NationalWatch

Influential evangelical leaders are divided over the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, as conflict continues across the Middle East and debate grows over whether the framework strengthens U.S. leverage or risks harming Israel.

President Donald Trump recently threatened to re-escalate U.S. military strikes against Iran after Tehran continued attacks in the Strait of Hormuz after the regime launched strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain over the weekend, drawing condemnations from both Gulf neighbors.

The split is emerging at a delicate moment for Trump, who is trying to turn military pressure on Iran into a diplomatic framework without alienating supporters who helped power his political coalition. Supporters of the MOU say Trump has earned trust because he weakened Tehran first, while critics say any deal that gives Iran relief before its threat to Israel is permanently neutralized risks betraying the alliance his base expects him to protect.

Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital that many people are underestimating the American president.

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“The facts are that Donald Trump was key to ending the Gaza war, he was key to getting hostages out of there and he was key in breaking the back of the Iranian regime, including destroying its navy, air force, missile defense and leadership,” Evans said.

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There are 750 million Bible-believing Christians around the world who identify as Zionists, Evans said, adding that while they may disagree on Israeli political issues, they agree that Israel is the biblical homeland given by God to the Jewish people through Abraham.

While running for president, Trump met with Christian groups, including Evans, and asked whether they would support him, Evans said, adding that they agreed on the condition that he support Christian values in the United States and stand by the State of Israel.

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“He promised to do both and so far he’s exceeded all of our expectations,” Evans said.

“Israel is willing to shed its blood for America in the Middle East. America needs to do everything possible to support the State of Israel. We, as believers, believe that God birthed this nation. We don’t have any fear about Israel’s future,” he added.

U.S. Officials worked with the Israel Defense Forces to complete Operation Epic Fury in February, which was a 38-day effort to dismantle the Iranian regime’s military capabilities. 

“Following the historic destruction of Iran’s military capabilities through the successful Operation Epic Fury, President Trump and his negotiating team have brokered an excellent, performance-based MOU that advances the interests of the United States by ending the fighting, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to significantly lower energy prices, and forcing Iran to commit to abandon its nuclear ambitions,” White House Spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital.

“President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States. There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump…Americans and our allies around the world are already safer for the United States and Israel’s bold actions to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon,” a White House official added in comment to Fox News Digital.

Rev. Johnnie Moore, President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital that in 2016, opposition to President Obama’s catastrophic Iran deal was one of the top three reasons evangelicals rallied to Donald Trump, helping forge one of the most consequential, enduring and powerful political coalitions in American history — a coalition that stands with him still and knows its power.

“Evangelicals know, and President Trump knows, that words on paper don’t change terrorists. Accountability does. Action does. This President has been willing to confront the Iranian regime in ways no predecessor would, and the regime has never been weaker,” Moore said.

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“The nuclear threat, at least for now, is gone. What brought Iran to this table was not a memorandum — it was precise and unrelenting military action that shattered their nuclear ambitions and broke their conventional forces,” he continued.

“We also know, as the President knows, that the regime will say and do anything to deceive everyone around him — because they understand they cannot deceive the President himself. Evangelicals trust President Trump entirely. That does not mean that we trust many of those now involved in the negotiation,” he added. 

The risk the president must manage, he said, is that Tehran turns this into a stalling game — as it tried and failed to do with his own team at least twice and did successfully with Presidents Biden and Obama. 

“In the end, because of the President, America will win this too — negotiation or not. But it is clear where our community stands. The regime only understands one language: strength. American strength,” he said.

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Other leaders expressed concerns over recent comments on Israel from the administration. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, told Fox News Digital that evangelical Christians were largely responsible for the election of the current administration and said the agreement with Iran is extremely worrying.

“One of our core issues is the Biblical requirement to stand with Israel and G-d’s chosen people as described in the Books of Genesis and Obadiah. As the Bible teaches, those who stand with Israel will be blessed, and those who curse her will be cursed,” she said.

“There is a strong feeling that Israel is being betrayed and thrown under the bus in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are particularly concerned about recent harsh and false statements made by Vice President Vance, which could be perceived as cursing Israel,” she added.

The office of the vice president declined to comment when approached by Fox News Digital.

Vance has supported Israel but has also said he is willing to criticize the country when he believes its actions warrant it. He condemned antisemitism in February, telling the Daily Mail, “I think Jew hatred is disgusting.”

“You shouldn’t hate people because they’re white. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re Jewish. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re black,” he said.

But Vance has also made clear that support for Israel does not mean automatic agreement with Netanyahu’s government.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, look, he governs a country that has obviously been a very close partner of the United States. But, even when we’ve been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned, and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned,” Vance said in an interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” June 10.

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The Trump administration publicly released details of the memorandum outlining plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development assistance if a final agreement is reached, and a 60-day negotiating period aimed at securing a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that, in its current form, the MOU appears ill-advised at best, as the military gains achieved by Washington and Jerusalem have yet to be fully realized.

“I have yet to hear from anyone who was not surprised by such an about face in signing the MoU. Who would not be concerned with the U.S. effectively agreeing to forever negotiations with a highly militarized radical Islamist regime, flush with cash, in pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Hagee said.

Most evangelical Christians, he added, see what everyone else sees: The U.S. negotiating team appears to have fumbled the ball on the one-yard line. Nevertheless, the U.S.-Israel alliance remains a cornerstone of both countries’ security as well as a key pillar of global stability.

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“From a religious perspective, we have a divine mandate to stand with Israel. From a national security perspective, we have no stronger or wiser ally anywhere in the world. And from the Christian pilgrim’s perspective, our holy sites in the Holy Land have never been more open and yet more secure,” Hagee said.

“The most “America-first” thing one can do is stand with our only true ally in the region,” he continued.

“The Islamic Republic declared war on the West the day it was founded nearly half a century ago. That has not changed. Democracies rarely get to decide who their enemies are. The only conclusion to this conflict is regime change through domestic revolution in Iran,” Hagee added.

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After the 60-day timeframe, Evans predicted Trump is likely to extend negotiations for another 90 days, carrying them through the end of the year and beyond the midterm elections. President Trump, Evans said, will then break the economic back of the regime, take Kharg Island and completely bankrupt the regime.

“I am not panicking because I know Donald Trump. I am the strongest supporter in the state of Israel of Donald Trump. I am the one that hosted the embassy gala, put up all the billboards and gave him an award. I am not panicking over this,” he added.

Evans said Christians do not believe the battle can be won by bombs alone, and that they view prayer as their most powerful weapon.

“We are hosting the largest prayer in history at the Kotel (Western Wall) with 5 to 10 million Christians on Oct. 7. I now have more than a dozen ambassadors involved and 23 additional ones I am meeting with who want to represent their country,” he said.

Dr. Jürgen Bühler, president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), said his organization has witnessed up close for decades how the Iranian regime has progressively raised the sword of radical Islam over Israel, as well as over indigenous Christians throughout the Middle East.

“Given the current deal being worked out with Iranian leaders, we share the sense of most Israelis that the war against this intolerable Iranian threat has been stopped short of its needed objective,” he told Fox News Digital.

“Israel is a fellow Western democracy that deserves our full support in its fight to defend our shared freedoms and values, and many Christians in this region look to Israel as a light of hope for securing their own freedoms and futures,” he added.

Ultimately, Bühler said, the best and most just answer to the Iranian threat is genuine regime change in Tehran.

“We have not given up hope that the Iranian people themselves will be able to rise up and overcome their oppressive rulers and steer their nation away from this self-destructive obsession with destroying Israel,” he said.

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Heather Johnston, founder and president of the U.S.-Israel Education Association, said in a statement to Fox News Digital in reaction to the MoU that the U.S.-Israel relationship has advanced American interests for decades and should be strengthened — not strained — by U.S. diplomacy with Iran.

