NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: The former sheriff of New Mexico’s most populous county has announced his decision to switch political parties and compete for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Describing himself as a “man of strong convictions and values,” Manuel Gonzales, who served as the sheriff of Bernalillo County for roughly 13 years, told Fox News Digital his decision to enter the Senate race came as a result of the Democratic Party moving too “far left” on issues that mean the most to him.

“I’m a law and order and fiscally responsible family man that cares about his community,” Gonzales said. “My whole career in life has been surrounded by service. My concerns are that of the [Democratic] Party. The party that I was in has gone far left in terms of their ideologies towards families and law and order. I can no longer become complicit in their values because I don’t believe that they align with mine.”

Gonzales, a lifelong Democrat who gained national recognition for his refusal to enforce stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, said he believes his decision to run as a Republican will provide him with more opportunities to pick up support in the race and bring “positive changes” to the state overall.

NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR’S GUN RESTRICTION ORDERS TO BE REVIEWED BY STATE SUPREME COURT

From inflation to crime, Gonzales said he’s looking to tackle issues that have hindered progress in the state head on.

Gonzales, who’s looking to take a hands-on approach to problems if he’s elected, said he will prioritize “fighting for jobs” in New Mexico and hone in on certain “energy initiatives” and resources the state has to offer.

“The security and safety of the people throughout the country has been compromised,” said Gonzalez, whose public service career has been marked by repeated efforts to rid New Mexico of crime.

Gonzales, whose career in law enforcement spans nearly 30 years, said a troubling reality he faces is that officers in New Mexico “don’t feel supported.”

A proponent of qualified immunity for officers, Gonzales said he hopes to welcome more officers to the state and “get behind efforts to support” law enforcement officials so he can be “a strong voice and advocate for them.”

Gonzales, a newcomer to the Republican Party, also touted his ability to work across the aisle to get things done for those he hopes to represent on a federal level.

“I would definitely be a huge advocate and work collaboratively with both sides of the aisle to get things accomplished instead of continually pointing fingers and blaming [others] like this current administration and this current senator that sits in office right now,” he said, referencing the Biden administration and incumbent Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.

Taking further aim at Heinrich, who has represented New Mexico in the Senate since 2013 and is running for re-election to his post in the upper chamber, Gonzales accused the “career politician” of being a “carpetbagger” who came to the state and has been “comfortable and unchallenged” thus far.

LATINO SENATE HOPEFUL SAYS HISPANIC VOTERS BEING ‘BLINDSIDED’ BY DEM POLICIES, AIMS TO FLIP BORDER SEAT RED

“I want to be the person that has the opportunity in November to challenge him and unseat him so things can start moving,” Gonzales said of Heinrich. “I really believe things are idle here, and I think when people become complacent and comfortable, I think it’s time for them to go home.”

Amid several law enforcement issues that arose during his time as sheriff of Bernalillo County, Gonzales said Heinrich’s office was silent.

“I did not see any effort or anybody from [Heinrich’s] office reach out to support any initiatives we were doing,” he said.

Gonzales has been at odds with several elected Democrats from across the state for some time, and took heat from them following his 2020 visit to the nation’s capital to meet with then-President Donald Trump and then-Attorney General William Barr.

Party affiliation won’t prevent Gonzales from doing the work that needs to be done in Washington on behalf of his constituents, he said.

“I understand that I represent the people and not a party when I get elected,” he said. “I can stand on my own two feet. I am my own person, and I’m a person that is very reasonable. I’m also a person that is fair. I have the best interest of everybody at heart. Politics don’t play into my decisions when it comes to serving people.”

“I want to get things done. I want to help people, and I want to serve them because that’s what I’ve been called to do,” Gonzales added.

Amid his stint leading the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department, Gonzales sought to serve as the Mayor of Albuquerque in 2021. He lost that election, however, to Tim Keller, a Democrat who previously served as the New Mexico State auditor.

Last fall, Gonzales and former Laguna Police Chief Rudy Mora were identified in a federal indictment filed in Maryland that accused the pair of participating in an illegal weapons scheme in the state. Prosecutors said Gonzales and Mora signed false documents to help gun dealers illegally obtain machine guns, according to Source New Mexico, but neither of the men have been charged with a crime.

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Discussing the matter outlined in federal documents filed last October, Gonzales said the effort is “politically motivated” and that he believes he will be “exonerated.”

“I followed the law, and I’ll continue to follow the law,” he said. “I would never breach anything for the trust of the people. After this case has been adjudicated and said and done, I believe my good name will be exonerated.”

The primary election is slated to take place on June 4, 2024. The general election will take place on Nov. 4, 2024.

Donald Trump dominated the news again yesterday – we’re talking wall-to-wall all morning – simply by showing up for court.

In fact, with less than a week till the Iowa caucuses, he’ll spend two days in court – yesterday’s D.C. appearance and Thursday’s closing arguments in the civil fraud trial in New York – although in both cases he doesn’t need to show up. (In between he’ll do that Iowa town hall on Fox.)

The three-judge federal appeals panel that heard Trump’s claim of presidential immunity – two Biden appointees and one by George H.W. Bush – were openly skeptical of the arguments offered by the former president’s lawyer.

Ironically, this comes as Joe Biden’s campaign officials are complaining to journalists brought to the Wilmington headquarters that Trump should be covered more as a candidate and less as a defendant.

BIDEN TEAM COMPLAINS ABOUT TRUMP COVERAGE; THE ‘FULL HITLER’ CONFRONTATION

And yet there’s no question that the immunity hearing is crucial. If the appellate panel upholds Trump’s claim that he’s immune from prosecution for anything that can be construed as an official act, Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case will be dead in the water. If the panel rules against Trump, the prosecution goes forward before the election. Of course, like Trump’s appeal of the Maine and Colorado ballot bans, it will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

But by his sheer presence in the downtown criminal courthouse – and speaking to reporters afterward – Trump boosted the visibility of the hearing. Just by sitting in the same courtroom as Smith, he made it part of his campaign.

And that’s been the play all along. 

Each of the four indictments has boosted Trump politically, pushing his poll numbers up and denying his GOP rivals of much-needed oxygen, as Ron DeSantis has said. Trump’s loyal MAGA followers see these charges as a Democratic plot to keep him out of the White House. 

HOW HARVARD’S PRESIDENT HUNG ON SO LONG, DESPITE BECOMING AN UTTER EMBARRASSMENT

The more the media spotlight follows the ex-president to the courthouses, the more he can use them as a campaign vehicle.

Fueling the drama: another swatting incident, this one at Jack Smith’s home. Law enforcement officials showed up on Christmas after being falsely told that the prosecutor had shot his wife. The judge in the case, Tanya Chutkan, was also swatted.

Trump’s attorney made the strange argument that no president can be prosecuted without first being impeached and convicted. The judges weren’t buying that, saying a hypothetical president could use the military to murder his political opponents and resign before impeachment. I’d add that he could avoid an impeachment conviction if his party controlled the Senate.

Judge Karen Henderson, the Bush appointee, said: “I think it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’ allows him to violate criminal law.” Audio from the hearing was made available. 

