NationalWatch

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday she will return to President Donald Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., after leaving her post in the administration.

Leavitt, 28, told reporters aboard Air Force One that she plans to work for MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, though she did not specify her title or responsibilities.

The move sends Leavitt back to a familiar political operation. She previously served as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc. before joining Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and later becoming White House press secretary.

The White House and MAGA Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Leavitt’s new role.

TRUMP SAYS KAROLINE LEAVITT WILL LEAVE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY ROLE, BECOME OUTSIDE ADVISOR

“You guys will still see me all the time,” Leavitt told reporters on Friday, signaling she intends to remain active in Trump’s political orbit as Republicans gear up for the midterm elections.

Leavitt said Friday’s trip was her last official Air Force One flight as press secretary.

ALINA HABBA SHUTS DOWN SPECULATION SHE COULD REPLACE KAROLINE LEAVITT AS WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY

Trump announced that Leavitt will leave her role at the end of the month to spend more time with her family.

Leavitt confirmed her departure in a lengthy post on X, saying she made the “bittersweet decision” after concluding she could not balance the demands of serving as press secretary with being the mother she wants to be to her two young children.

“Serving as the White House Press Secretary over the past year and a half has been the honor and adventure of a lifetime,” Leavitt wrote.

Leavitt became the youngest White House press secretary in history when Trump returned to office in January 2025.

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Her departure also creates a high-profile vacancy in the White House briefing room. Trump has not yet announced who will replace her.

A roaring display of American muscle will be unleashed in the streets of Washington, D.C., this afternoon as IndyCar racers zoom through the city in a first-of-its-kind race, capping off a summer of celebration for America’s 250th birthday.

“President [Donald] Trump is ensuring America gets the spectacular birthday it deserves as we celebrate our 250th anniversary,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital.

The race is called the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, and top IndyCar drivers, including this year’s Indianapolis 500 winner, Felix Rosenqvist, will take to the streets of the nation’s capital vying for victory in vehicles designed to drive at nearly 200 mph.

DRIVERS JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND KYLE KIRKWOOD TALK INDYCAR’S ‘ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME’ FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX

The course is a 1.7-mile, seven-turn circuit including a .4-mile front stretch along Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House.

“The historic IndyCar race set to take place in our Nation’s Capital will be one of the greatest and most iconic races in history,” Ingle said. “The President will leave his imprint on this historic race in a way that only he can.” 

RACER STING RAY ROBB GEARS UP FOR FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX: ‘THIS IS MORE THAN JUST AN INDYCAR EVENT’

Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., whose home state is also the country’s motorsports capital, said the event made her proud of her fellow Hoosiers.

“For 250 years, Americans have been willing to take risks and innovate, and compete, and dream bigger. And, you know, Indycar racing certainly is a testament to that through motorsports, through excellence in manufacturing, and ingenuity — and Indiana certainly embodies that tradition,” Houchin told Fox News Digital.

INDYCAR DRIVER GRAHAM RAHAL REFLECTS ON OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE AT FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX: ‘ICONIC MOMENT’

Houchin also revealed that she got an up-close-and-personal preview of the event by riding in one of the cars for a fast lap around the track.

“I mean, it was incredible. You go down that first straightaway, and it’s so fast that you almost lose your stomach for a second. It is thrilling to take one of those turns and see the U.S. Capitol there. It was really special,” she said.

INDYCAR STAR ALEX PALOU REFLECTS ON WHITE HOUSE, OVAL OFFICE VISIT WITH TRUMP: ‘INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took point on the race’s organization.

“What’s more American than fast cars racing through the streets of our nation’s capital? If that doesn’t make you proud to be an American, I don’t know what will,” Duffy told Fox News Digital. “The Department of Transportation was proud to help bring President Trump’s one-of-a-kind vision to life this weekend for an unforgettable celebration of America’s talents, innovation, and drive for excellence. At 250 years, freedom doesn’t just ring — it revs!”

TRUMP TOUTS INDYCAR DRIVERS’ ‘SPECIAL’ ABILITY AT FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX SHOWCASE, SEEMINGLY ENDING HOT DEBATE

Trump previewed the event in July. Standing outside the White House, he spoke alongside Penske Corporation founder and chairman Roger Penske, the company’s president, Bud Denker, and Duffy.

“Unprecedented events will take place next month right here in our nation’s capital. On Aug. 22 and 23,” Trump said at the time.

INDYCAR ANNOUNCES START TIME FOR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX ON THE STREETS OF WASHINGTON, DC

“It will be an awesome display of American patriotism and raw horsepower ingenuity. You’re going to see cars at the level that they’ve never been at before, with cars racing more than 190 mph and even higher than that down Pennsylvania Avenue,” he continued.

Trump also thanked Duffy for helping to make the race happen.

HERE ARE 5 DRIVERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON AS INDYCAR HITS THE STREETS OF WASHINGTON FOR FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX

“But what Sean Duffy has done with these incredible, brilliant people is really amazing. It’s going to be a sight for the ages,” he said. “It really will be something special, and they’re going to go all around the National Mall at speeds that are not quite, if we did that during the regular day, I think people would be put in jail, perhaps for the rest of their lives.”

When remarks concluded, one of the IndyCars demonstrated a pit stop.

All four tires on the vehicle were changed, and its gas tank was filled in less than six seconds as the president and media looked on in awe.

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The event, which begins at 1 p.m. ET, offers free general admission and is open to the public.

A Catholic organization is pressing Massachusetts bishops to act against Democratic Gov. Maura Healey after she signed a new law that will eliminate the state’s previous restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks, making Massachusetts the 10th state to permit the procedure up to birth.

“To weaponize Catholic virtues, to weaponize Christian virtues in the defense of something so egregiously contrary to the faith is a new moment in the political landscape and in the way in which bishops should deal with politicians,” CatholicVote president and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt told Fox News Digital.

CatholicVote is urging Massachusetts bishops to determine whether Healey, who is Catholic, incurred automatic excommunication under canon law and, if so, formally declare it.

In a letter to the bishops, Reinhardt argued that Healey should be considered an “accomplice” in abortion under Catholic canon law and that her actions warrant formal discipline.

The law, signed by Healey in mid-August and set to take effect Nov. 8, will allow abortions beyond the state’s previous restrictions based on a physician’s professional judgment, reigniting a decades-old fight over how Catholic leaders should respond to Democratic politicians whose support for abortion rights conflicts with Church teaching.

LATE-TERM ABORTION TAKES FRONT SEAT AS BLUE STATE RUSHES TO EXPAND ACCESS BEFORE SESSION ENDS

While Catholic politicians have repeatedly faced condemnation, warnings and calls for consequences, formal discipline from bishops has been uneven — a divide CatholicVote says Healey’s latest move should force Church leaders to confront.

“We’ve seen generations of Catholic politicians now claim this same exception,” Reinhardt said, referring to politicians who say they are personally opposed to abortion while supporting abortion rights. “It gave cover for too many years and now that cover is no longer possible.”

NEONATOLOGIST SOUNDS ALARM OVER MASSACHUSETTS ABORTION LAW ALLOWING PROCEDURES UP TO BIRTH: ‘VERY DISTURBING’

Bishop Robert Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, sharply condemned the new Massachusetts law and the celebration surrounding its signing.

“Please understand what this means. A fully-formed child, moments before exiting the birth canal, can be eviscerated, chopped into pieces, have its head crushed or skin burned off,” said the bishop in an X post.

“What I found particularly gross was the reaction of the entirely female crowd around the female governor of Massachusetts as she signed this barbaric provision into law,” he said, referencing those surrounding Healey during the signing.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee reposted the bishop’s comments, highlighting, “They were clapping and cackling with delight because what can only be called infanticide can now be practiced with impunity in their state” along with “[microphone emoji] dropped.”

Barron’s condemnation reignited a broader conversation over whether Catholic bishops should move beyond public criticism and impose consequences on Catholic politicians who champion abortion rights in defiance of Church teaching.

TEXAS DEM NOMINEE JAMES TALARICO INVOKES FAITH TO DEFEND ABORTION RIGHTS, ‘THE BIBLE IS SILENT ON ABORTION’

“It’s left entirely to the bishops,” Reinhardt said, adding that when politicians are allowed to publicly take positions “so contrary to the faith,” it “creates confusion for people in the pews.”

Both Reinhardt and Barron referenced previous examples invoking former New York Governor Mario Cuomo’s 1984 Notre Dame speech.

At the time, Cuomo said that Catholic politicians could personally accept the Church’s opposition to abortion without necessarily imposing that belief through civil law.

WHAT MY SON’S ULTRASOUND TAUGHT ME ABOUT ABORTION — AND MASSACHUSETTS IGNORES

“We’ve seen generations of Catholic politicians now claim this same exception,” said Reinhardt.

Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was barred from receiving Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in 2022 because of her public support for abortion rights.

“It’s certainly a tool that bishops have in their legislative disciplinary toolbox, which is to say, you know, actually you’ve found yourself in a state of grave sin because you’ve publicly advocated for this so I can no longer give you the Holy Sacrament,” said Reinhardt.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Healey’s office and Massachusetts Catholic bishops for comment.

Several Puerto Ricans interviewed by Fox News Digital in San Juan, Puerto Rico voiced opposition to becoming America’s 51st state, arguing that it would send the economy into turmoil and strip the island of its cultural identity.

“I don’t think it should be a state,” Carly, who grew up in Puerto Rico and now lives in Connecticut, told Fox News Digital. “I don’t want them to do PR how they did with Hawaii. I don’t want taxes to spike. People’s wages here are really low to maintain life here.”

Statehood for Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory since the United States acquired it from Spain in 1898, has long been debated among both the U.S. government and Puerto Rico’s local government.

CARIBBEAN HOT SPOT GRIPPED BY WATER CRISIS, AND TOURISTS SCRAMBLE TO RESCHEDULE PLANS

The statehood debate carries significant economic implications for the island, including potential changes to how Puerto Rican residents and businesses are taxed. Puerto Rico operates under a different federal tax structure than the states — statehood would bring the island more fully into the federal tax system.

“Everything would become more expensive than it already is and locals [have] already been struggling for a while now,” Alejandra from San Juan, Puerto Rico, said. She continued, “It would make stuff even worse.”

Puerto Rican Gov. Jenniffer González Colón, a member of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party and ally of President Donald Trump, is an advocate of the push for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state. She argues that achieving statehood goes hand-in-hand with achieving equality, as her party has claimed unequal treatment in numerous federal programs.

PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW RECOGNIZING UNBORN BABIES AS HUMAN BEINGS

One Puerto Rican resident who spoke with Fox News Digital cited the public scrutiny of Trump as a reason for not wanting to gain statehood. Although Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, residents of the territory cannot vote in the general election for president.

“There’s a lot of controversy with the… especially the president right now,” a woman from Puerto Rico who referred to herself as “Boo” said. “We don’t want to be a part of that, for sure.”

A nonbinding referendum on the issue held in November 2024 asked Puerto Rican voters to choose between statehood, independence, or associated independence — which leaves certain issues to be negotiated individually. The vote found that 59% of those voting were in favor of statehood, with 29% favoring independence and 12% for associated independence.

“I believe that we can be our own independent country,” Angelie, another Puerto Rican resident, said. “I think that we have the full potential to become an independent country since we have been colonized for so, so many years.”

She continued, “We had the chance to be a country then the United States, no hate though, colonized us and promised us something and then it was another stuff.”

Another resident expressed his support for Puerto Rico gaining independence, but said it’s “not ready for that.”

“I truly believe that Puerto Rico should be part of the nations around the world as an independent nation like the U.S. is,” Luis from Puerto Rico said.

CARVILLE TELLS DEMS TO QUIETLY PREPARE POWER GRAB WITH DC, PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD AND SUPREME COURT PACKING

Luis also cited Puerto Rico’s economic relationship with the federal government as one reason he questions whether the island is prepared for independence.

“The reality is that we have been… tailored to the U.S. — not citizens, the U.S. government, federal government — to their liking,” Luis said. “In other words, they have been feeding us with a lot of federal funding and people are used to that.”

He continued, “A lot of people do not work just because they are used to get the federal funds. So that’s a shame.”

In addition to the economic concerns presented, “Boo” pointed to her fear that Puerto Rico would lose its culture if it joined the U.S. as a state.

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“Puerto Rico is already being very Americanized,” she said. “I wouldn’t like that to keep going on if we become a state because it will lose the heart and soul.”

As President Donald Trump looks to revive summit diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, he faces a North Korea with a larger nuclear arsenal, a powerful new partner in Russia and far less incentive to strike a deal than it had during his first term.

Trump’s renewed outreach comes as he remains locked in a nuclear standoff with Iran, reopening another piece of unfinished business from his first term. Unlike Iran, however, North Korea already possesses a mature nuclear arsenal and multiple delivery systems, leaving Trump with little prospect of eliminating the threat militarily and a narrower path to a deal than he had eight years ago.

Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Trump may see renewed North Korea diplomacy as both a chance to shift attention from Iran and an opportunity to reduce the number of adversaries confronting the United States.

“I think he frankly wants to take the headlines off of Iran,” Cha told Fox News Digital, arguing that Trump also sees North Korea as a fundamentally different nuclear challenge. “There really isn’t a military solution for a country like North Korea that has 50, 60, 70 nuclear weapons and several delivery systems for those weapons.”

TRUMP REVEALS EXACT NUMBER OF NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS

That leaves a sweeping denuclearization agreement increasingly out of reach. A more limited negotiation could instead focus on restricting nuclear and long-range missile tests, establishing crisis communications, weakening Pyongyang’s growing ties with Moscow or reaching a peace agreement that leaves Kim’s nuclear arsenal intact.

“There is no grand bargain with North Korea that quickly eliminates the country’s nuclear arsenal,” Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, told Fox News Digital. “North Korea can drive a harder bargain now than it could have in 2018.”

Trump said this week that he expects to meet Kim before the end of the year. He has cast the personal relationship that produced their earlier meetings as an asset for restarting diplomacy.

“I get along with him,” Trump said. “And you know what? The fact that I get along with him, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

A White House official told Fox News Digital on background that the leaders “will meet at the appropriate time,” but the official did not provide a date, location or details about preparations.

Trump’s potential payoff is a limited agreement that reduces the immediate nuclear danger rather than eliminates North Korea’s arsenal. Cha identified several objectives short of denuclearization, including formally banning nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, reducing Pyongyang’s ties with Moscow and establishing a crisis-management channel between the United States and North Korea.

Cha said Trump is also likely interested in a peace declaration or treaty that would allow him to claim progress on a conflict that has remained technically unresolved since the 1953 armistice.

Washington’s bargaining chips include phased sanctions relief, reductions in military exercises or U.S. force posture, a possible peace agreement and the political value of direct engagement with the U.S. president. For Kim, a deal that leaves his nuclear weapons intact could itself look like progress toward the regime’s long-running goal of winning de facto acceptance as a nuclear weapons state.

Kim may also have another reason to keep Trump engaged. Cha pointed to the president’s willingness to use military force during his second term, arguing that North Korea may see continued contact with Trump as a way to reduce the risk of a confrontation.

Trump may have already made his first negotiating play. Cha pointed to the president’s reduction in joint exercises with South Korea, a step Trump also took during his first round of diplomacy with Kim.

North Korea dismissed the move as insufficient and launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters the following day.

US ADVERSARIES CHINA, NORTH KOREA STRENGTHENING TIES AS XI, KIM SET TO BEGIN TALKS

Anthony Ruggiero, who served as the National Security Council director for North Korea during Trump’s first term, said the reduced exercises fit a pattern established during the president’s earlier diplomacy with Kim.

“I’m kind of surprised that people are surprised. President Trump took the same action in his first term, and the only thing that’s really surprising is not that he did it; it’s that he waited this long to do it,” Ruggiero told Fox News Digital.

At their 2018 Singapore summit, Kim signed a broad pledge to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The agreement set no timetable or verification terms, and Pyongyang now rejects denuclearization as the basis for negotiations.

Eight years ago, Kim was under heavier pressure from U.N. Security Council sanctions and a worsening food situation, Cha said.

“And in many ways, Trump had the leverage. It’s a very different situation now,” Cha said.

That leverage has shifted in part because of North Korea’s deepening relationship with Russia. Pyongyang’s weapons and troop support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine have brought it closer to a powerful partner capable of providing economic and military support while shielding North Korea from additional accountability at the U.N. Security Council. China also remains a crucial economic partner.

Even so, sanctions relief could still be a powerful incentive. Ruggiero said pressure loses force if the United States does not keep closing the workarounds North Korea uses to evade it.

“The North Koreans always complain that the sanctions don’t hurt them, but then that’s the first thing they always ask for,” he said.

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The recovery of American war dead could also provide Trump with a concrete humanitarian result. The Singapore agreement included a commitment to recover the remains of U.S. service members killed in North Korea during the Korean War, and Pyongyang returned 55 boxes believed to contain American remains in 2018.

A future agreement could seek to restart recovery efforts inside North Korea, where joint U.S.-North Korean recovery operations last took place in 2005.

But a sweeping disarmament deal remains unlikely. Davenport said Trump should instead focus on measures that reduce nuclear risk and slow the program’s growth, including a missile-test moratorium, crisis communication and a potential freeze on nuclear development.

