NationalWatch

The Trump administration says it has complete support from the Venezuelan government amid humanitarian efforts just months after the removal of former dictator Nicolás Maduro, which sparked rage among the president’s opponents.

After magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck the northern part of the South American nation last week, the American government stepped in to help in a move that the administration says has been welcomed by the Venezuelan government and citizenry alike.

“We have seen total compliance from the interim authorities in Venezuela as a result of the unprecedented response by the United States to these deadly earthquakes,” a State Department official told Fox News Digital Tuesday.

US MILITARY TOUTS WORK TO ASSIST IN VENEZUELA FOLLOWING DEADLY EARTHQUAKES

The death toll from the natural disaster stands at nearly 2,000 and continues to rise.

“Every request we have made has been immediately granted and in turn, we have seen an incredible outpouring of support from the Venezuelan people towards Americans on the ground,” the official continued.

TRUMP ‘SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING’ PLAN TO MAKE VENEZUELA AND ITS $40 TRILLION IN OIL PERMANENT PART OF USA

On Jan. 3, U.S. special forces successfully took Maduro into custody after a daring nighttime mission that overwhelmed the dictator’s armed guards. After penetrating Maduro’s palace, they took him into custody. He was relocated to the United States where he remains in jail awaiting trial on narco-terrorism and gun charges.

The progressive political left rushed to the defense of the brutal socialist authoritarian in the wake of his capture.

US CAPTURE OF MADURO THROWS SPOTLIGHT ON VENEZUELA’S MASSIVE OIL RESERVES

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., warned that the event risked violating international law, while Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called the United States a “rogue state.”

“Trump’s illegal and unprovoked bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president are grave violations of international law and the U.S. Constitution. These are the actions of a rogue state,” Tlaib wrote on social media.

“The American people do not want another regime change war abroad,” she added.

“Maduro’s illegitimate election does not give the president the power to invade without congressional approval, nor does it create a national security justification. That contention is laughable,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

The Trump administration has taken swift action to help the Venezuelan people amid the crisis, including mobilizing $150 million in humanitarian relief.

It has assembled a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) composed of more than 250 people, including three specialized Urban Search-and-Rescue (USAR) teams. The administration says the teams have conducted critical life-saving measures.

The U.S. military has assisted with logistics.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court installed Delcy Rodríguez as the country’s interim president.

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Since then, diplomatic relations with the country have been restored, though officials in Washington have made it clear that such cooperation is temporary, while emphasizing the U.S. does not view her presidency as a permanent solution.

Manny Rutinel, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, won a primary race on Tuesday evening, securing his party’s bid to challenge incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo.

Rutinel, a member of the state’s House of Representatives, faces one of the country’s most competitive races that could help decide the balance of power in Washington, D.C., where Republicans hold a governing trifecta across the House, Senate and Oval Office.

Democrats see seats like this district as a prime opportunity to pry away the GOP’s narrow grip on the House, where they have a slim majority.

Evans, the current seat holder, won the election in 2024 by just 0.8%.

REPUBLICAN GABE EVANS WINS COLORADO’S 8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, BEATING INCUMBENT YADIRA CARAVEO

Rutinel, a former state legislator, has pitched himself as a Democrat ready to protect government programs against GOP cuts and protect minorities against government overreach.

On his website, he lists protecting Social Security and Medicaid, expanding tax credits, ending Trump’s immigration crackdown, and lowering housing costs among his top priorities.

“I was raised on Medicaid. It’s deeply personal for me and now Donald Trump and Gabe Evans are trying to destroy it to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies,” Rutinel said in a campaign video posted to Instagram.

“I’m afraid of Donald Trump continuing to destroy our democracy and our economy and making life impossible for working people and Latino immigrants across the country.”

REPUBLICANS TARGET 2 KEY DEMOCRATIC RACES WITH MAMDANI CONNECTION STRATEGY

Because his platform includes elements like expanding taxes on the rich and universal healthcare, Republicans have made efforts to paint Rutinel as in the same vein as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“Those policies may sell in New York, but Coloradans aren’t buying it,” a spokesperson for Gabe Evans told Fox News Digital when asked about the similarities back in November.

Evan’s campaign echoed that thinking in its reaction to Rutinel’s win on Tuesday evening.

“Democrats have chosen a far-left, radical socialist, Mamdani-wanna-be extremist — someone who supports eliminating oil and gas, defunding law enforcement, calling farmers and ranchers horrific and threatening the industries that power our economy. As a former cop, Army veteran, grandson of Mexican immigrants, husband, father and the proud Representative of this district, I’ll continue fighting to protect and uplift Colorado’s hardworking families while keeping our communities safe and our economy strong,” Evans said in a statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) also issued a statement on Tuesday evening.

“The socialist takeover of the Democrat Party is no longer confined to deep-blue strongholds. The radicals are taking over battleground districts, putting must-win seats out of reach for Democrats and sinking their chances of flipping the House,” Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the NRCC said.

Moreover, the Congressional Leadership Fund, an arm of the House Republican fundraising apparatus, highlighted a video posted to Instagram of a Mamdani campaign rally, offering it as proof that Rutinel belongs in the same bucket as Mamdani.

The video briefly shows someone who appears to be Rutinel standing behind Mamdani.

SCOOP: HOUSE REPUBLICANS LINK MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI TO VULNERABLE CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS

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“What does the CO-08 race have in common with the NYC Mayoral Race? Democrat Manny Rutinel is campaigning in both,” CLF pointed out in one of its ads.

Having secured his party’s nomination, Rutinel will face off against Evans in the general election on Nov. 3.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a 30-year incumbent, lost to a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed challenger in a high-profile primary on Tuesday evening.

Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old socialist, defeated DeGette in a Democratic primary for a deep-blue House seat anchored in Denver, according to The Associated Press, scoring a major victory for the socialist left on Tuesday evening.

The DSA had been aiming to cast DeGette’s loss as evidence of its growing momentum after a slate of socialist candidates won Democratic primaries in New York City last week.

“Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,” the DSA wrote in a social media post last week.

SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP

If elected in November, Kiros, who was born in Ethiopia, will likely join the ranks of the far-left group known as the Squad and become one of a handful of the House chamber’s outspoken socialists. 

The millennial challenger was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and the anti-incumbent leftist organization Justice Democrats. Controversial socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who has said Hamas is “a thousand times better” than Israel and praised the Chinese Communist Party, also backed Kiros’ insurgent primary run.

DeGette, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who supports abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sought to win a 16th House term by flexing her leftist bona fides. She argued her seniority on an influential House committee would allow her to push for Medicare-for-All legislation — a longtime priority of the party’s far-left flank.

DeGette, who was endorsed by former CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also spotlighted her experience as an impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021.

Though DeGette and Kiros shared few policy disagreements, they diverged sharply over Israel and antisemitism. Kiros also sharply criticized DeGette for accepting corporate PAC contributions.