Biden tried to change the trajectory of his campaign with his speeches near Valley Forge and in Charleston, making harsh personal attacks on his predecessor as a liar who fomented an insurrection and is a champion of White supremacy.

But on most days, Biden is a low-key presence, taking only two quick questions from reporters with terse answers, doing fewer interviews, and news conferences are as rare as a fly-by of Jupiter’s moons. Trump, by contrast, is constantly making news. I never thought I’d see a time when a former president overshadowed an incumbent president, but here we are.

On the video channel of pillow guy Mike Lindell, Trump said: “And when there’s a crash, I hope it’s going to be during this next 12 months, because I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover.” This drew media denunciations that he was rooting for a crash – especially since the stock market just hit new highs.

Trump made a video – a virtual requirement for TV – saying that what was happening to him “only happens in third world countries or banana republics. They’re using their Department of Injustice to go after his political [opponent] and this is all him,” meaning Biden, “a hundred percent him. He’s the one that told them to do it and they obey his orders. It’s a shame.”

He added that “Joe” has to “be very careful… You don’t indict your political opponent because he opposes the corrupt election, which you know was corrupt.”

When Trump spoke for 10 minutes outside the Washington courthouse yesterday, he said they’d had “a very good day.” But he added that if he loses the appeal, “It will be bedlam in the country.”

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

Both CNN and MSNBC soon broke away. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins offered an instant fact check, saying there is no evidence of significant voter fraud in 2020, and that Biden is not prosecuting Trump. 

Even after a contentious Pentagon news conference revealing that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has prostate cancer and that his refusal to disclose that serious illness is under investigation, the networks quickly went back to the Trump court hearing.

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Another day, another news cycle, dominated by Donald Trump.

• A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday, halting enforcement of an Ohio law requiring children under 16 to receive parental consent before accessing social media apps.
• U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley ruled in favor of NetChoice, a group representing TikTok, Meta, and other social media titans.
• Despite calling the law’s intent “a laudable aim,” Marbley doubts Ohio will be able to prove it is “narrowly tailored to any ends that it identifies.”

A federal judge issued an order Tuesday temporarily halting enforcement of a pending Ohio law that would require children to get parental consent to use social media apps.

U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley’s temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit brought Friday by NetChoice, a trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies. The litigation argues that the law unconstitutionally impedes free speech and is overbroad and vague.

While calling the intent to protect children “a laudable aim,” Marbley said it is unlikely that Ohio will be able to show the law is “narrowly tailored to any ends that it identifies.”

CONSERVATIVES BLAST REPUBLICAN OHIO GOVERNOR AS ‘COWARD’ FOR TRANSGENDER BILL VETO

“Foreclosing minors under sixteen from accessing all content on websites that the Act purports to cover, absent affirmative parental consent, is a breathtakingly blunt instrument for reducing social media’s harm to children,” he wrote.

The law is similar to those enacted in other states. It was set to take effect Jan. 15.

Besides requiring social media companies to obtain a parent’s permission for children under 16 to sign up for social media and gaming apps, it also mandates that the companies provide parents with their privacy guidelines, so that families can know what content will be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.

The Social Media Parental Notification Act was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July. The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children’s mental health, with Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted saying at the time that social media was “intentionally addictive” and harmful to kids.

Husted expressed disappointment in the judge’s action Tuesday.

TRUMP CALLS ON ‘ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO UNITE’ AROUND BERNIE MORENO IN RACE FOR SEN. SHERROD BROWN’S SEAT

“The big-tech companies behind this lawsuit were included in the legislative process to make sure the law was clear and easy to implement, but now they claim the law is unclear,” he said in a statement. “They were disingenuous participants in the process and have no interest in protecting children.”

The governor also lamented the decision.

“The negative effects that social media sites and apps have on our children’s mental health have been well documented, and this law was one way to empower parents to have a role in their kids’ digital lives,” he said in a statement.

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NetChoice filed suit against GOP Attorney General Dave Yost in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The group has won lawsuits against similar restrictions in California and Arkansas.

DES MOINES, Iowa – With six days to go until Iowa’s caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis no longer predicts victory and instead vows that “we’re going to do well here.”

DeSantis, at a Fox News town hall on Tuesday in Iowa’s capital and largest city, emphasized that the battle for the GOP nomination “is a long process” and pledged that he’s “in it for the long haul.”

DeSantis, who was convincingly re-elected to a second term as Florida governor 14 months ago, was once the clear alternative to former President Trump in the Republican White House race. He was solidly in second place behind former Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner as he makes his third straight presidential bid.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE RON DESANTIS FOX NEWS TOWN HALL

But after a series of campaign setbacks over the summer and autumn, DeSantis saw his support in the polls erode.

Rival Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, in recent weeks has caught up with DeSantis for second place in the polls in Iowa and in national surveys. 

Haley also surpassed DeSantis and surged to second place and narrowed the gap with Trump in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary — just eight days after Iowa.

Last month, in multiple interviews, even though he was down double digits in the polls to Trump in Iowa, DeSantis predicted victory.

“We’re going to win Iowa. We’ve got the organization in place,” the governor declared in a Fox News Digital interview in Bettendorf, Iowa a week before Christmas.

TRUMP TAKES NO CHANCES AS IOWA’S PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUSES APPROACH

But on Tuesday, when asked by Fox News’ “Special Report” chief political anchor Bret Baier and “The Story” executive editor and anchor Martha MacCallum — the moderators of the town hall — about his finish in a state that many consider make-or-break for him. DeSantis twice answered “we’re going to do well.”

“I kind of like having lower expectations, to be honest with you,” he added. “I’ve been an underdog my whole life and everything I’ve ever done.”

And he argued that “the media has kind of tried to go at me a little bit on that… Let them say that. We have it within our power to prove them wrong, and we will do that.”

Asked if his campaign would advance to New Hampshire regardless of his finish in Iowa, DeSantis reiterated “yes, of course.”

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And DeSantis touted his get-out-the-vote efforts in Iowa, which are heavily reliant on Never Back Down, an aligned super PAC

“We have massive numbers of people. I think we have more commits than anyone’s ever had in an Iowa caucus. We have all the counties organized. People that have been involved in this process say it’s the best yet,” he said.

Haley joined Fox News on Monday for a similar town hall, and Trump will take questions from Baier and MacCallum on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.

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

Former first lady Melania Trump announced the passing of her mother, Amalija Knavs, on Tuesday.

“It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved mother, Amalija,” the former first lady wrote in a X post.

Trump called her mother “strong” and “entirely devoted” to her family.

“Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity,” Trump wrote. “She was entirely devoted to her husband, daughters, grandson, and son-in-law.”

“We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy,” she added.

MELANIA TRUMP SPENDS CHRISTMAS WITH AILING MOTHER, MISSING MAR-A-LAGO CELEBRATION

The news comes after former President Donald Trump said that Knavs was “very ill” at his New Year’s Eve’s celebration at his home in South Florida.

MELANIA TRUMP TO SPEAK TO NEW AMERICAN CITIZENS ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY OF ‘GUARDING OUR FREEDOM’

“Hopefully she’ll be recovering,’ the former president said after mentioning he had gotten off the phone with Melania who was at a Miami hospital with her sick mother.

