NationalWatch

The chaos engulfing France is a preview of what Democrats want for America, Sen. Eric Schmitt warned, contrasting the unrest with new manufacturing jobs and a federal crime crackdown in Missouri that he credits to cooperation with the Trump administration.

“You see what’s happening in France. That’s exactly what they want here, the DSA Democrats,” the Missouri Republican told Fox News Digital.

His warning comes as riots, fires and looting have swept France after protests over rising living costs and strained public services turned violent, prompting curfews in parts of Paris and other cities.

“I think the Democrat Party at this point is sort of post-American and anti-Western civilization,” Schmitt said.

VIOLENT FAR-LEFT RIOTS IN FRANCE ARE ‘CHILLING WARNING’ FOR AMERICANS AT HOME, MIKE JOHNSON SAYS

With control of the House “up for grabs,” Schmitt argued, Republicans need to make the stakes clear while showing voters what they have delivered.

INSIDE THE HOUSE GOP’S 4-WEEK BATTLE PLAN TO SAVE ITS MAJORITY

Asked what a Democratic House would mean for Trump’s agenda, Schmitt accused Democrats of obstructing Republican efforts on immigration, permitting reform and regulations.

‘SQUAD’ DEMOCRAT FORMALLY INTRODUCES BILL TO ABOLISH ICE, BORDER PATROL AND DISMANTLE DHS

He warned that Democratic control could jeopardize funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and revive what he described as the political weaponization of government under former President Joe Biden.

But Schmitt also argued Republicans need to give voters a reason to support them, pointing to jobs and public safety as areas where he says cooperation with the Trump administration is paying off.

KEY AMERICAN INDUSTRY SEEING BLUE-COLLAR JOBS BOOM AS TRUMP’S RE-SHORING POLICIES PAY OFF

In Missouri, he highlighted Boeing’s selection to build the Air Force’s F-47 and the Navy’s next-generation F/A-XX fighter as a potentially transformative investment in American manufacturing.

Boeing secured the Navy contract in September after winning the Air Force program last year.

BERNIE SANDERS ADMITS DEMOCRATS FAILED WORKING-CLASS VOTERS ON ECONOMICS, DRIVING THEM TO DONALD TRUMP

Schmitt, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the programs would mean 7,000 direct jobs, with additional opportunities for suppliers and surrounding businesses.

“It means that the goal we’ve been fighting for, which is that St. Louis is the defense tech capital of the United States of America, is coming true,” he said.

TRUMP SAYS POLLS ‘DON’T ACCOUNT FOR ONE THING,’ AS HE PLEDGES TO DEFEAT COMMUNISTS ‘ONCE AND FOR ALL’

Schmitt said he worked with Trump and administration officials to help land the programs, describing them as “generational opportunities” for Missouri workers.

“You think of the good-paying jobs that’s going to mean for generations to come, it’s just a game changer,” he said.

He also tied the aircraft programs to the broader competition with China, saying the next generation of fighters would help meet military demands in the Pacific.

On public safety, Schmitt pointed to Operation Show Me Justice, an ATF-led enforcement surge that resulted in 435 arrests and the seizure of 166 firearms in St. Louis, according to the Justice Department.

Authorities also seized 81 kilograms of drugs and more than $1.25 million linked to suspected illegal gun and drug transactions during the operation, which officials announced had concluded Oct. 15.

Schmitt said his conversations with administration officials have carried a straightforward request for his hometown.

TRUMP’S LAW-AND-ORDER BLITZ MARKS ONE YEAR WITH EYE-POPPING HAUL OF SUSPECTS, GUNS IN BLUE CITY

“St. Louis, we need your help,” he said.

The former Missouri attorney general described the toll of violence on families, including grandparents cleaning up broken glass and parents burying their children.

“We don’t need to accept this,” he said. “We just don’t need to accept the idea that violent crime needs to be in the headlines every single day.”

He pledged the effort would continue beyond the surge.

“This isn’t a one-and-done deal. There are more resources coming,” Schmitt said.

OMAR’S NEW LEGISLATION TARGETING ICE SPARKS OUTRAGE WHEN THE INTERNET SEES WHAT’S IN IT: ‘UN-AMERICAN’

For families wanting to send children safely to school, visit a park or attend a Cardinals game downtown, he said the goal is a better quality of life.

“I think the message is help is on the way, and there are real tangible results now, not just rhetoric, not just empty promises,” Schmitt said.

“We’re not letting up.”

Schmitt’s third major priority is modernizing St. Louis Lambert International Airport, an effort he linked to the region’s aerospace growth and aviation history.

His Modern Skies Act would fund improvements to air traffic control technology, towers and airport terminals. He said midsize airports need help securing investments that larger hubs can more readily finance.

“St. Louis is the gateway to the West,” he said. “It deserves a world-class airport.”

The proposal remains a legislative push rather than a guaranteed funding award for Lambert. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during an October visit that airport funding would be competitive.

For Schmitt, those priorities form part of the argument Republicans need to make as voters weigh control of Congress.

He cast the election as “common sense versus crazy,” but cautioned that Republicans cannot assume their supporters will show up.

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“I just don’t think you can take anything for granted,” Schmitt said. “I think we have to fight for every vote and tell an important story.”

“I think if we do that, we’re gonna hold on to the Senate, and the House is up for grabs.”

The Trump administration has ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as deadly Houthi attacks intensify across the kingdom, raising the stakes as President Donald Trump weighs direct military action against the Iran-backed group.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed Wednesday that the mandatory departure order applies only to Saudi Arabia, pushing back on reports that Washington was preparing a broader evacuation of diplomatic personnel across the Gulf.

“The U.S. Department of State issued an ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only,” Pigott said.

HOW SAUDI ARABIA’S DEFENSE VULNERABILITIES COULD BECOME TRUMP’S PROBLEM AMID HOUTHI ONSLAUGHT

The order comes amid a surge in Houthi missile and drone attacks that has left civilians dead, disrupted air travel and sent Saudi Arabia scrambling for additional missile defenses.

“Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” Pigott added.

President Donald Trump is weighing whether to launch direct U.S. military strikes against the Houthis, whose expanding missile and drone campaign has increasingly threatened Saudi cities, airports and energy infrastructure.

Houthi strikes and attempted strikes on Saudi Arabia more than doubled in a single week this month, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, with airports in Riyadh, Jizan, Najran, Dammam and Abha targeted since Oct. 5.

The deadliest barrage struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 300.

SAUDI ARABIA ON EDGE: ICONIC KINGDOM CENTRE SENDS WORKERS HOME AMID HOUTHI ATTACKS

The escalating attacks have prompted Saudi Arabia to seek additional military support from its allies. Britain announced Tuesday that it would deploy Typhoon fighter jets to help defend Saudi cities and critical infrastructure, while Egypt is assisting the kingdom and Israel has offered to help.

Riyadh has also asked Washington for additional missile interceptors, though U.S. officials have warned that global demand is straining available supplies.

“I also talked to Saudi Arabia today; they’d like interceptors. Israel would like interceptors. We would like interceptors. Every country in the world would like interceptors,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday.

Rubio described the weapons as “probably the most in-demand product right now in the defense field,” acknowledging that the United States must balance requests from allies against its own military requirements.

The growing threat has exposed the difficulty of defending Saudi Arabia’s vast territory against relatively inexpensive missiles and drones, even with some of the world’s most sophisticated air defenses.

“Saudi Arabia is a huge geography to protect, and this speaks to a larger threat we’re facing globally: a relatively small nonstate actor can pose a serious challenge to even a sophisticated and extremely expensive military,” Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House, told Fox News Digital in an interview published Wednesday.

“The Houthis can impose enormous costs without having to spend very much themselves,” he said.

Trump has left open the possibility of direct military intervention against the Houthis, telling reporters earlier this month that the U.S. could join Saudi strikes against the group.

“We may. We’re gonna look at it,” Trump said. “We’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”

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The U.S. conducted a roughly two-month bombing campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen in 2025 before Trump halted the operation following an Oman-brokered agreement.

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The U.S. continues to provide intelligence and targeting support to Saudi Arabia as Trump weighs whether to launch another round of strikes against the Houthis.

As gas prices climb amid the conflict with Iran, some of President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters say they’re willing to pay more at the pump if it means keeping Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — even with the midterm elections just two weeks away.

“If you’re really a good American, you’ll be thinking not for yourself or how much you’re spending for gas. But what life is going to be like for your children, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” one voter told Fox News Digital on Tuesday evening. 

“What will they grow up to? You have to keep those people in the political regime in Iran without a nuclear weapon. If we don’t do something now, isn’t that worth paying another dollar a gallon?” 

Fox News Digital spoke with several voters following Trump’s Tuesday rally at Pitt-Greenville Airport about rising gas prices, the upcoming midterm elections and the ongoing war with Iran, which has sent oil prices surging and added to Americans’ affordability concerns.

VOTERS PREPARE TO WEIGH-IN ON TRUMP’S ECONOMY AS COSTS CONTINUE TO SURGE

“Things haven’t changed much since Sleepy Joe,” another local voter, Shauna, told Fox News Digital about former President Joe Biden. “At least prices. … But [Trump is] doing the best he can with what he has. Because, you know, he’s not Congress. He can only pass so much.”

