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House Republican leaders are touting a major victory in passing another of their 12 spending bills on Thursday, just a day after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was sworn in to lead the chamber.

“This is the first step in getting our appropriations done,” Johnson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Thursday evening. 

“I promised we were going to get back to work for the American people and today we proved it.”

The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Energy and other related matters, passed with almost no Republican opposition.

GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said the bill “eliminates billions in wasteful funding for unrelated Green New Deal policies” and “prioritizes funding to maintain strong national security.”

WHY JORDAN FAILED TO WIN SPEAKERSHIP IN FIRST ROUND, LOSING 20 REPUBLICANS

Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said on X, “House Republicans just passed our FY24 Energy and Water appropriations bill which prioritizes fiscal responsibility while unleashing American energy. Meanwhile, how many appropriations bills has the Schumer Senate passed? Hint: The answer is still zero.”

The bill cuts federal spending in that sector by roughly $857 billion from this year’s funding levels. It is the fifth appropriations bill House Republicans have passed and the first under Johnson’s tenure. 

THE CHAOTIC, CONVOLUTED PATH HOUSE REPUBLICANS TOOK TO ELECT A SPEAKER LEADS BACK TO SQUARE ONE

Republican lawmakers appear to be forging ahead with a new sense of unity and optimism after coming together to unanimously elect Johnson earlier this week. 

The House had been deadlocked for nearly a month following the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., by a majority vote of eight Republicans and all House Democrats.

Federal spending has been a major contention point for House Republicans thus far, with members on different sides of the ideological spectrum clashing at times over funding levels and various amendments.

Government funding was meant to run out on Oct. 1, but McCarthy shepherded a stopgap extension known as a continuing resolution through the House at the 11th hour, narrowly avoiding a shutdown. It gave lawmakers until Nov. 17 to cobble together 12 individual spending bills.

Johnson acknowledged the deadline was “coming quickly” in a Thursday evening interview on “Hannity.” 

“We’re speeding it up as quickly as possible. That was my commitment to my colleagues when they named me speaker of the House,” Johnson said. “We passed one of the appropriations bills just a couple of hours ago…that was a big box that we had to check and we did that.”

FLASHBACK: CALLS MOUNT FOR ‘HOUSE SPEAKER DONALD TRUMP’

The speaker acknowledged that another continuing resolution may be needed to buy more time to pass the remaining seven appropriations bills but signaled that it would need to have “certain conditions,” rather than a clean extension of the previous Democrat-held Congress’ funding priorities. 

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Just before the speaker vote on Wednesday, Johnson laid out a plan to colleagues with deadlines for getting the remaining funding bills to the floor.

Even if passed before the deadline, however, the House would still need to find middle ground with the Democrat-controlled Senate — which is marking up its appropriations bills to a top line that is roughly $120 billion higher than the House GOP’s.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was in China meeting with CCP President Xi Jinping earlier this week leading many to wonder, including a congressman from his own state, whether he is running a “shadow” campaign for president in case Democrats ultimately look for an alternative to President Biden as crises pile up on his watch at home and abroad.

The California Democrat met with Xi and other Chinese officials as part of a week-long trip he said was aimed at discussing the threat of climate change and “renewing our friendship and reengaging (on) foundational and fundamental issues that will determine our collective faith in the future.”

Newsom faced criticism as a result of his trip from people who said that homelessness, crime, and fentanyl are more pressing problems in the Golden State and one GOP congressman spoke both to Fox News Digital and through a social media post to suggest Newsom has the presidency on his mind via a “shadow campaign.”

“The track record is not good for him to be gallivanting around the world doing basically a shadow campaign for president, just waiting for the moment when they finally decide to throw Biden under the bus,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., said, referring to Newsom as the “backup quarterback” and Biden as the “starter.”

CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM, A TOP BIDEN 2024 SURROGATE, MAKES HIGH-PROFILE TRIPS TO ISRAEL, CHINA

LaMalfa told Fox News Digital that his constituents in California are more concerned with wildfires, water storage, businesses fleeing the state, high taxes, and deteriorating freeways than they are with climate change.

“I remind folks that carbon dioxide is only 0.04% of our atmosphere and that the contribution by the US is a tiny percentage of that,” LaMalfa said. “And the transportation sector and others is a tiny percentage of that. So chasing this carbon thing is just a means with which the government can further take over our economy and our choices.”

LaMalfa went on to say he recently spoke to a moderate California Democrat colleague who seemed “not very excited” about Newsom, pointing out that Newsom is “slick” with many “rehearsed talking points” that could easily “dupe” voters.

“This trip here, he’s trying to build a base,” LaMalfa said. “He’s running the back channels until Biden takes himself out and the party says man we’re going to get killed on this.”

“With Trump looking more and more like a likely nominee pulling ahead in most places from what I’ve seen then the Dems are, I think I saw in our notes here, that they would need to break the glass and reach in for the Newsom fire extinguisher.”

LaMalfa was one of several California Republicans who blasted Newsom showing off a $160K Chinese electric vehicle earlier this week. 

Newsom’s trip to China was the second trip in recent weeks that reignited theories that he is positioning himself for higher office. Last week, Newsom traveled to Israel and met with leaders and victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.

In addition to the statesmanlike trip to China and Israel, Newsom has kept a high profile over the last few months including a role as a Biden surrogate at the most recent GOP presidential debate in California and a much talked about challenge to debate Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Fox News at the end of November, which DeSantis accepted.

MARIO LOPEZ BLASTS GAVIN NEWSOM FOR BEING TOUGHER ON ‘SKITTLES’ IN CALIFORNIA THAN DRUGS AND HOMELESSNESS

Newsom has also been active when it comes to policy in recent months.

He recently called on the Supreme Court to review a ruling preventing states from removing homeless encampments. He vetoed a bill that would have decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms earlier this month and also vetoed a bill that would have forced employers to provide earlier notices of mass layoffs.

He has also recently signed legislation promoting LGBT inclusion, requiring companies to provide emission information, and a law to “overhaul” the state’s mental health system.

CALIFORNIA GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM SIGNS BILL ALLOWING SOME MEXICAN RESIDENTS NEAR BORDER TO GET IN-STATE TUITION

Newsom’s recent trips abroad and focus on policy over the last couple months comes as Biden continues to see crises piling up on his watch, including the border crisis, inflation, skyrocketing crime in major cities, and major foreign policy failures, including the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced this past weekend that migrant numbers at the southern border for the month of September had reached new levels with the highest monthly encounters on record as well as the highest fiscal year total on record, in a significant blow to the administration’s border strategy.

A recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers blame President Biden for the migrant crisis, raising national security, financial and other concerns in the Empire State. Other polls over the last few months have shown that voters are concerned about Biden’s age and his physical fitness. 

A Monmouth University poll released earlier this month showed that 76% of voters agreed Biden, 80, was “too old” to serve another term, compared to just 48% who said the same about Trump, 77. 

LaMalfa wasn’t alone in his speculation that Newsom is positioning himself for higher office evidenced by a flurry of social media speculation in recent days.

“Newsom is currently in China, running a shadow campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, just in case President Biden succumbs to the realities of his age and waning mental capacity,” columnist Derek Hunter wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill this week. 

“It is yet another GIANT indicator that Gavin Newsom will indeed run for president next year,” Fox News Contributor Tomi Lahren posted on X.

“Why is the Governor of California going to China to meet with their dictator?” Conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted on X. “Why is the Governor of California going to Israel during wartime? Democrats want to replace Joe Biden.”