Kiros, a PhD student and lawyer, was fired from a New York firm in 2023 after publishing an open letter, arguing that pro-Palestinian student protesters calling for the elimination of Israel were not antisemitic and appearing to defend Hamas.

WATCH: HOUSE DEMS UNLOAD ON TEXAS DEMOCRAT OVER ‘DEMENTED’ ANTISEMITIC COMMENTS

She has also described the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks against the Jewish state as the “inevitable consequence of apartheid” and declined to characterize the deadly firebombing of protesters in Boulder last year who were urging the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza as antisemitic. 

“I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator,” Kiros told Colorado’s 9News in a recent television interview. “All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might have believed.”

A June 2025 bipartisan resolution condemning the attack as part of a “rise in ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals” won every present lawmaker’s support, except for Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who voted present.

Kiros has also suggested the United States deserved 9/11.

“Inevitable in the sense that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East that forced people to believe that another act of violence was the only response,” Kiros told 9News when asked if she thought the terror attack was “the inevitable consequence of American foreign policy.”

“And again, just like I said before, our responsibility is to get rid of those conditions that lead to violence in the first place,” Kiros continued.

DeGette argued that Kiros’ embrace of Piker and her comments about antisemitism and 9/11 were disqualifying. 

“I’m shocked and disgusted that Kiros is doubling down on excusing terrorism and the murder of innocent people,” the 30-year incumbent wrote on Facebook earlier this month.

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Colorado’s 1st Congressional District is the most liberal seat in the state and voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by 56 points in 2024.

The primary fight was further scrambled by University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, also running for DeGette’s seat. Though James did not pose the same threat as Kiros, her vote share could ultimately have swayed the contest. 

Jessica Killin won the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday, setting up a November match-up against incumbent Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., for the Colorado Springs-based seat.

Killin, a former Army captain and former chief of staff to second gentleman Doug Emhoff, defeated fellow Army veteran and nonprofit leader Joe Reagan, according to the Associated Press. The result means she will take on Crank, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary and is seeking a second term representing the district, which is centered on Colorado Springs and most of El Paso County, including several military-heavy communities.

Killin entered the race as a first-time candidate with national support and strong fundraising, while Reagan, who ran for the seat in 2024, leaned on his local roots, combat service and nonprofit work helping veterans open businesses.

PROGRESSIVE MOMENTUM HITS SPEED BUMP AS VETERAN DEMOCRAT FENDS OFF CHALLENGER IN COLORADO

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES

The general election will test whether Democrats can make gains in a Republican-leaning district that includes Fort Carson and the Air Force Academy, along with fast-growing Colorado Springs suburbs.

The race drew national attention from Democrats because the Colorado Springs-based district, long a Republican stronghold, has shown signs of becoming more competitive. The Colorado Sun reported that Trump’s margin in El Paso County, which largely overlaps with the 5th District, fell from 22 points in 2016 to 10 points in 2024, while Republican margins in the House race have also narrowed over the past decade.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added Killin to its Red to Blue program, signaling national Democrats viewed the Republican-held seat as a potential pickup opportunity, even though the district remains GOP-leaning.

The district’s current incumbent, Crank, is a former Capitol Hill staffer of seven years, who subsequently moved back home to Colorado where he served as Vice President for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Chief Operating Officer at nonprofit Americans for Prosperity and president of his own real estate investment company, according to his campaign website.

Crank’s background in broadcasting includes hosting both The Jeff Crank Show in Colorado and the American Potential Podcast.

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Killin aligned herself with a centrist Democratic push shortly before the primary, signing onto an initiative that described its signatories as “capitalist, not socialist” and emphasized public safety, fiscal responsibility, secure borders and national pride.

Meanwhile, Killin said during an online news conference that candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America “should not be the face of our party,” according to local news outlet Colorado Politics.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in Colorado’s Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, blocking Bennet’s attempted move from the Senate to the governor’s residence and putting Weiser in position as the favorite to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.

Weiser’s win over Bennet, a three-term senator and former 2020 presidential candidate, marked a major upset in one of the most closely watched Democratic primaries of the year. The winner of the Democratic nomination is favored in November in a state where Democrats have dominated recent statewide elections.

The result also means Bennet is expected to remain in the Senate, avoiding what would have been a major vacancy fight had he won the governorship in November.

COLORADO DEPUTY COULD FACE MASSIVE FINE FOR SHARING INFORMATION WITH IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES

“Phil has dedicated his life to the law, justice, and public service,” says Weiser’s campaign website. “As your Governor he will continue to advance the rule of law, protect our democracy, and promote justice for all. Phil Weiser will continue to defend and protect every Coloradan across the state.”

The primary battle pitted two high-profile Colorado Democrats against each other — Bennet, a three-term senator and former 2020 presidential candidate, and Weiser, the state’s two-term attorney general.

Polis, a Democrat, is barred by term limits from seeking another term after eight years in office.

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES

Bennet entered the primary with support from much of Colorado’s Democratic establishment, with his campaign listing endorsements from more than 200 Colorado leaders, including Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., along with state legislative leaders and labor groups.

Weiser’s campaign, meanwhile, touted support from former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, former Rep. Ed Perlmutter, former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, former Sen. Tim Wirth and a long list of local officials, state lawmakers and progressive organizations.

Bennet argued during the race that he could be more effective fighting Trump and advancing policy as governor, while Weiser leaned on his experience as Colorado’s attorney general and his legal background as he made the case for his own campaign.

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Barb Kirkmeyer was leading the Republican primary for governor Tuesday evening as the Dem primary was called. 

Whether Kirkmeyer or one of her trailing opponents, Victor Marx or Scott Bottoms, the GOP nominee faces an uphill battle against Weiser in November.

Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., clinched her Republican primary after running unopposed to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District on Tuesday evening, setting herself up to pursue a fourth term.

Despite notable clashes with House GOP leadership and President Donald Trump, Boebert emerged from her primary largely unscathed, separating herself from the three other Republicans who voted with Democrats to advance the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

If reelected in the state’s Nov. 3 general election, she will be the only one remaining next Congress among fellow GOP rebels Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.

Greene, a once-outspoken backer of the president, resigned her seat at the beginning of the year when the two split on foreign aid, government transparency and federal spending.

THE REVOLT OF MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, NOW DONALD TRUMP’S FIERCEST CRITIC

Although he’s presently still in office, Massie lost a primary bid to a Trump-backed challenger earlier this year.

And Mace, who ran for governor in the Palmetto State, fell woefully short of capturing the GOP nomination after Trump declined to endorse her.

Despite outlasting her fellow GOP colleagues, Boebert hasn’t fully escaped Trump’s wrath. The president noted that Boebert had changed districts to run for a considerably safer seat and appeared ready to test the waters against her.