“Iran’s long record of supporting terrorism and threatening Israel gives Americans ample reason to assess this agreement carefully and skeptically. Any diplomacy with Iran should be measured against whether it advances or undermines that progress,” she said.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is setting its sights on Colorado.

A handful of Tuesday’s primaries in the Democrat-dominated Rocky Mountain state are the next battleground in the fight between the far left and the center-left establishment over the future of the Democratic Party.

“Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,” the DSA wrote in a social media post last week, hours after their ballot-box victories in a handful of congressional primaries in New York City.

The post came after DSA-aligned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old far-left community organizer, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another democratic socialist, won a congressional primary by defeating an establishment-backed candidate.

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The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were heavily supported by democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party.

The DSA is now looking to replicate its playbook across the country, starting Tuesday in the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, a solidly blue seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by a whopping 56 points in the 2024 election.

Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress three decades ago, is facing two primary challengers, including DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney born four months after DeGette first took office.

Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, is also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress.

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“ELECT ANOTHER SOCIALIST TO CONGRESS ON JUNE 30TH,” a DSA social media post states as it urges supporters to lend a hand to the Kiros campaign.

The Democratic Party divide will also play out in the primary in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, which stretches along the I-25 corridor north of Denver.

State Rep. Manny Rutinel is running to the left of former state Rep. Shannon Bird, with the winner taking on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms.

Immigration has been a top issue in the Democratic primary in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino. Rutinel has criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE.

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Another primary showdown highlighting the split between progressives and moderates, as well as the party’s generational divide, is the Senate nomination battle between incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, and former state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a 43-year-old progressive. Hickenlooper, a former Denver mayor and two-term governor, has seen his once-large advantage over Gonzales, a one-time DSA member, narrow.

The winner will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, who is unopposed in his primary.

Shannon Jackson, a longtime progressive political strategist and grassroots organizer best known for his leadership roles in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, pointed to last week’s results and told Fox News Digital that “people are frustrated.”

“The key message of the victors: Medicare-for-All, the importance of affordability and a living wage. Progressives have long fought for these values and I expect the primary victories to continue,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the state’s expensive and combustible Democratic gubernatorial primary pits Sen. Michael Bennet against state Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Bennet or Weiser will be considered the clear favorite in the race to succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the nation’s history.

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Weiser, who is running to Bennet’s left on certain issues, closed the gap with the senator as he spotlighted his efforts to take on President Donald Trump, including suing Trump 66 times as attorney general.

The winner will face either state Rep. Scott Bottoms, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer or pastor and Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx as the Republican nominee.

A liberal television icon issued a blunt warning to the Democratic Party about the upcoming midterm elections after a rash of far-left socialists won primary elections last week.

Bill Maher, a comedian known for his political commentary, said Democrats are “well on their way” to blowing the November midterms after voting for three “outright really crazy” socialists in New York’s primary elections rather than their more establishment Democrat counterparts.

Three socialists, Darializa Avila Chevalier, New York State Assembywoman Claire Valdez and former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander all won Democratic primaries in New York City congressional districts last Tuesday.

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In the wake of the socialist sweep, Maher was asked Sunday during an event in Washington, D.C. about comments he made claiming the 2026 midterms are the Democratic Party’s to lose.

“I did say that, it was about two months ago, and you see how quickly the news changes in just two months, because that was before the Supreme Court made a ruling on voting rights,” said Maher, referencing the April Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which said congressional districts in that state had been illegally racially gerrymandered.

Maher, who has recently become a voice for moderate Democrats, made the comments just before accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Maher hosts “Real Time with Bill Maher” on HBO and is a late night comedian icon.

“So, that has changed just in the last two months and then the Democrats just elected three very far-left democratic socialists in New York who are crazy — like outright really crazy — so like, how are they gonna blow it? I don’t know but they seem to be well on their way.”

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Maher’s comments echoed those of a growing list of Democrats who are concerned about a far-left socialist takeover of the party.

Avila Chevalier, in particular, is a rabid anti-borders activist, and has argued for completely abolishing police and prisons. She also made a series of anti-American posts on a since-deleted X account.

She trashed the United States on multiple occasions — one time calling her home country “a f—ing disgrace.”

“I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me,” she said in yet another deleted post.

Avila Chevalier has called for the abolition of prisons and police and mocked black and Arab men for “fetishizing ugly colonizer women,” referring to white women.

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Valdez’s socialist bona fides, on the other hand, include outwardly calling for the abolishment of ICE, which she described as a “fascist agency” and accused them of “terrorizing” the community and “kidnapping” people.

Lander, meanwhile, left the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in 2023 over their response to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack that killed 1,200 Israeli concertgoers.

Still, he has also called for the abolition of ICE, the defunding of the NYPD and has spewed anti-white rhetoric, even intimating that he could be a white supremacist simply because of his skin color.

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville said Avila Chevalier shouldn’t be able to serve in Congress under the Democratic Party name.

“I don’t think that the congressional Democrats should seat her as a member of the Democratic Party. She actually describes herself as a democratic socialist,” he said in an interview with Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany on “Saturday in America.”

“I don’t have anything in common with someone that says that they’re against interracial dating or doesn’t want to have any incarceration for convicted felons.” 

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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has also spoken out about the socialist takeover in his own party.

“Anti-Israel. Anti-America. Anti-Western Civilization,” he said on X. “Why am I the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate that refuses to excuse this or defend any of those self-identified communists?”

A top DOJ prosecutor responded to concerns raised by a Virginia resident and fellow Trump administration official over alleged slow-walking of background checks after a judge temporarily blocked a sweeping “assault weapons” ban that otherwise was set to take effect Wednesday.

The uproar comes as Richmond becomes the latest Democrat-run capital to pursue restrictions on Second Amendment-related activities. The Supreme Court’s recent rulings against New York’s and the District of Columbia’s gun laws have given conservatives major legal victories in their efforts to challenge similar measures.

Amid Virginia’s legal fight, critics accused state police of intentionally slow-walking background checks to effectively backdoor-enforce the law while it is litigated. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon responded that her office is “all over this” case and other instances of “gun-grabbing nonsense nationally.”

Joined by Gun Owners of America, a Virginia resident seeking to purchase firearms from a dealer in Kilmarnock, Virginia, sued to block Richmond’s new law imposing criminal penalties for selling or purchasing “assault firearm[s],” which critics said is a sweeping violation of the Second Amendment.

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The inclusion of the Kilmarnock gun store established legal standing in GOP-friendly Lancaster County in Virginia’s Northern Neck, where Judge John Martin blocked enforcement of the law through Dec. 31.

After the ruling, FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson tweeted that he encountered what he called an “en masse” delay in background checks after visiting his local gun store. The checks are handled by the Virginia State Police.

The top cop at VSP, Col. Jeffrey Katz, is both a Spanberger appointee and listed the defendant in the Lancaster case.

“The Virginia State Police is is delaying background checks en masse in one of the most flagrant violations of our rights that I’ve seen. This is outrageous,” Ferguson said.

“Our police are aiding radical leftists to disarm Americans.”

When asked about the allegation, VSP suggested there was no intentional slow-walking and said troopers have seen a spike in applications over the past month.

“The Firearms Transaction Center is seeing a large number of transactions. The [center] has processed over 100,000 transactions in June alone and have been averaging over 5,000 transactions a day,” said Matthew Demlein, an ombudsman for the state police.

“The [center] is working diligently to complete each transaction.”

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Philip Van Cleave — whose Virginia Citizens Defense League is a co-plaintiff in the case — also said he was not convinced VSP was intentionally holding up background checks in light of the Lancaster decision.

“I don’t want to be unfair to the Virginia State Police,” Van Cleave tweeted. “I’m not convinced that the delays are intentional.”