Fox News’ “Outnumbered” co-host Kayleigh McEnany appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” earlier this week to weigh in on the Newsom China trip, telling Watters the trip is part of a “shadow presidential campaign.” The former White House press secretary went on to say Newsom “is not an idiot” and that Biden has had multiple foreign policy failures, adding, “Who trusts him to manage our way out of this crisis in the Middle East?”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who is running for president, speculated during a recent Ruthless Podcast episode that  the Democrats are “grooming someone” to be a “back-up plan” to Biden and suggested Newsom might be their choice based on recent interviews.

Vivek Ramaswamy, another Republican presidential candidate, said Newsom’s trip to China was political, telling Iowans that he believed Newsom was campaigning for president “in disguise.”

“Gavin Newsom wants to run for president in 2024, that much is clear,” Democrat pollster Doug Schoen wrote this summer. “The California governor would not be campaigning for President Joe Biden in red states with 16 months until the presidential election if he wasn’t trying to prove his own political bona fides and build a future base of national support for himself.”

Democratic strategist James Carville sounded the alarm during a recent interview with The Washington Post, saying it was “ludicrous” to avoid debating Biden’s viability next year.

“The idea that this should not be aired out and should be discussed in hushed tones is ludicrous,” Carville said of Biden. “This needs to be discussed.”

Newsom has denied he’s running for president when asked and told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo in September that he’s “not worthy of that conversation” and that Biden “deserves it.”

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Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, pushed back against speculation about Newsom by telling NBC News that “Republicans peddling blatantly false conspiracy theories is nothing new” and that these “lies don’t change the fact that Joe Biden will again beat MAGA Republicans and their twice-rejected agenda in 2024 as his party’s nominee for president.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, the Biden campaign, and a representative for Newsom, but they did not respond to requests for comment.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw, Danielle Wallace, and Brandon Gillespie contributed reporting.

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

CONCORD, N.H. – Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota is jumping into the 2024 White House race with a long-shot Democratic primary challenge against President Biden.

The campaign launch by the millionaire businessman and co-founder of a gelato company turned three-term House Democrat comes as the 80-year-old president continues to suffer from underwater approval ratings among many Americans and faces serious concerns over his physical and mental stamina.

Phillips filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday to officially set up his presidential campaign, and his website www.dean24.com went live in the evening.

“I am excited to announce my candidacy for President in 2024. It’s time to put our country back together again – and use our differences to make us stronger. It’s time to repair America,” Phillips said in a launch video posted on social media on Thursday evening.

BIDEN BREAKS CENTURY OLD TRADITION AS HE FORGOES FILING FOR THE PRIMARY IN THIS STATE

And when asked in an interview with CBS News if he’s running for president, the 54-year-old Phillips answered “I am. I have to.” The recorded interview is scheduled to be broadcast Friday morning.

Friday morning is also when Phillips, who represents a congressional district in suburban Minneapolis, will formally declare his candidacy in New Hampshire, the state that for a century’s held the first primary in the presidential nominating calendar.

Phillips, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, is scheduled to hold a campaign launch event outside the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord. And Phillips will enter the Statehouse and file at the Secretary of State’s office to place his name on the New Hampshire’s presidential primary ballot.

A bus decorated with “Dean Phillips for President” was headed to New Hampshire earlier in the week, and is expected to take the candidate on a tour.

Phillips, citing the president’s age, has repeatedly criticized Biden for “not passing the torch” to the next generation of Democratic leaders and urged that a serious primary contender challenge the president for the party’s 2024 nomination.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION POLLING

When no other Democrats considered running against Biden, Phillips began to consider himself for the mission. Earlier this month, he told MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) News that “it’s healthy to have alternatives. I think voters are demanding it.”

And in his CBS News interview, Phillips pointed to recent polling suggesting that former President Donald Trump is edging Biden in hypothetical 2024 general election matchups.

“I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country,” Phillips said. “But it’s not about the past. This is an election about the future.”

While the president is the commanding front-runner for his party’s 2024 nomination, polls indicate Biden faces mounting concerns from Democrats over his age. Those surveys also suggest that many Americans – including plenty of Democrats – don’t want the president to seek a second term in the White House.

The White House, when asked earlier this week about Phillip’s expected candidacy, pointed to the lawmaker’s “almost 100% support of this president.”

Phillips — who recently stepped away from his leadership role as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee due to his potential White House bid — let lapse a September deadline he set for himself to decide whether he would launch a primary challenge against the president. And last week he missed a deadline to place his name on the ballot in Nevada, which is holding its presidential primary on Feb. 6 in the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.

According to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which earlier this year upended years of tradition by revamping their longstanding nominating calendar, Nevada’s supposed to vote second, along with New Hampshire, three days after South Carolina’s Feb. 3 kickoff primary. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE’S SUNUNU SAYS 2024 RACE IS ‘WIDE OPEN’ IN FIRST PRIMARY STATE

The revised scheduled was initially proposed by Biden, who came in a disappointing fifth in the 2020 New Hampshire primary before rebounding in Nevada and South Carolina enroute to winning the nomination and eventually the presidency.

But New Hampshire’s on course move up the date of its primary to late January, in accordance with a state law that mandates the Granite State’s presidential primary is held seven days ahead of a similar contest.

With New Hampshire to hold what is certain to be a primary that’s out of compliance with the DNC’s revamped 2024 nominating calendar, Biden is avoiding the unsanctioned contest.

And on Tuesday, the president’s 2024 re-election campaign announced that Biden would not file to place his name on New Hampshire’s ballot. Top Democrats in the state now plan to mount a write-in effort on behalf of the president.

But there are concerns that anger among Granite Staters to the move by Biden and the DNC to revamp the nominating calendar, and the president’s absence from the primary ballot, could serve as another distraction for Biden as he marches towards re-nomination.

Longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley, who recently took a call from Phillips, told Fox News that “both polling and grassroots interactions in New Hampshire reveal a high level of support for President Biden among the likely voters.”

“It would be a tough challenge for Phillips or anyone. But sure, c’mon on up!,” Buckley says he told Phillips.

The president is already facing a long-shot primary challenge from best-selling author spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson, who is making her second straight White House run.

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Biden was also facing an uphill primary challenge from environmental lawyer and high-profile vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a scion of arguably the nation’s most famous family political dynasty.

But Kennedy announced at a campaign event in Philadelphia earlier this month that he would seek the White House as an independent candidate.

The DNC is fully backing Biden, as the president campaigns for re-election. At its winter meeting in February, the DNC unanimously passed a resolution committing its “full and complete support” for the re-election of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Additionally, it has said there will be no primary debates between Biden and any of his challengers.

Williamson, Kennedy and others in the party criticized the DNC and Biden, but there is political precedent for the move. No incumbent president has participated in primary debates in modern times. 

Jim Demers, a longtime New Hampshire-based political consultant and lobbyist who is helping to lead the write-in effort for Biden, terms a primary challenge by Phillips “a ridiculous idea.”

“Democrats in New Hampshire support the president,” Demers told Fox News. “So if his mission is to divide Democrats and help [former President] Donald Trump, then that’s what he’s doing.”

Fox News’ Kellianne Jones contributed to this report

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

Perhaps it was better without a Speaker.

With no Speaker, the House floor was closed.

TRUMP AS HOUSE SPEAKER WOULD BE THE ‘DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS’ OF POLITICS

Now that the House elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), there was an absolute PARADE on the House floor today of lawmakers demanding that the body either expel or sanction their fellow colleagues.

If you’re scoring at home.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) over her support of the massive anti-Israel rally on Capitol Hill last week which resulted in more than 300 arrests.

That measure comes up next week.

THE CHAOTIC, CONVOLUTED PATH HOUSE REPUBLICANS TOOK TO ELECT A SPEAKER LEADS BACK TO SQUARE ONE

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) still wants to expel Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) – especially after he pleaded guilty to pulling a false fire alarm on Capitol Hill in late September.