TRUMP THREATENS TO PULL BOEBERT ENDORSEMENT, CALLS CONGRESSWOMAN ‘WEAK MINDED’ OVER MASSIE SUPPORT

“Is anyone interested in running against weak-minded Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s fourth congressional district?” Trump said in a post to Truth Social in May.

“You remember Lauren moved to the district when it became obvious that she couldn’t win in her original congressional district. Boebert is campaigning for the worst ‘Republican’ congressman in the history of our country, Thomas Massie. Even though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my honor to withdraw that endorsement and endorse a good and proper alternative.”

Boebert announced her decision to switch districts in December 2023, before her vote on the Epstein Files.

Despite her disagreements with the White House, Boebert has said she remains an ally to Trump.

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“Below is my friend Thomas Massie,” Boebert said in a post to X, posting a picture of Massie alongside Trump.

“He loves America and is fighting to save it. Also below is my friend and President Donald Trump. He’s put his life on the line to save this great country. I support both of these men. I’ve worked with both to preserve freedom and liberty. And if that makes you angry, bless your heart,” Boebert wrote.

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Virginia from enforcing a new law that would prohibit federal agents — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol — from wearing masks while carrying out enforcement operations, siding with the Trump administration in a dispute over federal authority.

Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne granted the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request for a preliminary injunction, preventing the law from taking effect Wednesday while the legal challenge proceeds. The injunction will remain in place while the case is litigated.

Payne found the federal government is likely to succeed on the merits because Virginia’s law attempts to regulate how federal officers enforce immigration laws, violating the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

MINNESOTA SENATE VOTES TO BAN ICE FROM WEARING MASKS, ALLOW RESIDENTS TO SUE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

The judge also found the government demonstrated it would likely suffer irreparable harm because enforcing the law could expose federal employees to “real risk of physical harm” while carrying out immigration enforcement duties.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit the DOJ filed last week challenging two laws signed by Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

The DOJ argued the measures would subject masked federal agents to criminal penalties and threaten agreements between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement.

DOJ ESCALATES BLUE-STATE ICE STANDOFF AFTER STATES REFUSE KEY FEDERAL REQUEST

“Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe, and they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said when the lawsuit was filed.

“Virginia’s anti-law enforcement policies regulate the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents,” he added. “These laws cannot stand.”

The lawsuit argued Virginia was attempting to dictate how federal officers carry out law enforcement operations by restricting when they may wear face coverings, requiring them to display identifying information and placing conditions on cooperation agreements between local agencies and ICE.

MINNESOTA SENATE VOTES TO BAN ICE FROM WEARING MASKS, ALLOW RESIDENTS TO SUE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

According to the DOJ, federal officers who violated Virginia’s mask and identification law could have faced a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.

The lawsuit names Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano as defendants.

Payne’s order applies only to Virginia’s mask and identity law. The judge noted the Justice Department’s separate challenge to another provision governing immigration enforcement agreements will proceed on a different briefing schedule, with a hearing scheduled for Aug. 3.

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Spanberger, Jones and Descano have all taken steps to counter the Trump administration’s ICE agenda in Virginia.

In February, Spanberger rescinded an executive order issued by former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin directing state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Spanberger’s office for comment on the development.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday to announce the Republican Party will host its very first “Midterm Convention” this fall in Texas.

The two-day event, scheduled to take center stage on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10 in Dallas, aims to celebrate the “great American comeback” and highlight the ongoing achievements of the administration’s America First Agenda, the president said.

“It will be in Dallas, Texas — One of my favorite places in the World,” Trump wrote in the announcement. “It has never been done before, and will be a truly Historic Event.”

MIDTERM ALARM BELLS: DEMOCRATS FACE STEEP FAVORABILITY DEFICIT DESPITE ELECTION GAINS

In his post, the president touted a list of policy victories and economic milestones that will serve as the focal point of the convention, including eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security, as well as securing stronger borders and safer communities.

BIDEN JUDGE OVERRULED ON KEY TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICY

He also highlighted American energy dominance alongside dropping oil prices, progress on denuclearizing Iran, and driving affordability for Americans.

“We are delivering on the promises that politicians talked about for decades, but never got done,” Trump wrote.

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The president said the “rally like none other,” will feature “lots of great entertainment” and spotlight the nation’s first responders, innovators, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and job creators.

First lady Melania Trump pointed to a passage from her bestselling memoir Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruled that states may limit women’s and girls’ sports teams to biological females, saying the decision aligns with a position she has long supported.

In a post on X, Trump highlighted a passage from Melania that was published months before the court’s landmark 6-3 decision, which held that states may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause.

“As many of you may know, I fully support the LGBTQIA+ community. But we must also ensure that our female athletes are protected and respected,” the first lady wrote on X, pointing readers to page 156 of her memoir, “Melania.”

U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE MAKES NEW TRANS ATHLETE FINDINGS AGAINST USA HOCKEY

“The U.S. Supreme Court has now legally confirmed this opinion: ‘Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females? … The answer is yes,’” Trump continued, citing the court’s decision.

“America, we can support the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and also protect opportunities for female athletes,” she added. “Respect everyone and keep girls’ sports fair. Both ideals are essential.”

The first lady’s comments came just hours after the Supreme Court established a new nationwide precedent allowing states to maintain women’s and girls’ sports teams for biological females.

U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE MAKES NEW TRANS ATHLETE FINDINGS AGAINST USA HOCKEY

In the consolidated cases West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, the justices ruled 6-3 in favor of West Virginia and Idaho, upholding state laws requiring student-athletes to compete on teams that correspond with their biological sex at birth rather than their gender identity.

Writing for the majority, the court held: “Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex.”

The decision marks a major victory for supporters of so-called “Save Women’s Sports” laws, validating similar legislation enacted in 27 states in recent years. The ruling also clears the way for those states to continue enforcing the laws without the legal uncertainty that surrounded them while the cases moved through the courts.

LAWYERS FIGHTING SJSU OVER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL RESPOND TO FEDERAL TITLE IX PROBE FINDINGS

Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey praised the ruling, calling it “a monumental victory for every female athlete who has ever competed, or dreamed of competing, on a fair and safe playing field.”

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador likewise hailed the decision, saying it confirmed states’ authority to “preserve fair competition and protect the opportunities that generations of women fought to secure.”

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The cases centered on West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act and Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, both of which had been blocked after legal challenges brought by transgender athletes.

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

A tense hearing on sanctuary city policies devolved Tuesday into a shouting match between Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who accused each other of not caring about the deaths of Americans at the hands of illegal immigrants or anti-ICE protesters killed by federal agents.

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on sanctuary policies, Lawler scolded some of his colleagues, accusing them of apathy regarding the deaths of Laken Riley and Sheridan Gorman—two women allegedly killed by illegal immigrants in separate incidents.

However, he noted their voicing of outrage over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two anti-ICE agitators who were shot and killed by federal agents while allegedly interfering in law enforcement operations in Minnesota earlier this year.

