NationalWatch

As wars spread, trade tensions escalate and inflation remains stubbornly high, governments around the world are quietly buying more gold, a sign many are preparing for a future they believe will be more uncertain.

A new World Gold Council survey found that 89% of central banks expect global gold reserves to grow over the next year, while a record 45% plan to add to their own holdings. Central banks are the institutions that manage a country’s money and financial reserves.

For everyday Americans worried about rising prices, growing government debt and what comes next for the economy, the trend is worth paying attention to.

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Some experts say central banks buying more gold is a sign they expect today’s economic and geopolitical uncertainty to stick around.

That’s because gold has long been considered a safe place to put money during wars, market turmoil and periods of high inflation because it isn’t tied to the economy or policies of any one country.

Why governments are buying gold

For decades, central banks have invested heavily in U.S. Treasurys — government debt backed by the U.S. and considered among the world’s safest investments.

But Cavatoni said many countries are now adding gold because they want another layer of protection against inflation, global instability and economic turmoil.

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“They’re looking at diversifying,” Cavatoni said. “And gold fills that need because it provides liquidity, diversification and protection against inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.”

The World Gold Council survey backs that up.

About 90% of central banks said gold’s performance during times of crisis is one of the main reasons they hold it. Another 84% cited its role as a long-term store of value and inflation hedge, while 83% said it helps diversify their reserves.

Those reasons have fueled a global buying spree.

Who’s buying?

While China has received much of the attention, it isn’t alone. Central banks around the world have been steadily increasing their gold reserves.

According to Cavatoni, Poland, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, Chile, Jordan and Ghana have also been among this year’s biggest buyers.

While the United States still owns more gold than any other country, much of today’s buying is coming from developing economies looking to rely less on foreign currencies they don’t control.

“The U.S. has no natural need to continue to accumulate more reserves in the form of gold,” Cavatoni said.

The survey also found that nearly three-quarters, or about 74%, of central banks expect the U.S. dollar’s share of global reserves to be lower five years from now, while they expect gold’s share to increase.

What does this mean for everyday people?

The same concerns driving governments to buy gold are also attracting individual investors.

One trend that surprised Cavatoni is that even with gold trading near record highs, people aren’t rushing to sell.

“It tells me a couple of key things,” Cavatoni said. “People are less likely to let go of their gold.”

For everyday investors, the trend doesn’t necessarily mean they should rush out and buy gold. But it does offer a window into how some of the world’s largest financial institutions are preparing for uncertainty, with central banks placing greater value on diversification and protection against economic and geopolitical risks.

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And individual investors appear to be showing a similar mindset.

Instead of cashing in, both investors and many central banks are holding on to or building their gold positions, a sign that they see gold less as a short-term investment and more as long-term financial insurance in an increasingly unpredictable world.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., revealed that she is freezing her eggs, opening up about the deeply personal decision in a series of Instagram Story videos while saying the procedure will give her more control over her future and using the announcement to criticize the Trump administration’s policies on women’s reproductive health.

The progressive “Squad” member posted the videos Saturday, explaining that she had spent years considering the procedure and saving for it before deciding to undergo fertility preservation.

Ocasio-Cortez said she wanted to be open about the process because women are often not taught enough about their reproductive health or family-planning options.

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“I have made the decision to start freezing my eggs,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“I was weighing it for a very long time, and I think that I was saving for it for a very long time.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who was first elected to Congress at 28, said serving in office at a young age meant navigating major life decisions publicly in a way many people do not.

“When you get elected young, you have to grow up in the public eye in a time that most people usually get to grow more privately,” she said.

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The New York Democrat said she hoped sharing the experience would help normalize conversations about fertility, pregnancy, menopause, perimenopause, PCOS and other aspects of women’s health that she believes are too often overlooked.

“As women in general, we are not taught about our bodies,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referencing puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause and conditions including PCOS.

“I think we need to show more depictions of women having full lives in every context and every choice,” she added.

Ocasio-Cortez framed the move as an effort to take more control over her future.

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“This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life,” she said. “If people want to make assumptions about my decision, let them make those assumptions. I feel empowered to make this choice.”

She acknowledged that being able to undergo the procedure was a privilege and said advances in technology had helped make egg freezing more financially accessible.

Ocasio-Cortez then pivoted to politics, saying she was aware there could be a “political tax” associated with disclosing such a personal decision and arguing that female politicians face scrutiny around marriage, pregnancy and family planning that male politicians often do not.

She also blamed the Trump administration for what she described as an increasingly hostile environment for women’s reproductive choices.

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“In the political context that we’re in, in an administration that is dedicated to politicizing women’s bodies and taking our choices away from us and punishing us around decisions to be pregnant or not be pregnant,” she said.

“Frankly, this administration has made pregnancy more dangerous than probably at any point in the last 30-plus years,” Ocasio-Cortez added.

“We’re going to take our power back,” she said. “And we have to talk about it.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks.

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The announcement quickly drew criticism from some conservatives on social media, including Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, who argued that Ocasio-Cortez’s decision reflected what he described as a broader progressive message prioritizing careers over starting families.

“This is the message progressives spread when it comes to family formation, and one of the reasons why fertility rates are cratering,” Kolvet wrote on X.

“Just freeze your eggs, kids! Pursue that career, even if you’ve been engaged for 4 years to a man you’ve known since college,” he continued.

“AOC turns 37 in a few weeks so if she got pregnant tomorrow it would already be a geriatric pregnancy. This is not female ‘liberation,’ it’s a cautionary tale.”

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Ocasio-Cortez has been engaged to longtime partner Riley Roberts since May 2022.

Her egg-freezing announcement comes roughly seven years after the New York Democrat famously warned in 2019 that “the world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change,” leaving about five years remaining under that timeline.

Ocasio-Cortez said she plans to take viewers through parts of the egg-freezing process, including the hormone injections required ahead of egg retrieval.

She said she had already filmed herself unboxing her medications and administering her first shot.

The congresswoman said she would even give herself one of the injections in the green room before appearing on an ABC morning show.

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“I’m gonna take my shot in the green room before my interview,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Because women can do anything.”

“I think it’s bad— that I’m gonna be, you know, giving myself shots in the green room, get my glam on, roll out, talk about international events, domestic policy, elections, pop out, live my life, do my thing.”

President Donald Trump escalated his criticism Sunday over the dismissed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case, pointing to a National Park Service employee’s account that former Olympian David Hearn “violently” ripped and tugged at the pool’s coating before authorities arrived.

Trump shared a screenshot from court documents on Truth Social that detailed interviews with two National Park Service employees who were cleaning the interior of the Reflecting Pool when Hearn approached the area.

According to the document, one employee, identified as W-1, said Hearn initially used his cellphone to take what the employee believed were photos or video of damage to the pool.

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The employee then alleged Hearn “knelt, placed both hands into the reflecting pool, below the surface of the water, and started to ‘violently’ rip and tug at a large portion of the blue pool coating,” according to the document Trump posted.

The filing further states that W-1 asked a second NPS employee to contact police and told Hearn not to touch or pull at the coating. Hearn allegedly responded that NPS personnel were “awfully sensitive about the pool” and continued tugging at the coating until National Guard soldiers arrived.

Trump pointed to the witness account Sunday as he continued pressing his case after federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the felony charge against Hearn earlier this month.

“ALERT: A National Park Service career employee, a highly credible witness, saw David Hearn (ActBlue) in broad daylight vandalize the Reflecting Pool by ‘violently’ ripping and tugging at the Pool’s somewhat delicate coating,” Trump wrote.

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The president said the employee provided the account to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in early July and argued that the statement bolstered his claim that at least some of the damage was caused deliberately.

Trump also alleged that other incidents occurred around the Reflecting Pool, including the use of an “acid like material” on newly installed grass beside the pool, where “86 47” was allegedly written.

“There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself,” Trump wrote.

Trump acknowledged in the same post that contractors were responsible for a portion of the problems at the pool, saying there was “some contractor error” as crews rushed to finish the renovation ahead of July 4, but he described that damage as limited.

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“We are working on the Pool, and it will reopen shortly,” Trump said, adding that security cameras have been and are being installed.

The latest post comes days after Trump urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to revisit the case after prosecutors dropped the charge against Hearn.

Hearn was indicted July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property after U.S. Park Police alleged he grabbed and pulled at a loose portion of the pool coating on June 19 and continued after being told to stop by a National Park Service employee. Officials initially alleged the damage exceeded $1,000.

Pirro’s office later said prosecutors had received only “barebones” reports from the Department of the Interior before seeking the indictment and were not initially given records documenting broader problems with the pool coating’s installation.

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Prosecutors said documents produced after the indictment showed that some of the Reflecting Pool damage was tied to flawed installation by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings and a push to finish the project before events surrounding the America 250 celebration.

“Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” prosecutors wrote in seeking dismissal.