“The ideal would be a return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, but that’s not going to happen early in the process,” Davenport said.

She said satellite imagery could still help monitor reactor operations, plutonium reprocessing and missile testing, even if verifying a halt in uranium enrichment would be far more difficult.

A direct crisis-management channel could carry value of its own — Washington has no established direct military line to Pyongyang.

“If all of a sudden our radars pick up a ballistic missile flying through the air, we have no way of contacting North Korea to ask them, ‘Is this your intent? Did you send this?’” Cha said.

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Cha also sees a measure of restraint in North Korea’s recent record. Pyongyang conducted several intercontinental ballistic missile tests during the Biden administration, including launches in 2022, 2023 and 2024, but has not tested an ICBM in flight since Trump returned to office. North Korea has not conducted a nuclear test since 2017.

Any agreement would also test the U.S.-South Korea alliance. Seoul may welcome renewed dialogue after years without negotiations, Cha said, but it will be wary of concessions involving U.S. troop levels or exercises.

Cha said South Korea likely did not know in advance that Trump would reduce military exercises, but Seoul could still view renewed U.S.-North Korea negotiations as a net positive if they restart diplomacy. Longer term, however, South Korea would want a role in the negotiations and assurances that its alliance interests are not sacrificed in a deal with Pyongyang.

“Where the rubber really hits the road on this is the whole question of U.S. troops in Korea because North Korea would like them out, South Korea would like them to stay, and it’s not entirely clear what President Trump wants,” Cha said.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Saturday dismissed “AI doomsdaying,” warning that China benefits from “overreaction” by the United States as the two countries compete for dominance in artificial intelligence.

Fetterman shared an article on X highlighting a Bloomberg analysis examining what it described as the narrowing U.S. lead over China in the AI race and the faster pace at which Chinese companies are deploying advanced models.

The Pennsylvania Democrat reacted to the report by arguing that advancements in AI are critical to national security.

“AI supremacy and energy dominance underpins our national security,” Fetterman wrote.

CHINA IS BUILDING AN AI WAR MACHINE. WASHINGTON MUST WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

Fetterman added that pulling back on the emerging technology would only benefit America’s competitors.

“China continues to fuel and benefit from our overreaction,” he wrote. “I reject the political pandering and hyperbole over data centers or AI doomsdaying.”

Saturday’s post was Fetterman’s latest call for the U.S. to aggressively pursue AI development.

SEN BERNIE SANDERS: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS COMING FOR THE WORKING CLASS. WE MUST FIGHT BACK

Fetterman’s stance puts the Pennsylvania Democrat largely in step with Trump on the need to accelerate AI development and expand the nation’s data center infrastructure.

Earlier this month, Fetterman reacted to an article reporting that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was eyeing a potential pause on AI development, arguing such a move would be welcomed by China.

“America must lead in the development of AI, otherwise we live under China’s rules,” Fetterman wrote. “That must not happen.”

Fetterman has also championed the development of data centers. In March, he pushed back against the prospect of imposing a moratorium on new AI data centers in the U.S., blasting the proposal as “China First.”

His comments came after President Donald Trump earlier this week encouraged governors and local officials to welcome the construction of AI data centers.

AMERICA NEEDS THOUSANDS OF BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS TO MANUFACTURE OUR AI FUTURE

“The construction jobs are enormous. We’re building the biggest plants anywhere in the world. And I can say, if I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid are just enormous,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.

The president also said the AI industry needs “a little public relations help” as Americans have expressed concerns about data centers being built in their communities.

A Gallup poll from May found a majority of Americans opposed the construction of new data centers near where they live.

Those surveyed who opposed the facilities cited concerns including their electricity and water consumption and potential environmental impact.

THE WAR ON DATA CENTERS JEOPARDIZES OUR ECONOMY AND NATIONAL SECURITY

Trump signed an executive order in July aimed at expediting the permitting process for data centers.

Regarding the regulation of AI, Trump suggested the industry “may be bigger than the internet.”

“We’re leading by a lot with AI. We want to keep it that way. We want to regulate, but we want to have regulation where they can continue to lead, not regulation that’s going to stifle a very important industry,” Trump said.

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Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and James Cirrone contributed to this report.

Former Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker of Kansas, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without previously having a husband serve in Congress, died Friday at 94.

Her son, Bill Kassebaum, told The Associated Press that she died of natural causes.

“She loved Kansas. She loved people from Kansas and representing Kansas for 18 years in the U.S. Senate,” he told AP. “She was an independent-minded Republican who was willing to stand up for what she thought was right, even if that meant going against the party.”

Kassebaum Baker won election to the Senate in 1978 and served three terms before leaving office in 1997. The daughter of former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, the Republican Party‘s unsuccessful 1936 presidential nominee, she built a reputation as a moderate Republican willing to break with her party.

TRAILBLAZING FORMER REPUBLICAN REP KAY GRANGER DIES AT 83: ‘BROKE BARRIERS’

Her election brought immediate national attention. By the time she announced her retirement, she was one of eight women serving in the Senate and the only woman chairing a Senate committee.

Kassebaum Baker also developed a reputation for working across party lines. A landmark 1996 health insurance law bore her name alongside that of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Her political independence occasionally put her at odds with conservatives. She supported an assault weapons ban backed by then-President Bill Clinton and said the vote generated the angriest mail of her Senate career.

Kassebaum Baker remained highly popular in Kansas, winning re-election with 76% of the vote in 1984 and 74% in 1990.

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

She married former Republican Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee in 1996, shortly before leaving the Senate. It marked the first marriage between a man and woman who had both served in the Senate.

Howard Baker, who served as President Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff and later as U.S. ambassador to Japan under President George W. Bush, died in 2014.

Kassebaum Baker continued public service after leaving Congress, including serving on a bipartisan commission on campaign finance reform during the Clinton administration.

Later in life, she increasingly broke with the Republican Party’s direction and endorsed Democrats in several Kansas races, including Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS CONTROVERSIAL ILLINOIS BAN ON SEMIAUTOMATIC GUNS

She also called for President Donald Trump’s impeachment following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“This just has gone too far,” she told Kansas City’s KMBC at the time.

Despite her decades in national politics, Kassebaum Baker maintained a close identification with Kansas.

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Before leaving for Japan during her husband’s ambassadorship, she reflected on what she would miss.

“All I can say is, I will miss the Kansas prairie,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries Friday, ruling Secretary of State Marco Rubio lacked the legal authority to order denials for applicants otherwise found eligible to enter the United States.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, a Biden appointee in Manhattan, vacated the State Department policy and any visa refusals based solely on it, directing the government to revisit those cases.

“The Court holds that the Policy is contrary to law and was issued in excess of Secretary Rubio’s statutory authority, Vargas wrote in her 61-page opinion.

The State Department enacted the policy in January, suspending immigrant-visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries the department deemed at high risk of becoming dependent on public benefits. The list spans Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

BOASBERG DELIVERS FRESH IMMIGRATION SETBACK TO TRUMP IN FREE-SPEECH CLASH

Rubio’s policy told consular officers to review each applicant individually. But even applicants who passed that review, showed “additional evidence that demonstrates he or she overcomes the public charge refusal” and had no other reason to be denied were still refused visas if they came from one of the 75 designated countries.

“While the Policy permits consular officers to exercise their normal functions up to a point, whatever determinations they make as to eligibility for the applicants subject to the Policy are ultimately irrelevant,” Vargas wrote. “The outcome is predetermined. The visa will be refused.”

The judge said the directive effectively imposed a nationality-based ban on immigrants from nearly 40% of the world’s countries and sidelined the consular officers Congress charged with deciding whether individual applicants qualify for visas.

FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP’S $100K H-1B VISA FEE, RULING IT AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL TAX

“The Policy thus displaces consular officers from the role Congress assigned them in the visa issuance process,” Vargas wrote.

“In addition to its other defects, the Policy also exceeds the statutory authority that the INA vests in the Secretary of State,” Vargas continued. “Specifically, Secretary Rubio’s Cable directing consular officers that they ‘must refuse’ immigrant visas to nationals of certain countries cannot be reconciled with Congress’s express limitation on his authority as Secretary of State.”

The Trump administration argued the refusals were lawful because officers formally issued them under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an existing provision governing visa refusals. Vargas rejected that rationale, saying the government had failed to identify a law allowing an officer to deny a visa to an applicant already found eligible.

“The Government engages in what is best described as an exercise in Orwellian logic,” Vargas wrote.

She found the policy violated the INA’s bar on nationality-based discrimination in immigrant-visa issuance, as well as provisions allowing visa refusals only when an applicant is legally ineligible. The administration’s approach, she wrote, drew “pernicious distinctions based upon nationality.”

Vargas also rejected the administration’s argument that the policy preserved consular officers’ authority because they still entered the denials themselves.