“So while some of my colleagues may not want to hear the truth, the same outrage you feel about Renee Good and Alex Pretti, you should feel about Sheridan Gorman and Laken Riley and every Angel family in this country,” Lawler said.

GRIEVING PARENTS OF SLAIN STUDENT SHERIDAN GORMAN SPEAK OUT: ‘WE CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO ANOTHER FAMILY’

“I do feel that outrage. You do not,” Raskin shouted in response.

“You do not, because if you did, you would not support sanctuary jurisdictions. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should be ashamed of yourself, Jamie. You’re a disgrace,” Lawler replied.

RASKIN ACTS CLUELESS WHEN PRESSED ON DEMOCRATS’ ANTI-TRUMP RHETORIC FOLLOWING WHCD SHOOTING

“Do you feel the outrage of Renee Good and Alex Pretti?” Raskin asked. “You don’t belong on this committee. You should get the hell out of here!”

Lawler noted that he wrote a Jan. 27 New York Times op-ed about Good and Pretti’s deaths.

“The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this month were tragic and preventable. No matter where you stand on immigration enforcement, the shootings show that what the country has been doing is not working,” Lawler wrote in the piece.

“Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection are conducting forceful operations in American communities,” he added. “They should reassess their current tactics.”

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Raskin has voiced strong support for sanctuary policies, which shield illegal aliens—even those arrested and convicted of crimes—from federal immigration authorities. He has frequently defended sanctuary policies against federal overreach, emphasizing that compelling local police to enforce federal immigration law is unconstitutional.

Maryland Democrats rejected the idea that New York’s socialist surge in primary victories signals a broader Democratic divide, insisting the races are a reflection of individual districts rather than a national shift as the party looks ahead to the midterm elections.

“We have a big tent party, that’s what it says,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said when asked what New York’s election results mean for Democrats.

“This is a democracy,” he continued. “You’re going to have lots of perspectives. It’s up to the voters to decide, and they did.”

AOC ISSUES WARNING TO HER FELLOW DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS IN THE WAKE OF SOCIALISTS WINNING BIG IN NYC

The comments come after three far-left candidates won New York Democratic primaries, including two who defeated sitting Democratic incumbents, fueling debate over whether the victories signal growing influence and intraparty division heading into November’s midterms.

“I’m all about new leadership,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told Fox News Digital when asked about New York’s election results.

Several Maryland Democrats argued the results reflected the unique politics of individual New York districts rather than a broader ideological shift within the Democratic Party.

“I think it’s very reflective of the district,” former U.S. Capitol Police Officer and former Maryland congressional candidate Harry Dunn said.

He continued, “I think we’ve got to be careful applying what happened in New York to everywhere around the country.”

WATCH: KELLYANNE CONWAY INSISTS SOCIALIST PRIMARY VICTORIES DON’T REFLECT AMERICAN VALUES NATIONWIDE

Other Maryland Democrats stressed the need to respect voters’ choices in their own districts, even when they disagree with the candidates who won.

“I don’t agree with all the things they’ve said,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski, D-Md., said about the socialist candidates in New York. “I don’t agree with all their positions, but I respect what the voters have done in New York. That’s not reflective of the entire country.”

“Every district determines who they want,” Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., said. “We may not like it. Some people didn’t want me in. So you have to respect what a district, a congressional district, does. It’s still the rule of the people.”

But as the party strives to regain control in Congress, some moderate Democrats have sought to distance themselves from socialism and the party’s leftward push.

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville condemned some of the radical views of the newly nominated Democratic candidates, particularly Darializa Avila Chevalier — a member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — who ousted five-term Democrat Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y.

“She has attacked interracial relationships and the American flag. Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you. I’m sorry,” Carville said in an episode of his podcast, Politics War Room.

He continued, “Everybody’s always said, ‘No, no, we’re a coalition. We’re a big tent. And there’s some – there’s just some s— that I can’t be in the same tent with.”

JAMES CARVILLE SAYS SOCIALIST DEMOCRAT SHOULDN’T BE IN THE PARTY, CALLS HER VIEWS ‘A BRIDGE TOO FAR’

“I’m a capitalist, not a socialist,” Rep. Thomas Suozzi, D-N.Y., previously told Fox News Digital regarding his views on the New York Democratic candidates. “And I believe in safety, not lawlessness. And I’m proud of America. I’m not ashamed of America.”

Raskin, however, defended the progressivism within his party, arguing the new wave of socialism the Democratic Party is seeing is not consistent with traditional values held by socialists.

“When people say they’re socialists today, I don’t think that they believe in dialectical materialism and dictatorship of the proletariat and classical Marxian socialism,” Raskin said. “I think what they believe is much greater equality and reduction of all the class differences that have grown up under Trump and the plutocrats.”

Republicans have increasingly pointed to the Democratic Party’s move toward socialist principles as a crux in campaigning to hold both their control of the Senate and razor-thin majority in the House.

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Most Democratic lawmakers seem to be urging their party to focus on gaining control in Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, regardless of their feelings toward some of the ideology fueling new candidates within the party.

“In a perfect world, everybody should come together — Democratic socialists, moderates,” Dunn said. “Everybody should come together and work together to represent everybody and not just the people who elected them.”

The House has officially shipped a colossal bipartisan housing package to President Donald Trump, and lawmakers are hoping that, at the very least, he doesn’t veto it.

Trump was supposed to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act last week, but his last-minute decision to ghost the signing ceremony with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., put into question whether the bill was dead.

His refusal to sign the bill, which passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support in both chambers, was to leverage the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which doesn’t currently have the votes to succeed in the Senate.

WARREN TELLS TRUMP TO ‘SIGN THE DAMN BILL’ AS BIPARTISAN HOUSING PACKAGE REMAINS STALLED IN WASHINGTON

Trump appears to be in no hurry to sign the bill, despite Republicans who are hungry for a win in the affordability fight ahead of the midterm elections.

“It’s so unimportant … compared to the SAVE America Act,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “I think the SAVE America Act is exactly what it says. It’s saving America from crooked elections.”

“Here’s what I would like to sign, much more than a bill that — big deal, it’s a yawn,” he continued. “Some people say it’s wonderful. To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn.”

GOP INFIGHTING OVER TRUMP’S VOTER ID BILL ERUPTS AS TOP SENATOR CALLS STRATEGY ‘FANTASY’

It’s legislation that is loaded with nearly 60 provisions from both sides of the aisle in both chambers that’s designed to make it easier for homes to be built and for younger Americans to buy their first home. It also includes a ban on hedge funds buying up housing stock that Trump pushed Congress to include during the State of the Union earlier this year.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of the architects behind the bill in the upper chamber alongside Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., charged that Congress handed the bill to Trump “on a silver platter.”

“When you ask me what happens next, if he cared about the American people, he’d have already signed the damned thing, and we’d be underway,” Warren said on WCVB’s “On the Record” on Sunday.

But Trump doesn’t have to put his signature on the bill for it to become law.