Another rallygoer told Fox News Digital that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was worth the cost of higher gas prices for American drivers.

TRUMP VOTERS SAY COSTS ARE CRUSHING THEIR WALLETS — BUT LOOK PAST PRESIDENT FOR BLAME

“We believed in what he [Trump] was saying and what he stood for,” local voter Michael told Fox News Digital. “And you hear people today saying, ‘Y’all wanted to get politicians out of Washington.’ … We got a businessman in. [He] never claimed to be a politician. He’s a businessman.

“Even with the gas prices up for what he’s done in Iran,” he added. “To me [that] is worth the high gas prices. I’ll take that any day to stop a country like Iran and take that nuclear power away. That’s a no-brainer, you know. Now, will the gas prices come down? Absolutely. They will come down because of what he’s done.”

IRAN ‘MISCALCULATING’ BY BETTING ON MIDTERMS AFTER 3-HOUR TALKS, TRUMP OFFICIALS WARN

Another Trump supporter, Steve, told Fox News Digital he would encourage other Americans to vote for GOP candidates despite high prices.

“It would take an act of God to lower prices before this election is over,” he said. “But I highly stress to everybody to vote Republican like you are voting like it’s the most important election in your lifetime. Because in many instances, it actually is.”

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Trump has maintained that the ongoing war with Iran is a “small price to pay” to keep the nation safe.

The president has been crisscrossing the country in the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, rallying his supporters in an effort to boost Republican candidates and help the GOP retain control of Congress. His North Carolina stop was aimed in part at bolstering Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, who is facing former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

FIRST ON FOX: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is taking Americans inside the Trump administration’s war on healthcare fraud in a new documentary highlighting massive Medicare schemes, suspected hospice scams and allegations of organized crime involvement.

The 27-minute film, “War on Fraud,” first obtained by Fox News Digital, follows Oz across the country as he spotlights alleged fraud schemes targeting taxpayer-funded health care programs and details the administration’s efforts to crack down on those responsible.

“All these programs come back to one basic issue: Fraudsters and criminals don’t give a s— about you. They want your money, and they will walk all over your health, sacrifice your life and betray society’s trust to get your hard-earned money,” said Oz in the video. 

The documentary follows Oz across the country as he investigates suspected fraud involving Medicare, Medicaid, hospice care and other programs, with appearances from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Deputy Administrator Kim Brandt.

DR OZ SAYS 800 HOSPICE PROVIDERS SUSPENDED IN CALIFORNIA OVER ALLEGED $1B MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

Fox News Digital accompanied Oz Tuesday as he confronted workers at New York City senior day care centers suspected of questionable Medicaid billing practices during a sweeping federal fraud investigation.

More than 80 New York City providers received warning letters from CMS over questionable billing practices as part of a broader operation involving the FBI, HHS-OIG, NYPD and other agencies.

“FBI New York, along with multiple other law enforcement agencies are conducting law enforcement activity in the area of Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn and other locations around New York City in connection with ongoing federal investigations,” an FBI spokesperson said of the crackdown. 

ON THE STREETS WITH DR OZ AS SURPRISE FRAUD CRACKDOWN SENDS DAYCARE DIRECTORS SCRAMBLING

Oz flagged what he described as a series of irregularities, including low attendance despite high Medicaid billing, questionable wheelchair transportation charges, seniors entering without signing in, inconsistent attendance claims and sign-in sheets containing future-dated entries.

The crackdown comes as CMS is pulling back the curtain on its broader war on fraud, releasing a new documentary that takes viewers inside the agency’s efforts to track down schemes siphoning taxpayer dollars from America’s healthcare programs.

In one segment of the film, Oz highlights hospice care as a hotbed for potential fraud, pointing to the Los Angeles area, where he says roughly 2,000 hospice providers operate, a concentration he argues has raised serious concerns about fraudulent billing.

FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL

Oz claims in the documentary that Russian organized crime groups are involved in some suspected hospice fraud operations, alleging that unsuspecting patients are being enrolled in hospice care under false pretenses.

He claims the schemes involve falsely declaring patients terminally ill and misleading them into enrolling in hospice care, potentially limiting their access to treatment for conditions classified as terminal while allowing fraudulent operators to bill Medicare for services under false pretenses.

Minnesota has become a major focus of the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on government benefits fraud following a series of high-profile scandals involving taxpayer-funded programs.

VANCE-LED TASK FORCE CUTS OFF $1.4B FROM HOME HEALTH, HOSPICE PROVIDERS SUSPECTED OF FRAUD

Oz said Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scandal helped intensify the administration’s focus on large-scale fraud, pointing to a case that erupted into the national spotlight in 2022 and has since produced a wave of federal convictions.

The White House Task Force on Fraud, led by Vice President JD Vance, has joined Oz in a media blitz highlighting alleged scams as the administration ramps up its crackdown on corruption in taxpayer-funded programs.

The documentary highlights one of the largest alleged Medicare fraud schemes in U.S. history, involving $3.7 billion in fraudulent billing claims tied to medical equipment companies operating in Delray Beach, Florida, according to federal prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors allege the scheme involved billing for medical equipment patients never requested or needed, and the accused ringleader fled the U.S. before being captured in Turkey and returned to South Florida to face federal charges.

FBI BRINGS BACK FUGITIVE ACCUSED IN $3.7B MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME AFTER CAPTURE IN TURKEY

The documentary also shows Oz during an earlier visit to Flushing, Queens, where he describes a cluster of businesses — including a social adult daycare center, pharmacy and medical center — as a “clubhouse for crooks,” alleging the businesses are part of a fraudulent billing operation.

Oz says they recruit seniors, get them in, game the system and they use their ID numbers to charge everybody, “which means they are charging you.”

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The documentary will be released Wednesday at 4 P.M. ET on Oz’s X account.

FIRST ON FOX: Cuban-American lawmakers are welcoming a Florida arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro over his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft, saying the move marks a new step toward accountability for the communist regime and vowing to keep fighting for freedom on the island.

The warrant comes after Ariana Fajardo Orshan, chief judge of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, found probable cause to believe Castro conspired to commit first-degree murder in connection with the shootdown of two Miami-based civilian aircraft involved in a humanitarian operation near Cuba in 1996.

“As the only Cuban-born member of Congress, this moment is deeply personal,” Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. “For decades, Raúl Castro and his communist regime have oppressed the Cuban people while evading accountability.”

Giménez described the warrant as a “powerful message” in the “pursuit of justice,” adding that those responsible for the suffering of the Cuban people could soon “answer for their crimes.”

“No previous administration has taken this historic step, and our community is eternally grateful for it,” he continued. “For the millions of Cubans who have suffered under this tyranny, including those of us forced into exile, this represents a significant moment in our decades-long struggle for freedom.”

CUBAN AMERICAN LAWMAKERS WARN CUBA IS CLOSER THAN EVER TO REGIME CHANGE UNDER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Uthmeier told Fox News Digital that Castro allegedly “ordered” the “premeditated, state-sanctioned murder of four Floridians in cold blood,” calling the warrant “a step toward accountability” for the conspiracy that led to the deaths of Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña and Armando Alejandre Jr.

Uthmeier’s office said the warrant could limit Castro’s ability to travel to countries that have extradition agreements with the United States.

OBAMA’S BASEBALL OUTING WITH CASTRO REIGNITES FURY AFTER TRUMP DOJ DROPS HAMMER ON CUBAN LEADER

Giménez said that although the warrant is “historic,” he and other lawmakers will continue fighting until Cuba’s “political prisoners are released” and the “Cuban people can determine their own destiny.”

Florida state Rep. Juan Porras, another Cuban American lawmaker, said the warrant shows that Florida “will never forget” the victims of the communist regime’s atrocities.

CUBA’S DICTATORSHIP HAS LONG BEEN A THREAT TO AMERICA. NOW, IT’S FINALLY TEETERING

“Thank you to the Miami judge who signed a state arrest warrant for Raúl Castro for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder,” Porras told Fox News Digital. “Thirty years later, justice is still moving, but the work is not done. Cuba is not free yet, and we will not stop until it is.”

“Cuba will be free,” Porras added in Spanish.

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The warrant stems from the Feb. 24, 1996, shootdown of two unarmed aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue over international waters. Four people were killed in the attack. Castro, who was Cuba’s defense minister at the time, was federally indicted earlier this year in connection with the deaths.

LEWISTON, MAINE – Former Sen. Joe Manchin, a longtime Democrat turned independent, took aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday for trying to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, calling his former party leader’s efforts “crazy” as he joined Collins on the campaign trail in her high-stakes re-election race.

Collins, a moderate Republican who at times has voted against President Donald Trump and her party, is fighting for her political life as she runs for a sixth six-year term representing blue-leaning Maine in the Senate. She is the only GOP senator seeking re-election in a state Trump lost in the 2024 election.

The race between Collins and Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president, is a top flip opportunity for Democrats as they try to win back the Senate majority from Republicans in the midterm elections. The latest public opinion polls indicate a margin-of-error showdown, and the latest Fox News Power Rankings rate the race as a toss-up, as do leading nonpartisan political handicappers the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections and Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

Manchin, who worked closely with Collins during his years in the Senate, was asked by Fox News Digital how his campaigning with his former colleague would sit with Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber.

DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS BUILDING – HERE ARE THREE FACTORS THAT COULD STOP IT

“Chuck Schumer would not be surprised of me being with my dear friend. There is no surprise there at all. I told him he was crazy in 2020 from working against her so hard and he’s crazy now to work against her,” Manchin said, as he referred to unsuccessful efforts by Democrats to defeat Collins in her re-election six years ago, and their current push to oust her.

Manchin emphasized, “This is not right. She is the soul of America. She is the soul of the Senate, and he knows he needs more Susan Collins, no matter what side of the aisle they’re on. This is ridiculous.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s political team and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for a comment but did not receive a response at the time this story was published.

A former West Virginia governor who served in the Senate from 2010 to 2025, Manchin frequently broke with his party, frustrating Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as Schumer and other Senate Democratic leaders.

As he works to oust Collins from the Senate, Jackson has repeatedly tried to anchor the senator to Trump, who has seen his approval ratings in Maine and across the country drop further underwater.

DEMS SEE NEW CHANCES TO FLIP SENATE SEATS BUT GOP’S MASSIVE CASH ADVANTAGE AN OBSTACLE

But Manchin said that Collins is “not a Trump senator. She’s not a Republican senator or a Democrat senator. She’s an American senator that represents her state of Maine … the most independent minded person I’ve ever met.”

Collins noted that “Joe and I were part of every bipartisan initiative that passed the Senate and became law during the years that we worked together … I just so enjoy our partnership in getting things done for Maine, for West Virginia and for America.”

Manchin and Collins spoke with reporters after meeting with restaurant workers and customers at Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, a famed local eatery in downtown Lewiston that’s been serving customers for a century. It was the first of two campaign stops in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a key swing district.

Collins and Jackson last week faced off on the debate stage for the fourth and final time. The senator used the debates to showcase how her Senate seniority has helped her deliver federal funding for Maine. Meanwhile, Jackson used the showdowns to position himself as an outsider who understands the struggles and frustrations of working-class voters.

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Jackson won a special nominating convention in late July to claim the party’s Senate nomination, which was left vacant after primary winner Graham Platner ended his campaign following allegations he raped a woman he previously dated. Platner denied the allegations but dropped out.

Jackson, who earlier this year unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, had campaigned alongside Platner during the primary campaign.

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Collins, meanwhile, has a history of surviving Democratic efforts to unseat her.

Six years ago, she trailed Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, the Maine House speaker at the time, but Collins won re-election by nearly nine points while former President Joe Biden carried the state by a similar margin.

Fox News’ Kailey Schuyler contributed to this story.

Democrats are up in arms after a so-called polling firm that projected far-left candidates as strong contenders in several primaries admitted that it had fabricated its polling data.

Wedgewood Polling, which billed itself as an election survey company, released a statement Tuesday night admitting it used “fabricated numbers” for an “experimental project to demonstrate the vulnerabilities, lack of oversight, and overall low barrier to entry in the modern political polling industry.”

The group’s polls were cited by Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign amid a high-profile primary race against Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and U.S. House Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. The nonpartisan polling aggregator Political Polls also cited Wedgewood in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race, showing socialist Francesca Hong having an edge over Republican candidate Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.

McMorrow said Wedgewood’s numbers led to her donations drying up and reporters having “hounded” her with calls to drop out of the race.

JONATHAN TURLEY: FAKE POLLSTER’S STUNT WAS A RECKLESS GAME WITH REAL RACES

“Sure, a point was proven. Polling is broken. But tens of thousands of people poured their hearts, time, energy, hard-earned money into something they believed in – for a year-and-a-half, and it was treated like a game,” she said in a statement on X. “Trust is already at an all-time low. We don’t get out of this mess without rebuilding trust. And media – who loves to ride the drama of a pollercoaster – needs to take a hard look at what’s legitimate and what’s not.”

Unlike El-Sayed, who advanced from Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, Hong lost Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary to the establishment-backed candidate. El-Sayed, a former Michigan public health official, is currently locked in a tight race against former U.S. House Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., for Michigan’s open Senate seat.

Democrat strategist Jennifer Holdsworth said she ran a super PAC that raised money for McMorrow and that “this poll was used by several donors to pull back funding at a time we were being outspent by $80 million.”

MORNING GLORY: THE POLLS GOT MICHIGAN BADLY WRONG. NOW DEMOCRATS MAY FACE A BIGGER RECKONING

Wedgewood’s numbers were cited by high-profile outlets like The New York Times and Decision Desk HQ, which both said they have since removed them from their projections.

The Times said it removed 15 polls released by Wedgewood between June and October after it admitted to fabricating data. The outlet said Wedgewood had “answered a series of questions regarding the identities of the pollsters; the methods they were using to draw their sample, contact respondents and weight their polls; and the source of their funding” during its vetting process.

Decision Desk HQ said it removed 17 Wedgewood polls from its projections but that it “has not changed the projected seat totals or chamber control probabilities in the Senate or House.”

Wedgewood Polling’s statement said it “was never intended to sway an election” but rather was aimed as a “wake-up call” about data integrity and vetting standards.

MYSTERIOUS POLLING FIRM BEHIND FAKE ELECTION SURVEYS CLOSES AFTER ADMITTING ‘SOCIAL EXPERIMENT’

“These people are absolute scumbags,” veteran Democratic strategist and former Kamala Harris advisor Mike Nellis told Fox News Digital. “They can try to claim that they have some moral high ground here, but they lied about their polling data, got caught, and are freaking out because they’ve committed fraud.”

“The people responsible for this should be run out of American politics, and if they can be, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Nellis said. He added that both Democrats and Republicans, as well as the media, should reflect on how polling is verified “because there’s likely other people that are doing things like this.”

TOP ELECTION SCHEMES ROILING KEY MIDTERM RACES AS BOTH PARTIES ACCUSE RIVALS OF TRICKERY

Independent outlet FiftyPlusOne said it was investigating Wedgewood when it had released its statement. Co-founder G. Elliott Morris wrote on X, “We were investigating Wedgewood for faking their data and emailed them for comment this morning, ahead of publishing the findings tomorrow. They are trying to cover up their fraud with the ‘we were doing a social experiment’ excuse.”

Former Obama staffer Tommy Vietor said on X that Wedgewood’s actions amounted to “lying and fraud.”

A group called “Wedgewood Polls” had also previously created a GoFundMe to raise money for polling in Nebraska’s gubernatorial and Senate races. It raised $500 of its intended $5,000.

“I know they crowdfunded, I believe, a good chunk of their polls,” Nellis told Fox News Digital. “Are they going to return that money? And if not, are they going to be prosecuted?”

FOX NEWS POLL: IT’S A LONE STAR SENATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TALARICO AND PAXTON

Other Wedgewood surveys showed Democrats with significant edges over Republicans in states like Texas, where a July Wedgewood poll showed James Talarico leading state Attorney General Ken Paxton among Hispanics by 64% to 30%.

Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have long heaped doubt on the veracity of polls.

Polls notably showed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with an edge over Trump in 2016 — far from the actual result.

And with the fight for control of Congress coming to a head in November, every data point is being scrutinized as political tea leaves.

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Fox News Digital reached out to McMorrow’s state Senate office, Stevens’ campaign, and to strategist Lis Smith for further comment.

FREMONT, Neb. — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is predicting Republicans will outperform the polls and retain their narrow Senate majority, even as GOP-aligned groups pull millions of dollars from struggling candidates and redirect resources to races that have suddenly become more competitive.

Thune has been crisscrossing the country campaigning for vulnerable Republicans ahead of the Nov. 3 election. He’s confident that they can hold onto their slim, 53-to-47-seat majority in the Senate but acknowledges that the GOP as a whole faces headwinds.

And as Election Day inches closer and closer, several contests across the country have tightened, like in Kansas, while others may be slipping away from Republicans, like in North Carolina or Georgia.

DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS BUILDING. HERE ARE 3 FORCES THAT COULD STOP IT

Thune, in an interview with Fox News Digital on the trail supporting Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., was still optimistic about the GOP’s chances.

“I think there are a lot of races right now just looking at the polling that are up for grabs,” Thune said. “I mean you could call them jump balls, however you want to say it. They’re margin of error races, and there are some that are maybe a little out of the margin. But I do think the polling right now, like it has been in past elections, under-reflects the Republican vote.”

“And I think you’ll see some of that. So we’re not giving up on any of them,” he continued.

Republicans are hoping to defend six toss-up races this cycle, according to Cook Political Report. And several that earlier appeared as safe bets, like Mississippi and South Carolina, have recently shifted more favorably towards Democrats.

12 RACES SCRAMBLE SENATE BATTLEFIELD AS DEMOCRATS EYE COMEBACK

The flow of campaign cash has been staggering during this midterm cycle, with Republican political action committees (PACs) and outside groups dumping hundreds of millions of dollars in key races across the country.

But where the money is being shifted could be more telling.

Earlier this month, the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC closely aligned with Thune, moved money from Georgia to Kansas, where Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is locked in one of the more unexpected toss-up contests of the cycle.

The Senate Leadership Fund had initially pledged $44 million to bolster Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., in his quest to topple Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. But the incumbent first-term senator has been raking in campaign donations and consistently led Collins in polling.