“The fact that the mandatory visa refusal is ultimately effectuated by the consular officer hardly means that the consular officer’s role in the statutory scheme has not been usurped,” she wrote.

TRUMP ADMIN SUED OVER VISA TIME RESTRICTIONS FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS, JOURNALISTS

The judge distinguished the policy from the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling upholding Trump’s first-term travel ban. That case involved presidential authority over who may enter the country, Vargas noted, while this case centered on whether the State Department could refuse immigrant visas to applicants otherwise eligible under the law.

The ruling does not invalidate visa denials based on other independent grounds of ineligibility, but it wipes out refusals based solely on the 75-country freeze and returns those cases to the government for further proceedings consistent with the decision.

The lawsuit was brought by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC); African Communities Together (ACT), a Harlem-based immigrant advocacy group; five prospective employment-based immigrants; and six U.S. citizens seeking to bring family members to the country.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment.

The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as “Sammy the Bull,” to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term “86” means, according to court documents.

Gravano, who had familiarity with Comey due to Comey’s role as the lead prosecutor in United States v. John Gambino et al. in the 1990s, told an FBI case agent during a May 2026 phone call that Comey “had to know” what 86 meant, according to a sworn affidavit from his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald supporting Comey’s motions to dismiss the case.

Comey is facing a case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Eastern Division, accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump through his May 2025 “8647” seashell Instagram post.

“On May 8, 2026, the case agent had a telephone conversation with Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano, the former Gambino crime family underboss who was one of the cooperating witnesses at the United States v. John Gambino trial,” the affidavit, filed last month, reads.

“During the telephone conversation to discuss the logistics of his forthcoming interview, Mr. Gravano stated his belief that Mr. Comey had to know what the term ’86’ meant ‘as it related to killing someone,'” the court documents say.

JAMES COMEY ’86 47′ SEASHELL CASE PROSECUTOR SUDDENLY STEPS DOWN, ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY STEPS IN

The U.S. Department of Justice brought two federal charges against Comey – threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce – in April for a social media post Comey made displaying a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to say “8647.”

BLANCHE TURNS THE TABLES ON COMEY INDICTMENT CRITICS: ‘REST ASSURED’ CASE GOES BEYOND INSTAGRAM POST

Prosecutors alleged the photo was a reference to killing Trump, with “86” referring to a slang term for killing and “47” referring to Trump as the 47th U.S. president.

Comey’s defense lawyer cited the FBI’s interview with Gravano to challenge the claim that Comey’s Gambino prosecution meant he understood “86” as a reference to killing. Though Gravano told agents Comey “had to know” the term’s mob meaning, he said he did not recall ever discussing it with Comey. The filing also says FBI searches of the Gambino case materials found no references to “86.”

“During the recorded interview, which lasted 25 minutes, Gravano said that ’86’ generally means to ‘get rid of’ and to him, as a ‘gangster,’ it means ‘to kill,'” the affidavit said.

SAMMY GRAVANO REVEALS THE MOMENT HE DECIDED TO COOPERATE WITH THE GOVERNMENT AGAINST JOHN GOTTI

Gravano added that he believed Comey’s post was a call for violence, but not an admission that Comey himself would be carrying out said violence.

“While Gravano claimed that the post was a call for violence against President Trump (‘let’s kill Trump’), Gravano did not claim Mr. Comey’s seashell post to be a statement threatening that Mr. Comey would personally kill President Trump,” the affidavit read.

Comey has claimed that he found — and did not arrange — the seashell display and did not realize some people interpreted “86 47” as a violent message.

FORMER FBI AGENT SAYS COMEY CHARGES HINGE ON INTENT EVIDENCE AND JURY INTERPRETATION

“I don’t see it the way some people are still saying it is, but again, I don’t want any part of any violence. I’ve never been associated with violence, and so that’s why I took it down,” Comey told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace in May 2025, alluding to the fact that he removed the post shortly after putting it up on Instagram.

Comey said he didn’t think it had any dark intentions.

“I actually didn’t think of it as political speech by me, but I thought, ‘What a clever way to express a political view.’ The shells were the same color for each of the letters… It took a lot of work. Somebody with artistic flair did that, and I have a hard time believing it was anybody with a dark intention, and it certainly was no dark intention on my part or my spouse’s part,” he said.

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Fox News Digital contacted the FBI and a legal representative for James Comey for further comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Democratic Senate nominee and former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, missed nearly one in five votes in the Alaska House of Representatives and more than a third of Bethel City Council meetings during her time in office, records show.

Peltola missed 794 of 4,265 state House votes, or 18.6%, during her five terms from 1999 to 2009, according to legislative records, and 22 of 60 city council meetings, or 36.67% from 2011 to 2013, according to city records.

Her attendance record is now raising questions about her commitment to public service as she advances to Alaska’s four-candidate general election, a closely watched race that could affect control of the U.S. Senate.

“Alaskans deserve an all-the-time workhorse like Dan Sullivan, not someone like Peltola who knifes Alaskans in the back when she even bothers to show up,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Nick Poche said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.

MORNING GLORY: ALASKA’S ‘REAL’ SENATOR DAN SULLIVAN STOOD UP OVER CHALLENGER

Records show Peltola’s highest number of absences came during the 23rd Legislature from 2003 to 2004, when she missed 334 of 1,019 Alaska House votes. She also missed nine of 22 council meetings in 2013 and 11 of 32 council meetings in 2012, according to city records.

Peltola has also faced criticism from conservatives for missing votes while serving in the United States Congress from 2022-2024 where she missed 235 of 1,370 roll-call votes, or 17.2%, according to GovTrack data.

In addition to missed votes, Peltola’s critics have also pointed to her time in Congress not resulting in any bills or resolutions for which she was the primary sponsor becoming law, compared to Sullivan who has had several bills signed into law.

“She couldn’t even get a single bill signed into law,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) posted on X in January. “Now, she wants a promotion.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Peltola campaign spokesperson defended the absences, saying Peltola, a mother of seven, took maternity leave after giving birth to three of her children while serving in the state House. The spokesperson added that, excluding excused absences, Peltola missed only about 6% of votes and continued to advance bipartisan measures throughout her tenure.

“Three of Mary’s children were born during her time in the state legislature and she took maternity leave. That didn’t stop her from working hard for Alaskans, from passing bills to improve public safety in rural Alaska to increasing Alaska energy production,” the Peltola campaign said.

The campaign also said Peltola spent summers at fish camp and that some city council absences occurred during fishing months or because of other council priorities.

GOP SENATOR, EX-HOUSE DEM EMERGE FROM ALASKA’S ‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’ DESPITE FAR-LEFT MEDDLING

Turning to Sullivan’s attendance record, the spokesperson said he has missed a significant number of votes and committee hearings, calling his absences “an insult to Alaskans” and saying that Sullivan has been “slacking off” missing fisheries subcommittee hearings.

Peltola announced her Senate bid in January to represent Alaska and unseat two-term Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who is backed by President Donald Trump and also advanced to the general election in November. She finished ahead of Sullivan in Tuesday’s primary.

FOUR MONTHS TO MIDTERMS: 12 RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE MAJORITY

Peltola announced her Senate bid in January to represent Alaska and unseat two-term Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who is backed by President Donald Trump and also advanced to the general election in November. She finished ahead of Sullivan in Tuesday’s primary.

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Alaska’s unique election system uses a nonpartisan top-four primary, in which candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot, followed by ranked-choice voting in the general election.

The Senate has been out of session for about two weeks. It’s convened in brief “pro forma” sessions for just a couple of moments on four occasions since senators called it quits for more than a month at 4:57 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 8.

Pro forma sessions are where the Senate huddles for just a few seconds, gaveling in and gaveling out with a skeleton crew. It’s rare that more than one senator is even in the chamber.

The Senate truly isn’t back for debate and votes until the afternoon of Monday, Sept. 15.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: INSIDE THE SENATE SHOWDOWN OVER TRUMP’S PUSH TO SCRAP AUGUST RECESS

But what about all of that sturm and drang about “cancelling the August recess?” Remember that President Donald Trump and conservatives – ranging from Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to Rick Scott, R-Fla. – wanted the Senate to remain in session for the month to debate the SAVE America Act. That’s the chief legislative demand of Trump. It requires voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was on the floor when the Senate cut town a little more than two weeks ago. Did Thune hornswoggle his fellow Republicans into recessing the Senate for five weeks in the dead of night?

Hardly. In fact even those Republicans who would have liked senators to remain in Washington to debate the SAVE America Act were in on Thune’s plan, allowing the Senate to abandon town for most of August and nearly half of September.

Huh?

Believe it or not, Thune and all other 99 senators agreed to leave Washington. In fact, that’s the only way it could have happened.