New York Republicans introduced a resolution to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). The House must tangle with that resolution. Some Republicans want Santos gone. Yet other Republicans may move to table or kill the resolution.

Expelling Santos would shave the GOP’s already narrow majority. This is going to be a challenge for Johnson to finesse this.

Finally, Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) has introduced a resolution to censure Greene. The House must also tackle that resolution next week.

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In short, the House is TRULY back in form now that it has a new Speaker and is “open for business.”

Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder announced Thursday evening that he had suspended his campaign and immediately endorsed former President Donald Trump.

In a statement, Elder expressed gratitude for his supporters and said he was honored by their enthusiasm and grassroots support. He further explained that after assessing his campaign and the state of the race, he had made the “difficult decision” to suspend his campaign.

“Throughout my campaign, I have been steadfast in my belief that the biggest issues facing our nation are the crisis of fatherlessness, the dangerous lie that America is systemically racist, the need for an amendment to the constitution to set federal spending to a fixed percentage of the GDP — otherwise government gets bigger whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge, and the need to remove the Soros-backed DAs across the country who refuse to enforce the law,” he said in a statement.

“The breakdown of the family structure and the absence of positive father figures in the lives of many children have far-reaching consequences for our society, including the crime wave we are currently seeing in America today,” he continued. “I hope that my campaign has helped shine a light on these critical issues and sparked important conversations about how we can solve them.”

GOP CANDIDATE FACES CALLS TO DROP OUT AFTER MISSING FIRST DEBATE

Elder — a conservative talk radio host who previously ran as a recall candidate to replace Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom — announced he would run for president in April during an interview with Fox News. He explained that he believed he had a “moral, religious and a patriotic duty” to enter the race.

GOP CANDIDATE’S CAMPAIGN ON DEATH WATCH AFTER MISSING SECOND DEBATE

In August, Elder made waves after he threatened to sue the Republican National Committee (RNC) for not including him in the first GOP debate. While the RNC determined Elder had failed to meet the required threshold for number of individual donors and polling, he accused them of purposely silencing him.

“I said from the beginning that it appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is. For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the debate stage,” he said in an X post at the time.

However, according to the latest polls, Elder’s support continues to hover at between 0-1%.

And in his statement Thursday, Elder called for Republicans to rally around Trump as their presidential candidate.

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“Now that I am exiting the race, I am proud to announce my endorsement of Donald Trump for President of the United States. His leadership has been instrumental in advancing conservative, America-first principles and policies that have benefited our great nation,” Elder said. “We must unite behind Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden and fight back against Biden’s unprecedented election interference and the left’s destruction of America.

“I want to thank my supporters, volunteers, and donors who invested their time, energy, and resources in this campaign. From Iowa to New Hampshire to Nevada and beyond, I am grateful for the opportunity to have met so many incredible Americans who share our values.”

EXCLUSIVE: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center reinstated a contract for Catholic priests to provide care at the hospital after a “cease and desist” order from the facility earlier this year ordered priests to halt pastoral care, Fox News Digital has learned.

In April, Walter Reed sent a “cease and desist” letter to Holy Name College Friary, a group of Catholic priests who have served at the hospital for nearly 20 years. The letter was sent during Holy Week, leading up to the Easter holiday.

Following the move, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., led a group of two dozen Republican lawmakers who voiced concerns and blasted the decision as a violation of the First Amendment. 

Fox News Digital obtained a letter from the Department of Defense directed to Miller and the original signatories that clarified the renewal of the contract.

WALTER REED ‘CEASE AND DESIST’ ORDER FOR CATHOLIC PRIESTS VIOLATES THE FIRST AMENDMENT, GOP LAWMAKERS SAY

Holy Name College was a contract vendor that provided supplemental pastoral care services to Walter Reed’s resident Catholic Ministry and Pastoral Care Service from 2007 to 2023. Its contract term expired on March 31, 2023. The Department of Defense clarified in the letter that the “cease and desist” came after the contract expired, stressing that it was “not terminated.”

Walter Reed replaced the contract with a secular defense contracting firm, Mack Global LLC, which the Catholic archdiocese argued would not be able to provide adequate care.

“Per the Federal Competition in Contracting Act, upon expiration of the Catholic Ministry and Pastoral Care Services contract at WRNMMC, a new contract could not be awarded without fair and open competition,” wrote Ashish S. Vazirani, acting undersecretary of Defense for personnel. “After reviewing all proposals, the contract selection committee and contracting officer chose another vendor, Mack Global LLC, commending April 1, 2023, as they were able to meet the requirements as listed in the performance work statement.”

CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE ACCUSES WALTER REED OF STIFLING RELIGIOUS RIGHTS WITH ‘CEASE AND DESIST’ ORDER

“In accordance with Federal contracting guidance and routine business practices, a cease-and-desist letter was sent to Holy Name College on April 5, 2023, because it continued providing supplemental pastoral care services after its contract had expired,” Vazirani continued. “If the Federal Government allowed Holy Name College to provide services without a contract, it could create an unauthorized commitment, in violation of Federal laws and the Federal Acquisition Regulation.” 

But amid an “oversight in the contractual language with the new vendor,” the contract was terminated, and instead, the Department of Defense awarded a new contract to Holy Name College for a one-year term from June 8, 2023, to June 7, 2024, with “four option years.”

“No Catholic services were canceled during Holy Week, or at any point between April 1, 2023, and June 7, 2023, when there was a lapse in the Pastoral Care contract requirements,” Vazirani wrote, adding that Walter Reed assigned an “active duty Army Catholic priest, who provided Catholic services, to include pastoral counseling and sacramental rights.”

Additionally, an Army Reserve Catholic priest was also assigned to Walter Reed, beginning on May 22.

“All beneficiaries receiving care at WRNMMC are afforded the opportunity to exercise religious freedom,” Vazirani wrote. “WRNMMC is proud of the pastoral care provided to people of all faiths and has ensured everyone has access to the ecclesiastical services needed.” 

The development comes after Rep. Miller led a group of two dozen Republican lawmakers in April in writing a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, reported exclusively by Fox News Digital, that blasted the Biden administration’s “attack on the Christian faith.” 

FBI SOUGHT TO DEVELOP SOURCES IN CATHOLIC CHURCHES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM, DOCS SHOW

Miller applauded the Department of Defense’s decision to reinstate the Holy College contract.

“As a result of our efforts to protect the religious liberty of our service members, the Biden administration reversed its decision to remove Catholic priests from Walter Reed, demonstrating how conservatives are holding the Biden administration accountable,” Miller told Fox News Digital. “I proudly led an amendment included in this year’s NDAA to force the Biden Department of Defense to reverse their decision to kick priests out of Walter Reed.”

Miller added: “Conservatives in the House are committed to supporting and defending our troops and ensuring that their rights are protected.”

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The initial letter to Austin was sent by Miller, R-Ill.; Jim Banks, R-Ind.; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Byron Donalds, R-Fla.; Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.; Scott Perry, R-Pa.; Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.; Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Ralph Norman, R-S.C.; Bob Good, R-Va.; Keith Self, R-Texas; Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.; Andrew Clyde, R-Ga.; Josh Brecheen, R-Okla.; Brian Babin, R-Texas; Ben Cline, R-Va.; Andy Harris, R-Md.; Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn.; Michael Cloud, R-Texas; Eli Crane, R-Ariz.; Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.; and Alex X. Mooney, R-W.Va.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) was created by St. Pope John Paul II to provide the Catholic Church’s services to veterans and service members in the U.S. and overseas. The archdiocese, which does not have geographical boundaries, is responsible for the care of 1.8 million Catholics across the globe. 

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

The Biden administration issued a federal plan Thursday to remove all remaining oil and gas infrastructure located off the California coast once they stop producing.

