NationalWatch

A World War II veteran praised Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at a recent town hall in Hollis, New Hampshire, telling him his words are what his generation “grew up in.”

In an exchange posted on social media Friday from the event on Sunday, the veteran identified as Bob took a moment to express gratitude towards the GOP outsider, who has made restoring national identity a hallmark of his campaign. 

“I’d like to say that I’m a veteran of World War II,” Bob began, sparking huge applause from the crowd and prompting Ramaswamy to shake his hand. 

“What you’re saying, the words you’re saying, are exactly what my generation grew up in,” Bob said. “Children, adults stood at attention and crossed their hearts when the flag passed by in a parade. School started with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. That’s no longer going on.”

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“There was a loyalty and pride in America. Children were leaving school 12, 13 years old and joined the service to protect our country. It was one country. America. And I like your policies. I love to hear it, because it’s what I remember. Thank you very much,” he continued before earning another round of applause and a standing ovation. 

RAMASWAMY SAYS TRUMP WAS ‘DUPED BY THE ADVISER CLASS’ AHEAD OF POLICY SPEECH ON GUTTING FBI, OTHER AGENCIES

Ramaswamy walked over again and gave him a hug, telling the veteran, “Thank you for your service to this country. It means a lot.”

“You’re my hero,” the veteran told the candidate.

“You’re my hero,” Ramaswamy exclaimed. 

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Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur with virtual no national name ID before entering the 2024 race, has risen in the polls and made a big splash at the first Republican primary debate last month.

A new national poll released by Fox News on Thursday showed Ramaswamy placing third with 11% support among primary voters behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 13% and former President Donald Trump, who is maintaining a commanding lead with a whopping 60% support. They are the only three candidates polling in double digits.

When polled voters were asked who would be their second choice if Trump were not in the race, it’s a dead heat between DeSantis and Ramaswamy, earning 33% and 31%, respectively. Former Vice President Mike Pence trailed with 11%, while the rest of the field earned single-digit support. 

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

Special counsel Jack Smith have requested a federal judge in Washington, D.C. to impose a “narrowly tailored” order restricting former President Donald Trump from making public statements that could “present a serious and substantial danger of material prejudicing this case.”

In a filing, Smith’s office accused Trump of engaging in a sweeping campaign of disinformation and harassment intended to intimidate prosecutors and undermine public confidence in the judicial system during his prosecution. 

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“In service of his criminal conspiracies, through false public statements, the defendant sought to erode public faith in the administration of the election and intimidate individuals who refuted his lies,” the filing said.

“The defendant is now attempting to do the same thing in this criminal case — to undermine confidence in the criminal justice system and prejudice the jury pool through disparaging and inflammatory attacks on the citizens of this District, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses,” the filing said.

If approved by Judge Tanya Chutkan, the “well-defined restriction” would prohibit Trump from making statements regarding the identity, testimony, or credibility of prospective witnesses.

Trump has pleaded “not guilty” in federal courts to all four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. 

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The 2024 GOP front-runner is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

The former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent who inspired the hit film “Sound of Freedom” said Friday he is “very seriously considering” a run for the U.S. Senate in his home state of Utah to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney.

Tim Ballard made the announcement during an appearance on the digital show of former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer, where he said he had been approached by numerous “influential people” for weeks about a potential run before Romney announced Wednesday he would not be running for re-election.

“Since Sound of Freedom took out any opportunity for me to ever be an operator again — those days are done … They know my face. But starting several weeks ago, I’ve been asked by a lot of very influential people, names you would even know, asking me to throw in,” Ballard said.

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Spicer noted Ballard lived in Utah, which the former admitted was the very seat he was asked to look at running for.

“I was very seriously considering it then. And now, I’ll be honest, even mores very, very seriously considering,” Ballard said.

When asked what would get him into the race, Ballard said his “wife and prayer.”

ROMNEY USES BIDEN’S OWN WORDS AGAINST HIM, CALLS FOR PRESIDENT TO JOIN HIM IN RETIREMENT: ‘TIME TO TRANSITION’

“So she says yes when you go home, you’re in?” Spicer asked.