“It’s a tough one, a very tough one,” Trump continued.

Similarly, Melania was absent from the family’s Christmas celebrations as she took care of her ailing mother.

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“Melania has always been very devoted to her entire family,” a source close to Melania Trump told Fox News Digital. “It should be no surprise that she spent this Christmas with her ailing mother.” 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis’ rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination took aim at the populist presidential candidate after his Tuesday town hall event.

DeSantis joined Fox News for a town hall event in the Hawkeye State ahead of the famous Iowa Caucus, where the governor spoke on inflation and government accountability and took questions from the audience.

Following DeSantis’ town hall discussion with Fox News’ Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, though, the Florida governor’s GOP rivals fired off their thoughts on his performance.

RIVAL GOP CAMPAIGNS WEIGH IN ON HALEY’S FOX NEWS TOWN HALL PERFORMANCE: ‘REJECT HER ON CAUCUS NIGHT’

Former President Trump’s campaign went off during the town hall event, attacking DeSantis’ record on the COVID-19 pandemic and claiming in one post that the Florida governor “issued some of the most draconian Covid restrictions of anywhere in the United States.”

In another post, the Trump campaign wrote, “Ron DeSanctimonious PRAISES Trump’s COVID Task Force, says Fauci and Birx were doing a good job,” with a clip of DeSantis from during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Ron DeSantis and his allies have set him up for devastating failure,” the Trump campaign tweeted. “Everything he does is one giant astroturf that will be exposed in just a few short days.”

Trump’s campaign also shared a CNN clip that the campaign said “exposed” the governor as a “massive COVID hypocrite.”

“MUST WATCH: DeSantis EXPOSED as MASSIVE COVID HYPOCRITE, repeatedly praised Fauci and his policies during the pandemic,” Trump wrote.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s campaign chirped at DeSantis during his town hall, too, slamming the governor over his answers to various questions, from inflation to his polling numbers against President Biden.

“RON DESANTIS on inflation: ‘This was created by Washington,’” Haley’s campaign tweeted on Tuesday. “Uh, Ron, you were in Washington and you voted to increase the debt limit.”

“Tonight, Iowa voters saw a desperate, flailing Ron DeSantis trying to cover up his record of banning fracking and drilling in Florida, and voting to increase the debt limit in Congress. The more DeSantis loses, the more he lies,” AnnMarie Graham-Barnes, Haley campaign spokesperson, told Fox News Digital following the town hall.

“FUN FACT: Ron DeSantis performs the worst against Biden,” Haley’s campaign wrote in another tweet. “LOL.”

“Question from voter: Why is it so hard for you to win over conservatives?” another tweet from Haley’s camp read. “Ron DeSantis: Word [salad emoji].”

When asked for comment, DeSantis’ campaign pointed to a tweet by the governor slamming Haley and Trump and sharing a clip of his comments from his Fox News town hall.

“Donald Trump’s running for his issues. Nikki Haley’s running for her donors’ issues,” DeSantis wrote.

“I’m running for your issues, your family’s issues, and to turn this country around,” he added.

DeSantis was the second GOP presidential candidate this week to hold a Fox News town hall ahead of the Iowa Caucus next week.

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The Florida governor is vying for the GOP nomination to take on President Biden for the White House in November. 

However, the battle for the nomination is far from over: DeSantis will have to get through Haley and Trump to get the Republican Party’s coveted nod.

• Wisconsin law does not allow usage of mobile absentee voting sites, a judge ruled late Monday.
• Racine County Circuit Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz sided with Republican plaintiffs who had challenged Racine’s usage of a “voting van” that meandered about the city’s streets in 2022.
• “Nowhere can this Court find or has been provided any authority allowing the use of a van or vehicle as an alternate absentee voting vehicle,” Gasiorkiewicz wrote.

A Wisconsin judge has ruled that state law does not allow the use of mobile absentee voting sites, siding with Republicans who had challenged Racine’s use of a voting van that traveled around the city in 2022.

Republicans opposed the use of the van, the only one of its kind in Wisconsin, saying its use was against the law, increased the chances of voter fraud and was used to bolster Democratic turnout.

Racine officials, the Democratic National Committee and the Milwaukee-based voting advocacy group Black Leaders Organizing for Communities refuted those claims and defended the legality of the van, saying there was no specific prohibition against it.

ILLINOIS ELECTIONS BOARD TO VOTE ON WHETHER TRUMP CAN APPEAR ON STATE GOP’S PRIMARY BALLOT

The lawsuit over the mobile voting van is one of several in battleground Wisconsin that could affect voting rules in the upcoming presidential election.

The van was first used in Racine’s municipal elections in 2022. It was purchased with grant money Racine received from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, the nonprofit created by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. Republicans have been critical of the grants, calling the money “Zuckerbucks” that they say was used to tilt turnout in Democratic areas.

The van was used only to facilitate early in-person voting during the two weeks prior to an election, Racine City Clerk Tara McMenamin said. She said the vehicle was useful because it was becoming too cumbersome for her staff to set up their equipment in remote polling sites.

It traveled across the city to meet voters in their neighborhoods and collect early ballots.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, on behalf of Racine County Republican Party Chairman Ken Brown, filed a complaint the day after the August 2022 primary with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, arguing that the van was against state law. They argued that it was only sent to Democratic areas in the city in an illegal move to bolster turnout.

McMenamin disputed those accusations, saying that it shows a misunderstanding of the city’s voting wards, which traditionally lean Democratic.

The elections commission dismissed the complaint four days before the November election that year, saying that there was no probable cause shown to believe the law had been broken. That led the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty to then file its lawsuit.

Racine County Circuit Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz, in a ruling late Monday, overturned the elections commission’s dismissal of the complaint, saying state election laws do not allow for the use of mobile voting sites.

“Nowhere can this Court find or has been provided any authority allowing the use of a van or vehicle as an alternate absentee voting vehicle,” the judge wrote.

He rejected the argument from defendants that the use of mobile voting sites was allowable because there is no specific prohibition against them.

The judge said his ruling wasn’t a determination on whether mobile voting sites were a good idea or not. That is up to the Legislature to decide, Gasiorkiewicz said.

VIRGINIA DROPS LAST REMAINING CHARGE AGAINST DC-AREA ELECTIONS OFFICIAL

The Wisconsin Elections Commission and the state Department of Justice, which represented it in the lawsuit, did not return messages seeking comment on whether the decision will be appealed. McMenamin said the decision was being reviewed and next steps would be more clear next week.

Early in-person absentee voting in Wisconsin for the municipal spring election begins Feb. 6. The presidential primary is April 2, with absentee voting allowed two weeks before it.

If appealed, the case could ultimately be decided by Wisconsin’s liberal-controlled state Supreme Court.

Lucas Vebber, deputy counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, hailed the ruling.

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“Wisconsin voters should know that their elections are secure, and that election administration does not favor one political party over another,” Vebber said. “This decision does just that.”

A border deal that was anticipated to be finalized in text this week has hit a roadblock but is still progressing, according to Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.

“There’s too many unanswered issues” for officials to sort through still, Lankford, one of the key negotiators, told reporters Monday. 

One of those “unanswered issues” lawmakers are stuck on is a key policy issue dividing Republicans and Democrats — parole authority. 