“I just don’t think VSP and their computer system is geared up to handle the immense volume that the gun-control idiots in the general assembly have created.”

Another critic of the ban shared a section of the Code of Virginia that appeared to allow firearm transfers to proceed despite background check delays.

If a dealer fulfills the requirements laid out by VSP but police do not respond within five business days, the dealer may complete the sale or transfer of the firearm without violating the law.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Gov. Abigail Spanberger said Virginians overwhelmingly support stringent background checks and that the law keeps the Old Dominion safe.

“Polls have repeatedly shown that more than 80 percent of Virginians support universal background checks — including a majority of gun owners and Virginians from every part of the political spectrum. Governor Spanberger signed this widely supported law to restore commonsense background checks and help law enforcement officers keep our communities safe,” the spokesperson said, pledging that Spanberger will “continue to take commonsense steps to protect law enforcement officers, kids, and families across the Commonwealth from gun violence.”

Fox News Digital reached out to DOJ to determine what actions are being taken or planned, given allegations from Ferguson and others.

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Martin’s ruling stated that the firearm characteristics identified in the ban lack a rational basis because handguns are excluded despite fitting the lawmakers’ stated military-style rationale.

The ban was originally authored in the House by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, and in the Senate by Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Dunn Loring.

In comments reported by Courthouse News Service, Van Cleave separately noted that a commission set up by Democratic then-Gov. Tim Kaine following the Virginia Tech massacre found that gun-magazine limits like those focused on in the new law would have “made no difference in the outcome.”

Attorney General Jay Jones, arguing for the state, said in a statement that “gun violence is the key driver of violent crime in this commonwealth and nation, and assault weapons are designed intentionally to inflict maximum damage in a matter of seconds.”

During his 2025 campaign, text messages surfaced showing Jones had envisioned the shooting of the former Republican speaker of the Virginia House.

“The assault weapons ban passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor will save lives in the Commonwealth and is compliant with the Constitution of Virginia,” Jones said.

When she signed the law in May, Spanberger lamented that the legislature declined to accept her proposed changes that would have carved out commonly used hunting firearms.

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“I am signing this bill into law because firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets. We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe,” she said, adding that she would work with Salim and Helmer to clarify the law’s language to assuage hunters.

Fox News Digital reached out to Virginia’s Republican legislative minority for additional comment. The House was expected to go into session late Monday, where the subject could come up.

Supporters attending President Donald Trump’s rally on the National Mall acknowledged feeling the pinch from higher gas prices, but they largely declined to blame Trump — instead pointing to the Iran conflict and lingering frustration with inflation under former President Joe Biden.

“My least favorite president ran gas up to about $5 a gallon for no reason, and that was Mr. Biden,” said Billy of North Carolina.

Fox News Digital spoke with Americans who gathered on the National Mall Wednesday evening for President Donald Trump’s rally kicking off the “Great American State Fair” celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary, where attendees weighed in on whether they are feeling pain in their pockets as affordability concerns loom over the war with Iran and midterm elections in November.

“Affordability has a lot to do with just interest rates that went up the highest in 48 years under President Biden, so it’s going to take some time to get those prices back down to where we were before that,” said James McNair of Maryland.

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“I’m not that concerned about the affordability thing. I think that our president is probably the best businessman to ever be president, and things will turn,” added James’ brother, David.

“Being in Gen Z, everything’s very expensive now,” William of New York said in summary.

Many attendees shared that while they recognize gas prices are high, they attribute the recent spike to the escalating conflict with Iran—a development they continue to support.

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“I don’t think the prices in general have gotten any worse than when Biden was in the administration,” said Lisa of Maryland.

Before the war, the national average price of gasoline was $2.98 per gallon. Prices climbed to a peak of $4.56 per gallon in late May before gradually declining to $3.87 per gallon by the end of June.

Lisa and her husband, Matt, both served in the Army and expressed diverging opinions on affordability and Trump’s handling of Iran.

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“Prices have definitely gone up and they do get my attention,” said Matt of Maryland.

Matt shared that his drill sergeants were warning him of being deployed to Iran back in 1985. “Here we are today in 2026, still dealing with this problem.”

“If we’re worried about gas prices, we’re going to be worrying again and again and again until we get a handle on regimes that just don’t share our values,” said Matt.

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Norma Holm of Indiana also said she believed Iran would eventually have to be dealt with and that it was better to address the issue head-on than leave it for the next generation.

“We are taking it for the team with the gas prices and everything else, but things are stabling, and President Trump, don’t underestimate him.”

Washington and Tehran agreed to halt military strikes in the region with delegations scheduled to meet June 30 in Doha, Qatar for talks.

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Other attendees are hoping that a resolution to the Iran conflict will lead to lower prices.

“As the Iran war comes to an end and the peace deal hopefully gels, we’ll see. I think gas prices are already coming down, not tremendously, not where we would like to see, but those things take time,” said James of New York.

The Senate Ethics Committee has dismissed a complaint against Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., that alleged the lawmaker committed sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations. 

The probe was spurred by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who earlier this year charged that there were “very disturbing” allegations against a sitting senator in the wake of the scandal-filled downfall of former-Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a close friend of Gallego’s. 

But after a nearly monthlong investigation into the matter, the committee told Gallego in a letter on Monday that there wasn’t evidence to back up Luna’s claims. 

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“We are writing to inform you that the Select Committee on Ethics (the Committee) dismissed a complaint filed against you by Representative Anna Paulina Luna,” the panel stated. “Specifically, the complaint alleged campaign finance violations and inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature.” 

“In response to your request for an investigation, the Committee referred these allegations to you and requested additional information on April 17 and May 15, 2026,” the letter continued. “Based on the investigation of the Committee, the Committee did not find evidence that your actions violated Federal law, Senate Rules, or related standards of conduct.” 

Gallego said in a statement that the Ethics Committee’s decision “reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House and their allies.”

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“I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families,” Gallego said. “In the meantime, I will continue fighting for Arizonans and holding Trump Republicans accountable for high costs and new wars.” 

But an apology from Luna is unlikely. 

The lawmaker shot back on X that the allegations “are not conspiracy theories. You’re a gross example of representation.”

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“Need I mention you leaving your pregnant wife during your campaign for Senate? There are plenty of people who know about your antics,” Luna said. 

“The good news about D.C. is everyone talks, and eventually the reporters come forward with your texts,” she continued. “Do yourself a favor and keep raising for your legal defense fund. Once a creep, always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.”

Luna’s allegations against Gallego came shortly after Swalwell resigned from the House following a bombshell report from The San Francisco Chronicle that the ex-lawmaker allegedly sexually assaulted a former staffer.

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Gallego moved to quickly put distance between himself and Swalwell and argued that his tight-knit relationship “clouded my judgment,” regarding rumors that swirled about the ex-lawmaker for years in Washington, D.C.

Gallego has recently come under scrutiny for a report from Politico that he spent thousands in campaign cash on luxury travel, Super Bowl tickets and childcare. 

“This is not breaking news,” Gallego told the outlet. “With the rising costs of childcare and the burden it has on the budgets of American families, Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House alike regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC.”

Former President Barack Obama took aim at the Founding Fathers ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, saying they held a “deep flaw” for their ties to slavery despite being “geniuses.” 

“I think sometimes we get confused in thinking that these two stories are separate. They’re intertwined, right? Which is why it’s possible for me to be a great admirer of George Washington, and also acknowledge he was a slaveholder,” said Obama in an interview Sunday with MSNOW.

The 44th president’s appearance comes as most Americans prepare to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday on Saturday with patriotic events across the country, while Obama is using the milestone to deliver a more cautionary message about the state of American democracy.

