News Digital investigation. These groups regularly organize and participate in anti-ICE, anti-Israel and pro-Iran demonstrations.

At a State Department summit held in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Rubio urged more than 60 countries to treat far-left global terrorism as a counterterrorism priority.

DOJ LAUNCHES GRAND JURY PROBE INTO MARXIST MOGUL NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S FUNDING OF LEFTIST GROUPS

“For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot – a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left, Rubio said. “Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream, or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy.”

Rubio noted that networks are coordinating across multiple countries, providing training instructions and using encrypted communication to facilitate unrest. He said that international cooperation is critical to disrupting the financing of dangerous organizations, and that some are working with hostile foreign states.

Rubio did not mention Singham by name and State Department officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Singham’s web of nonprofits are known to promote communist and Marxist ideals on social media platforms and on the ground at demonstrations across the country. Code Pink, which was co-founded by Singham’s wife, Jodie Evans, regularly protests in the U.S. Capitol, confronting lawmakers and openly admits that “China is Not Our Enemy.”

RUBIO PUTS ENTIRE WORLD ON NOTICE AGAINST RISE OF ‘POISONOUS’ FAR-LEFT TERROR ‘MASKED AS EQUALITY’

Rubio mentioned the dangerous influence Marxist beliefs can have when tied to acts of terrorism. He said the left often seems to excuse violence carried out by its own extremists.

“A bomb planted by a neo-Nazi group was a nefarious and murderous act of evil,” Rubio said. “But a bomb planted by a Marxist revolutionary – well, that’s just merely a tragic excess of idealism. Perhaps its means were misplaced or overzealous, but its ends were virtuous and just. That’s the implication of how they treat it.”

Congress has also taken note of Singham’s activities. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., launched an investigation into the Singham nonprofit network last year, and members in the upper chamber are also sounding the alarm on Singham’s ties to China.

“Chinese-funded, anti-American billionaires like Neville Roy Singham are instigating far-left chaos across our country,” Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital. “This needs to stop, and Secretary Rubio is rightly taking action to confront this transnational scourge head-on.”

INTEL EXPERT SAYS SINGHAM NETWORK IS MORE THAN A NONPROFIT SCANDAL—IT’S A SECURITY THREAT

Last month, Fox News Digital reported that the Department of Justice has launched a grand jury investigation into alleged financial crimes. Singham hasn’t responded to repeated requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the grand jury in Manhattan has issued subpoenas as part of a probe launched by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York, one of the country’s most powerful districts for federal prosecutions. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche authorized the investigation as the Trump administration seeks to crack down on fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes in the multibillion-dollar nonprofit industry.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met privately with Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon in New York earlier this year, where, according to sources familiar with the discussion, he warned that the firm could come under scrutiny over its alleged role in the movement of funds tied to Singham.

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During the meeting, Bessent encouraged Solomon to fully cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation, telling him that Goldman Sachs’ handling of the Singham-linked funds could become part of the federal probe should they choose not to cooperate.

A source with knowledge of the conversation told Fox News Digital that the exchange was cordial, and that Solomon indicated Goldman Sachs would aid investigators.

“All distributions from Mr. Singham’s donor-advised fund were made to legal nonprofits, as determined by the IRS,” a Treasury spokesperson said. “There have been no distributions from the account since August 2023, and it was closed in early 2024.”

Thirty days after the U.S. and Iran entered a two-month negotiating period intended to produce a final peace agreement between the two countries, they appear closer to a widening war than to a diplomatic breakthrough.

Friday marks the halfway point of the 60-day window established under the June 17 memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, which called for negotiations for Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, sanctions and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Friday marks the halfway point of the 60-day window established under the June 17 memorandum of understanding deal between the U.S. and Iran, which called for negotiations over Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, sanctions and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

But the first half of that period has been marked by repeated Iranian attacks on commercial vessels, hundreds of U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets and retaliatory missile and drone attacks across the region, and President Donald Trump declaring the ceasefire “over.”

VANCE REVEALS TRUMP LESSON GUIDING IRAN DEAL STRATEGY AS TEHRAN FACES 60-DAY DEADLINE

The Trump administration also has withdrawn one of the most significant concessions it offered Iran under the agreement — a temporary waiver allowing Iran to sell oil — and restored a naval blockade that had been lifted after the memorandum was signed.

With only 30 days remaining, the administration is increasingly relying on military and economic pressure in an effort to bring Iran back to substantive negotiations before the window closes. Failure would leave the two sides without a clear diplomatic path to address Iran’s nuclear and missile programs or restore safe passage through one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

Trump nevertheless said Thursday that Iran had made a fresh overture to the U.S.

“We received a call just as I was coming here, and they want to meet,” Trump said during a Fox News interview Thursday.

“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle,” he added in remarks later that day. “We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off.”

The Iranian mission to the United Nations could not immediately be reached for comment on the status of negotiations.

The White House referred to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments in a news briefing Thursday: “Iran  very much continues to talk to the United States of America and expressed that they want to make a deal with us because they are suffering devastating blows. On behalf of our United States military. The reason and this is important for the American people to understand the reason for the recent strikes over the course of the last several days is because  Iran  violated the memorandum of understanding that we struck with them.”

