NationalWatch

The U.S. State Department found that the human rights situation in South Africa has “significantly worsened” over the past year, citing reports of “extrajudicial killings” and repression against racial minorities.

The State Department conducts an annual review of the human rights situations in countries across the globe, and it targeted South Africa with new criticism in the 2025 report released Tuesday. The report, scheduled to be sent to Congress on Tuesday, pointed to the U.S. receiving several reports of the South African “government or its agents” carrying out extrajudicial or arbitrary killings, as well as repression of Afrikaner minorities.

“In July the provincial police commissioner confirmed that as of April, police shot and killed at least 40 criminal suspects in shoot-outs. On September 2, police reported six suspects wanted for homicide and extortion were shot and killed by Durban police in a shoot-out. According to Reuters, eight of the police officers involved were placed on administrative leave with full pay pending investigation,” the report said.

“Watchdog groups noted deaths in custody often resulted from physical abuse combined with a lack of subsequent medical treatment or neglect,” it continued.

TRUMP TO MEET LEADER OF ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ SOUTH AFRICA AT WHITE HOUSE

“According to data compiled by Agence France-Presse, there were 447 murders on farms and smallholdings between October 2023 and September 2024. In recent years, extremist political party the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) encouraged attacks on Afrikaner farmers, reviving the use of the song “Kill the Boer [Farmer]” at its rallies and otherwise inciting violence,” the report added.

The State Department went on to criticize wider repression tactics against Afrikaners, citing The Expropriation Bill of 2024, in particular. The legislation allows the government to seize land without compensation in some circumstances.

TRUMP RIPS NBC REPORTER FOR ASKING ABOUT QATARI JET GIFT AMID TENSE MEETING ON GENOCIDE: ‘YOU’RE A DISGRACE’

“This act could enable the government to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation, following countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and extreme rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners,” the report said.

President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House during a state visit in May.

Trump has claimed that White Afrikaner South African farmers are being slaughtered and forced off their land. The Afrikaners are descendants of mostly Dutch settlers who first arrived in South Africa in 1652.

“Now this is very bad. These are burial sites right here. Burial sites — over a thousand — of White farmers. And those cars are lined up to pay love on a Sunday morning. Each one of those white things you see is a cross. And there is approximately a thousand of them,” Trump said at the time. “They’re all White farmers. The family of White farmers. And those cars aren’t, driving, they are stopped there to pay respects to their family member who was killed. And it’s a terrible sight. I’ve never seen anything like it. On both sides of the road, you have crosses. Those people are all killed.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

South Africa denies claims of genocide and harassment, as does its president.

“I’m not going to be repeating what I’ve been saying,” Ramaphosa said at the May visit. “I would say if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my Minister of Agriculture. He would not be with me.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is “extremely frustrated” by the “tone-deaf attitude” of D.C. lawmakers as Americans suffer, she indicated to Fox News Digital during a phone interview on Monday.

The Georgia Republican – a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, who has labeled herself “unapologetically and radically AMERICA FIRST” and “unapologetically America ONLY” in posts on X – told the Daily Mail that she thinks the GOP “has turned its back on America First and the workers and just regular Americans.”

Speaking to Fox News Digital on Monday, Greene explained that she’s frustrated by Congress.

As the GOP controls the majority in both the House and Senate and the Sept. 30 government funding deadline approaches, Greene suggested that voting on a “Biden-budget” continuing resolution would represent “a complete failure.”

America’s national debt is nearly $37 trillion, according to fiscaldata.treasury.gov, and Greene wants the U.S. to cut off all foreign aid, which she suggested is “more like a bribe” in the cases of many of the nations receiving it.

MTG DECLARES SHE’S ‘RADICALLY AMERICA FIRST,’ TELLING THOSE WHO ARE NOT, ‘YOU ARE THE ENEMY’

Greene said “funding foreign wars” is very “unpopular” among Americans, but expressed the belief that Trump, who is slated to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon, will be able to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The congresswoman also said she would support U.S. withdrawal from NATO.

Greene is steamed that “Congress continues its same stupid behavior while most Americans” suffer, particularly younger people, she noted. The “tone-deaf attitude in Washington” makes her “extremely frustrated.”

Greene explained that her children, aged 22, 25 and 27, belong to the generation that will “pay the price” of “all the America-last stupidity” of elected officials over the decades. 

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE RULES OUT 2026 BID FOR TOP GEORGIA POLITICAL POST: ‘WE ALL KNOW I WOULD WIN’

“And I expect better from the Republican Party,” she said, “because they said America First” while campaigning, “and they should stick to it.”

Greene said that she would support a balanced budget amendment.

Asked whether she thinks there’s any hope of achieving a balanced budget in the near future, Greene said that “if Republicans are serious about their campaign promises… they should overwhelmingly support” balancing the budget.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SLAMS FDA GREEN LIGHTING OF MNEXSPIKE COVID-19 VACCINE: ‘NOT MAHA AT ALL!!!’

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Greene predicted that if GOP lawmakers do not fulfill their promises, many who voted for Republicans in 2024 will skip voting in the 2026 midterms.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ramped up his pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, threatening to allow a lawsuit over the central bank’s $3.1 billion renovation project to move forward.

Trump took to Truth Social to blast Powell, who has refused to adjust rates despite repeated demands by the president as inflation remains steady, holding at 2.7% in July. 

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social. 

THE FED’S FOOLISH INTEREST RATE POLICY IS STOPPING AMERICA’S ECONOMY FROM BOOMING

“Steve ‘Manouychin’ really gave me a ‘beauty’ when he pushed this loser. The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board.”

Trump then went on to dangle the prospect of the legal action, although it is unclear what lawsuit Trump was referring to. 

“I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings. Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!”

The comments are Trump’s latest public attack against Powell despite appointing him as the Federal Reserve chair in 2017. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.

GOOD ECONOMIC DATA IS BAD NEWS FOR TRUMP’S INTEREST RATE PUSH

The Federal Reserve’s renovation is focused on two historic buildings in Washington, D.C.: The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building and the adjacent 1951 Constitution Avenue structure, also known as the FRB-East Building. 

Powell and the Fed have previously defended the ongoing renovations, emphasizing that they’re necessary structural updates and not luxuries, and are in full compliance with plans approved by the National Capital Planning Commission in 2021. Powell and Trump toured the site last month. 

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump slammed the costs of the overhaul.

“We are not going to allow people to spend $3.1 Billion Dollars on fixing up a building, like the Federal Reserve, which could have been done in a far more elegant and time sensitive manner for $50 to $100 Million Dollars,” Trump wrote. “The Renovation would have actually been better, and would have saved $3 Billion Dollars, Traffic Jams and never-ending Construction.”

Earlier this month, Trump urged the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors to take control from Powell if he resisted immediate interest rate cuts. The Fed has held its benchmark interest rate range between 4.25%-4.5%, which Trump has argued stifles American economic growth. 

The Federal Reserve determines its interest rate policy collectively through a 12-member panel known as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which votes on those decisions with each member – including Powell – receiving one vote.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The FOMC isn’t scheduled to meet again until Sept. 17–18, meaning an emergency meeting would be the only way to cut rates beforehand.

Last month, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., referred Powell to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges, accusing him of lying about lavish amenities at the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building and misrepresenting its state of maintenance.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Eric Revell and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

Democratic socialist and Minneapolis mayoral hopeful Omar Fateh says his first priority in office would be protecting illegal immigrants from President Donald Trump’s “hostile federal government.”

Fateh made the statement during an interview with KARE 11 News in Minnesota, doubling down on his identity as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, but denying his policies are “radical.”