The government said the newly disclosed evidence made it difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn caused the damage alleged in the indictment. Prosecutors asked for the case to be dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that charges could be brought again.

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Trump has repeatedly challenged Pirro’s decision, saying last week that he “disagree[d] 100%” with the U.S. attorney and later accusing her of having “choked” under pressure in the case.

Hearn’s attorneys, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin, previously said the case “should never have been brought” and accused the administration of wrongly arresting and charging a man they said “did nothing wrong.”

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Trump, however, argued Sunday that the witness account shows the Reflecting Pool damage wasn’t caused by faulty construction alone, pointing to the government’s own court filing to support his claim.

Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

Certain migrant communities are helping to drive widespread fraud that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News Digital.

In an interview in his office in the West Wing of the White House last week, Vance discussed his work leading the fraud task force under President Trump. Vance said his team has found a clear pattern of collaboration involving migrant communities.

“You definitely see patterns where certain communities,” Vance said. “It’ll start as maybe one Somali person takes advantage of the system, or realizes you don’t even have to have children to get money from these programs. You could just claim that you have children, there’s no verification. Then, word spreads like wildfire, and that program gets tapped into by the same members of that community.”

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Vance, who is also leading ongoing negotiations with Iran and recently welcomed a new addition to his family, has a robust portfolio. He was tapped to tackle fraud after the issue exploded in Minneapolis earlier this year and is now working with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and other agencies.

In recent months, hundreds of hospice and home health agencies suspected of fraud in Minnesota and California have had federal payments suspended, and a number of other states are also under the watch of the task force. Vance said the fraud his team has uncovered has many victims.

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“The first and the most obvious victim is the American taxpayer,” Vance said. “You give your money to the federal government, and you expect the federal government, even if you disagree with the policy behind it, you expect that money to go to the people that it’s supposed to go to.”

“When a new mom goes to apply for help for herself and her baby, the money isn’t there anymore,” said Vance, whose office is adorned with artwork by his kids, a rosary, a photo of him and Usha kissing on Mount Rushmore and a glass replica of a diet Mountain Dew can.

“Or, you have autistic kids who benefit from services that are meant to go to the families of children with autism, and you have fraudsters who get rich off these programs,” he added. “Sometimes they don’t even have children, much less autistic children enrolled.”

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Vance revealed that roughly $230 billion in fraud has been uncovered since Trump took office and that $55 billion in federal payments to suspected fraudsters has been halted.

Last week, federal and state law enforcement charged 19 defendants accused of participating in schemes involving more than $4 million in claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Department of Justice.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday also announced a plea agreement involving the final defendant in a previously charged 21-defendant case tied to more than $1.7 million in claims in the Keystone State.

Prosecuting fraudsters is one thing, but Vance said that recouping the money presents yet another challenge, since much of it has already been spent.

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

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

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

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

While the duties of a vice president vary from one administration to another, Trump has leaned heavily on his No. 2. Vance has traveled abroad twice to meet directly with Iranian leaders and regularly provides updates on the negotiations to the press. That role came after Trump appointed Vance as the head of the White House’s anti-fraud task force in May, dubbing him the “Fraud Czar.”

Despite his array of assignments, Vance, who recently turned 42, and his wife, first lady Usha Vance, had their fourth child last month, making him the first sitting vice president to have a child in more than 150 years.

“Kids have a way of forcing you to focus on them, even when things are crazy at work,” Vance said. “[I was] with my six-year-old this morning, who was making like zoo animal noises, and I was like, ‘Buddy, what are you doing?’ And he said, ‘I just want you to get off the stupid phone.’ And I said, ‘Alright, this can wait.'”

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Whether in his current role or possibly as Trump’s would-be successor, Vance believes his family values make him better at his job.

“Kids are so, they’re so in their own little world that they sort of force you to go into their world, and that’s a very, very good thing,” he said. “It’s good for my psychology. I think it’s good for my soul, but it’s a very good thing. The job obviously has its demands and the schedule can get kind of crazy.”

Vance, who at 44 would be just a year older in 2028 than John F. Kennedy was when he was elected president, has always demurred when asked about running for president. But although Trump recently told reporters it is “way too early” for him to endorse a successor, he has sent mixed signals.

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“At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors last month, a source with knowledge of the comments confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday. The Washington Post was the first to report the president’s comments.

The deadline for Ohio Republicans to replace Rep. Max Miller on the November ballot has now passed, effectively locking in the embattled congressman as the GOP nominee in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District.

Miller, who has resisted calls to end his re-election campaign, would have needed to withdraw by Saturday evening to give Republican officials enough time to select a replacement and complete the steps needed to meet Monday’s 4 p.m. certification deadline under Ohio election rules.

Instead, Miller is staying in the race despite mounting pressure from fellow Republicans to step aside over domestic-abuse allegations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno.

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As Fox News Digital previously reported, the controversy escalated last week when Sen. Moreno publicly called on his former son-in-law to resign from Congress, bringing a years-long family dispute and contentious divorce into the national political spotlight.

Moreno had previously avoided publicly weighing in on the dispute, but broke his silence after Miller posted a livestream denying allegations of domestic and child abuse. Moreno accused Miller of increasingly “erratic and dangerous behavior” and said he should not serve in the House of Representatives.

Miller has denied the allegations, saying no court or agency has substantiated claims that he committed abuse and that he has never been criminally charged in connection with the dispute. He has also sued his ex-wife for defamation.

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With the withdrawal window now closed, Republicans have no apparent path to replace Miller on the ballot through a voluntary withdrawal.

The controversy comes as Republicans fight to protect their narrow House majority. Miller represents a district that has generally favored the GOP, with President Donald Trump carrying it by roughly 11 points in 2024.

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Miller is now poised to face Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker, in November, giving Democrats an opportunity to compete for a Republican-leaning seat that otherwise would have been expected to remain in GOP hands.

WARREN, MIch. – Fresh off her Republican primary win, veteran meteorologist and Congressional candidate Terri DeBoer told Fox News Digital she is ready to flip the state’s Third Congressional District back over to the GOP.

“The one thing that we’re really hearing over and over again is people are ready for a change,” DeBoer said of her bid to unseat incumbent Dem. Rep. Hillary Scholten. “They are ready to be represented by someone who shares the same common sense West Michigan values as they do, and I’m the best candidate to fill the bill.”

DeBoer, a 61-year-old mother of three who worked for several television stations in western Michigan over a 30-year career, is looking to shake up a district that was held by Republicans for decades before Scholten seized it in 2022.

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DeBoer said the Democratic Party has lost its way and is aligning with candidates who undermine what “makes America so great.”

Looking beyond her own race, DeBoer pushed back when asked whether Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate primary victory signals growing support for a progressive agenda within the Democratic Party.

“What I hear when I knock on doors, when I walk down the street, when I’m at the grocery store, people say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for being willing to step forward in a common sense way to represent our values, because quite simply, the other side is no longer representing the values of West Michigan,’” she said.

El-Sayed, a far-left progressive, narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., in one of the nation’s most closely watched Democratic primaries last week.

“I believe that when people truly understand what is at stake here, the very future of America and the freedoms that we have enjoyed, that I think the choice is very clear,” she said.
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DeBoer added there is a disconnect between Scholten’s “moderate” image on the campaign trail and her voting record in Congress.

“I believe the biggest point of contrast, quite frankly, is that for the last few campaign cycles she has campaigned as though she’s a very moderate individual, and yet her voting record in Congress is in stark contrast to that,” she said.

Scholten’s vote against the SAVE America Act and her support for “boys in girls’ locker rooms, boys in our girls’ sports” are examples of this contrast, according to DeBoer. Scholten voted against a bill that would ban transgender women and girls from competing on female school sports teams in January 2025, according to U.S. House voting records,

But DeBoer, who previously told Fox News Digital she considers herself an outsider in this race, said her positions are more closely aligned with voters and that she would bring “common-sense values” to Washington if elected.

Turning to the issues driving the race, DeBoer said affordability is the most pressing concern as the costs of groceries, energy, housing and healthcare rise. Her campaign website also lists securing the border, expanding healthcare choice, supporting reliable energy and reducing regulations on small businesses among her priorities.

“People are working harder than ever before and feeling like they’re falling behind everything,” she said.

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To address the higher costs, DeBoer called for cutting “reckless” federal spending and eliminating government waste, fraud and abuse “that robs all of us of the economic freedom that we have in America.”

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“We really need to make America affordable again,” she said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Scholten’s campaign for comment.

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico needs to flip some Republican voters this November to win in the largest red state in the U.S., but his opponents are calling out claims of Republicans backing him as inauthentic, if not fraudulent.

“Any chance that Talarico has building any type of Republican coalition is a pipe dream for him,” Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Nobody is going to follow him. He’s completely out of touch with Texans.”