OBAMA KNOCKS FOUNDERS AT PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEBUT BEFORE AMERICA’S 250TH: ‘FELL TERRIBLY SHORT’

“That does not negate [Washington’s] greatness, it simply acknowledges that there’s a profound deep flaw in these Founding Fathers who were also geniuses and gave us these tools,” Obama said.

“It’s that we’re this mixed bag, we’ve got contradictions. And embody the country’s contradictions,” he added.

OBAMA KNOCKS FOUNDERS AT PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEBUT BEFORE AMERICA’S 250TH: ‘FELL TERRIBLY SHORT’

Obama has been making many media appearances leading up to and following the opening of his presidential center in Chicago earlier this month. The expansive center includes a museum, library branch, community programming and is intended as a legacy project tied to Obama’s political roots on Chicago’s South Side.

OBAMA KNOCKS FOUNDERS AT PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEBUT BEFORE AMERICA’S 250TH: ‘FELL TERRIBLY SHORT’

During the center’s opening ceremony, which attracted former presidents and Hollywood elites, Obama took a swipe at the founders. 

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“The success of this experiment was never a given,” Obama said in his speech, referring to the nation’s founding.

“In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short of the Declaration’s promise, leaving slavery intact, allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who owned property. But in drafting a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, they did have the foresight, the genius, to provide us with a framework that allows each generation to make our union more perfect,” he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office for additional comment on Monday. 

During Obama’s early political rise, researchers found that some of his White ancestors had owned slaves in the U.S., a discovery that has resurfaced periodically in political discourse, including in 2019 comments by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

“While a relative owned slaves, another fought for the Union in the Civil War,” then-Obama spokesman Bill Burton confirmed to the Associated Press in 2007 of the future president’s family history. 

Graham Platner, the populist Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, is in a virtual dead heat in a crucial Senate showdown with longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins, according to a new poll.

Platner, the embattled candidate who has been facing a slew of controversies, stands at 49% support among likely voters questioned in a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll released on Monday, with Collins at 47%, and 3% of respondents undecided or refusing to answer. Platner’s two-point edge is within the survey’s sampling error, meaning the contest is virtually tied.

Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate.

The high-profile and likely combustible and expensive race is among a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in November’s midterm elections. Republicans currently control the chamber 53-47 and flipping the Senate seat in left-leaning Maine is a key part of the Democrats’ path to retake the majority.

GAME ON IN KEY SENATE RACE AS PLATNER CAPTURES DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

Platner, a military combat veteran and oyster farmer who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, earlier this month easily defeated two longshot rivals in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary.

Platner, who advocates an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, also topped two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in the primary. The governor’s name remained on the ballot even though Mills, who had been backed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, suspended her bid this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.

Platner’s victory also came as he was facing one of the roughest stretches of his bid for the U.S. Senate.

He was playing defense the past couple of months amid multiple controversies. They included inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and allegations from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the allegations of violence untrue.

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

A day before the primary, a former high-level staffer from the Platner campaign wrote in the Washington Post that Platner “is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.”

The mounting controversies grabbed plenty of attention and triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods, but didn’t stop him from riding a populist wave to capture the nomination. More than 9 in 10 Platner supporters questioned in the poll said they had heard about his controversies but that their vote for him was based on where he stands on the issues.

Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after some of them made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But allegations from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.

In his primary night victory speech, Platner emphasized that he’s a changed man. 

“If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner told the crowd. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it. And the reason that I have lived it is because of my wife.”

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The new poll, conducted June 19-26, suggests Platner is having some difficulty winning over some voters who want the Democrats to take back power in Congress.

Fifty-four percent of respondents 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.

The poll also indicates that a majority of Maine voters don’t believe Platner has “good character” or the “right kind of moral values” and nearly half say he’s too extreme.

By contrast, more than 6 in 10 say Collins has “good character” and the “right kind of moral values” and only a third said she was too extreme for Maine.

Meanwhile, some Democratic respondents worried that the 41-year-old Platner, who has never held elective office, would be “too inexperienced.”

But there are also warning signs for Collins.

A majority questioned 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.

The senator voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, in 2021, soon after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. And early last year she opposed the confirmation of now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

But she is also remembered for her 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which eventually helped the court’s conservative majority overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide.

Beating Collins won’t be easy.

Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

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The new survey is the latest to indicate Platner with a slight edge over Collins, although a Pine Tree Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire late last month suggested Platner held a nine-point lead.

Spotlighting the new poll, the Platner campaign wrote in a social media post that “Susan Collins has the billionaires. The lobbyists. The Super PACs. The Washington establishment. But we have Maine.”

President Donald Trump appeared surprised after the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear his appeal of a $5 million verdict that found he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll and later defamed her.

The high court declined to take up the case, leaving the $5 million judgment in place. In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996 inside a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, awarding her $5 million. In 2024, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a separate defamation case over Trump’s denials and attacks after she accused him.

The justices did not provide an explanation for Monday’s decision.

“Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met (Decades old celebrity photo line, standing with her husband, does not count!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength.”

TRUMP REQUESTS E JEAN CARROLL $83M JUDGMENT STAY FOR PENDING SUPREME COURT ACTION ON PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY

“This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for,” he added, “and should never be allowed to happen to another President, or Candidate to be!”

Trump’s attorneys argued that the trial judge violated federal evidence rules by admitting the infamous Access Hollywood tape — in which Trump is heard bragging about grabbing women by their genitals — and by allowing the jury to hear from two other women who accused Trump of sexual assault, allegations he denies.

Carroll’s lawyers countered that the women’s testimony was relevant because the allegations were highly similar, and they noted that Judge Lewis Kaplan’s evidentiary decisions aligned with legal precedents across the country.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS $83.3M E. JEAN CARROLL JUDGMENT AGAINST TRUMP

“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll. His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed, and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” said Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney.

In a separate statement, Trump’s legal team stated: “The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes. President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again.”

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In his Truth Social post, Trump also accused New York state lawmakers of explicitly targeting him.

“New York State created a Law, for an instant speck of time, going back many decades, in order to wrongfully ‘nab’ me,” he wrote. “It was tailor-made, and this Injustice cannot be allowed to stand!”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to serve as U.S. labor secretary, sending his pick to the Senate for confirmation.

If confirmed, Sonderling would formally assume the Cabinet post after leading the Labor Department on an acting basis since former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s departure in April. He would continue overseeing the department’s efforts to enforce federal labor laws, administer workforce programs and implement the administration’s employment agenda.

“It is my Great Honor to announce that I am nominating Keith E. Sonderling, the outstanding Acting United States Secretary of Labor, to be permanent,” Trump announced on Truth Social. “Keith previously served as Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer and, during my First Term, worked at the U.S. Department of Labor as the Acting and Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

“Throughout his career, Keith has proven his dedication to delivering strong results for the Hardworking People of our Country, and I know he will do an incredible job in his new role,” Trump added.

ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A FAST-TRACK WAY TO GET A JOB WITHOUT COLLEGE DEBT

Chavez-DeRemer left the Labor Department in April, when the White House announced Sonderling would serve as acting labor secretary.

ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A FAST-TRACK WAY TO GET A JOB WITHOUT COLLEGE DEBT

Chavez-DeRemer’s departure came after a whistleblower complaint accused her of having an affair with a member of her security detail, drinking on the job, creating a hostile work environment and directing staff to perform personal errands at taxpayer expense.

The Labor Department’s inspector general is investigating the allegations, which also include claims that Chavez-DeRemer’s husband made unwanted advances toward department officials and that family members routinely sent personal requests to young staffers, according to previous Fox News Digital reporting.

ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A FAST-TRACK WAY TO GET A JOB WITHOUT COLLEGE DEBT

Reporting on the complaints indicates Chavez-DeRemer requested staff perform private errands for her and her husband, including picking up dry cleaning, purchasing wine and cleaning out the secretary’s closet, while allegedly using threats to ensure compliance.

