NationalWatch

Vice President JD Vance warned Wednesday that states could lose federal funding if they fail to aggressively pursue Medicaid fraud, escalating the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on governors and state Medicaid officials.

“We are sending letters that will require them to show that they are effectively and aggressively prosecuting Medicaid fraud in their states. And if they do not, if they do not aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud, we are going to turn off the money that goes to these anti-fraud units,” said Vance during a fraud press conference on Wednesday.

Vance said the federal government has provided states with “billions of dollars” for Medicaid Fraud Control Units and warned that funding could be cut off if states fail to comply with the crackdown. He pointed to states that have received billions of dollars in federal funding to protect against fraud, but have yet to produce a conviction or indictment. 

The warning came as the administration announced it is deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements from California, with Vance accusing the state of failing to take fraud seriously. California officials have disputed the administration’s claims.

HOUSE GOP LAUNCHES NEW TASK FORCE, PROBES ALLEGED $250B MEDICAID FRAUD IN OHIO

“We’re announcing that the federal government is deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements from the state of California. And the simple reason is because the state of California has not taken fraud very seriously,” Vance added. 

Vance said that Ohio, a red state, and Maryland, a blue state, have been good examples of states they have been working with that are taking the “fraud seriously.”

Ohio governor Mike DeWine issued a press release on the same day announcing a series of new measures his state is taking to crackdown on suspected fraud, including proposing a six-month moratorium on new home healthcare and hospice providers enrolling in Medicaid. 

As for other states, Vance pointed to a handful of Democrat-led jurisdictions for not tackling the fraud scandals more aggressively. 

“This does not have to be a red state or a blue state issue. This is just basic good government. However, states like California, states like Hawaii, states like New York have completely not taken the fraud issue seriously in the Medicaid program and so for those states that refuse to get serious about fraud, we are going to turn off that anti-fraud money,” said Vance.

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPICE AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS SO FAR

He continued that if states do not take the fraud crackdown seriously, other resources within their Medicaid programs could be turned off too.

“We don’t want to turn off any money. What we want to do is ensure that people are taking fraud seriously. We want to protect Medicaid,” said Vance. “We want to protect Medicare, but we can’t do that if the states that are administering those programs are allowing those programs to be fleeced by fraudsters.” 

READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD

Oz previously gave governors and state Medicaid leaders 10 business days on April 23 to tell CMS whether they will commit to conducting a swift “revalidation” of high-risk Medicaid providers and provide a proposed timetable, Fox News Digital exclusively reported at the time, alongside a separate 30-day deadline for a broader provider-revalidation strategy, escalating federal pressure on states to tighten anti-fraud enforcement.

“While the factors contributing to fraud are multifaceted and require a comprehensive approach to address, a revalidation process for high-risk providers will immediately deter criminal actors from continuing their fraud schemes, as the federal and state governments closely review and scrutinize the qualifications of providers to suspend or terminate clearly abusive actors from the program,” Oz wrote in a letter.

The letters targeted providers at “high risk of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption,” particularly those with “less rigorous enrollment and billing requirements,” with CMS directing states to include any provider operating without a National Provider Identifier.

A second letter was also sent to each state Medicaid director reiterating the call for a revalidation strategy tailored to each state.

“Our analysis of national trends strongly suggests a persistent and growing Medicaid threat posed by sophisticated actors knowingly exploiting these complex systems for financial gain,” Oz wrote.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the office of the vice president and CMS for additional comment.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) worked with local authorities to foil California’s sanctuary city policies and took into custody a gang member from Mexico who concluded a 12-year prison sentence for second-degree murder.

Local law enforcement in southern California turned over to federal agents the Sureños-13 gang member outside the John J. Benoit Detention Center immediately after concluding his sentence last week, according to CBP.

The apprehension contrasts sharply with sanctuary city policies that have thrown up roadblocks for federal-state coordination. It also highlights the payoff that could happen with the types of partnerships the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hoped to build with local authorities during President Donald Trump’s administration.

IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES HIGHLIGHT CRIMINAL HISTORY OF MULTIPLE MIGRANTS ARRESTED IN LOS ANGELES

“This is a prime example of the great strides local, state and federal law enforcement can deliver to the American public in terms of safety when common sense cooperation exists,” Daniel Parra, acting chief patrol agent at El Centro Sector, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Honoring federal detainers, such as in this case, makes our communities safer.”

It’s unclear when the detainee originally re-entered the U.S. He is now facing federal prosecution for reentry after previous deportation.

If local authorities did not work with CBP, it’s possible that the gang member could have been released from jail and escaped into the U.S. without detection by immigration authorities.

DEM GOVERNOR IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER TESTING LIMITS OF AUTHORITY WITH MAJOR MOVE AGAINST ICE

The recent arrest follows moves by Democrats, such as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, to restrict federal-local partnerships. Last week, Hochul urged New York lawmakers to ban the 287(g) program — a law that allows local officers to assume authority to conduct immigration-related work normally carried out by federal officials.

Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, blasted the push by Hochul, which follows other blue states seeking to stifle federal immigration operations.

“Instead of working with us, Governor Hochul is choosing to release violent criminals from her jails directly back into our communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more victims,” Bis said.

IGNORED ICE DETAINERS ‘PUT LIVES AT RISK,’ DHS SAYS, TARGETING NEWSOM, PRITZKER, HEALEY

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In addition to the second-degree murder conviction, the unnamed gang member’s criminal history includes felony possession of a firearm, taking a vehicle without consent, battery and providing false identification to an officer.

The Sureños-13 gang, one of many groups that operates in and around Southern California, mainly deals in mid-level drug distribution schemes, according to records from the Department of Justice.

Capitol Hill lawmakers are clashing over President Donald Trump’s proposal to suspend the federal gas tax as prices climb past $4 a gallon amid the conflict with Iran.

Democrats are urging the president to “end the war,” while Republicans are split on whether the plan would deliver real relief.

“He’s got to bring this war to an end if he wants these gas prices to come down,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “And he’s gotta stop this war and stop looking for other gimmicks.”

“Why doesn’t he just end the Iran war, which is an illegal war, so that would take care of those issues?” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said. “He did not get authorization. It’s on President Trump. And the rise in gasoline and everything else, it’s on him.”

DEMOCRATS POUNCE ON $4 A GALLON GAS, BLAME TRUMP’S IRAN WAR FOR ‘BROKEN PROMISE’

Lawmakers’ comments came after Trump backed a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax on Monday as escalating tensions with Iran pushed fuel prices higher nationwide. Gas prices have climbed to an average of $4.51 a gallon, and diesel prices have risen to $5.66 as of Wednesday, according to AAA.

“I mean we want to keep costs low,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said. “Higher gas prices add costs to groceries and everything else, and so I think it’s something worthy to consider, and I’d be amenable to it.”

The suspension would potentially slash the cost of each gallon of gasoline by 18.4 cents and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation Monday to suspend the federal gas tax after Trump backed the idea. Hawley’s Gas Tax Suspension Act would provide relief at the pump for at least 90 days, while also allowing for an additional 90-day extension if prices remain elevated.

ENERGY SECRETARY WRIGHT SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OPEN TO SUSPENDING FEDERAL GAS TAX AMID PRICE SURGE

Support for suspending the gas tax has emerged from both parties, but other lawmakers have proposed alternative methods to address rising gas prices. 

“I think that year-round E-15 is a better idea,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said. “Year-round, E-15 would bring down the price of gas maybe 30, 40 cents a gallon. You throw in our credit card bill, it would bring it down another dime, 15 cents a gallon. So I think those are probably two better ideas to do it.”

E-15 is a cheaper, ethanol-blended gasoline that cannot be sold nationwide during the summer months due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s pollution rules. Some Republicans, like Marshall, argue year-round access to E-15 would lower gas prices more effectively than a gas tax suspension.