Gruters’ rebuke came after women voters interviewed on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” claimed to be Republican crossover supporters, only to have longstanding ties to Democrats and anti-President Donald Trump groups – not exactly people that would be voting for Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton in one of the Senate’s biggest ticket races in the battle for the majority.

“The people that he had come out and say that they were on his team have been proven to be basically Democrat, liberal activists that have been supporting Democrat candidates for 10-plus years,” Gruters continued.

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“I just don’t believe it,” Gruters said. “This is Kamala Harris‘ ‘White Dudes for Kamala.’ It just doesn’t exist. It’s a wannabe or an attempt at them to try to build some crossover support.”

Talarico has emphasized building a broad coalition in his campaign, which says it intends to “go everywhere and talk to everyone” ahead of the November election.

But Republicans have seized on the political histories of some of Talarico’s backers as evidence the outreach is less bipartisan than advertised.

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One of women presented as a Republican mother supporting Talarico has identified in subsequent reporting as Mindy McClure. She has Federal Election Commission filings associated with her showing repeated ActBlue contributions benefiting Democratic candidates and political groups dating back to 2018, including Kamala Harris and The Lincoln Project – an anti-Trump political activist group.

“When you have policies like mutilating children, saying that God has six different genders and is non-binary and all this other stuff, you can’t expect that Republicans are going to hop on and think that they’re going to be a on board to this liberal clown show that he’s operating down there in Texas,” Gruters said.

The primary-voting history of another woman featured in the campaign’s outreach was exposed by a record showing more participation in Democratic than Republican primaries.

When reached for comment Sunday, the Talarico campaign said the women have no official ties to the campaign, but the spokesperson pointed to the MSNBC interview, noting they had previously voted for Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott – one of which vowed to never do again.

Talarico has also showcased the support of former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a longtime Republican who endorsed the Democrat at a recent campaign event.

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Whitley ran as a Republican judge, but his recent endorsements are on the left. The former county judge endorsed Democrat Mike Collier against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in 2022 before backing Harris for president and Democrat Colin Allred for U.S. Senate in 2024. All those Democrats lost to Republicans, as did Beto O’Rourke to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by less than 3 points in 2018.

That history has given Republicans an opening to argue that Talarico is largely attracting voters who had already broken with GOP nominees before the current Senate contest.

“He’s not Beto: Beto was actually a decent candidate, as liberal as he was,” Gruters said, delivering his oft-used moniker to Talarico for his “freakish” policy positions in a campaign for Senate in the deeply conservative state. “This guy makes Beto look like a conservative.

“Tala-freako has no chance, because people aren’t buying into the stuff that he’s peddling.”

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Texas is famously a state that Trump says votes on “God, guns and oil,” so the RNC chair says those not on board with Trump or those staples are “not the right candidate for Texas” and “not the right candidates for the U.S. Senate” in the state.

“We don’t need a weak members,” Gruters said. “We need a strong MAGA warriors. And that’s exactly what Ken Paxton will provide is he will bring: Strength to the U.S. Senate on behalf of Texas and will represent them well.”

Paxton survived a potential Texas state impeachment effort just about three years ago. Two of those Republican Texas State House impeachment managers that voted to impeach Paxton in an attempt that died in the state Senate are now campaigning for Paxton.

Republican State Rep. Jeff Leach introduced Paxton at an Allen, Texas, campaign rally last week, and state Rep. Briscoe Cain introduced Paxton at a Houston rally. Both are backing Paxton over Talarico.

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There had been some concern Paxton – endorsed by Trump – was not an ideal GOP nominee, having ousted sitting Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who was a four-term senator and won by nearly double digits in 2020. Cornyn was “a great U.S. senator for a long time,” Gruters admitted, stopping short of saying whether Cornyn will stump for Paxton like those impeachment managers that have come home for him.

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

“I think he is raising money right now for all the Republicans in the Senate, still hosting events, and so I don’t know personally if he’s come out and endorsed Ken Paxton yet, but I’m sure that he is still on board with making sure that we have the MAGA warriors in place to support the president’s agenda moving forward,” Gruters said.

The Trump endorsement is not undefeated in marquee Senate races, as Herschel Walker (Georgia) and Dr. Mehmet Oz (Pennsylvania) lost in 2022 despite Trump’s backing, but those key losses were by non-politicians that do not have Paxton’s state-wide campaign infrastructure.

“You got to remember Ken Paxton won this state a couple of times in the general,” Gruters added. “He won a primary against a strong incumbent [Cornyn] that’s been there for a long time by a couple hundred thousand votes.”

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Paxton told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday that he has “outraised every Republican in the country,” but he urged the Senate Leadership Fund – which has long-running ties to Senate incumbents like Cornyn – now-conservative billionaire Elon Musk and Trump’s $800 million MAGA Inc. coffers need to help him keep the Senate seat.

“I’m trying to raise money during the summer in Texas, which is challenging, so we’re hoping the Senate Leadership Fund, Elon Musk, President Trump come in now because we’re trying to accumulate,” Paxton told host Maria Bartiromo. “We’re raising money for October right now and September, not now.

“We don’t have the money for now. So that’s allowed [Talarico] to just keep advertising that he’s a moderate Democrat when he’s in reality a socialist.”

Despite long-running Democrat hopes and tens of millions of campaign spending to flip Cruz’s seat, Gruters predicted this Paxton-Talarico race would not be the biggest dollar one of this cycle – that will wind up being North Carolina, he said.

“People want this race to be the biggest race in the country, but it really won’t be because at the end of the day, Paxton has proven time and time again that he’s a winner – he’s a winner in this state,” Gruters said amid slow-moving funding for Paxton’s campaign against the big Talarico Democrat dollars.

“Texas is ruby red. It’s not going to go left and vote for somebody who wants to mutilate children, put boys in girls locker rooms and who, you know, says he has faith on Sunday then goes woke on Monday. It just not going happen. Texas is a hardcore Republican state.

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“And so, yes, listen, a lot of money, Texas is a massive state, a lot resources from California are pouring in because these California liberals like Tala-freako. But I don’t think it’s going to help him at the end of the day. Paxton is going to win this race.”

Both parties see Gen Z voters as a crucial bloc that could help tip the balance in November as Republicans and Democrats battle for control of Congress, with the GOP seeking to keep President Donald Trump’s agenda moving and Democrats pushing to retake Capitol Hill and steer the legislative agenda.

And as the Democratic Party grapples with the growing appeal of democratic socialism among young voters, Republicans are seizing on the trend to rally their own young base.

But conservative college students gathered at Young America’s Foundation’s Freedom at 250 conference in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that economic pressures — from inflation to the housing crunch — are not only helping drive some of their peers toward democratic socialism but that they themselves share those same concerns.

DEMOCRATS LURE ‘POLITICALLY HOMELESS’ GEN Z TOWARD SOCIALISM — A COUNTERATTACK IS TAKING SHAPE

“I think a lot of young people are feeling a little bit hopeless right now, Courtney Graves, a rising senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Fox News Digital. “They want to be able to have a home when they grow up. They want to be able to have a nice life and a good-paying job. And what we’ve been seeing is that when those things don’t come to fruition, people tend to go to the extremes.”

Graves’ comments come as financial milestones such as buying a home, have been perceived as increasingly difficult for younger Americans. A Pew Research Center survey published in July found that 87% of Americans say buying a home is harder for young adults today than it was for their parents’ generation.

A recent report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that nearly half of renters spent more than 30% of their income on housing in 2024, and nearly half of Americans ages 18 to 29 received financial help to cover an expense over the past year, according to a Federal Reserve report released in May.

But Graves, who is the granddaughter of immigrants who escaped Communist-controlled Latvia, argued that embracing free-market policies is the best way for people to achieve the American Dream and that the Republican Party needs to work on its messaging to make that case clearer to young Americans.

THE AMERICAN DREAM NOW COMES WITH A ZIP CODE: HERE’S WHERE STARTER HOMES ARE STILL WITHIN REACH

 “I think free markets are the way to have a successful and prosperous life,” Graves said. “It’s what leads to job growth, it’s what leads to being able to buy a home at the end of the day, have a family and just overall live a great quality of life and have a strong country.”

While affordability remains top of mind for Americans this midterm cycle, Brody Baker, a University of Iowa student, praised President Donald Trump for bringing more accountability to the White House compared to former President Joe Biden’s presidency.

“I think we get more clarity of what’s happening with the United States as of today,” Baker said.

“With the administration being able to say, ‘hey, we have some criticisms,’ Baker said, “there’s some issues with gas being so high, with how the economy, for some it’s hurting a lot, and for some, it’s hurting a little.”

BESSENT CREDITS TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES WITH HELPING RETURN JOBS TO AMERICANS AS WAGE GAINS RESUME

For University of Minnesota senior Jackson Barrick, pocketbook concerns are just one slice of the pie.

He pointed to the country’s immigration and border security policies and foreign policy as issues weighing most heavily on him. Barrick said Trump has done a “fantastic” job with his immigration enforcement agenda.