IRATE REPUBLICANS ACCUSE TRUMP OF HANDING DEMOCRATS A WIN AFTER BLOWING UP HOUSING PACKAGE

The Constitution grants presidents the ability to veto a bill within 10 days of it being transferred over to the White House. In that scenario, Congress could override a veto of the housing package.

It’s happened before under the Trump administration. In early 2021, Congress overrode Trump’s veto of the annual National Defense Authorization Act — a massive Pentagon funding authorization package that some House Republicans are trying to use as a vehicle to pass the SAVE America Act.

But during that 10-day period, if Trump doesn’t sign the bill, it would automatically become law. That’s unless Congress completely adjourns, in which case a “pocket veto” could happen. The Senate is currently in recess and the House is scheduled to leave town by week’s end, but neither count as a full adjournment.

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Johnson, who spent the last few days meeting with Trump at the White House about the housing bill and the SAVE America Act, said: “I hope he does sign it.”

“If he doesn’t, it’s still law,” Johnson said. “We’ll still celebrate it, but he’s trying to make a point, and I think he’s making it very effectively. And the fact that you all ask me every three steps down the hallway illustrates that he has achieved the desired objective, and that is to make SAVE America the number one thing, because if we don’t get that right, everybody’s concerned about what happens next.”

The House floor remained effectively shut down Tuesday after more than a dozen House conservatives continued their blockade in protest of the stalled SAVE America Act.

The group of holdouts, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., blocked a procedural vote, effectively freezing legislative business for the foreseeable future, after forcing GOP leaders to punt several votes last week.

The hardball tactics have forced the chamber into legislative paralysis as House Speaker Mike Johnson, races to advance several legislative priorities before the July 4 recess.

Lawmakers voted 198-224 against advancing a spate of legislative items — including a must-pass defense bill that will be paired with the SAVE America Act — with 14 Republicans voting “no.”

‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES’: TRUMP ALLIES FREEZE HOUSE FLOOR TO PRESSURE SENATE ON VOTER ID BILL

With such slim margins, Johnson could afford to lose just a handful of defections.

The conservative rebels continued their floor blockade in apparent defiance of President Donald Trump, who urged the cohort to stop “grandstanding” in a Truth Social post last week. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also called their hardball tactics “self-defeating” for Republicans’ agenda.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Johnson told reporters Monday. “We have to move forward with legislation and that’s what I’ll be telling them all.”  

He was seen having a tense conversation with Luna and several holdouts shortly before the failed vote.

In a likely attempt to appease conservative hardliners, Johnson used a rare procedural maneuver this week to revive the Trump-backed election measure, which has sat in limbo in the Senate chamber for months amid widespread opposition from Democrats. 

GOP leaders proposed merging the SAVE America Act with an annual defense policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, when sending the legislation over to the Senate.

The House already passed that version of the SAVE America Act, but Johnson argued the upper chamber would be more likely to pass the measure if paired with a traditionally bipartisan bill.

“Let’s just have the full bill that’s still sitting there and has been transmitted to the Senate, let’s send it again, but put it as part of something that we hope and believe will be a bipartisan vote in both chambers, and that Democrats in the Senate will understand,” Johnson said during a leadership press conference on Tuesday. 

The GOP holdouts have repeatedly demanded that leadership attempt to jam the upper chamber with the election measure as Trump insists it’s his top legislative priority. They largely withheld their support for Johnson’s proposal prior to the vote, arguing it would not force Senate action on the SAVE America Act.

HOUSE GOP’S SAVE ACT RESCUE PLAN HITS RESISTANCE FROM CONSERVATIVE HOLDOUTS

Luna said she wanted the SAVE America Act to be attached to the NDAA as an amendment or have a vote on an amendment to attach voter identification proof of citizenship requirements to the defense policy bill.

“IF IT IS NOT DONE THIS WAY, IT WILL EASILY BE TAKEN OUT,” Luna wrote on social media shortly before the vote. 

Though both Trump and Johnson sharply criticized the floor blockade, Luna disputed that her approach was derailing Republicans’ agenda.

“To, you know, say that we’re holding up the process. This is legislating,” the Florida lawmaker told reporters Monday, standing next to Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who has also joined the SAVE protest. “If people elected us to just come up here and vote in line with what the party wants, then it would be a whole lot different.” 

The upper chamber is also considering its own version of the NDAA that does not include the election measure.

Tuesday’s procedural vote also advanced fiscal year 2027 funding for the State Department and other foreign operations and a GOP-authored measure commemorating the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, among other measures.

Some conservatives, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, threatened to withhold their support during the test vote over a stalled border security package they want to put to a chamber-wide vote.

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Johnson promised conservatives a vote on the legislation before the July 4 recess, but that deadline appears likely to pass without a floor vote. Republicans have also yet to release the bill text. 

“There’s no consensus,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters Tuesday. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to have consensus before we can move forward.”

Senate Republicans are taking closed-door conversations online to snipe at one another over stalled voter ID and citizenship verification legislation. 

President Donald Trump wants Republicans to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, but the political reality in the Senate, albeit through extreme measures that don’t have unified support among the Senate GOP, makes passage unlikely. 

Still, that has not stopped Trump, supporters online, and key proponents of the legislation in the Senate from pushing the message that the SAVE America Act can pass, but only if Republicans have the guts to do it.

That avenue would be through the “talking filibuster,” which proponents say would grind down Democrats’ resistance and ultimately lead to the SAVE America Act passing at a simple majority threshold.

‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA

Opponents warn that doing so would dominate the Senate’s most valuable commodity — floor time — and allow Democrats to control the tempo of the upper chamber. And, there’s fear that Republicans wouldn’t stay unified to kill Democratic amendments on a variety of issues. 

Those dueling positions have caused clashes typically kept behind closed doors in the Senate to manifest on social media, notably between Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and John Cornyn, R-Texas. 

“There is not [a] single instance in the history of the United States Senate where a ‘talking filibuster’ has resulted in a favorable outcome for the proponent,” Cornyn said on X while sharing a memo that included numerous “issues” with launching a talking filibuster.

Among those were the arguments that it would make campaigning more difficult because of attendance requirements, that it would allow Democrats to force unlimited votes on politically tough amendments on “issues that divide” Republicans, and that Democrats could drag out the process so long that the SAVE America Act might not be implemented before the election. Lee shot back that Cornyn’s memo “perfectly illustrates why the talking filibuster is necessary — not why we should avoid it like the plague or pretend it doesn’t exist.”

SEN LEE DARES DEMOCRATS TO REVIVE TALKING FILIBUSTER OVER SAVE ACT, SLAMMING CRITICISM AS ‘PARANOID FANTASY’

“The procedural hurdles you list (including the two-speech rule, quorum, calendar drag, and opportunity costs) are real,” Lee said. “But they’re also manageable—and in many instances can even be used to strengthen our negotiating position—if Republicans actually use the rules instead of surrendering to them.”