“That’s how it’s always worked in the past. So even before Senator Romney announced his retirement, a lot of things were building up to this consideration. I was with the president of Honduras last week, and the president of Guatemala last week, and I was just listening to them in their plight, in their tears, over the plight of their people because of our border policies,” Ballard said. 

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“We’re talking about millions of people being affected by forms of slavery because of the wind that our policies put into the sails of child traffickers. And I thought, there has to be something done — more done — at the federal level. So it just kept building and building and building. At the same time that’s happening I’m getting phone calls from people,” he said. 

He added that confirmation Romney would not be running again took his consideration to the next level.

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The Biden administration has unveiled new regulations expanding the authority of states and tribes to deny certification for various infrastructure activities including fossil fuel pipelines that may impact water sources.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final rule in a move applauded by a wide range of Democratic governors who said it would strengthen their ability to protect the environment and weigh in on key federal permits. According to the EPA, the rule realigns the scope of a provision in the Clean Water Act of 1972, Section 401, which prohibits projects that result in any discharge into waters from being approved.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting economically secure, healthy, and sustainable communities,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Thursday in a statement.

“To achieve this goal, we must protect our water resources while also making investments that move our nation forward,” he continued. “With EPA’s final Clean Water Act Section 401 rule, we are affirming the authority of states, territories, and Tribes to protect precious water resources while advancing federally permitted projects in a transparent, timely, and predictable way.”

REPUBLICANS MOVE TO PROHIBIT BIDEN ADMIN FROM HURTING LOW-INCOME AMERICANS VIA ENERGY POLICY

States for years had previously used authority under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to reject fossil fuel projects in their jurisdiction. For example, New York rejected permits for a natural gas pipeline in 2018 and, one year later, Oregon rejected certification for a natural gas export facility. 

However, former President Donald Trump issued an energy security and infrastructure executive order in 2019 that ordered the EPA to restrict states’ authority under the Clean Water Act.

HOUSE DEMS CROSS PARTY LINES, DEMAND BIDEN ADMIN EXPAND OIL DRILLING

The EPA then finalized regulations in 2020 rolling back how much states could intervene in federal permitting for activities potentially impacting water sources, a move that was ultimately challenged by Democratic-led states in federal court. The EPA’s regulations this week reverse the Trump administration’s actions.

“EPA’s action will better protect New Mexico’s water quality at a time when federal and state protections are needed most,” Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said after the Biden administration announcement. “New Mexico must do all it can to protect our most precious resource — our water.”

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“As Attorney General, I stood up to efforts to undermine this and now, as Governor, I’m grateful to see it restored,” Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey added. “Massachusetts thanks the U.S. EPA for strengthening the partnership envisioned by the Clean Water Act with today’s rule, helping us fulfill our commitment to protecting waterways across Massachusetts.”

The Environmental Council of States, a nonprofit that works with state environmental agencies to push green policies, also endorsed the EPA’s action.

CONCORD, N.H. – Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is pledging that his state “will not back down” to the Democratic National Committee.

The popular Republican governor taking to social media after the DNC once again kicked the can down the road in its fight with the crucial early voting state of New Hampshire over an effort to dramatically refigure the party’s 2024 presidential nominating calendar.

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee on Thursday voted to grant New Hampshire — which for a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House — a third extension to give the state more time to come into compliance with the national party committee’s new schedule, which moves South Carolina to the top of the nominating order.

The move by the panel came one day after New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan announced that his state’s presidential primary filing period would start on Oct. 11, leading to a contest that will likely be held in late January — ahead of South Carolina — and putting the Granite State on a collision course with the DNC.

The extension unanimously granted by the DNC panel on Thursday would last until Oct. 14.

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“We committed at the outset of this process to allow for every opportunity for states to honor the opportunity of hosting their nominating contests within the early window. We want to recommit to that principle and continue to work with the New Hampshire Democratic Party towards that goal,” Rules and Bylaws Committee co-chair James Roosevelt said.