“I think it’s a really good step in terms of making sure that we have a good future going forward in the United States and protecting the homeland,” Barrick said.

But college students are also worried about a newer issue: artificial intelligence.

Nick Kammerzell, a recent University of Georgia graduate, said AI is the issue that most concerns him about America’s future.

AI CHATBOTS TAKE HEAT OVER LEFT-WING BIAS: ‘NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED NEUTRAL’

“I think that it’s very scary,” Kammerzell said. “I think one of the biggest things that I’m concerned about with the AI issue is censorship and bias within AI. I think a lot of young people are becoming very dependent on it as their source of truth.”

“I think there’s a lot of opportunities for abuse and manipulation with that,” Kammerzell added, arguing the technology could potentially be used to warp people’s opinions.

Young Americans are also more skeptical of AI than older generations. A Pew Research Center survey published in June found that 48% of adults ages 18 to 29 expect AI to have a negative impact on society over the next two decades, compared with 37% of those 50 and older. Younger adults were also more likely to worry that AI could negatively affect their own lives.

Baker also expressed concerns over the algorithms created by social media companies.

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“You are given by Instagram — all these big platforms — your algorithm, your viewings, and you’re leaned towards, and you push towards a certain agenda, or you’re pushed towards a certain idea,” Baker said, arguing this is creating staunch political divides with Americans.

Republican Colorado gubernatorial nominee and Marine veteran Victor Marx is assembling an all-Marine ticket that he says can bring the “steely spines” needed to combat a democratic socialist movement gaining ground in races around the country.

“There’s never been a successful socialism program, and I’ll say socialism, it’s just a transitionary word for communism. Let’s just say it for what it is,” said Marx in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Marx won Colorado’s primary race in June, campaigning on public safety, social conservatism and cost of living. His victory came as the Democratic Party’s left flank scored a series of primary wins nationally, including in Colorado, where democratic socialist Melat Kiros upset longtime incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette. Colorado’s primary results were mixed overall, but Kiros’ victory extended a broader run of wins by progressive and democratic socialist candidates across the country.

Marx’s answer to what he sees as socialism gaining ground nationally — and a leftward shift at home: Send in the Marines. He has tapped retired Marine Col. George Markert as his running mate, creating an all-Marine ticket that Marx says can bring military discipline and “steely spines” to Colorado government.

EXPERT WHO FLED CUBA WARNS OF ‘VICIOUS CYCLE’ THAT WILL LEAD TO ‘COMMUNISTS IN DOUBLE DIGITS’ IN CONGRESS

“People know what they’re going to get when they get Marines. We’ve got hard foreheads, steely spines. And high integrity,” said Marx.

Markert has spent more than 30 years in the Corps, including senior leadership assignments at U.S. Central Command and the 2nd and 4th Marine Logistics Groups.

Markert transitioned into the private sector, overseeing infrastructure-related field operations across North America.

Marx, who is also the founder of All Things Possible Ministries, is pitching himself and his running mate as political outsiders, arguing that they have the discipline and accountability needed to take on a socialist movement.

TOP WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST CANDIDATE CONFRONTED ON PAST ‘DEFUND POLICE’ RHETORIC

Marx contrasted that approach with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which he described as “organized, they’re well-funded, they are focused on reshaping Colorado from the top down.”

The DSA, which endorsed Kiros, supports the eventual abolition of police — a position that puts public safety at the center of the political divide.

That debate comes as Colorado continues to grapple with crime rates well above national levels.

In 2024, Colorado recorded about 476 violent crimes and 2,593 property crimes per 100,000 residents — roughly 28% and 41% higher, respectively, than the national rates calculated by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.

DSA CO-CHAIR PUSHES BACK ON SOVIET UNION COMPARISONS, WANTS PRISONS TO BE ‘LESS NECESSARY’

“They’re more focused on policing speech than protecting families. While residents are worried about crime, gang activity, state leaders are advancing this ideology with policies that threaten our free speech and punish people for the beliefs,” said Marx.

Marx took aim at his opponent, Colorado Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, arguing that increased government spending has not translated into better results for Coloradans.

Weiser has repeatedly challenged the Trump administration in court as attorney general, including over Trump’s efforts to restrict birthright citizenship and immigration-related policies.

“[H]e hasn’t made our state safer. It’s softer on crime, and we’ve experienced it,” Marx said. “So folks are ready for a change.”

Marx said government officials in Colorado are not delivering as “hardworking taxpayers” are “paying more while the government delivers less.”

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“We’re one election away. It’s either me, or it’s a Democrat. And I lay the DSA at the Democrats’ feet. It didn’t come through the Republican Party or Independents. It came through the Democrats,” Marx said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Weiser for comment.

The Smithsonian has relied on more than $1 billion a year in taxpayer funding in recent years even as its leadership and exhibits face mounting scrutiny over DEI priorities and ideological portrayals of American history.

The sprawling institution oversees 21 museums, the National Zoo and nearly 157 million objects and specimens, making it the world’s largest museum, education and research complex. President Donald Trump’s proposed budget reductions have made its federal funding a central pressure point in the administration’s broader effort to reshape the taxpayer-supported institution.

Since the White House released a July 2026 report accusing the Smithsonian Institution of advancing DEI and left-wing agendas, Fox News Digital has documented multiple examples. Most recently, the Smithsonian’s America 250 exhibit featured roughly three times as many items highlighting liberal figures and causes as conservative ones, prompting criticism that it presented an ideologically imbalanced account of American history.

Other examples included the Smithsonian’s promotion of a museum training guide that linked concepts such as objectivity and merit to “white dominant culture,” a program the institution later apologized for after public backlash.

Meanwhile, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III has faced scrutiny after saying DEI “must be at the center” of museum institutions, while receiving more than $4.4 million in salary and benefits from 2020 through 2024.

TRUMP ORDERS SIGNS OUTSIDE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM AMID ROW OVER ITS DEPICTION OF AMERICAN HISTORY

The White House’s proposed funding reduction follows a months-long, Trump-directed review that culminated in a 162-page White House report recommending sweeping reforms and additional executive action.

Although the Smithsonian also receives private donations, grants and other funding sources, the institution has relied on more than $1 billion annually in taxpayer funds in recent years.

With taxpayer dollars at stake, the institution’s budget has become a central front in the Trump administration’s broader debate over how the Smithsonian presents American history.

TRUMP TARGETS BIDEN-ERA BILLION-DOLLAR SMITHSONIAN BUDGETS AMID ANTI-‘WOKE’ PUSH

The charts below break down how the Smithsonian’s federal funding has changed over time, where the money would go and which museums receive the largest share of taxpayer support.

A Fox News Digital analysis of Smithsonian budget requests shows the institution sought increasingly larger federal appropriations during the Biden administration, with annual requests climbing from $960 million in fiscal 2019 to a record $1.24 billion in fiscal 2024.

TRUMP V. SMITHSONIAN: A TIMELINE OF HOW THE WHITE HOUSE FIGHT OVER ‘WOKE’ HISTORY UNFOLDED

After requesting more than $1 billion in fiscal year 2025, the Trump administration proposed budgets below that threshold for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the first such requests since fiscal year 2020.

While the overall budget has fluctuated over the years, the bulk of the Smithsonian’s federal funding is dedicated to keeping the institution operating day to day.

The Smithsonian’s budget is less about new exhibits than keeping the institution running.

Of the nearly $960 million federal budget request, a little more than $524 million funds the Smithsonian’s day-to-day operations, including staff, security, facilities and technology.

Another $310 million finances museum activity and research, while the rest supports building improvements, planning and oversight.

Not all Smithsonian museums receive the same level of taxpayer support.

The National Museum of Natural History tops the 2026 funding requests at $51 million, followed by the National Museum of the American Indian at nearly $35 million. Meanwhile, the National Zoo receives about $34 million in funding, while the National Museum of American History accounts for $27 million.

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With nearly $1 billion in proposed federal funding at stake, the Smithsonian has become more than just a network of museums. It is now a focal point in the broader fight over how American history is told and whether taxpayer dollars should support those narratives.

The Smithsonian Institute did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Democratic senators are still backing Maine Senate nominee Troy Jackson, who replaced former candidate Graham Platner on the ballot, after the latest allegations threaten to yet again shake up the race for U.S. Senate in the Pine Tree State.

Platner, following a series of scandals culminating in sexual misconduct claims, was forced to drop out ahead of the Democratic primary to take on Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, earlier this summer. But now, a bombshell report claims Platner’s replacement fathered two children with his second cousin.

The recent report wasn’t enough to turn lawmakers against Jackson, with most stressing the necessity for Democrats to win swing state races in order to win back a majority in the upper chamber — not an easy feat in Maine where Collins, a moderate, has represented the state in the Senate since 1997.

Maine’s other senator, independent Angus King, said: “I have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m not going to comment on it anyway.”