“The alternative — walking away from the SAVE America Act — has far higher costs: another election without proof of citizenship, more erosion of public confidence, and Democrats continuing to weaponize the same procedures against us,” he continued. 

Cornyn’s response: “fantasy.”

Meanwhile, the House is facing its own SAVE America Act dispute, which has threatened to blow up the perennial, must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., demanded that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., include the legislation in the colossal NDAA package. 

He relented, but it will be the same version of the voter ID bill that the House already passed and that the Senate has been unable to move. And during negotiations over the NDAA in the coming weeks and months, the Senate can easily strip the measure out to ensure that the Pentagon authorization bill passes. 

The House will take its first step on that plan Tuesday afternoon. 

Most Senate Republicans support the original SAVE America Act, which includes voter ID, citizenship verification to register to vote, giving the Department of Homeland Security access to voter rolls, and other policies. 

But Trump wants his version of the SAVE America Act, which tacks on tight restrictions on mail-in ballots, halts biological men from participating in women’s sports and bans transgender surgeries on minors, which does not have 50 votes of support among the Senate GOP. 

TRUMP HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL FOR PIVOTAL MEETING AS SENATE GOP DIVISIONS DEEPEN

That version of the bill has also not passed through the House.

The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday to allow mail-in ballots that arrive late to still be counted has again stoked Trump’s interest in the legislation and directed his ire toward the Senate.

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“In a time when there is a powerful Communist Movement taking place in our Country, one more dangerous than World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or September 11th, all Dumocrats, and our five Republican Senate Hold Outs, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, and Mitch McConnell must vote to SAVE OUR COUNTRY,” Trump said on Truth Social. “There can be no more excuses!” 

Notably, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has never voted against the SAVE America Act in its many different variations in the Senate, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, supports the original version of the bill that passed the House.

It’s been nearly four decades since a Democrat won a U.S. Senate election in reliably red Texas.

But a new poll suggests that Democrats have a good shot this year of breaking their long losing streak.

Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico and Republican nominee Ken Paxton, the longtime state attorney general, are tied at 47% support among likely voters in Texas, according to a New York Times/Siena survey released on Tuesday.

Paxton, who defeated longtime GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in last month’s Republican nomination runoff election just days after landing the backing of President Donald Trump, is facing off against Talarico, a state representative considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, in a midterm race that is among a handful that will likely determine if the Republicans hold their slim Senate majority.

MAGA TRIUMPH: PAXTON TOPS CORNYN IN BATTLE FOR GOP SENATE NOMINATION

The poll points to some troubling signs for Paxton, who has faced a slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered him over the past decade. In 2023, the Texas House of Representatives voted to impeach Paxton, but he was eventually acquitted of all charges by the state Senate. And Paxton is dealing with a messy divorce, with his wife Angela, a state senator, citing “biblical grounds” based on “recent discoveries” in filing last year to end their marriage.

According to the poll, fewer than four in 10 respondents said Paxton has good character or the right kind of moral values. And half said Paxton, a MAGA firebrand and one of the leaders of the legal effort to overturn Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss, is too extreme.

Also problematic for Paxton is that his support, at 47%, is below the 50% of respondents who said they preferred Republicans to control the Senate next year.

The poll also shows Talarico winning the support of 61% of Hispanic — voters less than two years after Trump carried the Hispanic vote in Texas in the last presidential election — and leading the 63-year-old Paxton by 27 points among independents.

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

And the survey spotlights a massive gender gap, with Talarico winning female votes by 18 points and Paxton ahead among male voters by the same margin.

Talarico, a 37-year-old former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who topped progressive firebrand and vocal Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the March Democratic Senate primary, has emerged as the top Democratic fundraiser in Senate races, hauling in a massive $27 million in the first three months of this year.

But Republicans have repeatedly targeted Talarico, spotlighting his past controversial comments, including suggesting that “God is nonbinary” or that there are six biological sexes.

TRUMP ROASTS DEM CANDIDATE AS UNELECTABLE FOR CARDINAL SIN IN TEXAS

In his victory speech last month, Paxton mocked the Democratic nominee as “tofu Talarico,” “six-gender Jimmy,” “James Talafreako” and “low-T Talarico.” 

And he said in a Fox News Digital interview after winning the nomination: “James Talarico doesn’t belong in Texas. We cannot let him be the center of the state of Texas. He fits in California. He does not fit here.”

The poll suggests the Democratic Party brand may impede Talarico, with a majority of respondents seeing Democrats as too far to the left.

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

And following a divisive primary with Crockett, who is Black, the poll indicates that 12% of Black voters have a negative opinion of Talarico, who is White.

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But likely helping Talarico is the economy.

Sixty percent of those questioned gave a thumbs down to how Trump was handling cost-of-living issues, which will do Paxton no favors.

It’s no surprise: Talarico is highlighting economic concerns over soaring prices, saying in a new ad as he walks out of a grocery store that “too many Texans feel like they’re drowning.”

FIRST ON FOX: A cohort of Senate Republicans are launching an anti-fraud task force to mirror the efforts of the Trump administration in its multibillion-dollar fraud crusade.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is leading the group of nine Senate Republicans in their formation of the Anti-Fraud Task Force, a group that will examine fraud, waste and abuse across federal programs, identify vulnerabilities in those programs, and ensure that the buck stops where the flow of funding begins: Congress.

“The fraud epidemic burdening our country is one of the most pressing issues facing Americans today,” Schmitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “It’s organized theft on a national scale, and the Americans paying the price are the ones swinging the hammer and driving the trucking, working their tails off to make ends meet.”

TRUMP SAYS ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS ARE UNCOVERING BILLIONS IN WASTE, CLAIMS SAVINGS COULD BALANCE BUDGET

“Our Task Force will go after the fraud rings and bad actors exploiting our systems and robbing Americans,” he continued. “Following President Trump’s lead, we’re declaring war on fraud.”

Schmitt has recruited Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Katie Britt, R-Ala., Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

SENATE REPUBLICAN PUSHES OVERHAUL TO CUT RED TAPE AND SPEED UP AMERICAN ENERGY PROJECTS

Johnson contended that depending on the database you accessed — like the Government Accountability Office or LexisNexis — the amount of federal government fraud fluctuated between $250 billion and $1 trillion per year.

“It’s nearly impossible to recover those funds through prosecutions, so we must focus on preventing the money from getting to the fraudsters in the first place,” Johnson said.

Schmitt’s task force is meant to align with the Trump administration’s anti-fraud efforts led by Vice President JD Vance, whom President Donald Trump tapped to be his anti-fraud czar, that were launched earlier this year.

SENATE REPUBLICAN EXPANDS CHILDCARE FRAUD CRACKDOWN TO MORE BLUE STATES

Vance’s operation hit the ground running in April and identified nearly $6.3 billion in government contracts believed to be tied to potentially fraudulent businesses. Those findings showed nearly 400 businesses would be required to prove they had legitimate operations and physical addresses.