ARAB ALLIES RECOGNIZE IRAN’S DANGER, LAWMAKERS SAY, AS REGION VIEWS REGIME CHANGE CAUTIOUSLY

While some lawmakers focused on lowering costs at the pump, others argued the U.S. should maintain or even escalate pressure on Iran despite rising prices.

“Let’s finish Iran, the IRGC anyway, once and for all,” Bacon said. “The Iranian people are great people, but their government is our enemy. They’ve been the most ruthless enemy that we’ve had over four decades.”

“They should be pummeled,” he said.

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Bacon’s comments reflect a group of Republicans who argue the surge in gas prices is a consequence of taking on Iran, warning that backing off pressure could carry far greater risks.

“Iran with a nuclear weapon is a threat to America and the whole region,” Bacon said.

President Trump received a red-carpet welcome when he landed in Beijing on Wednesday, with a military honor guard, band and children waving American and Chinese flags ahead of high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The ceremony also highlighted the bigger question around Trump’s return to China: whether this visit can yield more lasting progress than his 2017 trip, which featured major business announcements but was later followed by a sharp deterioration in U.S.-China trade relations.

The meeting comes as trade tensions, the Iran war and disputes over Taiwan place new pressure on Washington and Beijing to stabilize relations between the world’s two largest economies.

TRUMP HEADS TO BEIJING FOR HIGH-STAKES XI TALKS AS TAIWAN TENSIONS, TRADE DISPUTES TEST US STRENGTH

The red carpet was rolled out with a welcome ceremony consisting of military honor guard and a military band with Chinese children waving American and Chinese flags. “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” the children chanted in Chinese.

Trump exited Air Force One and was greeted by United States Ambassador to China David Perdue, Chinese Vice President H.E. Han Zheng, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States H.E. Xie Feng, and Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Ma Zhaoxu.

First Lady Melania Trump accompanied Trump nearly nine years ago for his first state visit. The 2017 trip emphasized pomp, personal diplomacy and commercial announcements, and included excursions such as a Forbidden City tour, a Peking opera performance, and a formal welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

The 2017 trip produced more than $250 billion in announced commercial deals and cooperation pledges, but it did not prevent trade relations from deteriorating in 2018. 

Most notably, Trump announced a $12 billion deal for cellphone chips from Qualcomm and $37 billion for Boeing commercial jets, AP reported at the time.

DONALD TRUMP DETAILS ‘MOST EXCITING PART’ OF CHINA TRADE AGREEMENT

“These deals will create jobs for American workers, farmers, and ranchers by increasing United States exports to China and stimulating investment in American communities,” the White House said at the time.

A strategic focus of his first visit was North Korea’s nuclear program. Trump and Xi agreed at the time that North Korea should not become a nuclear weapons state, declaring the two countries would apply “maximum pressure.”

China had already tightened enforcement earlier that year, including suspending North Korean coal imports, while Trump later said Chinese banks were scaling back business with North Korean entities. But U.S.-China cooperation weakened as broader trade tensions escalated, and North Korea continued advancing its missile and nuclear programs.

The summit did not prevent a sharp deterioration in trade relations the following year, after Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese imports, triggering a prolonged trade standoff.

Trump’s latest visit comes after a broader tariff escalation in which his administration imposed sweeping duties on imports from dozens of countries, with China emerging as the central flashpoint after Beijing retaliated and later tightened export controls on rare earth minerals, prompting Trump to threaten an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods.

Trump is expected to press Xi on trade once again, suggesting that American entrepreneurs and executives could help drive growth inside China if Beijing lowers barriers and allows U.S. firms more room to operate.

TRUMP WARNS CHINA OF ‘STAGGERING’ 50% TARIFF IF CAUGHT SUPPLYING MILITARY AID TO IRAN

Accompanying Trump on the trip are top U.S. executives, including Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Citi CEO Jane Fraser, GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.

Iran is expected to be among the issues surrounding the talks, though Trump has downplayed differences with Xi over the war.

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Trump and Xi will hold bilateral talks and a formal banquet Thursday.

Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

The Senate is one step closer to adding painful consequences for lawmakers who choose to shut down the government. 

The upper chamber on Wednesday unanimously advanced a resolution from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that, if passed, would prevent lawmakers from getting paid during future shutdowns. It comes after the once-rare occurrence became a political cudgel wielded by Democrats time and again in the last year. 

Despite having spurred the two longest shutdowns in history, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats joined Republicans to move the measure along for a final vote. 

SCHUMER BACKS GOP’S PLAN TO BRING THE PAIN DURING FUTURE SHUTDOWNS: ‘I’M GOING TO VOTE FOR IT’

But its success through the first hurdle has not quite sated concerns that Democrats will again try to force another shutdown before the midterm elections in the fall.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that its success “helps” but suggested that the move from Democrats was more political than not. 

“I think it’s, they realize, I mean, that’s a really bad posture to be in if you’re opposing something like that at a time when you got a lot of government employees who aren’t getting paid, and, you know, people up here are voting against depriving themselves of pay when everybody else is not getting paid,” Thune said. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS BALK AT $1B WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM REQUEST: ‘YOU MADE THAT NUMBER UP’

“So I just think that’s a very difficult political vote for Democrats,” he continued. “I think they’ve recognized it, and I’m guessing they had a fairly robust conversation at their lunch yesterday.”

Kennedy’s resolution, which he described as a resolution of “shared sacrifice,” can’t take effect until after the upcoming election cycle, adding more concern that Democrats may be tempted to repeat the cycle.  

“If I were king for a day — I’m not, I don’t aspire to be — but if I were, I’d make this resolution effective immediately,” Kennedy said. “Because I’m … very concerned that my Senate colleagues on the Democratic side are going to try to shut down the government yet again right before the elections to try to create chaos to affect the midterm elections.”

Kennedy’s resolution would direct the secretary of the Senate to withhold lawmakers’ pay until a shutdown is resolved. A rank-and-file senator earns $174,000 per year, while a leader of either party can earn over $193,000 per year.

SENATE WEIGHS NEW, PAINFUL LEVERAGE TACTIC AS FEARS OF ANOTHER GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GROW

And it would only pertain to the Senate — a point he made clear on the Senate floor just before the vote. 

Kennedy’s push isn’t the only one that’s brewed in the Senate following the 43-day shutdown over enhanced Obamacare premium tax credits and the latest 76-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown. 

That’s because shutdowns have become a common tool over the last year and a half that Democrats have turned to as a negotiating counterpoint. In Trump’s second term alone, Congress has been on the precipice of a closure four times.

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Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has been pushing his Shutdown Fairness Act, which would require that working federal workers are paid during a shutdown. 

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., has the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, which would automatically fund the government for two-week stretches until Congress lands on a compromise funding deal.

A Maine couple who described themselves as “climate refugees” after relocating from Texas discovered human feces on the front porch of their new home in Bangor, an incident that quickly drew mockery from conservative commentators.

In an article published in the Bangor Daily News, the couple, Shawn and Sara Good, sought to frame the incident of discovering feces and signs of a man sleeping on their patio furniture as a fair tradeoff to escape the “catastrophic” weather that plagued them in Texas. The article centered on the couple moving to Bangor because of their concerns about climate change. The Goods said they fled Austin after facing four catastrophic events in the past five years.

“When looking at global news, I’m so lucky that the big event I experienced recently was someone sleeping on my porch,” Sara told the Bangor Daily News.

Local and national conservative voices criticized the couple and the Bangor Daily News for its framing of the incident in a city facing a serious homelessness issue, with encampments in the downtown area. The Bangor City Council passed an ordinance on Monday banning the storage of personal belongings along sidewalks in an effort to push back against encampments.

ONCE-CHARMING MOUNTAIN ESCAPE NOW BATTLING HOMELESSNESS HOMEOWNERS SAY TURNED POSTCARD CITY INTO NO-GO ZONE

Maine Republican state Rep. Reagan Paul suggested the article by the Bangor Daily News reads more like satire from the Babylon Bee than a hard-hitting news story.