Every senator that Fox News Digital spoke with on the issue this week denied having knowledge of the report.

“I don’t know anything about that, but what I do know is that we have got to elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., told Fox News Digital.

“I haven’t heard of these reports,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., echoed. “Troy Jackson is somebody who’s obviously in this fight for working people.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., ignored the crux of the question. “I think it’s super important that we win that seat so that we can put an end to the wild cost increases and rampant corruption that the Senate right now is indulging,” he said.

INTERNET ERUPTS OVER REPORT THAT PLATNER’S REPLACEMENT IN KEY SENATE RACE FATHERED CHILDREN WITH SECOND COUSIN

The Maine Wire editor Steven Robinson first reported last week that Jackson shares two children with his second cousin, Lana Pelletier. In posting the genealogical findings, the independent journalist claimed Pelletier’s father is a cousin of Jackson’s mother.

The report made waves after Jackson received 94% of the 601 delegate votes in the process this summer to replace Platner, who dropped out of the race after a rape allegation finally forced his Democrat allies to turn against him. Platner denied the claim, among others made against him, but ultimately it was the nail in the coffin that resulted in him ending his bid for U.S. Senate before the deadline for Democrats to get a new candidate on the Maine primary ballot.

Without directly denying the report, Jackson’s campaign said in a previous statement to Fox News Digital that it was an attack comping from the Collins camp.

“Susan Collins will do anything to distract from the fact that she votes with Trump 96% of the time and has sold out working people in Maine. Personal attacks on Troy’s family are shameful and desperate,” the statement read.

Jackson’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment on the reporting.

MAINE DEM IN HOT SEAT FOR CHAMPIONING POPULAR VOTE DESPITE CLINCHING SENATE BID WITHOUT IT

“Haven’t seen it,” Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said when asked on Capitol Hill about the reports.

Ossoff initially avoided saying whether he’d back Jackson. Instead, he pointed to Michigan’s Democratic race, which the far-left progressive Abdul El-Sayed won on Wednesday, before addressing his support for Jackson.

“I’m supporting our nominee in Michigan,” Ossoff replied when asked if he will be endorsing Jackson. “In Maine, we’ll see who wins.”

Many senators credited their support for Jackson and other Democrat candidates running for office as a broader effort to target Republicans and their agendas — both within the Donald Trump administration and in Congress.

“We have a president who today, again, has no strategic plan about getting us out of that war in Iran, where our children are dying on the battlefield while his are getting rich,” Alsobrooks said.

A recent Fox News Poll found that 56% of voters oppose U.S. military action against Iran, with 40% strongly opposing the war, indicating the ongoing conflict might play a role in how voters show up at in November.

2026 MIDTERMS STATE OF PLAY: KEY RACES UNFOLD AS STEVENS, EL-SAYED BATTLE IN MICHIGAN

Alsobrooks said she is supporting the Democratic nominee “in every single state,” again indirectly backing Jackson, to ensure her party takes back the majority in Congress.

“I’m supporting whoever the nominee, in every single state, the Democratic nominee,” Alsobrooks said. “We are going to have to take back the House and take back the Senate as well so that we can bring down the cost of living, get people healthcare again.”

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“That is what is important right now to the American people, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

The Democratic establishment won a key battle in the left’s ongoing civil war with its socialist insurgency on Saturday.

Longtime Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, won his primary bid to seek another term in the House of Representatives, defeating progressive state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole.

Case, who served in Congress from 2002 to 2007 and then won again in 2018, faced his toughest primary challenge yet this year. It comes amid a wider showdown between the Democratic establishment and its far-left flank that’s seen multiple House incumbents lose to socialist upstarts.

SOCIALIST VICTORIES SHOW DEMS’ DESCENT DOWN ‘DEADLY PATH OF COMMUNISM,’ JOHNSON WARNS

Keohokalole, who’s been in Hawaii’s state legislature since 2014, was the most formidable of a group of primary challengers looking to oust Case this year.

Both raised considerable money on the campaign trail, though the incumbent had more money in his war chest at the outset of the race.

Keohokalole criticized Case for not doing enough to stand up to the Trump administration during the president’s second term, including President Donald Trump’s federal immigration operations.

The progressive challenger also attacked Case for being one of four House Democrats to vote for Republicans’ initial iteration of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in April 2025.

JOHNSON’S STRATEGY TO BYPASS DEMOCRATS’ SAVE ACT BLOCKADE SURVIVES KEY VOTE, HANDING GOP BIG WIN

That version would have imposed a federal voter ID requirement at the polls as well as a proof of citizenship mandate for registering to vote, but would have allowed for a written affidavit absent that proof.

Case told Hawaii News Now that he will “never” be someone who votes in lockstep with his party and said of the issue of noncitizen voting, “This has nothing to do with voter suppression. Now, those are fears and there are legitimate fears, and I accept those concerns.”

“It’s a solution in search of a problem. There is no security problem in our election system,” Keohokalole told the outlet.

Case later joined nearly all other House Democrats in opposing an updated version, the SAVE America Act, which would have vastly expanded the federal government’s authority over state voter rolls.

He now goes on to face Republican Adriel Lam in November.

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Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District, which encompasses part of Oahu, including Honolulu, is rated a safe Democratic seat with a Cook Political Report rating of D+13.

Nearly two months after President Doanld Trump proclaimed Washington, D.C. would launch the “LARGEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN HISTORY,” Guinness World Records confirmed it this week.

“The largest firework display consists of 840,537 fireworks, and was achieved by Freedom 250 and Pyrotecnico, Inc (both USA) at an event organized by Event Strategies Inc in Washington D.C., USA, on 4 July 2026,” the organization wrote on its website.

Despite weather delays that involved revelers being evacuated from the National Mall, hundreds of thousands of people still watched the Washington, D.C., fireworks that began just before midnight last month.

TOP HIGHLIGHTS FROM TRUMP’S LATE-NIGHT JULY 4 ADDRESS: ‘NO DREAM IN HISTORY IS BIGGER’

The president also gave an abbreviated speech beforehand as part of the “Salute to America” celebration for the 250th anniversary of the country.

Once it got underway, the show lasted for about 40 minutes.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum explained in June that the fireworks would be launched from several sites because of its immense scale.

“Normally the fireworks are set off right along here,” he told the Washington Reporter of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“This year, because of the size and scale of the thing, there are so many locations where the fireworks are going to be going off, including barges,” he explained.

FLASHBACK: AS AMERICAN TURNS 250, HERE’S HOW THE NATION CELEBRATED ITS BIGGEST BIRTHDAYS

The White House launched Freedom 250 as a public-private partnership months ago and the president serves as chair of the initiative.

The previous record holder for largest fireworks celebration was a megachurch’s 2016 New Year’s Eve show, which featured 810,904 fireworks, according to The Washington Post.

“On July 4th, America came together to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday with the largest fireworks display in history — over 850,000 fireworks lighting up the National Mall and the Potomac River, and miles around in a 40-minute spectacular,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez shared in a statement with Fox News Digital.

AMERICA 250 ATTENDEES FIRE BACK AT CRITICS OF TRUMP’S JULY 4 SPEECH: ‘WHAT WE NEEDED TO HEAR’

Alvarez added, “This historic display shattered the previous global benchmark and stands as a powerful symbol of unity, resilience, and pride as we begin our nation’s next 250 years. Freedom 250 is honored to have brought this moment to millions of Americans, and we thank everyone who made it possible.”

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“No other president in history could have accomplished the incredible feat that President Trump did at our Nation’s historic 250th birthday celebration, which included an incredible air show, a record-breaking fireworks display, and an inspiring speech delivered before hundreds of thousands of American patriots,” the White House said in a statement, according to the Post.

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

The Senate wrapped up its summer session at 4:57 a.m. ET.

Senators knocked two major items off their checklist. They confirmed Todd Blanche as the nation’s 88th Attorney General. 

They also approved a bipartisan interim spending bill that likely goes a long way toward preventing a government shutdown in October.

But nearly as important as what senators accomplished is what didn’t get done.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: SUMMER ENDS, BUT THE SENATE’S FALL CRUNCH BEGINS

The Senate did not stay in session and attempt to pass the SAVE America Act. 

In fact, there was not even procedural stunting by the pro-SAVE America Act Republicans, who advocated blowing up the August recess.

TRUMP PUMPS BRAKES ON SENATE BUDGET PLAN, DELAYING GOP SAVE AMERICA PUSH

Moreover, the Senate did not take a vote on a budget framework which could enable them to eventually tack on some election integrity measures – and pass them at a later date in a bill not subject to a filibuster.

Expect some conservatives to rail against the Senate for not working this out. 

The SAVE America Act continues to lack votes. However, advocates of the bill can use the decision by the Senate to leave town without passing it as an opportunity to apply pressure on its opponents.

That said, the Senate did take a test vote on a more narrow voter ID bill backed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio. The Senate blocked that bill. 