DEMOCRATS SEE NEW CHANCES TO FLIP RED STATES — BUT A $400M GOP SPENDING ADVANTAGE COULD DERAIL THEIR PLANS

And in North Carolina, where former Republican National Committee (RNC) co-chair Michael Whatley is running to keep retiring Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat red against former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, outside funding has begun to dissipate.

The Senate Leadership Fund similarly pulled back nearly all of its spending in the state earlier this month, a sign that confidence in Whatley’s ability to best Cooper was waning. Even President Donald Trump, who held a rally for Whatley on Tuesday, is worried about the race.

“I think he’s a great man, and I am worried about him,” Trump told reporters earlier this month. “I hope he wins. He was a great leader for the whole Republican Party when I won, and he’d be a great senator.”

Meanwhile, Thune was still bullish that Republicans could hold on, but ultimately, it would come down to getting the “low propensity, particularly Trump, voters out, and then you’ve got to work on winning the middle of the electorate.”

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“Turnout’s going to be a big part of whether or not we’re successful or not. And in every state I’ve been in, that is a clear-eyed focus of our candidates,” Thune said.

“That’s where resources are being invested. And I think that could be the difference for us come Election Day on whether or not we win a lot of these close races or not,” he continued. “And I think that we’re gonna outperform the polls for sure come Election Day.”

FIRST ON FOX: With the midterms less than two weeks away and after socialist-backed candidates notched sweeping primary victories, a conservative group is warning the far-left agenda will leave Americans worse off.

Advancing American Freedom (AAF) launched “DSA Exposed” on Wednesday. First obtained by Fox News Digital, the website critiques 12 Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) proposals, including universal healthcare, public ownership of major industries, abolishing the Senate and ICE and ending aid to Israel.

AAF argues the proposals would reshape American life — and not for the better. Its site examines their potential effects on healthcare, work, housing and the economy.

“In many ways, this election is being framed as a referendum on President Trump, but the Democrats deserve just as much scrutiny and more because of what motivates their actual policy preferences,” AAF President Tim Chapman told Fox News Digital.

REPUBLICANS JUST GOT A POWERFUL NEW PLAYBOOK FOR THE BATTLE FOR CONGRESS. HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE.

In a letter sent to congressional offices Wednesday outlining the new tool, Chapman called the DSA’s agenda “un-American extremism” and urged lawmakers to condemn its “antisemitic rhetoric.”

“The DSA represents one of the greatest threats to Americans’ life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness in perhaps American history,” he wrote.

The website also lays out a visual timeline of socialist governments dating back to the 1900s. From the Soviet Union to present-day Cuba, the timeline shows whether each government remained in power or ultimately collapsed.

Chapman said the DSA’s biggest issue is its call for greater government involvement. He argued this could have the opposite effect on affordability than intended.

“They’re going to put more bureaucrats in charge of the economy and this is the thing that’s actually dragging down the economy,” he said.

SOCIALISTS LAUNCH RADICAL PLATFORM TO ABOLISH THE US SENATE

Socialism has become increasingly embedded in American politics after several candidates backed by the DSA prevailed in their Democratic primaries this year.

Some of the DSA’s most prominent endorsements include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., New York Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, U.S. House candidate for New York Darializa Avila Chevalier and Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb.

The DSA’s upward momentum has left many Democrats questioning the future of the party and whether it could shift further to the left.

An October Fox News Poll found 32% of voters view socialism favorably, up five points from a year ago, while a March poll found 53% of voters under 30 favored moving away from capitalism toward socialism.

Chapman said “a pendulum swing” has left young Americans with “great frustration” over both parties’ handling of the economy.

“Right now, you’re having populist politics on the right, and you’re having populist on the left and both are massively failing when it comes to the economy,” he said.

YOUNG SWING-STATE VOTERS COZY UP TO DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS, SAY PARTY ESTABLISHMENT MUST ‘LEARN’ FROM DSA WINS

He said both parties need to do better to prevent an “opening” for socialism and accused Democratic leaders of being hesitant to distance themselves from DSA-aligned policies for fear of losing their party’s base.

“The answer is not to give the authority to the democratic socialists on the left, because they’ll actually drive it further into the hole,” he said.

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As voters head to the polls in November, Chapman hopes the website offers a “deep dive” into socialist platforms and how they stack up against Americans’ priorities.

“Even though they may be a minority of the party, they are the energy within the party,” Chapman said. “They’re the beating heart of the movement and I think that the leadership of the party will probably kowtow to that base energy.”

FIRST ON FOX: Vice President JD Vance will announce today that the federal anti-fraud task force he leads has identified $40 million in welfare fraud and more than 40 suspects behind the alleged schemes.

A source familiar with the charges told Fox News Digital that Vance will reveal criminal charges as part of the administration’s continued crackdown on rampant fraud across the country.

The latest discovery brings the amount of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud Vance’s team has uncovered to $641 million. More than 1,000 retailers have been banned from the program for violations including criminal trafficking of benefits, while nearly 5,000 others have been suspended and fined a combined $44 million for administrative violations.

FBI RETURNS ‘MOST WANTED’ FRAUDSTER TO US AFTER INDIA ARREST IN ALLEGED $600K SNAP FOOD STAMP SCHEME

The administration has destroyed more than 2,200 illegal point-of-sale devices and disabled more than 2,000 compromised retailer authorization numbers. Officials estimate those actions have prevented more than $5 billion in potential fraudulent transactions, according to the source.

SNAP is a federally funded food assistance program that helps eligible low-income households buy groceries. Benefits are loaded monthly onto an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card, which recipients can use at authorized retailers to purchase qualifying food.

WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE MAP TRACKING BILLIONS IN SUSPECTED FRAUD

Criminal charges brought against the defendants, however, do not guarantee the government can recover the funds.

During a Fox News Digital exclusive interview in August, Vance said that recouping the money presents yet another challenge, since much of it has already been spent.

“Getting money back is very hard,” Vance said. “Once it’s gone out the door, it’s very hard to get it back.”

“What we’ve done most effectively is actually just stop the money from going out the door in the first place, because that’s the only real way to ensure the American people don’t lose it.”

WHITE HOUSE PUSHES ‘WATERSHED’ FRAUD-FIGHTING REFORM IN CONGRESS AS VANCE CONVENES TASK FORCE

The task force has reported $260.7 billion in fraud uncovered since Trump took office, and $72 billion in fraud stopped on an annualized basis.

The news comes just a day after Vance and independent journalist Nick Shirley joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to announce the administration will be offering Americans, including journalists, cash rewards for tips that help bring fraudsters to justice.

TRUMP’S WAR ON FRAUD EXPANDS AS TREASURY LAUNCHES NEW SITE WITH WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES

Trump unveiled the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program and said qualifying tipsters would receive a 1% commission, subject to applicable laws and rules.

“If you turn somebody in and you, let’s say report, and you find $1 billion, we are giving a commission to that person of 1%,” Trump said.

At the end of last year, reports and social media coverage by Shirley exposed a network of daycare centers, like the “Quality Learing (sic) Center,” that were allegedly fraudulent and operated mostly by Somali immigrants.

The reports sparked swift action from the administration, and former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem deployed DHS and ICE agents to the streets of Minneapolis to catch and deport Somali immigrants in the country illegally. The deployment sparked a clash between local residents and federal agents that exploded into violent riots across the Twin Cities.

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Trump has previously praised Shirley’s work, telling him: “He’s done an amazing job.”

Saudi Arabia is turning to foreign allies to fend off Houthi missiles and drones, exposing a military vulnerability that could soon become President Donald Trump’s problem.

Britain announced Tuesday it would send Typhoon fighter jets to defend Saudi cities and critical infrastructure, Egypt is already assisting the kingdom and Israel has offered to step-in to help.

Riyadh, meanwhile, is asking Washington for more interceptors, and Trump is weighing whether the U.S. should intervene and strike the Iran-backed Houthis directly.

The reinforcements could help shield Saudi cities and critical infrastructure. They do little, however, to eliminate the Houthi launchers and weapons threatening them from Yemen.

SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER WARNS HOUTHI THREAT GOES GLOBAL AS TRUMP HOLDS FIRE

“The theme right now, I think, is defensive or defensive-minded,” Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

The question, he said, is whether that evolves into something “more offensive or kinetic.”

The Houthis have already demonstrated their ability to punch through Saudi defenses. Their strikes and attempted strikes on the kingdom more than doubled in a single week this month, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, with airports in Riyadh, Jizan, Najran, Dammam and Abha targeted since Oct. 5.

SAUDI ARABIA ON EDGE: ICONIC KINGDOM CENTRE SENDS WORKERS HOME AMID HOUTHI ATTACKS

The most devastating barrage struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 300.

Other attacks have targeted Saudi energy infrastructure, turning the Houthi campaign into a threat not only to the kingdom’s security but also to the economic stability Riyadh has spent years trying to project.

Saudi Arabia has spent decades building one of the region’s most sophisticated militaries. Riyadh spent an estimated $83.2 billion on defense last year, making it the eighth-largest military spender in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Its arsenal includes U.S.-made F-15 fighter jets, Patriot missile defenses and advanced radar systems.