However, New Hampshire is extremely likely to eventually be found in non-compliance and penalized, with the state all but certain to hold an unsanctioned primary that would probably keep President Biden from putting his name on the ballot.

Sununu, responding to the news in a social media post, reiterated that “New Hampshire will not comply with the arbitrary demands and deadlines coming from @JoeBiden and the @DNC. We will not back down. New Hampshire will be going first whether Joe Biden likes it or not.”

The governor, who seriously mulled a 2024 GOP White House run before ultimately deciding against it in June, has been vocal defender of his state’s cherished presidential primary position, and has long railed against efforts by national Democrats to knock New Hampshire from the top of the order.

“It’s an outrageous request to think that the Democrat National Committee is going to dictate our laws and our process, which has been tried and true,” Sununu told Fox News Digital last December.

The DNC overwhelmingly voted in early February to dramatically alter the top of its presidential nominating calendar for the 2024 election cycle, bumping Iowa and New Hampshire from their longtime leadoff positions.

NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATS DEFY DNC IN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY BATTLE

However, seven months later, there is no resolution with New Hampshire or Iowa, and the national Democratic Party is still working to implement its revamped primary schedule.

The push by the DNC to upend its primary calendar — in order to better reflect Black and Hispanic voters in the early primary contests — has been vigorously opposed in New Hampshire.

“Granite Staters appreciate and respect the responsibility of the over 100-year tradition of the First in the Nation New Hampshire primary. They understand New Hampshire has a special place in the history of American politics and their place in it. We look forward to continuing that tradition here next year, and in the years to come,” longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said earlier this summer.

Democrats for years have knocked both Iowa and New Hampshire as unrepresentative of the party as a whole, for being largely White with few major urban areas. Nevada and South Carolina, which in recent cycles have voted third and fourth on the calendar, are much more diverse than either Iowa or New Hampshire. Nevada and South Carolina were added to the Democratic calendar nearly two decades ago to increase the diversity of the early states electorate.

The DNC overwhelmingly approved a calendar proposed by President Biden to move South Carolina to the lead position, with a Feb. 3, 2024, primary. New Hampshire and Nevada are scheduled to hold primaries three days later, followed by Georgia and Michigan. The president and supporters of the plan have argued that it would empower minority voters, whom Democrats have long relied on but have at times taken for granted.

“This committee put together a calendar proposal that reflects our values and will strengthen our party. This calendar does what is long overdue. It expands the number of voices in the early window. And it elevates diverse communities that are at core of the Democratic Party,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said earlier this year.

However, implementing the calendar has been anything but easy.

THIS STATE OFFICIAL IS POISED TO UPEND BIDEN’S DNC APPROVED PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING CALENDAR

South Carolina Democrats are on board, but Palmetto State Republicans will hold their primary later in February. Nevada Democrats are game, but the Silver State’s GOP — after an unsuccessful legal push to opt out of a Feb. 6 primary — is aiming to hold a Republican presidential caucus two days later. Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State this spring set the state’s primary date for May 12 of next year, rebuffing the DNC.

Iowa, which was left out of the DNC’s early voting states calendar, is still looking for ways to remain the leadoff contest without violating party rules. 

New Hampshire has a nearly half-century-old law that mandates that it hold the first presidential primary, a week ahead of any similar contest.

The DNC earlier this year extended an earlier deadline until Sept. 1 for New Hampshire to come into compliance or face getting booted from the early state window for the 2024 cycle.

To comply, New Hampshire needs to scrap its state law protecting its first-in-the-nation primary status and must expand access to early voting. However, with Republicans in control of New Hampshire’s governor’s office and both houses of the state legislature, state Democrats have repeatedly argued that is a non-starter.

“The DNC’s waiver requirement is unrealistic and unattainable, as the New Hampshire Democratic Party cannot dictate to the Republican governor and state legislative leaders what to do, and because it does not have the power to change the primary date unilaterally,” Buckley has repeatedly emphasized.

And on Thursday he added that “we have done everything in our power to comply with the DNC’s requests with regard to our primary calendar and have every intention of complying with New Hampshire state law from which the primary date is set. We look forward to putting this unnecessary distraction behind us and focusing on electing Granite State Democrats.”