But the test vote got Democrats on the record for opposing it. And giving Husted a vote on his measure was a tactical move to boost his chances in a competitive race this fall against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

The Senate did not take a test vote on the bipartisan bill to regulate money for intercollegiate athletics – despite the endorsement by the Big 10 and SEC. 

PROTECT COLLEGE SPORTS ACT STALLS IN OVERNIGHT SENATE SHOWDOWN, VOTE PUSHED TO SEPTEMBER AFTER CHAOTIC EVENING

In fact, President Trump even implored the Senate to stay in session in August to pass the bill authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the panel. 

The legislation was beset by an internecine fight among Republicans about whether the legislation kept men from competing in women’s sports. 

The President published a full-throated endorsement of the legislation Friday night, declaring that the measure did go far enough. “Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying,” wrote the President on Truth Social.

 In an overnight statement, Cruz said that the bill was still in play.

“The good news is that when the Senate returns in September, the Protect College Sports Act will be one of our first orders of business, having locked in a vote,” said Cruz.

However, no vote is officially secured on the Senate docket.

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But what about a test vote on a bill to regulate cryptocurrency?

It was thought that the Senate might pursue that bill in the closing days of the summer session. But the differences were just too wide to close. 

However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., teed up a procedural vote on cryptocurrency for September 15.

Contempt of Congress.

It sounds bad. And it usually is.

But what does it mean?

Holding someone in contempt of Congress usually stems from them refusing to testify before a House or Senate committee or declining to provide documents and information requested by lawmakers. Especially if someone rejects an inquest by subpoena. 

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WHY FAUCI’S 111 FIFTH AMENDMENT PLEAS COULD END UP BEFORE THE COURTS

You refuse to cough up the goods, and Congress may try to hold you in contempt.

And if you’re held in contempt, lawmakers may send a referral to the Justice Department. That’s kind of a parliamentary suggestion box, informing the feds that House Members or senators believe you’ve earned prosecution. 

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted recently to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions at a hearing. The panel issued a subpoena to compel Fauci’s compliance. Republican senators say that’s all the more reason why Fauci should testify. They point to his pardon by then-President Joe Biden. That’s why they believe Fauci was obligated to answer their inquiries. Instead, he invoked the Fifth Amendment.

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” said Fauci.

Twenty-one words. Uttered an astounding 111 times. That’s a grand total of 2,331 words. Fauci never deviated from the script.

WATCH: GOP SPLIT OVER RAND PAUL’S DOJ STRATEGY IN FAUCI CONTEMPT PUSH

Democrats say it was a Republican ruse.

“The goal was to wait for Dr. Fauci to make any kind of misstatement and then have a weaponized Department of Justice file criminal charges for that new statement that would not have been covered by the pardon,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.

So the panel took action. It voted 8-5 to hold Fauci in contempt. A party line vote.

“I’ve never voted to hold somebody in contempt. But if there’s one person that should be held in contempt, it is Anthony Fauci,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

He warned that the GOP gambit is dangerous.

“Criminal contempt is punitive. It does not compel a witness to answer questions or produce the documents we’d all like to see. What we’ll do is create a damaging precedent that future witnesses will use to resist legitimate Congressional oversight and weaken this committee’s ability to compel testimony.”

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., was unbowed.

“We will hand carry this over to the Attorney General. We will hand carry this to the district court here in (the District of) Columbia,” said Paul.

Even though at the time, the DOJ only had an acting Attorney General.

FAUCI’S NEWLY RELEASED COVID DIARIES REVEAL BIZARRE FIXATION ON FAME AS PANDEMIC DEATHS MOUNTED

However, Paul was freelancing. He ignored the custom of the entire Senate voting to refer someone to the Justice Department for prosecution.

The Kentucky Republican himself previously sent other, unilateral referrals to the DoJ asking for Fauci’s prosecution. But those efforts never even went through committee. Fox can’t locate any precedent for such an independent maneuver. Especially circumventing the Senate floor.

Republicans control the Senate. It’s unclear whether there would be 51 votes to hold Fauci in contempt. But there is almost no scenario where the Senate could find 60 votes to break a filibuster on a contempt of Congress resolution of this nature. 

This is why Democrats argued that Paul is out of line.

“No individual center senator and no committee speaks for the entire Senate as a whole,” fumed Peters. “The chairman has also suggested he may attempt to refer this matter to the Department of Justice without approval of the full Senate. That would be even more dangerous and widely unprecedented.”

The DOJ says it “seriously reviews all Congressional referrals.” But Democrats believe the GOP’s disregard for Fauci invoking the Fifth could undermine any prosecution.

“It is almost certainly never going to be approved by a court because it violates basic constitutional rights,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

In a statement, Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, accused Paul of trying to “weaponize the Justice Department” against his client. Democrats asserted that before Fauci’s hearing, Republicans cut them out of their inquiry.

“We have been excluded from witness interviews,” said Peters.

FAUCI HELD IN CONTEMPT AS COVID CELLPHONE LANDS IN HANDS OF SENATE INVESTIGATORS

But Republicans say Democrats showed no interest in their findings and revelations.

“They have all been uploaded on a website that you were invited to join,” said Paul. “You never even asked for the password.”

However, the Republican inquiry is just starting. Another Senate panel has now obtained a copy of the Health and Human Services phone Fauci used during the pandemic.

“It’s frustrating we haven’t gotten these devices until now. But now we have them,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Fox.

Johnson says decrypting that phone could answer questions which Fauci refused to address during the hearing.

Two interesting developments emerged since Fauci testified in late July. First, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro dropped her prosecution of former Olympian David Hearn for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. President Donald Trump then upbraided Pirro.

Does this mean that Pirro is doing things by the book? Would that diminish chances for prosecution of Fauci? Or, since Pirro enraged the president, could she redeem herself by prosecuting Fauci? After all, Trump said he wanted Fauci prosecuted.

However, the ultimate decision to prosecute is up to the new Attorney General, Todd Blanche. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, vowed to oppose Fauci. With former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., out, the GOP couldn’t lose any more votes without tanking the nomination. It boiled down to Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. – who was undecided. Cassidy announced Friday morning he would vote yea on Blanche.

“I am particularly concerned about episodes of apparent lawfare. DoJ bringing suits against political enemies. Presidents of both parties have been guilty of this. It must stop. It should stop now. A never-ending cycle of prosecuting political enemies undermines the rule of law,” said Cassidy. “I’m not entirely satisfied where where this is.”

But Cassidy said he was comfortable enough to confirm Blanche.

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Democrats will say any prosecution of Fauci is emblematic of the very weaponization which Cassidy fretted about. And this could be a special test case for the new Attorney General.

President Donald Trump could win the legal fight over his planned White House ballroom, say two legal experts who believe the U.S. the Supreme Court could end the case without weighing in on the underlying constitutional issue.

In a lengthy social media post Friday, Trump vowed to take the fight over his White House ballroom to the Supreme Court after the D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court order blocking above-ground construction. In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court ruled that the project cannot move forward without Congressional approval.

Trump pointed to the dissent written by Judge Neomi Rao, appointed by Trump in his first term, as grounds for appealing the decision to Supreme Court. Rao argued that the plantiffs, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lack legal standing in the case.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation built its case for legal standing around Alison Hoagland, a member who lives near the White House and regularly visits President’s Park. Hoagland said she visits the area about once a month and argued that the proposed ballroom’s size and design would diminish her enjoyment of the area by overshadowing the White House and weakening its aesthetic.

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But according to Rao, the National Trust did not establish the kind of injury necessary to invoke the courts’ authority to block the project.

“The district court elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government’s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site at the President’s home and office,” Rao wrote.

Former Justice Department attorney Abhishek Kambli agreed, telling Fox News Digital the National Trust could face a particularly difficult hurdle on standing at the Supreme Court. He noted that, while Congress created the National Trust, the group still must show that its lawsuit is germaine to its interests.

“While they do have ownership of some properties, the President’s Park, where the White House East Ballroom is, is not one of them,” Kambli said. “And I think that’s going to be a very tough argument to sustain, especially with the Supreme Court, that’s more likely to agree with Rao than they are the [circuit court] majority, given the makeup of the Supreme Court, and the fact that the Supreme Court is very strict on standing.”

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Kambli also suggested that the National Trust faces a strong hurdle in proving it has standing based on aesthetic injury because it would have to prove it actually uses the space where the ballroom is being built

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“Normally, aesthetic standing requires that you intend to use it,” Kambli said. “So, for instance, if you’re planning to be visiting the East Ballroom — and even this is kind of a stretch — that’s one thing, but if you’re someone on the outside that just passes it by, that’s a little tougher.”

A similar standing issue surfaced earlier in July when U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama-appointed judge, rejected a lawsuit seeking to block the America 250 UFC event at the White House. He ruled that the plaintiffs had not met the standard of aesthetic harm to establish standing.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, said he expects Trump to prevail on appeal as well, based on the standing issue.