“This is actual ‘news’ from the Bangor Daily News — treating a literal crap show as heartwarming proof that Maine is paradise,” Paul wrote on X. “Most of us already know it — but for the few holdouts still treating the Bangor Daily News as serious journalism: when your paper has to spin literal human feces on a doorstep into a heartwarming relocation success story, it’s time to admit reality and maybe stop taking them seriously as journalism.”

Investigative reporter Steve Robinson weighed in, suggesting the couple faced a better fate than another Maine couple who were shot and killed in front of their two children just six months after moving from Texas in 2023.

DAVID MARCUS: WHY SOME TEXANS SAY ICE RAID ON COLONY RIDGE IS A GOOD START

“By Maine standards human s— on the door is good considering the last couple from Texas who moved here were murdered by a recidivist aspiring rap artist in front of their young children,” Robinson posted on X. “Liberals call this restorative justice.”

In recent years, Texans have faced Winter Storm Uri, which caused power outages throughout the state, deadly floods that claimed the lives of 130 people last year, Hurricane Beryl, and extreme heat.

Conservative commentator Dana Loesch, who lives in Texas, said every region of the United States can face catastrophic weather.

CONSERVATIVE GROUPS DECLARE 2025 A TIPPING POINT ON ‘CLIMATE HYSTERIA’ AS TRUMP UNLEASHES ENERGY AGENDA

“It’s Texas,” Loesch said on her show. “Texas gets some tornadoes. Texas gets some flooding.”

“They leave Texas because it’s hot here,” Loesch continued. “That’s a you issue. You should have known that.”

Climate change is increasingly shaping where Americans choose to live. A Forbes study found 30% of homeowners have moved because of it.

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Columbia University professor Alexander de Sherbinin suggested the U.S. could see “significant movements” as people seek to relocate to avoid more severe weather.

“Northern states could see an influx of people, because their summers will still be fairly pleasant and their winters less severe,” de Sherbinin told Columbia Magazine.

EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force has withheld $1.4 billion in federal funding from home health and hospice providers nationwide, following a wave of suspensions enacted by an anti-fraud task force targeting operations in California, Minnesota and several other states.

Approximately 90% of the suspended providers have not reached out to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency tasked with combating fraud, waste and abuse, since payments have been suspended.

Trump administration officials told Fox News Digital that they believe a lack of communication between alleged fraudulent providers and CMS indicates that the providers were not legitimate enterprises.

The suspended group includes long-term providers who have been pocketing federal funds for years while failing to communicate with CMS, a senior Trump administration source told Fox News Digital.

“The vice president’s task force continues to stop the flow of taxpayer funds before they fall into the hands of fraudsters and deliver savings to the American people,” a spokesperson for Vice President JD Vance told Fox News Digital. “This is great momentum in the fight for the President’s War on Fraud.”

LOS ANGELES COUNTY FACES SCRUTINY AFTER ALLEGED WIDESPREAD HOSPICE FRAUD EXPOSED

President Donald Trump has made the eradication of systemic fraud a cornerstone of his administration’s domestic policy. On Monday, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz blasted California officials over the state’s hospice crisis, charging that the fraud is “stealing your lives” and pointing to a sophisticated web of international graft.

“We’ve got Russian government involvement, we believe, in Los Angeles. We’ve got the Chinese government involved in a big fraud ring in New York,” Oz told guest host Kayleigh McEnany on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” “And, of course, the Cuban connection… pointed out to me by former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. We’ve got twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers — selling wheelchairs and canes — as there are McDonald’s in South Florida. The owners often flee back to Cuba with the money the moment we move in on them.”

Last month, Fox News Digital uncovered the suspension of 447 hospices and 23 home health agencies suspected of fraud in Los Angeles alone, with the total theft estimated at more than $600 million.

Days later, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) referred 562,000 suspected fraudulent loans — totaling over $22.2 billion — to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for collection. These loans largely originated from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MINNESOTA’S ‘FEEDING OUR FUTURE’ FRAUD AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S LATEST CRACKDOWN

The SBA noted these files were flagged for suspected fraud during the Biden administration but were never sent to the Treasury Department for recovery.

“The task force has made clear that the Biden administration’s policy of giving direct cash payments to fraudsters is over,” a senior White House official told Fox News Digital.

In April, the head of a California hospice advocacy group warned congressional lawmakers that industry fraud is flourishing across the state. Sheila Clark, president and CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA), questioned how these “ghost” providers managed to evade regulators for so long.

“You’d be amazed at how many hospices… you can walk up to the door in California and there is nobody there. You can see five months’ worth of mail stacked up,” Clark told the House Ways and Means Committee during an April 22 hearing. “And yet, they passed a survey. How did that happen?”

“How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand? How do you put a hospice in a retail store?” she quipped. “That all had to be vetted through licensure, certification and accreditation.”

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently announced the arrest of five individuals linked to an alleged multimillion-dollar hospice scheme that reportedly raked in $267 million through fraudulent billing to Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.

The Trump administration has intensified its focus on the abuse of taxpayer funds following last year’s arrests connected to the “Feeding Our Future” scheme in Minnesota — a massive “sham meal” operation that allegedly defrauded the government of hundreds of millions of dollars.

A whistleblower is set to testify before the Senate on the alleged cover-up of the origins of COVID-19.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hear testimony from an unnamed longtime CIA employee on Wednesday on allegations that there was a cover-up of the origins of the virus with roots that run deep in the federal government and intelligence community.

It’s part of Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., crusade against former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and his role in examining the origins of COVID-19, his response to the virus and ensuing actions taken by the federal government during the pandemic.

EX-FAUCI TOP ADVISOR INDICTED OVER ALLEGED COVID COVER-UP, HIDDEN EMAILS

The hearing on Wednesday comes on the heels of the deadline for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to charge Fauci for allegedly lying to Congress about gain-of-function research — controversial research that could boost a virus’ transmissibility and virulence by altering its genetic code — in relation to COVID-19.

The statute of limitations to take action against Fauci for that particular issue expired on Monday.

“The DOJ may never act, but the American people know the truth: Fauci misled and defrauded this country,” Paul said on X. “I won’t stop uncovering the truth around the great COVID cover-up. That’s why I will have a whistleblower testify before my committee this Wednesday.”

RAND PAUL VOWS TO KEEP PRESSURE ON FAUCI AS STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON CRIMINAL REFERRAL EXPIRES MONDAY

Fauci has vehemently denied accusations that he lied about the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) role in funding research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and argued that the research did not meet the level of gain-of-function research.

But a longtime advisor of Fauci’s, David Morens, who served as a top advisor at NIAID, was indicted by the DOJ last month and accused of using his personal email account to hide communications related to a controversial coronavirus research grant that involved collaboration with the Wuhan Institute.

BIDEN TEAM REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING PREEMPTIVE PARDONS FOR FAUCI, SCHIFF, OTHER TRUMP ‘TARGETS’

Wednesday’s hearing will zero in on the experience of a longtime CIA employee, who Paul told the New York Post would delve into an alleged and ongoing “deep state” conspiracy to cover up the origins of the virus.

Paul told the outlet that the whistleblower was assigned to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where he worked on a group that studied how the pandemic started in Wuhan.

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“For years, Americans were told to stop asking questions about COVID’s origins,” Paul said on X. “Today, a whistleblower with firsthand knowledge will testify that intelligence officials may have buried evidence, altered conclusions and concealed the truth from the public.”

Senate Republicans are having a hard time stomaching an eye-popping funding request that, in part, would fund security enhancements for President Donald Trump’s ballroom.

Republicans in the upper chamber still aren’t completely on board with a $1 billion request from the Trump administration and Secret Service tucked into their immigration operations funding package, and many are wondering how exactly that figure was created. 

“It was one thing when private dollars were building it,” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said. “If you’re asking me for a billion dollars, I have some really hard questions. If I were a businessman and an employee came and said, ‘I have a project, and it’s a billion dollars,’ I’d say, ‘You made that number up,’ right? Like, where did the number come from?”