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Meanwhile, other complaints alleged drinking on the job and keeping stashes of liquor around the office, according to the New York Post, which first reported the complaints in January. Chavez-DeRemer has denied the allegations. 

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Justice Samuel Alito cautioned on Monday that the Supreme Court’s decision to allow ballots received after Election Day to be counted could lead large sections of the public to view elections as illegitimate.

While Alito had legal concerns with the majority’s ruling, arguing that they misinterpreted when the “electorate’s choice” occurs, he closed his dissent by issuing a practical warning. Allowing late-arriving ballots to determine the outcomes of elections long after Election Day will, according to Alito, severely damage the trust Americans place in their electoral system.

“Not only is today’s decision inconsistent with statutory text, legal context, historical practice, and precedent; it also threatens to produce lamentable consequences,” he wrote. “The majority’s holding spawns a slurry of troubling election-law questions and risks further undermining Americans’ confidence in election integrity.”

SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY

Alito went on to describe a hypothetical scenario where the outcome of a presidential election hinges on a single state that allows late-arriving mail ballots to be counted. In the scenario described by the justice, one candidate leads by 15,000 votes on election night only for the opposing candidate to slowly gain votes and, a few days before electors are scheduled to vote, pull ahead by just under 100 votes.

“If the apparent winner the morning after the election ends up losing due to late arriving ballots, charges of a rigged election could explode,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh also noted during the case’s oral arguments.

Alito didn’t simply claim that the ruling could affect how people view elections; he argued that it could open the door for fraud.

SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY

“Today’s decision leaves open opportunities for voter fraud that may further undermine Americans’ faith in the integrity of this country’s elections. Diverse sources have recognized that mail-in ballots increase the potential for fraud,” Alito continued. “In 2005, a committee chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker found that absentee voting was ‘the largest source of potential voter fraud’ in American elections.”

While instances of voter fraud carried out using mail-in ballots have been recorded, there is no evidence that widespread fraud occurred in the 2020 or 2024 presidential elections. 

Democrats, meanwhile, argue that allowing states to process ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive afterward, is essential to ensuring that all eligible voters have a say in who governs them.

SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY

“I’m relieved the Supreme Court is not interfering with Washington’s mail-in ballot system,” Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., wrote on X. “If you work a shift job, have young kids, or live out in the woods, you can’t just knock off for the day to go stand in line at a polling place. For decades, Washington’s secure vote by mail system has made it easy for these folks to participate in democracy and make their voice heard.”

The majority, however, did not address whether allowing late ballots to be counted was good policy, stating that such a consideration is outside the scope of what the court has authority to rule on.

“Finally, plaintiffs assert that requiring ballots to be received by Election Day protects election integrity and increases voter confidence in election results,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote. “As we have said time and again, however, policy arguments are properly directed to legislatures, not courts.”

It’s a Democratic identity crisis.

Democratic Socialists of America are on the charge, running hot off their wins in the New York Democratic primaries last week. Their victories in multiple Congressional seats – felling both Reps. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., and Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. – signals that the party is ready to move on from the same old, same old.

Espaillat chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Goldman was a key House staffer during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.

“Even Dan Goldman’s not good enough for them,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Fox. “That is how radical it’s become.”

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

Some moderate Democrats are trying to distance themselves from the left.

“That’s not the same brand of politics that we have. We’re not those type of Democrats,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who represents a battleground district.

“There’s a new group of Democratic Socialists who are socialists who are not commonsense Democrats. Who are not interested in getting things done. They’re interested in throwing bombs. Not actually solving problems,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.

LURCHING LEFT: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS

Some Democrats are worried how far left candidates command more attention than those in the middle. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich., worries that the outsized attention garnered by the left sends the wrong impression to voters.

“What they don’t want is divisiveness. They don’t want screaming and yelling,” said McDonald Rivet.

Mainstream Democrats feel trapped in the middle as the left – specifically the New York City left – wields an outsized media and political megaphone.

“Those candidates would not have won in Virginia where I live,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.

Republicans believe they are primed to nationalize the midterms. Republicans can do that by highlighting the extreme views of Democratic Socialists who captured primary victories in New York City. The GOP wants to portray their opponents as veering left.

“These are board-certified communists, right?” asked Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “They want no police. They want no private property.”

President Trump capitalized on the Democratic outcomes in his home city.

“The Democrat party is in big trouble because this isn’t stopping with New York,” he forecast.

VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

This shakeup has progressive leaders demanding transformation at the top.

“You’re going to see, I think, people voting for new leadership and to change their representation,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The Democratic Party tapped Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., to deliver their official response to President Trump’s 2025 State of the Union speech. Slotkin is a moderate who won in a battleground race in 2024 – even as the President prevailed in the Wolverine State. But during an appearance on SiriusXM, Slotkin insists on a Democratic Party management switch.

“If people can’t understand that the game has fundamentally changed and they can’t adapt, then they need to let others,” said Slotkin. “The old models do not work for people.”

Republicans believe House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is vulnerable after the DSA elected their candidates over his preferred picks in New York City.

“I think Hakeem Jeffries’ friends and neighbors gave him a big middle finger,” said House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. “If you lose three elections in your hometown, that’s a pretty big slap in the face.”

He added that Democrats “are going further and further to the left to the point where they are full-blown, card-carrying socialists.”

And then there is the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and in some cases, antisemitic take by some of these candidates. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, is a moderate Democrat from a swing district. He’s Jewish and one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House.

“There are some on the left who use Israel the way that some on the right use immigrants or trans kids as a way to divide. And I think it’s terrible. It’s also just not what voters want us talking about,” said Landsman.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT LASHES OUT WHEN GRILLED ON WHETHER SOCIALIST VICTORIES WOULD THREATEN DEM UNITY

Yours truly tangled with Rep. John Larson, D-Conn. – who once chaired the House Democratic Caucus. I pressed him about what the party would do about some candidates “who are too far to the left.”

“What does that mean? That’s your statement. Did the people of New York vote?” queried Larson.

I assured him that they did.

“Is that democracy?” asked Larson.

“But if some of them are antisemitic,” I countered.

“Is that a democracy?” continued Larson.

“Will you stand by people if they have antisemitic views?” I followed up.

Larson finally addressed my inquiry. His answer crystallized the schism the Democratic Party now faces.

“I’m against antisemitism, if that’s your question,” Larson declared.

The fact that Democrats are now facing this debate robs them of valuable time on economic issues.

Landsman argued that voters would prefer candidates to stick to groceries and the price of gas.

Gottheimer echoed Landsman on kitchen table subjects.

“We should be focused on ways to actually solve problems like that. Not coming in here and using tea party tactics and trying to divide up the country and pray to socialist ideals,” said Gottheimer.

So what is the party to do?

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“They’re our nominees. We’re going to support them. We’re going to welcome them. They’re going to be part of our caucus and we’re going to unite behind Leader Jeffries,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Oversight panel.

But that doesn’t address the fissures. It doesn’t address how voters may perceive the party. And it doesn’t establish if these new Democratic nominees will work on behalf of the party to raise money and advocate for Democrats across the board. Or, will they become professional bomb throwers – ala what the right has endured for a while.

“It’s going to be a lot harder to get things done when you get more and more extreme candidates who are here because they’re interested in political celebrity. They are interested in fighting. They’re interested in making points,” asserted Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.

Republicans suffered through an absolutely abysmal week. House GOP leaders had to yank multiple bills off the floor and send lawmakers home early because of internal disputes. President Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., got into a shouting match about Iran. And the president even threatened to veto a bipartisan housing bill. President Trump then refused to sign the bill at the Capitol, despite his aides touting the bill and House Republicans tricking out Statuary Hall for a signing ceremony.