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) published a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for “Oil and Gas Decommissioning Activities on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf.” The filing formally recommends a plan ensuring no fossil fuel infrastructure remains off California’s coast that could interfere with other offshore operations like navigation and commercial fisheries.

“We completed a robust analysis based on sound science, Tribal consultation, public input, and the best available information,” Bruce Hesson, BSEE’s Pacific region director, said in a statement. 

“This final PEIS provides BSEE with important guidance on future decommissioning applications for the complete removal and disposal of oil and gas platforms, associated pipelines, and other facilities offshore Southern California,” he continued.

OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS PERMITTING PLUMMETS TO 2-DECADE LOW UNDER BIDEN

Overall, 23 oil and gas drilling platforms, which have been standing for decades, are located in federal waters off the coast of California, according to the California State Lands Commission. One of the platforms is a processing facility while the other 22 produce oil and gas. Eight of the platforms stand unused.

25 REPUBLICANS UNLEASH EFFORT OPPOSING BIDEN ADMIN’S CRACKDOWN ON FOSSIL FUEL TRANSPORTATION

Under the BSEE action announced Thursday, the agency chose a proposal involving the complete removal of the platforms, topside, conductors, the platform jacket to at least 15 feet below the mud line, pipelines, power cables, and other subsea infrastructure.

The plan to remove the platforms comes as federal offshore California drilling activities continue to dwindle to near-zero levels. As of 2021, less than 11,000 barrels of crude oil were produced per day in the region, down 94% compared to its peak in the 1990s, federal data showed.

And the Biden administration proposed a plan late last month to hold the fewest number of offshore oil drilling leases in U.S. history as part of a five-year plan that ends in 2029. The plan includes just three lease sales which would all take place in the Gulf of Mexico. A Trump administration version of the plan laid out six lease sales off the coast of California.

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“The Biden-Harris administration is committed to building a clean energy future that ensures America’s energy independence,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said on Sept. 29. 

“The Proposed Final Program, which represents the smallest number of oil and gas lease sales in history, sets a course for the Department to support the growing offshore wind industry and protect against the potential for environmental damage and adverse impacts to coastal communities.”

When serving as governor of South Carolina in 2014, presidential GOP hopeful Nikki Haley said she considered China “a friend” and that she appreciated the “strong relationship” the Palmetto State shared with China. 

In a letter sent to then Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai on Dec. 30, 2014, Haley thanked the diplomat for congratulating her on her re-election and said she is “grateful” for China’s “contributions on the economic front.”

Tiankai had written in his letter to Haley that China is “glad to see that the overall ties between China and South Carolina have been growing rapidly in recent years.… I look forward to continuing to work with you.”

The 2014 correspondence comes to light as Haley, who’s seen a big boost in polling in recent weeks, repeatedly said on the campaign trail that China is the “No. 1 biggest national security threat.” Earlier this year, Haley, who also served as U.N. ambassador under President Trump, released a comprehensive plan to combat China.

WAR OF WORDS: DESANTIS, HALEY TRADE FIRE OVER WHO WAS MORE CHINA-FRIENDLY GOVERNOR

On the campaign trail, Haley has spotlighted that she would rescind federal funding for universities that accept money from China, take back land in the U.S. that China’s already purchased, and end “all normal trade relations with” China until it stops flooding the U.S. with fentanyl.

Haley campaign spokesperson Ken Farnaso responded to the revelation, telling Fox News Digital, “Every governor in this campaign recruited Chinese businesses to their state.”

“Nikki Haley did it 10 years ago. Just last year, Ron DeSantis let a U.S. sanctioned Chinese company expand its footprint in Florida. DeSantis even voted to fast-track Obama’s bad trade deals. Nikki took on the Chinese threat every day as U.N. ambassador and has called for ending normal trade relations with China,” Farnaso said. 

China’s increasing threat to the United States has been escalating since at least 2010. In the same year Tiankai and Haley corresponded, the Justice Department indicted five Chinese military hackers for economic espionage directed at six Americans in the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries.

Also in 2014, two Chinese security breaches into U.S. federal worker databases holding personnel records and security-clearance files “exposed sensitive information about at least 22.1 million people,” the Washington Post reported. 

BILL MAHER HYPES NIKKI HALEY AS A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO TRUMP: ‘SHE’S HAVING A MOMENT’

The outlet reported that U.S. officials ranked the breaches “among the most potentially damaging cyber heists in U.S. government history because of the abundant detail in the files.”

China is the latest flashpoint of contention between Haley and fellow GOP presidential contender Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

NIKKI HALEY WARNS BIDEN TO ‘BE SMART’ FOLLOWING HAMAS’ RELEASE OF 2 AMERICAN HOSTAGES; ‘DON’T FALL FOR IT’

In a Fox News Digital interview last week, DeSantis charged that Haley “rolled out the red carpet for China” during her tenure as South Carolina governor.

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Haley’s campaign fired back, claiming DeSantis has “aggressively recruited Chinese companies to Florida.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed tot his report. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday said it will file an amicus brief arguing the limited gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump in his Washington, D.C., election interference case is unconstitutional. 

On the same day, federal prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to reinstate the currently paused gag order, stating the order is necessary to prevent Trump from targeting witnesses. 

Trump “has a demonstrated history of using inflammatory language to target certain individuals in a way that ‘pose[s] a significant and immediate risk’” that witnesses will be intimidated, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team argued in court papers filed Wednesday. 

In the ACLU’s proposed brief, senior staff attorney Brett Kaufman wrote that Trump has made statements that have been “patently false” and have “caused great harm to countless individuals, as well as to the Republic itself.” 

NEW YORK JUDGE FINES TRUMP $10K FOR VIOLATING PARTIAL GAG ORDER IN CIVIL FRAUD TRIAL

“But Trump retains a First Amendment right to speak, and the rest of us retain a right to hear what he has to say,” the brief states. 

Trump has used his social media platform, Truth Social, to launch a barrage of insults and criticisms at the prosecutors, judges and witnesses involved in the cases against him.  

On Oct. 17, Chutkan imposed a partial gag order on Trump, blocking him from making statements targeting Special Counsel Smith, his staff, witnesses and court personnel. 

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

JUDGE DENIES TRUMP TEAM’S REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE VERDICT IN FRAUD TRIAL AFTER COHEN TESTIMONY

Trump has appealed the order, asserting it violates his free speech rights, and Chutkan on Friday issued a stay pending his appeal. The former president has since returned to posting about the special counsel and witnesses. 

The ACLU argues Chutkan’s order is too vague on its ban on “targeting” the special counsel, potential witnesses and the “substance of their testimony” because it could be read such that Trump would violate the order by merely mentioning those people.

The civil rights group also suggests the order is too broad because it covers Smith, a public official, and the “substance” of any witnesses’ testimony, which will be highly relevant to the 2024 presidential campaign. Trump has a commanding lead in polls of the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

READ THE ACLU BRIEF BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

While the ACLU acknowledges that the First Amendment does not protect incitements to violence, threats or other unlawful speech, the group says the gag order placed on Trump is insufficiently justified because prosecutors have not shown a serious threat that his speech will threaten the administration of justice.

“No modern-day president did more damage to civil liberties and civil rights than President Trump, but if we allow his free speech rights to be abridged, we know that other unpopular voices — even ones we agree with — will also be silenced,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. “As much as we disagreed with Donald Trump’s policies, everyone is entitled to the same First Amendment protection against gag orders that are too broad and too vague.”

TRUMP FACES OFF IN COURT WITH COHEN AS EX-LAWYER TESTIFIES AGAINST HIM IN TRUMP ORGANIZATION CIVIL TRIAL

Trump attorney John Lauro said the ACLU brief “makes very strong and compelling legal arguments for preserving Trump’s First Amendment Rights. Many of these important legal points were also made by our team as well.” 