ONCE TOUTED AS PRIVATELY FUNDED, REPUBLICANS SNEAK IN TAXPAYER CASH FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM PROJECT

Curtis’ skepticism came as Republicans were headed for a closed-door briefing on the request from Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who provided a high-level breakdown of the funding in a one-pager obtained by Fox News Digital.

Curran’s explanation wasn’t enough for several Republicans, who left the meeting still wanting more detailed information on exactly how the funding, which is part of the broader reconciliation package meant for immigration enforcement, would be used.

“They need to go back and get us more details about exactly how they arrived at the figure,” Sen. Todd Young, R-Neb., said afterward. 

Curran presented lawmakers with a high-level breakdown of how the money would be spent, which included $220 million for “White House complex hardening.”

TRUMP ADMIN DEFENDS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM AS NATIONAL SECURITY MATTER

That category, like the legislation released by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, dictated that the funding would fund “above and below ground” security enhancements for Trump’s ballroom, which the administration argued would “afford needed protection for the president, his family, and visitors, along with the below-ground, highest-level security functions.”

Those enhancements would include bulletproof glass, drone detection technology, chemical filtration and detection systems and “a host of other national security functions.” 

An additional $180 million would go toward a White House screening center for visitors. The remaining $600 million would go toward Secret Service training, enhancing protection for Trump and other officials, and other security measures including countering drones and other aerial incursions.

“What was clear today is this whole statement, ‘It’s a billion dollars for a ballroom.’
Anyone who prints that is printing something they know is a lie. That’s not true,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. “It’s not a billion dollars for the ballroom.” 


The entirety of the funding won’t be going exclusively to enhancing security for Trump’s colossal ballroom, so Republicans want more answers on how each dollar will be used. 

AFTER THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, DEBATE GROWS OVER WHETHER TRUMP ATTACK WARRANTS ANOTHER INVESTIGATION

And they acknowledge that the price tag is a hard sell to make in the midst of growing economic issues across the country.

“The way I look at it, I look at it like a business guy,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. “So it’s an investment, and it’s gonna, you know, you have to explain to the American public, if you’re gonna spend their money, how do you get a return?”

Scott, like several other Republicans, is in favor of boosting security for Trump, who faced a third assassination attempt last month, and future presidents.

And there is an opportunity to cut the request down, which some Republicans suggested could be an option as they sprint to finish work on the broader $72 billion package.

“We want to make sure we’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars and see what is the best vehicle for that, and then making sure that we’re judicious with that money,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital. 

Meanwhile, the funding request is a small piece in a broader package meant to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years through the budget reconciliation process. 

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Whether the ballroom security and Secret Service funding actually stays in the package is an open question, given that the entire package will be reviewed under the Senate’s strict Byrd Rule guidelines that dictate what can and can’t make it into the reconciliation process.

And Democrats are planning to push hard against the security funding, arguing that the money would be better spent elsewhere on affordability issues. 

“The bottom line is this ballroom is a disgrace,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “The Republicans know it. Let’s see if they have the guts to do what they know is right, both substantively and politically, and tell Trump we don’t need a God—, we don’t need a damn ballroom.”

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a GOP lawmaker who has been absent from Washington for more than two months, will miss votes again this week, his office confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

“Congressman Kean is still attending to a personal health matter, and we appreciate the outpouring of support,” Dan Scharfenberger, Kean’s chief of staff, said in a statement Monday. “He will be returning to a regular full schedule soon.”

Kean, 57, has not specified when he plans to return to work or the nature of his health issue. His office has insisted for weeks that he would resume his congressional responsibilities “soon.” 

The New Jersey Republican has not voted since March 5, according to GovTrack, a website that monitors congressional activities. During that time, he missed all 70 roll-call votes in the lower chamber, including legislation to end the government shutdown and extend a critical warrantless surveillance tool.

JOHNSON WARNS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO ‘STAY HEALTHY’ AS GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO THE EDGE

Kean’s absence has an outsize impact on House Republicans’ razor-thin majority as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can afford to spare just a handful of votes on party-line bills. Democrats have also struggled to maintain full attendance in recent weeks.

Johnson said in April that he spoke with Kean on the phone and expects him to make a full recovery.

“Tom is one of the most dedicated and hardest-working members of Congress, and I am grateful for all he does and will continue to do to serve New Jerseyans and our country,” Johnson said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

DEMOCRAT TINA SHAH CALLS TRANSGENDER HEALTHCARE FOR CHILDREN A ‘NO BRAINER’ IN COMPETITIVE NJ HOUSE RACE

Kean’s prolonged absence from Washington comes as he faces a potentially difficult re-election battle in one of the country’s most contested districts. House Democrats’ campaign arm is expected to aggressively target the swing seat and four Democratic candidates are vying to take him on in a crowded June primary. 

The New Jersey Republican has no GOP challengers and is running for a third House term with President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a “toss-up” after downgrading the race in favor of Democrats last year.

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Kean’s office has continued to post on social media while he recovers from the undisclosed medical issue.

“The Congressman’s team continues to serve the people of New Jersey uninterrupted,” Scharfenberger said in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson blasted New York City’s leadership for “punishing success” and joined Gov. Greg Abbott in pitching Texas as a place where Wall Street firms can hang their hats.

His pitch for “Y’all Street” over Wall Street comes as a steady stream of financial firms have in recent years expanded operations in Texas. They were drawn there because of the lower taxes and fewer regulations, a trend Johnson says is accelerating even more under New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The trend toward moving big business out of big blue cities has the potential to redraw the map of American finance, determining which jurisdictions capture high-paying jobs, investment, tax revenue and influence.

The Republican mayor of Dallas told Fox News Digital that the latest clash between City Hall and Wall Street heavyweights only reinforces his concerns.

CHICAGO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KEN GRIFFIN TURNS ON A CITY — NOW MAMDANI MAY FIND OUT

“The recent back-and-forth between Mayor Mamdani and Ken Griffin exemplifies exactly what I have been saying publicly for some time: New York City, under its current leadership, does not believe in rewarding success,” Johnson said.

“New York City believes in punishing success,” he told Fox News Digital, adding that Dallas, by contrast, embraces successful companies and the leaders who built them.

The clash between Mamdani and Griffin has quickly become a flashpoint in the broader debate over New York’s economic direction, with the Citadel founder warning that tax hikes, anti-business rhetoric and crime risk are pushing firms out.

The feud intensified after Mamdani posted a viral video outside Griffin’s condo promoting his plan to tax second homes in NYC worth more than $5 million.

NYC GROCERS SOUND ALARM ON MAMDANI’S SUPERMARKET PLAN: “WE’LL LOSE CUSTOMERS

The dispute highlights a growing rift between New York City’s progressive agenda and the financial sector that has long powered the entire state’s economy — a divide only sharpened by Mamdani’s push for higher taxes on corporations and top earners.

Experts warn that this, along with expanded DEI initiatives, rent freezes and tighter regulations, risk driving businesses away from the center of the world’s financial markets.

Texas has already emerged as a major destination for firms in recent years, with companies like Goldman Sachs expanding their footprint in Dallas and JPMorgan Chase growing its workforce across the state.

Meanwhile, the Texas Stock Exchange is preparing to launch in Dallas to rival legacy markets. At the same time the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are expanding into the state — underscoring the Lone Star State’s rise as a financial powerhouse.

The state’s broader economic strength has also been a draw for outsiders.

Texas reported a record $24 billion budget surplus in 2025, reinforcing its reputation as a fiscally stable, business-friendly environment.

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Johnson argued Dallas is not just benefiting from the trend, it’s helping lead it.

“Dallas’s pro-businesses approach is fueling this shift,” Johnson said, adding that “Y’all Street” is emerging as a major center for financial services.

“Instead of demonizing those who have achieved the American dream, we embrace our local business leaders as partners in building a better city, a city of genuine opportunity for everyone.”

President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Beijing Wednesday for high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as the world’s two largest powers prepare to negotiate about Taiwan, trade and a fragile U.S.-China relationship increasingly shaped by military tension and economic rivalry.