The agreement initially provided Iran with an immediate economic incentive to remain in the process. On June 22, the Treasury Department issued a general license authorizing the production, delivery and sale of Iranian crude oil, petrochemicals and petroleum products through Aug. 21.

TRUMP’S $300B IRAN INVESTMENT FUND MAY BE ‘CLOSE TO IMPOSSIBLE’ DUE TO IRGC SANCTIONS LAW, EXPERT WARNS

But the administration revoked that authorization less than three weeks later after Iran attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

A U.S. official said at the time that the agreement was “entirely performance-based” and warned that Iran would receive benefits only if it demonstrated “good behavior.”

“Iran’s actions in the strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences,” the official said. “Our negotiators continue to work in good faith toward a final deal.”

TRUMP THREATENS TO EXPAND STRIKES ON IRAN, SAYS POWER PLANTS ARE NEXT TO GO: ‘HIT THEM HARD’

Iran accused Washington of violating the memorandum, arguing that Tehran was complying with its obligations by managing passage through the strait. Iranian officials blamed shipping companies for using routes that had not been coordinated with Tehran.

Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum, argued that Washington and Tehran entered the negotiating period with fundamentally different objectives.

“The U.S. saw it as an opportunity to get a long-term agreement,” Roman told Fox News Digital. “The Iranians saw it as an opportunity to rearm.”

Roman said the renewed fighting suggests the administration now views military pressure as a prerequisite for diplomacy.

“You have to hit them hard before you get an agreement,” he said.

Former Trump Defense Secretary Mark Esper, however, questioned whether an expanded bombing campaign would force Iran to change course.

“I’m not confident that if we picked up the bombing the way we did months ago and sustained it for a period of time, that that would have a big change,” Esper told the Financial Times.

Esper instead argued for “comprehensive” economic pressure backed by international support, though he acknowledged that approach would require time and impose costs on American consumers.

“How do you pressure them?” Esper said. “One option is you resort to full military onslaught. The other one is you strangle them economically.”

Esper said the strategy would require “time, patience (and) discipline” and could mean higher gasoline prices in the short term.

The sanctions reversal coincided with a dramatic expansion of U.S. military operations against Iran.

The fighting resumed within days of the agreement and accelerated sharply in early July after Iran attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said U.S. forces subsequently struck more than 300 Iranian targets over three nights, including air defenses, missile and drone sites, coastal radars and naval capabilities.

The campaign has since expanded deeper into Iran.

The sixth consecutive night of U.S. strikes marked a new phase in the campaign, with roads, bridges and military bases around Bandar Abbas among the targets, Fox News has learned. The strikes were aimed at cutting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces off from resupply routes and further isolating them around the strategic port city, which is central to Iran’s ability to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. also reinstated its blockade of Iranian ports and disabled the Curaçao-flagged tanker Belma after CENTCOM said it ignored warnings while sailing toward Iran’s primary oil-export terminal.

Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks against countries hosting U.S. forces across the Gulf. On Friday, an Iranian strike damaged a major power and desalination plant in Kuwait, while Qatar, Bahrain and other regional states reported additional incoming attacks.

“All the infrastructure in the region will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran” if the United States carries out those attacks, Iranian military spokesman Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari said in remarks carried by Fars news agency.

“Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extraregional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added, calling the waterway Iran’s “invincible red line.”

Despite the escalating threats, Trump has continued to argue that a diplomatic resolution remains possible.

“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle,” Trump said Wednesday. “We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off.”

One potential sign that communication remains open came Wednesday, when Iran allowed U.S.-Iranian citizen Dena Karari to leave the country after preventing her departure since December 2024. Trump thanked Iran for what he described as a “gesture of goodwill.”

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Salvaging the agreement would now require the two sides to move beyond preliminary contacts, halt the widening cycle of retaliation and return to negotiations over the nuclear, missile and sanctions issues at the heart of the memorandum.

The next 30 days will determine whether the renewed military pressure creates leverage for that diplomacy — or ensures the negotiating window closes with the United States and Iran again at war.

Fox News’ Jen Griffin contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said Friday that the White House is searching for a “vandal proof material” following alleged damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.

“The Reflecting Pool, so badly damaged by Deranged Vandals, has been emptied as the massive slash gets repaired. We got it through the great July Fourth Weekend. What kind of animals would do such a thing?” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“We are looking for a Vandal Proof material, but such a thing should not have been necessary. The Scum in Court will hopefully be prosecuted to the MAX,” Trump added.

There have been multiple arrests in relation to the alleged vandalism of the basin, with Trump saying in late June that “they took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete,” and that “they also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the pool.”

LINCOLN MEMORIAL REFLECTING POOL DRAINED AGAIN AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RESUMES REPAIRS

Trump ordered a restoration project for the Reflecting Pool earlier this year as part of his effort to refurbish D.C. landmarks ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The project was later beset by an algae bloom, and sections of the new blue coating began peeling from the bottom of the pool.

FORMER US OLYMPIAN DAVID HEARN INDICTED IN ALLEGED REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM

According to court documents, U.S. Park Police responded to a report of damage at the Reflecting Pool on June 9. Investigators said caulk had been spread over foam sealant that had been cut with a “sharp knife or razor,” the newly applied surface coating had been damaged, and roughly 70 fence post caps had been thrown into the pool.