The Senate was meeting at 2:07 a.m. that Saturday, on the verge of commencing a vote series to confirm Attorney General Todd Blanche and approve the Russia sanctions bill. That’s when Thune asked the following on the Senate floor:

“When the Senate completes its business on Aug. 8, to meet for pro forma sessions only at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. 8 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026,” requested Thune.

The majority leader then continued, rattling off a host of dates on Mondays and Thursdays for the Senate to convene in those pro forma sessions.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, was presiding over the Senate at the time.

“Without objection?” asked Moreno of the body when Thune concluded.

There was none.

INSIDE THE SENATE’S CHAOTIC ALL-NIGHTER THAT LEFT TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT ON THE SHELF

In other words, the Senate would soon depart Washington. There would be no August debate about the SAVE America Act. The Senate would simply meet for abbreviated sessions over the next few weeks.

And shortly before 5 a.m., Thune requested the following from the floor:

“Madam President, I ask unanimous consent when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, Sept. 10, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14. And following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved and the Morning Hour be deemed expired,” asked Thune.

The South Dakota Republican then threw in some more boilerplate, parliamentary language, to tee up a test vote on an unresolved cryptocurrency regulation bill for the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 15.

“Without objection,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wy., who was presiding over the Senate at that ungodly hour.

Thune paused briefly. But no one said boo from the floor.

That’s because the chamber was bereft of senators — except for Thune and Lummis. Everyone bailed and was heading for the airport.

“Madam President, if there’s no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order,” Thune asked.

“The Senate stands adjourned until 10 a.m. ET on Monday,” declared Lummis, rapping the Senate’s unique hourglass shaped gavel on the dais.

No objection. No roll call vote.

The Senate was done.

So let me filet this for you.

The Senate conducts much of its business via “unanimous consent.” The Senate is a body of equals. All 100 senators wield nearly the same power. The Senate relies on “unanimous consent,” the blessing of all 100 members, to conduct quotidian tasks, like going in and out of session or what time to meet. The Senate occasionally approves bills — sometimes even big ones — by unanimous consent if all senators agree.

But unanimous consent is just that. All 100 members must be on the same page. And if you have 99 senators in agreement and one holdout, well, that’s not unanimous consent.

All it takes is the objection of a solitary member to sidetrack a “unanimous consent” request on the floor. And note that despite the advocacy by some Republican senators for the body to remain in session during August, no one lodged an objection.

That’s because Thune pre-baked a series of unanimous consent requests offstage before he came to the floor.

Late in the evening of Friday, Aug. 7, Thune ran what’s called a “hotline” in the Senate. He proposed a series of votes to confirm Blanche, OK Russia sanctions and consider a few other items. If any senator had a problem with Thune’s hotline, they should let leadership know before 11:30 p.m. that night. Otherwise, Thune would go to the floor and “propound” the unanimous consent request for the upcoming vote sequence. Thune would also propound a unanimous consent request for what the Senate would address when members returned in September,

This package included a plan for those aforementioned pro forma sessions. And, for the Senate to hold off on any votes until Monday, night, Sept. 14. Thune also locked in the procedural vote on the cryptocurrency measure for Sept. 15.

Anyone could have objected offstage.

They didn’t. That would have scuttled the entire enterprise.

Anyone could have objected on the Senate floor when Thune made the unanimous consent requests in real time. That didn’t happen either. That’s why both Moreno and Lummis asked the body if there was “an objection.” Or, they declared “without objection, so ordered.”

However, those pushing for the Senate to remain in session to debate the SAVE America Act did manage a minor victory. Part of Thune’s unanimous consent request at 2:07 a.m. that Saturday included a test vote on a voter ID bill pushed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio. This package addressed some of the provisions desired by Trump. It was also helpful to Husted, who faces a tough election this fall against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. And, the test vote would get senators on the record voting for or against voter ID.

All Republican senators voted yes. All Democratic senators voted no. Republicans will likely deploy this roll call vote against their Democratic colleagues this fall.

The vote secured more than a simple majority in the Senate. But here’s the catch: part of Thune’s unanimous consent request — pre-agreed to by all 100 senators — dictated that the test vote on the Husted measure was subject to a 60 vote threshold. Republicans only command 53 votes in the Senate. So without Democratic assistance, the Husted plan was doomed from the start.

So the Senate is long gone. And will continue to be gone for a few weeks.

This wasn’t because of some backroom plan cooked up by Thune. This wasn’t just Thune going against the wishes of conservative senators who suggested the Senate remain in session. This wasn’t just Thune working against the president.

Those unanimous consent requests reflected the will of all 100 senators. Anyone on either side could have blocked the proposals. But they didn’t.

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And when someone asks why the Senate didn’t remain in session this month to address the SAVE America Act, you can tell them that all 100 senators agreed to call it quits and go home at 4:57 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) published a rule Friday that would require states to provide lists of voters who received mail-in ballots to the agency.

The USPS rule, first proposed on June 2, moves to align the agency with President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order, which, among other things, ordered the agency to mandate that all states that plan to use USPS to send mail-in ballots notify the agency at least 90 days before an election and to send USPS a list of eligible voters the state plans on providing a mail-in ballot to at least 60 days before the election.

“Any state that intends to receive mail-in or absentee ballots from individual voters through the Postal Service must ensure that such individuals have been enrolled with the Postal Service for inclusion on the state’s Mail-In and Absentee Participation List,” the new rule reads.

In order for an individual to be included on the list, their state must submit to the USPS the individual’s name and address and include a “uniquely serialized Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb)” on both the outbound federal ballot and the return ballot sent to the individual.

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

The finalized rule, however, cannot go into effect under an outstanding federal injunction against Trump’s March executive order.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, issued an initial preliminary injunction against the executive order in June, ruling that two sections – including the section pertaining to USPS and mail-in ballots – were unconstitutional.

In July, siding with the plaintiffs in League of Women Voters of Massachusetts v. Trump, Talwani renewed the injunction, barring the USPS from enacting the rule.

DHS APPROVES PLAN TO VERIFY VOTER CITIZENSHIP, MONITOR MAIL BALLOTS AS TRUMP PUSH INTENSIFIES

The rule, which USPS will officially publish on Aug. 26, would only take effect for the upcoming midterm elections if a federal court lifted its injunction on Trump’s executive order.

In a filed opposition to the renewal of the injunction, the Trump administration argued that the judicial review was premature under the ripeness doctrine, claiming that the plaintiffs cannot demonstrate any harm from the proposed law until it takes effect.

“Plaintiffs cannot demonstrate they suffer any particularized injury from ongoing policymaking deliberations within the Executive Branch. Instead, their concern is with possible ‘action that the [government] might take in the future,’ the objection, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, read.

USPS Postmaster General ​David Steiner defended the ⁠rule when it was first proposed in June, arguing that the USPS is making sure “we match the ballots that a state believes they’re sending out to what actually ​gets sent out.”

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

After the most recent injunction was issued, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said, “The entire Trump Administration will continue lawfully enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to enact – which includes the safety and security of American elections.”

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Fox News Digital contacted the White House, the DOJ, USPS and the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts for further comment.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Stacey Adair, an award-winning teacher from Colorado, is facing scrutiny after a complaint that accused her of spreading anti-transgender messaging by wearing an “XX ≠ XY” chromosome t-shirt to a professional development training event earlier this month.

“They get an anonymous complaint — nobody said anything that day,” Adair, who was named teacher of the year at the 2025 Teacher Freedom Summit, said. “I would say people don’t even know what it means, honestly.”

“I told one of my friends that yesterday about getting in trouble and she goes, ‘that’s math.’ I said, ‘well, no, it’s actually genetics.’”

A week after the meeting, Adair was called in, given a questionnaire about why she had worn the shirt and was instructed not to wear clothing with controversial messaging going forward.

The reprimand has made Adair fearful for her job and worried that she might receive heightened scrutiny down the road. But beyond her individual case, onlookers like Ryan Walters, the CEO of the Teachers Freedom Alliance (TFA), an organization advocating for alternatives to teacher unions, believe her situation is emblematic of larger power struggles in schools over ideology.

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“It’s not an isolated incident,” Walters said.

“These are the types of teachers that when you talk to parents around the country, they go, ‘I want my kids in a teacher’s class like that.’ And yet you see the way that they’re treated by the districts.”

Adair’s case began when she selected one of her many “word” shirts to the professional development event — a routine training for teachers during the back-to-school season.

She noted that her shirts aren’t out of the ordinary for her. In fact, she threw on a “Math facts” t-shirt to meet a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet — Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

She noted that the school district has a policy against apparel that is political or “disruptive to the educational environment.”

But Adair said she didn’t see her shirt as overtly political or disruptive — especially as there were no students present at the training event.