Parole authority, an integral border policy that allows illegal migrants to live in the U.S. temporarily and obtain their green cards, was expanded under the Biden administration to permit 30,000 nationals from four nations to fly in and receive parole into the U.S. monthly, forming part of the administration’s strategy to address the continuous crisis at the southern border.

KEY LAWMAKERS RETURN TO THE HILL EARLY TO CONTINUE BORDER SECURITY TALKS AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS VISIT BORDER 

Lankford, alongside other lead negotiators Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., began negotiations with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden officials a week before the upper chamber was scheduled to go on its holiday recess.

Republicans want several measures included in a deal, including more restrictions on parole and reforming how asylum is granted, making the process more stringent for qualifying for asylum. They also want to increase detention beds and the presence of parole agents.  

DEMOCRAT SENATOR SOUNDS ALARM ON ‘CRISIS’ AT SOUTHERN BORDER, URGES NEGOTIATORS TO STRIKE A DEAL

On Wednesday, House Republicans and the Senate Republican Conference will receive a briefing from Lankford on the status of the negotiations. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Tuesday said one of his questions is whether there will be “anything in this bill that’s going to deal with the people that are here illegally.”

“My understanding is that McConnell doesn’t want to tie having a secure border to Ukraine aid,” Scott said. “So, what are we going to tie to make sure that the Biden administration actually does whatever we pass?”

The Senate is also dealing with an upcoming Jan. 19 deadline to pass critical funding for several federal agencies and avert a government shutdown. The second deadline for the remaining agencies is Feb. 2.

Sen. Ron Johnson, Wis., told reporters Tuesday “the real conundrum Republicans face is trying to negotiate a deal with this president.”

“It’s like negotiating with the arsonist to put out the fire he or she started,” he said.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told reporters Monday he doesn’t “think there’s going to be enough for us to get it on the January 19 package, but maybe there will be by February 2, and that makes more sense to me.”

SENATE NOT EXPECTED TO RELEASE TEXT ON BORDER PACKAGE THIS WEEK

Lawmakers hope to strike a deal that will tie border security measures into the national supplemental funding request that would provide some $60 billion to Ukraine and $14 billion to Israel. But GOP lawmakers have insisted that either the supplemental or government funding have some border security conditions attached to it. 

“It should surprise no one that it’s going to take time,” Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor Tuesday. “Of all the difficult issues we face in this room, in this chamber, immigration is near the top.”

But the upper chamber could be headed for a showdown in the GOP-controlled House if the border agreement lacks elements of H.R. 2, or the Secure the Border Act. 

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There were over 302,000 migrant encounters in December, after a fiscal 2023 that saw a record 2.4 million encounters overall. A recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement report said the agency removed 142,580 illegal immigrants in fiscal 2023, up considerably from 72,177 in fiscal 2022 and 59,011 in fiscal 2021, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in fiscal 2019.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

The Florida Legislature opened its annual 60-day session Tuesday and prepared to hear Gov. Ron DeSantis give his State of the State address before he heads back to Iowa for next week’s crucial presidential caucuses.

TRUMP TAKES NO CHANCES AS IOWA’S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUSES APPROACH

The Senate and House began the largely ceremonial proceedings, with lawmakers coming together for optimistic speeches from the Republican leaders of each chamber. Flowers adorned the lawmakers’ 160 desks as Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices and former leaders gathered waiting for DeSantis.

Unlike past years, DeSantis has largely been quiet about what he hopes to achieve during the session, focusing instead on his presidential campaign, where polls show he badly trails former President Donald Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The opening of the session was also marked by stormy weather as strong winds and rain pounded the Florida Panhandle while rolling toward Tallahassee. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis skipped the ceremonies to travel to the Panama City area to view storm damage.

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“I think tropical storm force winds on opening day means good luck, kind of like rain on your wedding day,” Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said. “I hope the old adage in like a lion, out like a lamb will ring true this session.”

A former ambassador slammed President Biden’s handling of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s mystery ailment and hospitalization, saying it’s “alarming” that Biden did not notice he was “out of action” sooner.

The Pentagon alerted the media last Friday that Austin was hospitalized on Jan. 1 and remains under the care of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Details about Austin’s medical condition are unclear. Officials stated that he underwent an elective medical procedure last month and was hospitalized in the following days.

Biden, along with the National Security Council and leaders at the Pentagon, including Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, were not informed for several days that Austin had been admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit for treatment on New Year’s Day.

Now, James Gilmore, who served as ambassador to the U.S. Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe during the Trump administration, said it’s worrisome that Biden is “so detached” from his Defense Department that he did not notice his absence.

DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN HAS NO PLANS TO RESIGN, PENTAGON SAYS

“From my experience as ambassador, I know that our allies need to know that the United States is competent and organized to provide leadership in a time of global conflict,” Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia with a background in military intelligence stemming from his military service during the Vietnam War, told Fox News Digital. “The world, allies and adversaries, watches the U.S. and its leadership every day for signs of strength or weakness.”

“It is alarming that President Biden is so detached from his Defense Department, that he didn’t even know the Secretary was out of action, and that the Defense leadership didn’t feel the need to tell him,” Gilmore said. “Biden is only an ‘autopilot President’, who daily shows he is not in control in this time of great danger to our country.”

A Biden administration official responded to the critique by telling Fox News Digital by saying, “I’m not familiar with him.”

“But if he had nothing to say when Donald Trump outright lied to the American public about his covid case at the height of the pandemic, then I can’t hear him now,” the official continued.

The ordeal has led to Trump saying Austin “should be fired immediately” and other Republicans demanding he step down from his post.

“He has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue as to where he was or might be,” Trump said in a previous Truth Social post.

Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks told Axios over the weekend that Austin “has been a disaster since Day One and should be replaced by someone who will focus on making the military ready to fight and win wars instead of advancing woke political causes of the Biden admin.”

Rep. Matt Rosendale’s, R-Mont., office told Fox News Digital on Monday that the lawmakers was introducing articles of impeachment against Austin because he believes Austin “violated his oath of office” on multiple occasions, citing the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the migrant crisis at the border, and last year’s incident with a Chinese spy craft floating above the continental U.S.

“Sec. Austin knowingly put the American people in danger and compromised our national security when he allowed a spy balloon from a foreign adversary to fly over Malmstrom Air Force Base – home to ICBMs – and allowed the Chinese Communist Party to gather intel on American citizens,” the Montana Republican said.

DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN RESUMES DUTIES, WAS IN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT FOR DAYS AS PUBLIC KEPT IN THE DARK

Others, such as Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, said Austin isn’t “capable” of leading the Defense Department.

“And he just proved it again by keeping it a secret when he was very sick and in the ICU,” Greene posted on X. 

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The secret hospitalization has caused headaches for the White House, who told Fox News Digital on Monday morning that Biden has no plans to replace Austin and “continues to have full trust and confidence in the Secretary.”

Though still hospitalized, Austin has resumed his duties and is now recovering from treatment and an undisclosed illness. 

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.

The Fulton County prosecutor, who District Attorney Fani Willis allegedly had an “improper” romantic relationship with, met with the Biden White House twice last year as he worked to investigate former President Trump’s alleged election interference, according to court documents.