The President characterized the housing bill as “a yawn.”

But the Democrats’ internal fractures may have superseded any internecine fighting among Republicans.

“While it’s not been a great week for Republicans, I think it’s been a much worse week for Democrats because of these primary elections,” observed Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.

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Democrats will certainly run on economic issues and capitalize on statements by the President about basic issues like housing. But will a genuine policy debate outweigh fears about progressives nationwide?

Emotion and feelings rule in politics. And it could be a problem for Democrats if Republicans appropriate what happened in New York and Xerox it onto battleground districts across the country.

President Donald Trump on Monday blasted a Supreme Court opinion upholding a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots received up to five days after Election Day to be counted.

The ruling in Watson v. RNC pitted Trump against some of the justices he appointed and dealt a blow to his push for stricter election rules by upholding Mississippi’s practice of counting late-arriving mail-in ballots. The decision also prompted a rebuke from one of the Republican senators Trump singled out in a scathing response, after the senator noted he already supports legislation requiring ballots to be received by Election Day.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump nominee, rebuked Republicans’ arguments in the case, writing that as long as Election Day is the statutorily required date on which a vote is submitted and that “election-day statutes do not set a deadline for ballot receipt.”

Trump fired back hours later on Truth Social, calling the case a “tremendous loss” for voters’ rights and saying the ruling means Congress must moot it immediately by passing the SAVE America Act.

SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY

The bill, led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, in the House and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in the Senate, would require nationwide voter ID and essentially ban no-excuse mail-in balloting.

“It is more important than ever to pass the SAVE America Act,” he said.

TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE SENATE DESPITE REPUBLICAN REVOLT

“There is no excuse for a politician, or otherwise, to be against the above three requirements,” he said, citing voter-ID, proof-of-citizenship, and only distributing mail-in ballots to military members, the sick and disabled and those voters traveling away from their home precinct on Election Day.

“There is only one reason to oppose — cheating,” he said, adding that the House approved the SAVE Act in three different iterations.

“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 Sept. 11, all Dumocrats (sic) and our five Republican Senate Hold Outs, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, and Mitch McConnell must vote to save our country.”

WATCH: HAWLEY FUMES AFTER 4 GOP SENATORS HELP SINK TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID LAW

Fox News Digital reached out to Senate leaders John Thune, R-S.D., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as each of the senators Trump mentioned.

Cassidy incredulously replied that the president may need to fact-check his missive, as the Louisiana Republican is a co-sponsor of the SAVE Act.

“I don’t know which staffer misled you, but thank you for your attention to this matter,” Cassidy said, mimicking Trump’s signature statement-closer.

Trump and Cassidy have sparred in other respects, but the two appear in agreement on the bill’s contents. However, Cassidy added that it is “irresponsible” to postpone a now-paused Housing bill signing until the SAVE Act is passed because people deserve “relief… for the high cost of housing.”

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Thune’s office declined further comment, while McConnell’s acknowledged receipt and said the former majority leader would share any comment if he has one in the interim.

While Trump grouped all Democrats in opposition, one maverick member of the minority has signaled he would support a pared-down version that would require voter ID.

“If the GOP wants real reform over a show vote––put out a clean, standalone bill and I’m AYE,” Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said in a recent statement.

“Keep it basic: PHOTO ID to vote. Stop turning this into a Christmas list and attacking vote-by-mail.”

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If the Senate were to approve the House-passed version of the SAVE Act, it could upend or at least moot parts of the Supreme Court’s Watson decision.

Calls for the SAVE America Act’s passage mounted in the weeks before the decision as critics pointed to California’s ballot tabulation process after actor Spencer Pratt was overtaken by socialist Councilwoman Nithya Raman, D-Los Feliz, and eliminated from the runoff. Critics also cited the slow pace at which Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton were declared general election candidates for governor after a crowded primary.

Liberal comedian Bill Maher dismissed backlash that he went too easy on Vice President JD Vance during their recent interview, arguing that critics wouldn’t have been satisfied unless the conversation had ended in a physical altercation.

“They would never be happy unless JD Vance walked out and I punched him in the nose,” Maher told Fox News Digital. “That’s the only thing that would satisfy certain people.”

He continued, “I don’t play that game. I like to actually talk to people.”

BILL MAHER’S DIRE MIDTERM ELECTION WARNING TO DEMS AFTER ‘REALLY CRAZY’ SOCIALISTS WIN PRIMARIES

Maher faced criticism after Friday’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher” interviewing Vance as some argued he failed to challenge the vice president aggressively enough on political issues.

“For someone who spends every Friday night railing against the Trump administration, he treated its vice president with kid gloves,” an article in Variety claimed.

The two discussed the rise of socialism in the Democratic Party after three far-left progressive candidates won in New York’s primary elections last week. They spoke on how that impacts the trajectory of both sides of the aisle heading into November’s midterms, with Maher even admitting his vote could flip Republican with the direction the Democratic Party has moved toward.

BILL MAHER TELLS JD VANCE DEMOCRATIC RADICALISM ON ISRAEL AND SOCIALISM COULD PUT HIS VOTE ‘IN PLAY’

Maher walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Sunday night as he accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, where he spoke to reporters about his conversation with Vance.

The comedian, whose political commentary has often put him at odds with Trump and other Republicans, said his opinion of the vice president didn’t change after his interview, as he “talks to these guys all the time,” referring to politicians and Republicans. He shared that his conversations with Republicans usually go well.

“Everybody’s a monster till you talk to them,” he said in reference to his interviews with Republicans.

He continued, “Are there things we’re never going to agree on? Yeah.”

BILL MAHER CALLS OUT TRUMP’S ‘BULLS—‘ TRUTH SOCIAL POST ATTACKING HIM

Maher pressed Vance during the interview on the Trump administration’s refusal to concede to losing the 2020 election, claiming it was “rigged” by fraudulent voting, interference and censorship in the election against former President Joe Biden.

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But Maher still commended Vance for coming on his show, sharing with Fox News Digital on Sunday that despite their disagreements, conversations with politicians like Vance don’t typically turn “hateful.”

“They’re happy warriors,” he said in regards to Vance and other  Republicans he has interviewed. “You hit them with three really, really hard-hitting things that say ‘you can’t keep doing it,’ and they just answer it,” Maher said. “They evade it. But they don’t hold it against you. It doesn’t turn hateful.”

Lindsay James, a state legislator and Democratic candidate for Congress in Iowa, missed over half of her votes in the state’s House of Representatives this past year, records show.

In 2026, James missed 177 of 342 votes, according to the legislature’s records, accounting for 51.7% of the whole.

The absences clash with assurances James made about how her campaign might impact her legislative duties and has opened her up to Republican-led criticisms that she has prioritized her potential role instead of the one she has now.

“Lindsay James promised Iowans that campaigning wouldn’t distract her from the job she was elected to do. That didn’t last long,” Emily Tuttle, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said.

DEM REP MIKIE SHERRILL SKIPS 145 HOUSE VOTES AS NJ GOVERNOR’S RACE HEATS UP

“James chose her own political ambitions over showing up for work, proving that when given the choice between serving constituents and serving herself, she puts herself first,” Tuttle continued.

James’ campaign said that she has a track record of representing constituents well.

“Lindsay has always fought for Iowa families, taking on corporate greed and predatory landlords and writing the bill to cap the cost of insulin,” Jackson Smith, a spokesperson for the campaign, said in a statement to Fox. 

“While Lindsay listens to and works for the Iowans making impossible economic choices caused by Joe Mitchell and his Washington allies, Mitchell has been using his campaign cash to party with Washington insiders and will be a rubber stamp for the policies raising Iowa families’ costs,” Smith said, referring to Joe Mitchell, a former state representative and a Republican candidate for the seat.