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn was also indicted on a felony destruction of property charge following his arrest in connection to a June 19 incident at the landmark.

Hearn denied damaging the pool, saying he stopped on a bike ride and touched a loose piece of the peeling blue coating “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen.”

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Hearn, 67, has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Fox News Digital’s Ryan Canfield, Michael Sinkewicz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

After Democrat Tim Walz doubled down on his move to pardon a foreign child rapist prior to his deportation, the State Department took another swing at the Minnesota governor in an escalating back-and-forth.

The Minnesota Board of Pardons, comprised of Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison and state Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, granted clemency to Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, 42, on June 10. Vang was scheduled to be deported from the United States before the pardon.

“Governor Walz’s pardon of a convicted foreign sex offender was a grave and unconscionable betrayal of the very people he is supposed to defend,” State Department Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson told Fox News Digital.

WALZ, MINNESOTA BOARD OF PARDONS CLEARS CONVICTED ILLEGAL ALIEN CHILD SEX OFFENDER FACING DEPORTATION

“Walz’s plot to sacrifice the safety of Americans on the altar of open borders was thwarted by Secretary Rubio. Now this foreign criminal will never harm another American,” he continued.

Vang was convicted for repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004, and told authorities after he was arrested that “it is a cultural thing… to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked Vang’s visa earlier this month, and he was deported back to Laos.

Walz defended the clemency move in a Tuesday press conference, contending that deportation of a convicted child rapist did not make the U.S. safer.

“Did that make us any safer?” Walz questioned. “Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable? Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?”

TIM WALZ OFFERS STRANGE DEFENSE FOR PARDONING CONVICTED CHILD RAPIST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEPORTED

Still, Walz admitted that Vang’s crimes were “horrific.”

The State Department raked Walz over the coals for downplaying Vang’s crimes.

“Walz sides with foreign criminals. Secretary Rubio sides with the American people,” Johnson told Fox News Digital of the governor’s remarks. “Walz wants open borders. This administration ended the era of mass migration. Walz endangered the American people. Secretary Rubio protected them.”

EXPOSED DOCS REVEAL WHY TIM WALZ BOARD AWARDED REPEAT CHILD RAPIST PARDON: ‘NO FUTURE’

Upon last week’s announcement that the State Department had skirted Walz’s pardon and deported Vang anyway, Rubio scolded Walz for granting Vang clemency in the first place.

“Americans should never have to live in fear that foreign sex predators — shielded from deportation by their own elected officials — could endanger them or their children,” he told Fox News Digital

“That’s why I terminated his legal status in the United States,” he continued. “Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again.”

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At the time of Vang’s pardon, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) feared that the move would shield the criminal illegal alien from deportation.

“Governor Tim Walz’s decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said at the time.

“These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting.”

A company where the husband of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is a partner was selected for a nearly $2 billion deal to build a new courthouse in Springfield, Massachusetts — a decision now being challenged in court by rejected bidders who allege conflicts of interest tainted the process.

Conan Harris, who has been married to the Massachusetts Democrat for more than a decade, is a partner with John Barros in CoJo Real Estate, which is part of the Liberty Junction team selected in early July for the 40-year courthouse lease, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs allege Barros’ role as interim executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) created a conflict of interest because several members of that agency’s board also serve on the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, the state agency that selected Liberty Junction.

The lawsuit also described Harris as having “deep conflicts,” but its most detailed allegations center on Barros’ leadership role at the MCCA, another state agency.

‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’: JUDGE WHO AXED TRUMP NAME FROM DC LANDMARK TIED TO ANTI-TRUMP CONSPIRACY THEORY

Pressley, a member of the “Squad,” was not accused of any wrongdoing by the plaintiffs, and there is no evidence she was involved in the bidding process to rebuild the aging Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse.

Records show the bidding process formally began June 30, 2025, when DCAMM released its request for proposals for the Springfield courthouse project.

The plaintiffs argued that when Barros became the head of the MCCA on Jan. 14, 2026, he did not disclose his participation in the courthouse bidding process to the State Ethics Commission.

The lawsuit also said the Liberty Junction proposal was not updated to indicate that Barros had been appointed to a leading role on the MCCA.

RED-STATE AUDITOR REPORTS ‘EXPLOSION’ OF FRAUD TIPS AS HE TARGETS STATE EMPLOYEES ‘RACKING UP’ TAXPAYER WASTE

Massachusetts law generally bars state employees from having a direct or indirect financial interest in state contracts, unless they qualify for an exemption, such as by making required disclosures to the State Ethics Commission and not participating in the contracting agency’s work.

Fox News Digital reached out to Barros and Harris for comment.

Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, defended the bidding process in a statement to reporters this week, saying that the city of Springfield deserves a new courthouse and calling the current building “sick.”

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“This was a competitive procurement process. It was a competitive bid, and the project that was chosen was the one that cost the taxpayers the least. I stand up for taxpayers. I’m all about supporting whatever is going to cost the taxpayers the least amount of money, as somebody who wants to protect taxpayer dollars,” Healey said on Wednesday, according to WWLP-TV.