According to a new filing from a co-defendant in the Trump case, Willis hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade, her alleged partner, to prosecute Trump, and benefited financially from the relationship in the form of vacations the two took using funds his law firm received for working the case.

TOP TRUMP PROSECUTOR, GEORGIA DA ALLEGED TO BE IN ‘IMPROPER’ ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP: COURT FILING

But also embedded in the filing are invoices for the Law Offices of Nathan J. Wade. One invoice calls attention for “Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.”

Wade billed the county for a May 23, 2022, event described as “Travel to Athens; Conf with White House Counsel.” Wade charged $2,000 for eight hours at $250 an hour.

Several months later, Wade billed for “Interview with DC/White House” on Nov. 18, 2022. Wade, again, charged $2,000 for eight hours at $250 an hour, according to the documents.

The subject of the meetings remains unclear. 

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

“Fani Willis’ alleged romantic partner/special prosecutor coordinated with the White House while building the political prosecution of Donald Trump,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., posted on X reacting to the filing Tuesday. “All on the taxpayer dime.”

“It has become increasingly clear that the Biden White House is directing these baseless, political prosecutions against President Trump because they know they cannot beat him fair and square at the ballot box,” MAGA Inc. spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “This latest news about Fani Willis is disturbing, yet sadly unsurprising.” 

Meanwhile, Fulton County records show Wade has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022, an amount authorized by the district attorney, or Willis in this case.

The revelations come as part of a motion that was filed on behalf of former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, a co-defendant in the case, in a bid to have the charges against him dismissed.

It cites “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney” as confirming “they had an ongoing, personal relationship.”

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The filing also calls for the entire District Attorney’s Office, including Willis and Wade, to be disqualified from prosecuting the case.

In August, Willis charged Trump out of her investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Trump was charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Roman, alongside Trump, was hit with a racketeering charge as part of Willis’ case, and was charged with seven felony counts last August.

Fox News Channel is set to host a live town hall with Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, January 9.

The hour-long event will air at 6 p.m. ET in front of a live audience in Iowa — where GOP candidates are competing for voter attention ahead of the state’s Jan. 15 caucuses that kick off the 2024 presidential nominating calendar.

Fox News’ Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, who co-moderated the first presidential primary debate of the 2024 cycle in Milwaukee, will lead the questioning during Monday’s town hall.

TUNE INTO FOX NEWS TO WATCH GOP HOPEFUL RON DESANTIS IN AN EXCLUSIVE TOWN HALL

DeSantis is a must-watch GOP candidate ahead of the Iowa caucuses set for early next week. The presidential hopeful has been a vocal frontrunner on the campaign trail thus far. Baier and MacCallum are expected to discuss numerous issues with DeSantis, on a broad range of topics important to American voters.

How to watch

The town hall event featuring DeSantis will be televised on FOX News Channel, and viewers can access a live stream on FOX Nation, FOX News Media’s streaming platform, as well as on FOXNews.com and FOXBusiness.com. FOX websites will also include debate reporting and a live blog throughout the night.

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The event is the second during the week of highly anticipated Fox News town halls. Pesidential candidate Nikki Haley participated in a Fox News town hall Monday and former President Donald Trump will be at an Iowa town hall on Wednesday evening.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Opening statements are expected Tuesday as the trial in a long-running legal challenge to the constitutionality of Georgia’s election system begins in federal court in Atlanta.

Election integrity activists argue the system is vulnerable to attack and has operational issues that amount to an unconstitutional burden on citizens’ fundamental right to vote and to have their votes counted accurately. State election officials insist that they’ve taken appropriate protective measures and that the system is reliable.

The case stems from a lawsuit originally filed in 2017 by election integrity activists — individual voters and the Coalition for Good Governance, which advocates for election security and integrity. It initially attacked the outdated, paperless voting machines used at the time but has since been amended to target the newer machines in use statewide since 2020.

GEORGIA LAWMAKERS WILL TURN ATTENTION TO ANTISEMITISM, ELECTIONS AS 2024 REGULAR SESSION BEGINS

That newer system, made by Dominion Voting Systems, includes touchscreen voting machines that print ballots with a human-readable summary of voters’ selections and a QR code that a scanner reads to count the votes. The activists argue the current system is no more secure or reliable than the old system and are asking U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg to order the state to stop using it.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly defended the system and has dismissed the concerns raised by the activists as unfounded. He and his lawyers have at times lumped the plaintiffs in this lawsuit in with supporters of former President Donald Trump who have pushed false allegations of election fraud after the 2020 election, including outlandish claims about the Dominion voting machines.

“Georgia’s election security practices are top-tier. Casting doubt on Georgia’s elections, which these plaintiffs and deniers are doing, is really trying to cast doubt on all elections. That is dangerous and wrong,” secretary of state’s office spokesperson Mike Hassinger said in an emailed statement Monday. “Our office continues to beat election deniers in court, in elections, and will ultimately win this case in the end as well.”

Totenberg, who has expressed concerns about the state’s election system and its implementation, wrote in a footnote in an October order that the evidence in this case “does not suggest that the Plaintiffs are conspiracy theorists of any variety. Indeed, some of the nation’s leading cybersecurity experts and computer scientists have provided testimony and affidavits on behalf of Plaintiffs’ case in the long course of this litigation.”

GEORGIA CONSERVATIVE GROUP CLEARED OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT VIOLATION ACCUSATIONS

One of those experts, University of Michigan computer science expert J. Alex Halderman, examined a Georgia voting machine and wrote a lengthy report identifying vulnerabilities he said he found and detailing how they could be used to change election results. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, in June 2022 released an advisory based on Halderman’s findings that urged jurisdictions that use the machines to quickly mitigate the vulnerabilities.

Dominion, which has consistently insisted its equipment is accurate and secure, issued a software update last spring that it says addresses the concerns. Raffensperger has said the time and effort needed to install that update on every piece of voting equipment means it is not feasible before the 2024 election cycle.

RFK JR. MEETS REQUIREMENTS TO APPEAR ON FIRST 2024 GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT AS CAMPAIGN SEASON HEATS UP

The plaintiffs and their experts have said they have seen no evidence that Georgia’s elections have been manipulated by bad actors, but they argue existing security flaws must be addressed to prevent future harm. The need to act became more urgent after unauthorized people accessed voting equipment in a rural Georgia county elections office in January 2021 and distributed the software and data online, they argue.

The plaintiffs advocate the use of hand-marked paper ballots tallied by scanners. Totenberg already wrote in October that she cannot order the state to switch to a system that uses hand-marked paper ballots. But she wrote that she could order “pragmatic, sound remedial policy measures,” including eliminating the QR codes on ballots, stronger cybersecurity measures and more robust audits.

SAN JOSE – Americans in Silicon Valley shared whether they believe President Biden’s leadership has been effective enough to earn him another term ahead of the 2024 election, with several pointing to his age as a concern.

“I do feel like he’s a little too old,” Travis said in San Jose. “I kind of see him more as a puppet. He just kind of signs and goes with the flow.”

WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE

But Richard disagreed.