Yet the Houthis are exploiting a mismatch between the defenses Saudi Arabia and its partners spent years building and the weapons now coming at them.

Campbell said the U.S. and its regional partners had been comparatively well prepared to confront the higher end of Iran’s arsenal, including ballistic missiles and other advanced weapons.

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“What the region was decidedly less prepared for was an array of lower end of the spectrum … threats posed by Iran and now the Houthis,” Campbell said.

The volume is part of the problem. Campbell said Saudi Arabia and other U.S. partners have burned through significant numbers of high-end interceptors against ballistic missiles and other threats, while lower-flying weapons can also challenge radar and early-warning systems that were not necessarily designed or calibrated to detect them.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Riyadh is competing with allies around the world — and the U.S. military itself — for a limited supply of the interceptors needed to defend against missile attacks.

“I also talked to Saudi Arabia today; they’d like interceptors. Israel would like interceptors. We would like interceptors. Every country in the world would like interceptors,” Rubio said, calling them “probably the most in-demand product right now in the defense field.”

The U.S. cannot meet every request, Rubio acknowledged. American forces must maintain minimum air-defense requirements at bases around the world, while the sophisticated interceptors are expensive and take time to manufacture even as production increases.

“We have our own needs too,” Rubio said.

Saudi Arabia’s sheer size compounds the challenge. The kingdom stretches across more than 800,000 square miles, leaving cities, airports, oil facilities and military installations spread across a vast territory.

“Saudi Arabia is a huge geography to protect, and this speaks to a larger threat we’re facing globally: a relatively small nonstate actor can pose a serious challenge to even a sophisticated and extremely expensive military,” Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House, told Fox News Digital. “The Houthis can impose enormous costs without having to spend very much themselves.”

That imbalance helps explain why Saudi Arabia is increasingly looking beyond its own military for protection. But outside assistance may have limits.

“Many years later, everyone is realizing that the Houthis are not just Saudi Arabia’s problem, but everyone’s problem — whether that’s Turkey, Egypt, France, the UK or others,” Al-Muslimi said. “But I don’t think this outside support will make a significant military difference unless the U.S. is directly involved.”

That leaves Trump facing a potentially consequential decision: whether to continue helping Saudi Arabia defend against incoming attacks or go further and target the Houthis directly.

Trump has kept direct U.S. military action on the table. Asked earlier this month whether the U.S. could join Saudi strikes against the Houthis, he said, “We may. We’re gonna look at it.”

“We’ll make a decision,” Trump said. “We move very quickly.”

But direct U.S. intervention would not be without precedent — or questions about what another bombing campaign could accomplish.

Operation Rough Rider targeted Houthi positions across Yemen for roughly two months in 2025 before Trump halted the operation after Oman brokered an agreement with the group.

“We’ve already seen the U.S. conduct a 60-day bombing campaign of Houthi strongholds in Yemen with limited, if any, real strategic benefits,” Campbell said.

A new campaign would also compete for U.S. military resources amid the war with Iran. Campbell said taking on the Houthis would require clearer objectives and likely contributions from a broader coalition.

Israel has also offered to help defend Saudi Arabia, an offer Trump has publicly encouraged Riyadh to accept. But bringing Israel openly into the fight could create a different problem for the kingdom.

“If I were Saudi, I would never accept help like that,” Al-Muslimi said. “The optics are enormously difficult. Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two holiest mosques in Islam, and appearing alongside Netanyahu to fight another Yemeni group would be a nonstarter for much of Saudi society.”

For now, the U.S. continues to provide intelligence and targeting support to Saudi Arabia as its allies focus on defending the kingdom.

“The collective effort seems to be at stemming the threat to the Saudi kingdom itself,” Campbell said.

But as Al-Muslimi cautioned, even a stronger defensive coalition may not eliminate the danger.

“It can make Saudi Arabia safer, but it doesn’t solve the larger problem of dismantling the Houthi threat.”

The latest fighting is another chapter in a war that has torn through Yemen for more than a decade. The Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, prompting Saudi Arabia to lead a military intervention the following year against the Iran-backed group and in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

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Years of Saudi airstrikes failed to dislodge the Houthis, while the group steadily expanded its missile and drone capabilities with support from Tehran. The conflict eventually settled into an uneasy truce before erupting again this year, with Saudi-backed forces fighting Houthi advances on the ground and the Houthis increasingly taking the war across the border into Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni civilians are again bearing much of the cost. More than 250,000 people have fled the renewed fighting, according to the United Nations. WHO recorded at least 674 deaths and nearly 3,000 injuries in just six weeks of fighting between August and September, while millions were already facing severe hunger and displacement after more than a decade of war.

A new survey found that close to half of undergraduate students surveyed believe physical violence can be justified to stop “hate speech,” as one university president warns that higher education has “lost its way.”

In the Buckley Institute’s 2026 National Undergraduate Student Survey, 45% of students said violence can be justified to stop what they deem to be hate speech. This includes 54% of liberals, 36% of moderates and 30% of conservatives.

The study also found that 46% of students support shout downs and 40% believe that offensive speech should be subject to criminal prosecution. Additionally, 42% said they would rather live under a socialist system, compared with 28% who chose a capitalist system, and 22% said the U.S. deserved the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Cornerstone University President Dr. Gerson Moreno-Riaño characterized the findings as more of a “moral formation issue” than a matter of free speech, warning that students have developed a “violent entitlement.”

CONFIDENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION SLIPS AFTER BRIEF RECOVERY, GALLUP POLL FINDS

“American colleges and universities for a long time now have really ceased to form students morally and are teaching resentment, teaching grievance politics, teaching violent entitlement,” he told FOX News Digital. “So when graduates leave these universities, they leave with that. They’re not leaving with a moral formation of their hearts, their minds, their lives. They’re leaving with resentment.”

Moreno-Riaño said that entitlement and resentment are among the reasons why many employers are concerned about the value of a degree.

“It’s not just what some will say are worthless degrees. It’s also what’s behind the degree. Individuals who have been taught to resent, not to reason, not to deliberate, not to have deep conversations with those with whom they disagree,” he said.

“Rather, it’s grievance, anger, violence, entitlement, and then violent action against it. And that to me is a significant problem. Again, not a free speech issue. It’s really about how moral education in higher ed has lost its way. We’re training people to be grieved, angry, entitled, violent. And that does not bode well for our democracy and our republic,” he continued.

Moreno-Riaño, who has led the private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, since 2021, emphasized that higher ed has “lost its way” in the U.S. for decades and has become “godless.”

“When there is no moral compass in higher ed, there’s a vacuum, and what fills it? Ideologies, communism, socialism, grievance, culture. That’s what’s happened, and it’s been happening for years,” he said. “Not only that, there’s an anti-history bent in higher ed. When you think about today’s young students not really knowing the evils of communism, the evils of socialism, and believing it’s inspirational, that demonstrates just the moral bankruptcy, but also the academic bankruptcy of these institutions.”

Moreno-Riaño argued that some employers may increasingly question the value of hiring college graduates and instead consider training workers directly out of high school.

Moreno-Riaño argued that employers are increasingly concerned about “worthless degrees” that do not prepare the workforce to tackle complicated problems, as well as the ideological bent of many recent college graduates. He warned that many colleges and universities are preparing “socialists and Marxists” who want entitlement and to “destroy the system” rather than “build it, make it, refine it and improve it.”

“I think what’s happening is that employers are seeing this and many employers are saying, maybe we should train our own people or maybe we should go into the high schools directly and educate the future at the high school level and forget colleges altogether, because colleges are morally bankrupting our future,” Moreno-Riaño said.

FOX NEWS POLL: FAITH IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE US IS COLLAPSING

“I think that’s what’s happening. And if you combine that with artificial intelligence, you have sharp minds without a moral compass. That’s a very dangerous thing because a sharp mind without a moral compass is a weapon looking for a target,” he continued.

“For a democracy, we need individuals who can reason, who can deliberate, who can speak with those with whom they disagree and not seek violent action against them, but think deeply about what they’re saying, reconsider positions, pursue what is good and with courage. If we don’t do that, then we’re in trouble. And I think the workplace and employers are seeing that and want to shift that in a different direction,” he added.

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Moreno-Riaño stressed that American higher education “has to shift,” saying it needs to “take moral formation seriously and not be grounded in entitlement and grievance culture.”

The Buckley Institute survey, conducted by Inquire LLC, included 803 full-time undergraduate students under age 25 attending four-year public or private colleges and universities. Respondents completed the online survey between Sept. 5 and Sept. 14.

While Americans prepare to cast their ballots for who should control Congress and their local governments, the cost of filling a gas tank, paying rent and buying a home is becoming a defining test of the economy leading up to the 2026 midterms.

The latest inflation report underscores the challenge facing President Donald Trump and Republicans as they campaign on the economy and the vow to improve conditions for American consumers. Trump returned to the White House promising to lower costs and is now campaigning for GOP candidates in key races — but the reality is something quite different.

With Election Day two weeks away, rising prices are testing whether voters feel like Republicans have done enough to improve the economy and their financial well-being.