“Day one, if you were elected, what would be some of your top two or three priorities for the city?” the reporter asked in an interview aired Friday.

“The first I would say would be a hostile federal government, with not only Donald Trump in office, but he essentially has a trifecta with both chambers of Congress and the Supreme Court. A lot of our neighbors, especially our undocumented residents are very concerned,” Fateh responded.

THE PLOT TO STOP MAMDANI: DEMOCRATS SCRAMBLE TO BLOCK FAR-LEFT TAKEOVER IN NEW YORK

The candidate went on to say public safety would be his second priority, but he declined to endorse the Democratic Socialist platform of abolishing the police entirely.

“That’s not going to happen, absolutely,” Fateh said of abolition. “What we envision is a public safety system that works for everyone, and that means we have an accountable police force and a police force that is an important part of our public safety system, but making sure that when we call 911 we get an appropriate response.”

Fateh argued that half of 911 calls in Minneapolis “don’t need to be responded to with armed officers.” He argued funding should be directed toward social workers and others who can respond to such calls instead.

Fateh secured the endorsement of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, the name for the Democratic Party in Minnesota, in July. The party endorsed him over incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey, also a Democrat. Frey is running for a third term and has decided to stay in the race.

Some have dubbed Fateh the “Mamdani of Minneapolis,” referencing New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Both are the children of immigrants, with Fateh hailing from Somalia and Mamdani from Uganda.

RNC CHAIR ARGUES MAMDANI ‘FACE OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY’

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fateh has previously pledged that, if elected mayor, he will raise city’s minimum wage, increase the supply of affordable housing, and combat what he calls police violence. Similar to Mamdani, Fateh calls for replacing some of the police department’s duties with community-led alternatives. He also wants to issue legal IDs to undocumented immigrants.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Senate Democrats have undergone a steady tonal shift on Israel, with a recent vote to block arms sales to the Jewish State giving a glimpse at the evolution on the Hill.

More Democrats in the upper chamber than ever before voted alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to halt the $675 million sale of thousands of bombs and guidance kits for the bombs and to block the sale of automatic rifles to Israel.

BERNIE SANDERS TO FORCE SENATE VOTE ON BLOCKING ARMS SALES TO ISRAEL

Sanders’ push ultimately failed late last month, but over half of all Senate Democrats voted alongside him, with many voting with him for the first time. Meanwhile, all Senate Republicans voted against them.

“The tide is turning,” Sanders, who routinely caucuses with Democrats, said in a statement. “The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza. The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future.”

Getting Republicans on board for future attempts, as Sanders hoped would happen, is a stretch at best.

“Republicans stand with Israel,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch, R-Idaho, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“Senator Sanders’ resolution to block arms sales would have reinstated the failed policies of the Biden administration and would abandon America’s closest ally in the Middle East,” he continued. “We can’t afford to go back there.”

TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP ‘RIGHTLY’ TOOK OVER DC POLICE, DEMANDS BOWSER, OTHERS TESTIFY ON CRIME

But the change within the Democratic caucus was likely spurred by the release of photos of starving children in the Gaza Strip, which earned shocked reactions from both lawmakers and President Donald Trump.

Many Democrats have pinned the blame on Israel and argued that the Jewish state has put a chokehold on aid that is meant for civilians in Gaza, while Republicans contend that the terrorist organization Hamas is stealing the food.

“What’s going on is unacceptable, and Israel has the power to fix it,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told Fox News Digital.

Like Sanders, King typically caucuses with Senate Democrats. But unlike his fellow Independent colleague, he has routinely stood firm in his support of Israel. But the photos and reports of widespread malnutrition prompted him to vote to block arms sales.

“Israel’s the one that’s not letting the aid get in,” he said. “The humanitarian response is entirely within Israel’s hands, and they’ve been blocking, slowing, starting and stopping, to the point where I just could no longer stand silent.”

And like King, Sen. Jean Shaheen, the top ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, changed course and voted in favor of blocking arms sales out of concern that food aid was not making its way to Palestinians.

“I think it’s important to send the message to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government that things need to change,” the New Hampshire Democrat said in an interview with PBS Newshour.

SENATE REPUBLICANS REVEAL DRAMATIC DEALMAKING BEHIND TRUMP’S $3.3T MEGABILL PASSAGE

But Republicans charged that it was not Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fault that food aid was not making its way into Gaza, and instead believed that it was Hamas stealing the food.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that Israel wants to make sure that the food aid actually makes it to civilians in Hamas.

“Israel and the US have cut out, cut off most of Hamas’ cash flow,” Kennedy said. “And a lot of their cash flows depends on stealing the food and selling it, sometimes to their own people, absorbing the prices.”

And not every Senate Democrat is on the same page when it comes to their position on the Jewish State.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has routinely slammed Democrats for criticizing Israel, and believed that his party was moving further away from his position.

“What I really fundamentally believe, there’s been a wholesale shift, even within my party, to blame Israel for the situations and the circumstances overall,” Fetterman told Fox News Digital. “And I don’t really understand. It’s like we’ve seen the same pictures and, of course, what’s happened in Gaza is devastating.”

“But so, for me, I blame Hamas and Iran,” he continued. “And I don’t know why there’s not like a collective global outrage.”

FIRST ON FOX: Another House Republican has their eyes set on a Senate seat in the 2026 midterms.

Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital in an interview that he plans to run for Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s seat in the upper chamber.

Moore, who has represented the southern Alabama 1st congressional district since 2021, styled himself as a fiscal hawk with a longstanding history of supporting President Donald Trump. Indeed, he was the first elected official in the country to endorse Trump during his first run for office in 2015.

TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP ‘RIGHTLY’ TOOK OVER DC POLICE, DEMANDS BOWSER, OTHERS TESTIFY ON CRIME

“I think my number one job is to protect the people’s liberty and to support the president in that process,” Moore said. “And so, for us, it’s an opportunity to continue to fight for the America First agenda, and also make sure we have conservatives in the Senate from Alabama that are truly the voice of the people.”

And one of his top concerns in Washington is the ever-increasing national debt, which has neared $37 trillion and counting, according to the Fox Business National Debt Tracker.

One of his top priorities when helping to craft Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” was to apply downward pressure on Congress’ spending habits to achieve roughly $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade.  

“I think that we’ll have to hold the line on spending,” Moore said. “But again, this didn’t get this way overnight. You’re not going to fix it overnight. So you have to do it gradually.”

SENATE REPUBLICANS REVEAL DRAMATIC DEALMAKING BEHIND TRUMP’S $3.3T MEGABILL PASSAGE

Moore, 58, is not alone in the race to replace Tuberville, who earlier this year announced that he would make a bid for the governor’s mansion after serving only one term in the upper chamber. He joins Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson in the Republican primary.

There are also a trio of candidates running on the Democratic side, including Kyle Sweetser, Dakarai Larriett and Mark Wheeler II.

And despite his conservative bona fides — he is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and touted his deeply conservative voting record — Moore believed that the number one issue in the Senate, and Congress in general, is the growing partisan divide.

TRUMP’S SENATE CLOSER: REPUBLICAN FRESHMAN EMERGES AS KEY WHITE HOUSE ALLY

He noted that when he came to Washington in 2021, he was disappointed that Republicans and Democrats didn’t work together more in the lower chamber under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“I think most people in D.C. are principled,” he said. “They’re trying to do the right thing. There’s perfect, and that’s sometimes the enemy of practical. And so we try to make sure that even on the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ it wasn’t perfect. There were 435 versions of perfect in the House, but having principled people come to the table and say, ‘Let’s get a practical solution so we can get wins for this administration and for our country’ – I think that’s what we have to do in the Senate.”