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told the Boston Herald on Tuesday that the Healey administration should “immediately pause this deal, release the relevant procurement records, conflict disclosures, scoring documents, and communications, and allow these allegations to be fully reviewed.”

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

Following a week of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle stops making national headlines, a federal special agent working in deportations revealed why vehicle stops are a “very important” part of the agency’s operations.

After the second ICE officer-involved shooting in a week took place in Maine on Monday, agents nationwide were given guidance to pause vehicle stops until further notice. That guidance, however, was overruled by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, who called vehicle stops “one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools.”

Though controversial, the agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said vehicle stops are actually the preferred tactic for many officers, because they are safer for both law enforcement and the subject than home apprehensions, and they allow more time to identify the target than street apprehensions.

Perhaps most notably, while vehicle stops have been widely criticized, the agent explained that they decrease “collateral” arrests, which they said are the apprehension of illegal immigrants who were not the target of the operation but were “at the wrong place at the right time.”

“[Vehicle stops] lead to a higher success rate in apprehending the target that they [ICE officers] are looking for and not getting the collateral. The collateral is the person that we’re not looking for, but we encounter, and they deem them as having no legal presence and/or illegal; therefore, they are going to have an admin arrest done on them.”

ICE RESUMES NATIONWIDE TRAFFIC STOPS UNDER NEW POLICY REQUIRING BODY CAMERAS

The agent said vehicle stops are a “daily” part of ICE’s operations. They described the stops as a critical “tool in the toolbox” for federal officers working on deportation operations.

Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow on border security and immigration at the Heritage Foundation, explained that vehicle stops have become increasingly “crucial” due to growing operational risks.

“When you have to go to someone’s house, we’ve seen how difficult that can be if they don’t want you in. You need warrants, and if you’re breaking down doors, chances of somebody getting hurt are significantly higher,” he said.

“What they’re trying to do is find people and take them into custody in the calmest, quietest, safest manner possible,” Hankinson continued. “So, ideal is when local law enforcement and police presence will honor ICE detainers, and they’ll hand them over at prisons when they’re finished their sentence or their hearing or whatever it is. But when they release particularly violent criminals into the city, they will go to ground, they’ll hide, they’ll hide in places where they’re hard to find. And so, it is easier to stop them in their vehicle when they are going from A to B than it is to try to pick them up in a building with doors that are locked.”

At the same time, Hankinson called out groups using the possibility of danger in these operations to push for an end to all enforcement operations.

DOJ ACCUSES MARYLAND OF ‘ACTIVE AND DELIBERATE EFFORT’ TO PREVENT DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: LAWSUIT

“They will pretend that what they really want is safety and that they just don’t want anybody getting hurt. But if you scratch the surface, you realize that’s not actually their goal. If we were able to carry out deportations in 100% perfect safety and security, they would still oppose it.”

In a social media post this week, Trump wrote, “We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!”

The president reasoned that the announced DHS policy shift would be “playing right into the criminal’s [sic] hands.”

Addressing federal agents directly, he then said, “ICE, be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”

The agent said that Trump’s reversal was a “huge” boost for ICE officers. The agent also noted that despite the reversal, new training on vehicle stops and how to respond to dangerous situations is already being administered to many officers operating in the field. They said that, especially given the increase in often adversarial public attention, they would “welcome” even more training for officers on vehicle stops.

“Any time you take a tool out of the toolbox, it is going to create challenges for [agents] to do their job in a more efficient way,” the agent said.

HARRIS CALLS FOR ICE PROBE AFTER MAINE SHOOTING AMID RENEWED ‘BORDER CZAR’ CRITICISM

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“In other words, if I’m encountering them on a sidewalk, and they see me, and they can get in the car and leave, that’s what they’re going to do. And I don’t have any recourse, or our team will not have a recourse to go after him and stop him,” the agent said. “We’d have to hope he stops or, God forbid, he crashes into something and causes property and/or bodily harm to someone else, a third party.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone; I really don’t,” they said. “I think any sane person would be in agreement with me to say, ‘Hey, let’s look at how we can do this safer for everybody.'”

China pushed back Friday after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of “working to influence the results” of the 2020 presidential election, describing his accusation as “entirely fabricated.”

Trump said in a primetime speech Thursday night that “in mid 2018, China was working to influence the results of the U.S. midterm elections and later the results of the 2020 presidential election itself.”

Trump said in a primetime speech Thursday night that newly released documents “show CIA reporting explicitly stated, and I quote, in mid 2018, the Chinese Communist Party’s policy was to leverage all domestic and foreign elements that were opposed to the U.S. president in an effort to reduce the U.S. president’s votes and make him resign or prevent his reelection.”

“The reason they wanted me to lose is because they knew I was wise to them,” Trump added, while also accusing members of the U.S. intelligence community of operating a “shadow government” to allegedly conceal evidence of China’s efforts to influence U.S. elections.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Friday said “the relevant allegations by the U.S. are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying China.”

“We have no interest in interfering in US elections and have never done so,” Jian said.