“I think he’s doing a great job,” Richard said. “The public perception — in particular, a lot of the advertising focused on his age and moments when he looks on camera to be a doddering old man — is a weakness, but his actual record is very impressive.”

Over three-quarters of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published in September said Biden — the oldest chief executive to serve — is too old to be president. The survey also found the 81-year-old and former President Trump would tie in a hypothetical election.

Earlier this month, a JPMorgan strategist predicted that Biden would drop out of the 2024 race sometime between Super Tuesday and Election Day due to health reasons.

AMERICANS DELIVER BLUNT ASSESSMENT OF BIDEN’S RE-ELECTABILITY AHEAD OF 2024: ‘RETIRE AND MOVE ON’

“I think his leadership is weak, but I think people are kind of bought into it,” Steve told Fox News. “I don’t think most people are excited about Biden, but I think they are less enthusiastic about change with anyone else.”

YOUNG EX-BIDEN SUPPORTERS ‘BAILING’ ON PRESIDENT, AGONIZING OVER 2024: ‘COULD NOT LIVE WITH MYSELF’

Ken said he prefers Biden over former President Trump.

“It’s better than the leadership we had prior,” he said. 

Biden’s approval rating, which ended 2023 at 39%, is the lowest among modern presidents seeking re-election at this point in their terms, according to a Dec. 22 Gallup poll. That’s a slight rise from Biden’s 37% approval rating over the past two months. 

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“I think there’s some good qualities and some bad qualities,” said Sarah, who voted for Biden in 2020.

“I would not be excited about voting for him again, and I don’t know that I would,” Sarah told Fox News. “I would just like a new candidate to vote for in 2024.” 

Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.

A federal appeals court struck down Department of Energy (DOE) regulatory actions targeting dishwashers as part of the Biden administration’s aggressive climate and energy efficiency agenda.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling late Monday overturning the DOE’s decision in 2022 to repeal a Trump-era regulation governing water use in dishwashers and clothes washers. The panel’s ruling is a victory for both Republican states which sued DOE over its actions and consumer advocacy groups which have argued against overly-burdensome standards for home appliances.

“Even if DOE could consider dishwashers’ and clothes washers’ ‘efficiency’ in both ‘energy use’ and ‘water use,’ the 2020 Rules likely promoted greater efficiency in both categories than the Repeal Rule,” the court’s decision stated. “Assuming both energy conservation metrics are on the table, the States argue, and DOE does not appear to dispute, that one important aspect of that problem is whether appliance regulations actually reduce energy and water consumption.”

“Yet the administrative record contains ample evidence that DOE’s efficiency standards likely do the opposite: They make Americans use more energy and more water for the simple reason that purportedly ‘energy efficient’ appliances do not work,” it continued.

BIDEN ADMIN LAUNCHED AN AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN TARGETING HOME APPLIANCES WITH ECO REGULATIONS IN 2023

The Fifth Circuit ruling added that highly-efficient dishwashers which use less water often force consumers to run multiple cycles or to manually handwash dishes, leading to both more overall energy and water use.

The case dates back to 2020 when the Trump administration adopted standards that the consumer group Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) crafted two years prior. Those standards, according to CEI, allowed for the sale of faster dishwashers and clothes washers that use slightly more water and energy.

BIDEN ADMIN AIMS TO PUSH TOWNS, CITIES TO ADOPT GREEN ENERGY BUILDING CODES: ‘VERY SUSPICIOUS’

Then, shortly after President Biden took office in 2021, DOE moved to repeal the standards, an action it finalized in early 2022. Months later, a dozen Republican state attorneys general filed a legal challenge, asking the court to reinstate the 2020 regulations.

“These arbitrary washing machine regulations are unlawful, ineffective, and absolutely ridiculous,” Mark Brnovich, the then-attorney general of Arizona, said at the time. “They should be hung out to dry as soon as possible.”

DOE’s actions violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and were “arbitrary and capricious,” the lawsuit argued. The Fifth Circuit appeared to agree with the states in its ruling Monday, even appearing to cast doubt on DOE’s authority to regulate dishwasher water use at all.

WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS STRICT HYDROGEN REGULATIONS IN VICTORY FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS

“In this opinion, the court has forced DOE to follow the law and even noted that one of the positions DOE took in this suit ‘borders on frivolous.’ This decision allows manufacturers to build better dishwashers, not be encumbered by counterproductive federal regulations,” CEI attorney Devin Watkins said on Monday evening.

The ruling, meanwhile, comes amid the Biden administration’s broad efforts to regulate appliances and decrease the energy consumption of the residential sector. According to federal data, the commercial and residential sector accounts for 30% of total end-use carbon emissions in the U.S., the largest share of any sector including industry, transportation and agriculture.

Environmentalists have long argued in favor of appliance and energy efficiency regulations given their high use of electricity and natural gas. Green energy groups have called for the electrification of homes and businesses, reducing reliance on natural gas and simultaneously replacing current fossil fuel-fired power with alternatives like wind and solar.

DOE has pursued regulations targeting gas stoves, water heaters, home furnaces, refrigerators and several other popular appliances. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm vowed in December to continue issuing such rulemakings in 2024.

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“This is a huge win for consumers, especially lower income consumers, allowing them the continued freedom to choose the washing machines and dishwashers that have proven to meet their needs,” Sterling Burnett, the Heartland Institute’s director of the Robinson Center on Climate And Environmental Policy, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

“Water and energy use are just one factor when choosing an appliance to purchase, and the government should not be deciding for individuals that it’s the primary one,” he added. “This will keep less expensive models, effective models on the market allowing lower income Americans to purchase a new appliance when desired without necessarily having to make sacrifices elsewhere.”

A new Fulton County, Georgia court filing alleges an “improper” romantic relationship between the top prosecutor in Donald Trump’s election interference case and District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the charges against the former president.

According to the filing, Willis hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade, her alleged partner, to prosecute Trump, and benefited financially from the relationship in the form of lavish vacations the two took using funds his law firm received for working the case.

County records show Wade has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022, an amount authorized by the district attorney, or Willis in this case.

FORMER COP TARGETS TRUMP, GOP OPPONENTS OVER ‘DISGRACEFUL’ LAW ENFORCEMENT RHETORIC 3 YEARS AFTER JAN 6

The motion was filed on behalf of former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, a co-defendant in the case, in a bid to have the charges against him dismissed.

It cites “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney” as confirming “they had an ongoing, personal relationship.”

The filing also calls for the entire district attorney’s office, including Willis and Wade, to be disqualified from prosecuting the case.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Willis’ office and Trump for comment.

The only safe bet in politics last year was that Donald Trump would lead the Republican presidential primary.

The former president began 2023 with support from 43% of GOP primary voters, and ended it, after multiple well-known and well-funded challengers entered the race, with 69%.

He held on to commanding positions in Iowa (recently 52%, a 34 point lead) and South Carolina (53%, a 31 point lead). His lead in New Hampshire is more questionable, with two polls out this morning showing Trump at 46% with a 19 point lead (Suffolk), and 39% with a 7 point lead (UNH).

Most importantly, Trump’s criminal cases have only strengthened his support.

‘FEAR OF TRUMP’: BREAKING DOWN BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN MESSAGING

If nothing changes between now and March, when voters across the country will award the bulk of delegates who select a GOP presidential nominee, Trump is very likely to secure the nomination.