“I don’t think we have to look at the opposing side as the enemy always,” he said. “And I think we have to keep in mind, too, that they represent areas, and they have a different experience in life.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Still, despite his desire to create bipartisan inroads in the upper chamber, which is a must in most legislative fights, given the 60-vote filibuster threshold, Moore supports a change to Senate rules for confirmations to blast through Senate Democrats’ blockade of Trump’s nominees.

He’s in support of shortening the debate time on nominees, one of the options on the table for when lawmakers return from their August break, and argued that Democrats “are playing the obstructionist” despite Trump winning big in the 2024 election.

“The American people are fed up with that, so I say we change the rules and allow these nominees to get the jobs and start doing the job so they can help the president achieve his agenda,” he said. 

FIRST ON FOX: More than 100,000 Americans have applied for roles with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since the organization began a recruiting drive at the end of last month, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital.

President Donald Trump’s administration launched a drive to hire 10,000 additional ICE agents at the end of July, offering incentives to candidates and removing certain limits on who can apply. The total number of applicants has now eclipsed 100,000 in barely two weeks. The agency had received 80,000 applicants as of August 6.

“Our country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”

All ICE law enforcement recruits will be required to go through medical screening, drug screening, and complete a physical fitness test, the agency clarified.

TRUMP SUGGESTS BORDER CRACKDOWN IS ‘SAVING A LOT OF MONEY’ AFTER STARK DROP FROM BIDEN ERA CROSSINGS

ICE is seeking to entice more applicants with a signing bonus of up to $50,0000, options to repay or forgive student loans and other benefits.

ASSAULTS ON ICE OFFICERS SURGE 830% AS DEMOCRATS CAUGHT ‘DOXING AND PHYSICALLY ASSAULTING’ AGENTS: DHS

“Your country is calling on you to serve at ICE and defend the Homeland,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement. “In the wake of the Biden administration’s open border policies, the dedicated men and women of ICE now face unprecedented challenges in removing millions of criminal illegal aliens from our country. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, we now have funding to recruit and hire Americans who want to patriotically serve their country and protect American communities.”

The recruitment drive comes amid what has been at least an 830% increase in assaults on agents amid riots and protests throughout the country, according to DHS data. Noem said last week that number has since spiked to 1,000%.

TRUMP SUGGESTS BORDER CRACKDOWN IS ‘SAVING A LOT OF MONEY’ AFTER STARK DROP FROM BIDEN ERA CROSSINGS

ICE’s recruitment website highlights three key roles: deportation officer, criminal investigator and general attorney, but there are a variety of listings on the federal government’s job site that it links back to.

The site also lists “How dangerous is the work?” as a frequently asked question.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“ICE law enforcement officers should expect a certain level of risk when performing their duties; however, they are expertly trained and every precaution is taken by ICE when it comes to protecting its officers’ well-being,” the website states.

Fox News’ Cameron Arcand contributed to this report

President Donald Trump endorsed Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for governor, a move that marks a blow to Peach State Attorney General Chris Carr’s competing gubernatorial bid.

“As the first member of the Georgia State Assembly to Endorse ‘DONALD J. TRUMP’ for President, Burt was strongly committed to my Campaign in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and worked tirelessly to help us WIN. He has been with us from the very beginning,” the president said, in part, in his endorsement post on Truth Social.

The state went to Trump in the 2016 presidential contest, flipped to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, and then went back to Trump in 2024.

GEORGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL SUES GOP OPPONENT IN GOVERNOR’S RACE OVER CAMPAIGN FINANCING

The president is weighing in on the race well before the Republican gubernatorial primary.

“President @realDonaldTrump just endorsed our campaign for Governor of Georgia!” Jones declared in a post on X. “We’re fighting for election integrity, lower taxes, and to secure Georgia values — and with Trump’s support, we’re just getting started.” 

FORMER GEORGIA LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN ABANDONS GOP TO JOIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Current Gov. Brian Kemp, who is serving his second consecutive term, is ineligible to run next year.

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a staunch Trump ally, ruled out a 2026 gubernatorial bid last month.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE RULES OUT 2026 BID FOR TOP GEORGIA POLITICAL POST: ‘WE ALL KNOW I WOULD WIN’

Carr recently lodged a legal challenge against Jones pertaining to campaign finance.

“Mr. Jones is raising and spending unlimited amounts of money in the primary—and Mr. Carr is limited in what he can raise by Georgia’s existing campaign contribution limits. This Court should level this uneven playing field by preventing Mr. Jones from using his leadership committee during the primary election,” part of the complaint says.

Illinois Democrats are pushing back on Trump-era attacks against the state’s immigration-related policies, arguing the statutes uphold the Constitution, support public safety and leave federal authorities free to do their jobs.

“These policies are in accordance with the law, maintain local autonomy, boost local economies, focus law enforcement resources on serving local needs, and promote effective policing strategies that foster trust between police and the communities they serve,” reads a letter by Rep. Jesus Garcia and Sen. Richard Durbin. 

The letter noted how the Justice Department labeled both Illinois and Chicago as “sanctuary jurisdictions” in its latest public listings, and rebutted the assertion that either the state or city is committing any sort of violation.

The letter, backed by several Illinois Democrats, pointed to the state’s TRUST Act – signed by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican. Critics have long called it a sanctuary-style policy for barring police from holding people over immigration status alone.

MAMDANI STUDIES ‘AMERICA’S WORST MAYOR’ BRANDON JOHNSON TO AVOID HIS POLITICAL PITFALLS: REPORT

“Similarly, the Chicago Welcoming City Ordinance prevents the arrest or detention of an individual solely on the basis of a civil immigration violation and prevents local officials from giving ICE access to detainees unless such access is based on a legitimate law enforcement purpose that is not civil immigration enforcement,” Garcia and Durbin wrote.

“Consistent with the Illinois TRUST Act, the Welcoming City Ordinance does not prevent ICE from engaging in immigration enforcement activities,” they said, adding that Cook County – which includes Chicago – has similar policies.

They claimed, citing court precedent, that state or local authorities holding people without an immigration detainer violates the Fourth Amendment – while federal detention does not.

CHICAGO MAYOR CALLS ICE RAIDS ‘TERRORISM,’ SAYS TRUMP’S AMERICA APPEARS AS IF ‘THE CONFEDERACY WOULD HAVE WON’

“Therefore, in passing these laws, Illinois, Cook County, and the City of Chicago – along with hundreds of other jurisdictions across the country – protect local resources while ensuring compliance with the Constitution and leaving the enforcement of federal immigration law to federal officials.”

Garcia, who emigrated from Durango, Mexico, in 1965, went on to ask DHS and the DOJ in return to stop trying to allegedly “usurp” their authority, “as lawmakers who value the rule of law, public safety, and the U.S. Constitution” when it comes to critiquing how Illinois handles immigrants.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“These laws neither impede nor interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration law by federal authorities.”

The Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter but declined further comment.

Fox News Digital also reached out to DHS for comment but did not hear back by press time. 

FIRST ON FOX: With an eye to next year’s Midterm Elections, the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee (NRCC) is mocking its Democratic counterpart and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for advancing “wildly unpopular” policy proposals as part of their “Project 2026” goals.

In response, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is hitting back, accusing Republicans of “desperately attempting to distract from their failed leadership and refusal to get a single thing done for the American people.”

The NRCC released a memo on Tuesday morning in which it knocked Jeffries for failing to meet a self-imposed deadline to roll out a new vision for America with a Democratic-controlled House.

The Hill reported in April that Jeffries committed that “over these next 100 days, House Democrats are going to lay out a blueprint for a better America. And you will see a vision for this country’s future that isn’t about Donald Trump. It’s all about you.”