‘SHADOW GOVERNMENT’: TRUMP CLAIMS INTEL COMMUNITY BRAGGED ABOUT HIDING CHINESE MEDDLING

Asked whether this might affect the expected visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the U.S. in September, the spokesperson replied: “As I just said, we urge the U.S. to stop making an issue of China in its elections and do something conducive to China-U.S. relations.”

Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. Instead, he argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perceptions.

Trump said intelligence officials kept significant reporting out of his presidential briefings and highlighted an email in which a National Security Agency analyst allegedly wrote, “We have deliberately massaged our one pending [presidential daily brief] to avoid any direct links to the election.”

“Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden,” Trump claimed. “They did not disclose (it) to me as president or to anyone else.”

Trump used the disclosures to press Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, casting the newly released intelligence as evidence that lawmakers must tighten federal election rules before the midterms.

SENATE FACES ‘COME-TO-JESUS’ MOMENT ON TRUMP’S ELECTION PRIORITY UNDER GOP’S NEW PLAN

The SAVE America Act passed the House in February but stalled in the Senate in March, when a 53–47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance it. Trump urged Americans to call their senators and representatives and demand its passage “without delay.”

The Trump administration also announced Thursday it will drastically shorten visas for foreign journalists in the U.S. to 240 days, down from years, and cut those for Chinese journalists to only 90 days.

China’s Foreign Ministry called the decision “discriminatory” and said it would affect the work of Chinese media in the U.S.

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“China urges the U.S. to immediately revoke its discriminatory policies targeting Chinese journalists and effectively safeguard their lawful rights and interests in the U.S.,” Jian said during a daily briefing in Beijing.

He added that “China reserves the right to take reciprocal countermeasures.”

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House GOP leaders are scrambling to approve a sprawling budget reconciliation package packed with defense and election integrity priorities, but Republican lawmakers in both chambers are pouring cold water on the process.

The intraparty skepticism, including concerns over the lack of spending offsets, is throwing the ambitious timeline into doubt. And the move to attach the SAVE America Act to the process has already turned off some of its GOP opponents.

“If we keep on layering layers of complexity, like another bogus attempt at the SAVE Act, then we’re never gonna get it done,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said.

When asked if it included the legislation if he would vote “no,” Tillis said, “Absolutely.”

SENATE FACES ‘COME-TO-JESUS’ MOMENT ON TRUMP’S ELECTION PRIORITY UNDER GOP’S NEW PLAN

“And I’ll slow other things down, too,” the retiring senator said. “It’s a waste of time. It’s an exercise of futility, and those are the only positive things I can think of to say about it.”

Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has voiced confidence that both chambers can approve a budget blueprint — the first step in the complex reconciliation process — before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess. The House Budget Committee advanced the budget plan Thursday, teeing up floor consideration as soon as next week.

But across the building, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that Johnson’s assurance was, “news to me.”

Thune acknowledged the desire to push both defense funding and the SAVE America Act through the party line process, but warned of consequences that could appear along the way.

“Again, the question is $60 billion worth the risk of putting something like that on the floor, and all the other harm that could potentially come from that,” Thune said.

The truncated timeline comes as the House is expected to leave for August recess by the end of next week, while the Senate will depart Washington, D.C., the first week of August. Some in the upper chamber argue that lawmakers shouldn’t go home if their work isn’t done.

“If we don’t get this done, we’re gonna to — I think we’re gonna have to stay,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.

The Trump administration is also providing backup to reconciliation 3.0’s proponents.

The White House sent an internal memo to Hill offices Thursday expressing support for House Republicans’ $95 billion budget framework, which would allocate $73 billion in defense and intelligence funding among other provisions in a forthcoming bill.

“Congress must pass this budget resolution—without modification—immediately,” the document said in part.

Several Republicans told Fox News Digital they believe that will be a tough sell.

TRUMP’S VOTER ID BILL CATCHES UNLIKELY BREAK AS MCCONNELL REMAINS SIDELINED

California Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, told Fox News Digital he is “skeptical” about a third reconciliation bill.

Kiley said he is concerned that the $73 billion in defense funding could be spent with little congressional oversight.

“This is really our opportunity here for the House to assert itself when it comes to directing the resolution of this conflict on acceptable terms,” the California lawmaker said, referring to the war with Iran.

Kiley also said he opposes the budget reconciliation process because it intentionally cuts out Democrats from negotiations and said lawmakers should be relying on the normal appropriations process.

He voted against Republicans’ $72 billion immigration enforcement funding package earlier this year in part because the measure lacked buy-in from Democrats.

Fiscal hawks in both chambers have griped that the budget blueprint does not direct Congress to cut any spending — a move that would almost certainly increase budget deficits and contribute to the national debt.

“I think you got to pay for it,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told reporters Thursday.

The lack of spending offsets was met with a cold reception in the upper chamber as well.

“Our national debt is a runaway train. The next reconciliation bill should be fully paid for,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost re-election to a Trump-backed challenger, wrote on social media Thursday.

Burlison also said he does not support Republicans’ strategy of using a $10 billion funding pool to distribute grants to incentivize states to implement elements of the SAVE America Act, including citizenship verification and voter ID requirements.

He added that he could be convinced to vote for the budget framework if GOP leaders are able to force Democratic-led states to implement those provisions.