In May, the task force withheld $1.4 billion in federal funding from home health and hospice providers nationwide.

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Schmitt’s effort isn’t the only one in the Senate, either. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has been ramping up anti-fraud efforts since the beginning of the year in the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandal.

Cassidy launched an anti-fraud task force cracking down on abuses in Minnesota that has since expanded to other blue states, including New York, Michigan and Oregon.

A poll released this week, in addition to showing a dead heat in the Maine Senate race, suggests that Democratic candidate Graham Platner’s working-class bona fides as an oyster farmer — which he has made a central part of his campaign — aren’t resonating.

Platner currently trails incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins by 21 points, 37% to 58%, with registered voters who do not hold a four-year college degree, according to a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll released on Monday.  

Additionally, the poll shows Platner up 37 points with White college-educated voters but trailing Collins by 23 points with White non-college-educated voters. 

In the September 2020 New York Times/Siena poll, Collins led Democrat Sara Gideon by just 48%-45% with White non-college-educated voters, a 20-point swing from six years ago in a race Collins won by about nine points statewide.

PLATNER’S ANTI-CORPORATE CRUSADE HITS AWKWARD SNAG AS RECEIPTS TELL ANOTHER STORY

Platner’s sagging support from those without a college degree has prompted some on social media to suggest his messaging to working-class voters as an oyster farmer from rural Maine is falling flat, despite his repeated pledges to fight against “corporate greed” and the billionaire “oligarchy.”

Ryan Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project PAC, posted on X that “Graham is what a college educated person thinks a working-class person is supposed to act like and working-class people can see he’s a fraud.”

“Blue collar voters can tell he’s not one of them,” journalist Melissa Braunstein posted on X.

EXCLUSIVE: COLLINS PITS RECORD BUILT IN MAINE POTATO FIELDS AGAINST PLATNER’S ‘ANGRY RHETORIC’

Platner has faced criticism during his campaign for claims about his background as he has long identified himself as an oyster farmer and harbor master, giving a blue-collar tinge to his left-wing campaign, at the same time financial disclosures show that he brings in relatively little money from oyster farming and reports have suggested that Platner receives the majority of his income through veteran’s disability payments, Fox News Digital previously reported.

In his pitch to working-class voters, Platner has also had to overcome his own wealthy background that resulted in him attending private schools, including The Hotchkiss School, an exclusive $75,000-a-year boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut.

“Mainers know authenticity, and they can spot a pretender from a mile away,” Maine Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby told Fox News Digital. “Maine voters aren’t looking for a performance, they’re looking for someone who understands their lives and will fight for them — that has always been Susan Collins.”

THE GROWING LIST OF CONTROVERSIES THREATENING DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID

The various controversies surrounding Platner, including infidelity, physical abuse of an ex-girlfriend, a Nazi-linked tattoo, disparaging comments about the military and referring to himself as a “communist,” appear to have hurt him with voters, as only 44% said he has “good character” while 47% said he is “too extreme” for the state.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment. 

Still, despite the questions about his background and his controversial statements, Platner’s pitch to voters as a combat veteran who will push back against Trump and the establishment of both parties has helped him to a two-point lead over Collins, according to the New York Times poll, in a race that could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate in November.

Fifty-four percent of respondents in the poll said they’d like to see the Democrats win back the Senate majority in the midterms, five points higher than the 49% who are supporting Platner. And Collins is capturing 10% of voters who prefer the Democrats control the Senate.

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Warning signs for Collins in the poll include a majority that said they thought the senator would be too supportive of Trump and even some of her own supporters worry that the 73-year-old Collins is too old to be an effective senator.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

The Supreme Court may have done more Monday than give President Donald Trump new firing power — it may have opened the door to a far broader challenge to the modern administrative state, the sprawling network of federal agencies that many conservatives have long dubbed the “deep state.”

In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled Trump could lawfully remove Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, overturning much of the nearly 90-year-old Humphrey’s Executor precedent that had protected independent agency officials from at-will dismissal.

While Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion held that the FTC’s leaders must remain accountable to the president because the agency exercises executive power, Gorsuch argued the ruling raises a broader constitutional question over whether Congress can continue allowing executive agencies to exercise sweeping legislative and judicial powers.

“The fourth branch’s powers still exist; they have just been reassigned to the President,” Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion.

SCOTUS TAKES UP TRUMP’S BID TO FIRE FTC COMMISSIONER AT WILL — A SHOWDOWN THAT COULD TOPPLE 90-YEAR PRECEDENT

That observation could become the next major front in the Supreme Court’s ongoing effort to reshape the modern administrative state.

For decades, independent agencies such as the FTC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Communications Commission and National Labor Relations Board have combined multiple governmental functions under one roof. They investigate alleged violations, write regulations carrying the force of law and adjudicate enforcement actions through administrative proceedings.

With Humphrey’s Executor now overruled, those agencies remain intact, but their leadership is subject to presidential control if they exercise executive power. Gorsuch questioned whether Congress can continue delegating broad legislative and judicial authority to agencies that are now unmistakably under presidential supervision.

“The power to write new regulatory crimes still exists,” Gorsuch wrote. “The ability to judge disputes in-house remains, but now the house is white.”

Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, said Gorsuch’s concurrence points toward the next phase of litigation.

CONGRESS EXPANDED THE EXECUTIVE—ONLY FOR TRUMP TO QUASH MUCH OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

“I think the next step in this type of litigation won’t be looking at firings per se, but really trying to make sure all of these administrative agencies actually fall into one of our constitutional buckets,” Severino said. “Are they executive agencies or are they legislative or are they judicial? You can’t straddle all of this.”

She said that while Monday’s ruling restored presidential control over executive agencies, it did not resolve whether those same agencies can continue exercising quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial powers that Congress has delegated over decades.

“There still remains to be more work going back and taking out of these agencies that now are properly under executive control the activities that really aren’t fundamentally executive in nature,” Severino said.

Haley Proctor, a constitutional law professor at Notre Dame Law School, similarly described Gorsuch’s opinion as a roadmap for future legal challenges.

LEGAL CHALLENGES ON ADMINISTRATIVE REACH EXPECTED IN TRUMP’S DEREGULATORY SCHEME, EXPERTS SAY

“I do think what Justice Gorsuch is pointing out is that this is the first step toward rethinking the way in which the administrative state is empowered and structured,” Proctor said.

Rather than simply expanding presidential authority, Proctor said the concurrence raises the possibility that Congress may ultimately have to reclaim powers it has delegated to agencies or assign certain responsibilities back to Article III courts.

“If we’re concerned about the amount of power that the Federal Trade Commission has, then the next step would be to reconsider giving that power to the Federal Trade Commission because some of the decisions that it’s making could be made by Congress instead and some of the decisions that it’s making could be made by the courts,” she said.