On Wednesday, the special counsel’s team responded to Trump’s motion to stay. “There has never been a criminal case in which a court has granted a defendant an unfettered right to try his case in the media, malign the presiding judge as a ‘fraud’ and a ‘hack,’ attack the prosecutor as ‘deranged’ and a ‘thug,’” they wrote, pointing out that Trump has even stated that one witness’s actions warrant the “punishment” of “DEATH!” 

Meanwhile, Trump was hit with a $10,000 fine on Wednesday for violating a separate gag order imposed by New York Judge Arthur Engoron in the civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against him and the Trump Organization.

Engoron imposed a partial gag order earlier this month, blocking all parties from making derogatory statements about his court staff. Engoron fined Trump on Friday $5,000 for violating the order on social media, and threatened imprisonment if further violations were committed.

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On Wednesday, Engoron asked the former president to take the stand during the civil trial, and discussed statements Trump made to the press earlier in the day about “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside” the judge. 

After a back and forth, the judge ruled that Trump was referring to his law clerk — which Trump denied — and fined him $10,000. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX — The Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party in the Democrat-led lawsuit challenging the Tar Heel state’s newly enacted election law. 

North Carolina‘s Senate Bill 747 provides “appropriate safeguards and transparency while still offering voters ample opportunities to cast a ballot,” according to RNC and the NCGOP’s court filing.

The law, which aims strengthen voter ID, allow for poll watchers, and tighten the deadline to return mail-in ballots, was enacted on October 10 after the state’s GOP-controlled state legislature voted to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto.

GOP SET TO GAIN 3 US HOUSE SEATS UNDER MAP ADVANCED IN NC SENATE

Moments after Republicans voted to override the veto, DNC and the state’s Democratic Party filed a lawsuit claiming that the law is “a direct assault on the ‘most fundamental’ right to vote,” and leads to “vote suppression.” 

The RNC argues that the Democrats’ lawsuit against the state election board underscores the Biden campaign and the DNC’s strategy to loosen “common-sense” election laws ahead of the 2024 election. 

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News Digital that President Biden is “directing his political operation to sue state legislators for passing good laws.”

“Joe Biden should be focused on solving the crises that have erupted under his watch, not directing his political operation to sue state legislators for passing good laws,” McDaniel said.

Since taking office, President Biden’s Department of Justice has filed lawsuits challenging voting laws in Arizona, Georgia and Texas. 

Republicans say that the Democratic plaintiffs are “armed with hyperbole and mischaracterization” and “far-reaching assertions” in their claims that SB 747 violates the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.

The filing also states that the plaintiffs “are not entitled to make their assertions free from challenge and scrutiny. Just as fair election procedures promote fair elections, so do fair election-litigation procedures.”

However, Governor Cooper alleges that the law “attempts to give Republican legislators the authority to decide contested election results” and “has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power.”

The Democratic plaintiffs say that they are not aware of “any instances of actual voter fraud” in North Carolina and claim that the state is “indulging the dubious assumption that the measures would deter or prevent such fraud.”

NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICANS GIVE FINAL APPROVAL TO CURB DEMOCRATIC GOV. COOPER’S APPOINTMENT POWERS

“Senate Bill 747 cracks down on non-citizens voting, protects bipartisan poll watchers, and gets rid of dark money in elections—polling shows that the American people support these common-sense measures,” said McDaniel. 

According to a 2021 Axis Research study, 68% percent of registered voters in Arizona, New Hampshire, Nevada and West Virginia believe that state legislatures should dictate the voting rules and regulations in their state. 

In addition, 71% of the voters in the study believe that if you need an ID to sign up for welfare, get on a plane or rent a hotel room, it does not “make sense” that one would not need identification for voting. 

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North Carolina is a key battleground state for the 2024 presidential election. Although Republicans have carried the state in 11 of the last 13 presidential elections, Trump won the state by less than 2% — largely due to early voting and a significant get-out-the vote push by Democrats. 

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is the most prolific fundraiser in House Republican history, and his replacement as speaker will have big shoes to fill.

The unprecedented ouster of McCarthy earlier this month as speaker was seen as a setback for the House GOP as it aims to hold its fragile majority in the chamber in the 2024 elections.

Republicans are breathing some sighs of relief after the election Wednesday of GOP Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana as speaker, which ended three weeks of vicious infighting in the House Republican Conference.

But the victory of 51-year-old Johnson as McCarthy’s successor invites questions regarding the four-term lawmaker’s ability to bring in the fundraising needed for the GOP to keep control of the House next year.

AFTER THREE WEEKS, THE HOUSE FINALLY HAS A NEW SPEAKER. CLICK HERE TO LEARN ALL ABOUT HIM

Not only is he in just his fourth term, but Johnson has never served in a senior leadership position nor steered a committee as chair. 

On the fundraising front, he’s brought in on average about $1.3 million per cycle, plus a bit more for a leadership PAC. That pales in comparison to what he will now be asked to haul in on behalf of the GOP.

“McCarthy was a tremendous fundraiser and helped Republicans win the majority,” Brian Walsh, a veteran Republican consultant who served for years at a top communications strategist for both House and Senate Republicans, told Fox News.

Pointing to Johnson, Walsh said that “one key and emerging advantage he has is that he’s been able to unite a very divided caucus. That’s not easy to do, and that speaks to a lot of potential Johnson has to continue to grow in this role, which includes fundraising around the country with both large and small donors.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS FACE FUNDRAISING SETBACK AFTER OUSTING MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which is the House GOP’s campaign arm, said, “I know Mike cares deeply about our Conference, understands our majority is the last line of defense against the Democrats, and will work relentlessly with the NRCC to go on offense.”

“I am confident we will grow our majority with Republicans united behind Speaker Johnson and making our case to improve American families’ lives,” he added.

However, a longtime Republican operative and veteran of House races who asked for anonymity to speak more freely told Fox News, “I think it will be a bit of a learning curve” for Johnson.

As minority leader, McCarthy helped the GOP defy expectations in the 2020 elections by taking a big bite out of Democrats’ House majority — despite Democrats winning the White House. And he personally hauled in record fundraising in the last election cycle to help Republicans win back the House majority. 

The three lawmakers who were each nominated by House Republicans to succeed McCarthy — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer — all had plenty of fundraising chops. 

Scalise, a 15-year House veteran from Louisiana, was the No. 2 Republican fundraiser last cycle, hauling in more than $18 million through his re-election campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission campaign finance disclosures.

Jordan, the longtime lawmaker from Ohio, was the No. 4 House Republican fundraiser last cycle, hauling in more than $14 million, mostly through small-dollar donors.

And Emmer, who steered the NRCC the past two cycles as the GOP took back the House majority, is also known as a prolific fundraiser. The Minnesota Republican has already raked in $7.3 million so far this year in fundraising.

But one after another, all three were forced to withdraw from the race after facing opposition from fellow Republicans in the chamber, or from former President Donald Trump.

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While the GOP captured the House majority last year, hopes of a red wave never materialized and the party came out of the midterm elections with a fragile 222-213 majority. It’s currently a 221-212 edge, with seats in a red district and a blue district vacant. That means Democrats need a net gain of just five seats to win back control of the chamber next year.

“The House of Representatives is very much up for grabs in 2024. The party’s going to need as many financial resources as possible. At the same time, you’re competing with presidential campaign dollars and Senate dollars,” Walsh warned.

One of the outstanding questions is going forward is whether McCarthy will help Johnson with fundraising.

McCarthy wrote Wednesday on social media that Johnson “has my full support as Speaker. We’ll keep working together to put our country first and fulfill our Commitment to America.”

And Jeff Miller, a longtime friend and adviser who was a major force behind McCarthy’s fundraising, wrote in a statement that he “will absolutely help the new Speaker raise the resources to grow our majority in the House.”