“I mean I just grab a shirt I feel like wearing that day,” Adair said.

“I just wear these shirts because they’re facts. I just feel like someone has to be stating the truth,” she added.

Asked why she thinks she might face future repercussions for the XX ≠ XY shirt, Adair said she’s been expecting this for some time.

Long before the write-up, she helped strip the teacher union’s grip on her district.

JONATHAN TURLEY: ARKANSAS SCHOOLS TEACHERS UNIONS AND PROVES EDUCATION CAN BE IMPROVED

In 2021, she helped topple two members of her school board who were backed by the union. Without them, the board allowed the district’s contract with the teachers union to lapse by not voting to renew it.

“It basically dictated how the administration could run the school district,” Adair said of the contract.

“So, if the superintendent wanted to pay teachers extra money for having better scores or outcomes, he had to ask the union first. The union basically controlled the school district rather than the elected board.”

Since helping flip the seats and speaking out against the union’s influence, Adair said she has felt like there was a target on her back — sometimes literally.

“One time a local plumber wrote me a veiled, threatening email to my district email right after I went against the union during a school speech on a Wednesday night,” Adair said. “And I got to school, and district security had to have me file a police report.”

“You don’t mess around with the union. So, am I surprised? No. Yes, I’m afraid. I know this is the beginning of them coming after me,” she added.

Adair noted that she doesn’t have evidence that the teachers unions are behind the anonymous tip that sparked the review.

NEWLY ELECTED SEATTLE TEACHERS UNION PRESIDENT UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER ALLEGED ABUSE OF AUTISTIC CHILD

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Even so, Walters, the CEO of the Teachers Freedom Alliance, said it is emblematic of some of the pressure he’s seen firsthand in other cases across the country applied to teachers who question their authority. He believes cases like Adair’s are a key reason he says schools have become proxies for political control.

“It’s like, well, you tally up these types of incidents across the country over two decades and guess what you’ve got? You’ve got a lack of other viewpoints in the staff and the employees,” Walters said.

“And so that’s where we’ve seen this ideology being pushed in schools, even in red states where people go, ‘how did this happen?’ Well, take this incident, multiply it by a thousand and apply it on a daily basis.”

Parents at a North Carolina elementary school are fighting for the ability to keep their children in public school while opting them out of a music class taught by a transgender teacher, as one father says critics have responded by telling families to homeschool instead.

The dispute at Middle Creek Elementary School in Wake County has centered on parents who say they were not given advance notice about the teacher and want an alternative for children whose families object on religious or personal grounds. Parents speaking before the school board this week said children have come home “upset, confused and uncomfortable,” while others said requests for alternatives have been ignored or dismissed and called on the district to provide an opt-out.

The controversy spilled into a heated Wake County Board of Education meeting Tuesday, where speakers were sharply divided over whether accommodating those families amounts to protecting parental rights or discriminating against a teacher because of gender identity. One speaker argued that religious and conscientious exemptions effectively amount to parents demanding that their children not encounter people they dislike, while others said families should not have to leave the public-school system to avoid a class they object to.

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Aaron Driver, a father of three children at Middle Creek Elementary and member of Middle Creek Parental Rights, told the board that parents “shouldn’t have to pass an ideological test to participate in public education.”

“Here’s what our detractors are telling us,” Driver said. “You don’t support school hiring a trans teacher. Maybe public school isn’t for you or your family. Maybe homeschool. Maybe private school.”

BRAZIL PARENTS FACE PRISON SENTENCE FOR HOMESCHOOLING AFTER COURT ACCUSES THEM OF ‘INTELLECTUAL NEGLECT’

“That’s right,” he continued. “Maybe pay taxes into the school system and then pay again to escape from it.”

Later in the meeting, another public commenter, Katrina Day, offered a striking response from the other side of the fight, proposing a free homeschooling curriculum because it would “keep the bigots away from my grandchildren.” She also suggested the district “relocate the children of bigots if needed” or “expel the children of bigots if needed.”

The fight at Middle Creek has been building prior to Tuesday’s contentious board meeting.

State Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, publicly raised concerns in late July after hearing from parents about the possibility of a transgender teacher at their southern Wake County elementary school, floating the possibility of a state law requiring sex-based professional attire for public-school employees, according to WRAL.

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Parents opposed to the arrangement have framed their objections as a request for advance notice and alternatives rather than a personal attack on the teacher. During Tuesday’s meeting, one speaker said parents should receive “advanced notice and the option to opt out” when a teacher’s presentation conflicts with their religious or personal beliefs, while another said families had requested alternatives and called on the board to “provide reasonable alternatives to families who object.”

DETROIT — After falling just 20,000 votes shy of winning the U.S. Senate election in battleground Michigan two years ago, Republican Mike Rogers is urging Democrats, including Jewish voters, to cross party lines and vote for him as he makes a second straight Senate bid.

After a combustible and divisive Democratic Senate primary in which Abdul El-Sayed narrowly edged more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens for the nomination, Rogers is heavily courting Democrats disaffected with their left-wing nominee as he works to flip a must-hold seat for the Democrats in the midterm elections.

A key part of Rogers’ pitch is directed toward Jewish Democrats, who are uneasy with El–Sayed’s vocal criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and who are outraged by El-Sayed’s association with controversial online streamer Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly railed against Israel to his massive online audience.

“I usually vote Democrat, but I’m going to be voting for Mike Rogers,” Rabbi Asher Lopatin said as he stood next to Rogers this week as the former congressman and former FBI agent unveiled his Democrats for Mike coalition at a campaign event on Detroit’s west side.

DEMOCRATS ‘WHO NEVER VOTED REPUBLICAN’ BACKING THIS GOP SENATE NOMINEE

A former Wayne County Health Department director, El-Sayed, if elected in November, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator. The epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018 has made support for Medicare-for-all a major component of his campaign and has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

But it’s El-Sayed’s stance and comments on Israel that have offended some Jewish people in Michigan, a state that also has a large Arab and Muslim population.

El-Sayed used the word “bloodthirsty” to characterize Israel’s military moves in Gaza in an MS NOW interview this month and accused Israeli leadership of genocide against Palestinians. He has argued against unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, as have other progressive politicians. And El-Sayed has repeatedly declined to directly answer whether Israel has the right to exist.

But El-Sayed has also stated that he stands “in solidarity with my Jewish sisters and brothers” to “condemn antisemitism.”

Lopatin, a rabbi in suburban Detroit who has made trips to the Middle East in search of peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, argued that El-Sayed “has shown contempt for the Jewish community and, frankly, for American values by making Hasan Piker, a vicious antisemite and racist, his campaign surrogate and somebody he buddies up with.”

Piker, who endorsed El-Sayed in the nomination battle, appeared at some of the candidate’s campaign events, including the primary night party in Detroit. Piker, who has repeatedly stood by his comments critical of Israel, was also with El-Sayed at a party in Detroit on the eve of the primary.

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

“I do have a lot of issues with a lot of policies of the Trump administration,” Lopatin told Fox News Digital. “But it’s more important to make a statement that we cannot let someone like Abdul El-Sayed get into the Senate.”

Lopatin said Jewish voters who “normally vote Democrat are going to vote for Mike Rogers, and I’m hearing that. And there’s a growing movement like that. And I think the more they meet him … the more they’re going to feel comfortable voting for a Republican, sometimes for the first time in their lives.”

Stacy, a Jewish voter from suburban Detroit who asked that only her first name be used, told Fox News Digital she’s also going to vote for Rogers.

“The Democratic Party is going way too far to the left for us moderates,” Stacy, who backed Stevens in the Senate primary, emphasized.

Asked specifically about her party’s nominee, Stacy said, “Abdul El-Sayed has been campaigning by putting a target on all Jews’ backs.”

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN MICHIGAN’S BLOCKBUSTER SENATE RACE

Some Jewish leaders in Michigan are circulating an open letter urging Jewish Democrats and independents in the Great Lakes battleground state to sign their names in support of Rogers. The news was first reported this week by the Jewish Insider and confirmed by Fox News Digital.

“This is sort of a do-or-die moment,” a person involved with the letter who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News Digital. “There are many lifelong Democrats who are feeling homeless. … It’s not just a leftward drift but has turned into an anti-Jewish drift as well.”

But Joan Lowenstein, endorsement chair of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus, doesn’t condone the letter and told Fox News Digital her group is keeping its distance.

“We are a part of the Michigan Democratic Party, and are not going to advocate that anyone vote for a Republican,” she said.

But Lowenstein, who also sits on the Michigan Democratic Party Central Committee, said those behind the letter “are passionate about this and feel it’s an existential issue, and I think that represents a lot of people. And, so, they have to do what they have to do.