At the outset of her campaign, James told viewers in an interview that she would continue to prioritize her work in the House of Representatives despite intentions to campaign “full-time.”

“Full-time campaigning and, of course, fulfilling my important work in the Iowa legislature,” James said when asked whether she would also continue working as a minister.

“You know me, I have a pretty strong work ethic at the capitol, early, very late, providing for my constituents. That will never stop. That’s just who I am and how I’m wired,” James said.

Even so, James, who first joined the Iowa House in 2019, has missed several key votes in the chamber.

LAKEN RILEY ACT ROILS NJ GOVERNOR’S RACE AS 2 DEMS SKIP ROLL: ‘THE MORE SOMEONE CAMPAIGNS THE LESS THEY VOTE’

Instead of voting on a bill to limit screen time for students in schools, she held a campaign event in Cedar Rapids on April 20, roughly two hours from Des Moines.

Just ten days later, James also missed a vote on whether to make animal torture a felony on April 30 to host a meet-and-greet at a brewery in Decorah, Iowa.

In a third case, she also skipped the chamber’s consideration of whether to lower property taxes in order to host another candidate activity in Dubuque — a three-hour drive from the capitol.

James recently won a Democratic primary earlier this month as she wages a campaign to fill the seat currently held by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa.

SWALWELL’S ‘I SHOULD BE WORKING’ GYM, POOL VIDEOS RESURFACE AS DEM RIVAL HAMMERS HIS MISSED HOUSE VOTES

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Hinson, who has represented the district since 2021, announced she would not seek reelection as she pursues a Senate seat to replace outgoing Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

Two of the Supreme Court‘s conservative justices criticized the majority’s decision not to take up attorney Alan Dershowitz’s defamation case against CNN, saying the high court missed an opportunity to revisit a controversial 1960s defamation precedent.

The dissent from the court’s conservative wing effectively called on the justices to revisit longstanding libel precedent, echoing President Donald Trump’s 2016 calls to loosen U.S. libel laws.

Dershowitz, who has represented famous figures like Trump, O.J. Simpson and Leona Helmsley, claimed CNN deceptively edited a snippet of his defense during Trump’s first impeachment trial about “quid pro quo[s]” to make it sound like he said the opposite of his fuller statements and used that clip to damage his reputation.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch — appointees of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Trump, respectively — criticized their colleagues for relying on the “actual malice” standard in evaluating whether CNN defamed Dershowitz, arguing the standard is not rooted in the Constitution and instead was created in the Supreme Court’s landmark 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.

ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU INITIATING DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST NEW YORK TIMES OVER CONTROVERSIAL ‘DOG RAPE’ STORY

“Predictably, Dershowitz did not prevail under that exacting standard, which this Court created in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Dershowitz now asks this Court to overrule Sullivan and related precedents,” the conservatives wrote.

Dershowitz also reacted to the dissent in remarks to Fox News Digital, calling the majority’s standard “impossible” to overcome.

“All the judges agreed that CNN lied about me,” he said Monday.

“But the majority ruled, over dissents, that I had to prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence— an impossible standard that I believe will be overruled in years to come.”

The Sullivan case arose after a Montgomery, Alabama, commissioner sued the Times for libel over a full-page advertisement criticizing how the city treated civil rights protesters.

An Alabama jury awarded damages to L.B. Sullivan even though he was not mentioned by name in the ad. The Supreme Court later reversed the ruling, holding that a public official cannot prevail in a defamation case unless he proves the statement was made with “actual malice” — knowing it was false or acting with reckless disregard for the truth.

“The actual-malice standard for public figures bears no relation to the text, history, or structure of the Constitution,” Thomas and Gorsuch wrote Monday in Dershowitz’ case.

“Instead, the founding generation believed that, if anything, public figures had stronger claims for damages when they were defamed.”

As one historical example, Thomas and Gorsuch pointed to the Sedition Act of 1798, which imposed a far lower threshold for defamatory statements about public officials.

Then-Rep. Matthew Lyon, D-Vt., was prosecuted under the law for characterizing President John Adams as someone with “unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation and selfish avarice” during American tensions with France.

JUDGE DISMISSES TRUMP’S $10B DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OVER EPSTEIN STORY

President Thomas Jefferson allowed that law to expire in 1801 and pardoned many caught in its net.

More recently, Trump has called for loosening U.S. libel laws, echoing concerns similar to those expressed by Thomas and Gorsuch about the court’s defamation jurisprudence.

While running for president in 2016, Trump pledged to “open up our libel laws” if elected to pursue the ideological conglomerate he often labels “fake news.”

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Journalists who “write purposefully negative and horrible and false articles — we can sue them and win lots of money,” Trump said.

He has often singled out defendant CNN more than most – famously warring regularly with its then-White House correspondent, podcaster Jim Acosta.

During one 2017 incident, Acosta repeatedly interrupted Trump during a news conference, leading the president to demand he not “be rude.”.” Trump informed Acosta that he would not be taking a question from him because “you are fake news.”

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“We’re going to open up libel laws, and we’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before,” Trump said at the 2016 event, going on to further name-drop the Times and Washington Post.

The ruling, along with Trump’s own lawsuit against the Ted Turner-founded network over its use of the term “Big Lie” to describe his claims about the 2020 election, leaves open the possibility that the court could revisit Sullivan, though such a shift appears unlikely in the near term.

Fox News Digital reached out to CNN for comment on the dissent.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett faced the wrath of conservatives on social media on Monday after she authored the majority opinion ruling in favor of a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted in elections even if they are received after Election Day. 

The court was split 5-4 on the ruling with Barrett, appointed by President Donald Trump, writing the majority opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Barrett’s opinion held that Election Day, in the context of federal law, set a deadline for when voters must make a choice regarding their preferred candidate but said that relevant laws have no standard for when ballots must be received to be considered valid. 

Barrett was quickly criticized by conservative commentators and politicians.

AMY CONEY BARRETT CALLS ROE V WADE ‘FREE-FLOATING’ DECISION THAT JUDGES ‘READ INTO’ CONSTITUTION

“A shockingly wrong opinion,” Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt posted on X. “Justice Barrett joins with the liberal justices to hold that federal election law does not preempt states who allow late mail-in ballots to be counted. This is terrible for election integrity. Another reason we must pass the full SAVE American Act.”

“Barrett is the biggest conservative judicial disaster since Souter,” conservative author Hans Mahncke posted on X. “The difference is that few conservatives expected much from Souter whereas Barrett was supposed to be the future of the Court. The worst part is that she’ll be there pushing leftist policies for another 40 years.”

“Amy Coney Barrett continues to disappoint in far too many high-profile cases,” political commentator Josh Hammer posted on X. 

“Remember Election Day?” Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh’s office posted on X. “This disastrous SCOTUS decision, authored by Justice Barrett, guarantees we’ll keep drifting away from it — as our sacred elections get bogged down by endless mail-in ballots and never-ending counts.”

“Amy Coney Barrett is the worst choice ever among all GOP justices,” retired U.S. Army captain Seth Keshel posted on X. “And that includes Roberts. What a disappointment she is.”

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP WEIGHS ‘NUKING’ FILIBUSTER TO PASS TRUMP’S SAVE ACT

“She quotes Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 59, speaks of the Framers’ intent, and repeatedly invokes history as its guide,”  Constitutional attorney Krisanne Hall posted on X. “But when the historical evidence becomes inconvenient, Barrett quietly sets it aside.  Barrett engages in judicial activism disguised as selective originalism.”

Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project, said in a statement that the ruling is “deeply disappointing and misses the mark.”