A Republican consultant who has worked on House races told Fox News that “Johnson is going to have a lot on his plate very quickly on both the legislative and political calendars. This will really need to be a team effort among all the senior members.”

The consultant, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, emphasized that “to the extent that the former speaker would participate in that would be a big help.”

Democrats, aiming to win back the majority next year, were quick to target the new speaker.

Pointing to Johnson’s role in support of Trump’s unsuccessful effort to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to President Biden and to his opposition to legalized abortion, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee argued that “Republicans have chosen a MAGA acolyte to push an extreme agenda in the House at the expense of middle-class families.”

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

FIRST ON FOX: The Justice Department “limited” a former U.S. attorney’s 2020 investigation into Biden family business dealings in Ukraine, according to testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott Brady appeared for a transcribed interview behind closed doors at the House Judiciary Committee this week, Fox News Digital has learned.

FBI RECEIVED ‘CRIMINAL INFORMATION’ FROM OVER 40 CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES ON JOE BIDEN, HUNTER, JAMES: GRASSLEY

Brady was tasked in 2020 by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to run an assessment investigating information brought to the Justice Department related to Ukraine. Some of that information was brought to the DOJ by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani related to Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine.

Brady told House investigators that his review of that material was limited to accepting information from any member of the public, and vetting the information through open-source databases, publicly available resources and pre-existing FBI records.

“It was limited by both the scope of what we were to look at and the tools that were available to us,” Brady said. “It was really a vetting to assess credibility. It was not to make determinations about whether there was evidence sufficient to open criminal investigations, anything like that.”

Fox News Digital first reported that Brady’s investigative work was limited and lacked subpoena power since they had no authorization for a grand jury. That information was revealed in a letter Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland which was exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital Wednesday.

Brady stressed that he did not have tools that “could compel testimony or the production of documents.”

“Witnesses, bank records, emails, we weren’t able to access any of those kinds of things or compel them from third-parties,” he said.

EXCLUSIVE: JOE BIDEN ALLEGEDLY PAID $5M BY BURISMA EXECUTIVE AS PART OF A BRIBERY SCHEME, ACCORDING TO FBI DOCUMENT

“It was really to say, yes, we believe that this, again, as I said, is credibility, has indicia of credibility, and then pass it on to one of the offices with the predicated jury investigation,” he said.

Brady told House investigators the same, while noting that he would pass credible information along to other U.S. Attorneys Offices that had relevant, existing investigations.

Brady said he provided briefings to U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss — now a special counsel — who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018. He also briefed the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Brady said that special agents from the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office were present for the briefing provided to Weiss.

But Brady said after he gave the briefings, his team was not involved.

“We had no visibility into what they did with that after we gave our briefings,” he said.

During Brady’s assessment of Ukraine information, a 2017 FD-1023 was discovered referencing Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Burisma. A re-interview of the confidential human source was requested, and later completed in June 2020.

“A confidential human source in a previous 1023 had identified an interaction with a Ukrainian national who discussed—it wasn’t the focus of that 1023 form several years prior but had made reference to Hunter Biden serving on the board of Burisma,” Brady explained. “At my direction, we asked the FBI to re-interview the CHS.”

BIDENS ALLEGEDLY ‘COERCED’ BURISMA CEO TO PAY THEM MILLIONS TO HELP GET UKRAINE PROSECUTOR FIRED: FBI FORM

That FD-1023 alleges a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and the founder and CEO of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, Mykola Zlochevsky.

Brady told House Judiciary Committee investigators that he had determined that source to be highly credible and worked with the FBI in other investigations dating back to the Obama administration. Fox News Digital first reported that earlier this year.

Brady also told investigators that Giuliani was not the source for details included in the FD-1023 in question.

That FD-1023 is currently in the hands of Weiss, whose investigation is ongoing. Brady told investigators that his office corroborated information, by obtaining the source’s travel records which matched the dates of the foreign meeting. contained in the FD-1023 before sharing it with Weiss.

Meanwhile, Brady said that even “simple” requests to the FBI and DOJ, like “extending the assessment,” required a renewal every 30 days. Brady said it required “17 different people, including mostly at the headquarters level to sign off on it before the assessment could be extended.”

EXCLUSIVE: PERSON ALLEGING BIDEN CRIMINAL BRIBERY SCHEME IS ‘HIGHLY CREDIBLE’ FBI SOURCE USED SINCE OBAMA ADMIN: SOURCE

“We were told by the special agents that they had to go pens down sometimes for 2 or 3 weeks at a time before they could re-engage and take additional steps because they were still waiting on, again, someone within the 17 chain signify to approve,” he said.

When asked if he had ever seen a “17-person signoff required by the FBI,” Brady replied: “Never in my career.”

DOJ KNEW HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP WAS ‘NOT MANIPULATED,’ CONTAINED ‘RELIABLE EVIDENCE’ IN 2019: WHISTLEBLOWER

Brady testified about a September 2020 report he sent to the Justice Department about his findings, which Fox News Digital first reported earlier Wednesday. In that report, Brady recommended further investigative steps be taken related to the findings, including on the FD-1023.

Brady then told investigators he briefed U.S. attorneys at SDNY, EDNY and Delaware in October 2020.

Brady’s interview comes as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the alleged politicization of the Justice Department and FBI, and on whether politics influenced the federal investigation 

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently announced he was running as an independent after initially running as a Democrat, has a long history of supporting two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, despite campaigning as a voice critical of the Washington, D.C. establishment. 

In 2000, Kennedy touted Clinton’s “character” in a campaign ad supporting her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in New York. 

Eight years later, Kennedy reaffirmed his support for Clinton by endorsing her 2008 presidential run.

“Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to bring the war in Iraq to an end and reverse the potentially devastating effects of global warming,” Kennedy said in a press release. 

NEW POLL: TIGHT RACE BETWEEN TRUMP, BIDEN WITH RFK, CORNEL WEST INDEPENDENT BIDS THREATENING BOTH CANDIDACIES

“I watched proudly as Hillary won over New Yorkers across the state in her race for the Senate seat my father once held. Since then, she’s been reelected in a landslide victory and proven that she is ready to lead this nation from her first day in office. Hillary will inspire the real change America needs.”

Kennedy stumped for Clinton on the campaign trail in her quest for the White House against eventual President Barack Obama and once Obama had won, Kennedy praised her appointment as Obama’s Secretary of State calling her “great.”

THREE REASONS WHY RFK JR. POSES A REAL THREAT TO BIDEN

When Clinton ran again for president in 2016 in a race won by Donald Trump, who had donated to Democrats including Hillary Clinton in the past, Kennedy continued his vocal support with an endorsement.

“I’m solidly for Hillary,” Kennedy told Larry King in an interview about his “long term” friend. “I think Hillary is going to be a very, very good president.”

RFK JR. PUSHES BACK AFTER SIBLINGS DENOUNCE HIS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY AS ‘PERILOUS’ FOR AMERICA

On the campaign trail as an independent candidate, Kennedy has distanced himself from both political parties writing in a Fox News opinion piece this month that he “declared independence from the two political parties and the corrupt interests that dominate them, and the entire rigged system of rancor and rage, corruption and lies, that has turned government officials into indentured servants of their corporate bosses.”

Critics have voiced concerns about where Kennedy stands on issues including Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning who wrote at Townhall.com that the presidential candidate is “far-left ideologue and radical environmentalist” and a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

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At the same time, Kennedy Jr. has ruffled liberal feathers by expressing support for the 2nd Amendment and a stronger southern border. He has also faced scrutiny over “hurtful” COVID-19 comments.

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

Trump attorneys were denied Wednesday when they asked for an immediate and direct verdict in the Trump Organization civil trial following testimony from ex-attorney Michael Cohen. 