The meeting comes at a volatile moment for Washington, as a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran faces mounting strain following recent military exchanges in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump is expected to press Xi on China’s economic and strategic support for both Iran and Russia, including oil revenue, dual-use components and potential weapons transfers, according to senior administration officials.

Top U.S. business leaders also are traveling with Trump to Beijing, including executives from Apple, Boeing, Tesla, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, highlighting the administration’s focus on securing economic deals alongside strategic talks.

TRUMP TO CONFRONT XI AT HIGH-STAKES SUMMIT OVER CHINA BACKING FOR IRAN, RUSSIA

The White House also previewed discussions on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and China’s rapidly expanding nuclear program — areas where officials acknowledged deep mistrust and limited progress despite ongoing communication channels.

On the economic front, the administration is focusing on more targeted trade arrangements, including a proposed U.S.–China “Board of Trade” that would help manage commerce in non-sensitive goods. Officials said the framework could initially cover trade in the “double-digit billions,” with an emphasis on sectors like agriculture and aerospace.

It’s the second meeting between Trump and Xi in the second Trump administration, following their last face-to-face at the Busan Summit in South Korea in October 2025. This is Trump’s first state visit to China since 2017.

TRUMP ADMIN ANNOUNCES $11B TAIWAN ARMS SALES DEAL

The summit also comes after more than a year of tariff escalation and uneasy truces between Washington and Beijing, with both sides still trying to stabilize a trade relationship strained by export controls, rare earth disputes and retaliatory duties.

Trump entered office promising a far more aggressive trade posture toward China, imposing sweeping tariffs and export restrictions that triggered retaliatory measures from Beijing and rattled global markets. While both governments later agreed to a temporary trade truce reached during talks in Busan, South Korea, in 2025, many of the underlying disputes remain unresolved.

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Administration officials said discussions in Beijing are expected to include a possible extension of arrangements tied to rare earth exports, along with additional Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products and aircraft.

The administration also has maintained a firm posture on Taiwan ahead of the summit. 

Officials noted the U.S. has approved more arms sales to the island in Trump’s first year than during the entirety of the previous administration, reinforcing that Washington is not easing its defense commitments despite ongoing talks with Beijing.

As President Donald Trump and hundreds of aides, security personnel and officials prepare to travel to China, many will leave behind one of the most basic tools of modern government: their everyday cellphones.

Instead, officials entering China often travel with stripped-down “clean” devices, temporary laptops and tightly controlled communications systems designed to minimize the risk of surveillance, hacking or data collection in what U.S. officials consider one of the world’s most aggressive cyber environments.

The precautions can transform even routine tasks into logistical headaches. Messages that would normally travel instantly through encrypted apps or synced devices are instead routed through controlled channels, temporary accounts or relayed in person. 

CHINA-LINKED HACKING GROUP TARGETS PHONES BELONGING TO TRUMP FAMILY, BIDEN AIDES: REPORT

Contacts disappear. Cloud access is limited. Some officials operate for days without their normal digital footprint.

Current and former officials say the measures reflect a longstanding assumption inside the U.S. government: anything brought into China — phones, laptops, tablets or even hotel Wi-Fi connections — should be treated as potentially compromised.

“China is a mass surveillance state,” said Bill Gage, a former Secret Service special agent and now director of executive protection for Safehaven Security Group. “Briefings for U.S. officials begin well before the president arrives, and they make clear that everything is monitored.”

“We always tell people to assume everything you say and do — both in person and digitally — could be monitored,” said Theresa Payton, former White House chief information officer and CEO of cybersecurity firm Fortalice Solutions. “And to conduct themselves accordingly.”

Ahead of Trump’s high-stakes meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the digital precautions underscore the broader mistrust shaping the relationship between Washington and Beijing, where cybersecurity, espionage and surveillance concerns now permeate nearly every aspect of official engagement.

TRUMP TO CONFRONT XI AT HIGH-STAKES SUMMIT OVER CHINA BACKING FOR IRAN, RUSSIA

The precautions will extend beyond government officials. The delegation traveling with Trump also is expected to include executives from major American firms, including Apple, Boeing, Qualcomm and BlackRock — companies operating at the center of the U.S.–China economic and technological relationship.

In Washington, officials are often told to leave their phones behind when entering places like the Chinese Embassy. Those same concerns are amplified when traveling to China itself, where U.S. officials operate under the assumption that devices, networks and even hotel rooms could be monitored.

Even charging a phone can become a security concern.

Federal cybersecurity guidance has long warned travelers to avoid plugging devices into unknown USB ports or untrusted charging systems because compromised hardware can potentially be used to extract data or install malicious software — a tactic commonly referred to as “juice jacking.”

As a result, officials traveling to high-risk countries often carry preapproved charging equipment, external battery packs and government-issued accessories rather than relying on local infrastructure.

“There are no safe electronic communications in China,” Gage said, noting officials are advised to limit digital activity to only what is necessary for the mission.

The Chinese government has rejected claims that it engages in improper surveillance.

“In China, personal privacy is protected by law,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Fox News Digital. “The Chinese government places a high priority on protecting data privacy and security in accordance with the law. It has never required—and will never require—enterprises or individuals to collect or store data in violation of the law.”

Payton said officials may also be issued temporary devices configured with known “golden images,” allowing security teams to detect whether a device has been altered or accessed during the trip.

“You may see executives issued loaner phones with a known ‘golden image,’ meaning security teams can compare the device before and after use to see if it’s been tampered with,” she said.

“There may be controlled ‘safe zones’ set up where officials can communicate back to the U.S., but everything is tightly managed,” Payton added.

When sensitive conversations need to happen, the logistics become even more complex.

U.S. officials traveling overseas frequently rely on temporary sensitive compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs — secure spaces designed to prevent electronic surveillance and eavesdropping. Those facilities can be established inside hotels or other controlled locations during major diplomatic trips.

“The White House Military Office and communications teams create controlled spaces where they can monitor both physical and digital access to ensure sensitive conversations remain secure,” Payton said.

The precautions can create a surprisingly analog environment for a modern presidential delegation. Paper documents become more common, digital access is restricted and aides accustomed to constant communication often operate through tightly controlled channels.

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment. 

U.S. officials have spent years warning about Chinese cyber espionage campaigns targeting American government agencies, critical infrastructure, defense contractors and telecommunications networks. 

Intelligence officials have accused Beijing-linked hackers of infiltrating everything from federal systems to power grids and water utilities, while repeatedly attempting to collect information on senior American officials and policymakers.

“China will conduct extensive research on every member of the U.S. delegation — from senior officials down to junior personnel,” Gage said, describing the level of intelligence targeting officials are warned about before traveling.

Payton said the high-profile nature of a presidential visit only increases the risk.

“This is a well-publicized event, so you have to assume everything from nation states to opportunistic actors may be trying to listen in,” she said.

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The issue exploded into public view in 2023, when a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon crossed the continental United States before being shot down by the U.S. military after traversing sensitive military sites. U.S. officials later said the balloon was part of a broader surveillance effort linked to Beijing.

More recently, federal officials have warned about sophisticated China-linked cyber groups such as Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon, which U.S. authorities say targeted critical infrastructure and telecommunications systems in ways that could support espionage or disruption during a future conflict.

Fresh off declaring “victory” over Virginia’s roughly $65 million redistricting ballot measure — which Republicans criticized as a “dark money”-backed gerrymander — the Republican National Committee is looking to capitalize on that momentum.

Describing the RNC as “disciplined and ruthless,” Chairman Joe Gruters revealed that the committee launched a multimillion-dollar election integrity push ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The effort involves hiring directors in 17 states to recruit poll workers, poll watchers and election observers, while coordinating legal and Election Day oversight across key battlegrounds, Fox News Digital has learned.

The directors will be the legal “eyes and ears on every vote cast and counted” in every battleground these midterms, according to officials. It is all coming from the top down, echoing President Donald Trump’s longstanding argument that the people counting votes are as important as those casting them.