If New Hampshire is eventually ruled non-compliant, the state could lose half of its delegates to next summer’s Democratic presidential nominating convention, under DNC penalties passed last year.

That appears to be the route ahead.

Scanlan announced at a news conference Wednesday that the filing period for presidential candidates to sign up to put their name on the New Hampshire ballot will extend from Oct. 11 to Oct. 27. That is about three weeks earlier than four years ago during the 2020 cycle, when the New Hampshire primary was held on Feb. 11. Scanlan said such a filing period would likely lead to a January primary.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that we’ll be going ahead of South Carolina, which puts us into January,” Scanlan emphasized.

“I’m just assuming we’re going to be in noncompliance with the Democratic National Committee,” Scanlan told Fox News. 

Pointing to a DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, Scanlan emphasized that “we’ll see what comes out of that. But that’s not going to affect what we do in New Hampshire at all.” 

There are plenty of Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire who see the upending of their leadoff positions as sour grapes from Biden, who finished a disappointing fourth in the 2020 Iowa caucuses and fifth in the New Hampshire primary, before a second-place finish in Nevada and a landslide victory in South Carolina propelled him toward the nomination and eventually the White House.

With New Hampshire nearly certain to move up the date of its contest, President Biden will likely stay off the ballot in the Granite State to avoid an unsanctioned primary. With Biden’s two primary challengers — environmental lawyer and high-profile vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and best-selling author and spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson — taking aim at the president and the DNC as they repeatedly campaign in New Hampshire, trouble could be brewing for the president in the Granite State’s primary.

However, Buckley says there is a near consensus among New Hampshire Democrats in writing in Biden’s name on the primary ballot.

“Whether or not Joe Biden puts his name on the ballot, he will win the New Hampshire Primary,” Buckley told Fox News recently. 

Longtime New Hampshire based Democratic strategist Jim Demers, a top Biden supporter, said there’s “a lot of interest out there in doing something.”

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“I think he has done a good job as president and is worthy of being re-elected. That is my primary reasoning for writing Joe Biden’s name in come January if I have to,” Demers told Fox News.

Pointing to Kennedy, who charges he is not getting a fair shake from the DNC as he challenges the president for the Democratic nomination, Demers said, “I also think that the views and positions that Robert Kennedy has taken are so out of touch with the average Democrat that it is concerning to see him on a ballot here, even if the election is non-binding.”

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

Score one for former President Donald Trump over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as the two combatants for 2024 Republican presidential nomination mixed it up in a test of their home turf strength and clout among supporters in the state they both call home.

The Republican Party of Florida’s executive board, under pressure from Trump supporters, voted on Friday evening to nix a provision in its bylaws that required any candidate seeking to be on the March 19 presidential primary ballot to sign a pledge of loyalty to the eventual GOP nominee.

The meeting, held at an Orlando, Florida hotel, was described by sources with knowledge of the gathering as contentious. 

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The pledge was adopted with little fanfare back in May, and DeSantis supporters, including state House Speaker Paul Renner, urged the board members to keep the pledge. 

State Sen. Joe Gruters, a former Florida GOP chairman and a top Trump supporter in the Sunshine State, made the motion to drop the pledge, arguing that rules should not have changed in the first place less than a year before the primary.

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According to reports, Polk County GOP member Ed Shoemaker warned during the meeting that “people will be pissed if we keep Trump off the ballot.”

The vote was not only a show of force for Trump in his adopted home state but is also a sign that DeSantis’ once iron grip over the Florida state party may be slipping.

Neither Trump nor DeSantis attended the meeting, as they were both giving speeches in Washington D.C. at the Family Research Council’s annual Pray, Vote, Stand conference around the same time the vote was taking place.

DeSantis campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement that “anyone who wants to run for president as a Republican should be willing to pledge their support for our eventual nominee.”

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Trump’s campaign did not immediately release a comment regarding the vote.