RNC CHAIR SAYS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ KEY PART OF GOP’S STRATEGY TO WIN SEATS IN MIDTERM ELECTIONS

With those 100 days having already elapsed, the NRCC published a satirical memo titled “Project 2026,” in which they accused the Democrats of being out of step with the American people.

“Hakeem Jeffries promised a ‘Project 2026’ within 100 days of April 30th, and it’s been over 100 days. Democrats know their agenda is wildly unpopular, and their focus on these issues will cause them to lose yet again,” the NRCC said in a statement.

In the memo, the NRCC accuses the Democratic Party, “as directed by ‘Leader’ Jeffries and AOC,” of wanting to “move swiftly and unapologetically to return to Joe Biden’s America and implement the bold, transformational change our base demands.”

The memo lays out eight policy proposals they accuse Democrats of wanting to advance, ranging from “Bring Back Wasteful Government Spending and High Crime” to “Open Borders. Full Stop” to “Impeach President Trump. Again. And Again.”

VANCE WARNS OF ‘PENALTY’ FOR DEMS WHO OPPOSED THE ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL, BILL’ AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

Policy ideas the NRCC charges Democrats with advancing range from the outlandish, such as “institute a federal ‘Carbon Lifestyle Tax’ on Americans who dare to own trucks, SUVs, or backyard grills, to ideas that have been pushed by the likes of New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani of launching “pilot programs for government-run grocery stores in ‘underserved’ neighborhoods.”

Under economic proposals, the memo charges Democrats of wanting to “expand bloated government programs and bankroll the Green New Deal” and reverse the tax cuts passed under President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the memo states Democrats want to “abolish ICE permanently,” “ban border wall construction and tear down existing barriers” and “provide taxpayer-funded healthcare, housing, and legal aid for every undocumented immigrant.”

The NRCC also takes a jab at Democrats for allegedly wanting to be “More Woke, Less Rational,” wanting to “mandate pronouns and DEI training in every school and workplace” and have “no more ads featuring Sydney Sweeney or Shane Gillis.”

Commenting on the memo, NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital, “This is the America Democrats want to build.”

ZOHRAN MAMDANI IN POSITION TO HELP SOCIALIST PARTY ‘SEIZE STATE POWER,’ DSA LEADER ADMITS

“Higher taxes, open borders, skyrocketing gas prices, no more gas cars, crime in the streets, pronouns before commonsense, and no more freedom. House Republicans are the only thing standing between you and the nightmare of ‘Project 2026,’” said Marinella.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In response, Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the DCCC, shot back, commenting, “Big talk by the party who’s betrayed the middle-class so they can suck-up to their billionaire donors.”

“The Republican agenda is marked by rising costs, lost manufacturing jobs, a Big, Ugly Law that everyone hates, and a string of broken promises,” he said, adding, “A tidal wave of recent polling confirms their majority is rapidly slipping away.”

“It’s no wonder House Republicans are desperately attempting to distract from their failed leadership and refusal to get a single thing done for the American people.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokeswoman, told me in an interview that the president is strategically positioned to stop the fighting in Ukraine.

“The point is that the killing has to end,” she said on “Media Buzz.” “And if there’s anybody who can confront and deal with and manage Putin, it is Donald Trump.”

ZELENSKYY URGES DIRECT TALKS WITH PUTIN AS TRUMP SETS PEACE DEADLINE

But what if it’s Putin who’s managing Trump? And how can there be any kind of settlement when Volodymyr Zelenskyy is refusing to participate, saying the Kremlin dictator is trying to deceive America?

Trump addressed this yesterday, at his news conference on the feds taking over the D.C. police department–and let’s just say he made a point of lowering expectations.

One thing that’s impossible to ignore is that whenever Trump threatens sanctions against Moscow, he finds a way to avoid following through. Remember the 50-day deadline? And then the 10-day deadline?

Putin has been diplomatically isolated since his illegal invasion of Ukraine, which has featured the deliberate killing of civilians. 
By inviting him to Alaska–which America bought from Russia in 1867 and is no longer deemed “Seward’s Folly” – Trump is granting Putin respect as a legitimate world leader, not a pariah.

Putin’s plan all along has been to make gains on the battlefield and then hold onto all or most of that land in any settlement. That’s why he’s continued to intensively bomb Ukraine, killing more civilians, even amid the chatter about peace.

Zelenskyy says he can’t cede any land because that would violate the country’s constitution. It would also create a political firestorm at home. But a recent poll says 38 percent of Ukrainians are willing to give up some territory to end the war.

TRUMP BLASTS ZELENSKYY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL OBJECTION TO ‘LAND SWAPPING’ IN UKRAINE WAR

Trump has talked about “some swapping of territories,” but Ukraine doesn’t have much to swap. The country took over 500 square miles in a surprise attack in the Russian area of Kursk, but that has dwindled to just four square miles and came at the cost of significant casualties.

So this could be a repeat of what happened when Russia seized Crimea in 2014. The world was outraged, and then everything went back to normal.

As for Putin, Trump told reporters yesterday, “I’d have a great call with him and then missiles would be lobbed into Kyiv.”
“I’m going to be telling him to end this war.”

“I get along with Zelenskyy but I disagree with what he’s done.”

The president said he’ll try to get some territory back “for the good of Ukraine.”

“Probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know whether a deal can be made.”

If not, “I may leave and say good luck.”

Now you might question why Trump is granting Putin an audience on U.S. soil without any previous understanding. The president believes in face-to-face negotiating but it doesn’t always work. For all the love letters between him and Kim Jong-un, North Korea never budged on its nuclear program.

Trump said of Putin and Zelenskyy, “Ultimately I’m going to put the two of them in a room.” Well, maybe.

Even if Zelenskyy goes to Alaska, or a later meeting with Putin, he’s not going to agree to rewarding Russia for its military aggressiveness, giving land “to the occupier,” as he put it.. Trump may blame Zelenskyy as the fall guy, but that doesn’t get us any closer to peace.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Besides, Zelenskyy would understandably want security guarantees. Otherwise, Putin could use a cease-fire to allow his forces to rest and recuperate, then attack again in six months or a year–a replay of the post-Crimea strategy.
So much for settling the war in 24 hours.

It’s a bloody, frustrating, complicated war that has resulted in huge casualties for both sides. But it all stems from an illegal invasion by a dictator who insists that Ukraine has no right to exist.

President Donald Trump claimed crimes in Washington, D.C., trounce data from notoriously violent cities in nations such as Mexico and Colombia during his Monday morning press conference announcing he is federalizing the D.C. police department to curb spiraling violence. 

“The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth, much higher,” Trump said Monday. “This is much higher. The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled. Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate, probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don’t know what that means because it just goes back 25 years can’t be worse.” 

Trump whipped out charts showing the media that the nation’s capital allegedly suffers worse crime trends than other cities worldwide, calling on them to “take a look at numbers” as he rattled off the data’s findings. 

“Look at these. Baghdad is … we doubled up on Baghdad. Panama City, Brasilia, San Jose, Costa Rica, Bogota, Colombia. Heavy drugs. Mexico City, I mentioned Lima, Peru, all double and triple what they are. So do you want to live in places like that? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. And I think the people in this room, if you wrote correctly, you’d see. Look at the kind of numbers we have. D.C. 41 per 100,000 (for homicides in 2023). Number one that we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad, but they’re not as bad as that. That the way you want to live? The reporters of the world? Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons as they say, it’s getting worse, not getting better. It’s getting worse,” he continued. 