WHERE TRUMP, GOP VS DEMOCRATS REDISTRICTING BATTLE HEADS NEXT IN WAKE OF KEY COURT RULINGS

“President Trump made it clear in 2024: secure our elections — and we haven’t let up since,” Gruters said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We’re building a ground game across the country with poll workers, poll watchers and lawyers to protect every legal ballot.”

“This is a permanent, nationwide effort backed by legal muscle and disciplined operations. The RNC is all-in, year-round, to safeguard election integrity and ensure only legal votes count,” he added.

The RNC is aiming to defy history in maintaining the president’s party majority in the House and Senate through a midterm election.

NEW RNC CHAIR JOE GRUTERS VOWS TO ‘RIDE THE PRESIDENT ALL THE WAY TO VICTORY’ IN MIDTERMS

Rather than relying on high-profile national election attorneys, the RNC is turning to local legal experts in key states — a strategy officials say was key to its legal approach in Virginia, where a multimillion-dollar ballot measure ultimately failed.

The plan revolves around smart data and even artificial intelligence to feed actual, actionable intelligence in the midterm battlegrounds. And the spending and swath of the operation will expand as the conditions on the ground warrant, according to officials.

The RNC hires are part of an initial seven-figure investment and build on the 2024 election integrity operation, which officials said recruited more than 230,000 volunteers in 18 target states for poll watching, poll work and legal support, along with more than 6,000 volunteer attorneys both remotely and on the ground.

MINNESOTA FRAUD CASE IS ‘CANARY IN THE COAL MINE’ FOR GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS — INCLUDING ELECTIONS, LAWYER WARS

The initial “seven-figure” spend remains a “moving target,” officials added, with the expectation that the investment will climb into the tens of millions nationwide.

Democrats spent comparable amounts in Virginia alone, according to critics of that effort. Republicans hope saving tens of millions will have a domino effect on the midterm battlegrounds.

Supporters argue that approach reflects fiscal responsibility and a broader strategic shift — something that seemingly left Democrat election lawyer Marc Elias publicly frustrated.

‘JUSTICE’: CELEBRATION, MOCKERY ERUPT AFTER SPANBERGER ‘GERRYMANDER’ IS BLOWN UP IN BLOCKBUSTER DECISION

“We’ve got the Republican National Committee waging litigation in courtrooms around the country,” Elias lamented to MS NOW last month.

RNC officials pushed back, saying Elias’ “record is terrible” against them, as they outlined their next battle plan Monday.

The RNC said it will avoid hiring what it views as expensive national election attorneys who would be inexperienced and less informed on local law. The officials behind the multimillion-dollar campaign said hires “will not be names you recognize,” but they are the experts in those states and districts.

DAVID MARCUS: VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS STEP ON A $70M RAKE AND NOW THEY’RE CRYING

Officials compared the strategy to long-term conservative legal efforts that ultimately led to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Rather than lawlessly condemning SCOTUS, Dems should listen to Ari Fleischer,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, wrote Monday night on X as Democrats were pushing what Republicans described as a likely unsuccessful U.S. Supreme Court appeal for the Virginia high court ruling.

“For decades, Republicans lived with Supreme Court rulings they didn’t like. [With] Roe v. Wade, [they] didn’t say ‘we need to rig the Supreme Court.’ They worked within the system to change the way things worked.”

REPUBLICAN FUNDRAISING OUTPACES DEMOCRATS BY NEARLY DOUBLE, JUNE NUMBERS SHOW

Despite the recent gains in the courts on redistricting and criticism oscillating back to the left, the RNC has also faced criticism, particularly with regard to those upset that Democrats outspent Republicans by nearly a 3-to-1 margin on the ultimately doomed Virginia ballot measure.

RNC officials said they are unfazed by criticism, telling Fox News Digital the election integrity effort is akin to a football team’s offensive line — doing all the grunt work and none of the press.

Republicans have faced criticism for being judicious with what is estimated to be up to an $800 million war chest for the midterms, but RNC officials are signaling confidence in their approach.

“Just watch us” get results, the officials said.

REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM ON DEMOCRATS’ ‘POWER GRAB’ AS VIRGINIA VOTES ON REDISTRICTING SHAKE-UP

Defying history in helping Trump keep its congressional majority will “not be cheap” or easy, they admit. Just ask Democrats now upset in Virginia, they added.

RNC officials argued spending just a fraction and getting a narrow margin at the ballot box ultimately gave the “Virginia Supreme Court some cover” to rule the way it did.

WHERE TRUMP, GOP VS DEMOCRATS REDISTRICTING BATTLE HEADS NEXT IN WAKE OF KEY COURT RULINGS

The RNC said it led those legal challenges largely behind the scenes, with legal experts typically not seen on TV, which officials argue demonstrates how effective their quiet midterm legal ground game will be.

While there might be critics of how the RNC is spending on election integrity, the RNC officials stressed they stick to being quietly strategic and targeted in former Raiders head coach Al Davis’ “just win, baby” fashion.

The RNC’s initial field investment includes states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina, with officials saying the operation will cover entire states rather than only targeted congressional districts as the party builds a long-term infrastructure aimed at both the midterms and the 2028 presidential election.

GOP STRATEGISTS CALLED TO DC AS TRUMP TEAM CONFRONTS RISING MIDTERM HEADWINDS

The RNC said the new state directors will serve as the election integrity program’s “eyes and ears” on the ground, overseeing poll worker and poll watcher recruitment, coordinating with attorneys and supporting Election Day operations in battleground states.

That is the mission the RNC has accepted from the president.

Midterm elections historically have lower participation rates than presidential election years, so having legal “eyes and ears on every vote cast and counted” through this election integrity unit will take up the bulk of the RNC spending up to “eight figures,” according to officials.

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The move comes as Trump vowed Sunday to expand the GOP’s election integrity operation, writing on Truth Social that Republicans would again deploy an “Election Integrity Army” in 2026, but that it would be “much bigger and stronger.”

Trump also criticized a Democrat-led election integrity group involving former Attorney General Eric Holder and Elias, accusing Democrats of trying to “suppress Republican voters” and “interfere in our Elections.”

“The Democrats are totally unhinged, and we will not allow them to threaten the integrity of our Elections,” Trump wrote.

TRUMP’S CONVINCING 2024 VICTORY SETS HOUSE GOP UP FOR HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE IN 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

“During my Historic Election in 2024, when I won every single Swing State, and decisively won both the Electoral and Popular votes by wide margins, the Republicans had an Election Integrity Army in every single State to preserve the sanctity of each legal vote,” he wrote. “We will be doing the same again in 2026, but it will be much bigger and stronger. All Americans should have their voices be heard by casting a vote. Be assured this Election will be fair!”

SCOOP: HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN ARM LAUNCHES ‘MAGA MAJORITY’ PROGRAM TO BOOST TRUMP-ALIGNED CANDIDATES

Gruters said Sunday the RNC had deployed its first wave of field staff to 17 battleground states to turn out voters he says are needed to win the midterms.

“We’re building the ground game to win, protect our majorities in the House and Senate, and give President Trump a full four years,” Gruters wrote.

In a separate post, Gruters said the RNC is “aggressively fundraising and deploying staff to battleground states across the country to get out the vote and secure our elections,” adding the committee is being “disciplined and ruthless” to make its resources count and stop Democrats from retaking Congress in November.

GOP OUTPERFORMED DEMS ON VOTER REGISTRATION IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES, NEW ANALYSIS REVEALS

The RNC kept its election integrity program intact after the 2024 election and is now expanding poll worker recruitment in 17 target states while also growing operations in non-target states. The committee said it is currently involved in more than 130 active election integrity cases across 30 states.

That included involvement in legal challenges related to the Virginia Supreme Court, which struck down a voter-approved redistricting measure that Republicans had criticized as a gerrymander, in a decision delivered Friday.