The pldege in Florida that was nixed is similar to the one the Republican National Committee is mandating GOP presidential candidates sign in order to make the presidential nomination debate state. Trump refused to sign the RNC’s pledge, skipped the first debate, and is likely to not attend the second one as well.

Trump, who’s making his third straight White House run, remains the commanding front-runner over DeSantis and the rest of the large field of contenders seeking to be the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.

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

The Texas Senate has acquitted state Attorney General Ken Paxton of all impeachment articles filed against him for corruption and unfitness for office. 

Though there is bipartisan support for impeachment, votes to convict on each charge did not clear the 21-vote threshold. Republican Sens. Robert Nichols and Kelly Hancock joined all 12 Democrats to vote in favor of conviction on several charges. 

The Texas Senate convened at 10:30 a.m. central time Saturday to vote and finished just before 1 p.m. 

“Today, the truth prevailed. The truth could not be buried by mudslinging politicians or their powerful benefactors,” Paxton said in a statement thanking his supporters after the verdict was delivered. 

TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, ARGUES ‘ESTABLISHMENT RINOS’ WANT TO ‘UNDO’ ELECTION

“The sham impeachment coordinated by the Biden Administration with liberal House Speaker Dade Phelan and his kangaroo court has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, disrupted the work of the Office of Attorney General and left a dark and permanent stain on the Texas House,” Paxton said, calling the “weaponization” of impeachment “immoral and corrupt.” 

“Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume. Thank you to everyone who has stood with us during this time,” he added. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott congratulated Paxton after the trial concluded. 

“The jury has spoken. Attorney General Ken Paxton received a fair trial as required by the Texas Constitution. I look forward to continuing to work with the Attorney General to secure the border and protect Texas from federal overreach,” Abbott said. 

EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR DETAILS SURFACE IN HISTORIC IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON

The jury of 30 senators, most of whom are Republicans, spent about eight hours deliberating behind closed doors since the Senate ended deliberations. A two-thirds majority was required to convict Paxton on any of 16 articles of impeachment that accuse Paxton of bribery, corruption and unfitness for office.

The vote was a slow, public process. Each article of impeachment received a separate vote. Republicans hold a 19-12 majority in the Senate, meaning that if all Democrats voted to convict Paxton, they needed nine Republicans to join them. At most, they got two. 

Paxton faced accusations that he misused his political power to help the real estate developer Nate Paul. Paxton’s opponents have argued that the attorney general accepted a bribe by hiring Paul.

“If we don’t keep public officials from abusing the powers of their office, then frankly no one can,” Republican state Rep. Andrew Murr, one of the impeachment managers in the Texas House, said during closing arguments. 

ALLEGED MISTRESS OF TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON DEEMED ‘UNAVAILABLE’ TO TAKE STAND AT HIS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

Attorneys for the bipartisan group of lawmakers prosecuting Paxton’s impeachment rested their case Wednesday after a woman who was expected to testify about an extramarital affair with Paxton made a sudden appearance at the trial, but she never took the stand.

The affair was central to the proceedings and accusations of Paul, who was under FBI investigation and employed the woman, Laura Olson. One of the articles of impeachment against Paxton alleged that Paul’s hiring of Olson amounted to a bribe.

Paxton’s lawyers have cast the impeachment effort as a ploy by establishment Republicans to remove a proven conservative from office, pointing to Paxton’s long record of challenging Democratic presidential administrations in high profile court cases that have won him acclaim from former President Donald Trump and conservative hardliners. 

“I would suggest to you this is a political witch hunt,” Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee said. “I would suggest to you that this trial has displayed, for the country to see, a partisan fight within the Republican Party.”

Paxton was also previously indicted in June for allegedly making false statements to banks. 

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Paxton, who was suspended from office pending the trial’s outcome, was not required to attend the proceedings and appeared only once in the Senate, durinc closing arguments, since testimony began last week. His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, sat across the room from him. She was required to be present for the whole trial but was prohibited from participating in debate or voting on the outcome of her husband’s trial. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

DES MOINES, Iowa – With just four months to go until the Iowa caucuses, nearly the entire field of Republican White House contenders is back this weekend in the state that leads off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

The presidential candidates are speaking Saturday evening at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet, as they each make their case to a large and influential crowd of social conservative leaders, activists, and Evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State Republican politics.