“To me, it’s not worth it if it’s weak language,” he continued. “You have huge incentives in Obamacare, and you still have 11 states that rejected hundreds of millions of dollars to expand Medicaid. So it’s nothing for states … if we’re going to just throw a few million bucks their way.”

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Complicating matters is whether Trump would even sign a reconciliation bill that didn’t include the entirety of the SAVE America Act, given how much he has pushed Republicans to pass the whole thing.

“I know, I know,” Thune told Fox News Digital. “That’s a good question. If you get the answer, let me know.”

Progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will parachute into battleground Michigan’s campaign trail this weekend to boost Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left candidate they’re supporting in a crucial Democratic Senate primary.

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez will make three campaign trail stops with El-Sayed, a former Wayne County Health Department director who is facing off for the party’s nomination against Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate lawmaker backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the establishment.

After victories by far-left and socialist candidates over more moderate contenders in deep-blue congressional districts in New York City and Colorado last month drew national attention, Michigan is now the latest battleground in the high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party.

“What you’re seeing here are the two opposing forces of the Democratic Party. Both candidates offer very different visions of what the party and the country should look like,” veteran Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News Digital. “The stakes are monumentally high because Democrats have to hold this seat in November.”

SWING STATE POLL SPELLS TROUBLE FOR FAR LEFT AS SCHUMER BACKED CANDIDATE SOARS

The winner of the Aug. 4 Democratic primary will take on former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who is on a glide path to the GOP nomination, in the key midterm Senate faceoff to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.

The rare open Senate seat is a top Republican target in the midterms, as well as a must-hold for the Democrats as they aim to win back the Senate majority from the GOP, which currently controls the chamber with a slim 53-47 margin.

The showdown in Michigan became a two-way race a couple of weeks ago, after progressive state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, once the third major Democrat in the primary, suspended her campaign.

McMorrow, who has seen her national profile expand in recent years and was running as a progressive in an ideological space between El-Sayed and Stevens, exited the race after failing to keep pace with her two main rivals.

Stevens held a seven-point lead over El-Sayed earlier this week in a Detroit News/WDIV poll conducted after McMorrow dropped out and following a debate last week between the two candidates.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S CIVIL WAR HITS PRIMARY DEBATE STAGE

El-Sayed, who, if elected, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator, is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for Medicare-for-all a major component of his campaign.

The far-left candidate has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and is a vocal critic of Israel amid its war with Hamas — even characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians. And El-Sayed, who served as a top surrogate on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has vowed not to accept PAC donations.

Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments. They worry that El-Sayed as the party’s nominee would jeopardize the Democrat-controlled Senate seat by pushing the party too far to the left in a state that President Donald Trump carried two years ago by just over one percentage point.

Earlier this week, Peters, who to date had stayed neutral in the race to succeed him, endorsed Stevens.

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The primary showdown has become combustible.

“If you want your politics dictated by AIPAC or Chuck Schumer, then I’m not your guy,” El-Sayed said during last week’s debate, arguing the Democratic Party would not change if it continued to elect leaders who take money from corporations.

Stevens countered by accusing El-Sayed of benefiting from Republican efforts to boost him in the primary. “What my opponent needs to answer is, why is the GOP spending thousands of dollars to prop up his campaign, saying that he will make Mike Rogers the next U.S. senator?” Stevens said.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

The primary clash is also expensive, with outside groups spending big bucks to flood the campaign trail with ads.

The biggest spending is United Democracy Project, a political action committee aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The group reports spending nearly $15 million in support of Stevens and against El-Sayed.

“This race is not between Abdul and Haley Stevens. It is Abdul vs. AIPAC,” Sanders argued in a social media post. “A billionaire-funded Super PAC shouldn’t determine American elections or foreign policy. Let’s support Abdul.”

A victory by El-Sayed over Stevens in the primary would give the far left a major win on a statewide stage, and further boost their momentum in the battle for the Democratic Party’s future.

But Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, warned against placing too much emphasis on the results in Michigan, as he pointed to other factors in the race.

“I don’t think that even if El-Sayed wins, that means the national party is moving dramatically to the left, as the left will insist if that happens,” he told Fox News Digital. “Some of this is idiosyncratic. There’s a huge Arab American population in Michigan. The Israel issue is more resonant there than it is in other places. And candidates matter.”

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Caiazzo, a veteran of Sanders’ two presidential campaigns, also urged caution.

“I think it’s really important for Democrats not to read into these primaries as any sort of directional change within the party. Every single election happens under a different set of circumstances,” he said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital his Republican colleagues are right to be troubled that the Justice Department spied on lawmakers to aid former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations.

“I think we need to have more facts. Look into it. Republicans are rightly concerned about the possible breach of norms and improper access to email,” Blumenthal told Fox News Digital Wednesday.

The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee released a trove of documents Tuesday showing that Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump included the Department of Justice collecting text messages between 44 members of Congress, among them Republicans and Democrats, and White House staff. 

The messages were purportedly related to Smith’s probe of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol and Trump’s storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

TODD BLANCHE EXPOSES HOW AGGRESSIVE BIDEN DOJ TARGETED LOW-LEVEL MAR-A-LAGO EMPLOYEES

Other Democrats were less willing than Blumenthal to lend credence to Republican concerns regarding how Smith carried out his investigation.