TRUMP IS THREATENING TO ‘FEDERALIZE’ DC WITH NATIONAL GUARD AND MORE. HERE’S HOW THAT COULD PLAY OUT

The White House directed Fox Digital to a pair of graphs published on the White House Rapid Response’s X account on Monday when asked for copies of the charts, data and its citations. The graphs published to X show D.C.’s murder rate in 2024 sat at 27.54 per 100,000, according to FBI data – reportedly higher than the stats in cities such as Bogota and Mexico City. 

The nation overall saw an uptick in violent crimes in 2020, when protests and riots broke out in cities across the nation at the height of the pandemic. That year notched a nearly 30% increase in murders compared to the year prior, according to FBI data, marking the largest single-year increase in killings since the agency began tracking the crimes.

The nation’s capital in the following years has been rocked by shootings that have left innocent children shot and dead, a trend of juveniles committing carjackings that have turned deadly in some cases, shoplifting crimes and attacks on government employees, summer interns and others, including the fatal shooting of 21-year-old congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, in June. 

WASHINGTON, DC IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE CAPITALS OF MANY THIRD-WORLD COUNTRIES, SENATOR SAYS

Trump announced Monday that he was federalizing the local police department starting Monday under section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the capital’s police force. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” he said. “We’re taking it back under the authority vested in me as the president of the United States, I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. You know what that is. And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. … In addition, I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC. And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.” 

The fight between President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom over the National Guard’s presence in California is coming to a head on Monday in the start of a three-day trial.

Government attorneys are set to argue that Trump had legal authority to deploy roughly 4,000 National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles in June to assist with anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests and riots.

While most of the National Guard members have since been demobilized, the trial could set the stage for more fights across the country as Trump federalizes guard members in Washington, D.C., and threatens to do so elsewhere in response to high crime rates in blue cities.

Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee and brother of retired liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, is presiding over the case.

TRUMP AND NEWSOM ON COLLISION COURSE AS FIGHT OVER NATIONAL GUARD INTENSIFIES IN COURT

Breyer previously granted a temporary restraining order in favor of Newsom, saying Trump’s decision to mobilize the National Guard was illegal because it infringed on California’s authority. One of the conditions required under the law Trump cited to federalize the National Guard is that a rebellion must be underway, and Breyer said the riots in California fell far short of that scenario.

But Breyer’s decision was quickly reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A three-judge panel for the appellate court unanimously found that the courts have limited ability to review whether a president has properly invoked the law to federalize the National Guard.

“We are persuaded that, under longstanding precedent interpreting the statutory predecessor to §12406, our review of that decision must be highly deferential,” the panel wrote. “Affording the President that deference, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority under §12406(3), which authorizes federalization of the National Guard when ‘the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.’”

The panel paused Breyer’s initial order indefinitely, but Monday’s trial is the next step in the court process as the judge weighs the merits of the case.

While little is left on the ground in California for the judge to resolve – Newsom recently announced that about 300 of Trump’s deployed National Guard members remain active in the state – legal questions surrounding Trump’s actions persist.

As part of the trial, Breyer will examine the 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from being used for civil matters. Newsom has argued Trump violated that law and plans to call military officials as witnesses during the trial to testify about the directions the National Guard and a few hundred Marines received.

Newsom has said they were illegally engaged in law enforcement activities, while government attorneys argue they were protecting federal personnel and federal properties.

APPEALS COURT APPEARS SKEPTICAL OF NEWSOM’S CLAIM THAT TRUMP ILLEGALLY DEPLOYED NATIONAL GUARD

While Newsom also argued that Trump’s unusual decision to bring the National Guard into a state without the governor’s consent was illegal and required the governor’s permission, the three-judge panel has already leaned in favor of Trump on that point.

The panel found that while the law’s language, which states that Trump must go “through” the governor, could mean the president committed a “procedural” violation, it did not warrant restricting Trump’s use of the military.

Newsom has claimed more broadly that militarizing California was unnecessary and caused the unrest in Los Angeles to intensify.

State and local law enforcement officers made about seven riot-related arrests prior to Trump’s announcement about the National Guard on June 7, but they made about a thousand arrests during the subsequent 10 days, California attorneys said in court filings.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

An ICE official said in an affidavit that National Guard members were “essential” to providing reinforcements around the 300 North Los Angeles Federal Building, which was the site of protests during the controversial immigration raids.

“Prior to the National Guard’s deployment, rioters and protestors assaulted federal, state, and local law enforcement officers with rocks, fireworks, and other objects. They also damaged federal property by spray painting death threats to federal law enforcement officers,” the ICE official wrote.

A House panel demanded a slate of Washington, D.C., officials, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, testify on crime in the district just hours after President Donald Trump announced federal intervention in the city.

The House Oversight Committee announced Monday that it would call in Bowser, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Washington, D.C., Council Chair Phil Mendelson to testify before the Republican-led panel.

TRUMP ACTIVATES NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO ADDRESS ‘TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL’ CRIME IN WASHINGTON

News of the hearing, which is expected to be held in September when lawmakers return from their month-long break from Washington, comes after Trump announced that he would place the Washington, D.C., police department under federal control and deploy the National Guard in the district.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., lauded the president for “rightly using executive power to take bold and necessary action to crack down on crime and restore law and order in Washington, D.C.”

“Protecting all Americans and tackling crime are core conservative policy priorities, and today’s actions by the Trump administration mark another promise kept,” Comer said in a statement.  

However, crime in the district is on the decline. Violent crime is down 26% this year, compared to the same timeframe in 2024, according to Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department. Assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 20%, and homicides are down by 12%. 

TRUMP IS THREATENING TO ‘FEDERALIZE’ DC WITH NATIONAL GUARD AND MORE. HERE’S HOW THAT COULD PLAY OUT

Fox News Digital reached out to Bowser, Mendelson and Schwalb for comment.

Hours earlier, Trump declared a public safety emergency in the District and invoked a portion of the D.C. Home Rule Act – which granted Washington, D.C., more independence from Congress – allowing him to seize control of the local police for up to 48 hours.

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of violent youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump said during a press conference at the White House.

TRUMP TO HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE ON DC CRIME AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS HIT STREETS

However, in order to go beyond the 48-hour mark, the president needs approval from the House Oversight Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — the two panels that have oversight of Washington, D.C.

Trump can take over the district’s police force for up to 30 days if he sends a special notice to the panels, but beyond that would require a joint resolution from the House and Senate extending the takeover.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee told Fox News Digital that the White House notified the panel of its intent to go beyond the 48-hour window.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Senate Homeland Security Committee for comment but did not immediately hear back.

EXCLUSIVE: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded to the sentencing of Rachel Morin’s killer on Monday.

Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, is being sentenced to life without parole for murdering, kidnapping, and raping the 37-year-old Maryland mother in August 2023. He was found guilty of the charges in April. Specifically, he’s facing two life sentences on top of an extra 40 years. 

“Today, Rachel Morin’s killer was sentenced to life without parole for her brutal murder. This criminal illegal alien should have never been in our country in the first place. Rachel should still be here watching her 5 children grow up,” Noem said in a statement first shared with Fox News Digital.

RACHEL MORIN’S MOTHER EXPLAINS PAINSTAKING PROCESS OF WRITING STATEMENT TO READ AT KILLER’S SENTENCING

“We hear far too much in the mainstream media about sob stories of gang members and criminal illegals and not enough about their victims. God bless Rachel and her family,” she added.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Martinez-Hernandez entered the United States in 2023 during the Biden-era border crisis. He was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 2024.

Morin went missing on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, and her remains were found the next day in a nearby drain pipe, according to police at the time. He beat Morin’s head with rocks and then raped her corpse before trying to hide it in the pipe, according to DHS.