“Labor Day is over. Kids are back in school and people are starting to really tune in,” longtime Iowa based Republican strategist and communicator Jimmy Centers said.

Pointing to last month’s Iowa State Fair, where all but one contender in the large field of Republican presidential candidates courted voters, Centers noted that “the state fair was when people started to wake up and realized that the caucus was coming. 

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Veteran Iowa Republican operative and consultant Nicole Schlinger highlighted that “once Labor Day has passed, school has started and the weather starts to turn, that’s when peoples’ minds start turning to elections and people get more serious about vetting the candidates in terms of making a decision.” 

With the clock quickly ticking towards the start of the 2024 Republican primary and caucus calendar, former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner for his party’s nomination, as he makes his third straight White House run. 

TRUMP – DESANTIS SHOWDOWN AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR 

And his historic four criminal indictments — including two for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden — appear to have only strengthened his support among likely Republican primary voters.

The latest Fox News national survey in the GOP nomination race, conducted Sept. 9-12 and released on Thursday, pointed to Trump expanding his already enormous lead over the rest of the field.

But while still towering over his rivals, Trump’s lead in the latest surveys in Iowa, as well as New Hampshire and South Carolina, two other crucial early voting states in the Republican nominating calendar, is not as overwhelming.

IT’S TRUMP’S RACE TO LOSE FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS AHEAD OF THE FIRST VOTES IN THE GOP NOMINATION BATTLE

“It’s closer in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that it is nationally, but it’s not close,” said David Kochel, a longtime Republican consultant and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns in Iowa and nationally.

“These things do break late. There’s a lot of stuff we haven’t seen or heard yet. Whether it’s Trump’s trials, which I don’t think are going to move any numbers against him. Whether it’s future debates. Whether it’s something we can’t foresee now,” Kochel noted. “The door’s still open but it’s not as wide open as it was.”

Centers, a presidential campaign veteran in Iowa who also served as communications director to then-Gov. Terry Brandstad and current Gov. Kim Reynolds, noted that “Trump’s numbers aren’t budging.”

MEET THE GOP GOVERNOR THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES – OTHER THAN TRUMP – ARE PRAISING

“At some point the rest of the field has to make a stronger and more compelling argument as they why them. Why are we changing horses from the former president. He’s been indicted four times, but he’s only getting stronger,” Centers stressed. “They have to speak more directly to that point and start doing it soon.”

Pointing to evangelical voters in Iowa, Kochel noted that they tend “to move as a group… and they move late.”

Trump is one of the handful of GOP presidential candidates who won’t be attending Saturday’s Faith and Freedom Coalition cattle call, although the former president returns to Iowa next week.

Schlinger, who’s well-connected to the social conservative community, said that Trump’s “track record on issues concerning life is extremely good,” and that “it’s not surprising that there hasn’t been much change” when it comes to his large double-digit lead in the Iowa polls.

But she added “I think there’s a path open for another candidate or two to perform well and exceed expectations in Iowa… The door’s open but someone needs to walk through it and that hasn’t happened yet.”

But the strategists all stressed that now’s the time for Trump’s rivals to make a move.

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“This is where the rubber meets the road. We’re past Labor Day. We’re into debate season,” Kochel highlighted. “If you’re not firing on all cylinders now, and you don’t have the money to see your way through New Hampshire, it’s best to step aside and get out of this thing, so we can really determine who might be able to take Trump on one-on-one.”

And Centers noted that “this is not a primary. It takes organization. Campaigns need to be holding events, using those events to build an organization, and then follow up with those folks that they’ve recruited, either through door knocking, through phone banking, to build out a robust organization.”

“It doesn’t build itself. If you’re not starting it now, it’s too late,” he stressed.

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

A member of the House Appropriations Committee says that the chamber’s Department of Homeland Security appropriation bill is centering around border security — particularly restarting border wall construction — to combat the ongoing crisis at the southern border, as well as cutting spending and getting rid of “woke” funding sources.