“Federal law is clear: all ballots must be received by Election Day to be counted,” Snead wrote. “The Court missed a major opportunity to reinforce election integrity and instead sides with California-style chaos. As Justice Alito makes clear in his dissent, watching ballots trickle in after Election Day and flip races does nothing but damage public trust in our system of government.”

Hans von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commissioner and Senior Legal Fellow in AAF’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, said in a statement that the ruling is a “grave disappointment.”

“As Justice Samuel Alito says in his dissent, joined by three other justices, not only is Justice Amy Comey Barrett’s opinion inconsistent with the plain text of those laws and historical practice and precedents, it ‘risks further undermining Americans’ confidence in election integrity,’” von Spakovsky wrote.

The ruling prompted many to reiterate the importance of the SAVE Act, Trump’s long-sought voter ID and citizenship verification legislation, including Republican Rep. Greg Steube who posted on X, “The Senate filibuster is the only thing standing in the way. Nuke it!”

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Trump reacted to the ruling on Truth Social, calling it a “tremendous loss” and stressing the importance that all voters must show a photo ID and proof of citizenship and that there should be “no mail-in” ballots except for specific exceptions. 

“There is no excuse for a politician, or otherwise, to be against the above three requirements,” Trump wrote. “There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!”

Trump added, “The House of Representatives has approved this vital Act, THREE TIMES. The United States Senate seems unable to do so. 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. There can be no more excuses!”

Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

A rare filing from prominent economists and former government officials highlighted the high stakes in the Supreme Court’s decision allowing Lisa Cook, a top official at the Federal Reserve, to remain in her role while her legal challenge to President Donald Trump‘s firing moves forward.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices concluded that the Federal Reserve occupies a unique constitutional position among independent federal agencies, allowing Cook to remain in office as her lawsuit proceeds.

The case drew an extraordinary amicus brief from leading figures in American economic policy, who urged the court to preserve the Federal Reserve’s independence and warned that expanding presidential control over the central bank could undermine confidence in U.S. monetary policy.

An amicus brief is a filing by a non-party that offers information, expertise or legal arguments to help a court decide a case.

WHO IS LISA COOK? THE FED GOVERNOR AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S SUPREME COURT FIGHT

It was signed by every living former chair of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen, as well as six former Treasury secretaries who served presidents of both parties.

The group, which also includes seven former White House economic advisors, spans roughly five decades of U.S. economic policymaking.

Such intervention is rare, as former Fed chairs and Treasury secretaries typically steer clear of public legal battles.

In the 32-page amicus brief, the group argues that allowing the Trump administration to remove a sitting Fed governor would “erode public confidence in the Fed’s independence and threaten the long-term stability of the economy.”

POWELL WARNS LISA COOK’S SUPREME COURT CASE COULD BE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL LEGAL THREAT IN FED’S HISTORY

Expanding the president’s power over Fed board membership is “neither necessary nor appropriate” and would be counterproductive, the group writes, because it would weaken the central bank’s independence and risk higher inflation and economic instability.

That concern, the group argues, is already playing out in real time.

“Sectors that pay close attention to the Federal Reserve — including the financial markets, the public, employers and lenders — are watching the current dispute over the President’s removal of Governor Cook to judge how credible the Fed will be going forward.”

Solicitor General D. John Sauer said Cook’s amici filing did not address the “legal issues at the heart of this case.”

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“Most of Cook’s amici emphasize policy arguments, touting the perceived benefits of the Federal Reserve Board’s independence in setting monetary policy,” Sauer wrote, adding that “policy preferences are not the law, and these particular preferences lack any logical limit.”

The case has emerged as a major test of the legal protections that have long insulated the Federal Reserve from direct political control.

Read the amicus brief here:

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s legal battle against President Donald Trump centered, in part, on a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the nation’s central bank.

The loans, tied to properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts, drew scrutiny regarding whether Cook misrepresented how the homes would be used — as primary residences or otherwise. Trump cited those allegations in his effort to boot her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, arguing they constituted cause for her removal.

The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 5-4 that Cook can remain on as a Fed governor while her separate lawsuit challenging her firing proceeds.

WHO IS LISA COOK? THE FED GOVERNOR AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S SUPREME COURT FIGHT

Cook challenged Trump’s attempt to oust her in federal court, arguing that the move was unlawful and threatened the Federal Reserve‘s independence. Her lawsuit, filed Aug. 28, did not address allegations that she listed two homes as a primary residence on mortgage documents.

The allegations originated with Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee who oversees the federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte, who is now acting Director of National Intelligence, linked Cook to the trio of properties in referrals sent to the Justice Department, which later confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of mortgage application fraud.

The mortgages cited in the Justice Department probe were issued in 2021, before former President Joe Biden nominated Cook to the Federal Reserve Board.

At issue were the preferential terms that come with primary-residence loans, which lenders typically view as lower risk than mortgages for vacation homes or rental properties.

Cook disclosed all three mortgages in a financial filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in June 2025, listing them alongside her income, retirement accounts and investments.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OPENS CRIMINAL PROBE INTO FED’S LISA COOK

The filing also showed that Cook earned more than $50,000 a year in rental income from her Cambridge, Massachusetts, condominium. Pulte alleged in his DOJ referral that Cook represented the Cambridge condominium as a second home rather than an investment property, despite reporting rental income from the unit.

Cook bought the condo in 2002 when she was a professor at Harvard University. For this property, she obtained a 15-year loan for $361,000 at a rate of 2.5% in April 2021.

Two months later, Cook secured a mortgage for a three-bedroom home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The 15-year loan for $203,000 at a 2.87% rate through the University of Michigan Credit Union covered the 1,800-square-foot property. At the time, she taught economics and international relations at Michigan State University, roughly an hour’s drive away.

She also obtained a $540,000, 30-year mortgage for a luxury condo above the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.

The loan, issued by the Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union, carried a 3.25% interest rate.

A RARE FILING IN THE LISA COOK–TRUMP CASE COULD SWAY SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

In that loan agreement, Cook “affirmed that this property would serve as her primary residence within 60 days of the execution of the mortgage and would serve as her primary residence for a full year,” according to Pulte’s referral letter to the Justice Department.

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Cook has not publicly explained why both the Michigan and Georgia properties were designated as her primary residence.

Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, denied the allegations in a Sept. 2 filing, writing that Cook “did not ever commit mortgage fraud.”

Lisa Cook’s ascension to the Federal Reserve was historic from the start. 

Appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, she became the first black woman to serve as a governor on the Fed board — a seven-member panel that sets national interest rates and oversees the banking system.

Now, she stands at the center of another historic moment, as the Supreme Court ruled Monday against President Donald Trump’s effort to fire her, preserving long-standing protections around the central bank’s independence.

TRUMP VS THE FEDERAL RESERVE: HOW THE CLASH REACHED UNCHARTED TERRITORY

Cook’s legal fight traces back to late August, when Trump said he was firing her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the seven-member body that helps set monetary policy and oversee the U.S. banking system.

He alleged she misrepresented information tied to a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the central bank. Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

She sued Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block her removal from the nation’s most powerful central bank. On Sept. 9, a district court judge barred Trump from firing her while the case proceeds, a decision later upheld by a federal appeals court.

A RARE FILING IN THE LISA COOK–TRUMP CASE COULD SWAY SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

Before joining the Fed board, the Oxford alumna and UC Berkeley-trained economist built a career in academia, including faculty roles at Harvard University and Michigan State University.

A graduate of Spelman College, Cook has been described by American economist Barry Eichengreen as “part economist and historian,” with command of several languages, including French, Russian, Spanish and Wolof — a widely spoken language in Senegal.

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Cook has also held senior roles in government, serving as a senior economist on then-President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2012. 

Before that, she served as a senior adviser on finance and development in the Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs. 

She joined the Fed board in May 2022 and was reappointed in September 2023 for a term that runs through January 2038.