Cohen admitted during testimony that the former president did not ask him to inflate his finances on a personal financial statement.

The former president and 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner and his ex-attorney found themselves in the same courtroom for a second day in a row amid the civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ years-long investigation into the Trump Organization and Trump family businesses.

TRUMP FACES OFF IN COURT WITH COHEN AS EX-LAWYER TESTIFIES AGAINST HIM IN TRUMP ORGANIZATION CIVIL TRIAL

During a second day on the stand, Cohen, Trump’s one-time friend, lawyer, and someone who once famously said he’d “take a bullet” for his client, was asked directly whether Trump asked him to inflate his finances on personal financial statements.

“Trump didn’t ask you to inflate the numbers on his personal statement, correct?” Trump attorney Clifford Roberts asked.

“Correct,” Cohen replied.

After Cohen’s response, Roberts spoke with the former president and fellow defense attorneys, and told Judge Arthur Engoron he had no further questions.

Roberts then asked for an immediate, direct verdict in the trial in light of Cohen’s testimony.

Engoron, though, immediately said: “denied.”

The trial stems from James’ lawsuit, in which she alleges that Trump and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets. James said the Trump family, as well as his associates and businesses, committed “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” on their financial statements. She also alleged that Trump “inflated his net worth by billions of dollars” and said his children helped him to do so.

Engoron, who is presiding over the non-jury trial, last month ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said his assets were actually undervalued. Trump has repeatedly said his financial statements had disclaimers, requesting that the numbers be evaluated by the banks.

NEW YORK JUDGE FINES TRUMP $10K VIOLATING PARTIAL GAG ORDER IN CIVIL FRAUD TRIAL

Meanwhile, during re-direct questioning by Colleen Faherty, an attorney in the New York attorney general’s office, offered Cohen an opportunity to expand on his answer.

“Trump did not specifically say, ‘Michael, go inflate the numbers,’” Cohen said, but claimed Trump “speaks like a mob boss,” and said he understood what Trump wanted.

Defense attorneys did not re-cross examine Cohen, and instead, again asked for a verdict.

“Absolutely denied,” Engoron said. “One witness, who I don’t consider to be the key witness… it’s absurd.”

He added: “No way, no how is this case is being dismissed. There is enough evidence in this case to fill this courtroom.”

Cohen had testified Tuesday that during his time at the Trump Organization he inflated the former president’s assets to “whatever number Trump told us to.”

Trump has blasted Cohen as a “proven liar,” and said he lied on the stand. 

Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Trump, after proceedings Wednesday, again claimed Cohen was “caught lying, like no one has lied.” 

“This should be the end of the case,” Trump said. “We’re being railroaded.” 

Trump said again that Cohen “lied and he admitted he lied numerous times.” 

Meanwhile, Engoron asked that the former president take the stand on Wednesday. He discussed statements Trump made to the press earlier in the day about “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside” the judge. 

When Engoron asked who Trump was referring to, the former president replied: “You and Cohen.” 

The judge pressed him again, and asked if he was sure he was not referring to his clerk.

“Yes I’m sure,” Trump said.

Engoron said that, in the past, Trump had criticized and referred to his clerk.

“I think she’s very unfair,” Trump said, adding that she is “biased against us.” 

But Engoron said his principal clerk “is very close to me,” and ruled that Trump was referring to his law clerk. 

NEW YORK JUDGE FINES TRUMP $5K FOR VIOLATING PARTIAL GAG ORDER IN CIVIL FRAUD TRIAL

Engeron imposed a partial gag order earlier this month after Trump posted on his Truth Social account saying that Engoron’s law clerk had a relationship with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The post also contained a photo. Trump added that because of that, the case “should be dismissed immediately.” 

Trump told Engoron he had deleted the post, but the judge discovered a copy of the post remained on Trump’s campaign website. Engoron fined Trump $5,000 on Friday. 

On Wednesday, Engoron moved to fine Trump $10,000, claiming he violated the gag order by making a derogatory statement against his law clerk.

Trump attorneys argued against the fine, saying it was unusual to have a law clerk on the bench with the judge. Attorney Alina Habba calling it “inappropriate.” 

Habba said the clerk rolled her eyes, to which Habba said: “The influence from your bench is inappropriate.” 

Engoron fired back saying: “I make the final decisions. I value input from both of my law clerks.” 

Regarding the clerks sitting next to him, he said, “that’s how I do things.”

TRUMP SUES FORMER ATTORNEY MICHAEL COHEN FOR $500 MILLION

The civil trial will continue Thursday. It is unclear if Trump will attend in person.

Trump and Cohen’s face-off comes after Trump, earlier this month, voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against Cohen but vowed to refile against him once he “prevailed” in the “witch hunts against him.”

Trump had sued Cohen for $500 million in April. The more than 30-page federal lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging Cohen breached his attorney-client relationship by “spreading falsehoods” about Trump that were “likely to be embarrassing or detrimental, and partook in other misconduct” while also breaching contractual terms of a confidentiality agreement he signed as a condition of employment with Trump.

JUDGE IMPOSES PARTIAL GAG ORDER IN TRUMP ORG. TRIAL BLOCKING PARTIES FROM VERBAL ATTACKS AGAINST COURT STAFF

Meanwhile, as the court proceedings went on Wednesday, the former president was able to react to the House speaker race in the hallway, praising House Republicans for electing Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after weeks of GOP gridlock. 

“I just want to congratulate Mike Johnson. He will be a great speaker of the House and we were very happy to help,” Trump said in the hallway of the court. “I’ve known him for a long time and he is a tremendous leader…he’s going to make us all proud.” 

Trump said “nobody was thinking about Mike,” and then “we put out the word, and now he is the speaker of the House.” 

“So, I wanted to just thank all of the supporters that I have and I want to thank all of the supporters that Mike has,” Trump said. “Again, he will be a great speaker, I think you’re going to be very proud of him.”

Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., are leading a bicameral effort opposing the Biden administration’s action last month prohibiting companies from transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) via rail.

Cruz, the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Graves, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, penned a letter Wednesday co-signed by 23 fellow GOP lawmakers to Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown, expressing concern with her agency’s actions. 

“This suspension, which is the latest attack in the Biden administration’s war on American energy, calls into question PHMSA’s commitment to its safety mission, PHMSA’s role in promoting the administration’s extreme green policies, and whether PHMSA will ever reasonably allow for the movement of LNG by rail,” the lawmakers wrote to Brown. 

“We ask you to reverse this misstep or, at a minimum, ensure rules going forward focus on PHMSA’s safety mission and strongly consider cost-benefit analysis.”

OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS PERMITTING PLUMMETS TO 2-DECADE LOW UNDER BIDEN

On Sept. 1, PHMSA, a Transportation Department agency, issued a federal rule suspending a 2020 authorization of LNG transportation in rail tank cars granted under the Trump administration. The rule will remain in effect until either a permanent rule regarding LNG rail tank car transportation is proposed and finalized — a process that may take several months — or June 30, 2025.

MANCHIN, OTHERS TORCH BIDEN FOR BANNING OIL DRILLING ACROSS MILLIONS OF ACRES: ‘ASSAULT ON OUR ECONOMY’

In their letter, the 25 Republicans argued PHMSA is primarily a safety agency, not an environmental agency, and that LNG transportation by rail has been proven safe and reliable. And they pointed to PHMSA’s own data showing the movement of hazardous materials by highway is inherently less safe for the public.

They further stated the rule was part of a broader attack on domestic fossil fuel production that “willfully ignores the attendant harms to consumers and national security.”