Three people could potentially stand in the way of that outcome: Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Trump himself.

To make this race competitive, each of these candidates has to make the kind of news that will get primary voters to look up and rethink their choice.

For Haley and DeSantis, that means delivering a very strong performance in an early state. They switch places in these rankings, but both remain far behind Trump because of the difficulty in pulling that off.

For Trump, it’s the even less likely prospect of offending his supporters or dropping out of the race.

No votes have been cast. Any of these scenarios could still happen. But none of them are even close to a safe bet.

1. Trump: Would have to offend his supporters, lose in ballot battles, or drop out

Trump’s big polling leads only tell half the story.

The former president has a sophisticated turnout operation. In Iowa, that project will be led by 1,800 “caucus captains,” loyal Trump supporters who have each been instructed to recruit 10 first-time caucus-goers to turn out on caucus night. 

He continues to lead the field in small dollar donations, a key indicator of grassroots enthusiasm.

Trump has also been endorsed by over 100 sitting U.S. House members and 19 U.S. Senators, adding up to nearly half of all Republicans in congress.

All of these factors make a Trump nomination the most likely outcome. Trump has been the first place “frontrunner” in the power rankings since they began in August, and he stays there in this edition.

For Trump to lose that status on his own, he would either have to deeply offend his supporters, or drop out of the race.

The 45th president’s base has been standing by him for nine years, so “deeply offend” would have to be something that makes them doubt whether Trump respects them, or involve a personal scandal with smoking gun evidence.

As one voter told a reporter at an Iowa rally last year, “it would have to be a video of Trump punting a baby for him not to be my guy.”

Trump is fighting to stay on the primary and general election ballots in Colorado and Maine, after 14th amendment challenges in those states succeeded at the state level.

Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case. A loss there, which would make it impossible for Trump to win in 2024, turns this race on its head.

Alternatively, Trump could drop out of the primary. That is least likely of all.

While the former president is in a powerful position, keep in mind the possibility that he will underperform relative to polling. For all the effort that the campaign is putting in to engage his most enthusiastic supporters, his lead is so big that it could depress turnout.

That’s something the former president has acknowledged himself, telling supporters in Iowa last month “Don’t sit home and say, ‘I think we’ll take it easy…’ Crazy things can happen.”

2. Haley: Must win New Hampshire

Haley has made modest polling gains and has deep-pocketed donors in her corner, but she must prove that she is seriously competitive with Trump before Super Tuesday. 

Her only chance to that is with a clear victory in New Hampshire.

We knew going into this race that the Republican Party has three camps:

• The pro-Trump base (37%)
• Persuadable voters, who like Trump, but are open to someone else (37%)
• And non-Trump voters (25%).

Some of the last group never liked Trump or the “MAGA” movement; others may have supported his administration and agreed with some or even most of his policies, but want to move on in 2024.

Haley was already well-positioned to capture these voters because of her longstanding establishment Republican credentials and matching policies.

Her clashes at the debates with Ramaswamy, who exists at the other end of the establishment spectrum, cemented her relationship with this group.

The good news for Haley is that New Hampshire is home to more of these non-Trump voters than the other early states.

34% of GOP voters there said they have an unfavorable view of him in a November survey, and he has a weaker lead here than the other early states.

The Granite State also allows “undeclared” voters to participate in partisan primaries. In fact, they are the state’s largest voting bloc. 

That means at least some Democratic and independent anti-Trump voters will play a role in deciding the GOP winner.

The former governor is already competitive in the state. A recent poll puts her 22 points behind Trump, at 42-20%.

She carries an endorsement from the state’s popular center-right governor, Chris Sununu, who says he wants Haley to win in a “landslide.”

Haley also has big money behind her. Her campaign has spent $26 million on ads in New Hampshire, and she picked up an endorsement from Americans for Prosperity Action, the advocacy group backed by billionaire Charles Koch.

There are still roadblocks: Chris Christie is polling at double digits in the state, likely pulling at least some vote away from Haley. And it’s not yet clear whether her Civil War remarks will hurt her polling.

In any case, a decisive win on election day will be critical. It’s the only result that will get voters in the rest of the country to reconsider her candidacy.

Even then, persuading those voters to leave Trump is a steep mountain to climb.

(Remember, the average primary voter in New Hampshire looks different to voters in other states.)

But since Haley shows promise here, she moves into second place in the rankings.

A second place finish in Iowa would also help the former governor significantly, and may change the shape of the overall race.

3. DeSantis: Must seriously outperform expectations in Iowa

Trump has a dominant lead in Iowa, where voters are more representative of the overall GOP base. If DeSantis can deliver a strong performance against the former president, that will be enough to prove he is a contender.

But since DeSantis has put most of his resources into the state, it’s now do-or-die. If he doesn’t seriously outperform his caucus polling on caucus night, the campaign is over.

DESANTIS DISMISSES RUMORS HE WOULD DROP OUT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE AFTER CAUCUS: ‘A TOTAL LIE’

DeSantis’ strategy has been to peel away the pro-Trump base and persuadable voters. As his campaign has showed, that is hard to accomplish when the former president is also in the race.

He kicked off his campaign to court the MAGA vote by railing against woke politics, but that strategy fizzled once Trump said he didn’t like that term, or know how to define it.

More recently, he has been running to the right of the former president on social issues, and telling voters that he’s the pragmatic choice.

Running as a more conservative alternative has delivered some wins for DeSantis: he picked up the endorsement of its current Governor Kim Reynolds, who has been a surrogate for him all over the state.

He also won over the evangelical political activist Bob Vander Plaats, one of the powerful forces behind Ted Cruz’s win in Iowa in 2016.

And DeSantis has a powerful ground operation helping him. Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting his campaign, says it’s knocked on more than 878,000 doors in Iowa, more than any other campaign has disclosed.

Still, the Florida governor has stalled in the high teens in Iowa polls. Most recently, he received 18% support in a Fox Business survey, putting him at a distant second behind Trump’s 52%.

That came after DeSantis completed a 99 county tour of the Hawkeye State.

He needs to surprise voters with a vote share on caucus night that is at least in the neighborhood of Trump’s to change the narrative.

Meanwhile, DeSantis is suffering from a decline in his national polling and questions about the long term financial health of his campaign. 

He moves to third place in these rankings.

4. Christie & Ramaswamy: Must widen their lanes

Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy are diametrically opposed candidates with the same electoral strategy: find a niche lane in the primary and own it.

Christie is in the “anti-Trump” lane. Some Republican voters have always opposed Trump and the MAGA movement. Others, including Christie himself, are former supporters who are now outraged at his rhetoric and conduct, particularly leading up to January 6.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY SAYS THERE ARE ONLY TWO ‘AMERICA FIRST’ PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

In New Hampshire, where Christie has spent nearly all his resources, the former governor is in third place with 14%. If that holds, it would be enough to pick up some delegates on January 23.

Ramaswamy occupies the “MAGA+” lane. As the former biotech entrepreneur told Fox’s Sandra Smith last year, Ramaswamy thinks he can “take the America First agenda even further than Donald Trump did.”