AMERICAN-MADE GOODS ALSO GOT MORE EXPENSIVE UNDER TRUMP TARIFFS, NEW RESEARCH FINDS

And that pressure showed up in the latest inflation report, which found consumer prices rose 3.7% over the past year and 0.6% in September alone. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) tracks the prices households pay for a broad range of goods and services, from food and gasoline to housing and medical care.

Gasoline was a major driver, with its index jumping 9.1% for the month. But the gas to fill up the tank is not the only fuel cost putting pressure on households.

The diesel used to power trucks, farm equipment and freight trains is also surging, which has raised the cost of moving groceries, packages and building materials — another charge that has trickled down to how much Americans pay for those goods.

Additionally, the Iran war has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, further tightening global fuel supplies, while disruptions to Russian energy infrastructure have added pressure.

Utility costs are adding to the squeeze as colder weather approaches. Electricity prices were up 4.4% from a year earlier in September, while piped natural gas service rose 5%, according to the CPI.

Those figures track prices, not what any one household paid, so a local customer’s bill can show how the increase is landing in real life.

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Housing costs also continued to climb. The shelter index, which tracks rents and a measure of what homeowners would pay to rent their homes, rose 3.2% over the past year. Grocery prices offered some relief, dipping 0.1% in September, though they remained 1.8% higher than a year earlier.

Additionally, Trump’s trade agenda is another part of the affordability debate.

A New York Fed study found that tariffs in place through February added 2.9 percentage points to consumer-goods inflation. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods, and U.S. companies that pay them can pass some of the added cost along to shoppers.

The study found that higher prices also reached some goods made in the United States, as domestic producers faced less competition from imports. The White House has argued that its trade policies will strengthen U.S. manufacturing and that foreign exporters bear the costs.

Housing presents a different affordability challenge. The median price of an existing home reached $417,500 in September, up 1.3% from a year earlier, while the average 30-year mortgage rate was 7.4%.

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The latest figures give voters a snapshot of what they are paying, but not a verdict on who is to blame.

With Election Day approaching, Trump and Republican candidates will have to convince voters that their policies can make everyday costs more manageable.

The Justice Department sent grand jury subpoenas to Democratic Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office in recent days, Fox News has learned.

Two sources briefed on the subpoenas say they are related to potential obstruction of justice relating to the handling of cases before federal judges. The sources said the subpoenas came as a result of a federal judge referring Krasner and his top deputy to the DOJ for possible criminal investigation.

Krasner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The DOJ declined to comment.

FEDERAL JUDGE REFERS PHILADELPHIA DA LARRY KRASNER TO DOJ FOR POSSIBLE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Reports of the subpoenas come more than a month after U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond referred Krasner and his deputy, Matthew Stiegler, to the DOJ, saying evidence uncovered in a murder conviction case could constitute false statements, perjury, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

Neither man has been charged.

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Diamond also disqualified Krasner and Stiegler from the case but declined to disqualify the entire DA’s office.

The judge alleged that Krasner and Stiegler sought to pressure prosecutors into presenting a false narrative to the court and that Krasner warned of “consequences” if staff alerted the court to an internal conflict.

BIDEN-ERA FEDERAL PROSECUTOR HIT WITH CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION REFERRAL OVER ALLEGED FALSE STATEMENTS TO FBI

“I have thus reluctantly concluded that Philadelphia’s highest law enforcement official and one of his top assistants may have violated the law,” Diamond wrote.

The dispute stems from the case of Dennis Johnson, who was convicted in 2009 of killing Kenyatta Smith.

SOROS NETWORK REBUILDS PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTOR PUSH AFTER STRING OF ELECTION LOSSES

The DA’s office said in a 2022 filing that Johnson was entitled to habeas corpus relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel, according to The Associated Press.

Prosecutors later raised potential conflicts involving Stiegler and urged that the matter be referred to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

PHILADELPHIA DA SAYS HE’LL KEEP PIECE OF TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM ‘AFTER WE ALL BLOW IT UP’

According to the opinion, Krasner opposed that move and repeatedly said someone from his office needed to remain involved to “protect the office.”

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“I respectfully and vigorously disagree with the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law,” Krasner said in a statement at the time. “I look forward to appealing to the higher court as soon as the law allows. This remains a pending matter, which limits for now my and my office’s ability to respond in the media.”

A winery co-owned by the husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was shuttered amid fraud claims, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said.

Comer said over the weekend that the winery had been selling empty barrels to investors under the guise of “wine to be aged.”

“I can tell you from our initial investigation of Omar and her financial disclosure form that there are multiple fronts where you could get a search warrant issued,” Comer told Trey Gowdy on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America.”

“First of all, not only was there a huge discrepancy in the financial disclosure form, there was the winery that was the big base of her $25 million listing on her financial disclosure form. That winery has, according to the press, been shut down because of fraud.”

ILHAN OMAR’S EMBATTLED HUSBAND APPEARS AT SCENE OF HSI RAID IN MIDST OF CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATION

The winery, co-owned by the congresswoman’s husband, Tim Mynett, shut down in April this year amid congressional scrutiny over Omar’s finances.

His and his business partner’s lawyers told the Minnesota Reformer, “Any suggestion that Will or Tim deliberately defrauded investors or otherwise consciously conspired to rip people off would be false and defamatory.”

OMAR’S DISCLOSURES ERASED MILLIONS, LEAVING HER WITH POTENTIAL NEGATIVE NET WORTH. SHE WON’T EXPLAIN WHY

The revelation is not new, but it’s one of several details that have resurfaced in recent days amid a federal probe into Omar’s citizenship in the U.S.

Federal law enforcement executed a search warrant at her D.C. home earlier this month. The operation was linked to allegations that she and her father misrepresented the congresswoman’s age to more easily obtain American citizenship.

REP ILHAN OMAR’S IMMIGRATION HISTORY FACES NEW SCRUTINY AS FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS SUBPOENA RELATIVES

Omar’s critics, like House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., have called for the progressive Democrat to be deported if the allegations were proved true.

She and her allies have denied wrongdoing and attacked the investigation as a partisan hit job against one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal opponents.

But it’s not the first time Omar has faced accusations of impropriety as a member of Congress.

The House Oversight Committee had earlier probed Omar’s finances after her public disclosures showed a rapid, and at the time unexplained, increase in her net worth. Omar previously chalked up the discrepancy to an accidental accounting error.

Comer zeroed in on the winery in a February letter sent just weeks before the business closed down.

He wrote to Mynett that Omar’s 2023 financial disclosure forms “lists a stake in your winery eStCru worth between $15,001 and $50,000.” The following year, her financial disclosure form listed a stake in eStCru “worth between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000.”

TRUMP RALLY CROWD CHANTS ‘DEPORT’ AS PRESIDENT RIPS ILHAN OMAR AFTER FEDERAL RAID

“There are serious public concerns about how your businesses increased so dramatically in value only a year after reporting very limited assets,” the letter said.

Omar told The Wall Street Journal in mid-April that she and her husband have less than $100,000 combined.

The winery, eStCru, was based in California and was founded in 2020 by Mynett and a business partner. The industry outlet Wine Business named it one of its “Hot Brands of 2022.”

When asked about the probe, a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee pointed out to Fox News Digital that Comer had referred the case of Omar’s finances to the House Ethics Committee for review.

“Regarding the investigation into her spouse, the House Oversight Committee referred the matter months ago to the House Ethics Committee and encouraged it to do its job and review the concerning allegations,” the spokesperson said.

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The bipartisan panel is tasked with investigating accusations of impropriety by lawmakers and recommending punishments if those probes turn up wrongdoing. It has not yet taken up Omar’s case.

Fox News Digital reached out to Rose Lake Capital, another venture by Mynett and his business partner, for comment on Comer’s remarks. 

Vice President JD Vance said he isn’t sure if he’d receive President Donald Trump’s endorsement “right out the gate” if he were to run for president in 2028.

Vance expressed that uncertainty during a Monday interview with journalist Mark Halperin on his platform 2Way. The interview aired just weeks before the midterm elections, as Republicans and the White House are focused on maintaining control of Congress.

Vance emphasized that his top priority was the midterms and said he wasn’t certain that a 2028 presidential run was in his future.

However, he said, “I think if I run, the president will endorse me.”

VANCE CONFRONTED ABOUT 2028 AMBITIONS AFTER TRUMP TEASES ‘DREAM TEAM’ RUBIO TICKET

“Right away?” Halperin asked.

“I would think so, but I don’t know, man,” Vance said. “I haven’t talked to him about it.”

Halperin suggested it might be “weird” if Vance were to share with Trump his 2028 ambitions and for Trump to sit on an endorsement, a characterization that Vance pushed back on.

“No, I don’t think it’d be weird,” Vance said. “Again, I think I would get his endorsement, but I also think there’s something to be said for people actually running their own race, and because the president’s endorsement is so dispositive, you could absolutely see a scenario where the president says, ‘You know what? We need to let, like, this race play out and not, like, preemptively prejudge the results.'”

Earlier in the conversation, Halperin brought up previous remarks by Vance in which he said that “whoever the president endorses for the Republican nomination will ultimately win the Republican primary.”

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Vance said this is typically true of both the Democratic and Republican parties, but that Trump’s endorsement is much more consequential because he first won the trust of everyday voters while Republican Party elites rejected him. Vance said Trump’s endorsement signals to voters that a candidate is not beholden to the party’s elite.