“This effort comes from the highest level of the administration, as President Biden specifically targeted PHMSA’s LNG by rail rule through an alarmist, anti-fossil fuel executive order purporting ‘to Tackle the Climate Crisis.’ After President Biden explicitly targeted the LNG by rail rule, PHMSA issued a proposal to suspend the LNG by rail rule later that year,” the letter adds.

And the lawmakers said PHMSA’s suggestion that the rule is temporary is a “smokescreen for intended permanent deterrence” of LNG rail transportation. 

“Perversely, PHMSA’s participation in an all-out effort against American energy production works against the goal it purports to serve,” the lawmakers wrote. “PHMSA declares that the suspension ‘avoid[s] potential risks to public health and safety or environmental consequences (to include direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions).’

INTERNAL EMAILS SHOW BIDEN OFFICIALS OPENLY DISAGREED WITH ADMIN’S FOSSIL FUEL POLICIES

“In reality, the United States has led the world in reducing carbon emissions since peaking in 2007, largely because of America’s development and use of affordable and clean natural gas,” the Republicans added. “Greater transportation of LNG by rail would give Americans an affordable and environmentally responsible option to meet their energy needs. Suspension of the LNG by rail rule is mere virtue signaling, not progress in reducing emissions.”

PHMSA said its Sept. 1 rule provides sufficient time to complete ongoing testing and evaluation efforts regarding LNG rail transportation and allows development of mitigation measures for such transportation.

“Advancing rail safety measures that are based on the best available science and testing is crucial to keeping communities safe,” Brown told Fox News Digital in a statement last month.

“This suspension will give time for PHMSA, in conjunction with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering as well as its Canadian regulator counterparts, to complete critical research on transporting cryogenic liquids like LNG (and hydrogen) by rail more safely. This research is expected to conclude in the next year or so and will inform future federal safety regulations from PHMSA and the FRA.”

INSPECTOR GENERAL WARNS BIDEN ADMIN’S $400 BILLION GREEN ENERGY LOAN PROGRAM IS RIPE FOR ABUSE

The move came after the Sierra Club and several other environmental organizations, like Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council and Food & Water Watch, argued that allowing LNG transportation could be hazardous to communities. The groups have said LNG is highly flammable and vulnerable to devastating explosions which could destroy communities railroads cut through.

Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., additionally wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg earlier this year, asking for a permanent ban on LNG transportation via rail and pointed to safety risks cited by environmental groups.

In June 2020, the Trump administration announced it had finalized a rule allowing the rail shipment of LNG. Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the agency had put new safeguards in place to prevent dangerous accidents.

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The rule was challenged in court by environmental groups but received support from Republicans and the rail industry, which said it was committed to freight rail transportation safety.

“The extended hold of the rule for transporting LNG by rail is disappointing,” Railway Supply Institute President Patty Long said last month. “Transporting LNG has a proven safety record, and with our country continuing to face rising energy prices, we should be incentivizing critical infrastructure that can provide additional capacity to the U.S.

“We should not have to rely on foreign sources of LNG to meet demand in certain parts of the country.”

EXCLUSIVE—Former Republican North Carolina Congressman Mark Walker is dropping out of the Tar Heel state’s gubernatorial race and is launching his bid for North Carolina’s 6th Congressional district. 

“As much as we would like to be the ambassador of the state and the chief executive, we feel almost like that our skill set, our experience, our background is needed here in the United States Congress,” Walker tells Fox News Digital. “The highest rated conservative to be elected to leadership in Congress. That’s a pretty strong voting record.”

NORTH CAROLINA BECOMING 2024 BATTLEGROUND FOR DEMOCRATS VYING TO RECLAIM SWING STATE TRUMP WON IN 2020

Walker was running against North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who is considered the frontrunner in the race and is endorsed by former President Trump. 

However, the former congressman believes Robinson may not have the statewide appeal in a divided background state, given his comments about women’s roles and the LGBT community. 

“I would be disingenuous to say that you can just throw out all those comments. They are problematic,” said Walker. “Sometimes targeting different communities is not just bad for politics, but it’s bad for when it comes to leadership.”

The former congressman has “not finalized” who he will be endorsing at this point but will throw his support behind a candidate with “character and substance.”

“We want to see the pros and cons. For us, it’s about who’s the best candidate to make sure that we never turn things over to Josh Stein,” said Walker. 

Walker, a pastor from Greensboro and owner of a business consulting firm, rose the ranks in Congress from 2014-2021, leading the Republican Study Committee and becoming the vice chair for the House Republican Conference. 

Once floated as a potential successor to Speaker Paul Ryan, Walker lost his political footing after redistricting eliminated his GOP-leaning House seat in 2020. Then, the former congressman finished third in the 2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary to current Senator Ted Budd. 

“I’m now 54, not 44 when I first ran for Congress,” said Walker. ” But I think that seasoning, that maturity, continues to help build the kind of leadership and experience that’s needed.”

Now, Walker hopes to defeat Democrat incumbent Kathy Manning and return to his district covering the Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point areas.

“We’ve been serving the people of North Carolina for 25, almost 27 years. The bulk of that time was as a pastor,” said Walker. 

“Our whole background is looking for a place to serve through no fault of our own…We would have continued that service. We’ve continued to look for opportunities that we can stand firm to the conservative values, but also leading in a way.” – Former North Carolina Congressman Mark Walker (R)

Manning won the district with nearly 54 percent of the vote in 2022 against Republican candidate Christian Castelli. Nonetheless, Manning, along with Reps. Jeff Jackson and Wiley Nickel, face tough reelection prospects with new state maps released Monday. 

GOP SET TO GAIN 3 US HOUSE SEATS UNDER MAP ADVANCED IN NC SENATE

“These maps were created for one purpose only: to ensure Republicans win more House seats so that they can maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Manning said in a statement on October 19. “They are not a reflection of the best interests of North Carolinians but rather an offering to the national Republican Party.”

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The North Carolina primary is scheduled for March 5, 2024. The general election will occur on November 5, 2024.

Newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declared Wednesday that the House of Representatives was “back in business,” and vowed his first legislative action would be in support of Israel as it faces multiple threats.

“I want to thank you all for the trust that you have instilled in me to lead us in this historic and unprecedented moment that we’re in. The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now, and I will not let you down,” he told his Republican colleagues in his first address to the House after winning the race for speaker.

Johnson became the first House speaker elected from the state of Louisiana after winning a 220-209 vote with the support of the entire Republican conference (minus one absence) while Democrats unanimously supported House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as expected. 

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Johnson was the fourth GOP nominee vying for the role after numerous failed attempts to unite Republicans following former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster earlier this month.

“I want to say to the American people on behalf of all of us here: We hear you. We know the challenges you’re facing. We know that there’s alot going on in our country domestically and abroad, and we’re ready to get to work again to solve those problems, and we will,” Johnson said. 

“Our mission here is to serve you well, to restore the people’s faith in this house, in this great and essential institution,” he added.

WATCH: ILHAN OMAR BREAKS DOWN IN FIT OF RAGE AIMED AT BIDEN, DEMOCRAT LEADERSHIP OVER SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL

Johnson vowed the “first bill” he would bring to the House floor as speaker would be “in support of our dear friend Israel.”

“We are overdue in getting that done,” he said. “We are going to show not only Israel, but the entire world that the barbarism of Hamas that we have all seen play out on our television screens is wretched and wrong, and we are going to stand for the good in the conflict.”

He also promised to “immediately” form a bipartisan debt commission to address the nation’s growing debt crisis, and called on the House to come together to address the “broken” U.S. southern border.

REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE ‘RECORD-BREAKING’ FUNDRAISING HAUL IN EFFORT TO GROW HOUSE MAJORITY IN 2024

Johnson dedicated part of his speech to thanking McCarthy for his dedication to “selfless public service,” and praised him as “the reason we are in this majority today.”

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“His impact can never be overstated,” he said.