“I’ve got no comment on that. If you want to talk about the news of the day, I will,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told Fox News Digital, referencing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing. Booker was among the lawmakers who had their text messages seized by the Justice Department.

Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; and Patty Murray, D-Wash., all declined to comment on the issue when approached by Fox News Digital.

DEM SENATOR’S STUNT GOES SIDEWAYS AFTER GOP LAWMAKER TORCHES HIM AT IMMIGRATION HEARING

Blumenthal’s remarks mark a rare note of bipartisan concern over Smith’s handling of politically sensitive communications, even as other Democrats avoided weighing in on the GOP-led probe. The new documents have intensified Republican scrutiny of whether Justice Department safeguards failed during highly consequential investigations into Trump, while raising fresh questions about how far prosecutors went in accessing lawmakers’ private communications.

“I think Jack Smith is a political hack. I think that’s why the Justice Department, under President Biden, picked him,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. 

“Everybody knows he’s a political hack. He never should have been near power. He shouldn’t be near power now because he can’t exercise it objectively or non-emotionally.”

JACK SMITH THRUST BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT AT BLANCHE HEARING OVER EXPOSED SENATORS’ MESSAGES

The Judiciary Committee claims the lawmakers’ messages were reviewed in a way that runs afoul of DOJ protocol.

A “filter team” was supposed to review the communications before Smith’s investigative team could look at them, according to the documents. Contractors managing document review software for the filter team, however, failed to properly set up permission guardrails, allowing the investigative team to examine documents that had not been screened, according to a letter sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, by the DOJ.

“He honestly believes he’s smarter and more virtuous than the American people. He’s not, and that’s what got him in trouble,” Kennedy told Fox News Digital in reference to Smith.

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After the Senate Judiciary Committee released the documents on Tuesday, multiple Republican lawmakers alleged that Smith perjured himself by answering “no” to a question from a congressional lawyer about whether he requested text messages from lawmakers as part of his investigation.

“I don’t know whether it was misleading. I just, I really haven’t followed it,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters regarding the allegations against Smith.

The White House on Thursday condemned as “a disgrace” a Trump administration teleprompter operator accused of betting on President Donald Trump’s speeches, saying he has been placed on paid administrative leave amid a federal investigation.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the matter and condemned the staffer’s alleged conduct during Thursday’s White House press briefing.

“Obviously, I’m aware of the report. The president is, too. I spoke with him about it,” Leavitt said. “He believes it’s deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace.”

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Leavitt said the employee has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation and confirmed a different teleprompter operator would handle Trump’s speech Thursday evening.

ABC News first reported that federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found a White House staffer — identified by sources as Gabriel Perez, Trump’s teleprompter operator since 2016 — allegedly made tens of thousands of dollars by betting on the contents of Trump’s speeches through the prediction market Kalshi.

“The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News when asked about the report. “The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC.”

A CFTC spokesperson told Fox News the agency “can’t confirm or deny an investigation.”

The case began after Kalshi’s surveillance systems flagged a series of unusual trades in March involving markets tied to words and phrases expected to appear in Trump’s public remarks.

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Kalshi said the trades stood out because they did not follow typical trading patterns and also drew complaints from market makers through the platform’s whistleblower channels. After reviewing account information, the company said it identified the trader as a federal employee who worked as a White House teleprompter operator.

Kalshi said it froze the account before the trader could withdraw most of the alleged profits, leaving more than $90,000 on the platform while the matter was referred to federal regulators.

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“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation,” Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, told Fox News. “We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral.”

Kalshi said the markets involved common words and topics expected to appear in presidential speeches — including country names, economic terms, campaign language and social issues — rather than classified or otherwise sensitive information. The company added it has worked with the CFTC for months as the investigation has continued.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers across the country have been told they can resume traffic stops under new guidance issued Thursday, but only if at least one officer involved is wearing a body camera, sources tell Fox News.

The guidance comes after the White House publicly confirmed Thursday that ICE vehicle stops are continuing. 

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin are “on the same page” that traffic stops remain “a necessary tool” for ICE agents carrying out the administration’s deportation campaign.

“Vehicle stops are a necessary tool that ICE agents need in order to continue their deportation campaign of the worst of the worst illegal alien criminals from our country,” Leavitt said. “With respect to body cameras, I know there’s been some questions about that in recent days. Over half of all ICE field offices now do have body cameras.”

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The new directive means officers without access to body cameras are not authorized to conduct traffic stops. Body cameras have not yet been deployed to every ICE field office after the rollout began in the agency’s largest cities.

The policy is expected to continue limiting the number of ICE traffic stops that can be conducted nationwide until the rollout is complete, a process sources say is expected to take roughly two more months.

“ICE will ensure each arrest team has an individual wearing a body camera,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. “Ensuring all of our ICE law enforcement officers have body cameras nationwide is a top priority for DHS — especially given the increase in attacks against our law enforcement, including a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them and a 3,300% increase in vehicle attacks. 