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“Hey @JamesBlairUSA where are all the people attacking us for not spending enough in Virginia?” Trump’s 2024 campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita wrote Friday on X, directing his slam dunk on critics to the White House deputy chief of staff who is transitioning to leading the midterm operation.

“Oh yea …they are laughing at Dems for wasting $60 million #wannabees,” he wrote.

Authorities in Minnesota have filed criminal charges against a man accused of a food stamp fraud scheme that defrauded taxpayers out of over $1 million. 

Abdidwahid Mohamed, the owner of Minnesota Food Grocery LLC, allegedly used EBT cards registered to others to purchase items at Sam’s Club and Costco in 2021 before turning around and reselling them in his store, Fox 9 Minneapolis reported.

Authorities in Hennepin County say they observed Mohamed making purchases and followed him back to his store with the goods. Surveillance footage and GPS data backed this up, while investigators noted that many of the EBT cardholders were either out of the country or say they never shopped at the stores he used. 

SNAP, the federal program allegedly abused by Mohamed, provides food assistance to low-income households through EBT cards that function like debit cards. 

FOOD-STAMP FRAUD NUMBERS EXPOSE WHICH STATES ARE DRAINING THE MOST TAXPAYER DOLLARS

“Mohamed received $1,141,082 in EBT payments,” according to the complaint, which added that the plan “involved a high degree of sophistication or planning or occurred over a lengthy period of time.”  

Mohamed faces up to 20 years in prison or a $100,000 fine if found guilty.

“Minneapolis didn’t become America’s fraud capital by accident,” Dalia al-Aqidi, a Republican running for Congress in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., told Fox News Digital. “It was earned. This week, it’s a grocer charged with running up $1.1 million in charges on other people’s EBT cards. Next week, it will be something else, but the bill always lands on the Minnesotans who actually pay taxes.”

Aqidi says that families tell her “affordability” is what “keeps them up night” and the “cruel joke is that the money is here to really make a difference for people.”

MINNESOTA MILLIONAIRE WHO QUALIFIED FOR FOOD STAMPS WARNS OF ‘FRAUD BY DESIGN’ LOOPHOLE AHEAD OF HEARING

“It is just lining the wrong pockets and paying for luxury cars and houses on the other side of the world. The fraudsters are only half the story. The other half are the people administering these programs, from the front lines all the way up to Ilhan Omar, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Governor Tim Walz. There has been talk about ending fraud in Minnesota for years. I am going to Washington to actually do it.”

Two Republican lawmakers in Minnesota who spoke to Fox News Digital echoed a similar sentiment, including state Sen. Mark Koran, a Republican, who said the situation is “yet another example of why Minnesota is target number one for fraudsters.”

“The sheer volume of welfare programs, combined with the inability of state agencies to detect obvious fraud is alarming. Once again, it was a private retailer, not the state, that uncovered this fraud scheme,” Koran added, referencing the suspect being initially flagged by Walmart’s Global Investigation Team.

“All individuals involved, including the people that sold their EBT cards to Abdi Mohamed, have to be fully prosecuted,” Koran said. People who come here to steal from hardworking Minnesota taxpayers deserve serious consequences.

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Minnesota state Sen. Michael Holmstrom, a Republican, reacted to the news by telling Fox News Digital, “This may be the laziest one yet.”

“We had this guy, Abdi Mohamed, and he named his scam company ‘Minnesota Food Grocery LLC.’ They aren’t even trying, because they have been conditioned to believe there are no consequences.”

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

The charges come amid the massive fraud scandal unfolding in Minnesota within social services programs, particularly within the Somali community, in recent months, along with a renewed crackdown from the Trump administration on food stamp fraud.

“Since its inception, SNAP has helped our most vulnerable citizens afford the essential and nutritious food they need,” Rollins and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a Fox News op-ed in March. “At least, that is what the program is supposed to do.

“Over time, however, SNAP has been taken advantage of, allowing many to game the system and leaving millions of vulnerable Americans without healthy, nutrient-dense food options.”

A handful of Republican state senators in South Carolina on Tuesday derailed an effort in the GOP-dominated legislature to redraw their state’s congressional district map which aims to erase the only Democrat-dominated U.S. House seat ahead of the midterm elections.

Five Republican state senators broke with their party and teamed up with Democrats to defeat a proposal that would have allowed the chamber to vote on redistricting after the South Carolina legislative session comes to a close later this week.

The move came hours after President Donald Trump warned on social media that he’d be “watching closely” as lawmakers met to move forward with changing their state’s map.

The setback means it will be much harder for South Carolina to join Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana, which are altering their maps to eliminate Democrat-controlled congressional districts in time for the midterms, when the GOP will be defending its razor-thin House majority. The southern states are the latest battleground in the nationwide redistricting showdown. At stake is which party will control the House during the final two years of Trump’s second term in the White House.

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

The efforts by Republicans in the southern states come in the wake of a decision by the conservative majority on the Supreme Court to slash a key protection in the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. The justices ruled that race should not dictate the redrawing of legislative district maps.

South Carolina Republicans were trying to advance a new map that could put longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn, the only Democrat in the state’s seven-person House delegation, out of a job.

Clyburn this past week remained optimistic he can still win re-election.

“I don’t know why people think I could not get re-elected if they redistrict South Carolina,” Clyburn said in a CNN interview. “I have a district that’s about 45 percent African-American. I have no idea what the number will be after the legislature finishes, but whatever that number is, I will be running on my record and America’s promise.”

ALABAMA REPUBLICANS PLOW FORWARD ON REDISTRICTING

Trump, in a social media post Monday night, urged “South Carolina Republicans: BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS.”

“Move the U.S. House Primaries to August, leave the rest on the same schedule. Everything will be fine. GET IT DONE!” he emphasized.

Trump’s message came a week after five Indiana Republican state senators who in December helped sink congressional redistricting in the solidly red Midwestern state were ousted by Trump-backed challengers in GOP primaries.

Shane Massey, the South Carolina Senate’s Republican majority leader, argued in a floor speech that following Trump’s lead on edistricting would be against the interests of the Palmetto State.

“South Carolina has always punched above their weight,” Massey said. “Doing this will diminish that influence.”

But he also acknowledged that he will likely face political payback from Trump and the president’s allies.

“There are likely consequences for me, personally, taking the position that I am right now,” Massey said. “I’m comfortable with that. I may not like it, but I’m comfortable with it…My conscience is clear on this one.”

Other South Carolina Republicans had raised concerns that carving up the district represented by Clyburn could backfire on their party in the midterms.

The top four Republicans running for governor this year, Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, Attorney Gen. Alan Wilson, and Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman all criticized the lack of legislative action, with Evette describing it as “a betrayal of the people of South Carolina” and in “direct defiance” of Trump.

The current governor, Republican Henry McMaster, a top Trump ally, could still call the legislature back into special session to try and push through redistricting, but his office has so far said that scenario is unlikely.

WHAT’S ON THE LINE AS THESE STATES HOLD PRIMARIES TODAY

The GOP-dominated Tennessee legislature on Thursday quickly adopted a new map that would eliminate the only Democrat-controlled congressional district in the state, and would likely give Republicans control of all nine districts.

GOP Gov. Bill Lee quickly signed the new maps into law.

Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents the majority Black district that’s being carved up, vowed legal action.

“Trump knows he HAS TO rig the game to keep his majority in November. And the TN GOP was willing to go along with it. It’s shameful,” Cohen wrote on social media. “Next stop is the courts.”

Trump praised Tennessee Republicans in his social media post and urged GOP lawmakers in South Carolina to act “just like the Republicans of the Great State of Tennessee were last week.”

It’s back to the future in Alabama, after the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ideological ruling, cleared the way for the state to put in place a map Republicans drew up in 2023 that had been blocked by lower courts. The map would eliminate one of the state’s two blue-leaning congressional seats.

GOP Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday called for a special primary election in August in the four U.S. House districts altered by the new map.

Last week, the Supreme Court said that its decision declaring Louisiana’s map unconstitutional should go into effect immediately.