“It’s sort of 50/50. Half the people I talk to say, ‘I could never vote for Abdul El-Sayed because of things he’s said about Israel and, consequentially, the Jewish community. And the other 50% say ‘it is so important for Jews as Americans to have an Democratic Senate that I could never vote for Mike Rogers.'”

Rogers and El-Sayed are running to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The race is among a dozen that will determine if the Democrats win back the Senate majority from the GOP.

Rogers, in an interview with Fox News Digital, reiterated that he’s not asking Democratic voters to become Republicans. And he highlighted concerns he’s heard from Democratic Jewish voters in Michigan.

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“I’ve talked to two young women who were at University of Michigan who were afraid to walk to class. They couldn’t display their Star of David. To say that they’re afraid is probably an understatement,” he said.

Rogers said “the violent rhetoric … is going to make a difference” in the general election.

Republicans see an opportunity.

“There are a significant number of Jewish voters who are staunch Democrats that cannot support El Sayed and who may cross over and vote for Rogers. There are about 70,000 Jewish voters. If a majority flip to Rogers, that has the potential to cause a roughly 100,000 vote swing. Rogers lost to Slotkin by under 20,000 votes,” Michael Schostak, the Bloomfield Township treasurer who is running for University of Michigan Regent, told Fox News Digital.

Schostak, a longtime Republican and donor, said “the pitch to these voters is not to abandon their Democrat leanings, but that, in this race at this time, voting for Rogers is a vote for self-preservation. Allowing El-Sayed to have a voice on the national level would only give more volume to the voices of antisemitism and the far-left progressives.”

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El-Sayed, after winning the Senate nomination, emphasized, “I stand in solidarity with my Jewish sisters and brothers, and we can condemn antisemitism. And, at the same time, we can be talking about how we bring people together, and we can be talking about everybody’s pain.

“My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own kids. We have a responsibility to take on antisemitism in all of its forms, wherever we see it.”

El-Sayed Communications Director Roxie Richner told Fox News Digital, “Abdul has always stressed the importance of differentiating between criticizing the state of Israel and antisemitism.”

She said El-Sayed “remains in regular dialogue with Jewish leaders across the state while building the broadest possible coalition to defeat Rogers, restore Democratic control of the U.S. Senate and throw sand in the gears of Trump’s agenda.”

Roslyn Schindler, an 80-year-old retired college professor who has called the Detroit area home for more than five decades, said she is a strong supporter of El-Sayed and pushed back on the sentiment that his rhetoric and beliefs hold antisemitic undertones.

“I’ve talked to him at length, you know. I’ve met him personally. He attended — he attend — he has attended a service at my synagogue. He attended the Seder on April 2 as well. And there is no doubt in my mind that he is not antisemitic,” Schindler, whose parents were both Holocaust survivors, told Fox News Digital.

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Schindler noted “that many people in the community, in the Jewish community, think he is.”

“I don’t believe that’s true,” she reiterated.

EXCLUSIVE: Republicans risk seeing some of President Donald Trump’s signature immigration priorities erased by a future Democratic administration unless Congress acts now to lock them into law, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital as he presses the Senate to take up a package of seven immigration bills.

Banks said his immigration package is needed as Republicans approach the midterms with control of Congress at stake and a shrinking window to deliver legislative wins to voters. The bills target birthright citizenship, visas, commercial driver’s licenses and other immigration policies Banks wants Congress to codify.

“I don’t just fear a Democrat majority. I fear a Democrat-Socialist majority because the [DSA] who control today’s Democrat Party support wide open borders, they support eliminating ICE, they are anti law enforcement, they want to defund the police,” Banks said.

While current Senate Democratic leaders are not aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, Banks argued a future Democratic-led Senate would be “owned by the socialist wing of their party.”

TRUMP ADMIN INVESTIGATING 75 TRUCK DRIVER SCHOOLS FOR FRAUD, HELPING NON-CITIZENS GET LICENSES

“I cannot believe that the Democrats are so radical and extreme today that they’re OK with what’s happened to our country [with] illegals taking jobs for Americans or allowing illegals to be behind the wheel of semi-trucks,” Banks said, pointing to his “Dalilah Law.”

The bill honors Dalilah Coleman, a first-grader who was critically injured when an illegal immigrant driving a big rig caused a multi-car pileup on an Indiana highway. Partap Singh, an Indian national licensed in California, was driving the truck. Coleman suffered catastrophic injuries, spent months in the hospital and had a craniectomy.

The Dalilah Law, described by supporters as the CDL equivalent of the Laken Riley Act, would require states to stop providing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and certain foreign nationals. It would also require states to revoke certain existing licenses and administer commercial driving tests only in English.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKERS ACCUSED OF MOWING DOWN AMERICANS IGNITE FURY OVER LOOPHOLES UNLEASHING DEADLY ROADS

Banks compared the CDL measure to Congress’ Reagan-era push to raise the drinking age by threatening federal transportation funds. He argued that several Hoosiers have been injured or killed in crashes involving foreign drivers licensed by “states that hand CDLs out like candy,” including California, Pennsylvania and New York. He also wants Congress to take greater control over Temporary Protected Status authority, which he said previous Democratic administrations abused.

“If we legislate it and give Congress power to determine when TPS is appropriate when it’s not, then we’ll be able to address these issues long after President Trump leaves the White House,” Banks said.

ILLEGAL TRUCKER CASES FUEL GOP PUSH TO CRACK DOWN ON CDL MILLS AS DEMS LARGELY SILENT

The American Tech Workforce Act would raise the minimum salary threshold for many H-1B visa positions from $60,000 to $150,000. Experts have said the change would significantly alter incentives for companies seeking to hire young foreign workers.

Immigration attorneys argued Banks’ bill would make the U.S. “far less attractive as a study destination” and encourage foreign talent to look to Canada instead.

“Many employers would be unable or unwilling to meet this threshold, effectively limiting H-1B hiring to top tech companies or highly specialized roles,” Texas firm Reddy Neumann & Brown said on its website.

AMERICA’S BROKEN LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM IS REPLACING US WORKERS BY DESIGN

Proponents have argued such changes would give American graduates a better chance of entering the job market after college.

Other bills in the package would provide additional border security funding to the War Department, restrict chain migration and target grants to colleges employing illegal immigrants.

“These seven bills are common sense, everything from stopping illegals from driving semi-trucks to banning birthright citizenship, to stopping chain migration, to cracking down on those who misuse the H-1B visas for cheap labor,” Banks said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., for comment on the package and to ask whether any of the bills will be expedited ahead of the midterms.

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.

The Trump administration’s new space policy aims to ramp up U.S. space traffic to nearly three launches or reentries a day by 2030.

The effort would put the U.S. on a much faster pace for deploying satellites that support GPS, weather forecasts, internet access and military communications as Washington races to stay ahead of China in space.

A White House policy released Thursday directs federal agencies to expand U.S. launch and reentry infrastructure to support more than 1,000 rocket launches and spacecraft returns each year by 2030. The plan would expand launchpads, military ranges, airspace corridors and regulatory systems, with the government explicitly leaning on commercial companies to help carry the load.

RUNWAY-TO-SPACE CHALLENGE BRINGS SPACEFLIGHT CLOSER

In fiscal year 2024, the FAA licensed 148 commercial launches and reentries, a record at the time.

The push reflects how space has become part of the country’s everyday economic infrastructure. As more businesses, households and government agencies rely on satellite internet, navigation and real-time data, the ability to quickly launch and replace satellites will increasingly affect the reliability of those services.

The policy comes as China undertakes its own rapid space buildup, expanding launch sites and building large satellite constellations for internet, communications and surveillance. The Pentagon also warns that China is developing missiles, jammers and other tools to disrupt U.S. satellites in a conflict.

China launched 67 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance-capable satellites in 2024 alone, bringing its total to more than 500, according to a Pentagon report.

TRUMP SWINGS FOR MOON WITH NUCLEAR REACTOR PLANS AS CHINA, RUSSIA TEAM UP IN SPACE RACE

In a conflict with China, analysts warn that some of the first attacks could target satellites hundreds of miles above Earth. Chinese missiles could target satellites in low-Earth orbit, while jammers, lasers and cyberattacks could disrupt the GPS signals, imagery and secure communications that U.S. forces rely on to find targets and coordinate operations across the Pacific.

The Pentagon has warned that Beijing is developing those capabilities to restrict U.S. access to space in a conflict. The ability to quickly launch replacement satellites could help the United States restore those networks if a space attack disrupts operations on the ground, at sea or in the air.

US GENERAL WARNS RUSSIA MAY BE DEVELOPING NUCLEAR ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPON IN ORBIT

The order also calls on the department, NASA and the Transportation Department to identify barriers to launching high-priority civilian or national-security payloads within 48 hours of need. In a conflict, that could mean rapidly replacing a disabled communications, navigation or surveillance satellite rather than waiting months for a launch slot.