“That’s the person they say, ‘Okay, if Trump is with a guy, that must mean that the elites are against that guy,” Vance said. “I think that Trump’s endorsement just carries more weight than any political endorsement in history because of that. Obviously, the voters are gonna decide. Donald Trump is only one vote of many, but I think his endorsement is still the most powerful.”

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Vance’s uncertainty over winning Trump’s blessing comes after Trump previously teased pitting Vance against Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his endorsement in the 2028 presidential race. Trump called Vance and Rubio the “dream team,” at a May Rose Garden Club event but has refused to say who would be at the top of the ticket.

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

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. has not been seen in public since a pre-dawn raid of her Washington, D.C. residence last week — but Fox News Digital spotted her daughters descending on the home in recent days.

Isra Hirsi pulled black sedan into the driveway of the home under the cover of darkness Saturday night and stepped out of the vehicle carrying a bag with both hands. She walked directly into the front door of the same home that was swarmed by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents a week prior.

“What’s your problem?” Hirsi said to Fox News Digital after getting out of her car.

Just two days later, a young teenage girl believed to be Omar’s second daughter also was seen entering the home with a woman that appeared to be her caretaker.

ILHAN OMAR’S EMBATTLED HUSBAND APPEARS AT SCENE OF HSI RAID IN MIDST OF CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATION

The daughters arrived on the scene roughly a week after the house was raided by federal agents. Omar also has a son who is the only immediate family member of Omar’s that Fox News Digital has not seen arrive at their home in D.C., since the federal search where her phone and passport were reportedly seized.

The same night Omar’s eldest daughter was captured entering the home, U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) — whose jurisdiction is typically limited to U.S. Capitol building and grounds, but extends to protecting members of Congress and their families — showed up on the congresswoman’s street.

Omar shares her three children with Ahmed Hirsi, who she ceremonially married in 2002 and legally married in 2018. During the time before her legal marriage to Hirsi, she was legally married to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, who is allegedly her brother, from 2009 until 2017 — during which time Omar’s youngest daughter was born. She married political consultant Tim Mynett in 2020.

Throughout the week after the raid, Mynett has emerged from the home intermittently, mostly to walk the family’s Golden Labrador Retriever dog, Teddy. He has defended his wife to Fox News Digital, saying he has “no concerns” about the investigation.

He also snapped when asked about unsubstantiated rumors that the congresswoman had fled the country. “You guys are annoying the hell out of the neighbors around here, man,” said Mynett.

Omar’s eldest daughter, Isra Hirsi, is controversial in her own right.

The 23-year-old activist and graduate of Barnard College — a Columbia University affiliate — was arrested at Columbia and later suspended from the school in 2024 after participating in the school’s now-infamous anti-Israel tent encampment, which lasted for two weeks until it was dispersed by NYPD.

ILHAN OMAR’S HUSBAND SNAPS OVER RUMORS SHE FLED US AFTER FEDERAL IMMIGRATION FRAUD RAID

She also co-founded the U.S. Climate Strike in 2019, part of a global movement that organized student walkouts of class as they demanded the passage of the far-left Green New Deal and a switch to 100% renewable energy.

Despite its name, the group didn’t stop at advocating for “green” energy policies. It also demanded universal healthcare, student debt relief, stronger union organization and advocated for giving land back to Native Americans.

Hirsi has also railed against capitalism publicly on social media.

Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, did not show up for a scheduled stop on her book tour in Minnesota last week due to a “family emergency,” according to the book store hosting the event.

Three sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that Noor voluntarily spoke with federal investigators last week.

Omar’s home was raided by HSI, the chief investigatory body of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), at around 6:00 a.m., last Monday.

Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the agency executed a search warrant in relation to an immigration fraud probe. Specifically, investigators are probing whether the congresswoman and/or her father falsified information when filling out her citizenship paperwork.

Border Czar Tom Homan revealed over the weekend that if the allegations are proven, they could lead to Omar’s denaturalization.

The New York Times reported that about a dozen people, including Omar’s relatives, have been subpoenaed in the case.

Omar has not responded to repeated requests for comment from Fox News Digital, but she has reacted publicly to the raid on social media.

REP ILHAN OMAR’S IMMIGRATION HISTORY FACES NEW SCRUTINY AS FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS SUBPOENA RELATIVES

“This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies,” she said in a statement posted to X hours after the raid. For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back. Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies.”

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital last Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance said the investigation is not politically motivated.

“We don’t want to be like the Biden administration. We never want to be like that — where they would allow the law to go after their political opponents,” he said.

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“We really want to let the law, the facts drive this,” he continued. “And if justice requires something else be done, then, of course, we’ll take a step when we have to.”

A Biden-appointed judge embroiled in a fierce dispute with the Trump administration over the removal of hundreds of trees at a federally owned D. C. golf course reversed course during Monday’s nearly seven-hour hearing.

Judge Ana Reyes ended the nearly seven-hour hearing by backing away from her initial demand that Justice Department attorneys arguing the case put their names alongside Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr.’s Sunday filing. Reyes had invoked Rule 11, which requires attorneys to stand behind the factual basis of court filings and can subject them to sanctions for violations.

“Late breaking news,” Reyes said. “I’m going to withdraw request that DOJ refile yesterday’s brief with identification of who signed it. we’ve all got better things to spend our time on.”

The about-face from Reyes, who hours before the hearing was dubbed a “crazed lunatic” by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, is the latest development in a court battle over Trump’s plans to completely renovate East Potomac Golf Links into a “world-class, U.S. Open-caliber course.” The lawsuit, which was first filed in February, reached a boiling point earlier this month when the National Park Service removed roughly 430 trees at the golf course over a weekend. The Interior Department said the tree removals were part of a years-old plan to restore the course’s historic design and were unrelated to Trump’s proposed overhaul.

BIDEN JUDGE REJECTS OBAMA CIA CHIEF’S LEGAL BID AGAINST TRUMP OVER ONE KEY PROBLEM

Though the action did not violate a court order, it prompted Reyes to impose a temporary restraining order barring further tree removals. She also was described as “screaming” at the administration attorneys during an Oct. 12 hearing.

The hearing prompted Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward to seek Reyes’ removal from the case, accusing her of bias and “open hostility” toward the Trump administration.

Both Woodward and Trump have called for the release of the court’s audio recordings of the hearings.

“The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane? The tapes have been blocked from usage by the judge,” Trump posted Monday hours before the hearing, saying the Trump administration has a “right” to turn the course into a “great, safe, and prestigious” golf course. “Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY! The finished product will be World Class, and bring income and great prestige back to D.C.”

Trump made two other tweets Sunday saying that Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum and architect Tom Fazio had “developed a plan” to revamp the East Potomac Golf Links into a “World Class Championship Golf Course” and that work would begin November 15.

The tweets prompted Reyes to give the Justice Department an 8 p.m. filing deadline, saying Trump’s characterization conflicted with a previous filing that stated there was “no agency action” in Trump’s golf course plan.

The filing was signed only by Woodward, which immediately became a point of contention at the start of Monday’s hearing.

LIBERAL LAW PROFESSOR BREAKS WITH OBAMA JUDGE OVER TRUMP LAWYER CRACKDOWN: ‘I REFUSE TO TEACH’ IT

Reyes demanded that the attorneys “raise your hand” if they would sign the briefing, which Woodward said was “not an appropriate request.”

She then invoked Rule 11 and ordered them to the podium to sign the filing.

But Woodward and the attorneys refused. Reyes initially set a 3 p.m. deadline but later extended it until noon Tuesday and offered to allow the attorneys’ names to appear on the brief rather than requiring their signatures. In the end, she abandoned the demand completely.

“For those wondering, a common reason high level DOJ appointees sometimes signs briefs boils down to good leadership,” Abhishek Kambli, a former federal prosecutor, wrote on X. “If there is something that is likely to be contentious with a judge, a DOJ leader signs their name on the brief so that any issues someone has with the brief is directed at them rather than lower level attorneys. Regardless, it goes without saying that a decision such as this should not be something a judge is inquiring into.”

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP’S DC JUDICIAL NEMESIS TARGETED IN MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT OVER ALLEGED BIDEN DOJ TIES

“DOJ line attorneys increasingly do not sign briefs because of Dem law fare. Dems have and continue to go after the bar licenses of young DOJ line attorneys who are simply executing on behalf of the department,” Rachel Boulvard, vice president of programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute, wrote on X.

Reyes, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023, previously faced a Justice Department judicial-misconduct complaint over her handling of litigation challenging Trump’s restrictions on transgender individuals serving in the military.

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During a February 2025 hearing, Reyes questioned a Trump administration attorney about what Jesus Christ would say about policies excluding transgender people from homeless shelters.

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Then-DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle accused Reyes of “hostile and egregious misconduct” and potential bias in a formal complaint filed with the D.C. Circuit. The complaint was later dismissed, with the circuit’s chief judge concluding that a recusal motion was the proper avenue for challenging Reyes’ conduct.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Rep. Ilhan Omar could face jail in addition to deportation, calling the Minnesota Democrat “a disgrace to our country” as she faces a federal investigation into allegations involving her citizenship.