“Under Supreme Court precedent, you cannot bring a claim, you cannot bring a lawsuit, until and unless you can demonstrate a concrete, actual injury,” Spakovsky told Fox News Digital. “The idea that a passerby, who claims she will be aesthetically injured because of what she sees at the White House, has an actual injury is absurd, and obviously, and clearly defies that precedent.”

If the Supreme Court takes the case, it could resolve it without deciding whether the administration had the legal authority to build the ballroom in the first place.

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“The Supreme Court won’t rule on the substantive issue if it can dismiss the case based on a lack of standing by the plaintiffs,” von Spakovsky said. “I also don’t know of anyone else who could establish standing to bring a lawsuit. Perhaps Congress could collectively, but the chances of that happening are very slim given the partisan divides in both the House and Senate.”

The National Trust argued in its lawsuit that federal law requires Congress to approve new construction on federal property in Washington, D.C., while the administration says existing law already gives the president authority to make alterations and improvements to federal property, including the White House.

Abhishek agreed with Rao’s reasoning that the terms “alteration” and “improvement” should be understood in their ordinary real-property sense.

“For instance, if I have an extension to my house, it doesn’t become a new house,” Abhishek said. “It’s the same house, but that’s an improvement done on the house. Or if I tear down some walls and then just create an open living space in my like between my living room and my kitchen, that’s also not a new house at that point.

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“It’s the same house, but there was an alteration or an improvement done, so if you’re using real property terms, then it’s pretty clear how how the statutory authority would make sense,” Abhishek continued.

Nine Republican candidates vying to permanently fill late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat spoke directly to voters Saturday at an event in Florence County, South Carolina, where they addressed the war with Iran, the rising tide of socialism in the Democratic Party and potential privacy concerns around Flock cameras.

The event was hosted by Alan Wilson, South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, who pitched the gathering a kind of “speed dating,” since each candidate was given six minutes to address the crowd.

The special Republican Senate primary is coming up on Aug. 11, which made Saturday’s event one of the last chances for the candidates to make their closing arguments to voters.

Here’s what they chose to focus on in their elevator pitches.

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Darline Graham

Sen. Darline Graham — who was chosen to finish out her brother’s term after his death in July — was the last to speak but was quick to tell attendees that she intended to earn their votes.

“I’m not a politician. I never wanted to be a politician. But like Lindsey, I have a servant’s heart. I am a hard worker. And yes, I have President Trump’s endorsement, but I know I have to earn your votes,” she said at the beginning of her speech.

She emphasized that she was not a “DEI” candidate, hyping her experience running the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, a state agency with a $90 million budget and dozens of employees.

“We help blind people and people with disabilities get jobs so that they don’t have to rely on the government. How is that DEI?” she said.

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She also made sure to highlight issues she and President Donald Trump agree on, including keeping transgender girls out of female sports, standing with Israel, supporting implementing voter ID through the SAVE Act and ending blanket birthright citizenship.

Graham briefly touched on socialism within the Democratic Party, calling it a problem that has to be stopped. She also described Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as crazy.

Her speech concluded by answering a question about Flock cameras, which can automatically read license plates and are being installed all over the country.

“I need to look into that one, because there’s two sides to that story. I know that some people are concerned about privacy and protecting their privacy, and I’m all for protecting the privacy of U.S. citizens. The other side of it is, if there’s an emergency situation that an ambulance can be called quicker, and it can save lives,” Graham said. “I’m going to be honest. That’s a hard one for me. So I want to look into it a little bit more.”

Ralph Norman

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., focused on his frustration with the Senate, calling it the place where “good bills go to die.”

He proposed overhauling the Senate’s rules to get measures like the SAVE Act passed.

“I will use my, whatever expertise I have to go to the Senate and force the vote, whether it’s blowing up the filibuster or having a walking filibuster or getting with the parliamentarian and changing some of these stupid, arcane rules that the Senate has,” Norman said.

The Senate filibuster allows a minority of senators to delay or block most legislation, effectively requiring 60 votes to advance a bill and making it harder for a narrow majority to enact its agenda.

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Following his remarks, Norman was asked a question about the extent to which AI data centers should be regulated.

He said the federal government should not have a role but appeared to disagree with Trump’s recent full-throated support of bringing data centers to communities around the country.

“Do I think it’s bad for the community? Yes. Do I think it hurts the environment? Yes. And I will do whatever I can,” Norman said.

Mark McBride

The key takeaway from former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride’s speech is that he broke away from Trump’s position on the war with Iran.

“Y’all, there is something we have to address if we’re going to win in November,” McBride said. “We need to end the war. We need to end the war now.”

“We just have to admit we’ve lost the war. We’ve lost this battle,” he continued. “Come home and regroup for another day.”

He then addressed the crowd, saying: “There’s not one of y’all in here who voted for President Trump a year and a half ago because this is where you thought we would be.”

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Sam Shepherd

Sam Shepherd, an engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, took the opposite approach to McBride, claiming he is “more conservative than Trump.”

Shepherd cast himself as someone who has the skills to fix complex issues within the bureaucracy and the military.

He also took a moment to one-up Elon Musk, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, arguing he had more patents than the Tesla billionaire.

“I’ve actually authored more patents than Elon Musk. I have 44. I’m asking for you to bring common sense back to the government,” Shepherd said.

Russell Fry

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., spent much of his speech tying the affordability issues Americans are facing to “onerous regulations.”

“We see this on farms. We see this in every manner of our government — regulations strangle us,” he said. “You’ve got to get government out of the way if we’re going to solve this affordability crisis.”

In response to a question about how he would secure the border if elected, Fry started off by attacking former President Joe Biden’s work ethic and praising Trump’s.

“You actually have to have a president who’s awake for more than four hours a day, right? We went from a president who slept for 20 and was awake for four, to a president who is awake for 20 and sleeps for four,” Fry said.

Fry said he would work to close “loopholes Biden used” to grant thousands of Haitians and Nicaraguans asylum in the U.S.

Mark Sanford

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford zeroed in on the ballooning national debt, which is about to reach a staggering $40 trillion.

Sanford, who also twice served as South Carolina congressman, said the debt is incomprehensible and unsustainable.

“We’ve got a federal government that goes out and spends money it doesn’t have, and then it turns around, and it prints money that’s not there,” Sanford said.

He argued that the growing national debt is inextricably linked to Americans reaching financial and life milestones later in life.

“The average age to buy a house, not that long ago, was 39 years of age, just 15 years ago. Today, that number is 59. In 15 years, it slid back 20 years, which is to say the American dream is becoming that much more difficult — whether it’s my four boys or y’all’s kids or grandkids out there,” Sanford said.

Mark Lynch

Mark Lynch, a businessman, was another candidate who favored getting rid of the filibuster.

He also said he wouldn’t “take a penny from AIPAC,” making him one of the few candidates, along with McBride, to stake out a position at odds with the field’s staunch support for Israel.

Lynch’s “number one” issue was his strong opposition to abortion. He talked at length about how he has spent time convincing women not to go through with terminating their pregnancies and how he has lobbied state legislators to toughen abortion restrictions.

Danny Ford II

Danny Ford II, the son of the championship-winning former head football coach at Clemson University, was the first to address Flock cameras and the potential privacy issues they raise.

He also talked about rapid data center development getting “out of control.”

“It’s getting pushed straight down our citizens’ throats without any say so,” he said.

On the issue of data centers, Ford said they need to be sustainable, produce their own power and not “leave a stain on South Carolina.”

Glenda Gail Parker

Glenda Gail Parker, a retired budget analyst with the U.S. Air Force, described herself as a conservative independent who leans Republican, but broke with Trump on energy policy, saying the country needs to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

In response to a question about how she would ensure South Carolina farmers get the assistance they need after natural disasters, Parker said she would work to mitigate “the climate extremes that we are experiencing now.”

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“And I do that by reducing our consumption of fossil fuels, and lower[ing] the demand for fossil fuels. In fact, today I want to challenge the oil and gas companies,” Parker said. “Those companies that are interested in longevity must realize that they are in the energy business, not the oil and gas business. And so I would like to challenge the oil and gas businesses to clean up their image.”

She concluded by saying the U.S. needs to pursue solar, wind, geothermal energy and hydropower.

Hawaii voters will decide Saturday who advances to the November general election, with key contests including the race for governor and the battle to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District.

Gov. Josh Green, who was first elected in 2022, is heavily favored to win the Democratic primary, where he faces three little-known competitors. His challengers include George “Teva” Lucas-Tadeo, a Democratic socialist who has promised on social media to open a government-run grocery store and legalize recreational marijuana.

David “Duke” Bourgoin is mounting his second primary challenge against Green after losing to him in 2022, when he captured only 590 votes against Green’s 158,161. He also lost two bids for Honolulu mayor, in 2022 and 2024.