DHS ARRESTS FIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CONVICTED OF SERIOUS CRIMES, INCLUDING MURDER AND CHILD ABUSE

Her family have been vocal advocates in the public sphere following her murder. 

“Unfortunately, Rachel’s story is not an isolated tragedy. She is one of many victims across our state and country who suffered at the hands of individuals who should never have been here because of the failures of the Biden administration,” Patty Morin, her mother, wrote in an opinon piece for Fox News on April 29.

The sentencing comes as the Trump administration is pursuing mass deportations, with the agency highlighting arrests of illegal immigrants who have been charged or convicted of other crimes.

DHS is also noting the reopening of the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement office that was started during President Donald Trump’s first term. The office provides a hotline and services to victims and their families. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Rachel Morin’s presence was powerfully felt in the courtroom today as her children, siblings, and mother spoke from the heart,” the Morin family’s attorney, Randolph Rice, told Fox News Digital of the sentencing hearing on Monday. “They shared their deep love for her, the irreplaceable void her absence has left in their lives, and their unwavering commitment to honor her memory by seeking justice today and protecting others from suffering the same fate.”

Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

A Democratic whistleblower told the FBI that Adam Schiff approved leaking classified information in order to discredit President Donald Trump, according to newly-released documents.

The documents, which were obtained by Just The News, were recently handed over to Congress by FBI Director Kash Patel. 

The whistleblower reportedly worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for over ten years, and reported Schiff’s alleged behavior to the FBI in 2017.

According to the report, the intelligence staffer called the leaking “treasonous” and “illegal,” in addition to being unethical. He was most recently interviewed by the FBI in 2023.

COULD SENATOR ADAM SCHIFF REALLY GO TO JAIL OVER ALLEGED MORTGAGE FRAUD?

The staffer also said that he personally attended a meeting where Schiff greenlit the leak.

“When working in this capacity, [redacted staffer’s name] was called to an all-staff meeting by SCHIFF,” the documents state, per Just The News. 

“In this meeting, SCHIFF stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States DONALD J. TRUMP. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to indict President TRUMP.”

“[The whistleblower] stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information,” the report added.

TRUMP-FOE ADAM SCHIFF DISMISSES TULSI GABBARD’S DECLASSIFIED RUSSIA COLLUSION INTELLIGENCE AS ‘DISHONEST’

John Solomon, who co-authored the piece with Just The News’ Jerry Dunleavy, appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” to discuss the report.

“This is the first of several major leak investigations we’re going to see over the next several days,” Solomon said. “You’re going to see other major people that were clearly identified by the FBI, having leaked classified secrets.”

“Their own staff turned them in when interviewed by the FBI. Nothing, again, happened,” he added. “It’s a common pattern. The question now is, in Donald Trump’s Justice Department, does that dynamic change?”

Soon after the report was published, Patel shared it on X, saying that the FBI “found it [and] declassified it.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Now Congress can see how classified info was leaked to shape political narratives – and decide if our institutions were weaponized against the American people,” Patel’s post read.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Curto contributed to this report.

FBI Director Kash Patel endorsed President Donald Trump’s plans to take over the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle crime in Washington D.C., amid heavy criticism from Democrats and local officials who say the move is part of a power grab. 

Patel was seen Monday afternoon inside a command post for the first night of the temporary takeover in a show of support for law enforcement. 

“Proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the men and women who keep our nation’s capital safe,” Patel said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. “When you let good cops be cops, give them the tools they need, and back them every step of the way, they deliver – every time.”

In photos exclusively provided to Fox News Digital, Patel can be seen speaking Monday to FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel wearing protective vests at a command center at a U.S. Park Police station. 

TOP DEMOCRATS RIPPED ON SOCIAL MEDIA OVER ‘BONKERS’ REACTIONS TO TRUMP’S DC CRIME PLAN: ‘MASSIVE LIAR’

On Monday, Trump said he would federalize the police department and place it under the authority of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in an effort to address crime. He also said he was activating approximately 800 National Guard troops to “reestablish law, order and public safety” in the capital. 

Washington D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser called the move “unsettling and unprecedented.”

“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we’re totally surprised,” Bowser said during a news conference. “I can say to D.C. residents that we will continue to operate our government in a way that makes you proud.”

TRUMP’S PLAN TO DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD IN DC SPARKS BACKLASH FROM RESIDENTS—BUT SOME WELCOME IT

The District of Columbia Home Rule Act allows Trump to place the city’s police department under federal control for up to 30 days. Bowser noted that granting D.C. statehood, an issue local officials have repeatedly advocated for, could have prevented the takeover. 

“If people are concerned about the president being able to move the National Guard into our city, the time to do that would have been when the Congress had a bill that it could have given control of the D.C. National Guard to D.C.,” she said. “So there are things that, when a city is not a state, and not fully autonomous, and doesn’t have senators, that the federal government can do.”

Other Democrats heavily criticized the Trump administration for the move. 

“If President Trump wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence,” the office of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Sending in the national guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts.”

The Washington, D.C. City Council called the temporary takeover a “manufactured intrusion on local authority.”

TRUMP CLAIMS DC CRIMES TROUNCE STATS FROM NOTORIOUSLY VIOLENT CITIES WORLDWIDE

“Violent crime in the District is at the lowest rates we’ve seen in 30 years. Federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department is unwarranted because there is no Federal emergency,” the council said in a joint statement. “Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard’s role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District. Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission.”

The National Capital Region Delegation, a body comprised of several House Democratic lawmakers, accused Trump of personally inciting crime in the capital, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol building. 

“Trump’s ‘temporary’ takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is not intended to prevent crime, it is a soft launch of authoritarianism,” the group said in a statement. “Trump has a longstanding pattern of seeking showy displays of power. As he has shown repeatedly, Trump is working to serve himself and is not concerned with keeping American families safe in cities and towns across our country.”

“The President’s announcement this morning is an unserious and unacceptable publicity stunt,” they added. “If he wants to reduce crime in the District of Columbia, he should focus on getting his Republican allies in Congress to restore the funding they arbitrarily stripped out of the city’s budget, which risks cuts to law enforcement and other public safety measures.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers union, called Trump’s announcement a “gross overreach, disconnected from actual conditions on the ground.”

“So, we have to ask: Will the president’s heavy-handed show of force make the average D.C. resident feel safer? Will it create jobs for working people and bring patrons back to downtown businesses?” she said. “Will it provide young people a pathway to jobs, skills or other activities that keep them off the streets?”

“The answer to those questions is ‘no,’ she added. “That’s why this move is yet another crass spectacle from a president who cares more about targeting, intimidating and playing king than the safety of D.C. and its residents.”

Trump’s opponents have cited crime statistics showing crime in Washington is on the decline. Crime in Washington is down 26% this year compared to the same timeframe in 2024, according to the MPD. Assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 20%, and homicides are down by 12%, according to police data. In January, the Justice Department said violent crime in 2024 in the district was down 35% from 2023, the lowest it has been in over 30 years.

However, Trump disagrees.

Metropolitan Police Department data shows that while the homicide rate is falling, the last five years saw the greatest number of murders since 2008.

“The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth, much higher,” Trump said Monday. “This is much higher. The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled. Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate, probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don’t know what that means because it just goes back 25 years can’t be worse.”

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Despite Democratic lawmakers fleeing and holding up vital relief efforts, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s flood relief was faster than California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s response to the L.A. wildfires.