The majority opinion did not resolve those questions. Instead, Roberts limited the Court’s holding to presidential removal authority, concluding that the FTC “unquestionably exercises executive power” and therefore its commissioners must remain accountable to the president.

The Court stopped short of deciding how much power Congress can give executive agencies to make rules or resolve disputes, saying questions involving agencies such as the Federal Reserve will have to wait.

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But Gorsuch suggested future cases could go much further, arguing the Constitution provides the tools to dismantle much of the modern administrative state. He pointed to several constitutional doctrines that could be used to sharply limit the power of independent federal agencies and return lawmaking authority to Congress and judicial power to the courts.

“From here, the only sure path is to finish the journey we start today and restore legislative and judicial powers to where they belong: in Congress and the courts,” Gorsuch wrote.

House Republican leaders are making another bid to salvage the stalled SAVE America Act after a conservative revolt froze floor action last week, but GOP lawmakers behind the blockade are withholding support for the plan.

The House Rules Committee on Monday approved a rule in an 8-4 vote that would merge an annual defense policy bill with the Trump-backed election measure in a rare procedural maneuver before sending the package to the Senate. 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the panel who was among the conservatives last week that backed the SAVE-related floor blockade, did not vote. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. — the leader of the lower chamber’s SAVE protest — argued the procedural tactic would fail to force Senate action, instead calling for a SAVE amendment to be added to the defense bill.

‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES’: TRUMP ALLIES FREEZE HOUSE FLOOR TO PRESSURE SENATE ON VOTER ID BILL

“The only way to ensure the Senate passes this is to make sure it’s in the bill text of the NDAA, meaning that my amendment(s) must be made an order,” the Florida Republican wrote on X. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is what 80% of Americans want and what we promised the American people, so I stand by my decision.” 

Johnson’s proposal comes after the conservative holdouts rejected his appeal to enact parts of SAVE in another ‘Big Beautiful Bill” last week.

Given House Republicans’ slim majority, the speaker will likely need their support to pass a rule later Tuesday teeing up the chamber’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Because procedural votes are typically party-line, he can afford to lose only a handful of GOP defections.

Tuesday’s vote will also advance a spending bill funding the State Department and other foreign operations for fiscal year 2027 and a resolution commemorating the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans now refer to as the Working Families Tax Cuts.

If Republican leadership fails to advance the legislative items, the House floor would effectively be frozen and lawmakers could return home early ahead of the July 4 recess.

Johnson warned Monday that continuing the floor blockade would be a “self-defeating” approach.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Johnson told reporters. “We have to move forward with legislation and that’s what I’ll be telling them all.” 

‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA

But Luna indicated her reluctance to unlock the House floor until she receives assurances on the SAVE America Act’s fate in the Senate.

“But to, you know, say that we’re holding up the process. This is legislating,” Luna told reporters Monday, standing next to Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who has also joined the SAVE protest. “If people elected us to just come up here and vote in line with what the party wants, then it would be a whole lot different.”

Democrats, who would like to see the rules package fail, argued the GOP holdouts should not listen to Republican leadership because their proposal would be dead on arrival in the Senate. 

“Let me be clear, the Senate will just strip the SAVE Act out,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Conn., said during the Rules Committee debate Monday. “They’ve already said that merging it with the NDAA bill doesn’t prevent that. Nothing in this rule will prevent that.”

“There is a 0% chance SAVE ends up in the NDAA because of this rule today,” he continued. “So this is a ‘cover-your-behind’ maneuver, if you will.”

Under the rule approved Monday, the procedural maneuver would facilitate SAVE’s attachment to the NDAA without requiring lawmakers to vote on it again.

Leadership did not choose a version of the election bill including all the president’s SAVE priorities, such as curtailing mail-in voting and banning men in women’s sports and child sex change procedures. Johnson has yet to ask House Republicans to consider the comprehensive measure, and it is unclear whether a crackdown on mail-in ballots could clear the chamber.

Johnson’s SAVE gambit comes as House Republicans appear to have little leverage to force the bill through the Senate, where GOP leaders say it lacks the votes to pass. The election measure has struggled to win unified Republican support, let alone the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

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Trump sharply criticized five alleged holdouts — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — in a Truth Social post Monday, arguing the cohort “must vote to SAVE OUR COUNTRY.”

“There can be no more excuses!” he wrote.

WARNING: Graphic Content

Seattle’s LGBT Pride parade on Sunday descended into bedlam as attendees stripped off their clothes and marched the streets naked while children looked on.

One video filmed by Chloe Cole, a de-transitioner activist, and posted by Frontlines Turning Point USA, shows people from a group called “Friends of Denny Blaine” marching in the nude. Some onlookers clapped and cheered, while the video panned to young children watching the spectacle.

Another video shows naked people prancing around an outdoor fountain near children who were playing in the water.

DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The “Friends of Denny Blaine” website says it is dedicated to protecting Denny Blaine Park, which is known for its “historic nude & queer character.” Currently, the park is facing a lawsuit from concerned citizens over its graphic nature, according to the website.

“Nude ≠ Lewd,” “Free to be Naked” and “Nude is Nourishing,” read signs held by the marchers in the parade.

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Yet another lewd video shows naked men cycling in the parade, again to the applause and appreciation of the crowd, though some spectators can be seen shielding the eyes of children from the nude bodies.

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The Frontlines TPUSA video showing people parading nude around the Seattle Center International Fountain after the gay pride event includes scenes of children splashing in the water that sprays from the fountain just feet from several naked men and one naked woman.

It comes as Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community every June, comes to a close. In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton officially declared June the “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month,” and in the years after gay marriage was codified in 2015, the parades and celebration have become increasingly crass, often with scenes of nude or nearly nude people parading in public.

The three videos of naked demonstrators caused online fury from viewers shocked by the indecent display.

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“How is this not indecent exposure? Wtf?” one X user said.

“Why the f— would you take your children to see and celebrate this vile filthy celebration of perversion and degeneracy?” asked another.

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A third said: “Those parents are stupid, both for bringing children to a Pride Parade, and for keeping them there when a bunch of naked pervs exposed themselves. Pride Parades are infamous for crap like this.”

Seattle’s municipal code mentions nothing about public nudity, and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has reiterated multiple times that being nude in Seattle is not a crime in itself.

“However, public nudity can quickly become a case of indecent exposure if the nudity causes a person to reasonably experience fear, alarm or concern,” an SPD press release says.

Instead, the city is governed by Washington’s indecent exposure law.

“A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm,” Revised Code of Washington 9A.88.010 says.

A subsection of the law says indecent exposure is a misdemeanor “on the first offense if the person exposes himself or herself to a person under the age of fourteen years.”

It is a felony for convicted sex offenders to commit the crime of indecent exposure.

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The Seattle Police Department did not return a request for comment when asked whether anyone was arrested during the city’s pride festivities.

Mayor Katie Wilson’s Office also did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.