“We said we’d do two things: We’d curb the spending, and we would remove the woke,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital in an interview this week.

The appropriations bill for DHS includes a slew of Republican priorities when it comes to the border, including increasing funding for wall construction along the southern border by over $2 billion, and would force the agency to allocate the funding to build it within 120 days. It is expected to move forward next week.

BIDEN’S REPORTED ‘REMAIN-IN-TEXAS’ MIGRANT POLICY COMES UNDER FIRE AS REPUBLICANS TAKE ACTION

The Trump-era wall project was scrapped by the Biden administration, although some construction is still ongoing due to language in appropriations bills approved during the Trump administration. Zinke made clear that it remains a top priority for Republicans in this legislation.

“People ask me, ‘What does a bill look like?’ I say, ‘Well, primarily it looks about 32 feet tall and about 600 miles long. That’s what it looks like.'”

It would also provide funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents and fund border security technology with $228 million.

“You have more money directed to the men who man the wall. That’s our Border Patrol professionals, because, you know, they’re having a hard time recruiting and those type of things, so it puts more money on actually the people that man the wall and then increases the technology around the wall,” he said.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS MOVE TO USE DHS FUNDING BILL TO RAMP UP IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT, HIT SANCTUARY CITIES

That would include Autonomous Surveillance Towers and Tactical Aerostats — the administration grounded those aerostats last year. Separately, it would fund ICE to the tune of nearly $10 billion.

He also pointed to language that would prevent funding for “gender-affirming care” for illegal immigrants in detention and for diversity, equality and inclusion programs and add restrictions on programs that include critical race theory.

The bill will be open to amendments, of which a number of Republicans have proposed a number of hard-hitting amendments — including reducing Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary and defunding “sanctuary” cities. Zinke said he expects the bill to remain roughly the same after the amendment process.

MASS MIGRANT RELEASES BEGIN IN SAN DIEGO AS BORDER OVERWHELMED: ‘YOU’RE FREE’ 

“There might be a few additions, subtractions back and forth, but I think the core and the thrust of the bill will remain the same,” he said. “I think it’s a good bill. And if you’re a conservative, you know, I think you want to curb the spending and remove the woke. And all these appropriation bills do just that.”

Zinke does not expect the Democratic-controlled Senate to think much of the bill that would eventually emerge from the lower chamber. He was blunt in his assessment of the upper chamber. 

“Looking at what the Senate passed, I don’t think the Senate is going to like our bill at all . . . the Senate in many ways, I think, is too old and too fat on pork to change.“

The bill comes amid a looming shutdown threat if the government is not funded past September 30. Lawmakers have until then to fund the government or pass a short-term stopgap continuing resolution. Zinke says it is up to the House to do its job in passing its appropriations bills, and then it’s in the hands of the Senate.

“We need to get two or three or four appropriations done, and that’s enough just to begin the reconciliation process to get the bills in shape where they become law. But if the Senate doesn’t take them up, the shutdown is going to be squarely on their lap, because we’ll do our job.”

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He also emphasized the importance of the appropriations process over tools like continuing resolutions.

“These firewalls we’ve built over time, continuing resolutions and mandatory and discretionary, all these clever terms, I think have drawn us away from our primary duty of appropriations, and they are conveniences that allowed Congress to punt all these years,” he said. 

“And now we’re going down to the one-inch line. I don’t think we can punt anymore. We’ve got to take the hard call.”

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – When it comes to the combustible issue of abortion, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley appears to be on a mission.

“We are not going to demonize this issue anymore. We’re going to humanize it because it’s too personal of an issue,” the former ambassador and former two-term South Carolina governor said Saturday in a Fox News Digital interview minutes before she headlined a town hall in the suburbs of Iowa’s capitol city.

That line echoes Haley’s statements on the issue from last month.

“We need to stop demonizing this issue,” Haley said in August at the first Republican debate, a Fox News hosted showdown last month in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “It’s personal for every woman and man.”