This weekend, Abbott helped to present more than 60 of the families most impacted by the catastrophic floods in the Texas Hill Country with $25,000 relief checks, which the governor called an initial “down payment” on the relief still incoming.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Abbott explained the funds were a result of Texas partnering with country music legend George Strait and other private groups to ensure that funds raised by the star went straight to those who suffered the worst damage.

Abbott said that both he and Strait agreed there is a “need for speed to help these people as quickly as possible.”

ABBOTT VOWS INDEFINITE SPECIAL SESSIONS, SAYS FLEEING DEMS COULD FACE ARREST ‘FOR LITERALLY YEARS’

“We’ve seen in other states when there’s been travesties that occurred there, like the fires in California, and so much money was raised and never has gotten to the people who needed it, we want to make sure that did not happen in the state of Texas,” Abbott explained.

“There has been an outpouring of support to Texas organizations to help the people of this state,” he added. “Now our job is to make sure it gets into the hands of the people who need it the most.” 

This comes just over a month after much of central Texas suffered a devastating flood that killed over 100 and decimated homes and businesses.

In response to the suffering, Strait, a Texas native, held a concert on July 27 to raise funds for those most impacted. Just two weeks later, victims are already receiving relief checks from the concert.

Abbott said that Strait was insistent that “he was doing this for one reason, because he was sick and tired of the people who’ve been damaged and harmed the most by the storm are not getting the money they need.”

CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES REDISTRICTING FIGHT TO ‘NULLIFY’ TEXAS GOP PLAN, WITH DEMS POISED TO GAIN 5 SEATS

“So, what we did we set up an operation to make sure we were able to identify who sustained the worst damage, then make sure that they would be on the receiving end of these checks,” he explained.

Strait’s concert closely resembles a similar star-studded benefit concert, titled “FireAid,” in California that raised more than $100 million for victims of the wildfires in Los Angeles.

FireAid billed itself as “a benefit concert for wildfire victims.” Aside from music by the likes of Lady Gaga, Jelly Roll, Katy Perry and Olivia Rodrigo, the five-hour show featured multiple stories from victims of the Altadena and Palisades fire who had lost their homes.

Fox News Digital reported in July that six months later, victims in the city’s most impacted neighborhoods still had not received any direct funds raised by the concert. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for FireAid told Fox News Digital that “to most effectively deliver aid to the community as quickly as possible, we partnered with vetted and trusted local nonprofits who had the capacity and infrastructure to directly reach the individuals in need.”

The spokesperson said “this assistance provided food security, housing, resources for schools and more directly to individuals in the affected communities.”

TRUMP AND NEWSOM FIGHT OVER NATIONAL GUARD HEADS TO TRIAL IN CALIFORNIA

They said that to date, FireAid has “distributed two rounds of funding totaling close to $75 million to organizations helping people on the ground and expect to distribute the remaining $25 million by the end of the year.” 

“The funds address the urgent needs from individuals in our communities— from immediate financial assistance, to childcare, groceries, mental health and housing and rebuilding public spaces as well as fire prevention. The grants have been distributed to more than 160 frontline nonprofits, schools, and local organizations which were identified and selected by FireAid,” said the spokesperson. 

Abbott claimed that several factors have made Texas’ response to the flooding disaster very different from California’s.

“It starts with generosity … but the second thing is we don’t let things slow us down. We are very empathetic with those who have lost their homes, who’ve had their lives turned upside down, who are trying to get back into their homes,” he said. “So, we were able to cut through all the red tape and make sure that the money got into the hands of those who needed it the most.”

He went on to say that “now we’re working with the local governments to make sure these people are going to be able to take these dollars, these resources, and actually begin that construction process to get their homes rebuilt.”

This comes despite the governor’s ongoing showdown with Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives, who fled the state and brought the legislature’s efforts to pass new flood relief measures to a grinding halt. The Democrats fled the state in protest of redistricting plans that would potentially give Republicans five additional seats in Congress.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT THREATENS TO REDISTRICT 8 SEATS FOR GOP IF DEM LAWMAKERS DON’T RETURN TO TEXAS

The governor and other state leaders, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Leader Dustin Burrows, both Republicans, have filed legal action to arrest the rogue lawmakers and have threatened to remove them from their offices. Thus far, however, the Democrats have been able to evade Texas authorities and hold up any progress by denying the state House the necessary quorum to pass legislation.

“We’re able to give that to the victims, even though we have Democrats who’ve fled the state and been dishonorable to our state,” said Abbott, adding, “One thing about Texans is we stand and fight if we have principles we want to fight on. And what these Democrats have done, they fled the state, and that’s very un-Texan on their part.”

He went on to say that “we’ll get the financial resources to those who need it, but also we’re working to provide greater assistance for them in the meantime.”

“That said, there are laws that need to be passed, such as creating early warning systems, such as making sure we change what the rules are in the flood zones, and things like that. That’s going to require these Democrats showing back up and casting a vote,” he explained.

WATCH: TRUMP SAYS FBI ‘MAY HAVE TO’ HELP TEXAS ROUND UP AWOL DEM LAWMAKERS

“Know that the gears of government to improve the response to this disaster are being slowed down and denied because Democrats are not showing up and doing their job,” he went on. “So, despite the fact that we have a bunch of cowardly Democrats who turned tail and ran out of state and right here to do their job, my main focus that I put my time and attention to is helping out the flood victims of this tragedy to make sure they’re getting the resources they need and so we can accelerate the rebuilding process to get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A spokesperson for Newsom’s office directed Fox News Digital to a press conference he held with several Texas Democrats, including state Rep. Ann Johnson, who claimed during the event that Democratic lawmakers “waited to address that issue” of flood relief for two weeks but that “they only put one bill up for us to debate in the House and it was redistricting.”

“We have an arrest warrant for us to go back to Texas for one bill only. They don’t want us to come back for flooding,” said Johnson.

She accused Republicans of “using those families as a distraction,” saying, “the governor can write a check right now to try to start the process and so its his decision what’s valuable to him.”

Johnson suggested that Democrats “will gladly show up” to address flooding, school testing, human trafficking or court infrastructure but not for the redistricting vote. 

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Texas House Democratic Caucus for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Fox News Digital’s William La Jeunesse contributed to this report.

It was mid-July. And the House of Representatives was already done for the summer. 

That’s right around the same time Halloween decorations like gigantic yard skeletons and Reese’s peanut butter and chocolate pumpkins began materializing in stores.

Those weren’t phantasms. Halloween is the next big consumer holiday on the calendar.

I mean, what would you buy to decorate for Labor Day? 

But there’s a spooky alignment between July and Halloween when it comes to Congress. If you begin to see Halloween paraphernalia in July, that’s practically October in Capitol Hill terms. The reason? Congress didn’t finish its annual spending bills before the annual August recess and that means it will be a sprint to finish them by October 1, the deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

GRIDLOCK CRUMBLES AS SENATE ADVANCES SPENDING BILLS IN RACE AGAINST SHUTDOWN

Right around the same time that the rest of the nation starts thinking about ghosts and goblins for Halloween. 

The funding deadline is enough to convert the U.S. Capitol into a chamber of horrors for the entire month of September. Congress is always dragging to complete spending measures in July. Then August comes and concerns about the spending bills vanish like a ghost. Then the appropriations bills rise like mummies out of their coffins when Congress comes back in September. The battle over averting a government shutdown is like a vampire. It sucks most other legislative activity out of Congress until there’s a deal. That’s because most Members want no part of a government shutdown. Lawmakers from both sides know that government funding is one of the most important inflection points on the political calendar.

Let’s examine where we stand with government funding. 

Congress approved a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown in March. That interim spending package funded the government through September 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. The House approved the bill. But lawmakers worried about a potential government shutdown because breaking a filibuster on the measure required 60 votes. That entailed support of some Democrats since Republicans only have 53 votes in the Senate. 