SEN ERIC SCHMITT SEEKS TO END BIRTH TOURISM, REVOKE CITIZENSHIP FOR BABIES OF FOREIGN DIPLOMATS

“This is especially needed because the media and sanctuary politicians consistently spread smears about our law enforcement.”

The spokesperson added, “The process of purchasing and issuing body-worn cameras to all of our ICE field offices was interrupted by the Democrats’ multiple government shutdowns. Body cameras have been deployed to more than half the field offices with the remaining half expected to receive them in less than 60 days.”

Leavitt likewise said Thursday that more than half of ICE field officers are now equipped with bodycams, and that the remaining offices are expected to receive them within 60 days. 

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She attributed the slower-than-expected rollout to what she described as Democrats’ decision to shut down DHS for several weeks.

The guidance marks the latest operational change for ICE as the agency expands its use of body cameras while resuming a key immigration enforcement tactic under President Donald Trump’s second administration.

The Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to clarify “birthright citizenship,” but a Republican senator is taking up the mantle of Congress to rework the 14th Amendment, while calling for the Trump administration to revoke citizenship of babies born to foreign diplomats.

“The 14th Amendment confers American citizenship upon persons born in the United States while ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., wrote in a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

“For more than a century, statutory law, judicial precedent, and executive-branch policy have recognized that foreign diplomats’ children born in the United States are not ‘subject to [its] jurisdiction’ and therefore do not acquire citizenship at birth.

“Indeed, even though the majority in Trump v. Barbara wrongfully expanded birthright citizenship to cover the children of illegal aliens and temporarily present aliens, it too recognized that the children of diplomats do not acquire birthright citizenship.” 

‘IT’S INSANE’: GOP SENATOR SAYS SUPREME COURT BIRTHRIGHT RULING HANDS CHINA A CITIZENSHIP LOOPHOLE

Schmitt’s letter requests the State Department and DHS investigate “illegal grants of citizenship documentation to foreign diplomats’ children, implement policies and procedures to prevent it from occurring in the future, identify the individuals who have illegally procured citizenship documentation in this manner, and revoke those individuals’ illegally procured citizenship documentation.”

The demand comes two days after Schmitt introduced the American Citizenship Act, legislation that would limit birthright citizenship to children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

“SCOTUS got birthright citizenship dangerously wrong,” Schmitt wrote on X. “I’m filing the American Citizenship Act to start the process of restoring the 14th Amendment’s original meaning.

“My bill restores the original understanding to prevent birthright citizenship for illegal aliens and tourists.”

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The Supreme Court ruled June 30 in Trump v. Barbara that children born in the U.S. to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. The decision blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to deny citizenship to those children.

Schmitt’s bill is aimed at reopening the fight through Congress.

“American citizenship is sacred — our nation, and its people, are bound together by the values and freedoms our forefathers fought a revolution to secure,” Schmitt wrote in a statement Tuesday, when he introduced the American Citizenship Act.

“But the Supreme Court’s erroneous interpretation of the 14th Amendment last month degraded the meaning of that citizenship by extending it to children born to illegal or temporary aliens — including ‘birth tourists’ — who come to our country in violation of our laws. 

“That is an egregious departure from the original meaning of the 14th Amendment.”

TRUMP’S SCOTUS PREDICTION TAKES ON NEW WEIGHT AHEAD OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP RULING

The Thursday letter focuses on a narrower category: children of foreign diplomats. Federal policy has long treated children born in the U.S. to accredited foreign diplomatic officers as outside the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship guarantee because their parents are not fully subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says such children do not acquire citizenship at birth, though they may register for lawful permanent residence.

Schmitt argued that despite the rule, foreign diplomats’ children have still been able to obtain birth certificates, Social Security numbers and other documents that can be used to claim U.S. citizenship. His letter said agencies lack adequate safeguards to flag when a newborns’ parents are foreign diplomats before citizenship-related documents are issued.

“Foreign diplomats’ children using improperly procured citizenship documentation to illegally claim citizenship degrades the meaning of American citizenship, undermines our sovereignty, and threatens our national security,” Schmitt wrote.

Schmitt urged the State Department and DHS to investigate the scope of what he called improper grants of citizenship documentation, prevent future issuance, identify those who received the documents and revoke documentation that was unlawfully obtained. His letter cited public reporting and legal scholarship to claim that potentially thousands of diplomats’ children may have received citizenship records, despite not being citizens at birth.

Schmitt, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, has made birthright citizenship a central focus after the Supreme Court decision. He previously announced plans for a constitutional amendment and led an amicus brief backing Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order.

Civil liberties groups have sharply opposed efforts to restrict birthright citizenship. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which challenged Trump’s executive order, argued the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to children born in the U.S. and said no president can rewrite that constitutional protection.

Schmitt, however, said the court’s ruling strengthened the case for congressional action.

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“I introduced the American Citizenship Act to restore that original meaning, challenge the Supreme Court’s decision, protect the sacred bond of American citizenship, and honor the legacy of our nation’s patriots who fought to protect what it means to be an American,” Schmitt’s statement concluded.

“It would restart our fight in the courts for sanity in birthright citizenship. While the Supreme Court’s decision threatens to destroy American citizenship, I am fighting to defend it.”

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.