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Lauren Kapoliahiʻiaka Shim is also seeking the Democratic nomination. She is the CEO and founder of Aloha AI Incorporated, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Neither Lucas-Tadeo nor Shim had campaign websites, and none of Green’s three challengers had raised any money in the race as of June 30, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. Meanwhile, Green has raised approximately $3.5 million, far outpacing Republican Gary Cordery, the race’s second-highest fundraiser, who has raised about $313,000, according to Honolulu Civil Beat.

Cordery, owner of the contracting company Kingdom Builders, and Ken Fujiyama, an entrepreneur and investor, are competing for the Republican nomination and a chance to end nearly two decades of Democratic control of the governor’s mansion. The last Republican to serve as Hawaii governor was Linda Lingle, who held the office from 2002 to 2010.

Cordery has campaigned on lowering Hawaii’s high cost of living, expanding housing and cracking down on government waste and corruption. He has proposed adding 15,000 homes for working families, using state-owned land for housing and eliminating the state’s general excise tax on food and medicine. Fujiyama has also proposed a plan to tackle the housing affordability crisis by developing 100,000 residential lots and partnering with large landowners to spur growth.

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Whoever emerges from the Republican primary will face an uphill battle to unseat Green if he secures the Democratic nomination. Green holds a 56% approval rating, while the Cook Political Report rates the race “Likely Democrat” and gives Democrats a 13-point advantage.

Meanwhile, eyes outside of Hawaii will be locked on the Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District, where state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole is challenging Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii.

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Case, who is seeking a seventh term, has represented the district since 2019 and argues that his seniority and position on the Appropriations Committee give Hawaii greater influence in Washington. Meanwhile, Keohokalole, who is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ group Our Revolution, is running on a progressive platform that includes Medicare for All and opposition to ICE and President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Keohokalole is seeking to portray Case as out of touch with Democratic voters, pointing to the congressman’s vote with House Republicans to pass Trump’s SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

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Given the district’s strong Democratic lean, whoever wins the party’s primary will likely be favored to win the seat in November.

Polls close at 7pm local time.

Shannon Taylor, now the Democratic nominee in the race for Virginia’s First Congressional district, once endorsed progressive prosecutorial blueprints, advocating for less incarceration and more diversity as a Henrico County commonwealth attorney — some of the same “Democratic values” that ended in tragedy in other parts of Virginia.

Shortly after coming into the role in 2012, Taylor fired seven prosecutors under her.

“I stated publicly that the office needs to have more diversity and I’m going to keep to that public statement,” Taylor said in an interview ahead of the firings.

Her track record is sparking criticism that she used her role to prioritize ideological and political views at the expense of public safety. It’s also clashing with portrayals from her campaign, highlighting her work as a tough-on-crime figure as she looks to win over a Republican-leaning district.

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Taylor highlighted her work as she topped a crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va.

“As Henrico’s top prosecutor for the last 14 years, Shannon has tried thousands of cases and put violent criminals, drug traffickers and abusers behind bars,” Taylor states on her campaign website. “She has a record of shutting down fraudsters trying to take advantage of working families and locking up violent criminals who threaten our safety.”

But that hasn’t always been the appearance she’s given.

After her seven firings, Taylor faced blowback for trying to hire a woman named Misty Whitehead as a police oversight prosecutor. However, before the role could be made official, social media posts from Whitehead surfaced that seemingly showed a pattern of attacking police.

Taylor faced backlash from the town’s county manager over her selected candidate.

“A county manager can’t tell a commonwealth’s attorney who to hire, but he can recommend whether or not local funds are included to supplement that salary. And in this case, I absolutely will not do it under any circumstances,” County Manager John Vithoulkas said at the time.

Whitehead had a history of voicing concerns about police behavior and social justice that raised concerns for at least one county official, according to local reports.

Taylor defended her pick, telling local outlets that she believed the posts were “thoughtful analysis of the current events we are all living through.”

Taylor also has ties to similarly-minded prosecutors in other counties — some of which entered the public eye recently due to tragic circumstances.

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In Fairfax County, Virginia, news broke that Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old illegal alien from Sierra Leone, stabbed a Virginia resident to death at a bus stop despite over 30 prior arrests and a known tendency for violent behavior.

Jalloh’s criminal record included charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny and firing a weapon.

Even so, prosecutor Steve Descano had dropped many of them, prompting concern and outrage from lawmakers.

“You dismissed the case, and it’s shameful,” Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C. said at a hearing where Descano was summoned to Congress to explain a series of similar cases.

Knott had been highlighting one such instance involving a child predator.

“When you dismiss a case, what happens to that defendant? He walks free. A disgusting, perverted individual preying on children, that you dismissed,” Knott said.

Long before Descano’s time in the spotlight, Taylor had endorsed Descano, supporting his bid to become county prosecutor in 2019, citing shared outlooks.

“I am excited to endorse Steve Descano for Fairfax County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney because I know he will prioritize the same Democratic values we all share, making Fairfax a safe and just place for everyone and I am looking forward to working with him,” Taylor wrote.

Taylor and Descano would go on to champion their shared values in a 2021 letter to the Biden Administration.

In it, the two joined 100 other district and county attorneys in championing a set of “21 principles for the 21st-Century prosecutor.” The authors claimed that “tough on crime policies” had been “anathema to justice,” championed an end to mandatory minimums and three-strike laws, advocated for taking immigration status into consideration when negotiating sentences and plea deals, and opposed calling rapists “rapists,” drug dealers “drug dealers,” and convicted criminals “felons” or “inmates.”

“A number of elected reform-minded prosecutors are boldly redefining what it means to be a prosecutor,” the letter states.

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At least one Republican onlooker blasted Taylor’s record.

“She spent her time reshaping the prosecutor’s office around identity politics, pushing a far-left agenda that put woke activism ahead of public safety, and fighting to turn Virginia into a far-left hellscape,” Emma Hall, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Instead of prosecuting criminals and making Virginia safer, DEI queen Shannon Taylor chose to be a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant.”

Having secured the Democratic nomination, Taylor now heads to the general election on Nov. 3. Wittman, the district’s incumbent, last won re-election in 2024 in a 56.3% to 43.5% victory over Democratic challenger Leslie Mehta, an attorney.

Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown once praised data center expansion, records show, even as he now runs on a platform opposing their development in a bid to return to the Senate.

In 2015, Brown put out a press release celebrating the construction of a third data center in Central Ohio.

“This new data center is great news for New Albany and central Ohio. Amazon’s growth in central Ohio signals that this region is not only a great place to do business, but a place where people want to live and raise a family,” Brown said.

Now, just over 10 years later, Brown is painting Ohio’s 226 data centers as a drain on the state’s resources — a reversal that demonstrates how many Democrats have aligned themselves on the issue to press the case for affordability.

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“Ohio’s electric grid — big corporations treat it like a game,” Brown said in a recent campaign video.

“[They’re] gobbling up energy to feed their data centers no matter how much it raises our prices. It’s the latest way they’ve rigged the system.”

Brown, who was originally elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, lost re-election in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio. Now he is waging a comeback bid for Ohio’s other Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Jon Husted.

Husted, who has not yet won a full term in the Senate, was appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the seat of now-former Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, when Trump tapped him to become vice president.

In the 2026 midterms, Democrats have hammered President Donald Trump and what they see as unfulfilled promises to bring down the cost of everyday items like food, fuel and housing.

While slightly removed from those specific items, an increasing number of Democrats, like Brown, have tied data centers to the issue, arguing that they do little to pay for their own costs in terms of water and electrical use. In their view, data centers are being subsidized by the communities where they’re being built.

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Debates remain about whether their consumption has meaningfully changed utility rates in local communities and, if so, whether the companies should pay for the costs of their consumption.

Brown said he would support legislation along those lines.

“I’ll require the data centers to pay the full cost of their own electricity — not you,” Brown said.

Ohio, in particular, has become an increasingly important state in the data center conversation as companies like Amazon and Google have sought out state incentives for their construction.

In 2013, the state legislature passed tax exemptions for the “sale, storage, use or other consumption of computer data center equipment.” The law gives the Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA) the power to approve tax exemptions for companies that invest more than $100 million over three consecutive years. Not all centers are automatically qualified to participate in the benefit and can receive a partial exemption.

The move has attracted sizeable investment but also cost the state $1.6 billion in forgone revenue in 2025, according to the Ohio 2026-2027 Tax Expenditure Report.

It’s unclear if Brown would support more than just a requirement that data centers pay for their electricity and whether he would consider other legislation to slow their development. In his 2015 press release, Brown noted that the centers had created new job opportunities with their openings.

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“I look forward to working to ensure that our region’s burgeoning logistics hub continues to grow – creating good jobs for Ohioans and helping businesses prosper,” Brown wrote.

His office did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital about the scope of his objections to data center developments in Ohio.

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Having secured his party’s nomination for the seat, Brown will face Husted in the state’s Nov. 3 general election.