At the last minute, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced he would help Republicans crack the filibuster. Schumer didn’t vote yes on the bill itself. But the New York Democrat argued that avoiding a shutdown at that point was better than enduring one under President Trump – and Elon Musk who was then fully empowered at DOGE.

Some longtime Capitol Hill hands and Congressional observers feared the government might shutter for a lengthy period if it closed. Schumer and other Democrats asserted that the President and Musk would use that as justification for never re-opening some parts of the government since they lacked funding from Congress.

Progressives excoriated Schumer for not extracting a major concession from President Trump and Congressional Republicans which reflected Democratic values and priorities. Liberals used Schumer’s decision as justification to demand new Democratic leadership in the Senate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., appeared to seethe at Schumer’s maneuver, sidestepping questions from reporters about the break.

White House Budget Director Russ Vought says he wants a less bipartisan appropriations process. That’s fine. But this is about the math. House Republicans must stick together to pass any spending package there. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only lose three votes and still pass a bill without Democratic assistance. Likewise, Senate Republicans can only lose three votes there, too. But the real hurdle is the filibuster. That’s where 60 votes are necessary. And that means the GOP must lean on Democrats – assuming they’re willing to help out.

HILLARY RIPPED AS ‘MASSIVE LIAR’ AFTER SCATHING REACTION TO TRUMP’S PLAN TO FIX DC CRIME

It’s really unclear if Republicans can stick together to approve a spending package. Keep in mind that it’s almost a certainty that any spending measure must simply renew all current funding on a temporary basis. A lot of Republicans are fed up with this appropriations rut – especially since Johnson promised to do things differently once he claimed the Speaker’s gavel in October 2023. Remember that some conservatives helped bounce former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., less than two years ago because he propounded an interim spending plan. 

Some Republicans are beginning to lose patience with Johnson on spending plans. But remember that most Republicans will support whatever appropriations plan the GOP brass concocts – as long as it has the blessing of President Trump. 

So Vought may advocate for a more partisan process. But that won’t result in policy achievements and GOP spending priorities unless Republicans convince Democrats to play ball. 

Here’s another dynamic: some members of the conservative Freedom Caucus are hinting they simply want to re-up the current levels of funding again. Yes, lawmakers approved those spending plans under President Biden and a Democratic Senate. Therefore, much of the federal government is still operating under Democratic spending blueprints. But Democrats would demand more money for the next spending round. The same with some Republicans. So voting to renew the old money – regardless of who pushed for it – is less than Congress could have spent. That’s why some Freedom Caucus members suggest this would serve as a de facto spending cut.

They’re not wrong. Federal spending is almost always on an upward trajectory. This would level things off and bend the annual spending curve for the first time in decades. 

TRUMP FIRES BACK AT ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER WHO CALLED HIM A ‘PIECE OF S—‘ AT RALLY

So, if your goal is to trim funding, this may be the most plausible option under the present political circumstances.

Remember, it’s about the math. 

Moreover, Republicans have only approved a pittance of the funding cuts demanded by DOGE. Congress passed a bill to slash $9 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and foreign aid. That’s not a lot. And Republicans could barely approve that bill. How they rescind other funding remains to be seen. However, Republicans could greenlight all the old money – and then promise budget hawks they will attempt to claw back other tranches of spending through future recissions packages later in the fall or winter.

 

But Democrats won’t go for that. They’d view that as Republicans dropping a Hershey’s bar in their trick or treat bag – and then exchanging it for a rock.

It’s unclear if Democrats have explored soaping the Republicans’ windows at the Capitol this fall if Republicans attempt that gambit. But this could be a chance to find out. 

That brings us to the conundrum facing Schumer. One might question how the politics have changed since March – although President Trump and Musk are no longer in league with one another. But progressives will expect Schumer to demand a king’s ransom in exchange for Democratic votes breaking a filibuster. 

In other words, both Johnson and Schumer face decisions of frightening proportions very soon. 

It may seem as though October 1 is a long way down the calendar. It’s not. To ignore how complicated this may become is the legislative equivalent of whistling past the graveyard. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

This is going to become a rather spooky fall when it comes to funding the government. 

Makes you want to just sit in the corner, pull a blanket up over your head and devour a bag of Halloween candy.

Just a few years ago, travelers arriving by train in Washington, D.C., were met with a jarring juxtaposition: the Capitol building — home to the nation’s most powerful lawmakers — rising in the background and a homeless encampment outside Union Station in the foreground.

While the city has removed many of the one-time sprawling encampments near its iconic landmarks and been forced to roll back several progressive policies in an effort to reduce crime, the Trump administration remains unsatisfied.

Many Washingtonians still dodge mentally ill or drug-addicted individuals on their daily commutes. Last week, one of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers was assaulted — a “last straw” that prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard and federalize the Metropolitan Police Department.

Trump vowed to evict the homeless population, saying the government “will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capitol.” He said a process had begun over the weekend to remove homeless encampments in the district.

TRUMP’S PLAN TO DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD IN DC SPARKS BACKLASH FROM RESIDENTS—BUT SOME WELCOME IT

A tour by Fox News Digital found that many former hotspots for the unhoused have been cleared, with only abandoned clothing and scattered food containers left behind as signs of recent life.

In other parts of the city — including the heart of downtown — the unhoused population continued to stake out places to sleep and gather in parks or on busy street corners.

At one park, about a dozen people were clustered together with their belongings and a few tents, seemingly unaware of the new crackdown. A dried red substance was splattered across the sidewalk outside their makeshift encampment.

On another corner, a handful of individuals slept through the city’s lunchtime rush, undisturbed by the surrounding noise.

TRUMP IS THREATENING TO ‘FEDERALIZE’ DC WITH NATIONAL GUARD AND MORE. HERE’S HOW THAT COULD PLAY OUT

While most interactions with the homeless are mundane and nonviolent, a broader sense of unease has taken hold in the city — driven by a series of high-profile, often random attacks. Some involve members of the unhoused population; others do not, but collectively they’ve contributed to the perception that D.C. has become less safe.

Among them: A minor opened fire on a group of other teens in Navy Yard over the weekend; a 21-year-old congressional intern was fatally shot outside a Metro station during his commute home last month; and two Israeli embassy staffers were gunned down outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in May.

Even so, D.C. was far more dangerous in the past. The city hit a 30-year low for violent crime in 2024; down 35% from the previous year. And this year, it’s down 26% year to date from last year at this time. Homicides are down 12%, carjackings 37%, robbery 28% and 20% for assault with a dangerous weapon. 

Violent crime had reached a fever pitch in 2023 with 274 homicides. In 2024, there were 187.  

Trump called statistics showing a drop in crime “phony” and said his administration would “look into that.” 

“It’s becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness,” the president said. He added that the MPD and federal authorities would be supported by 800 D.C. National Guardsmen and potentially “much more.”

Groups dedicated to helping the homeless have spoken out against the administration’s move.

“Anyone can be at risk of experiencing homelessness,” the Georgetown Ministry Center — a privately funded agency focused on homeless services — said in a statement. “When our most vulnerable citizens are demonized and criminalized, we erode our shared humanity.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

The D.C. City Council called Trump’s move a “manufactured intrusion on local authority.” 

“Federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department is unwarranted because there is no Federal emergency. Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard’s role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District. Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission,” a statement read. 

“Public safety is built on trust, consistent enforcement, and community-based strategies. We must ensure that in our pursuit of safety, we do not create an atmosphere of surveillance, intimidation or unequal treatment under the law.”