WITH FOUR MONTHS UNTIL THE FIRST VOTES, THE 2024 GOP BATTLE HEATS UP IN THE FIRST CAUCUS STATE

The blockbuster move last year by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to overturn the landmark nearly half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling, which had allowed for legalized abortions nationwide, moved the divisive issue back to the states.

And it’s forced Republicans to play plenty of defense in elections across the country, as a party that’s nearly entirely “pro-life” has had to deal with an electorate where a majority of Americans support at least some form of abortion access.

Haley, as she faces off against a dozen rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is pushing a message that she hope will resonate both with the GOP’s anti-abortion base as well as moderate Republicans and swing voters who support some degree of legalized abortion.

HALEY SAYS HER 2024 MOMENTUM COMES DOWN TO THIS

She’s also been critical — as witnessed in the first debate — of some of her rivals who are heavily advocating for a 15-week federal abortion ban.

“Our goal is to save as many babies as we can. Support as many moms as we can. That’s the goal. So in order to do that, we have to have 60 Senate votes. Let’s see where that is but we only have 45 pro-life senators,” Haley said on Saturday. 

“So let’s focus on what we do agree on,” she said. “Let’s ban late-term abortions. Let’s encourage adoptions. Let’s make sure contraceptives accessible. Let’s make sure that nurses and doctors who don’t believe abortion don’t have to perform them. And let’s make sure no state law requires a women to go to jail or get the death penalty for abortion. We’re talking about hard truths and women around the country agree with me.”

Haley was interviewed at Jethro’s BBQ, a popular eatery with multiple locations in Iowa, the state whose caucuses kick off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

And she spoke hours before she and most of the rest of the field of Republican presidential candidates attend the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet, as the contenders each make their case to a large and influential crowd of social conservative leaders, activists, and Evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State Republican politics.

HOW THIS ONE-TIME BATTLEGROUND STATE IN THE HEARTLAND TURNED BRIGHT RED

Nicole Schlinger, a longtime Republican strategist in Iowa who’s well-connected to the social conservative community, said that former President Donald Trump’s “track record on issues concerning life is extremely good,” and that “it’s not surprising that there hasn’t been much change” when it comes to his large double-digit lead in the Iowa polls.

Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the latest polls in Iowa, the other early voting states, and especially in national surveys, as he runs a third striaght time for the White House.

But Schlinger added “I think there’s a path open for another candidate or two to perform well and exceed expectations in Iowa… The door’s open but someone needs to walk through it and that hasn’t happened yet.”

Pointing to Haley, she said “I think she has a great story to tell but she needs to clarify more what she said on that debate stage” regarding abortion.

Haley has enjoyed plenty of polling and fundraising momentum since her well-regarded performance in the first Republican presidential primary debate.

And in her first trip back to Iowa sine the debate showdown, she drew healthy crowds Friday at a couple of agriculture-themed events in eastern Iowa and a large crowd Saturday morning to her town hall in suburban Des Moines.

“We’ve seen hundreds of people come out. We love it. Iowa’s ready. They’re paying attention,” Haley spotlighted. “Momentum from the debate but they also like what we have to say and I’ve said for a long time – we have a country to save and I’m determined to do it and it all starts here in Iowa.”

Haley emphasized that “people are excited. They want something different. They want a new generational leader. They want to leave the chaos of the past and they want go forward and they’re tired of the fact that they just don’t feel like anyone’s listening. What we tell them is not only do we hear you, but we’re ready to get to work for you and I think that’s what the people of Iowa and that what the people around the country want.”

It’s expected for Haley to tout her momentum. But two well known GOP strategist in Iowa who are neutral in the 2024 nomination battle are also pointing to her upward trajectory.

“I think Ambassador Haley did herself a lot of favor. I think she’s in a really good spot,” longtime Iowa based Republican strategist and communicator Jimmy Centers said, as he pointed towards the first debate.

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And David Kochel, a longtime Republican consultant and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns in Iowa and nationally, said that “Nikki got the best bounce out of the debate. I’ve seen it in our internal data.”

“Maybe she’s in a dead heat with [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis,” Kochel said, before adding that “it’s still 25 points behind Trump.”

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