Trump made the remarks inside the Oval Office during his fraud incentive program announcement, responding to FOX Business correspondent Edward Lawrence’s question about whether a problem with Omar’s age could lead to her deportation.

“Well, she could be. She could also go to jail,” Trump said. “You know, they keep talking about deportation. No, she could go to jail.”

ILHAN OMAR SHOULD BE JAILED, DEPORTED IF CITIZENSHIP FRAUD PROVEN, TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS

The president did not identify a specific criminal charge or present new evidence against Omar during the exchange.

“This is just my opinion,” Trump added, before calling the congresswoman “a very dishonest person” who “hates our country.”

OBAMA BACKS ILHAN OMAR AMID PROBE, ACCUSES TRUMP ADMIN OF ‘APPALLING’ TARGETING IN LENGTHY STATEMENT

His comments come after border czar Tom Homan said Omar could lose her citizenship and be deported if investigators prove immigration fraud. Federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home Oct. 12, seizing her cellphone and other possessions.

The investigation centers on allegations that Omar or her father misrepresented her birth year on immigration paperwork. The disputed timeline concerns whether she was a minor when her father became a U.S. citizen in 2000 and qualified for citizenship through him, or was already 18 and needed to apply separately.

HOMAN SAYS ILHAN OMAR COULD BE STRIPPED OF NATURALIZATION, DEPORTED IF IMMIGRATION FRAUD IS PROVEN

Omar has denied wrongdoing. She and other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have denounced the investigation as political persecution targeting a prominent Trump critic ahead of the midterm elections.

Speaking Saturday on “The Big Weekend Show,” Homan said the outcome would depend on the evidence.

DEMOCRATS’ FURY OVER ILHAN OMAR RAID DRAWS STINGING GOP REMINDER ABOUT RAID FROM THE PAST: ‘SET THE PRECEDENT’

“Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody. We’ve done it before,” Homan said. “And certainly, if the evidence points that way, that could happen.”

Homan said Omar would be held to the same standards as anyone else, while declining to discuss the specifics of investigators’ findings.

HOMAN CONFIRMS ‘CRIMINAL’ INVESTIGATION INVOLVING ILHAN OMAR, SAYS HE KNOWS ‘THINGS ARE GOING ON’

“I’m not going to get ahead of the bureau or HSI, but I’ve been told they have a strong case, and we’ll let the evidence lead where it leads,” he said.

During Tuesday’s exchange, Trump also attacked Omar’s criticism of the United States, questioning why she sought to tell Americans how to run the country after coming from Somalia.

ILHAN OMAR’S TURBULENT WEEK EXPLAINED: THE DUELING PROBES THAT THREW THE SOMALI-BORN PROGRESSIVE INTO CHAOS

“Then she comes over here, and she says that she wants to tell us how to run America,” Trump said. “She wants to tell us how to run the United States of America.”

He also criticized her assertions of constitutional rights and called her election to Congress “amazing.”

TRUMP RALLY CROWD CHANTS ‘DEPORT’ AS PRESIDENT RIPS ILHAN OMAR AFTER FEDERAL RAID

“She’s a disgrace to our country,” Trump said.

The president ended the exchange by saying he hoped Omar would receive fair treatment.

“I hope they treat her fairly,” he said.

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

Fox News Digital’s Max Bacall contributed to this report.

“You made me promises. Promises.
Knowing I’d believe.
Promises. Promises.
I knew you’d never keep.”

— Promises, Promises by Naked Eyes

“I am a supporter of Medicare-for-all,” declared Minnesota’s Democratic nominee for Senate, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, D. “I’m going to get there with my friend Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. And we are going to power map the s–t out of the U.S. Senate and figure out how to build power for the things that we know that we deserve and the things that we need.”

Hard-left progressive House and Senate candidates like Flanagan are pitching Medicare-for-all. The abolition of ICE. The Green New Deal. An arms embargo for Israel. And a $25 an hour minimum wage.

Flanagan is in a race with Republican Senate nominee Michelle Tafoya to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. The race favors Flanagan. However, it’s not a done deal that she wins. But Democratic Socialist candidates for the House like Donavan McKinney in Michigan, Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania, Melat Kiros in Colorado, along with Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York probably will. Come January, they will prospectively represent Democratic strongholds where progressive ideas are popular.

MEET THE FAR-LEFT INSURGENTS WAGING WAR ON THE DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT IN 2026 MIDTERMS

But if Democrats win either the House or Senate, it won’t be because voters pulled the lever for Kiros in Denver or Avila Chevalier in Harlem. They’ll win because Democrat Cait Conley defeated Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in Dutchess County, north of New York City. Maybe because voters cast their ballots for Democrat Brian Poindexter in Wooster, Ohio, rather than Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio. Democrats could flip the House if Democratic nominee Christina Bohannan appeals more to voters in Davenport, IA than Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa.

This brings us back to the progressive agenda.

Democrats might win the House and or the Senate. But Valdez and Kiros aren’t the “majority makers.” Candidates like Poindexter and Conley are. And if they’re elected to the House, it’s doubtful that moderates from swing districts can support progressive ideas like the Green New Deal or Medicare-for-all. It’s about the math. And it’s more than likely that Democrats will need the voters of those moderate “majority makers” from battleground districts to enact those policies.

That’s to say nothing about needing 60 yeas in the Senate to crack a filibuster – even if Democrats do marshal a slim majority there. And, if something extreme did get through both bodies of a potentially Democratically-controlled Congress, President Trump would like veto it.

THE BLUE WAVE LOOKS REAL UNTIL YOU LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER

It is said that you campaign in poetry but you govern in prose.

The left has pushed a lot of progressive poetry with their agenda items of late. They’ll tout the opportunity to enact some of those policies if Democrats win the majority.

However, the reality of advancing any of that into a legislative reality is slim. The progressive ideas may energize the base. But the Democratic base is sure to feel let down if Democrats can’t make good on some of their campaign promises.

We’ve seen this before. A party promises voters the moon in the midterm elections. Then struggles to make good on those promises.

Republicans won the House in 1994 for the first time in four decades with the 10-point “Contract With America.” The document promised to cut spending and reduce influence in Washington. But in the end, the House and Senate only approved a few of the items. President Clinton vetoed others.

In 2006, House Democrats campaigned on drawing down the war in Iraq. They captured the House. Congress began defunding the war effort. But it took several years, much to the dismay of party activists who demanded an immediate pullout.

In 2010, Republicans won back control of the House, gaining a record 63 seats. The goal was to reduce spending and repeal and replace ObamaCare. It never happened. In fact, some Republicans are still trying to unwind ObamaCare today.

CARVILLE SAYS HE’D RATHER REPUBLICANS KEEP THE HOUSE THAN DEMOCRATS WIN BY FIVE SEATS, HELD ‘HOSTAGE’ BY DSA

This is all about exciting the base. And then figuring out how to govern. What candidates promise on the campaign trail rarely morphs into a legislative reality.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is reportedly in discussions with DSA-backed candidates to secure legislative commitments before some of their candidates will back him in a potential race for Speaker. That said, political observers would find it hard to believe that Democrats would balk at promoting Jeffries, making him the first Black House Speaker in American history.

There’s a chance Democrats could face infighting if the party fractures between moderates and progressives.

Imagine for a moment that Democrats do have the House and intend to bring a Medicare-for-all bill to the floor. The House must first adopt a rule which governs how the House debates that measure on the floor. Would a moderate Democrat like Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., oppose the rule (provided she wins reelection)? After all, Gluesenkamp Perez voted for GOP procedural measures earlier this year, igniting an internal Democratic firestorm. However, those votes may have been good matches for her battleground district. But voting aye on a procedural plan for a controversial, progressive political initiative won’t work in Gluesenkamp Perez’s district. That’s why the progressive agenda may already be dead in the water.

If Democrats do win the House and Jeffries clasps the Speaker’s gavel, his role will be different. He needs to manage his entire caucus. So appealing to the hard left doesn’t work. He must also hear out the moderates. And certainly the majority makers.

For instance, Jeffries isn’t pushing the Medicare for all scheme.

HOUSE DEMS PLOT TRUMP INVESTIGATION BLITZ IF THEY SEIZE MAJORITY

“I haven’t co-sponsored the Medicare for all legislation that has been introduced over the last several years. I do think we need to figure out how to fix our broken healthcare system and then build something better once we repair the damage that has been done,” said Jeffries.

That’s a natural stance for a national political leader. Jumping feet first into such a nettlesome issue might not be sound politics. Especially since you must also address the concerns of the moderate majority makers.

But Jeffries may have an out that all Democrats can unify around: investigations of the Trump administration. Since President Trump began his term, Jeffries has promised to hold its officials to account. Jeffries has called out Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. Ridiculed Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blasted Vice President JD Vance. Spoken about alleged corruption by the Trump family.

Democrats are also campaigning as a foil to the Trump Administration. Their base will demand action via investigations, too. That certainly resonates with the progressive base. And, even moderates who may be the majority makers.

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But it isn’t a $25 an hour minimum wage. It’s not the abolition of ICE. It’s not the Green New Deal. Democrats probably won’t get what they want legislatively if they attain the majority. Those are just the political realities. But they may be able to rack some points with investigations. Those would reflect the political realities as well.