Given Trump’s popularity, it is unsurprising that there is room for a candidate who wants to take his ideology further. At the same time, Trump is in this race, so the strategy has a low ceiling.

Ramaswamy has blitzed Iowa in the last few months, and polls at 7% in the latest Fox Business survey.

Both candidates need to widen their lanes to shake up the overall race. Neither has shown yet that they can do so.

For now, since Christie’s polling in New Hampshire is better on average than Ramaswamy’s polling is in Iowa, the two candidates swap places to fourth and fifth in these rankings.

Note on minor candidates

Arkansas’ former governor Asa Hutchinson and businessman Ryan Binkley are still in this race, but they cannot win. 

They may not appear on the ballot in all states, and with polling between 0-1%, they are highly unlikely to reach the threshold to win delegates in many others.

They will no longer appear in these rankings.

Also gone are Tim Scott and Doug Burgum, who dropped out of the race last year.

Counting down to the caucuses

Voters will award the first delegates for the Republican nomination next Monday, when the Iowa caucuses take place.

Special coverage begins on Fox News this Saturday, with Cavuto Live in Iowa. On Sunday, stay tuned for special editions of America’s Newsroom, Fox News Sunday, The Story, Your World, and Special Report from Des Moines.

Election Day kicks off with Fox & Friends, and live coverage from our reporters on the ground throughout the day, before caucuses convene beginning at 8PM ET. 

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Stay tuned throughout the evening for exclusive insights from our Fox News Voter Analysis and the Fox News Decision Desk, which will call the race.

And at 10PM ET, tune in for special coverage with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

Former President Trump on Tuesday is expected to attend an appeals court hearing in Washington, D.C., that will consider the scope of his presidential immunity as the 2024 GOP front-runner seeks to have Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against him dismissed.

“I will be attending the the Federal Appeals Court Arguments on Presidential Immunity in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday,” Trump posted to his Truth Social account.

“Of course I was entitled, as President of the United States and Commander in Chief, to Immunity,” Trump said. “I wasn’t campaigning, the Election was long over. I was looking for voter fraud, and finding it, which is my obligation to do, and otherwise running running our Country.”

Trump added, “If I don’t get Immunity, then Crooked Joe Biden doesn’t get Immunity, and with the Border Invasion and Afghanistan Surrender, alone, not to mention the Millions of dollars that went into his ‘pockets’ with money from foreign countries, Joe would be ripe for Indictment.”

TRUMP FILES ‘POWERHOUSE’ MOTION CALLING FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH TO BE HELD IN CONTEMPT OF COURT

Trump accused Biden of “weaponizing the DOJ.” 

“By weaponizing the DOJ against his Political Opponent, ME, Joe has opened a giant Pandora’s Box,” Trump said.

JACK SMITH DISPUTES TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY CLAIM IN APPEALS COURT

He also noted that as president, he was “protecting our country, and doing a great job of doing so, just look around at the complete mess that Crooked Joe Biden has caused.”

He added, “The least I am entitled to is Presidential Immunity on Fake Biden Indictments!”

Smith’s case against Trump is on pause as Trump’s attorneys appeal the case and argue that presidential immunity protects him from being prosecuted. The trial had been set to begin on March 4.

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

SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO ISSUE EXPEDITED RULING ON TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE

Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Smith filed an argument to dispute Trump’s claim of presidential immunity in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Smith’s appeal to expedite their assessment of the immunity claim before it went fully through a federal appeals court. Trump’s legal team asked the court to deny Smith’s request.

GOP Congressman Chip Roy, a surrogate for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on the 2024 presidential campaign trail, spoke to Fox News Digital about a week out from the Iowa caucus and said DeSantis is surging at the right time and is on track to outperform expectations next week. 

“There’s a massive surge going on for governor DeSantis,” Roy explained. “It really is interesting and people are engaging in and focusing, not just listening to the noise and not just listening to the polls.”

Former President Trump holds a roughly 30-point lead on DeSantis in Iowa, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, but Roy told Fox News Digital the enthusiasm he has seen on the ground suggests the caucus will be closer than people think and that polls aren’t the same thing as showing up next Monday to actually caucus.

“The governor was at a massive church service in Des Moines that had like 2000 people… He’s been doing event after event after event. Thomas Massie and I have been with him standing room only in a lot of places, people packed in, packed house,” Roy said. 

“They a make a lot out of this, ‘Oh he’s at an event that only has 200 or 300,’ and President Trump was in one that has a thousand or something. First off, I’m not sure I trust the numbers. I’ve seen some pretty empty spaces in some Trump places, but this is how it works in Iowa. You’re going town to town. He’s been to 99 counties, 200 events. And you go to these places, you go to these restaurants, and you talk to the elders and you talk to the people.”

DESANTIS DISMISSES RUMORS HE WOULD DROP OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE AFTER CAUCUS: ‘A TOTAL LIE’

“Casey and I met yesterday with 25 people. That’s how you do it, right? We sat down, and we converted a number of folks who were on the fence, there were a number of folks in there who are already in the governor’s camp. Lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm. Trajectory is strongly upward, and I think the trajectory of both Trump and Haley is going down, and the governor is looking good a week out.”

Roy told Fox News Digital that Iowa voters he has spoken to “did not like getting dismissed by Nikki Haley when she said New Hampshire would have to correct them” and he believes her stock is “plummeting.” Additionally, Roy said the message that DeSantis can accomplish the promises Trump made but didn’t see through is gaining traction.

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“Governor DeSantis isn’t a Never Trumper,” Roy said. “He believes that we need to actually finish the things that the former president started. That’s the actual truth. And that message is resonating. The former president said he would build a wall that Mexico paid for. That didn’t happen.”

“He said he would deal with birthright citizenship. He didn’t sign the executive order. He said he’d get Obamacare repealed. Didn’t happen. Then he saddles us with Anthony Fauci, and I’m shutting down our economy and mandating vaccines and masks, $8 trillion in debt. Gov. DeSantis fought all that. Fought Disney. Delivered. And then won by a million and a half votes, that stuff is resonating. I’m serious.”

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Roy said that the top issues voters in Iowa are saying matter to them are immigration and the economy, two issues that Roy believes DeSantis has shown leadership when he flew illegal immigrants to Martha’s vineyard “sparking” that conversation or the way he handled Florida’s economy.

Roy also explained that Trump’s legal issues, while unfair, are still a factor with voters who are wary of risking losing the presidential election if the race becomes a referendum on Trump.

“You can’t afford to risk losing this election,” Roy said. “Freedom hangs in the balance and everyone in Iowa knows it. We can’t afford to do that. So why would we walk away from a proven governor who has knocked it out of the park, delivered on every promise, and, frankly, delivered a lot of things the president didn’t in DC. Why would we walk away from that in favor of someone who’s going to have to deal with legal issues, fair or not?”

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Roy told Fox News Digital that Monday’s caucus will “absolutely” be “closer than people think.”

“I think you should keep a really sharp eye on whether the former president is able to clear a majority of voters in Iowa,” Roy said. “I don’t think he will. I think he’s going to fall short. We’ll see. I think that’s pretty telling, and I think Gov. DeSantis is going to be strongly outperforming what people think, and we’ll see where that lands.”