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The plan also acknowledges that a launch boom could create disruptions much closer to home. As rockets take off and spacecraft return at a far faster pace, the government will have to coordinate those operations with commercial and private aviation. Trump directed the Transportation Department to develop a plan within 180 days to integrate launch and reentry management into air-traffic-control modernization and designate priority airspace corridors for critical launches.

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The policy does not appropriate money or guarantee the country will reach the 2030 target. Instead, it creates a government-wide blueprint to address bottlenecks such as limited launch ranges, crowded airspace, permitting delays, spectrum access and a shortage of reentry infrastructure that could prevent the U.S. from getting needed satellites into orbit.

The Senate’s top Democrat hasn’t said whether he’ll stump on the campaign trail for Abdul El-Sayed but argues that El-Sayed brings fresh juice to the Democratic Party in its quest to flip the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is confident that Democrats can retake the Senate from Republican control, but the path to do so runs right through the Wolverine State, where El-Sayed bluntly said he wouldn’t back the top Democrat to lead the caucus if he’s elected.

But whether Schumer makes an appearance in Michigan between now and November remains up in the air. 

When asked whether he would campaign with El-Sayed during a news conference highlighting the recent race rating shifts in Texas and Iowa, the top Senate Democrat bulldozed over the question.

SENATE MAP TIGHTENS AS TOP FORECASTER MOVES 3 RACES TOWARD DEMOCRATS

“I have one mission: Win the Senate. We are on the path to doing it. Look, the bottom line is that we will win Michigan,” Schumer said. “El-Sayed has brought in new energy and new talent into the Democratic Party. But also in Michigan itself.”

When asked about progressive upstarts gaining footing and winning in primaries across the country, like in Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan, Schumer countered that the Democratic Party is a “big tent party.”

“Not everyone has the same exact view on every single issue,” Schumer said. “But if you look at the overall issues, the costs that people pay, the chaos in the Trump administration, you see it daily. And the corruption.”

BOMB-THROWER DEM MAKES SHOCKING PROMISE TO KICK SCHUMER TO CURB DURING SENATE DEBATE

Still, El-Sayed isn’t on board the Schumer train. He’s said he would support Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., to be Democratic leader and has bucked the Democratic establishment throughout his campaign.

The pair have talked since El-Sayed’s victory earlier this month about shifting the focus to going after President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported. When asked to describe Schumer in one word, El-Sayed said, “Pragmatic.”

CANADA REPORTEDLY SCRAPS JOINT BRIDGE CELEBRATION WITH US AFTER TRUMP RENEWS TARIFF THREAT

Senate Republicans are confident that, after the bloody primary fight among El-Sayed; Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich.; and Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, they can flip the seat and expand their thin majority in the upper chamber.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee who narrowly lost to Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., in 2024, despite Trump winning the state over former Vice President Kamala Harris, has been busy painting El-Sayed as a far-left radical on the campaign trail.

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Schumer argued that Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada spurned the state and gave Democrats an advantage over Rogers, given that Michigan shares a border with the Canadian province of Ontario, where billions in trade have crossed boundaries for years.

“Anyone who is halfway decent as president knows that the Michigan economy and the Canadian economy are totally intertwined,” Schumer said. “He’s blowing it. We will win Michigan.”

President Donald Trump is set to honor four astronauts who traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history during a record-breaking journey around the moon earlier this year.

Trump will award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen during an Aug. 28 ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the agency announced.

The four made history in April aboard Artemis II, the first crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the first mission to take astronauts around the moon in more than half a century.

PETER NAVARRO: TRUMP’S ARTEMIS VISION IS NOW FLYING — AND CHINA IS PAYING ATTENTION

At their farthest point, the crew traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the human spaceflight distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, according to NASA. The astronauts covered 695,081 miles during their nearly 10-day mission.

Their voyage began April 1, when NASA’s Space Launch System rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with 8.8 million pounds of thrust. After testing Orion’s systems in space, the crew headed toward the moon and passed within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface during an April 6 flyby, NASA said.

NEW ARTEMIS II VIDEO SHOWS MOMENT NAVY MEDICAL TEAM OPENED HATCH, WELCOMED ASTRONAUTS

The astronauts captured more than 7,000 images along the way, including views of earthrise and earthset, lunar craters, ancient lava flows and a solar eclipse seen from Orion. NASA said the crew also reported meteoroid impact flashes on the moon’s night side.

Orion returned to Earth on April 10, entering the atmosphere at roughly 25,000 mph before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off California.

NASA CHIEF DECLARES AMERICA ‘ABSOLUTELY BACK’ IN SPACE RACE, SAYS US WILL BEAT CHINA TO THE MOON

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said after the crew’s return that the astronauts had accepted “significant risk” while testing the spacecraft and systems intended to carry future crews deeper into space.

The medal they will receive has roots in the Apollo era. Congress authorized the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1969, declaring that America’s space program relied on the “intelligence, the dedication, the bravery, and the self-sacrifice” of astronauts who flew missions into the “hostile environment of space.”

Under the law, the president may award the medal in the name of Congress to astronauts who distinguish themselves through exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the nation and mankind.

NASA says the medal has been awarded to only a “very select group” of astronauts. Its official list includes 30 recipients, among them Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Alan Shepard and Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell. Armstrong was among six astronauts who received the medal from President Jimmy Carter on Oct. 1, 1978, according to NASA.

TRUMP SWINGS FOR MOON WITH NUCLEAR REACTOR PLANS AS CHINA, RUSSIA TEAM UP IN SPACE RACE

The four Artemis II astronauts would bring the number of recipients to 34.

Artemis II also served as a stepping stone toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. NASA said the crew tested Orion’s life-support systems, manually piloted the spacecraft and gathered data intended to prepare for future missions.

NASA plans to test commercial lunar lander operations during Artemis III in low Earth orbit in 2027 and is targeting Artemis IV for the program’s first lunar landing in 2028.

The agency says Artemis ultimately aims to establish an enduring human presence on the moon and lay the groundwork for sending astronauts to Mars.

“The NASA leadership team was in Mission Control, alongside the flight control team, watching as the Artemis II crew crossed that historic threshold and became the explorers that ventured farthest from Earth,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said to Fox News Digital in a statement.

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“Certainly, the astronauts were aware and monitoring their spacecraft systems. Under President Trump’s leadership, Artemis II captivated the world, inspired a generation, and gave us the confidence to press on as America returns to the Moon to build a base and to stay. Artemis III is the next mission up in that campaign, but it will be in 2028 during Artemis IV, when NASA astronauts will once again walk on the Moon.”

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

President Donald Trump had a striking message for a protester who interrupted his South Carolina rally Friday night: Mom isn’t going to be happy.

A protester stood up and interrupted Trump at about 7:28 p.m., before being escorted from the Myrtle Beach Convention Center by police and convention center staff, according to a White House pool report.

As the protester was still being escorted out, Trump briefly paused his remarks and turned to the commotion.

RUSSELL FRY ENDORSES EX-RIVAL DARLINE GRAHAM AFTER FAILING TO ADVANCE TO SPECIAL GOP US SENATE PRIMARY RUNOFF

“That’s all right. That person’s going home to mom. Gonna get scolded because mom is voting for us. You know, mom is voting for us,” Trump said before quickly continuing his speech.

Trump was in Myrtle Beach to campaign for Darline Graham ahead of Tuesday’s South Carolina Senate runoff, urging his supporters to turn out even though his own name won’t be on the ballot.

“If Trump isn’t actually on the ballot,” Trump said while discussing Republican turnout, before asking supporters to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot.

“Just come and vote. It’s so important,” Trump said. “So, just say that I’m on the ballot one more time. You got to say it, and you got to come out and vote.”

TRUMP NOTCHES ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT WIN AS BARRY MOORE CAPTURES ALABAMA GOP SENATE NOMINATION IN RUNOFF

Trump said he personally encouraged Graham to run and laid out the case for sending her to Washington.

“With your support, Darline will defend common sense in our nation’s capital,” Trump said. “She’ll fight for lower taxes, bigger paychecks, no amnesty for illegal aliens. And she’ll always protect your Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms.”

TRUMP PUSHES LINDSEY GRAHAM’S SISTER TO RUN FOR US SENATE AFTER SHE GETS APPOINTMENT TO FINISH OUT TERM

Trump also said Graham would be a strong advocate for the armed forces.

“But as much as anybody in this Senate and maybe more, Darline will support our military,” Trump said.

Graham later joined Trump onstage, thanking him for his endorsement and his friendship with her late senator brother, Lindsey.

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“Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your endorsement. It has meant the world to me,” Graham said. “Thank you for your support. Thank you for coming to South Carolina. This is MAGA country, right?”

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