That cleared the way for the GOP-controlled state legislature to begin the process of reshaping the map, and hearings got underway on Friday.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, took swift action in the immediate aftermath of the high court’s ruling, when he delayed the May 16 U.S. House primary elections in Louisiana.

Louisiana Republicans are aiming to erase one or both of the two Black-majority House seats, which are represented by Democrats.

BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES

In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed a bill by the GOP-dominated state legislature that overhauls the red-leaning state’s congressional districts, adding four more right-leaning seats by eliminating districts currently controlled by Democrats.

Republicans currently control Florida’s U.S. House delegation by a 20-8 margin.

Democrats are fighting back.

On Monday, Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt a Virginia state Supreme Court ruling invalidating a ballot measure that would have given their party an additional four left-leaning U.S. House seats.

Last week’s ruling in Virginia means the map used in the 2024 elections will stay in place for the 2026 ballot box showdowns. Democrats currently control the state’s U.S. House delegation by a 6-5 margin. The now overturned map could have resulted in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in the blue-leaning but competitive state.

How we got here

The battle over the maps ignited last spring when Trump, aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s fragile House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country. Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That led to five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.

But the fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, drew new maps as part of the president’s push.

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But in blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

And as mentioned, Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House.

Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine weighed in after the state Supreme Court blocked a newly drawn congressional map Friday, with Warner calling the ruling “outrageous” and Kaine urging candidates to “go win.”  

“I was really disappointed by the court,” Warner said.

VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT RULES ON NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP

The court ruled the redistricting effort failed to meet Virginia’s constitutional amendment requirements, halting a plan Democrats had hoped would help flip several GOP-held seats as both parties battle for control of the House.

The amendment, passed in 2020, established stricter guidelines for congressional map-drawing and approval. It also included limits on how political influence can shape district boundaries — a key issue cited by the court.

“I’m not going to second-guess the fact that the majority of Virginians voted for this,” Warner said.

Democratic lawmakers had aimed to target four GOP-held seats under the proposal, which voters approved in May before it was overturned by the court. The plan would have reshaped the state’s House map in Democrats’ favor ahead of the midterm elections.

THIS CRUCIAL STATE IS THE LATEST BATTLEGROUND IN REDISTRICTING WAR BETWEEN TRUMP AND DEMOCRATS

Those targeted districts were seen as crucial in Democrats’ efforts to gain ground in Virginia, which remains competitive in federal races even as it leans Democratic statewide.

“Here’s what I think,” Kaine said. “We need to do now what we did last November and just go win a whole lot of seats on the maps we didn’t draw.”

Kaine’s response shows the face Democrats are putting on in Virginia amid the redistricting fallout as both parties struggle for control of the House in the upcoming November midterms. 

He did not directly address the question, instead pointing to his party’s candidate strength and its ability to compete in key races heading into the election.

“Everything about the candidates who are in the races and the dynamic that they’re feeling tells me we can do that, so that’s what I’m focused on now,” he said.

Republicans have criticized the redistricting effort as an attempt to tilt the map in Democrats’ favor, while Democrats have pointed to similar efforts in GOP-led states as part of a broader national fight over congressional lines.

TRUMP URGES VIRGINIA VOTERS TO REJECT ‘BLATANT PARTISAN POWER GRAB’ BY DEMOCRATS

Kaine accused Republicans of redrawing maps “through backroom deals” in a separate statement while scolding the Virginia Supreme Court for raising concerns about the referendum after “three million Virginians cast their ballots.”

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“It sure as heck seems like there are one set of rules for Democrats and another set of rules for Republicans,” Warner said.

With the proposed map blocked, both parties are expected to focus on key competitive Virginia districts that could decide control of the House.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ditched his usual suit for a Nike tracksuit aboard Air Force One, sparking widespread online reactions as images of the unexpected look spread across social media.

Photos posted to X by White House communications director Steven Cheung showed Rubio wearing a gray Nike Tech fleece outfit — a notably casual departure from the formal attire typically worn by top U.S. officials during official travel.

The moment comes as Rubio travels with President Donald Trump on a high-stakes trip to China, where officials are expected to focus on trade and national security issues, creating a contrast between high-level diplomacy and a social media-driven fashion moment.

The outfit quickly drew comparisons to the internet’s so-called “Venezuela Nike Tech” meme, which gained traction earlier this year after images of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro wearing a similar tracksuit circulated online.

DAN GAINOR: FROM SECRETARY OF STATE TO SECRETARY OF MEMES, RUBIO WINS OVER MAGA

Social media users flooded X with jokes and commentary after the images surfaced.

“Is Marco going to be the DJ for the flight?” one X user wrote alongside an edited image showing Rubio standing behind a DJ booth.

Another viral meme labeled Rubio “Nicolás Maduro as Marco Rubio,” continuing the comparisons between the secretary of state’s outfit and the now-viral Maduro images.

MARCO RUBIO SPOTTED BEHIND DJ BOOTH AT FAMILY WEDDING AS SOCIAL MEDIA REACTS TO VIRAL CLIP

Another user wrote, “Okay — did I miss one of Marco Rubio’s new jobs? Sportswear model?”

Others dubbed the outfit “the Maduro fit,” while some questioned the casual attire aboard Air Force One.

Rubio has also become an unlikely recurring viral figure online in recent weeks. Earlier this month, videos shared by White House officials showed the secretary of state DJing at a family wedding, wearing headphones behind a mixing booth as guests danced around him.

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Nike Tech fleece tracksuits have surged in popularity online in recent months, fueled in part by the Maduro images that helped turn the minimalist athletic style into an unlikely political meme.

While senior officials are typically seen in formal wear during Air Force One travel, Rubio’s off-duty look offered a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse — and quickly became another social media talking point.

Republican Gov. Jim Pillen of Nebraska is a big step closer to winning re-election as governor of the red-leaning Great Plains state.

Pillen easily topped five challengers in Nebraska’s GOP gubernatorial primary to win his party’s 2026 nomination, the Associated Press reports.

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

The governor, a practicing veterinarian and chair of Pillen Family Farms who also played defensive back for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team five decades ago, was first elected in 2022.

The backing of the outgoing Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts helped Pillen top a crowded field of GOP rivals in the primary before going on to easily win the general election.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

One week after being sworn in as governor, Pillen appointed Ricketts to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant when Republican Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down to become University of Florida president.

Pillen will be considered the clear favorite in the general election in a state President Donald Trump carried by 20 points as he won back the White House in 2024.

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The governor will face off against former state Sen. Lynne Walz, who won the Democratic nomination, the Associated Press reports. 

Walz crushed perennial candidate Larry Marvin in the Democratic primary.

A big-city Democratic mayor who grabbed national attention last year as he was arrested during an anti-ICE protest outside a federal immigration detention center cruised to re-election on Tuesday.

Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, topped 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s election as he faced off against seven challengers, the Associated Press reports.

Since Baraka clinched a majority of the vote as he ran for a fourth term steering New Jersey’s largest city, he’ll avoid a runoff in November.

OR

A big-city Democratic mayor who grabbed national attention last year as he was arrested during an anti-ICE protest outside a federal immigration detention center will face a runoff election in November.

Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, finished ahead of seven challengers in Tuesday’s election as he faced off against seven challengers, the Associated Press reports.

But Baraka failed to crack 50% of the vote as he ran for a fourth term steering New Jersey’s largest city, which means he’ll face off in a runoff election in November against the second-place finisher, ______

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While Baraka is a Democrat, mayoral elections in Newark are technically nonpartisan.

Baraka, who is considered one of the most progressive mayors in the nation, last year opposed the reopening of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, which was part of President Donald Trump’s second-term crackdown on illegal immigration.

On May 9, 2025, Baraka was arrested by ICE agents outside the facility after he unsuccessfully attempted to join a congressional delegation’s tour of the facility.

The mayor’s arrest made national headlines.

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The charges against Baraka were dropped, and he later ran for governor, coming in second to then-Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Sherrill ended up winning election as New Jersey governor.